The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-05-10
MIR, GLADSTONE ON INGERsOLL-
ISM,

Mr.. Gladstone's reply to Col. Ingersoll
in the current number of the North
American Review is one of the ablest
and most interesting contributions to
religious discussion which the eminent
English statesman has made, Most
Americans will think that Mr., Gladstone
takes Col. Ingersoll too seriously. That
gentleman's airy and fippant superb
cialities attracted some attention at the
beginning, but it soon became apparent
that his own mistakes were far more
glazing and numerous than 1.-THE mis-
takes of Moses" or any other of the
sacred writers whom he was in the hab-
it of impugning. No one will say,
however, that Mr.. Gladstone treats the
subjects under discussion too seriously.
Whatever ones view of revelation may
be, it is clear that Mr., Gladstone's grav-
ity and earnestness better befit the dis
cussion of themes which are matters of
faith with many millions of men and
women, than the cheap witticisms and
sophistries of Col .lngerSoll.
Mr.. Gladstone begins by frankly ad-
hitting that there have been many err
rors in tenet, and that no Christian
body is exempt from them, but he reso-
lutely declines ''to be held bound to
tenets, or to consequences of tenets,
which represent not the great Christen-
dom of the past and present, but only
some hole and corner of its vast organi-
cation; and not the heavenly treasure,
but the rust or the canker to which that
treasure has been exposed through the
incidents of its custody in earthen YES
sels.n
This frank admission and reasonable
attitude toward it disposes at once of SO
much of Col. lngersoli's assault as con-
sists of raking together eccentricities
of belief. Mr. Gladston's treatment of
the cases Of Abraham and Jepthah, OF
which Col. Ingersoll makes so much, is
highly satisfactory, As to Jepthah, he
shows that what is told of him is told
merely as matter of historic record,
without any expression of approval or
any demand for the approval of be-
lever. 1t would be as reasonable. there
fore-though Mr.. Gladstone does not
press this point-to assume that the
Bible approves of David's adultery, be-
cause it narrates it, as to argue that it
approves the sacrifice of Jepthah's
daughter. As to Abraham, Mr.. Glad
stone clearly shows that Col. Ingersoll's
parallel with the case of the Hindoc
mother sins against first principles
AN established and habitual practice
of child slaughter in country of an old
and learned civilization, presents to us
a case totally different from the issue Of
a command which was not designed tC
be obeyed, and which belongs to per.
iod when the years of manhood were
associated in great part with the char.
acter that appertains to childhood, y
Col. lngersoll's hasty assumptions as to
the effect of Darwinism upon religion
are effectually disposed of by Mr.. Glad
stone, who incidentally refers him to
Mr.. Fiske's considers ton of MANS
Destiny in the light of evolution. 9th
er of Col. Ingersoll's assumptions are
summarily dealt with, and some Of his
more conspicuous inaccuracies and mis-
representations exposed. Mr.. Glad
stone reserves the closing pages of his
paper to answer and refute Col, Inger-
soils favorite doctrine-the immunity
of all error in belief from moral respon-
sibility. This notion is tso common
that it was worth while to have it Wig
orously met, as Mr. Gladstone meets it,
by showing in how many ways selfish
ness, love Of fame, of money or of pow
er, envy, wrath, malice, bias, likes and
dislikes, color and influence belief, and
impart responsibility.