The San Francisco call., 1899-07-22

any intelligence whatever could fall to
comprehend The man was not elected,
but sat through the entire address and
at the close asked the privilege Of beg
ging the lecturers pardon.
Like most men of genius, Colonel Inger-
soil was a passionate lover of music, and
the harmOnies of Wagner seemed to him
to be the very acme of musical expires
sion. In giving voice to his love for
Wagnerian strains he once said:
There is something more in music than
can be expressed in rhythmical periods,
some greater joy than can be felt by
hearing it simply accented in measured
intervals. 1t struck me long ago that that
music which rose and fell at precisely the
same distances with exactly the same
emphasis did not express the feelings of
the heart; that there must be some splen-
did composition that did not have to come
back to the starting place in SO many
beats. There is a music of the heart and
of the intellect and of thought, and this
I hold to be the music of Wagner. OF
all the composers of the world, in my
Judgment. Wagner stands at the head.
Shakespeare uses the same words as we
do, and yet they glitter with a light that
it is impossible for us to give. When we
read him we wonder. Is 1t possible that
this man does this in a common way?'
And when I hear the music of Wagner I
say, Is it possible that this is made with
ordinary chords?' The moment the or
chestra begins to play Wagner's strains
all the instruments are transigured. They
seem to utter sounds that they have been
longing to utter ever since they were
made. Even the drums join in the joy
Gus riot. The old bass viol is alive with
passion. The 'celIos throb with love and
the violins thrill with the divine feeling.
When l hear this music 1t seems to me
that it is full of glory of color through
which the Violins picture the coming of
the morning, and the horns the glory of
the stars cleaning above us. Color comes
gradually from the other instruments and
then the orchestra floods the world with
the day"
Notwithstanding his thoroughly her
etical beliefs, or lack of beliefs. OF. as he
would say, because of them Colonel In
gerson was very tender hearted man
No one has ever made so strong an ar
gument against vivisection in the alleged
interests of science as IngerSOI did in a
speech a few years ago. To the presenta-
ton Of his views against the refnemeEts
of scientific cruelty he brought his most
vivid Imagination. his most careful
thought and his most impassioned ora
tory. So. too, he was indignant concern
ing what he called the crimes agatnst
criminals. who often. he believed,
more sinned against than SHINING.
what shall be done" he asked with
the slayers of their fellow-men, with mur-
derers? Shall the nation take life? The
tendency of the extreme penalty is to pre-
vent conviction. In the presence of death
it is easy for a jury to find a doubt If
the penalty were imprisonment for life
the jury would feel that if a mistake were
made it could be rectified But where the
penalty is death a mistake is fatal. A con-
scientious man takes into consideration
the defects of human nature, the uncer-
tainty of testimony and the countless
shadows that dim and darken the under
standing, and refuses to find verdict
that, If wrong cannot be righted. The
death penalty inflicted by the Govern
ment is q perpetual excuse for mobs. The
and as long as States inf1ict the penalty
Of death mobs will follow the example"