Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1891-12-17
LETTER FROM NEW YORK.
Some Religious Sayings by the IRE
hgious Colonel Ingersoll.
Robert G. at Home Brooklyn Bridge Re-
port-A Cultivated italian Who
Got Rich Backing Boots.
Special correspondence of The Chronicle.

MT. TANK Ii. Carpenter great picture
called international Arbitration" is on
its way to the .halls of the Planta yenets -
Its unveiling last week was a notable oc-
casion. Scarcely a name prominent in
any branch of American art, whether
literature, painting sculpture or oratory,
but was represented by presence or
message. Many beautiful and brilliant
speeches were made. Perhaps the most
notable was that of Colonel Robert G /.
Ingersoll.
Mr.. Ingersoll, though wild religiously
has a great big, kind heart, and clean
active brain, and he has the faculty of
saying things that are gems of them
selves and that sparkle like single dia-
monds. Some of the good things he said
are these:
"The olive branch to beof any force, to
be of any benefcent power, must be Of
fered by the mailed hand "Any ma
tion that sells its raw material will re-
main poor and miserable, any nation that
manufactures it will grow intelligent
and rich" "What l call beauty is
what suggests to me the highest and ten
derest thought" "a picture should
contain not only history but a prophe-
cy. 1t should teach the calm lesson of
content. All art which gives us that de-
light, that content in simplicity enriches
the world and makes life better and ho-
lier." al do not blame England for be-
ing against us during the war, for we
were a nation of hypocrites, having four
millions of people enslaved." During
the war said, Curse the Constitution as
it is, and the Union as it was. Don't
talk to me about fighting for Constitu-
tion that has brought on a war like this;
let us make new one" ."We are
getting little freer and more sensible
every day; the time is coming when every
mother shall ask why she should raise a
child to kill the child of another mother"
81 expect to live to see 1S0,O00,0OO people
here; the more foreigners who come, the
better. The Mississippi Valley will sup
port 500,000,O00." 81 would rather live
with the woman love in world of war,
in world full of troubles and sorrows,
than to live in heaven with nobody but
men," "Woman is far higher title
than qeeen; there are no higher titles
than woman, mother, wife, sister, and
when they come to calling them count
esses and duchesses and queens, that is
all rot"
***
Colonel Robert is not half so bad as
some of his talk represents him. do
not really believe that he means half
what his words say. There is certain ro-
business and pride of thought which will
cause the very kindest man to be un-
sparing of his dearest friends. A man
may have the jolliest and tenderest heart
in the world, yet if it be linked with a
restless brain, he is likely to take up ideas
and deal mercilessly with them. He has
the true power of abstracting the idea
from the person. His brain goes into
boiling rage with your thought while in
his heart he loves you we'll The mind is
for the time dominant, and it frames the
words of the mouth or pen. One can
find this keen, cutting of the intellect ill
nearly all great men whom nature has
lowered with generous hearts. There
was Emerson-mild hammered, innocent
eyed, charitable in all his'life, yet how
like flashing cimeter all his heaven
born sentences; glittering, cold, impas-
stoned with the zero-temperature of
truth, they cut to pieces the fallaeies of
wandering thought without ruth. Then
there was Beecher-what wealth of
whitening satire and scorn, yet what a
fathomless depth and sea-like reach of
warm humanity in his heart.
1 can explain the genial, kindly Inger-
soils cutting words in no other way. His
happy home life has come to be pro-
verb. He has beautiful place on a.
side street near the Avenue, where all
his domestic affairs go on in unusual de-
light and harmony. His daughters are
accomplished and brilliant. The father
devotes the early part of his evenings to
entertaining the guests with which the
hone is crowded, and he is more careful
and sedulous about this work than about
his clients or his lectures. He retires
early to a cosy, book crowded study.
where he spends several hours of each
night. His words bring high prices from
any magazine. He could easily make a
great income from literature, if he cared
to devote his whole time to it.
***
There is an Italian bootblack up in
Harlem. He has good corner stand
and a lucrative run of trade. Being Gu
rious to know how the business pays |
Investigated this bootblack, and learned
some interesting facts. He came to this
country when a lad about twenty years
ago. Since then he has accumulated
about $4,000. Besides this he has sub
stantially assisted his relatives in Italy
and taken more and longer vacations
than nine out ten successful business
men can afford. Every second autumn
he sails to Italy, spends the entire winter
there, and returns in the springtime.
He spends his summers out of New
York, either at some fashionabl seaside
or mountain resort. One summer it was
Long Branch, the next Saratoga. Last