The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-04-13
eel. INGERSOLL
breaches a Sermon to the Church
MlIltant'at Chicago.

MiIltant'at Chicago.
IGNORANCE ALONElS DARKNESS
Ana dis WORLDS Happlus., Ies,s Upon
die EdusatiOn OF ths Chlldrsn-Nlan
csano. Rise Above Nature, and Tenn.
po4al Mappines u the Supreme Point OF
Mans Ezi,tsnee "A Mastery Grafton
which PleuseS the Ear, but Carries No
conviction 70 the Inner sensibiliues.
CHICAGO, April l2.-colonel Robert
G. IngersoIl spoke before the Militant
church congregation to-day in response
to nm invitation extended BY the pas
tor. Rev. John Rusk. In his letter Of In
yitatlon Rev. ME- RusK said, "The Mil
liant church. which Is organized for the
purpose OF lettering the condition Of
mankind, regardless Of creed or lack Of
IT, desires to extend to you an invita-
ton to preach for US some Sunday
morning in the near future on the sub
ject OF your Views us to what the Chris
tlan church should do and how"
Colonel Ingersoll among other things
expfessed the following opinions:
There Is no darkness but ignor-
ance.s
Every human being is a necessary
product OF conditions, and every one Is
born with defects for which he cannot
be held responsible.
Life pursuing life, and, in It's turn.
pursued by death, presses to the snow
| line Of the possible, and every form or
life, Of instinct. thought and action Is
fixed and determined by conditions. by
countless aRtecedeRt and ooextsttng
facts. The present IS the child. and tue
necessary child. of all the past and the
mother Of all the future.
Every human being longs to be hap
py, to satisfy the wants Of the body
With food, with roof and ralment, and to
feed the hunger OF the mind, according
10 his capacity, with love, wisdom, phil
osophy, art and song.
Nature, generous and heartless, eN-
traYagant and miseriy as she Is, Is our
mother and our only teacher, and she
h also the deceiYer of men. Above her
we cannot rise. below her we cannot
fail. In her we find the seed and soil OF
All that is good. Of all that Is evil. Ma
ture originates, nourishes, preserves
and destroys.
Every brain is a field where nature
sovs the seeds Of thought, and the crop
depends upon the soil.
Every flower that gives Its fragrance
to the wandering air leaves lts IN.
fuehee on the soul Of man. The wheel
and swoop Of the winged creatures Of
the air suggest the flowing lines Of sub
de art. The roar and murmnr Of the
restless sea. the Cataract's solemn.
chant. the thunder's voice, the happy
babbla OF the brook, the Whispering
leaves, the thrilling notes of mating
birds, the slghing winds, taught man
to pour his heart in song and gave 3
voice to grief and hope, to love and
death.
In all that Is, in mountain range
ond blllowGu plain, in winding stream
aEd desert sand, In cloud and star, IN
snow and rain, in calm and storm, IN
night and day, In woods and wales, In
all the colOrs Of divided light In all
there is Of growth and life. decay and
death, in all that flies and floats and
aNVlIllat III iii that nAONNea IS W. 49,
forms and qualities Of things, man
found the seeds and symbols OF his
thoughts, and all that man has wrought
becomes a IHtrt Of natures self, form
Ing the lives OF those TO be, The mar
bles of the Greeks, like strains OF mu-
sic, suggest the perfect and teach the
melody OF life. The great poems, paint
InEs, inventions, theories and philosO-
phies enlarge and mold the mind Of
man. All that is natural. All is nat
urally produced. Beyond the horizon
Of the natural man cannot go.
Yet for many ages man In all dlrec-
lions has relied upon and sincerely be-
lieved in the existence Of the supernat-
ural. He did not believe in the uniform
ity OF nature. He had no conception OF
cause and effect, OF the ndeStructtbility
OF force.
we In the United States believe that
the authority to govern, the authority
TO make and execute laws, comes from
the consent of the governed. and not
from any observation-disclosures. We do not
believe that the king occupied his
throne because of the win Of the super
natural Neither do we believe that
Others are subjects or serfs or slaves by
reason OF any supernatural Will.
So our ideas OF morality have chang
ed, and millions now believe that what
ever pTou tS hpll'e ssnsa Tnorsi I'm.
lng " IN ~ 'ne ,H H Is nj tho fonnda-
Ita.. NJ V nssa'na ~ ,,nTslitv
'lU SI,,, y, ''t ~ ,,srv many WIN have
IneEs ~. ny ..,; VII tint the s,,ner-
TeaGneI wv ,,otI,Ins, ~ do viii real re-
Atual I M das. rot consist IL, Ne
islI,. HSSS ~ SsI,,it sS,I
llevlns W " doss ro, cnus,st n worsbIn-
~ t,,a ,,rl,,,ot,,y, ar IN irving 10 DO
plDB the u sn1. NV IrSn,te SsreInonIss
ROTtlGhlIIlE lOE AlllllAkNs SNAGAltNAAANnt