The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-11-23
The Sermon of an Infidel.

The Sermon of an Infidel.
The Free Thinker and Secular Unionists
closed their congress Of the past week
at Chickering Hall last evening. Col.
Ingersoll was introduced after the Chair
man had announced that the Union had
decided upon keeping up regular Sun
day evening meeting in this city. to
open next week at No, % Lafayette
Place. The text of Mr.. Ingersolrs talk,
rs he described il, was in the grandest
prayer ever uttered by man, to be found
in the grauGcst tragedy ever written,
"King Lear" 1t was when the dement,
ec old King prared for those out in the
storm and for those who had not felt the
smile of fortune. There was something
altogether wrong. thought Colonel In
gersoll, when there was so much pow
erty and so much wealth concentrated
in separate hands.
mo man can own five millions Of dol
lars--the dollars own him." said the
speaker. "He becomes the key to the
safe in which the shining pile is boarded.
He is up in the morning early to see
that his fortune is safe and he stays up
late at night to sec that no one gathers
it in. He loses his friend, his home be-
comes safe deposit vault and he is
miserable in his surroundings. What
would you think of man who should
gather in heap a million coats, and in
another warehouse few million hats,
and then over the way another mountain
of a dozen million Of cravats, and then,
how ridiculous you would account him
if he got up and worked all day long
for another necktie- laughter and
yet that is just what our rich men are
doing and just what the civilization of
the near future will say to them in no
uncertain tones, Thou shalt not do.'
We have in each of our cities the West
End and the East End, the part where
the proud palaces Of the rich are reared
in ostentation and the part far away re-
moved where the novels and tenements
of the poor are huddleI together in
wretchedness. This is wrong. The
poor have to learn that pity rather than
envy is what the rich need from them,
and the rich have to learn that true and
honest hearts beat beneath rags.
"Anarchism is the protest against
tyranny and that is out Of place in this
country, where We have, despite all it's
shortcomings, the greatest and grand
est Government the world has ever
seen. Here the rich and poor can and
do meet on one planet is the bench
where rests the ballot box. There the
questions of the future will be answered,
truthfully and quickly. It will speak
in no uncertain tones, saying that the
land which God put outdoors is free to
every child Of nature. No man has q
right to own more land than he can use,
and no man who wants land to use ought
to be deprived of it. Why, I think if
the air about us could be bottled up VIC
would have big syndicate forming the
great American air-bottling association
and thousands would die because they
had not money enough to pay for air to
breathe. That is what is going on with
the land. and it must stop, but not by
any rash means. When man breaches
justice and advocates robbery az way
to get it, suspect him. do not blame
the rich for what they have, and would
not take pennyworth from the richest
Of them except at fair valuation, but
would take it until every man and
woman born in the world had chance
to live through his or her days here in
comfort and happiness.
"Greatinventions were never intended
to pile up great fortunes and curse the
laborer. No, nor will strikes settle any
thing. The first successful strike will
be the last, for the people will rise and
lshow that the grasp Of the laborer ty-