The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-08-03
ROBERT u. iNGkRSOLL.


most popular infdel of his times.
Many men have published more learn
ed and scholarly attacks on the Bible,
but his wit, ,humor, and brilliant imagi-
nation captivated his audiences. and
carried conviction because he kept
their attention He was poet, and
not a lawyer or scholar. His voice
had singular sweetness, and when he
was in earnest, it had a clarion ring in
it. -
He was the son of a clergyman, but
left the ''trodden paths" as he inform
ed the writer, only after he had read
Tom Paine's works, and the abuse that
was heaped upon him. Il wanted to
do Paine justice, but when [ tried to
defend him, the pious men in America
began to abuse me- i then turned on
the crowd and let fly, and have been
letting fly ever since" He gave up
much of his law practice, because the
profits of his lecturing trips brought
him an annual revenue of nearly $780,
900, and left him much leisure time.
to shat of Mr.. Choate but he never
commanded as large practice. He did
many legal services without pay
Fifteen years ago he moved to New
York city, but was Ostracised socially
by the upper and religious classes.
Prominent men would entertain him
at their clubs, and approve of his SEN
timents, but they did not take him
to their homes, because 1.-The women
called him a wicked infidel," and would
not receive him. But he had thous-
ands of female worshippers.
In spite of this, his services as an
orator were in demand in all of the
great Republican conventions and
celebrations which indicated his stand
ing as a patriot.
He had friendly controversy with
Dr., Henry NJ Field of the New York
Evangelist. i'm which DR.. Field admit
ted that he had some doubts about
"the existence of everlasting hell fire. !"
Col. Ingersoll said in private: eff DR..
Field had given up hell fire, he would
have driven me out of business" He
believed that if the law of eternal
vengeance gave way to the law of love,
the world would be regenerated, and
the highest spiritual life was reached
through love, and not Through fear. He
told the writer on one occasion that
according to a leading religious jour
nal. seventy-five per cent. of large
number of Protestant clergymen, VINO
were asked if they believed in the doc
trine of eternal punishment, replied
that they did not If this IS true,
he said, then L shall stop abusing the
people who are giving up cruel god
At no time did (he ever use such bias
pemous and profane language towards
the Supreme Being as the poet Ten
nyson did Gin private) when he was
discussing the doctrine of eternal pun
isflment, as one of his friends recently
related it.
AS an agnostic, he had no positive
beliefs about immortality. He said a
man need care little about his future
if he practiced the law OF love. AT
the grave of a little child, he said:
1.-THE future has been filled with fear,
stained and polluted by the heartless
past. From the wondrous trees of life
the buds and blossoms fall with ripen-
ed fruit, and in. the common bed OF
earth patriarchs and babes sleep side
by side Why should we fear that
which will come to all that is? we
cannot tell We do not know which
is the greatest blessing, life or death
We cannot say that death is not good
We do not know whether the grave
is the end of this life or the door o
another, or whether the night here Il
not somewhere else a dawn.
No man standing where the hOrizo1
of life has touched a grave has an!
right to prophesy future hlled VIII
pain and tears 1t may be that death
gives all there is of worth to life. L
those who press and strain agalns
our hearts could never die, perhap
that love would wither from the earth
Maybe a common faith treads iron
out the paths between our hearts tn
weeds of selishness, and l should rath
er live and love where Death is kin:
than have eternal life where love il
not. We have no fear; we are al
children of the same mother and tht
same fate awaits us all. We, too have
our religion, and it is this: "Help fol
the living, hope for the dead"
When he was charged with making
agnostics, he said he only voiced tn
agnosticism of the age, which was il
the Churches and out OF them.