Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1896-04-18

to an invitation extended by the pastor,
Rev. John Rusk. The Militant church
is organized for the purpose of lettering
the condition of mankind, regardless of
creed or lack of 1t.
Colonel Ingersoll's address, which was
given in Hooley's theatre was, in part,
as follows:
Man has advanced just in the proper
ton that he has mingled thought with
his work, just in the proportion that he
has succeeded in getting his head and
hands into partnership. Nature, gener-
serly as she is, is our mother and our
only teacher, and she is also the de-
ceiver 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 origin
ates, nourishes, preserves and destroys.
Yet for many years man in all direc-
lions has relied upon and sincerely be.
lieved in the existence of the supernat-
ural. He did not believe inthe uniform
ity of nature. He had no conception of
cause and effect, of the indestructibility
OF force.
For many centuries his only concep-
ton of morality was the idea of obedi
ence, not to facts as they exist in nature,
but to the supposed command of some
being superior to nature. By expert
ence, by experiment, possibly by acct
dent, man found that some diseases
could be cured by natural means; that
he could be relieved in many instances
of pain by certain kinds of leaves or
bark This was the beginning. Grad
ually his confidence increased in the di-
rection of the natural and began to de-
crease in charms and amulets The war
was waged for many centuries, but the
natural gained the victory.
So our ideas of morality have changed,
and millions now believe that whatever
produces happiness and well being is in
the highest sense, moral. Ceremonies,
prayers and inspired books, miracles,
special providence and divine interior
ence belong to the supernatural, and
forms no part Of real religion. Every
science rests on the natural, on demon
strated facts. So morality and religion
must find their foundations in the nee
essary nature of things.
Ignorance being darkness, what we
need is intellectual light. Man should
cease to expect any aid from any super
natural source. BY this time he should
be satisfied that worship has not created
wealth, and that prosperity is not the
child of prayer. Man should turn his
entire attention to the affairs Of the
world, to the facts in nature.
Colonel Ingersoll said that there
should be stop put to the appeal to the
savage force. For fifteen hundred
years, he said, peace had been preached
vet the civilized world had impoverished
itself supporting vast armies and navies
Instead of paying these amounts out for
the purpose "of killing and preparing 10
kill cur fellow-men," they would better
be applied in building schools and sup
plying the wants Of the people. An
International court Wherein national
differences might be tiled with The
proper solution of the question, he
thought There yas another direction
in which energies and wealth of mar
were wasted. Immense amounts hac
been paid for the erection of costly
church ediices, and vast other sans
were paid for keeping them up. The
returns are remarkably small, said he
the good accomplished does not appeal
to be great. There is no great diminu
ton In crime. The decrease of immor
atty and poverty is hardly perez
Ia towns of 1000 to $500 people c aa,
Ingersol would have all churches com
bined In one, in a general building. Il
this building should be the library o
the town. 1t should be the club hous,
of the people; plays should be presented
by home talent; rooms for billiards
cards and chess should be arranged,
should be the intellectual center
"They could employ gentleman o
ability, possibly of genius" said he
ato address them on Sundays on sub
;ects that would be of real interest, o
real importance. He should base hi
sermons on history, philosophy of tn,
art and the genius of the Greeks. lie
him make his congregation conversan
with the PHILOSOPHERS of the world
the great thinkers, the great poets, thu
great artists, actors, orators, inventors
captains of industry, the soldiers o
progress. Let them have a Sunday
school in which the children shall b
made acquainted with the facts OF nature
with botany, entomology, something o
geology and astronomy.
In spite of all that has been done TO
the reformation of the world, il is still
cursed with poverty and crimes. Peni
tentiafies, he said, should be trans
formed into schools and workshops an
the convicts should be educated an
paid a reasonable sum for their labo
Colonel lngersoll paid a pretty trihut
to the home. The more homes, said HI
the broader the foundation of the natio
and the more secure. Everything shout
be done to keep this from being
nation of tenants. The men who cult