Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1899-07-26

did not believe In the fall OF man but
that he had his origin In some form
of an animal and has been constant
~ developing. This seems the more
rational view, aud there are some
Christian ministers who are not dis
posed to trent this hypothesis light
ly, though %contending that II such
was the case there came a time when
God endowed man with a soul.
But Ingersoll was not a scientist
and made no claim In that direction.
He vas simply a preacher and ex-
FOUNDER of scientific deductions and
rationalism. He hated tyranny In
every form; he despised cant and n.y.
pocrisy, and tried to practice what
he preached. Socially he WAS a most
charming and genial man, as tender
hearted az a child. Ii is related Of
him that he once purchased dogs and
guns, thinking he would find pleas
ure in field sports, but he soon gave
hi dogs AVA, saying that he could
not bear to kill anything. Az a pp-
litlcal speaker he had no equal In this
country. Eloquent, quick at repair
tee, a good story teller and facts at
his tongues end, he proved a danger
GUS antagonist.
But the Ingersoll of late years was
not the Ingersoll Of old. While he
drew large audiences to his lectures,
they were lacking In character as
compared tn those OF afurmer period.
He said many commonplace things
and rehashed much that he had said
and published before. As he grew
older he had nothing new to offer
and some OF his witticisms were
classed with hoary minstrel jokes.
Possibly his attention to largelegal
business prevented him from gather
ing new material for his lectures.
However this may be, he added moth
ing to his fame in the closing years Of
his life.
Physically, morally and intellectu-
ally Ingersoll was n splendid sp"ci-
men of American manhood, fearless
in speech and action. From his lips
have flowed the most beautiful word
pictures in the English language and
they will be quoted for generations
to come. He granted to every mar
that freedom OF speech he enjoyed
himself, and although he said some
bitter things against revealed re,'-
giOn, we believe on the whole they
were helpful instead of injurious. The
idea Of a personal devil, a belief in
eternal fire az a punishment for our
sins, when our span Of life is shorter
than that Of a mosquito compared
with eternity, was abhorrent, unjust,
unreasonable and inhuman to him.
He loved his fellow-beings too much
to hear such things taught, and they
are not being taught much these
days. though Christianity and the
Bible are as great a force, ii not
greater than they ever were.
We believe Ingersoll did a great
d ,al OF good i'm that he appeal d
To reason instead Of fear i'm consider
ing questions pertaining tn life and
death. He made an assault upon
ghosts and hobgoblins that had
taken possession Of the human mind,
that made life a constant state of
misery to srme, while Others were
driven to asylums bereft Of reason.
We shy that If Robert G. Ingersoll
has been In the least instrumental in
bringing about the religion of love
and liberation that Is preached in
the churches today he did not live
and express his views In vain. About
a future state he left nc guide orcom-
pass behind; he only hoped. The
Christian has faith. Between the
faith of the Christian and the hope of
the infidel we must not despair, hut
believe there is a home beyond the
grave where we NAV be permitted to
join loved n lei who have gone be-
fore.