Evening journal., 1897-03-06

at which naught but fools did sit-by
exclaiming: They tell us that God
made the world. Well, all 1 can say is
that If / couldn't have made better
world than this ! wouldn't have made
one At all" Such sample OF empty
Dravado will scarcely strike one as
most cxce llent wit. What can Mr.. In
gersoll make: or what does he know,
anyhow, concerning the whence or
hence o. the least OF us? Can MIR. In
gersoll mark the souls passage as it
WINGS its way to realms beyond the
yely Can he turn back or arrest, even
Tor a moment a single revolution OF
the wheels of the machinery OF the pro-
gressive universe? Can ne cause the
stars 10 cease their mirth as they view
The mugabiiity OF all things here below.
Were modesty an ingredient OF Mr. IN
gersolls mental makeup he would say
vi himself as Newton said of himself: "l
nave picked up few shells by the sea-
shore, but the great ocean of truth still
lays undiscovered before me-
In conclusion, let 1t be said that the
dark and noisome creed of an Ingersoll
win ever be limited in it's effect, not
withstanding the mistaken efforts of
the apostles of higher criticism men
whose better sense should teach them
chat by indulging in trivial and hair
splitting arguments, concerning the
probability OF either this or that mir
acle or the authenticity of the author
ship of either this or that book of the
Old Testament,t they are playing into the
hands of Mr. lngersOll and men of his
cahbre. But upon the minds of the be-
levers in the man Christ--a belief
which belts the world-the idle vapor-
ings of Mr. Ingersoll will nave no eff
feet, beyond causing a smile TO ripple
the cheek at the senility of the man and
his advocacy Of a lost and obsolete
cause. There are more things in heaven
and earth than are dreamt of in Mr.. In
gersOlls narrow and contracted phil
osophy In order to give strength to this
assertion it is only necessary for any
Interested individual to make himself
acquainted with the evidence collected
in recent years by the Psychological
School of Research. evidence based
upon authentic and incontrovertible
/ data, and to become aware of the fact
/ that there have been times, in the eX-
perience of more or less people, when
the presence cf the dead has made it,
self felt, when the dead have seemed tC
come near and as it We're touched
them with their unearthly wings. Such
/ evidence of a something after death,
evidence which is not the emanation oi
moribund, hysterical, aberrated minds
is of far more real and practical valu,
than either the egotistical doubtings o
the champions OF higher criticisms
or the fimsy. insubstantial, light-as
air and mushroom declarations of al
lngersoll
In a few days, months or years, al
the case may be. the wind will blow
over Mr.. Ingersoll, and, like the poo
player that struts and frets his hou
upon the stage" this empiric negation
ist will be heard no more. What abou
the Bible az such a juncture? viii tn
same wind blow the inspiration out o
its sails? Oh, no. The Bible will still
be here. Mr.. lngersoil will not be abl
to handle it-but it will be here all tn
same. And the Bible will then, as nov
withstand each and every assault; an
, 1t will then. as now, be of so invulneg
able nature as to cause. each an
every venOmously levelled shaft TO fa
pointless This, it can safely be ai
hrmed. will be the position of the Bibl
long after the time, when the hopeles
and pestilential creed of Agnosticism-
a creed which penetrates not the mys
teries OF the hidden depths, but merel
floats on the surface of the stream {
knowledge-shall have been banishe
from our midst, and when the mortl
tabernacles Of its advocates shall hav
returned to mother earth, there "to Ii
in cold obstruction and to rot"
ERNEST ISITT
March 4, 1897.