The times., 1899-07-22

ITespglCTldu laltn dominated the Oller
half. Both these elements would unite
to oppose any man who was currently
supposed 10 be openly irreligious. AT the
time when Ingersoll. as a young man, was
making his choice OF career. oratory was
one Of the most powerful agencies of great
ness. In the House, in the Senate, in the
pulpit in the courts, the great orator
sprang to the front of his profession with
the swiftnoss OF predetermined success.
This. again, was due TO the condition Of
the country. In q region where there are
but few books, or where these are collect
ed in great private libraries, and inac-
cessiblo to the multitude, oratory is always
a passport to recognition. a pioneer peo-
pie is naturally emotional, yet quick to
think and to reason along certain broad
lines. The orator who combines the abil-
ity to make epigrams of trenchant and pic
turesque quality with the power of draw
ing 4 glowing picture in words, and has
withal a magnetic personality and fine
presence, can cradle such a people in the
hollow of his hand. He can have any office
in their gift. And all these talents had
Robert G. IngersoIl.
His road was comparatively easy. All
he had to do was to assume the virtue,
if he had it not; to attend church, refer
respectfully TO matters religious, and occa
sionally to lend his presence as a matter
of endorsement, to some religious gather
ing. But this would indicate that he be-
lieved what he did not believe. And this
was just what Ingersoll could not do. 1t
IS said that in his career as a lawyer he
was never known to accept retainer for
cause which he did not believe to be
good He chose to say frankly what he
thought and he said it with such force,
and his audacity was so novel, that what
he said on religious subjects impressed the
public more than anything else that he
said and he became known to the country
at large as Ingersoll the infdel, and lot
as Ingersoll the politician, the lawyer, or
the orator. new and large country is
prone to the making of totems. 1t does not
analyze character: it seizes on some one
Characteristic and labels man with that.
Consequently there are probably hundreds
of thousands OF people who know that In
gersoll was an agnostic, for one who knows
of his brilliant speeches on non-religious
subjects, his successful career as lawyer,
or anything else that he ever did aside
from his semi-occasional lectures on reli-
gion.
This development killed his political
career. as he must have known that 1t
would. 1t killed that of Thomas Paine.
before him, though Paine was man of
very different type. 1t would have de-
stroyed the career of any man, however
talented, however great in personality,
however perfect in action, who had lived
in this country during the first half CT the
century
There was another side of Ingersoll's
character, which was even more impress
sive than his uncompromising sincerity.
1t was his great love for humanity. He
often quoted Paine's aphorism, THE world
is my country. and to do good my re-
ligion," and it cannot be denied that he
lived his creed with the same straight
forwardness with which he declared his
unbelief. in fact, his sincerity was in
some sort an outgrowth of his devotion
to humanity. There is one phase of the
theology of the past which has so CON-
pletely disappeared that few enlightened
people can realize that it ever existed, even
though they may remember sermons in
which il found place. This was the cruelty
of certaIn. creeds. carried TO their logical
conclusion. There are men now living
who remember hearing clergymen declare
from the pulpit that infants too young 20
be responsible for the smallest action were
suffering in the flames of eternal torture;
that there was an objectionable sin.
the nature of which was not known;
that for the man or woman whose intel
lect refused to accept certain dogmas there
was no hope in the hereafter; that those
who had never heard of Christ were to be
condemned TO everlasting suffering for not
having heard of him. There are few per-
sons to be found nowadays who really be-
lieve these doctrines, in the way that they
believe in the reality OF the Johns
town flood. Perhaps there have never
been many who could picture them
in all their ghastliness and still
say that they believed. It is seldom, in
deed, that a man or woman can be found
who will admit that a loved one has been
condemned TO eternal pain The nominal
or real acceptance of these ideas by vast
majority of people in the old days was
probably due partly to lack of Imagination,
and partly to real callousness to human
suffering. In uncivilized human nature
there is a tendency 10 genuine delight IN
misery, of a greater or less degree. Chill
dren torture animals; savages torture hui
man beings; the Jesuit missionaries in the
wilds of French Canada, three hundred
years ago. reported that the pictures of
the wicked suffering the pains of perdition
were much more appreciated by the saw
ages than those of the good Indian in the
happy hunting grounds; and the congre-
cations OF fifty years ago were pleasantly
entertained. or moved to half-fearful
delight, by sermons which would be shock
ing TO the sensibilities OF more thought
full and imaginative audience. Ingersoll.
with his quick imagination. his broad af-
fection for all living things, and his force
OF reasoning. saw all the possibilities of
such creed much more vividly than most
Of those around him; and with his great.
well-balanced, healthy organism, his heart
and brain revolted from it. He could not
endorse. in any possible shape or manner,
a creed which condemned millions of in
nocent fellow beings TO suffer forever
Neither could he sympathize with the as
ceticism which denied 10 suffering human
ity all the pleasures that are possible in
this checkered existence of ours. He for