The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-09-04
INGERSOLL AT HIS BEST.
HIS EULoeY OVER A FRIENDS GRAVE.
An Eloquent, Characteristic Tribute to the
Life and Work of Horace Seaver-
Praise For the Dead - Hard
Knocks at Prevailing Beliefs.

The funeral of Horace Seaver, the editor
of the Investigator and an eminent Boston
free-thinker, took place last Sunday alter
noon at Boston. The building was
crowded with people attracted by the
presence of Col Robert G. Ingersoll. The
services were simplicity itself. The tenn
pie quartet sang clay Ne Low, My Work
is Done" and 81 Am Wandering Down"
This over, Col. Ingersoll stepped forward
and pronounced the burial Grafton over
his friend and late co-worker. 1t was an
eloquent tribute, characteristic OF the
speaker, and was greeted at many points
with applause. He said:
Horace Seaver was a pioneer, a torch
bearer, toiler in that great field we call
the world-a worker for his fellowman.
At the end OF his task he has fallen
asleep and we are met to tell the story of
his long and useful life-to pay our tribute
to his work and worth.
He was one who saw the dawn while
others lived in night. He kept his face
toward the "purpling east, and watched
the coming of the blessed day. He always
sought for light. His object was to know,
to find a reason for his faith-a fact on
which TO build. In superstition's sands
he sought the gems of truth; in supersti
| tons night ne looked for stars.
Born in New England, reared amid the
/ cruel superstitions of his age and time, he
| had the manhood OF courage to investi-
gate, and be had the goodness and cour-
| age to tell his honest thoughts. He was
always kind, and sought to win the conf
derce Of men by sympathy and love.
/ There was no faint or touch OF malice in
| his blood. To him his fellows did not
seem depraved-they were not wholly
bad. There was in the heart OF each the
seeds Of good. He knew that back Of
! every thought and act were forces uncon-
trolled. He wisely said: Circumstances
! furnish the seeds of good and evil, and
/ man is but the soil in which they grow"
! He fought the creed and loved the man.
/ He pitied those who feared and shuddered
at the thought of death-who dwelt in
darkness and in dread.
The religion of his day filled his heart
with horror He was kind, compassion
ate and tender, and could not fall upon
| his knees before a cruel and revengeful
God He could not bow to one who
/ slew with famine, sword and fire-to one
! pitiless as the pestilence, relentless as
! the lightning stroke. Jehovah had no
/ attribute that he could love.
He attacked the creed of New England,
a creed that had within it the feroCity of a
Knox, the malice of Calvin, the cruelty
OF Jonathan Edwards; religion that had
a monster for a God; a religion that
would have shocked cannibals feasting
| upon babes. Horace Seaver followed the
light of his brain, the impulse of his heart.
| He was attacked, but he answered the in
suffer with a smile, and even he who
| coined malignant lies was treated as a
/ friend misled. He did not ask God to
forgive his enemies; he forgave them
! himself
He was sincere. Sincerity is the true
! and perfect mirror of the mind. 1t reflects
the honest thought. 1t is the foundation
| of character and without that there is no
moral grandeur. Sacred are the lips which
have issued only truth. Over all wealth,
| above all station, above the noble, the
robed and the crowned rises the sincere
man. Happy is the man who neither
! paints nor patches, wells nor veneers.
| Blessed is he who wears no mask.
The man who lies before us wrapped in
perfect peace practiced no art to hide or
/ half conceal his thought. He did not
write or speak the double words that might
| be useful in retreat. He gave truthful
! transcript of his mind, and sought TO make
! bis meaning clear as light. To use his
own words, he had the courage which
impels man to do his own duty-to hold
| fast his integrity-to maintain q con-
! science void of ofense at every hazard
and at every sacrifice in defiance OF the
world"
He lived to his ideal. He sought the
| appreciation of himself. He did not build
! his character upon the opinion of others,
! and it was out of the depths of his nature
| that he asked the profound question:
/ "What is there in other men that makes
us desire their appreciation and fear their
censure more than our own ?''
Horace Seaver was a good and loyal
citizen Of the neutral republic, believer
in intellectual hospitality, one of those
who knew that bigotry is born OF ignor-
ance and fear, the provincialisms OF the
| brain. He did not belong TO the tribe, or
| to the nation, but TO the human race. His
| sympathy was wide as want, and like the
| sky bent above the suffering world.
This man had that superb thing which
we call moral courage-courage in the
! highest form. He knew that his thoughts
were not the thoughts of others, that he
was with the few, and that where one
would take his side thousands would be
his eager foes. He knew that wealth
would scorn, and cultured ignorance de-
ride, and that all believers il the creeds,
buttressed by law and custom, would hurl
the missiles OF revenge and hate. He
knew that lies, like snakes, would fill the
| pathway of his life, and yet he told his
honest thought; told it without hatred
and without contempt; told it as it really
was. And so through all his days his
heart was sound and stainless to the core.
When he enlisted in the army whose
! banner is light the honest investigator
was looked upon as lost and cursed, and
even Christian criminals held him in con-
| tempt. The believing embezzler, the or
thodox wife heater, even the murderer,
lifted his bloody hands and thanked God
! that on his soul there was no stain of un-
belief
In nearly every state OF our republic
the man who denied the absurdities and
! inpossibilities lying at the foundation of
what is called orthodox religion was
denied his civil rights He was not can
opted by the seGis of the law. He stood
beyond the reach of sympathy. He was
not allowed to testify against the invader
OF his home, the seeker of his life. His
lips were closed. He was declared dis
honorable because he was honest. His
belief made him social lepeT, pariah,