The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1885-08-26
A Voice in DEFENSE.

| Dy hcFs JdCOD DlLLcT, Vi tuC W. AS'
church south. Subiect-Infidelity and
Christianity.
The CHRONICLE oithe 22nd ult. informs
us that "the learned doctor made some
broad assertions and handled Colonel
Ingersoll without gloves" / do not
think it right, Mr.. Editor, that this lee
ture should be SO ignored coming as it
does from a champion. Ingersoll re-
eeived a shower, not less than four or
five columns. do not propose to de-
fend Mr. Ingersoll against the false state
ments Mr.. d. made OF him; nor is it a
matter or question of religion that wish
to be heard. 1t is question of moral
truth and justice.
The CHRONICLE further states: What
ever one may express ON the merits of
the arguments, all must admit that the
doctor is man of deep learning and re-.
searches" So much the worse Tor the
learned doctor. for many, through ignor-
ance make misstatements of the living
and help to SANDER the dead. The doc
tor is man of large emotional nature
with an active imagination, and from
such we should not expect consistency
of views, nor accuracy of statement.
He informed us that I'D. NJ. Ben
nett is now working out a sentence
in prison for sending obscene literature
through the mails" A beautiful monu-
ment in the Brooklyn cemetery: "Er-
ected by one thousand friends" tells an
other story. speak of this as an illus
tration of the manner in which he could
give his audience the pure, unadulter-
ated falsehood.
He informed us hat their was not
good lawyer in the land that was not a
Christian That, probably, was one of
the broad assertions" That infidels
were not investigators no invention of
any note no reform had ever been
terminated by one of them they were
like turnips that had been frozen and
tbawed, frozen and thawed. frozen and
thawed, nothing in them" Huxly,
Hacket, Humbolt, Lyndall, Darwin,
Draper-Frozen turnips.
He gave lis some facts regarding the
Gerard will. 1t would have been equal
ly interesting had he explained the rea-
son for that seeming harsh document.
What most desire TO speak of is of
his Misrepresentation of Paine. He
hurled with force and precision all the
false accusations ever heard this patri-
OF accused Of Magnifying his faults to
mountains and his good qualities were
dwarfed to insignifcance. He would
have us believe that Tom Paine's life
and writings were vile and corruptible;
that Washington, Franklin, Jefferson
and other great and good men of his day
had but little if any respect for the
"noted infdel"
"If Tom Paine was so great a genius
and had the confidence of the colonists,
as Ingersoll and other infdels would
have you to believe, why did he not re-
main to assist in making laws, ETC., etc.
here where talent was so much needed in
the infancy of our nation" "He went
to France, where he made himselfso re-
puIslve Jnat ne was only saved mum tire
gullitin by the Intervention of Washing
ton and other Americans. This violence
was not from the Christians, but from
his friends, the lnfidels"
Friends, the Tom Paine of the church
l will have nothing to do with he was
a bad character, fictitious; but the patri-
OF Paine feel it my duty to defend
against all maligners. His true char
acter has been kept back, and the ficti-
tious offered and too generally accepted.
/ would like to present many witnesses
few must suffice, they will respond as
called:
George Washington, Zone who enter
tains lively sense of your works'-"By |
private letters which l have lately re-
ceived from Virginia, 1 find that COM
mon sense is working powerful change
there in the minds of many men,"
Rev. Willet Hicks-"I could have had
any sum if / would have said anything
against Thomas Paine, or if would even
have remained silent. He was a good
man and All honest man."
John Adanls-"lt has been very gen.
orally propogated throughout the conti-
Sinent that | wrote the pamphlet "Com-
non Sense" could not have written
n SO manly and striking a style.
sword would have been
Welded in vain had it not been sup
ported by the pen of Paine"
S. H. Preston-"He was one of the
hief grand leaders of the worlds re-
ormers He shed light, not blood he
destroyed ignorance, not armies he
vas conqueror for the sske of truth,
lot glory"
Richard Henry Lee-'It is perform
nee of which any man might be proud
nd sincerely regret that our country
ould not afford sufficient inducements Q
0 have retained as permanent citizen
man SO thoroughly republican in sem l
ments and fearless in the expression of 9
is opinions" I
Rocky Hill, September 10th, 1885, j
have learned since have been at this Q
lace that you are at Bordentown, /
neither for the sake of retirement or c
economy. know not Be it for either, +
,r both, or whatever it may, if you will k
1me to this place and psrtake with me, I
win be exceedingly glad. Your pres &
nee may remind congress of your past a
,rvices to this country, and, lift is in a
~ power to impress them, command n
y best exertions with freedom, as they v
i'll be rendered cheerfully by one who v
ltertains lively sense Of the import d
ice Of your works, and who with much Il
easure subscribeg himself q