The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-10

Had she been a man he would have made
a splendid juTisl.
AS /, VS., in fer wei stocked library
m sAt be- found more looks than usually
leI % he 1T If any ave "a minis er ar a
lawyer IN those days. nor would .eny Of
them probably have ioss sed n selection
she do. Her taste ran - study OF the
ne gilHs and ere DIS of The world, end her
constant companions were he Bible the
Koran. he Eeaas aud air that Is Known Of
Comucius. /o-0asler, Josephus. Sweden
iorg, Hume. humboldt, Voiney. Noltaire.
Gabhon, Kant. Schopencaur, Paiue and
oilers.
became m AEnOstic.
tn Sc she had ad until she cou'd quote
many passages by heart and could handle
their arguments Wi a wit and esler y
a3 her own. she arrived at that stage
where she believed only in h revelations
of science To her ns she taught her be-
heis and they followed iu her footsteps.
for 70 thtm she was ever an oracle and the
most wonderful Of women, Will he bond
OF affection between them was OF that
%. Sc ard deep seated ma ure which is
characteristic of the lngersol and Parker
families on both sides for many genera
lions back.
The Parker nome naturally became
central point of meeting for all the we'll
known men OF the time. Three of the best
known and most welcome were Abraham
Lincoln of Springfield, David a. Davis,
afterward United States senator,
q Bloomington and Leonard SWEET
Of Chicago, and when his trio
met under the friendly roof of Sarah Par
ker and the four engaged In discussion on
the leading topics OF the day or perhaps
on the favOrite theme of religion, the hos
tess was, by virtue of her brilliant quail
ties, one of the leaders and was frequent
iy called upon to settle some disputed point
by a quotation from one Of her fayorlte
authors.
The three men were all intimate friends
and very fond Of each others society. but
the fact that they lived at widely differ
ent places and that travel was not then
as easy as now. led them to frequently
agree on some place Of mutual advantage |
Wen meet at Mrs. Parker's," was al
ways satisfactory to all. and 50 they did |
and more than one Western minister had |
the fortune 10 do his best measuring argu- |
ments with the four, for Sarah Parker's !
roof sheltered many a one, TO whom she |
extended every courtesy that the most or |
thodox could have done, nor was any min |
lister ever seated at her table without be- /
ing asked to say grace.
Harmony of Lives.
Into this already intellectually brilliant |
circle Robert G. Ingersol entered about |
1858, and met Eva Parker with whom he |
at once fell IN love and from the hour
they met until the day of his death the |
harmony in every respect between them |
was as perfect as il is possible for two |
human beings to have here on this earth. |
Eva Parker, the daughter of Benjamin |
was already an agnostic, and Ingersoll |
then on the threshold of his career, easily |
dominated the little group by his wonder |
full mentality.
This famous coterie continued unbroken |
up to the time of Mrs Parkers death |
She departed this life at an advanced age.
ripe with the honors of well spent ex- |
istence and undisturbed in her atheistic |
belief. From her had radiated an influence |
which may be clearly traced at the present |
day. There are now living of her direct |
descendants who have reached mature |
age fourteen, all of whom are atheists or
agnostics. There is not one believer in the /
Christian religion among them all
Mr. George Reno, the great-grandson of |
Mrs. Parker, who tells this story of his |
ancestor, says: "One thing is certain. and |
that is the deathbeds of agnostics. so far
rs my family is concerned are far from
being the fearful things usually pictured |
Both my grandfather and his brother. |
Mrs. Ingersolls father, lived to be old men |
iull of vigor and possessing all their fac |
lties in a remarkable degree TO an ad-
sanced age. They died the most peace |
-ul and happy deaths, so easily that no /
)ne knew the exact moment when they |
passed away, and both of them remained |
irm in their agnosucism to the last mo- |
nent. They were fairly adored by the |
people of Illinois in the neighborhood |
where they had lived and where they did |
50 much to benefit the country, and they |
we're mourned as but few men are in |