The Southern herald., 1889-03-09
IFunoral WithoatF

Philadalphia1nqairer Mary
II. Fiske, ,ths aramatiss 81 8hoF,
was buried recently at Hastfugd, q.
On the previous day her friends in
NewYork gathered to hold funeral
service. II was an occasion Of ia
terest TO believers in the Christian
religion, as showing how people
without any religion at all dispose
of their departed fellows. The
exercises consisted Of : pathetic
and appropriate eulOgy b HaEry
Edwards, after which Colonel
Robert G.. Ingersoll delivered the
oraLion. The New York World
which makes a verbatim report,
says: "He was deeply affected and
his voice was husky with emotion.
He read from manuscript, dwelling
with beautiful effect on every
syllable" /"
This is what be said:
My friends,i in the presence ofthe
two great mysteries, Life andDeath,
we are met to say above this still,
unconscious house Of clay, q few
words Of kindness, Of regret, Of
love, and hope. In this presence
let us speak Of the goodness, tho
charity, theegenerosity and tho
genius of the dead. Only flowers
should be laid on the tomb. In life's
last pillow there should be no
thorns."
What followed was an elaboration
of the sentiments expressed in this
introduction. He eulogized the
dead woman and paid a beautifully
worded tribute to her fine qualities
of mind and heart--not Q word
about her spiritual nature, Of
course, for he did not believe she
had any. He closed with this
semblance Of a prayer:
We pray thee, Mother Nature,
that thou wilt take this woman and
hold her tenderly in thy arms as
she held and pressed against her
generous, throbbing heart the
abandoned babe. We ask no more.
In this presence let us remember
our faults and our frailties, and the
generous, helpful, self.denying,
loving deeds of Mary Nske.
That was all. No reference to
any life beyond the grave. No hope
Of a hereafter. No reason for living
a righteous life except the esteem
Of ones neighbors and an elegant
posthumous eulogy, if one happens
to secure the services of a fine
talker like Colonel Ingersoll. No
response to that instructive feeling
which prompts the civilized man
and the savage alike to look for q
future existence in other worlds.
than ours. No reference to that
Great First Cause. In every age,
In every cline adored =.
By saint, by savage and by sage
Nothing but gross, hard material
ism, the sentiment Of the fool who
had said in his heart, "Therc is no
God" No hope of any kind.
The speaker in his opening
promised a few words Of hope but
he did not speak them. He had
none to speak. For him and his
kind there is no hope. And that
is the fatal defect in his doctrine.
The human mind is so constituted
that it instinctively insists on some
kind Of hope for the future. There
are many religions and they are
very far from agreeing in their
teachings, but on this one point
they all meet: all insist that there
is future life, and all people Of
the earth believe in it. To take
away that belief is impossible.
Hence the atheist sect will be small
always. Mans spiritual nature is
as much reality as his physical
nature, and it will always assert
itself. The Ingersolls may deny
it, but they cannot argue it away.
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Alliance Notes.
Baton Rouge Truth: The Missis-