The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-24
INGERsOLL's PHILOSOPHY.
Capital and Labor the Same-IgnO-
rance the Bane of Man.

New York Journal.
Ingersolls drawing room in May was
all white. The mantel mirror, the tall
figurnes, the clock that rang the hours
in a crystal voice softened and sweet, the
armchairs with exquisite holdings. had their
summer linen dress. He had opened the
door himself, not to disturb a servant en-
gagged in packing books into box. and he
stood for moment on the stone stairs. The
trees of Gramercy Park seemed new. The
sky above them had been evidently fur
rowed by the chariots of fairies. Il love
New York immensely he said. But I
am tired. / feel that / cannot rest in
this big city that thinks so much, that
has taught me how TO think. and that in
vites me continually to think. 1 am going
into the calmness of little house in the
woods. i dream of staying there until a
greater calmness. irrevocable then, shall
envelope me entire
OH exclaimed, Goethe says
That a man dies only when he con-
sents to die" continued Ingersoll. "You
like to quote that. His vital power was
extraordinary. He meant that one con-
sented to die when all the energies that
constitute life were destroyed in one. In
other words. he thought that a man died
when he could no longer live. There is
poem by Goldsmith made of truisms like
that. ."
In the abstract, is 1t true" asked,
that we are contemptuous of men of
wealth here?"
mo. On the contrary, We worship them;
we are all fiattering by trying to initiate
them. We are snobs'' Ingersoll said. I'm
the old countries they have other ideals
worship of ancestors of artists, of intel
ways more snobbish than monarchy. The
idea of equality in rights entails the idea
of inequality In privileges. This becomes
between labor and capital. Labor is capital.
What is the advantage Of the man who has
accumulated great sums of money? Greater
Some of the best friends that humanity
had in its errant course were DauDers.
Men of wealth have a greater ability to do
true. The test Is contentment. The man of
wealth has the rare painting and the costly
statue; the poor art lover owns them. for
they reveal TO him their beauties that the
other is incapable of appreciating. 1 am
incapable of understanding the ambition
to make money that actuates most men.
There are so many other nobler things
with which money cannot agree. There
are art. literature. philosophy, science"
1t was one of the hours when the time
seemed like tranquil stream, and
every word that one said was pebble that
one threw IN 1t. Ingersoll smoked a cigar,
his persistent idea of taxing church prop
erty, from criticism or the Bible, from the
themes that he liked to discuss in public. He
said: 1T is vain terror that does the great
est harm in the world-the terror of super
stition, the terror of nature. the terror of
things imagined. There is no remedy but
TO educate, educate. educate. Think of the
state OF mind of the man who believed firm
liz that the earth was the center OF the uni
verse and that all the stars revolved around
IT, He saw the present and the future in
three phases, similar to the stage scenery Of
the old mystery plays. He'll. Earth and
Heaven. He saw the sulphurous smoke of
Hades come out Of the rocks and the noun
tain tops. He was afraid of everything.
The reason was that he was ignorant. He
was similar 10 child in bed frightened by
the form OF cloak on chair
do you think that the modern man
knows much more now, when ii Is demon
strated that the earth Is only drop of
mud and our sun ball OF gas?" / asked.
IT am willing to admit that the telescope
and the microscope are means OF aiding the
senses in their illusions and OF multiplying