The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-01-08
DONNELLY AND INGERSOLL.

"o Aepul"lioH DIS 0naKSpearean
scholar, and is ready at any moment to
meet on the public platform foeman
worthy Of his erudltion to discuss the
authorship of the plays ascribed to the
immortal bard of Avon. Some years
ago Bob Ingersoll in glittering general
tiles referred to the Baconian cipher as
myth, and he was promptly chal-
lenged by the Sage of Ninlnger to a
public debate on the subject. Bob
thought discretion to be the better part
OF valor and respectfully declined to
cross swords with the author uf the
Great Cryptogram," who can use his
tongue with as much facility as his
pen. Though Ingersoil is a brilliant
man and possesses the gift of CAB" III
an eminent degree, it was the con-
census of opinion in the Northwest that
Donnelly was his superior as an extern
poraneous speaker and debater. On the
Acknowledgements question he would
have undoubtedly defeated the rhetor-
ical slleptic.
In last weeks issue of his t.Repre-
sentative" Mr.. Donnelly replies to tile
Thanksgiving day address of Ingersoll
In Chicago, and brings the scoffer Of
Christianity to task for his utterances.
Though he lays no claim TO ortho-
doxy, the author of Caesars Column"
proves himself a polemic of no mean
ability, and uses strong arguments in
behalf Of Christianity which Ingersoll
had tiippantly derided. Pagan Bob"
in his Thanksgiving address ridiculed
Christ and his apostles and asked if
they had increased the sum Of useful
knowledge-if they had promoted SCI
ence and art-eXplained any of the phe-
homena OF nature, or taught the gos-
pei of self-reliance, Of industry, OF
honest effort? What has the church
done"" exclaimed Bob. Then he want
on to abuse priests and nuns, and re-
peated the old chestnut that the church
was the foe Of progress and an obstacle
in the path Of civilization. Mr.. Dom
nelly responds that the aperture of
Bob's mind is narrow, that he sees one
size or question and is blind to the
other side. Then he proceeds as fol-
lows:
He ought to remember that it was the
Christian church that preserved civili-
cation to Europe. But for it Bob would
not possess today the alphabe. Or the
art of reading and writing 1t was the
church and the church alone that car
ried the civilization of the Roman EN-
rire across the dreadful abvss of nar
barism and ignorance called the dark
ages, which succeeded the overthrow of
that mighty power.
We all know that there was a time
when if the man who stood unon the
scaffold to be hung, called for bible,
and read the meek verse;" it was Tie
duty of the authorities to turn MIN loose
to- be tried by the ecclesiastical author
ities Why? Because the ability to
read was conclusive proof that lie was a
clergyman-since no one but a priest
possessed that ability. If, therefore.
there had been no church .herc would
have been no clergymen and If there
had been no clergymen it is evident that
reading and writing, and with it civility
and culture and all civilization would
have persisted.
And where then would Bob lie to-
day? F1e could not commit his thoughts
to writing, and therefore he could not
lecture, for he reads his lectures. And
where would he find newspapers to print
his diatribes? There would be none
And as the alphabet would have utterly
disappeared long before the time of
Columbus, that distinguished navigator
could not have collected, from various
books, the facts that convinced him
there was another world beyond the
ocean; and therefore America would not
have been discovered. There would con-
sequently be no United States today.
and Bob limself--if his ancestors had
not been devoured in some cannibalis-
tic feast, would be a ragged, dirty, is-
norant barbarian; dwelling in mud
shelter in some corner Of England, with
an intellect about one degree above the
wild hogs ne hunted and devoured.
And now he slaps in the face the
only -Christianlty-that
made him civilized man, and placed
him in the midst of civilized society.
And why attack the church because
1t was made up of human beings, who
shared in the snperstitions and errors
OF their environment" Did he expect
them to be angels? Does correct theo-
logical views necessitate all knowledge:
Fancy Bob attacking George Wash
ington and saying:
why, ladies and gentlemen, this old
humbug never saw a telegraph line, or
railroad tram. or telephone or a
street car. lie wore a wig, although he
had plenty of hair of his own; and then
busted it with flour enough to make a
breakfast Off. He wasn't quite sure tina,
witchcraft was not true; and his false
teeth were so poorly made that they
altered the whole expression of his
face. AND HE OWNED SLAVES"
Think how Bob would roll out his