St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-04-13
NOTED UNBELIEVER EXPOUNDS HIS
RELIGION FROM A CHICAGO
PULPIT.
NO DARKNESS BUT IGNORANCE
NATURE IS OUR MOTHER, HE SAYS.
OUR TEACHER AND OUR DE-
CEIVER.
HOME THE UNIT OF THE NATION.
The More Homes the Rroader tho
FoundatiOn-EmpIO Need
CiViIizing-Educati

CHICAGO, April 12.-Col. Robert G. Ing
ersoll spoke before the Militant church con-
gregation today in response to an invitation
extended by the pastor Rev. John Rusk. His
text was: There is no darkness, but ig-
norance," and he said in part
Every human being is a necessary prod
uct OF conditions, and every one is born with
| defects for which he cannot be held re-
! sponslbIe. Nature seems to care nothing for
! the individual, nothing for the species Cen
! erous and heartless, eXtravagant and miserlv
| she is our mother and our only teacher, and
she is also the deceiver of men. Above her
| we cannot rise, below her we cannot fall
In her we find the seed and soil Of all that
is good, of all that is evil. Nature originates.
nourishes, preserves and DESTROYS. Good
ueeos bear fruit, and in the fruit are seeds
thaF IN their turn bear fruit and seeds
Great thoughts are never lost, and words of
kindness do not perish from the earth Every
praln is field where nature sows the seeds
OF thought and the crop depends upon the
! soil.
Ignorance being darkness, what we need Is
lhtelectual light. The most important things
to teach the basis of all progress is that
the universe is natural, that men must be
the providence Of man; that by the develop
ment OF the brain we avoid some of the
hangers, some of the evils, overcome some
OF the distractions and take advantage of
some OF the facts and forces of nature; that
by invention and industry we can supply. to
a reasonable degree, the wants of the BODY.
ana py thought, study and effort we can,
| IN part satisfy the hunger of the mind
NO SUPERNATURAL.
Man should cease to expect any aid from
any supernatural source. By this time we
should be satisfied that worship had not
created wealth, and that prosperity is not the
/ child of prayer. He should know that the
supernatural has not succored the oppressed
clothed the naked, fed the hungry, shielded
the innocent, staid the pestilence or freed the
slave. Being satisfied that the supernatural
| does not exist, man should turn his entire
! attention to the affairs of this world to the
facts in nature. And, first of all, he should
AVOID waste-waste of energy, waste of
wealth. Every good man, every good woman
| should try to do away with war, and stop
| the appeal to savage force. AS often as we
| can exchange a mistake for fact, a false
hood for truth, advance. We add to
the intellectual wealth of the world and
In this way and in this way alone, can be
laid the foundation for the future prosperity
and civilization of the race. l blame no one:
l call in question the motives of no person;
admit that the world has acted as it must
! But nope for the future depends upon the
| intelligence of the present. Man. must hus-
band his resources. He must not waste his
energies in endeavoring to accomplish the
impossible. He must take advantage of the
! forces Of nature. He must depend on edu-
cation, on what he can ascertain by the use
of his sense, by observation, by experiment
and reason. He must break the chains of
prejudice and custom. He must be free to
express his thoughts on all questions and
become wise to live in accordance with them
In spite of all that has been done for the
! rnfn nff fInr
inventions, in spite of all the forces of man.
! in spite Of all improvements in agriculture
in mechanics, in every department of human
! labor, the world is still
CURSED WITH POVERTY
and with crime. Men should not be sent to
| the penitentiary as punishment, because we
! must remember that men do as they must.
Nature does not frequently produce the per-
! feet. In the human race there is a large per-
| centage of failures. The question is whether
the reformation is possible, whether change
| can be produced in the person by producing
! change in conditions The criminal is dan
gerous, and society has the right to protect
! itself. The criminal should be confined, and
! If possible, should be reformed. A peniten-
| tiary should be school, the convcts should
| be educated. So prisoners should work and
| they should be paid a reasonable sum for
| their labor. The best men should have charge
! of prisons. They should be philanthropists
and philosophers; they should know something
of human nature. AS it is now, there is but
| little reform. The same faces appear again
and again at the bar; the same men hear
again and again the verdict of guilty and the
sentence of the court, and the same men
return again and again to the prison CELL
! Murderers, those belonging to the dangerous
! classes, those who are so formed by nature
! that they rush to the crimes of desperation
| should be imprisoned for life or they should
| be put upon some island, some place where
| they can be guarded, where 1t may be that
by proper effort they could support them
selves-the men on one island, the women
! on another. And to these islands should be
sent professional criminals-those who have
! deliberately adopted life of crime for the
purpose of supporting themselves. The women
| upon one island, the men upon another. Such
people should not populate the earth. Neither
! diseases nor the deformties Of the mind or
! body should be perpetuated life at the foun-
tain should not be polluted
THE HOME IS THE UNIT
OF the nation. The more homes the broader
the foundation of the nation and the more
secure. Everything that is possible should be
done to keep this from being a nation of
tenants. The men who cultivate the earth
should own it. Something has already been
done in our country in that direction, and
probably in every state there is a homestead
exemption. With the means we now have of
! transportation, there is no necessity for poor
people being huddled in fostering masses in
the vile filthy and loathsome parts of cities
where poverty breeds rags, and rags breed
diseases. l would exempt homestead of a
reasonble value, say of the value of 81 900 or
| IS, ,00e, not only from sale under execution but
from sales for taxes of every description. The
right of eminent domain should be used not
only for the benefit of the person wishing a
home, but for the benefit of all the people.
Nothing is more important to America than
! that the babes of America should be born
around the freside of home.
Speaking of marriage and divorce he said:
! As rule, the man can take care of himself.
| and, as rule the woman needs help. So I
would not allow him to cast her off unless she
had hagrantly violated the contract. But for
| the sake of the community, and especially for
| the sake Of the babes, would give her
divorce for the asking. There will never be a
! generation of great men until there has been
a generation of free women-of free mothers,
| AS TO LABOR QUESTION.
| he remarked: "I see no final
and satisfactory solution except
through the civilization of employers and
employed. The question is so complicated,
the ramifcations are so countless. that So