Evening journal., 1899-07-31

limprOmptu speeches TOOK vast deal
of composing, and that they lost their
INTENDED effect solely by the very evil
dent labor bestowed upon them. So
Hong as Mr.. Ingersoll held aloof from
matters theological then just so long
was he entertaining. But the very
moment he attempted to mentally
tread the domain OF the Infinite, and
to treat things spiritual from his mar
lrow, finite, self-satished standpoint
then that moment he became The per-
lsonhcation of righteousness, the very
epitome OF Damned Nonsense. There
was nothing new, nothing original,
nothing but what had been threshed
over and over again, in Mr. Ingersoll's
Theological reasonings. The time was
when the eccentricities of his theology
were wont to set the table on a roar"
But the time came when those eccen-
tricities were as so much sounding
brass, and when the man and his bas-
tard theology were alike barely toler-
ated by the public, public whose in
telligence long ago pierced and shat
tered the weak spots in his argumenta-
tive armor. In fact, the public paid it's
money to see Bob" Ingersoll just as
IL paid its money to gaze upon the two
headed Nightingale, or the Siamese
twins, or some other freak or mon
strosity of nature. All this was quite
in accordance with the eternal fitness
lof things. "The fool hath said in his
heart, there is no God" Following the
lsame line Of logical reasoning. one is
forced to the conclusion that Robert
C. Ingersoll, as a natural deduction of
that reasoning, was not only a motley
fool, but that he passed away, as do
all such fools, unwept, unhonored, and
Iunsung
Mr.. Ingersoll, Notwithstanding his
cardinal and never-to-be-forgiven sin
-Unbelief-was, perhaps, the most or
nate Of public speakers. We have
heard the liquid speech Of Punshon:
we have been charmed by the poetic
oratory OF a John Bright, and we have
listened in wonderment to the practi-
cal eloquence of a Gladstone. But, in
our opinion, the mellihuous cadence and
golden oratory of Mr.. Ingersoll, bar
ring certain monotonous delivery,
anked superior to that Of either OF the
above quoted exponents OF oratorical
hetoric, in that the oratory Of Mr.. In
gersoll forced the listener to grow
cary round the lashes, and compelled
the sympathetic chord, resident more
or less in us all, to respond in unison.
If the reader will but glance over Mr..
lngersolls eulogy OF the poet Whit
man, and which was delivered at the
: graveside Of the said poet, he will not
, only catch the drift OF our contention
but he will possess a very fair concep-
A tion Of the chaste and poetic refine
g ment which in spite Of his cold and
bleak agnosticism, characterized the
= mind Of Mr.. Ingersoll. We know of nc
- funeral or neurological grafton at ali
q comparable, so far as ornateness and
. chastity OF diction are concerned, witt
a Mr. lngersolls eulogium apropos ol
d Whitman. And II can also be said
h that if Mr.. Ingersoll had allied him
l. self to the Church, the matter Of sec
II or denomination is immaterlal, h,
ID would have been instrumental in tn,
r. salvation OF souls innumerable Hi
/ oratory alone would have accomplish
r ed all that. And it is just pos
re sible that Mr. lngersoll, us the darl
;" and chilly nature of his noisome cree,
re dawned upon his more matured intel
!" lect, and as his once undoubtedly bril-
IN liant imagination groped its wa,
to through the dismal corridors Of mem
?" ory, was very sensible Of so patent
lie truth, and very much alive to tn
as leviathan character OF his one menta
he mis-step in life.
en- Perhaps no estimate OF Robert c
.pt Ingersoll would be either just or CON
I'D plete that failed to chronicle his gen
mt erosity OF purse and service, both ha,
ed ing been, it is pepularly supposed, ope
m to the requirements OF the truly need,
And any estimate of this seemingl
ate paradoxical specimen Of humanit
would be, perhaps equally unjust an
It incomplete that failed to state that.
a moral sense, Mr.. Ingersoll, like job
ax- Stuart Mill. ever wore the whit
m: flower Of a blameless life" These vi
on tues, both being of somewhat raj
or or exotic character. Mr.. Ingerson Do
re- sessed in very appreciable degree.
NY The wind has blown over Mr.. Inge
on soil, and, like the player who stru
BILE and frets his hour upon the stage. ]
ep- Will be seen no more Of men. The gre
ilul American public will miss the char
uld lol his iiowery speech. But that W.
no be the extent of the inhnitesimal vo
her crQafo1 Inv bic ,,oocfrr ,..-,... e. a,