The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-04-13

congregation To-Day III response 10 un inNi-
tation extended by the pastor, Rev. John
Rusk. Ip his letter of Invitation Rev.
Mr. Rusk said, 1.-THE Militant church,
which is organized for tho purpose of bet
tering tho condition of mankind, regard
less of croed or lack of 1t, desires to extend
to you an invitation to preach for ms Some
Sunday morning in tho near future ON the
subject of your views as to what tho Chris
han church should do and how"
In accepting the inyitation Mr.. Ingcrsoll
said, 81 was much pleased with the spirit
Of intellectual hospitality Of your letter,
and what say, IL anything, to your peo-
ple will bo in the samospirit of kindness
and candor." tts
Colonel Ingorsolls address, which was
given in Hooley's theater, was as follows:
"There Is no darkness but ignorance"
Every human being is q necessary prod
net of conditions, and every one Is born
with defects for which he cannot be held
responsible Nature seems 20 care nothing
for tho individual, nothing for the species.
Life pursuing life, and, In its turn. pur-
sued by death, presses 10 the snow line OF
the possible and every form of life, of in
stinct, Thought and action Is fixed and do
termined by conditions, by countless ante
cedent and cocxisting facts. The present
Is tho child. aud the necessary child, of all
the past and the mother of all tho future.
Every human being longs to be happy,
TO satisfy tho wants of the body with food,
with roof and raiment, and TO feed the
hunger of tho mind, according TO his ca
,pacity, with love, wisdom, philosophy, art
and son9.
The wants Of the savage are few, but
with civilization the wants of the body in
crease, the intellectual horizon widens,
and the brain demands more and more.
The savage feels, but scarcely thinks.
The passion of the savage Is uninfluenced
by his thought, while tho thought OF the
philosopher is uninfluenced by passion.
Children have wants and passions before
they are capable Of reasoning. So In the
infancy OF the race wants and passions
dominate. tst ~ rN
Nature, generous and hoartless, extrava-
CANT and miserly as sho is, Is our mother
and our only teacher, and sho Is also the
deceiyer of men. Above her wo cannot rise,
below her We cannot fall. In her we find
the seed and soil Of all that Is good, Of all
preserves and destroys.
Good deeds bear fruit and In the fruit
are seeds that in their turn bear fruit and
seeds Gresv thoughts are never lost, and
words of kindness do not perish from the
earth.
Every brain Is n field where nature sows
the seeds Of thought. and the crop depends
upon the soil.
Every flower that gives its fragrance to
the wandering air leaves its influence on
the soul of man. Tho wheel and swoop OF
the winged creatures OF tho air suggest tho
flowing lines of subtle art. Tho roar and
murmur OF the restless sen, the cataract's
solemn chant, tho thunjors voice, the
happy babbla nf the brook, tho whispering
leaves, tho thrilling notes of mating birds,
the signing winds, taught man TO pour his
heart IN song and gave voice TO grief and
hope, to love and death.
IN all that Is, I'm mountain range and
billowed piain, In winding stream and
descrs sand, ia 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 swims, in oil that moves,
in all the forms and qualities of things,
man found the seeds and symbols OF his
thoughts, and all that man has wrought
becomes part of natures self, forming
the lives of these TO be. The marbles Of
the Greeks, ll.a strains Of music, suggest
the perfect anu teach the melody Of lifo.
The great POEMS paintings, Inventions
theories and philosophers enlarge and mold
the mind of man. All that Is is natu-
raj. All is naturally produced. beyond
the horizon of the natural man cannot 60.
Yet for many ages man In all directions
has relied upon ard sincerely believed In
the. existence of the supernatural. He did
not believe Ia the uniformity Of nature.
He had no conception Of cause and effect,
of the indestructibility Of force.
In medicine he believed in charms,
magic, amulets and incantations. II never
occurred TO tho savage that diseases were
natural.
In chemistry he sought for the elixir Of
lifo, for the philosophers stone. and for
some way Of changing the baser metals
into gold
In mechanics he searched for perpetual
motion, believing that no, by some curious
combination of levers, could produce, could
create q force.
In government he found the source Of
authority in the will of tho supernatural.
For many centuries his only conception
OF morality was the idea of obedience, not
60 facts as they exist in nature, but TO the
supposed command OF somo being superior
to nature. During all these years religion
consisted In the praise and worship OF the
invisible and infnite, Of some vast and in
comprehensive power--that Is TO say, of
the supernatural. rt.
BY experience, by experiment, possibly
by accident, man found that some diseases
could I've cured by natural means; that he
could be relieved In many instasces of pain
by certain kinds of leaves or bark.
Thiswas tho beginning. Gradually his
confdcnoe Increased in the direction Of
the natural and began to decrease In
charms and smulets The. war was waged
for many centuries, but tho natural gained
the victory. Now We know that all dis.
eascs nre naturally produced, ard that all
remedies, oil caratiyes, net In accordance
with tho facts In nature. Now we know
that charms, magic, amulets and incanta-
tlons are Just as useless I'm tho practice Of