Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-02-07
AN aGNOSTlC'S FUNERAL.
lngersoil the Principal Speaker at NJ,
Fiske's Obsequies.

lngersoll the Principal Speaker at Mary
Fiske's Obsequies.
NEW YORK, Feb. THE funeral service
over the remains of Mary Fiske was held
yesterday morning at the Scottish Rite hall
Eight hundred tickets of admission had been
distributed but at least 1000 persons wers
present Dockstader's minstrels furnished
the choir, which sang several songs during
the service. Mr.. Harry Edwards opened the
proceedings with brief address in which he
outlined Miss Fiske's religious views in her
own words, 81 don't believe much, but hope
for great deal" Then Mr. R. G. Ingersoll
spoke as follows:
My FRIENDS: In the presence OF the two
great mysteries-life and death-we are met
to say above this STILL unconscious house of
clay few words Of kindness, of regret, of
love, and hope Mary Fiske was
like herself. She patterned after none She
was genius, and put her soul in all she did
and wrote. She cared nothing for roads,
nothing for beaten paths nothing for the
footsteps of others; she went across the fields
and through the woods and by winding
streams and down the wales and over the
crags wherever fancy led. Her
heart went out to all the wretched in this
weary world, and yet she seemed as joyous as
though grief and death were but words
She wept where others wept, but in her own
misfortunes found the food of hope She
cared for the tomorrow of others, but not for
her own. She lived for to-day
She longed for freedom Every limitation
was prisoners wall Rules were shackles
and forms were made for serfs and slaves.
She praised all generous deeds, applauded the
struggling, and even those who failed She
pitled the poor, the forsal,en, the friendless
NO one could fall below her pity, no one
could wander beyond the circumference of
her sympathy. To her there were no out
casts-they were victims, She knew that the
INHABITANTS OF palaces and pententiaries
might change places without adding TO the
injustice OF the world. She knew that cir
cumstances and conditions determined char
acter, that the lowest and worst of our race
We're children once, as pure as light, whose
cheeKs dimpled with smiles beneath the
heaven OF mothers eyes. She thought
OF the road they had Travelled, of the thorns
that pierced their feet, Of the deserts they bad
crossed, and so, instead of words of scorn,
she gave the eager hand of help No one ap-
peaied TO her In vain. She listened to the
story OF Che poor, and all she had she gave
goo could do no more. She shed
blindness as the sun sheds light. If all her
deeds were flowers the air would be faint
with perfume II all her charities could
chahge To melodies symphony would ill the
sky
A little while ago babe was found, one
That had been abandoned by the mother, left
as legacy to chance or fate The warm
heart of Mary Fiske, now cold in death, was
touched. She took the waif and held it
lovingly TO her breast and made the child har
own We pray Thee, Mother Nature, that
thou wilt take this woman and hold her as
tenderly In thy arms a. she held and pressed
against her generous throbbing heart, the
abandoned babe. We seek no more