St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-05-25

Col. INGERsoLL's lecture at the opera
house last night might appropriately be
called love letter made in flowers. 1t
presented the philosophy of domestic hap
pinesS decorated with the sweet garland
wreaths of finished rhetoric. While to the
ears Of many his words will sound like
blasphemy and his painted oratory will be
only gilded sacrilege, still to others the ''re-
ligion of humanity" of which he claims to
be the eyangel, and his polished picture of
domestic JOY and love and peace are beauti-
full and worthy of all acceptation. 1t will
be observable. however, that in all of his
assaults against the Bible and the GOD of
the Bible, Col. INGERsOLL confines his at
tacks to the Old Testament and never in
vades the dominion of the New Testament
He is, perhaps, shrewd enough to know
that whenever the religion of CHRIST is
destroyed he tears away the foundation of
his own religion of humanity" The Man
whose life mission was to go about
doing good to suffering humanity.
whose doctrine was one of liberty
proclaiming to whatsoever will let him
come" whose home on earth was not among
palaces, but with the poor and humble, and
who in the end gave up his life for men,
was Himself the grandest eyangel of HUI
manity's religion this world has ever wit
messed. In INGERsoIL's estimation Moses
may have made mistakes, yet the eloquent
infidel has never been bold enough to de-
clare that JESUS CHRIST ever made any.
The heroes of the Old Testament, Who
after all, were only fallible men, may afford
food for the sarcasm of the great orator
the frailty of poor humanity to-day, which
sometimes finds its weakest representatives
in the Christian ministry, may afford appro-
pirate targets for the shafts of infidel ridi-
cule, yet we might challenge Mr.. NIGER
SOIL to deny that if the preeeptS which
CHRIST gave to the world were faithfully
obeyed and praeticed the world would enjoy
the religion shedding its halo On mankind
just as he describes it in his beautiful per-
Grafton.
1t is beyond our comprehension how in a
philosopliic mind such as Col. INGERsoLL
possesses there could rest the shadow of a
doubt as to the existence of GOD. 1t is i'm
possible to conceive how reasoning mind
cal contemplate the design of the universe
and its absolute obedience to law impressed
upon every part and still say there is no
COD. With our knowledge Of those won
derful principles which govern and hold in
b their proper spheres and pathways, without
diScorG or collision, the worlds and systems
of worlds which inha5it space, and reyolve
and fly through its trackless depths with
the speed Of thought. there can be no other
table devised by an Almighty mind, under
whose regulations all has been safety and
harmony for unnumbered centuries among
those sWift-lushing bodies of blind matter.
The mind which has studied the plan of
physical creation and understands this
earth, and has explored the other planets
and c0mprehends the laws which govern
them III their movements around the great
center OF light and heat, as the hand of a
pilot guides the ship on the ocean.
must either conclude that matter
itself is instinct with thought and
has established its own rifles
with a wisdom that is infinite, OF else. that
far beyond and higher than all there exists
Supreme Author who has fashioned ey-
erything and to whom His works render
obedience. That the universe is not the
work of finite humanity Mr.. INGERsoLL
conceded when he said in his lecture, eff
every human being was dead the sun would
rise tomorrow morning just the same and
would set tomorrow night. The earth
would turn OH its axis, it would pursue its
flight in the great orbit, the seasons would
come and go, and time would repeat the
perpetual poem of the year; light would
hang his seven-huld banner upon cataract
and cloud, the yiolets would spread their vel