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NOTES ON IN6ER80LL
.;
BEV. L. A. LAMBEET,
OF WATEKLOO, N.Y.
1
BEV.
PBEFACB
BT
PATRICK CEONIN.
r^
EIGHTH EDITIOH.
•
■
TORONTO*
-.
PUBLISHED BY W. G. GIBSON,
,/•
!;
:!!
nifgfr.Jc^'t.
3478
'■^iSSSSS
PEEFACE.
rpHESE " NoteT on IngersoU," by the ReTerend Lonia
_L A. Lambert, of Waterloo, New York, have alreadv
muohtothedebphtof readers of that journal; thev have
alao been extensTvely copied and commented nponL the
Catholic press throughout the country. They a?e. unJui-
^T&^Y T* ?"'^^°8 '«P^7 y«* °>«i« to that^otori-
0U8 httle fraud— Ingersofl— who so loves to Dose as a
I'^T^' ^"^^^^i^ r^"i"'' »>^^ ^»^° livesrin^v^s,"nd
has his being, m the laughter and applause which his fes-
oennme butfoonery provokes. Regirliing them as a com-
plote anmhilataon of the pretentioSs scoler, and diirons
that they should reach a much larger public than could be
secured fcy any newspaper, however widely circ^a^jhe
present writer pointed out to the author the ^v^sSlmtv
15*^'°Jl^"1*f "°*^ ^>8» ^ ^"^^ " No?es '• spJf^d brS
cast m the interest of Religion, especially at this tiX
*°wrS?if^^ ?;«^ *\"' publication in the prewntS:
Would that those, whose minds have been poisoaedTv
Ji^hT^'T P^" »nd brilhant rhetoric of ourAmericaJ
arch-Llasphemer, could read these " Notes " I They wouS
«n^ I fi^r'^""*^' ^^ ^ «»nuendo, and malevolent S
purpMe, IS the man upon whose every utterance they hunff
^^ dehght. With CO d, relentless Jruelty, FatW W
bert pursues IngersoU, in these pages, step bv ston nj^
wghlm with keen Damascus bSI a^t evenTtum '-ave*
dis^ting him to the verv marrow of his K-"nd ffi
holds him up, like another unmasked Mokanna? to the
contempt and Bcom of mankind. "««'na, w tne
fi»5f'®*°' ^i?**' ^8 shown that this profoundly orimnal
tinker is the veriest of plagiarists, palming off. 2f Ss
own, the worn-out objections of the infldeli. of nf.h^r^.Sl
wi.ioa aave been answered hundreds of timw." Yea~verilv
this vriiant knight, of the theological touWmenf s S:
ingbut a fraudulent peddler of oTd infidTjSSk He nw
tends to bring to the polemical market jiwS rwS?S
" PBXrAOI.
aiiSl' f?"** Tf !i*1 ^•^•y "Of® Fattier Lamberts, etDeoi.
Ski thi '!?J?i^ State.. togiT. I,, opportune pl^^Cte
of Ll r?TeaMSS;h"ii* •^S'* workofTe blauSt revileS
w ui reveaiea truth, who, like the reptile brood hiu tnrih
their venom against Christ and hi. ChurcL L^rtihon^
heroism self-sacrifice, and similar high wunS phra^J*
are continually on the lip. of these souLiatl. «KiK tS^ '
ennoble huriian nature— destroy the belief in a HereRf}«V
they fiourish ? Infidelity linows no standard of Richt Ind
I'iS^'rS^;"^' '"^^"^ ^ *^« corner.stone''u^fw*,;;g
As may be obserred, these "Notes" are writf^n fr««,
the broaSost Christian standpoint^lo thtrthey Xht to
Patbiox OBOMnr.
^"^ ,Vi
MOTES ON INGERSOLL.
INTRODUCTORY.
THE mrth Anurican Review for Ancast 1881 ««k
liHhed an art cle on the GhriiiHitn n^7i • C^V. P""*
O. IngeraoU, together with »S*° Behgion, by Roberfc
Black of WwSton dtv In IJ v ** *'^ Jeremiah S.
the same /^e..i.a,X^nMioll ,enM^ .°"?*^' <>'
and there the controvers^^l'g'ifa?^^^^^^^^ ^""'^^^^
which he was not well eaufnnS k f^ * ^?^^ °' •*'''o» 'o'
structure. Thev wZ !?nf ^i?^ ^^ education and mental
to the J^on o? Wssilence Tr"*' ^''* ^**1« »° ^°"b' «»
letter addressed to the ir^/mwrf*^^^ ^'•^ 8*^^*' '» •
religious paper publiSh^Tn^.^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^'^^ '^ ^««Wy
tinc'irSide«l^S'"tSXrrf ^'- ^^*°^' "i* ^'^ d«-
with fhe^"SSon * "^ A^hr'? *^ »y P"*'^'^^^^
cation I a.^ed that if M- Tn„ i. u *,*™® °' **^e pubii-
with the S. it mil? Lem^"";i^^^^ tS find
other chance on th^rmo t^ms TwaJ ^otl'frlt,^7 *"•
an7faf^'tT^^th;^'rr^« fifty pages of the foulest
man. w^tittom^** I wiTSJirX wn*«?°f ^^^ <>'
I had treated th« ;tho™K2H'.^^y_.^'"'.°K !» treat it as
bope to ^.T^txz 'i'Xi^-^l^i:^A z
6
NOTIS ON INaXBSOLL.
editor. To my Bnrprise I was informed that no contm
wonS°Af* n^*^°' ^' °"*i««°» o« mine! oranyb^y e£'
« was to be prmted immediately, and would occudv ho
afm^nffn ifo ' Its bulk couia not be reduced so as to
adimt of an answer m the same number, it should be noat
poned until a reply could be made readj^ for mibltation in
tre"re^c?S"1%,""°^^^'- ^»^» ^n/diTer^'er^Trs
were rejected, for the express reason that ' Mr InMranii
Wm to ?„?.£•"'"?,*•; /^W *^« ^'^^^ cfntrolfed by
him to smt himself, I do not tlink I was bound to go fu?
u*5^" explanation puts the affair in a light which reflecf «
his Dos^Sn fhi*^ P^'^^* confidence in the stren^h of
con^nt Kip fSii* "** conceivable reason why he should
nn fi«S?:. I- PpfPose had been to stop the controversy
maS KX1.'if"l,f mtellectual com^bat with aXng
^l!^u^r,9^^^^^y no* bound to go further and trus*
himsdf or his case to a Review that haS outriS h* a riS ts
or to a man who had taken advantage of an Se?t wS
had temporarily disabled his antagonist. ""^'"^^ ''^^^^
BlaJikof'Si'^H^f" ?P^y' "dignantly accuses Judge
engajje the highest faculties of tSe W? mind and t
a-ar;CV%?ac^"^^-*' vituperatio^VS^-
or of a class, of the living or of the dead, is uSved
J,Sl*?,;?^ singularly out of place when treating ^^^^^^
subject that demands the exercise of the highest facultieS
of the inte lect, and which involves the destiny o* man
K«w):'**'^*«^^'i^^« *"* utteran^lacryof paiS;
his last, the groan of death. It is indeed no suK to
make merry over. Be man's fnf.nr« wW ;* ^-l°.i^_* J^
Sder it^'^n^^" whatever -pate field of
Twain, and oth/rswith^h^n^i?^ ^^"^^ Ward. Mark
sought new fielS 1^ J^Su ^ V'*''^'^ °°* compete. He
thatwhiXliec?dlizedw^Mh°^T°* *^^*°i*y' "elects
ReligionrS^tws new , !«!*''" "IY^^^ ^«^^ as sacred-
huiSrist) £ is not^nSnf^"lT*J' ^^^st for an American
pretends to li a nWIn^l""'*^ ^^^^^K *<>»>«» wit; he
feamedin the Scrint^i?^' * '"^^*"«*' » theologian
If his olaiiSs to S^Sse 'auaS^^ *°u^ * *»"*o"»°-
he is certainly well Mn?nS5/**t*°°* *^ *»« °"»^e good,
the intenSnTJto^s iSd^.Sf ?"'"*?^- ^°* J»« l»oks
the learningT^d '^fof VoK fT T^' ^' f'*'" P«°«.
tration of Hobbes and BnJ?noKri*''?uP*''^°***P^«aJ Penc-
of Herbert S^enS.?" he fei^^^^ analytical faSnlty
and the oomprehensivL?^ IS • ^^^*? *°^ Jinxley,
Stuart MiU. AU theslarm-of '°°-^*''^v ^P^"" «' John
Mr. Ingersoll has norsJcceSS T IS.?? ' ^^^^ ^^°°»
standing. Wanting in oriSnS^?2 h. i"^***^'?? or under-
the writings of Paine VoiS«S^'t-^ ?""V'^ liberally from
his points and a?OTments H^ hi'°^^^^^ *°^ «*^^'« ^o'
vanoinganytLffSwaaa;n«f%i^*\?°^'"*^^e^«d »» »d.
doing fim in3^ to eS it^^^^^^^ i' "
the past. %y ma»„. „» . "f* o'tfnrefuted sophistries of
im4n.ti„,.%rrge»oii z^°r<^r.i ■! ?">'«?'«'
sapless corpses into a mom.„t!tr ' 8»''Miwuig these
they wiB sW »« tw . i v J^ »PP«»»>ioe of ifle, but
a.*«cti«. Of M^U^'SaS"' ijS'u^ 'cirXtT ^
Black had onW^ theS.*^7" w the next Review. If
words of IncSrLfLi-i*''*^' *°^ misrepresented the
and miarepSted^iSi^ L**^^' ^*« °»*'ag^ the character
disgraced thHS^ he defSd*^' ^T"' ^^ ^.^"^^ '^^^^
,woSld be severe3nah f«, ft.^^^V*?i"<» condemnation
attacked TiI^b f^^^ith SLT^i'*^*" ''^^'^' »»»<*
was at leastb^avr WrSf^^*u^ spear in rest; that
honored dead, the leadSan^o ^^T'^^J^ithe great and
able natio^at ever roi JrST^ • f J?^ "".^^^ "^"^^'k-
jackal can gnaw LTflJffW ^^''^"sje? and fell. The
the field-mS?i ilav^SS'^-*^??'^! **' '^« ^^ad lion, and
The cb^^ter aJd morZ^«^ °° W^eplain.
vions to his attec£ as fti f h^^ ^"^ Moses are as imper.
javelin of the wande^inrAr^h ^X"""^}^^, «' Egypt to the
he passes, and dfsaD»eaS tSSw^ ''"^®«. *^^^' ^ase as
of^onder'tofutt^TneStTonsf *''^ '^"^ ^^'^ ^»>J^te
ChSi?niraSt\irs?attinr"^^^ ''' "^* *° '^^'^"^
and unphilosophiS alLJks buJ^tn t^f T^°**^^'?«^^
subject to be conBS«ro^.* , *** °^*'^® his article the
eveJy statemen? il ^ i *** analyze, with careful scrutiny!
An«ximaX%' Zri^^l" **';?'«"l,"'^ -"""Ji". from
l^ana. OabSiS'SlMf • ° J-™ 'e'los, down to d'Holdaoh,
them: ^"' ^'^^^ »»* *'»'"«. bave nevet answe^
argnmenta irnnftr,«!„; ."*'""" ' ignorance of those
peited I do not ™„^°' ?''"'' "''J' ""^y "''onM "» M-
Christiamty thSt ia'^jreal kTIS' *^'"' " " '» ■■»»
n ia to be L^iS Z^"J^L,^Sl¥'- I°ge«oU'8 artWe.
*"? »»?'» to deSmie •„h;t1j;;"^„^£f • "■" "■" M* *•
•!i:
I'l
I1
10
i^OTXd OH iHOBBSOLl*
are a mere evolntion of himself on paper. The glittef ,
sophistirjr, the bad faith, verbal leger-de-main, the pervad-
ing egotism, the assnmed infallibility, and the brazen
audacity of statement, so conspionons m his 'v?riting8, are
the fnll bloom and blosscm of his character.
In these Notes I shall follow him throagh his tortnoos
-windings as closely as possible. And, that 1 may not mis-
represent him, or fall, even nuiutentioBally, into unfair-
ness, I mtend that Mr. IngersoU shall always speak for
himself in his own very words. From this ont, then, it
will be a dialogue between him and his commentator.
CHAPTER 1.
MB. INOBESOLL'S «*U)1SA," AND WHAT OOMES OF IT.
INGERSOLL— •« The universe, according to my idea. is.
a ways was, and forever wiU be. * ^ Itfstheine
eternal being-the only thing that ever did, d. .s. or ^
Comment— When you say " according to my idea," you
leave the inference tjat this theory of an eternal Sive^^
qmred Its full development. Of course you id not intend
to mislead or deceive ; you simply meant that your "idea"
from the French, or elsewhere. Your phUosoihy. h^
those ^ays, wants the freshness and flavor of Salitv
and suffers from bad translation. The old origSS^ from
7^Zn ^^" W' t^'^^S^u* ^* «c«°»bent on them to givH
l^S^tlm^^h^''^^ *Se you do not deem this necessary.
Jiri J *?« ^"* ^?' y**?. t° formulate your •• idea." To at *
tempt to prove It would be beneath you. Is this the reason
why you do not advance one single argument to prove the
your "idea ''has the force of an argument, or that the
science of philosophy must be re-aSjusted iS^a^ yoS
hftppen to have an " idea " ? "w-ause you
vn!^«f ^''" ^^ • The universe is the one eternal being,
&lf *'"*'®' 1?f *° *?" ^«**»^«' '"^torial, ever.cha3
universe of matter. Inasmuch as you have given S
«in!S ' ^^*»^o°t»Vy '^'*«°'» °' argnient to support ft^ij
ST« iffi.? T? ""^ supererogation to attempt tJ ?efute it.
Sil ®"i"* to oppose my Idea to yours. But I wiU io
further and see if your idea of etern^ matter dc^s not in!
volve a contradiction. Of coarse you know th^ a state
mentor proposition, that involves a conti Miction cl^^*
wasoS^thusr ^^"^ *^® **®"'*^ ^^ "**tor. On tliisl
That which is eternal is infinite. It must be infinite
because, if eternal, it can have nothing to liiSt it
IS
MovEd otr iKaxssott.
T/?"*:ft** ^^^°^ ** ^"^"^*® "^««* *>« "finite In erety way.
If limited m any wb ' would not be infinite.
Now, matter is lim^ ^. It ig composed of part.,, and
composition 18 limitation. It is snb^ctto change and
change mvolves limitation. Change supposes sncSeision,
and there can be no succession without a beginning, and
therefore, I'mitation. Thus far we are bomboutbi rea-
son, experience, and common sense.
Then—
Matter ia limited, and therefore finite; and if finite in
f^y^^}''S,Amtemeveiyihmg ; and if finite in everything,
therefore finite m time, and, therefore, not eternal. ^
The idea of an eternal, self -existent being, is incompat-
ible, m ev^ry point of view, with our idea of matter. The
former is essentially simple, unchangeable, impassable,
and one. The latter is composite, changeable, passable
Mid multiple. To assert that matter is etJrnal. is toWrt
that aU these antagonistic attributes are identical— a orivi.
lege granted, by sano men, to lunatics only.
lN0BE80LL-«The universo, according to my idea, is
always was, and forever will be." ^ ' '
Comment— We have seen that this "idea" involves »
™lV^i°fW " t^*""^ as to say that parallel Unes can
meet, or that a thing can be, and not be, at the same time.
But othc^ important consequences follow from your " idea "
U this universe of matter alone exists, the mind, intel-
lect or soul must be matter, or a form of matter. Subli-
mate or attenuate matter to an indefinite extent, it vet
remains matter. Now, if the mind is matter, it must o^y
the forces that govern and regulate the action of matter.
*v,- -f * n * JS*J *^°^®™. ™***®' ^^ invariable. From
this It follows that every thought of the philosopher, every
calculataonof the mathematician, every imagmatiin anS
fancy of the poet, are mere results of material force, en.
tirely mdependent of the individuals conceiving them I
a J Mn?J?„ ^t ^^'^'^jP^Tf ^*"^ cwafcions of Shakespeare
and Milton, the wonderful discoveries of Newton, Araeo
and Young, the creations of Raphael and Angelo, are nofli'
inir mora than *hA flnwAt>inn anA ui,^^: 3 -__- . "««*
tation. Are all the extems of lunatic asylums prepared to
accept this philosophy ? *^ f~^^ w
But let us go a little further : You are proud of vour
philosophy ftQd your wisdom. But why should you 1m so
MB. IKOBBSOLL'a IDEA AND WHAT OOHES OF IT. 18
mZSil 5^®!' 5~ ^^ mere regnlts of the forces that govern
your wav of thinking if the world must be governed bv the
t?l Ta^? A'^;*?' '"•^If ' I ^ ^«««^« « *»»« Holy ?crip!
tores. Is that the result of material forces ? If Jo, why
try to ijersuade mo to the contrary? If your materiillistio
^TZSr^^'^^'Z'^l} ¥p ^^^ • Ch.istianrif I am
the victim of unalterable forces or hiws, why try to co"
I?fh?^i^*r"'^® T ^ *^«^* *« yo^* motions, a^
at the same time, compel me to reject them ? Why era-
demn kings as tyrants, and priests as hypocrites, if thev
Ynn^ iT^'^ '''°*">" ^' .^?« unalterable fS^s of ' "atte??
™r • *!t*" *?5*.*^®. **' ^"^'ty- » there is anything of
value m this world it is liberty. You thrum this tune tiU
SrlTir*^ t^ ?' ^*- Now. if there is nothi^ but
matter, and if matter is governed by invariable lawsT^A^r*
iZXTJ't''^ ""^"^'r- Materiiism destroys hi^n
fS^ »°dfiee agency, leaving man the victim of physic^
forces. You who prize hberty so highly should repudiate
not be according to your materialisUo doctrine, you are
inconsistent when you appeal to his inteUigence C III
v^n^XT''^^^^^ " y°? ^?P««* y«« relsoSi^gs to cSn!
vince him, smm his conviction must depend on material
forces independent of him and you. Ifyou understeid
^our principles jrou are bound, bj the iorlZ 1^^}^^
sUentand wait in patience the outcome of thole fowel
which are unaltorafoe, irresistible, and miavSSS>Ie ^f
men's thoughts are the result of mere phySS fowes!*it is
msaaity to reason with them. As wefi migb^ j^^
»l!*»«~'*»,6
CHAPTER n.
aOMBTHINO ABOOT THR LAWS OF NATUEB, AND HOW MB. INQKa-
BOLL OATHKE8" AN IDEA— HI8 IDEA OF HYDRAULICS.
JNGERSOLL-" We know nothing of what we oaU the
fi:«, ft!!l v"**?/®' ?*?®P* ** ^^ «»**^er the idea of law
from the uniformity of phenomena springing from hke oon-
ditanns. To make myself dear : Water\lways runs dc^n
CoMMEiTf — We acquire a knowledge of the laws of nature
by observing the effects of the forces of nature ; but we
do not gather •♦ an idea of law " from the study of these
forces and their effects. The idea of law, in general, L.
and must be, prior to the idea of particular laws.
We cannot assert a law in a given case without having
JfJ K ''' **7 ^ general. We say a particular law is a
law because It corresponds with the norm of law which
exists intuitively in the mind. The idea of la«r, then, does
not TOme from observing phenomena. These phenomena
enable us to acquire a knowledge of particular laws, but
not of law. The laws of nature, in the last Analysis, are
that mtimate and invariable connection which exists be-
tween natural causes and effects. This idea of cause and
effect, or the prmoiple of causality, as it is called, is the
basis on which we make our deductions from phenomena.
A stone, thrown up, falls to the ground. The mind, refer-
S'S^ii ! **^ »»»twtio«i of causaUty, asks:- What caused
It to fall ? The experiment is repeated with a like result.
The mmd here does not "gather an idea of law" but
begins instmctively to seek the law m the case. To seek
for « law presupposes the idea of law, for we do not seek
for that of which we have no idea.
To talk about " gathering an idea of law from pheno-
mena 'is unphilosophical. We conclude or deduce laws
from nnAnnmona. Knf. 'ota oann^j. it_-ii .3 •«
from anything. To gather an idea is like gathering a hue-
kleberry, or an Ingersoll. It is not customary to gather
a umt. You confound idea with judgment or deduction.
14
MIL ZNOKBSOLL'S ZDBA AMD WHAT 00MK8 OF IT.
15
The illostration yoa give, to make yourself clear, is on*
fortanato. Yoa say :
Imoebsoll— •• To make myself dear : Water always nms
down hill."
OoMMKNT— How, then, did it get up hill ? Or is there a
Serennial spring up there ? Water does not always run
own hill. To run down hill is an exception to the general
mode of the action of wator. In the present condition of
the physical world, the tendency of wator is npwa^ and
outward. This will be admitted of water m the form 5
steam or vapor. The water that falls as rain has been
first taken up by the sun's heat. Water runs up in the
capillary tubes of every vegetable that grows. More water
ascends in the capillaries of the vegetable world in one
day than falls over Niagara in a year. Water runs up in
all nvers that run toward the equator. The Mississippi
river carries its waters up an inclined plane, a perpendi-
cular distance of about four miles. The same is true of a
portion of the Nile. This earth on which we live and play
the vrfse and the foolish, is not a sphere, but a spheroidf.
It is flattened at the poles. The lowest places on the earth
are the regions about the North and South poles. The
equator, aU around the earth, i$ a mountain thirteen miUt
higher than the eurfaoe at the poles. The polar regions are
vast sn^en vaUeys. Now I ask: If " water always runs
aown hUl," why do not the waters of all the vast oceans
flood with impetuosity toward the poles ? Why do not
those waters seek their level equi-distant from the centre
and make the earth a perfect sphere ? Two-thirds of the
earth's surface consists of water. These multitudinous
waters do not run down hill— do not flow down towards
the valleys of the poles. On the contrary, they remain on
a vast slope, that rises toward the equator, a perpendicular
lieight of thirteen miles. They remain there on that in-
chned plane— on that hiU-side forever. You may say this
is caused by the rotation of the earth. I do not care what
causes it. The fact of it disproves your statement that
water always runs down hill. What you wanted to say
was CQia r W«.f«i> lib-A «na4^4-A.. «.. .11 i*.~ 'i.t « —i-is'i
to tbe stronger force. In the present case the oenjinf ugal
rorce 18 the stronger, and hence the waters of the earth
tend up hiU towards the equator.
. You saw, somewhere, a bit of water running down a hill,
i.i
il
16
N0TX8 ON INORBSOLL.
! !
I i
Yol^^- Kftthered the idea " that it always does so.
Year view was too narrow and local. It wanted breadth
and comprehensiveness. You misinterpreted nature as
S?„Slf ""v®"^^ *°^ mteinterproted M^ses and revealed
reUgion. You have proved yourself an incompetent inter.
£SSL ?**"t' »»^,yo". cannot be relied on when you
presume to mterpret, criticise, condemn, or deny Oiat
which IS above nature. '
IN0ER30LL-" The theist Bays this (water runs down hill)
hap^ns because there is behind the phenomenon an^aotive
«tnS*l?^m*'I^y® ^^^^ *®®° that von misunderstand nature,
and from what you now say it is evident that you do not
understand what the theist means. The theisHoesSot
•!L*i- !® ,18 behind the phenomenon an active law. He
fS£? * 5*®* ***® stupidities you attribute to him. What the
iSfch f^n**^ " *^'' : Beliind, prier to. and concomitant
with the phenomenon, there is a static or permanent force
rS ",°J'«^'««ted when the proper condftions are pS!
A stone, thrown up. falls. The power or force that brought
it down was there before it was thrown up, and continues,
aiter it has fallen, to keep it down. The delation between
the stone and the force is constant and permanent. This
force asserts itself pemanently. but is manifested to us
S?SJ1? iSJ*T «o"<^'?o°8. This force, sometimes im-
properly called a law, is what we understand by gravitation.
It was projected into nature when God creat^ nature.
phenomena" ^' * '"''""' "' '*°*' **^ ^ *^» "^^ «' «»«
CoMMBNT—That depends on what you mean by law. If
by the word you mean that force which actuates the nhe.
nomonon, your statement is not correct, and your plav on
the word "law "is beneatti the dignity of a pKopL?
INOBBSOLL-" Law docs uot causeWphenLem^n, but
the phenomenon causes the idea of law in our minds."
Ooiou!NT-If, by law, you mean the force I have spoken
of, It does cause the phenomenon. If you mean, bylaw
a m«je verbal formula, or statement of ibat a^Ven f oroe
Jhl ««L??^' ^?" circumstances, you are trifling with
the mteuigenoe of vonr rAadArs. pk«».«~— - ?_". "
us to acquire the tnowledge of a law, butTw we^avl
fi^L^S'nS^^v*^''* .°*"^.?f originate the idea of
law iQ our nuods. You confomid the idw of law with the
MB. IMOKRSOLL'S lOKA AMD WHAT COMU OF IT. ft
knowledge ot lawi. A philosopher should not write with
looseness of expression and inSeterminateness of thonTh*
Law. in our language, has more than one meaning When
speaking of nature, it may mean the action of natuwl
l°Aff"Vw* "f-^ "•^*° * ^t,"^***' 'o'°'»J» or stotement of
what that action IS or will be in given oirocmstanoes
Your purpose required that these two meanings should bo
confounded, and you, accordingly, confounded them
Phenomena do not cause the idea of law. The mental
faculty of assoc ating Uke events and refei^ng them to. '
common cause, together with the faculty of generalization'
enables us to formulate laws. A series of lilo phenomena
Idea of law, but it does not and cannot, in the nature of
thmgs, "cause the idea of Uw." The idea of law must
precede the knowledge of a law.
INOERSOLL-" This idea (of liw) is produced from (bv ?i
lie fact that. nn<1ov «L-« «;-\.„.v,„i.-:-._-^ *~"*"^ *™P.\?y V
the fact that, »»deTlike d^o»"Si.«?,'Sr»n>eTffi
phenomenon always happens." ^
Comment— A series of Uke phenomena suggests the eaiit.
H^^/JwT" *K '^^^ like circumstances, we are led to con-
elude that It IS the same force that is acting in each ewe
Further observation of this force's manifestetioMnd^i
phenomena are the manifestation of force-enables us to
aistingDish It from other forces, to identify it by its invL?
JZf^ ^'f ^^^^^ ?' familiarity with a force and its act.
ZnZ"" T^ *" T'^' r^** ^* ^»" ^° "'^der given drc?m
stances. These formulas are called laws of nature. In
this sense these laws arc purely subjective, that is to say.
ia?i^rr'T?°^y ^ • ^^^ "^T W^ehending them, and noTfn
nJfn^!»i^\^'^ '^ an inherent principlS in the forces of
nature which causes them to act fn the same manner under
the same circom stances. This, however, is not a Uw, but
the nature of the forces themselves. The laws of Mture
«,?«;rr*^""°'°°*y understood, are the uniform actton of
natural forces expressed in words. When phvsicists sneak
of the laws of nature, they refer to the foiSB/S wS^^-
laws are but the verbal expression. They sup^ philoai^
phers have sufficient intelligence to nndersfflittSs fiSt;
and yet it appears that they are sometimes mistaken, i^
all you say on this subject yon coBfpai)d lav with/iw;
':Ih
I !•
18
vom OK nroBBaoLL.
Henoe the difference in the weiaht of wnk- L^ i '"^'
•riMsfrom the »otiou of thoee & to^^^^^
«». «.W «rS.ma^teSLetol lifer "^
maum, it doea ao under *ff«Mn» SS »^ ii" "^ "*"*
Comment— Mr. Black " Drohfth "L.- ^u i. ^
-V »«w* BuuuusoiOQ ana rtNiemblanceT" '^~
OoMir .«T~I| wonld seem that it 'nAAma a^ 4.^
7«» m„ «^tea tmt idea ^' ♦^."S.t^ ^'J;^"*
A TOUGH Of MXTAPBTBICS.
I«
JoJ -! ' °^*i ^°** g^^J^tinn that it seems so to you, ar«
yoa so simple as to advance that as an argument f Your
^ nhbles on the word "law " have been alr«a.i^ expo-.Hl
. >w IS the cause of phenomena. The law is ih mere
BUtement of what the force will do in a given ^;
in nnr mtvAa
CHAPTER m,
A TOUCH or metaphtbics ; with a tail-phok about " uon ^jst
THOUOHT."
TNGERSOLL-M,^ t ^ ^^ ^^^ ^,
J_ oomwls us to admit that there was a time when noth
ing existed except this God."
T£°I?"'*"'r7f *J^"P*^n °* *^ "^^^ notJ»«R of the kind.
Jrf VnnM "i^'l can place an eternal act.** His creaUve
Jn^ T*^' *^ri°'f '^^ co-eternal with His being. The
endo the act, that IS. creatiou, could be co-existout with
the eternal act, and. therefore, eternal. To deny thil is
. to affiun that there could be a moment whence eternil
and one omnipotent God could not act, which is contrary to
Christian teaching. Christianity does not teach tffihe
umverse was actually created /rom eternity, but reason
toaches that it oouid fcave been so created. &ut. granS
that the universe is not an eternal creation, your conclS
would not follow. For in this hypothesis, as time begaS
W Zf r? *°^ '^ J^^ measure of its endurance, it fol
iTnn?t ^^/o'-e e'^eation was. time was not. Hen^, God
d^d not exist in time before creation. God IS. To S
there is neither past, present, nor future-only eternity
God IS alone before creation was. But grantin/that oS
is alone before creation was, what foUows ? ^
INOEEHOLL-" That this God lived from eternity in infi-
nite vacuum and absolute idleness." '"«''"*y » inn-
CoMMENT-If Uod lived in it. it could not have been
^^!^lt.^Aj^^^ •« that in which no^C is In th«
xvF----"-"-i iiias uoa is, lie is something: He is infinifut this does not prnvcut us from knowing? *?-'** ^^^^i^i
What we do know.' We know not'diid'airsolutelyrbnrwe
know, with certainty, that He is. '
infinitely limited, but little as we know, aU have aa eaoal
nght to give their honest thought." ^
-r--
22
!|]|
IfOTES Olf iNGEftsOLt,
tbe ^ud^e7j;^1J\»^;S'?hii' f'^t^?^-^on «ense being
amostSfinitelylimiS InS^ ^^ knowledge i?
Rive their honest thoSSt W °'*y,^ave an equal ri«ft to
their hon.3t Zught on all «nl°°".^ ^*^® **^« "«ht to give
stances. Common sense^iS^J^^'^** *°,^ ""^«' all circfm!
esty of a thonghrd^rnot fivf t^'^^^r*'^^.*^^ The hon-^
truth to it. If 80, Cat^cs f ouldhifv,* u' i^^Po^ance or
for none are mo^ honeS 7n fW JS® *^.^* *»^ '^^soners,
Thought must be judged w/th leHL^^'l^^^l **^*° **»«y'
not with reference to the honestv of M *° 'J" *'."**'' ^nd
This plea of honesty in thinSt a in«?fi ""^-^ *^i°^ i*'
error and crime, foJ we must 1 5.^^*'^*'**'**° °^ eve:-
case, take the th nker WdfoV S. i?® ""V 'i**'''^ »f «^i^"^
Sl'!?"',^ ^e can'SvVC'^r.^,?if^^^^^^^^^^
Guit^;;;i^-irwrz'SvVC'^°"^^^^
thought by^eans of a^Xl^^^^^^^^^^
-""•> " we can De.
in claiming the right to livA^^r^u* ^^^ °^*»"^- Then,
claim the ^ght to fflz^tCthChfe*. *^°."«^*' y°»
and cause it, as far as you cm to ISSLiof °* *^^ P'Mtice,
human society. If your da^ foJ E!f *f ' ?°^ o^'^ain m
'7tSk?i*t'i{'*iA^"-^^^
S^^^:^S.^'tS^;|^^^^ 3,nr
do you interfere witMhniavJffili °t^' ^^ what r^ht
the Mormon's honest S^.ugLV?^^^ou^^^^^^^^^
exwessmg honest thought is a miWbSinSf ^^^ "«^* <>'
by It you mean that only those whn «!S P'?*ense, or else
right of expressing it in woTor^^on t^ ^^" ^»^« *he
our loquacious liberals, When ImIv^!;, Sf ^^^^^^es of
mean precisely this and nottSSg mwe ' ^ ^* ^""^^ *<>
CHAPTER IV.
SOHETHINQ ABOUT THE DESIGN OF THE UNTVEBSE ', AMD IMQEB*
SOLL's " CURIOUS AND WONDERFUL THING."
MB. INGERSOLL next proceeds to show that the
argument for the existence of God drawn from the
plan or design of the universe is not conclusive. As Mr.^
Black did not advance this argument I am at a loss to nn>
derstand why it was introduced b^ Mr. Ingersoll, anless it
was to give us a specimen of his ability in the way of
metaphysical skyrocketing. Let as hear him.
Inoebsoll — " It will not do to say that the universe was
designed, and, therefore, there must be a designer."
Comment — Why not, if all have a right to give their
honest thought ?
Inoersoll — "There mnst be proof that it was de*
signed."
Comment — Certainly, and the proof is to be found in
every work on theology and philosophy that treats of the
subject. As a lawyer, you know that proofs are not to be
thrown out of court by a mere stroke of the pen. It was
incumbent on you to examine those proofs and show
that they are not conclusive, or accept tuem. Instead of
this you very cunningly leave the inference that no such
proot^ exist. If you knew of those proofs you should, in
all candor, have meet them fairly ; if you were ignorant of
them, yon should havo informed yourself of tiie arguments
on the otiier side before yon undertook to answer them.
Tou have said *' candor is the courage of the soul." Let
us have courage.
The proofs given by theologians and Christian philoso-
phers that evidences of plan and design exist in this physi*
cal universe have never been met by yon. Accordmg to
the rules of logic they are good until yon meet and over«
throw them. This you must do by reason, and not by bald
assertion. •
Inoebsoll—" Tt will not do to say that the universe has
a plan, and then assert that tiier« has been an infinite
maker."
81
ru «
24
tJOTES OH rtfaERSOU.
Comment— Of mnn^r. ,•* -i,
out any proofs to ffthp'If f"""* ^"^ *° "^^'^^^ «ay it with
things, aid. the^f^re. &sfc!anTvf',*« ^^^ «*y «« ^ny
ply those proofs. The Dron?„ Sf • «°hol»w invariably sud
does and must follow thM«^-°^ ^^''^ °«*il retuLd\
Wffier, Creator. '^** *^^'« « »« infinite planner, de
iNOEBSOLL — «• Thfl i<1oo *v
«inning, and that a desf^^r n a, design must have a he
^TolLT?,^^-^^^^
reaches of human ^reas^'X^* '' ^^^ ^^ *he highest
the thread of the aSenf i^" ^*^« evidently lost
Christian philosophy CnSL^»°A',^ t'yi^'g to refute
«gn of the univerftfl J,oS^ i ?^''®'t *liat the clan m.^
teaches that^Kan Jr d*.«^'^""^«- ^° *^« cSSrarv ?fc
tX*"?5Sf*^'-S?s't^^^^^^^
wungs. The universe is tho fif^t^if -5 ^^P® °^ ^^ created
• -INGEESOLL— «♦ Wo fi„^ „ „ . ,
and wonderful a tWng mSsThavi h"^ ""^ ^^^ • So curious
CoMMENT-The Chri8fci«n i^ ^ ^*** * maker." "*'
•"^^^r because it is cuSsir''^*,*^^^'* that it had a
shows evidence of bavW hi '''''^^r^"^' »>ut because i?
and wonderfulness of ff »^!^? »«arf.. The curiousneso
rnteih^ent mB,ket. A mud «1 Sii^^^S^'^^ the idea of an
deSTS^eJauie^heis^^udr'^^ ^« °°«o«« and won"^
unfortunate for ChristilniV tf tj?^^' ^"'"y- ^t ^o»S be
sent its case. '^^ " ^O" were permitted to m-n!
wonderful «„tl,eSS?1;rCfS?^.; «' " -
CESiaN OS' TflB tNIVERSe.
25
Comment— You say this, but " we " don't. When we
find God, we find the self-existent Being, infinite and efcer-
nal, and therefore we say. He must «o^ have had a maker.
This 18 the way the Christian reasons, and it is somewhat
different from the childish nonsense you would put into his
moutb
Ingeesoll— " In other words, all things a Uttle wonder-
ful must have been created."
Comment— You use that word «• wonderful " as a boy
uses a toy drum, to the disgust of all who hear it. AU
things have been created, not because they are curious and
wonderful, but because they exist and are finite. The mi-
croscopic grain of sand that is wafted by the winds and
the waves proves the existence <^ a Creator as clearly as
does this vast and wonderful ur ^erse. It is not, then, as
you say, the wonder of the thing that suggests the idea of
creation, but the existence of the thing.
Ingersoll- " One would suppose that just as the won-
der increased, the necessity for a creator increased."
Comment— The one who would so suppose must be sun-
posed to have a very limited knowledge of philosophy or'a
very hmited intellect. If Christian philosophy were as
silly as you have represented, or rather misrepresented it
above, it would, indeed, be contemptible. Candor and
honor require that when you attack a system or an institu-
tion, you should attaok if in its own position, and not
make fictitious and absurd positions for it, and then pro-
ceed with show of logic to demolish the nonsense engen-
dered in your own brain and presented to the public as the
principles of Christian philosophy. To misrepresent
Christian philosophy is a confession of weakness, an ad-
mission that it must be misrepresented before it can be
successfully assailed.
Imokrsoll—" Is it possible that a designer exists from
all eternity without a design ?"
Comment— Yes, the idea of a self-existent, eternal de-
signer excludes the idea of a design prior to or independ-
ent of him. This is so self-evident that it needs only to
be stated. The philosopher who asks such an absurd
question is like bis walc'imaker, a '• curious and wonderfal
thing."
Inoersoll— " Was there no design in having an infinite
designer ?" . °
r
II
:li|
1
I'll
m
III!
26
IJOTES ON iKOEftSOLL.
be nothing more iaS thlnlh?-**^ 8»«'' Thereof
to the eternal. It is as if ?«!? u ® infinite, nothing nHo!
thing more circular thL/r,l?*^«W »«k.- Is therl ?S?f
a square ? ' '^*" * <^'cle. or anything squarer than
commendable himSi^y adS'S^fT^ y^" have, with
about questions like Vse i't^ *ilf .^^i^^* you 'know
in vo„^.n"'^.-"^ "**'• **»** he migh?
in His hAn«fi/.^«*'^"-.™*^h® might use it tn «uo,.>r^_
oreaturea7-i^"mar&TL\-^ ^J?P^»««« of hS
dom« «o. produced diafor« tVe^^^^^^^^^^^
"a OtmiOtS AKl) WONDBBTUt tHlNO.**
27
free agent man proved himself nntrne to his trust. He
batrayed it, and thus became a victim of the disorder he
himself produced. The agent is renponsible to his princi-
pal, and a failure to perform the duties assigned him brings
upon him punishment and disgrace. The pagan philoso-
pher Plato understood this when he wrote : "He (the
wrongdoer) is not able to see that evil (suffering), ever unit'
ed to each act of wrong, follows him in his insatiate cravings
for what is nnholy, and that he has to drag along with
him the long chain of his wrongdoings, both while he is
moving along upon this earth, and when he shall take,
under the earth, (in hell we would say), an endless jour-
ney of dishonor and frightful miseries."
Evils, that are the results of man's perversion of libertyi
cannot ho attributed to thD design of Qod; and those who
so attribat.e them are as reasonless as liie shipwrecked
mariners who condemn the captain for the sufferings which
they brought upon themselves by their disobedience to his
commands, or as the criminal who attributes his punish-
ment to the judge, when it is the result of his own crime.
While admitting the existence of evils and sufferings in
the world, the Christian does not, and is not bound, by his
principles, to admit that they are the result of the design
or plan of God in creating the universe.
To those who see in man's nature and destiny nothing
higher than that of the grasshopper or the potato-bug,
who believe that man's life ends with the death or decom-
position of his outer shell, there must be something inex-
phcable in the sufferings of this life.
But to the Christian who looks upon this life and its
vicissitudes as a mere phase of man's immortal career,
who considers this world of time as the womb of the eter-
nal years, the sufferings of this life are but the temporary
inconveniences of the weary traveler on his homeward
voyage. Their weight is lightened and their sharpness
blunted by the thought of home with its comforts and its
rest. He suffers with patience and resignation to the will
of his eternal Father, with the consoling hope that, when
he is freed from the body of this death, ne will pass into.,
the eternal day where death and pain are known no more
forever. Buoyed up by faith and hope he says in his in>
moBtsool:
b
i <
1 1
I i!i!
KOTES ON INGEftSOLt.
''^7r,ft?^S°«'^^*^e -meeting
Beyond the farewcill ttnA ♦».
Lord, tarry not, but come."
\
CHAPTEB V.
Does yonr failure to sflfi ff ? * i^ ''o* "» this world ?
When you make your li^iL:rr„t,?^ ^** it is uo??
justice you usurp the ft?frn«,7"*°^ *^® measure of God's
iudgmeJt abov?HL. aud"ati^^„?' **^« ^^''^te. ?«* your
Men have been kindly Ant S*' *° *^«°"« «» Pfece
asylums for such phifeX^a^d'''.^''^""^.*^ ^^^^e
with them almost every dav'T?i.°"5i°"« visitors meet
question of God's eSnS^'f. *ilJ° *^« ^^ analysis a
existent BeingrHe S f^'J^°L'^ *^®'e w an infinKelf
•in --^'ythingf k^"5'L'*;vSvth1ir^'? ^**^'«' »>« ^-«"^te
To assert that He is notlnfiStelv^n^f^^'J^ ^5 ^« J^^tice!
Jfltence. But vour 8tftf^»«i«* ^ J°^* ^^i to deny His ex
therefore granKislntt^^^ exisLce an"i
which exists by the logicof vonr iS«-f- *^®'' *^** Justice
you, you should douS, Sot^i^C 'r'^'°°*^«We to
vision. This is difficult to a mJ^t *S® P*»^®« of row
assertive fift^am-*- v"* .rt * ?^an of almost infinif^ '„"ir
iNOEEsoii^r;;^;,^- « \?ji«aom. '- =««■
TB> JUSTXCn ov oos.
heartitessneas of this ' plan '
, ,„.„„«,, ouavi justioe.
CoMnraNT-As you are not required by Chistian philoso-
phy to believe that the evUa you describe were a part of
God 8 plan or design in creating the universe, you are not
called upon to reconcUe those evils with God's wisdom,
benevolence, or justice. If you have been laboring under
the notion that God planned and designed the miseries of
this world, and under that delusion have tried to reconcile
the original plan of this infinitely just God with the facts
of life, you have been exhausting your energies in a very
foolish piece of business. Your very effort in that durec-
tion proves that you have not grasped the situation. In
the article of yours that I am now commenting on. vou
confess your ignorance of the divine plan or desien and
yet you presume to attribute suflFering, death, crime, cruel-
ty and mahoe to that plan. Above aU things it behooveth
a philosopher to be consistent. It is unphilosophical to
attribute to apian objectionable features when you confess
Ignorance of that plan. ^
INGEMOLL-" Most Christians have seen and recognized
this difficulty (that of reconciling the miseries of this life
with the justice of God), and have endeavored to avoid
It by giving God an opportunity m another world to recti-
fy the seeming mistake of this."
Comment— When the position of " most Christians " is
properly and truthfully stated there is no difficulty to see
or avoid. The other world exists without reference to
man s innocence or guilt, happiness or misery in this.
Your insinuation that Christians invented the future state
shows either discreditable ignorance of the history of
human thought, or a desire to misrepresent. There is no
middle way out of the dilemma for you. Ignorance is a
crime m one who assumes the office of a teacher of his
fellow-men, and misrepresentation is, as you would say.
"singularly and vulgarly out of place" in treating of a
subject that requires tho exercise of the highest faculties
01 the liuman mma. • >*••
The doctrine of a future state of existence has been
universally behoved, especially by the well-informed of
p»a«kind »« all a|;es and places. History dearlv showi^
! 1
M
H0TK8 ON INGKBSOLL.
Brahmists and BSddhfste* ^h«^'*°'' ^H «»"d' t»»em
that was JidicKa^d ab?u,S/r„^f&,^°El*^'^^^^^ "^"ch
and darknoFs and clouds rested ^l^^C, ^°"''?/* «*»adow8
hopes had penetrated the clSSSvT? *^^'? .^'°^' their
of an internal con^ousneMS^hf f^' S^ "« «^idence
present world to sat sfy ^e a^«nf f ^^^ejenoy of the
fouls Our,Americarid^Ss J^Heve iS"?*!**?' **' **^««
The human race, then In nfi Vf "®^o "> a future state.
future state, and Vet iS^i«?l*''^f!'u.*'*« ^^i^^ei in a
rent of hi.arth?S«ht yoS hJ^ S,' this Mississippi cur!
or ignorance to savTaf Phri ^^^^ ^>'e unutterable audacity
a chance tTr^Jf/^e iSSrnfTh'^"^ 'i ^ ^^« Geing too, not merely abstract or possible
being, for without the real, there is and can be no possible or
abstract. Tbc abstract, iu that it is abstract, is sothing,
and therefore unintelligible, that is to sav, no object of
knowledge or of the int-ellect. The possible, as possible,
is nothing bat the power or ability of the real, and is
i-r
j
r:i
-I '
I :
I I;
84
VOTES ON INOEBSOLL.
ia not is not intellisible rLo *^® Principle that what
inteUicenM R r«i fifin- .??«?eqaently, to the reality of
reSitrontelLgtSlJ^ffi^^^ sinceVi
andfromitMlf or?f {«!«^;- '°? ''^ itself, subsisting by
beinpo^^^^^^
nmther necessary nor contingent, or which ishofh^f ^ '^
18 mconoeivable. and cannot be asLr^Tr sussed ''°°''
naTSj^^t^n^^SS^^e^til^^^^^^^ eter.
absolute beini, or exStlnce dp^.^fi?'^' ^""^r. ^" »<>8e".
being, and therSoT^°not Sout th« T^^^' ^°''^*«
eternal, on which it depends M von fl ,f ^^^sary and
and eternal being von Wif ,-o A^ f^^ ** *^ necessary
tingent beu.g'T'o'a JtiS TZ:^'\^e"iLi!Z'tl^ ? ^
for^e^^^;teVi^rn^e"c*^^^^^^^^^^ ^-"'S
oontingentfsSi^'T^^rhTirbe?^^^ ^^«
necessary and eternal Indfiinn^J^*-^. ^'^y *° t^o
gible. is intelliSb" as ti,l ront^ ^l"* ''P*' « ^^'^ ^*elli-
its being, and tSerefoJS 1^*?^,^^ Sn\-^^^'
case you cannot assert the iSiSbjl i-fi, ^V ®''^^'
necessary and eternal bein^ and &f^l^°^* asserting
sary and eternal beina ia^^ -xu ^f®^®"^®' ^^^^ neces-
SSG<3wTSSd dS^"you^„^il°'^t^^^^^ God. or
to deny it. it follows Sat in eX tTS S^^"*'^ «ven
SotrsifnV-^A^ji^^rP^^^
toOBHsoii— " Logio is not aatSM^ -mt. ., ..
i;oM«^x_Ti.« i. « not „Wed- iiS ^^"'^rtion
• Browiuon's Qoarterly Bevlew.
THE EXISTENCE OF OOD.
86
in reference to it. Bat you are evidently ignorant of what
logic means. Logic as a science deals with principles, not
assertions ; and logic as an art deals with assertions only.
Assertions are the subject matter on which it acts. It
simply deduces conclusions from assertions or propositions
called premises, and cares not whether these premises are
true or false. Hence the very reverse of what you say is
true. Logic is satisfied with assertions, and knows and
deals with nothing else. Your blunder arose from your
confounding reason with logic. Reason deals with prin*
ciples and truths, logic with assertions. That reason is
not satisfied with assertions becomes moro apparent the
more your article on the Christian Keligion is subjected to
careful analysis.
Inqersoll — " It (logic) cares nothing for the opinion of
the great."
Comment — If those opinions are formulated into asser-
tions, it does care for them, because it deals with nothing
else. You mean to say : Reason cares nothing, etc. This
careless use of words and confounding of terms indicates
a confused and imperfect method of thinking. He who
thinks with clearness and precision, will express his
thought with clearness and precision, while a slovenly
thinker leaves the reader in a state of chronic doubt as to
what is meant.
Inoersoll — "In the world of science a fact is a legal
tender."
Comment — Then, before you can assert a legal tender,
you must demonstrate a fact. A fact must bo established
as such, before it is legal tender. Now the question
between you and the Christian is this: What are the
facts? The whole controversy rests on the answer to
this question. What you offer as facts, the Christian may
reject as fallacies and sophistries, and what ha offers en
facts you may reject. It follows, therefore, that until
both parties agree as to what are the facts, they cannot
agree as to what is legal tender. What you intended,
then, as a wise saying has no practical sense in it. But fur
f.lmao TvVm liiro f.lia.i-. orkt'f. r\9 filtinn if. lo oVrkntr ^Iia amm^. nf
w — ^-«— ..*.«, ».>., ».«M,v .»,.^ ^ ,,» ^«Bg.._j .^ ,,j ^^y^.__,^jy ve^T..* ts\rz.v Vi
thing they will Uke.
Inokrsoll— *• A fact is a legal tender." '
Comment — A counterfeit is a fact ; is it Ic;»;l1 tender 'f
1 no. Well then a fact is not a legal tender until it is
:!
86
MOTBS ON ZN0EB80LL.
known to be a fact. What is a legal tender ? It is a
promise to pay which may not be worth ten cents on a
dollar, but which the law compels you to accept when
offered. Is this your idea of what facts are ? And do
you mtend the facts offered by you to be received in that
light ? If so, perhaps you are right.
INOEBSOLL—" Assertions and miracles are base and
spurious coins."
CoMMENT—If this be true, then the assertion yon have
juEt made is base and spurious coin. You say all asser-
tions are base and spurious. Is it because they are
assertions or because they are false ? If all assertions are
base and spurious, we cannot believe anything whatever
that IS asserted, simply because it is asserted! I assert
that two and two make four. This is an assertion. Is it
false ? It naust be, if what you say is true. From this it
appears that you again failed to say what you meant : for
you wiU certainly admit that some assertions are true—
your own, for mstance.
Perhaps you meant to say false assertions are base and
spurious. If so, this is on a par with your legal tender
sophism, and involves the same amount of meanincless
T^'M- ;.V'f ^""^^ *»' *»"»«y <>' an assertion must be
established before you can assert it to be base and spurious.
But the truth or fallacy of an assertion is the question in
debate. Let ine illustrate : I make the assertion that the
Christian religion is of divine origin. You wiU observe
that the truth or- fallacy of this assertion is the point in
debate, and to assert either one or the other without proof.
IS to beg the question. This you do when you assert that
assertions are base and spurious.
But perhaps I have misunderstood you aU this time.
You "probably think "that all assertions favoring Chris-
tiamty are base and spurious, while aU those against it
have the true ring. If you meant this you shoSd have
the "courage of the soul" to say it, and not hide your
insinuation ma meaningless, commonphuse pLrasef I
notice you are fond of making curt Uttle maHuis. which
on examination mean nothing, unless when they cover a
lauacv. Thev are Rnn.ftMru ^<«„. .^2.1/ _. »..
tooKiBOU,— " ICiiMlw ue bue and apntioiu ooiaa."
QttBXB OBiaiN OF BUMAlt BKASOI^.
S7
OomNT— That depends. And here I must make the
same distinction I made in regard to assertions. If a
miracle is a fact, it is not base and spurious. Now the
fact or falla<7 of a miracle is the point in debate. Until
that point is settled, not by assertions, but by valid argu-
ments, you cannot say that it is spurious, for when you
make that assertion you simply beg the question. To beg
the question in argument is like asking a knight or a
castle from your opponent in a game of chess. It is a sign
of conscious weakneBs.
Ingersoll— •• We have the right to rejudge the justice
even of a god."
Comment— If by "a god " you mean some deity of
heathen mythology, I cannot stop to consider it. If you
mean the infinite Being, whom Christians call God, I deny
your right or competency to rejudge His justice, for
reasons which I have ahready given, and which I need not
here repeat. It is sufficient to say that the finite cannot
be the measure of the infinite.
Inoersoll— " No one should throw away his reason—
the fruit of all experience."
Comment— Your purpose here is to leave the impression
that, to be a Christian, a man must throw away his reason.
Man's reason is a gift of Gca, and God requires him to
exercise and use it, and not throw it away. And He will
one day ask him to give a strict account of the use he has
made of it. While telling us not to throw away our
reason, you give a good illustration of how it can be thrown
away. Thus you say :
Inoersoll — " Reason is the result of all experience."
Comment— When you make reason the rrstilt of experi«
ence you destroy its proper entity. Experience is impos-
sible without something that experiences. What is it
that experiences? Reason? No; for if reason is the
result of experience it cannot exist until after the experi-
ence has been completed. What then is it that experi-
ences ? The individual ? But the individual minus reason
is incapable of apprehending experience. What then is it
that experiences ? There must be some being that expe-
.-*—«»-.,. -.,. ,..«^«.. -,„,,_-.. -,/CTXAravl* WJiiav TTZVUUUU «& £>t%UJUC^*
The mind ? But mind and reason are identical. Reason
is the mind, in action. The fact is, human reason, or con-
scious mind is that which experiences; it is therefore priot
\
i
! ■
I '
f
t^eXuU ^'i^^fe' ^V' P"°' ^ experience, it cannot
and twiw iJi,. ^***^<*"' '^0° experience is impossible,
and therefore when you make reason the result of experi-
ence you throw away both reason and experience tSs fa
the logical result of your proposition. Again you say •
iNOERsoLL--" Eeason is the fruit of a« experience^'
CoMMENT-By this "aU" you mean. I guDDose the
experience of all mankind together with 'your o^wn' Bu?
you have barred yourself from the right tJ benefit by the
ZIZT^ "*' ''f'T' ^°' *^** experience can be madi
v«X*T'^°"^/ ^y assertions o? propositions. Now!
you have aeclared .^ cathedra that assertions are base and
of TheTa°^'''''/f V"J"l*^l^\'^ ^°°*^^P* *»^« state'r^ents
of the dead past, by which alone the experience of the
on'^hir^ "^^.^ ^i^r^-. ^^'^ ^*^« «*^«d off tie limb
exclpryoro^n!'"^'''^"^^' ^°"«^" ^* -'' -P--^
fhfTnf ?i'^",^*,-^'^?'°?> *^ **»« intellectual capital of
the soul, the only light, the only guide."
CoMMENT-Reason is the soul or iutellect itsolf in con-
scious action; hence it cannot be its own intelWuai
capital, or its only light and guide. You see^TofoS
what vou have sa,d before, namely, that reason is the r^-
hght and guide of the soul, and at the same time the re-
sult of experience, is to contradict yourself. What lights
and guides the soul while it is experiencing ? Eeason?
No ; for you have told us that reason is the mS/of that ex-
perience. A result is an effect, and an effect cannot^
l\l?L^V^\ '''"'^- .^* ^?"°^/' *^«"' ^'o^ your own deS
nition, that reason is not and.oannot be thJ only light or
guide of the soul. But even if you had not contradictS
light, etc., cannot be accepted, for it is a pitiable begging
of the whole question at issue-a denial of revelation as 5
guide to reason, and this you will see is the point between
you and the Christian. Your statement tfius cunnS
assumes, as proved, that which you set out to prove iSis
18 one of the peculiarities of your method in debate. It «
on this account that I am under the nece««,f.v of -"-i-"--
ttimoist every assertion you makei ' "^ «'v='«^ij
V
OBAFTElt VtL
ON THE TEN OOMMANDHBNTS ; AND ART — THB WlfB AND OTBtB
VALUABLE PEOPBBTT.
INGERSOLL— " Of course it is admitted that most of
the Ten Commandments are wise and just."
Comment— Most ? Why this indefinite limitation? Is
it candid to make a limitation so indefinite as to leave you
room to dodge ? Why not specify which, if any, are not
wise and just ? Christians are bound and ready to defend
them all. Why not point out an unwise or unjust
Commandment, that we may come to a direct issue?
Ingebsoll— •' In passmg, it may be well enough to say
that the commandment, •Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in
the heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or that is in
the waters under the earth,' was the absolute death of art,
and that not until the destruction of Jerusalem was there
a Hebrew painter or sculptor."
Comment — There are two assertions here. First, that
the Commandment quoted was the absolute death of art,
and second, that before the destruction of Jerusalem there
was no Hebrew painter or sculptor. The first involves a
question of interpretation, the second, a question of
history. , , i.
Now, I deny both these assertions, and hold that they
have no foundation in fact. Here is a direct issue.
As to the Commandment, it could not have been the
absolute death of art unless it forbade art. But it did not
forbid or condemn art, therefore it was not the death of
art. Was it candid or honorable in you to suppress that
part of the Commandment which explains and makea
clear the meaning of that which you quoted? If you
garbled the law in quoting it in a court of justice, would
not th« judge look upon you as an unprincipled shyster ?
Would he not be justified in debarring you for contempt,
in trying to deceive and mislead the court? Yoa are
fond of preaching candor and honor bright. Was it oaadid
or honorable to leave oat of your quotation that sen*
m
L, i,
%•
40
tfOTES Oii IKOERSOU.
i^^^I ^^ .T"2 ^x*''® ^®" y°°' assertion without truth,
force or pomt ? But you were determined to make you^
£2S?m7ff" ' Tr° ^r ^ Satble the law you quoted, in
St . ^4 ^ u ?f°*«°*^,y°° «> uncandidly suppressed is
Jw " ^t£? '^f * '''** ^^"-^ *^«" (>•«• imJgeo) nor serve
Sl^;«„^#^l °la««e, suppressed by you, ^'explains the
meaning of what goes before, showing that it wSs not the
making of images, but the making gods of them, that was
f«S^°;/ ^^**^ *^i' '^ *^ meaning of the Comiandment
IS evident from the fact that the same God who spoke in
S Jo?* Commandment subsequently ordered images to
be made. Moses explains the meaning still further when
i^?J?^« ■ ^^i!^"*' 2^'*f> "Y«» shall not make gods of
S5t«i°' ^^" y°° "**^® «<^« °^ g°^^-" ^'gai°. the great
Hebrewlawgiver was commanded to place two cherSbim
on the verv ark iri which the Commandments were kept.
^^^^^?'?.u ?• .^" tiie description of Solomon's tem-
oracle.two cherubim of ohve tree.of ten cubits high (1 Kings
6-23) but that ;« all the walls of the temple round about he
mrved yfith dmne figures and carvings." (1 Kings 6-29 and
ffn^T"'?^ ""T^"; ^\^ Z^^^ chapter abounds with descrS-
fe?nw-^ of art.) When David imposed upon Solomon
ge injunction of building the house of the LorS, he deliver-
ed to him a description of the porch and temple and con-
by the hand of the Lord, that I might understand a 1 the
r°'i$f ?^^^ pattern •• (1 Chroniclls 28-11. 19.) Thus wl
see that God not only commanded the making of unaees
Now God who gave the Commandment, and the Jewish
people who reived it, had a better knowledge of its mean-
ing than you dare pretend to have. David and Solomon
understood the law, and it did not occur to them that the?
were breaking it when they made cherubim and other ^
images for adornment and ornamentation.
«o?^ii?i5,?5°"1?ri°'!''i y°? «*y' ^as the death-and
not only the death, hnt the absolute death of art. What
,„, „„ pussussion or you to say this in the
^l^^llT^'''^^^^^}l'^^^ *»' Jerusalem and all the
WUkM of art It contained ? Was not the temple itself a
tBX TEN OOliMANDMBNtd.
41
work of art? And ^bose images, were they not works of
art ? Since the Commandment as interpreted by its maker
— not by yott — did not forbid the making of images, it
could not have affected art, unless yon claim for art the
right to worship false gods and idols. If, therefore, the
Jews were not artists yon must seek the reason elsewhere
than in this First Commandment. Bat if yon condemn
the Jews for not cultivating art whv is it that you have no
words of commendation for Christianity under whose in-
spiration and influence art was brought to -its highest
developir at? / ■
iNOERSi uL — •• Not until the destruction of Jlerusalem was
there a Hebrew sculptor or painter."
Comment— Well then who •• sculped "the cherubim and
other ornamentations for the temple of Jerusalem ? Who
made the cherubim to ornament the ark of the covenant ?
Who made the golden calf and the brazen serpent ?
Surely, it requires all the brass of the brazen serpent to
say, in the face of all this, that " there was no Hebrew
sculptor before the destruction of Jerusalem."
Inoersoll — " Surely a commandment is not inspired that
drives from earth the living canvas and the breathing
stone— leaves all walls bare, and all the niches desolate."
Comment — Surely the inventor of this curious criterion
of inspiration deserves recognition of some kind. But
this lachrymose ejaculation is entirely uncalled for, since
the Commandment, when not garbled by you, does not for-
bid the living canvas or the breathing stone, the frescoed
wall or ornamented niche. As we have seen, the First
Commandment has nothing to do with art, one way or the
other. But even if it did banish the living canvas, etc.,
from the earth, it would not follow that it is not inspired.
Your ♦' sukely it is not inspired " is no proof against inspi-
ration. One who worships reason and logic should exhibit
more of both.
From what you say about Art, it is evident that you do
not know its meaning and scope. You limit it to sculpture
and painting, because you imagine these two forms of art
are forbidden by the Commandment. Art is broader than
tihn.f.- T ■will aivti vr.n a. oli«" to the senses. It t?eato of ^C
InfH^ r?r "« *° »PP«»1 to ^8ion ; lettera and oTheJ
meSS"«th?:' "^K*?P^*^ *° .*^« intillecrSJongh the
medium of sight; vibratory motion which aoDeala to thZ
sense of hearrnB-called mlis.c ; tanri We fo?£^Kich tSk
Se^'tLte?" '' ^''^' *°^ --^-a?ionVSh"p^alt
miJ2)!i *^? ^®*'*' *^' "^^ ^^ *^e destroction of aU these
methods of expression. Do you pretend to say that th^
S «i^,r^'"'^'"^°* 3*^'*^°^« «" ^^^bids all these methodi
of expressing or manif .8fciD«< iho Beautiful ? No Wfiil
then the First Commandment is not the death' of A ^
nr pi?°"?^ ^"^* '^^ y°» claimrwhioh of cours^^^?J
not. Poetry IS ap art-and where can you find mor«
Bubhme specimenJof it than in the Psalms^of Drvid tiif
^^^itT"' the maj^ tic flights of Isaiah, and the so^i!
piercing threnodies of Jeremiah ? Here we havn ihl S
Comment— The relative nature of persons and fhinaa
protected by law is not measured by tfiflaw thS protecS
them. A law may forbid murder Ld th^t at the wme
tune without placW these two crimes on the Sme pS
or an exact equality. As a lawyer, you should be famSiS
with this fact. This Tenth Commandment forWds to
covet a neighbor s wife, and at the same tunTit foSs to
covet his property. This prohibition, you wUl S t
TaXlci:? to man* ''l/^ *" *^*f,^^^'*^ is most bS^Jd
oi ana sacrea to man. It is equally wise and ins* w»i«r,
It protects that which is of lels vilue orTmpirtenI to
c-n^^f ^""^l ?^ y°'' P'?tond to say that these C^j^cto
cannot be at the same time forbidden without putting them
men^nTa*wZt!^rl„S J:^L^.°?--l-^ttld%°S
omission and heirthatlHeff tli^ wife l^i^l?^^^^^^^
ttio ptoflisftte, or that it placed a higher estimatT^ toe
TALtTABtB ^BOPEBTIf.
4S
husband s horse or ox than on the wife of his bosom, or
that it protected the one while it failed to protect the
other, So, whether the command forbids to covet a neigh-
bor'a wife, or is silent on the subject, you are not satistied.
You are like the Frenchman who was to be hanged, neither
a long nor a short rope would suit him.
But again ; as a lawyer, you should know that the dis-
tmction between objects protected or forbidden by law is
not to be found in the law, but in the punishment inflicted
by the law. The civil law forbids alike the stealing of
fifty cents and one hundred dollars. Does the law put
these sums on an exact equality? No; for it sends the
hfty-cent thief to jail, while it sends the more ambitious
fellow to State's prison. In the same way the Jewish
criminal code condemned the wife-stealer to death, while
he who stole an ox was required to return it and pay a
heavy fine. From the difference of punishment you can
see that the Commandment, as understood by those to
whom it was given, made a distinction between a wife and
an ox, and did not place them on an " exact equality."
You argue like a man who places much confidence in the
credulity or gullibility of his readers, and imagines that
while a few may investigate and know the truth, the larger
number will take his word for it, and inquire no further.
This policy showp a good knowledge of human nature, for
the average man is not overburdened with the faculty of
discrimination. He is apt to place too much confidence
in the ignorant statements of that monumental bore of
modem times, the roving lecturer— admission fifty cents.
CHAPTER vm.
ON MURDXR — OAMAANITES — CAPTIVE MAIDENg — UARAUDIMO—
LTINa SPIRITS AMD FALSE PROPHETS.
INGERSOLL— •• He (God) ordered the marder of mil-
lions."
Comment — He never authorized or ordered the murder of
any one, from Abel to Garfield. God is the author and
giver of life, and those He places on this earth He can
remove at His will. No man has a right to live one instant
longer in this wu art Lord of zU, thou makeat thyself gracious to all.
I
ON MTTBPBR.
47
For thon Bhowest thjr power, when men will nob belieye
thee to be absolute m power, and thou convincest the
boldness of them that know thee not. But thou, boinc
master of power, judgest with tranquility, and with creat
M?"^* ^Pm'f*^ °' "^'^""^ *^y I^°^er IS at hand when thou
wilt. ♦ * Thou hast made thy children to be of good hope,
lieoauae in judj/ing, thou givest place for repentanoe for am».
tor If thou didst punish the enemies of thy servants, and
them that deserved to die, with so great deUberation,
giving them time and place whereby they might be changed
Jrom their mckednesa, with what circumspection hast thou
jndged thy own children, * ♦ therefore whereas thou
chastisest us, thou scourgest our enemies in very many
ways, to the end that whm we judge we mag think on thy
wu */' " ^^ *""•' *" i"''/3"'''« '"^ '"«'/ ^P« for thy mercy.
Wherefore tho:i ha: t also greatly tormented them who in
their life have lived foolishly and ungodly, by th^ same
things which they worshipped. For they went astray for
a long time in the wp ,[ «* or, holding those things for
gods which are the ife worthless among beasts, living
after the mantis of children without understanding.
u u'^ " ^^'^^^ ^"""^ * judgment upon them. * * But
they that were not ..mended by mockeries and reprehen-
sions, experienced the worthy judgment of God." (Wis-
dom, Chaptei xii.) ^
Here we find that those people, whom you beslaver
with your gushing sympathy, were sorcerer's, murderers
of their own children, offering them with their own hands
in sacrifice to idols, and man-eaters. On the otbnr hand
we learn the merciful way in which Jehovau warned
tiiem and gave them time and placo for repentance.
When they rejected His mercy He punished them with
justice, nnd, for doing this, you accuse Him of murder,
ihoae who, knowing the crimes of these people, condemn
«ie punishment inflicted on them are as guilty as they.
You condemn Mormonism and Oneida communism, and
yet you volunteer to advocate those bestial Sodomites of
CaiiM-n whose unnatural crimes disgraced the race to
which they belonged, and contaminated the la^A uphinh
crod had given them to dwell in.
" A fellow-feeling makes xxb wondrous kind."
iNOERsoLL— "He (God) gave captive maidens to gratify
the lust of i.ii.ptors." » '
t ii
48
N0TK8 ON INOERSOLL.
I'--,
CoicMENT — ^If I were an infidel or an atheist zealous
for the Buccess of the cause, I would counsel you to be
less reckless in your statements. Every cause, good or
bad, suffers from injudicious advocates. The most in-
judicious of all advocates is he who makes a baseless
assertion or an appeal to ignorance, because he excites
suspicion and brings discredit on tlie cause he advocates.
I flatly deny the truth of your statement given above, and
appeal to the only record that can give us any informa-
tion on the subject, namely, the Old Testament. The
Hebrew military laws did not abandon captive women to
the insolence or brutality of captors. On the contrary,
they made special provision forbidding the first familiari-
ties of the soldier with his captives. If you study the
twenty-first chapter of Deuteronomy, verses 10 to 14, yon
will learn that the soldier was obliged to make the captive
his wife, or to respect her person and honor. Instead of
tolerating that licentiousness which the customs and laws
of other nations authorized, the laws of the Hebrews kept
the soldier in restraint. They show that the Hebrews
were far in advance of other nations in all those regula-
tions that mitigate the horrors of war. The pagan nations
of that time allowed every familiarity with captives, and
afterwards they were sold as slaves, or given to the lust
of slaves. This was strictly and specifically forbidden by
the Hebrew law. And yet in the face of all this, you
have the effrontery to charge the Almighty with permit-
ting the Jews to do that which He forbade, and which
they alone, of all ancient nations, prohibited by strict and
specific laws. What will honest men of common sense
think of a philosophy that has to be propped and bol-
ster'^d up by such shameless misrepresentations of history?
Inoersoll — '• He (God) gave to Jewish marauders the
flocks and herds of others."
Comment — Those marauders, as you call them, could
not possibly have had a better title. God, as Creator of
all, has absolute dominion over all things, and against His
title there is none. The right to confiscate property is
recognized as existing in all civil society ; now civil
society cannot possess and exercise a higher right than its
fjreator. Our government confiscated millions of dollars'
worth of property during the late war, yet it never oc-
Goned to any one but a simian philosopher that such
MABAimiNO. 10
loads of cotton passing North towards Pittsburg LmS
It belonged to the Southern people, and the wveromMfc
had taken it and sold it to Oiem speculatoJL or mS
flock and herd. The government had confisoa^ 1?^!
gven It away for a consideration. You ^Sati S^s
measure, and you are right in doing so. But on what
prmciple can you justify our government in a)XcS W
the propertv of Its enemies wh3e you condemn ^samf
measure wten practised by the Hebrew governmenT?
b"e°^^iirrds%rni^r^' ^^^^ '' ^ * --^-^ -«'
deSrHT;;;:^?op&""* ^^'^^ '^^ «p-^ ^
OoMMENT~I will give one hundred doUars to the noor
of this village If you or any of your disciples wSliSkl
good your statement. I am faiiliar witli thrtexte iJ
Kings and Ezechiel which you probably imagine wSb^S
you out. but if you carefully wmpare thow telte wiS
your statement you wiU find that ySur zeal has^awS
with your discretion, and that your hatred of your mS
18 more intense than your love for the truth? ^
God abhors Ij Jig spirits, false prophets, false philoso-
phers and deceivers of aU kinds, Mcient and £od^
and yet He permits them to exist because He cannot zna^
them mipossible without destroying free will or humS
hberty. There were laws enacted condemning these fak»
prophets and other popular seducers, but the^ laws wera
not enforced because the false prophets, etc., flStoS
the passions of the people, telling them pleasant thinS
They were popular lecturers in their day, and they ffi'
not die without issue. ^ **'^
!|
i !
CHAPTER DC.
•^ BBUaiOVS TOLBBATION — ^TBEB THOUaHT AND TBEAS02T.
INGEBSOLL— «< The religions intolerance of the Old
Testament is justified upon the ground that 'blas-
phemy waSB a breach of political allegiance,' and that
sdolatay was an act of overt treason, and that * to worship
the gods of the hostile heathen was deserting to the pubho
enemy, and giving him aid and comfort.' "
GoinfENT — ^If these positions of Mr. Black are well taken
it is difficolt to see how you can escape their logical con-
sequence. For yea must admit that overt treason, breach
of political allegiance, and giving aid and comfort to the
enemy, are crimes that merit severe punishment. If you
were a logician you would have known that to refute Mr.
Black you should have shown that blasphemy and idolatry
were not overt acts of treason. This you did not even at-
tempt to do. Hence, so far as argument is concerned, Mr.
Black has justified what you call the intolerance of the Old
Testament. Is a government intolerant because it will not
tolerate treason ? If not, then the Jewish government was
not intolerant, and the fact that God was its direct ruler
does not change the nature of the case. Every govern-
ment that is worthy of the name must be intolerant of all
those things that touch its supreme authority, majesty
and^ honor. The Southern revolt was no more treason
against the United States government, than were idolatry
and blarahemy against the Jewish government. You be-
came a Colonel to assist the government to punish that at-
tack on its supreme authority, majesty and honor. What
new light has penetrated your skuU that you now defend
treason in Judea ? Is it because God, against whom you
seem to have a personal grudge, was the direct ruler there?
If you should carry out your theories of toleration to their
logical conclusion and realize them in overt acts in this
country you would find yourself in due time dansUng from
B {ju/uci.-. x» uucB uuu scuui «u uavc wwcarrsa xo you snat
it was nooessary to disprove Mr. Black's statement, that
idolfttry was treason, before you could drive him from his
BBUOZOUg TOLBBAnON.
61
k
position. If you grant that idolatry was treason against
the Jewish state yoa give away your case, and justify the
punishment which that state inflicted on the idolater. No
man with an atom of sense will attempt to deny this. To
meet Mr. Black fully and logically you should have proved
that idolatry was not treason, and if you could not do thi8,a8
most certainly you oould not, you should have " walked up
like a man " and admitted that the Jews were right, and
not only right, but were bound to punish idolatry and
blasphemy w h death, as treason is punished in all
times and by all nations, whether Ood is the immediate
head of the government or not.
Inoersoll— " According to Mr. Black, we should ail
have lib'^^ty of conscience, except when governed directly
by Gr '
Co —If by "liberty of conscience" you mean
liberty to commit overt acts of treason, you should not
need to be told that such liberty of conscience is not, and
should not be, permitted to exist anywhere, not even in
badly regulated lunatic asylums.
The slave-holder's conscience told him that secession
was right. As long as his conscience was purely specula*
tive the government of the United States allowed him to
Amuse bimself with it. But when he formulated that con-
science of his into overt acts, such as firing on Fort
Sumpter, the government sent Col. Ingersoll and other
embryo Caesars down to interview and inform him that
liberty of conscience was a good thing in its way — a
something to keep his mind busy— but if he was such a
consummate ass as to imagine that the United States
government intended him to 'praotue that liberty publicly
he would have to readjust his ideas about it on a more
solid basis.
Just so with idolatry and blasphemy under the Jewish
government. A man might be an idolater in his heart, he
might think " damn " to any extent, without becoming
amenable to the Jewish criminal code, but when he formu^
lated his conscience into overt acts of treason the sword
of Gideon was unsheathed.
The Mormon heard of this " Hbertv nf snnsnien^^." %sd
"freedom of thought." And taking you at your word, and
thinking that your motto of " honor bright " meant some-
thin|[, he believed he was conscience firee. He oonclude4
i .' >)'i
%
i
62
M0TB8 ON INaXBSCLL.
to take onto him two wives. Judge of his astonishment
when he heard your denunciation of him. He concluded,
as every man possessing even a suspicion of brains will
conclude, that all your talk about liberty of conscience and
liberty of thought is mere misleading twaddle. It appears
that "liberty of conscience " means, according to you,
only the right to do what you approve of. You condemn
polygamy. Do yor, not make your judgment the limit of
the Mormon's liberty of conscience ? Jehovah made His
ludgment the Umit of Uberty for the Jew, and y« i con-
demn Him for it, while you draw a circle of lin bation
around the Mormon. You should cry to be consistent.
Inoebsoll— •• In that country where God is king libertv
cannot exist." '
Comment— This is your conclusion, not Mr. Black's.
Grant society or government, and it is of no consequence
whether X. Y. or Z. is its king ; the principle of its action
must be the same in reference to those things which touch
its authority.
The most perfect liberty exists where the most perfect
government exists— that you will admit. The most per-
feet government is that which is directed by the most per-
fect wisdom and judgment, which are attributes of the
most perfect being only. God is the most perfect being-
that you must admit if you admit His existence. Then it
follows that where God directs the government, there the
most perfect Uberty exists. By Uberty, I of course mean
the right to do right. The right or Uberty to do wrong is
claimed by no civilized government on earth that assumes
to decide between right and wrong ; nor doos any govern-
ment admit such right in those subject to its authority.
There are individuals, of course, who claim the Uberty to
do wrong, but they are comparatively few. Some of them
have died suddenly and prematurely, by dislocation of the
neck, and some otiiers are in the penitentiary. Poor en-
couragement for disciples of liberty of Uoense and heroes
of free thought.
INGERSOLL— •' Within the Old Testament was no such
thing as religious toleration."
Co.>iMBNT— Certainly not, and for the very sufficient
;.T — "' ^'\'" "J ^"^' "issua. ivc«muus i>oieraiaou meant
liberty of treason. Mr. Black told you that idolatry was
tteaaou against the state and against it^ (Qco^pii^^^ (oler.
1 I
such
teUQIOUd TOLEBATtONi gft
CoMMENT-If unbelief culminates in persistent treason
name ""^ """''^ ""^"' ^^ government worthy ofTe
-iT^?"^"^°' *" who think for themselves, there
are threatening curses and anathemas."
CoMMENT--llus I deny. Thinking for oneself is not
forbidden. Thinking.is an act of wfichTfromlte nature
S.«TT. J *^? *^®^^*^ law was for overt acts. Thought was
pnnished only when it was treasonable, and when «St
forth in overt act. There is a huge faUacy in all tWs cant
mteUect— I mean, of course, a sane intellect -is coverned
tKu"*wSi^r S%vi 'r^'^'^T' ^y the Ss :?
ine wiu. wm to think that two and two make five or
JJlera^tel ^''^'" "^"^*' *^^ see if your reLoJ'^Sl
INGERSOLL-" Think of an infinite Being who is 8ocrn«]
ZugS*' '''"' ""^ ""' ""* *"«^ ^'^ Senlib^r'ty of
Comment— It is because He is infinite that He cannot
H^^is^Jn^nfri/'^^^^^'^^'r^ ^*^^' mor^e^Ts. BecaSse
He 18 mfimte, He cannot permit His children to disobev
His known wiU or to reject His teachings as if He were a
I'tk. PK ^ ?°^7 ^iS?^*y **^ ^^'^"S*^* y^hicSue does not aUow
r^ the liberty to thiuk error, to meditate evil, to plan crime
Do you msist on this kind of thinking ? If so, be wisl and
keep It carefu ly in your thought, for if you redrcftWs
liberty to a t it may lead to thi penitentiiy. wSre ther«
are many philosophers of liberty of thoS *^^'^
INOEBSOLL-" Think of an infinite g5i acting au the
CoMMBNT—It ia, indeed, a snbjeot worthy of careful
thought._ God freed that people from the^ bindl"*'^^
^aypi Djr a seriftg of most wonderful miracles, fed the^ '
of ?!iSL^*". T"^"^ ^*¥. ^r?*- 8av^h?m the S
of Palestine to live m, and blessed them in a thousand
ways, and yet He could not command tS loi^ I V^y
!■
iMj
If
54
KOTES ON iKOltlUSOtt.
they were a stiff-necked people. This want of appreciatioil
of the divine beneficence is one of the most convincing
proofs of man's original fall.
Inoersoll — '* Think of the author of all mercy imbruing
His hands in the blood of helpless men, women and
children simply because He did not furnish theru toith intelli'
gence enough to understand His law!"
OoMMENT-^Think of a man who is always talking about
•' honor bright," manhood and truth, making such a false
and groundless statement to intelligent readers. I have
italicized the words in the above quotation which contain
a blasphemous fallacy. On what evidence or authority do
yon assert that men, etc., were punished, simply because
they had not inteUigenoe enough to understand the law f What
evidence have yon that they did not understand the law ?
Did those who were punished ' ver make this plea in ex-
tenuation of their crimes ? 'x'his caluc ny against your
Creator and Judge is an invention of your own, pure and
simple. It is a principle of revealed ethics that those who
have not inteUigence enough to understand the law are not
bound by the law, and that idiots and the insane are not
judged by the I&w.
You quote a passage from Deuteronomy xiii., wherein
death is decreed against those who entice others to com-
mit idolatry, and yon add :
iNaEBSOLii— ■" This is the religious liberty of the Bible."
GoMMENT — ^Now, as we have seen, idolatry was treason
against the state.i Do yon mean by religious liberty the
right to commit treason ? If so, religious liberty is incom-
patible with social order, making all forms of government
nnpossible. We have a case in point. Major Andre enticed
Arnold to commit treason. Was Washington an enemy of
liberty because he hung the spy ?
iNaBRSoiiL — " If yon had hved in Palestine, and if the
wife of yonr bosom, dearer to yon than your own soul, had
Mud: *I like the religion of India better than that of
Palestine,' it would have been yonr duty to kill her."
Comment — This is not tme» for the law forbids the en-
tietng to idolatry, to acts of treason. And the mere ex*
pZ'CSSIUXI UX. BIZ vyzsizvizj
worse judgment on the part of the wife, yet her silly say*
ing was not what was forbidden by the law.
iNOEasoLL^*' If she had said : ' Let va worship the snoi*
it was your duty to idU hoc,"
o
tBEASOir.
65
v>OMMENT-.Here we have a dear case of enticinc to
treason, which is itself treason. Idolatry was trewon
against the sovereign of the Jewish state. The laws of
all nations punish treason with death, and we cannot see
that It makes any diffe.ence whether a traitor be a man
or a woman. The t ritor should be removed from the
body politic as you wc ". remove a cancer from your jaw,
your mawkish sentimentalism to the contrary notwith-
standing. '
iNGKPsoLL—" la it possible that a being of infinite
mercy ordered a husband to kill his wife for the crime of
Having expressed an opinion on the subject of religion ?"
Comment— The law you quoted from Deuteronomy says
nothmg about exproasing an opinion on the subject of re-
ligion. It says : '• If thy brother, thy son, thy daughter,
or the wife of thy bosom * * entice thee secretly, saying:
Let m go and serve other gods." It seems that there is
something more here than an expression of opinion on the
subject of religion.
Inoersoll— •• Has there been found upon the records of
the savage world anything more perfectly fiendish than
this commandment of Jehovah ?y
Comment— I do not know much about the records of
the savage world, or that savages were given to keepina
records, but I do know that the law which punishes treason
with death is to be found upon the records of all civilized
nations on earth.
INGERSOLL— " That IS justified on the ground that bias-
phemy was a breach of political allegiance, and idolatry
an act of overt treason."
Comment— And if you were possessed of average logical
acumen you would see that, until you overthrow that
position, the justification is complete. There are only two
ways by which Mr. Black's position can bo overthrown.
i^ir8t,by denying his statement as a historical fact, or,
second, by provmg that treason ia not a crime, and should
not be punished with death. You do not attempt either
of these modes of refutation. You content yourself with
giving a half -page of the softest and ailliesfc kind nf ansh
m which you exhibit, to a remarkable degree, the faculty
of Goldsifiith's schoolmaster who, although beaten, could
argue still. Here is a speoizaen of your style of argu.
^1
p. ■
ii
V
6e
MOTES OH INOEBSOLL*
Inoeesoll — "We can understand how a human Ung
stands in need of the services of his people. We can nn*
derstand how the desertion of any of his soldiers weakens
his army ; but were the king infinite in power, his strength
would still remain the same, and, under no conceivable
circumstance, could the enemy triumph."
Comment— While you are understanding so many things
it would be well to understand that God does not inflict
punishment because He fears the loss of power, but be-
cause He must insist upon respect and obedience to His
supreme authority — He cannot permit himself to be treat-
ed as an idiot king or as a liar. You a*^ ould also under-
stand that the guilt of treason does not depend on its
success. Is treason any the less criminal because it is
committed against 'God? or must He refrain from the
exercise of power to compel obedience simply because He
is all-powerful?
Inqeesoll— •' His strength would still remain the same."
CoMMENT--Undoubtedly, but it is not a question of
strength, it is a question of authority. You should under-
stand that the strength of a king or a government is not
the measure or criterion of treason. . Treason is an attack
on authority, or the right and title to rule. In this, and
not in the failure or success, consists its malice. God does
not stand in need of His people, but He insists on obedi-
ence and respect to His supreme authority. He who has
the right to make the law has the right to insist on obedi-
ence to law by punishing the law-breaker.
'
CHAPTER X.
SOME OUStf— METHODS OF WARFARE — CHEEK — THE COLONEL
ON INFANTRY TACTICS, BABIES, AND DBYv««m«t tl«.t«» d«,U, to SnSS^ ^d IT
*
Methods ot WAETARtii.
M
priBonment to the thief. The form of threat may be
different, but the substanco is the same. These threats
have no terrors for the law-abiding citizen.
Mr. Black in his reply to you said :— " In your treatment
of hostile barbarians you not only may lawfjllv, you must
necessarily, adopt their mode of warfare ; if they give no
quarter, they are entitled to none," etc. With your usual
•« candor " you evade the principle involved in this pro-
position. If the principle is true, it is true for all, both
Christian and pagan. If it is false or unjust or barbarous
you should have shown it to be so. This was the only
course left to you as a logician. You do not attempt to
do this, but tiy to meet it m this way : —
Inokrboll— •• For one who follows the Master who
said that, when smitten on one cheek, you njust turn the
other, and again and again enforced the idea that you
must overcome evil with good, it is hardly consistent to
declare that a civilized nation must, of necessity, adopt the
warfare of savages."
ComnsNT— And this is the only reply to your oppo-
nent's self-evident proposition I Let us examme it, such
as it is. First, then, the Master did not say, as yon re-
port Him, that, when smitten on one cheek, you wim«< turn
the other, or that you must overcome evil with good. He
recommended his followers individually to return good
for evil, but he did not forbid them to repel unjust ag.
gression by exercising the necessary force, nor did He in*
tend His children to be spittoons and footballs for the rest
of mankind. Neither did He intend that Christian peoples
or governments should lodge murderers, thieves, and
savages in palaces and feed them on chicken-pie. He
meant that, as individuals, we should be kind, patient,
forbearing, charitable, and forgiving. He did not mean
that nations as such should be so weak or imbecile as to
fail to maintain their own existence, dignity and authority.
Nations, however, do sometimes overcome evil by ^ooA—
that is, by a good thrashing, judiciously administered to
their enemies. E^-doers, murderers, and thieves are
overcome by good when the law and punishment are
properly applied. . , « «
Inoersoll — •• It is hardly consistent (m a follower of
the Master) to declare that civilized nations must, of ne-
cessity, adopt the warfare of savages."
,i
ti:;
;l| l-
60
Konts ON tNaERSottt
uSi^ l~^^ you imagine that when your opponent
saui this, ho meant fche details or incidents of war? Do
you beheve he intended that we must, of necessity, throw
away our Reinin«tou rifles, take to bows and arrows,
Ko to wearing breech-clouts and eating raw dog, when
he meant by •• mode of warfare," when he iiJ:-" If the
enemy come to conquer you, you may conquer them: if
^J,J^T.u° ^"*!;*«'^' *hey are entitled to n ae ; if the
S«Wf 1 *'i^ ""^^^^ population be their purpose, yin may
r«^?ft It^^ exterminating theirs." You ^not^deny oJ
refute this position, but you pretend to believe he meant
Llf«?j;'?o/°' ravishment, mutUation for mutilaSoS!
scalping for scalping, baby-braining for baby-braining
S.J. ®/^" an ^opportunity for a displiy of your
rhetoric, and It must not be lost. Speaking of braining
babies reminds me that infants stanTyou to gou*oh ^oman usS
,^ «1A'**^.*^°^ ""S "Po«l«ce-" This will keep them
m good condition untal you want to trot them out aeain S
your next lecture on Christianity. ^
lNOBR80Li^«» Is it possible that in fighting, for instance
sSa'lpfhe^^^^^
fH?w!;''ir^*^^**-°.***9°« ^0°^ ™0'e *o the killing
rii^^^Sl ?*°"®' *** It, because they understand that
I«Jj3^.TCn? """"'S./^" ?»« »«°»»>«' ki"ed than on the
method of kilhng. This knowledce givAg *ha d^ui^
nation the advantage over the savage. A soldierlS^
F«7 TnSA**®?!?'*'^ *° ^°r ®*«. ^"'^g the battle will send
ten Indians to the happy hunting-^und for every scalp
INTAMTBT TA0TI08.
61
*' «
1
timi . .^^Ki ? ff^P to take a scalp is to lose predons
time; and this is the reason, the only reason, why the
soldier should prefer his own tactics to tZe ofThf Iv^
age. u experience proved that scalping would produco
£!***f i°J"«»datioii on theniinds of the savages andSu^
^Zn*?J*^r ^""l^^Fr'^'' ^^^°ff«^ terms of peace Md
S^^jri*1f' *"' ^^ beVavioi; u> fntnre. it wouftl be good
?h«!JSL^ P^' f°°^ PO*"' '•/"»«J & ^ mercy to throw aside
the nUe and take to sea -.i . t,a .,. ^n as possible. CivUized
people go to war to make > v^o if that peace can be se-
curedamoker by taking a : ^ scalps than by taking Hvcs
It should be done w thout hesitation. It i merely f ques:
tien of policy as to the conduct of the war, to bring it to a
K^jf/alT"'"*?**^: 4?.Jo°^ as the Indian actually loses
ente r? »t is vnse to leave him that field rf
iSs; r ''''' ^ *^' *"**^ *" °" "'«"-' '»°«*
Comment— Here they are again—yes, by aU means
brain them, tear them limb f^m liib. saft thei^ slSp
nn JIoVk®- ^a^'^'bahslands, make them read your article
on tbe Christian Religion, or your lecture on ♦' Skulls "—
do anything with them to keep them from muddling vour
braina when you are reasoning with men on subjecte that
require all your attention. "'
fWfT"'~"^^**^'ty'^°^^^ *»^® o'^' captives, bind
them to trees, and if their squaws fill their quivering flesh
with sharpened fagots and set them on fire, that th^y mav
die clothed m flame, must our wives, our mothers, and our
daughters follow their fiendish example ?"
Comment— No, and for several reasons. There is a
cheaper and qmcker method of getting rid of these fiendish
squaws. It is much t tnier to shoot tliem on the spot than
to pack oflf to the wilderness of the far west •♦our wives
S«^^'*r-°-r^*-«*'^'^" *^ f *'^ sharpened fagote into
them. CivUization, among other things, teachTs us the
S?il |°o°<»"^y 5 that, when kUling must be done, it
should be done quickly and cheaply, that the burden of
the tax-payer may not be increased more than necessary.
i^c» u5 omjjAiSo a caMe. A hundred of " our captives *'
are about to be bound, to undergo the death-tortnre in-
flicted by these sc[uaws. The sharpened fagots are ready
J^pw, if the brammg of w Iftdiaij b«be would so terrorizQ
it
n
Moras OM nOBBSOLL.
tbase maternal iqnaws as to caoae them to desist from
their wicked purpose, would the braining of that infant be
barbarous. Pat yourself in the place of one of those
trembling captives and answer. Will you save the lives of
thoce hundred captives by takin(|[ one life ? If yon think
oV this for a row moments you will understand what your
opponent meant when he said : " We must, of necessity,
adopt their mode of warfare."
Inoebsoll — '* Is this the conclusion of the most enlight-
ened Christianity ?
Comment — ^Yes, sir; and the conclusion is of the most
enlightened common sense, too. Life is practical, it is
neither poetry nor effeminate philosophy. The passions
of human nature, civilized or barbarous, make stern alter-
natives necessary eind Inebrious cant will not change
man's nature or the necessities that arise from it. If those
fiendish squaws had lived in Palestine in the days of Josuo
and bad been put to the sword by the Jews, you would
have accused the latter of murder and made God an
abettor of the crime. Much depends on the point of
view from which we Ipok at a thing.
'fllB^'
m it
from
uDtbe
those
ves of
think
i your
issity,
light*
most
it is
isions
alter-
lange
those
Josue
irould
d an
nt of
4»
§ m
CHAPTER XI,
WABS — SLAVEBT — SOUB
OF THE colonel's
TATIONS.
msftEPBEazN*
JNGERSOLL--" Mr. Black justiflea the wars of exter-
J. mmation Md conquest because the American people
fought for the integrity of their own countr fought to do
away with the infamous institution of slaveiTj fought to
F«^^?'^tu^? ^V^.^}^' ""^ ^^""^y »"* J»8*»°e for themselves
and for their children."
Comment— I submit this ebullition of eloquence to the
reader for the purpose of informing him that it is a mis-
representation of Mr. Black, a misrepresentation which it
18 Hard to imagine to have been accidental or uninten-
tional. It 18 not true that Black justifies wars of exter-
mination because the American people fought for the
mtegnty of their country. Here is the way he justifies
wars of extermmation : " If they (the enemy) come to con-
quer you, they may be conquered by you; if they give no
quarter, they are entitled to none; if the death of your
wnole population be their purpose, you may defeat it bv
exterminating theirs." You could not have been ignorant
Of ttus principle, for you quoted these very words in your
article. Nor did Black justify wars of conquest beckuse
the American people fought for the integrity of their conn-
try. He quoted you as saying : «• A war of conquest is
«^/''u?""'?^'-'u '^^. ""i^* *^»« statement of ySurs he
sa.d . "To show how mefficacious for all practical purpose
a mere sentiment is, when substituted for a principle, it is
only necessary to recoUect that Mr. Ingersolf is himself a
warrior who stood not behind the mighty men of his tribe
When they gathered themselves together for a war of con-
quest. He took the lead of a rogiment as eager as himself
tospoUthe Phihstine, 'and out he went a-coloneling.' ••
As you do not seem to have underatood your opponent's
argument I wiU put it in a more simple form. It was what
64
NOTES ON INOBBSOLL.
Bnt the vrax with the South was a war of conquest.
Therefore, the war against the South was simply murder.
Now Mr. Ingers^l participated in that war, therefore Mr.
Ingersoll was a party to the crime of murder.
This was your opponent's argument in logical form.
You evidently saw its force. You could not extricate
vourself except by misrepresentation, and you did not
hesitate a moment. Therefore you said : '* Mr. Black
justifies the wars of extermination and conquest, because
the American people fought for the integrity of their own
country."
You perpetrated this misrepresentation to make a way
to escape from the trap in which you were caught, and to
a£Ford you a field for a little sentimental gush about
** slavery " and the " jewels of liberty," hoping, with the
instinct of the cuttle-fish, you might get away in the
muddiness you had created. But, my dear sir, it will not
do, for society is not entirely made up of fools. Our °war
-with the South was a war of conquest, for a war of an-
quest is a war to conquer, and that is what we meant
when we sent armies to the South. If conquest is murder
then you are guilty of murder in proportion to your im«
portance in that war. But you have said a war of conquest
is simply murder. Then according to the adamantine
rules of logic you are simply a murderer. That is \vhere
your opponent landed yon.
You justify the war with the South by saying that it
was to maintein the integrity of the country, etc. The
lustification is complete ; but what follows from it ? Why,
it follows that wars of conquest are sometimes justifiable,
which is the "ery thing you denied when you said that " a
war of conquest is murder." When you said that your
mind was on the Jew, you wanted to lay down a principle
that would surely condcAnn him and his God, and you did
not see that you were r^aking a murderer of yourself. Ex
parte philosophy is poof philosophy. You are a student of
the infidel philosopnenb of the last and present centuries,
but you have not cai^ght their genius or comprehended
their bulk. You take their points here and there and de-
pend for the rest on your wit and faculty of drollery. Men
btugh with you or at you, but, after all, life is a serious
affair, and when the play is over the oLqyrn is the first ^o
be forgotten,
SLAVEBT.
65
iNaBBSOLL— " Not satisfied with having slavery in this
world, llr. Black assures us that it will last through
eternity."
Coiof BMT>- There is bat one reply to thig, It consists
of a vigorous English word of three letters. It is sufficient
to say that Mr. Black never assured us of anything from
which such an inference could be drawn. On what princi-
ple of moral rectitude do you justify this gross misrepre-
sentation ? Gertainly not on tnat divine law which forbids
vou to bear false witness against your neighbor. If yon
had said the above under oath would it not have beeir
penury ? Did you say this in view of the fact that you
had made arrangemeuiis to prevent your opponent from
replying to you?
Inobbsoll — "And that forever and forever inferiors
must bo subordinate to superiors."
OoMMKNT— -This Mr. Black did say, but it is very differ-
ent from the assurance you attributed to him just now.
To say inferiors must always be subordinate to superiors,
is simply to say that the inferior must always be mferior
to the superior, which is a self-evidont truth. You should
not need to be told that to be subordinate does not mean
to be enslaved. The soldier is subordinate to his superior
officer, but he is not his slave. To say that your intel-
lect is subordinate or inferior to that of Moses, St. Paul,
Napoleon, Newton, or Milton is not to make a slave of you.
iKflBBSOLL— «« Who is the superior man ?"
$ I. OoHMENT— He who docs not lie, or misrepresent, or
blaspheme his Maker, is mor aUy superior to him who does.
Inobbsoui — " According to Mr. 31ack, he is superior who
lives on the unpaid labor of the inferior."
Comment — ETere yon are again disregarding that law
which requires us to make our words correspond to the
truth. It is not at all pleasant to be oonstantiy impeach-
ing your veracity, but your wanton use of language makes
it necessary. Your opponent said nothing of the kind.
Inobbsoll — " With me, the superior man is one who uses
his superiority in bettering the condition of the inferior."
OoMMENT — '* Here yon admit the fact of inferiority and
superiority, and therefore subordination. The man who
uses his superiority must be superior prior to its use.
According to your own words, the su^riori^ is a fact prior
to the use of it. Therefore his superiority does not depend
m
6d
NOTES ON INaEBSOLL.
on the nse of it. Now, as the use of it in bettering the
condition of the inferior is subsequent to the superiority,
it cannot be the note or criterion by which superiority is
affirmed. To Ao good to others is a dgn of moral superi-
ority, but not the reason of it. If to do good were the
reason of superiority, all men could bo superior by a mere
act of the will, but superiority is a fact prior to the act of
the will, and, therefore, independent of it. The defini-
tion, then, like most of your definitions, means nothing
when analyzed.
Inoersoui — "The superior man is strength for the
weak."
Comment — Then he is superior because he is stronger,
and he is good because he uses that strength to assist the
weak. Here again the SQ{)eriority is prior to the use of it,
ani, therefore, the use of it is not the criterion of it. You
confound superiority with goodness. The ability to help
the weak constitutes superiority ■ the actual helping of the
weak constitutes goodness.
Inqersoll — " The superior man • is eyes for the blind.' '•
Comment — His superiority does not consist in seeing
for the blind, but in his ability to see. His disposition to
see for the blind is evidence of his goodness. I note these
small points to show that you are not an adept in the proper
use of words, and that your defijiitions are untrustworthy.
Inoeesoll — '• For my part, I would rather be the slave
than the master."
Comment— For my part, I would rather be the master
than the slave ; for bemg the master, I would have it in
my power to free the slave and cease to be the master.
He who prefers weakness to strength, or inability to ability,
when he has the choice, is an intellectual imbecile or a
consummate hypocrite. He who prefers to be a fil&ve has
the instincts of a slave. It is more manly to will to be the
master with the power of manumission, that, by a volun-
tary act of the will, one may reach the helping hand to the
lowly and unfortunate and tBJse them to freedom and
equality. Perhaps, in view of the prone; ese of roan to
domineer and play the tyrant, it were betier 4,0 he neither
the slave nor the master.
lNGEBsoLL-:-"An;;^ man who helps auouber to gain and
retain his liberty is superior to any infallible God whg
Authorized slavery in Jude^i"
the
BLATEB^.
67
OoMMENT—Then why do you not advocate the throwing
open of our prison-doors that the murderers and thieves
cruelly shut up there may gain and retain the liberty they
sigh for ? Ah I that would be dangerous. Well then, it is
not always right to help others gain and retain their
hberty. It is hard for you to say anything without saying
toomuch.or toolittlo. You are fond of making general
prepositions, but they are dangerous tools and should be
handled with care.
INGEMOLL—" According to Mr. Black, there will be
slavery in heaven."
C0MMBNT--I must again call your attention to that divine
law which puts a discount on false witnesses. Your Oj:-^.
?.??* oever said anything that justifies your statement.
Whatever else you may be you are certainly not a Christiaa.
Ingbrsoll—" If some good republican would catch Mr.
Black, incorporate hun mto his family, tame him, teach
him to think, and give him a knowledge of the true prin-
ciples of human liberty and government, he would confer
on him a beneficent boon."
Comment— Why did you not catch him and teach him
when you had a chance ? Your opponent could retort
thus : If some good Christian would catch Mr. Ingersoll,
teach him to think a little deeper than the surface, give
him a knowledge of the true pnndples of probity, impart
to him a proper sense of the importance of veracity, and
mduce him to forego buffoonery when dealing with great
questions, he would confer on him a most beneficent boon.
Inoebsoli. — •' Slavery includes all other crimes. It is
the joint product of the kidnapper, pirate, thief, murderer,
and hypocrite."
Comment— How does it include all other crimes if it be
the joint product of them ? A product is an effect. If
slavery be a product of crimes it cannot include those
crimes ; for to include them it must exist prior to them,
and if it exist prior to them, it cannot be a p^" -*5uct of
them. You should not contradict yourself. It shows that
you have a bad memory, or that there is a screw loose in
your logical machine.
iKissssc-LL— -" io lacerate the naked back, to Bull wives,
to steal babes, to breed blood-hounds, to debauch your
own soul—this is slavery."
Comment— No, it is poetry, poor poetry of ooorse, but
j:4
f
■■■!
Ifij
M ll
11
!^;
mi
68
mOTtB OM INOBBSOIX.
noTerthekss poetry, fa? it is a product oi the ii£«;^&aou.
Yo
mout'i'i.Tj'sof lua,itics ana poets. Tolae?rate the K'^ked
badli. ) \ ont« Ity or a puniBJument incident U>, bat not uon<
fined to -iiiiO' o T;;iition ;,i Slavery, To sell wives is a prac*
tice oou-iy.t.'m i o 5 amaii society in all its stages, and not pecu-
liar to dU i-v y. T^^ breed blood-hounds is re more wrong
thi^& to bv >;jd cim&r^ birds or poodles, and as iSo debauch-
mg yom. Honl, that is done with fadlity whoro slavery is
unimown except in same. Then slavery is t^ : te of these,
'although till of them may be incident to tkK abnormal
Talation between labor and capital.
#
•lA
ifi,£io]a.
^ord.
w any
id yoa
id not
:e it in
peats.
ittuon-
b prao-
lipecn«.
wrong
banch-
i'ery is
these,
lonnal
t
4 ^
CHAPTER Xn.
UWIBIT— POLTOAKT— BOUSSBAU'S OMNIOH W HfflDiar
PHILOSOPHBBS.
I^-1tTan^7***' °^"' liberty is not merely ameana
Comment— This 'is too ▼ague. We are aU in favor of
hbBTty.aswe nndersta^d itfbut wo do not agijL ^^ to
what It 18 or onght to be. It is a foohsh loss Sf time to
TJZ S%r'l?''*" ^* ^*^« • «>°^°o° idea orTnde^
iSlS, > **"* **'"'?• :,^ ?o« »nean by the word, the
?# f K J M *° "^'^iS^?' Of tl^at ot the Nihilists, or that
murderer? AU these appeal to liberty as vocifer-
« rv^ J".. y°^ ?**• ^ ?® /°" °o* 8«« *l»it this word
Ihal'^S^lr'ii^ ^«fi°«i«»d limited-in othS^wor^
wJl f"8*.,^come a known quantity before it can
become a Wmiajie object of debate, if there is any-
thmg thoroughly detested and abhorred by logicians it Is
a word, or the use of a word, that has no fixed, dear and
clean-cut meanmg to it. You use the word "liberty"
with what Shakespeare would call "damnable iteration."
and m aU your multifarious uses of it you have never, io
far as I have seen, given a definition of it.
INOBBSOL^" Without that word aU other words are
empty sounds." « *« »«»
Comment— And that word without a definition-a clear
and fixed msamng, mtelligible and comprehensible to all
in common. IS the emptiest and most misleading sound
that ever echoed m time and space. It is a pet word of
lunatics, fools and phUosophers so-caUed. It is like a piece
of gum elastJC, short or long, at the wiU of him who
fingers it. " Oh. Liberty I" said Madame Roland, as she
was carted to the guiUotme, " what crimes are committed
in thy name!" The Christian loves liberty as dearly as
you do. He would soar from nlanet to nUnaf. ««^ ^~.
star to stor, and dnnk in the immensity of the universe.
He would dive into the centre of the world and know its
secrets. He would penetrate to the ultimate molecule of
iS
i:
i
'V<
m
10
i^OTBS OM tKOlMOti..
matter and know ito essenoe. He wotdd introvert himself
and know the mystery of his own beipg, but the liberty to
do these thmgs evades his grasp as the ever-recedin«
rainbow eludes the grasp of the innocent child who hopes
to bathe his dimpled fingers in its rays by crossing over a
field or two. The physical and the moral law stand
watch on the limito of hberty and cry "halt" when we
even think to go beyond our sphere.
As there are fixed laws of matter, so there are fixed laws
of mind. The intellect is governed in ite movements by
tbe laws of its action, and when it aoto in defiance of
those laws, experte call it msanity. Besides the physical
r°2 ^®»p*ellectual, there is a moral world. Man is the
link between these three worlds because he partakes of the
nature of all of them, and he is the only being who does.
As a physical bemg {nan is subject to the laws of physical
nature, as an intellectual being he is subject to the laws
of mind, as a moral being he is governed by the inflexible
law of morals, and if he acts ,in defiance of these laws
theologians call it sin. Sin, in the moral world, is what
insamty is in the intellectual world— a departure from
normal action. There are then thre« laws that act in
parallel on man— the physical, the inteUectual and the
moral, and all are equally binding. The two former bind
torn in such a way that he has no liberty whatevo^, and
therefore he is, m no way* responsible for their results. The
moral law remains, and it is to this law alone that every
sane individual is responsible, for it is through and by this
law, only, that he can possibly antagonize God's will as in-
teUect amunst mtellect. Man, then, is no more free in the
m^^ii'^®' ****** **® *® ™ ***® physical or mteUectual order.
The difference is only this: he has it in his power to con-
fuse the moral order, to make discord. To do this is to
antagonize God's wiU, and to do this is to sin, and in this
consists moral evil.
ING^RSOLL— •• We are informed by Mr. Black that
polygamy is neither commanded or prohibited in the Old
lestoment— that it is only discouraged. It seems to me a
little legislation on that subject might have tended to ite
discouragement. But where is the legislation ?"
vou sud that the Bible upheld polygamy as the highest
lorm of virtue. Your opponent met your assertion with a
*
^LTOAlfY«
71
f »
clenial that tfee Bible so held or taught. Here a direct
issue was made, a question of veracity raised. And how
did you meet it ? Did you stand by your statement and
proceed to prove it? Not at all; you reply by sayiniz
that the Bible did not legislate against it. This is an
admission that your statement could not bo sustained— a
raising of the white flag.
Ingebsoll— " In the moral code (of the Old Testament)
not one word is found on the subject of polygamy."
Comment— Then why did you say that the Bible taught
polygamy as the highest form of virtue ? If you look in
Genesis, Chap. II., verse 24, you wiU find the following
words : •• Therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, (not wives), and
they shall be ttco m one flesh." This is the law in the
case ; is it not against polygamy ? This one text is
sufficient to upset all your talk about the Bible teachina
polygamy. *
But on what principle do you condemn polygamy?
>^*»"8tians say and believe it is wrong because God has
forbidden it. But by what right do you say it is wrong ?
You Ignore God and teach : "if there is anything of value
It 18 liberty. Liberty is the air of the soul, the sunshme
of life ; without it the world is a prison and the universe
an infinite dungeon. Liberty is not only a means— it is
an end. Without that word, all other words are emptv
sounds." Now, in the light of this doctrine of liberty,
how dare you to obtrude yourself and your notions
between any man and woman. By what right do yoa
hmit a woman in her selection of a man, even though that
man be the husband of other wives ? If liberty is what
you say it is, why do you persist in playing Paul fty, and
inserting your nose into other people's business ? Deny
God and assert unlimited liberty, and where is the wrong
m polygamy ? Why should a man not have all the wives
he wants, if there is no God to forbid it, and no woman to
refuse ? If man is only an animal destined to perish like
the beasts of the forest, why should he not follow
his instincts '-p ibey do ? You rob him of every reason of
self-denial, r.,.' him of his immortal sonl ana his God
reduce him to the level of the beast, and tiien try "to
govern him by frothy sentimentalism I Eliminate Ohzis*
t^an teaching and divine revelation from bnman thought,
'ijf'i
■1
79
MOTBfl OM iKaKttSOLL.
Mid where Is the wrong in polygamy ? Fhid a principle
ontaide of reTelafcion that forbids it. There is none.
Tako God away, and His mo*''' '- imd there is no reason
left why we should not r ; . .«» e^e*/ pu. . ion .>,nd faculty
we possess, to their fullest extent If men do not use
tiiis unlimited liberty which you preach, it is because
Ood's Moral Code permeates Christian thought, and
raakes a healthy pubhc opinion which governs even those
.yhodeny that code. It is this healthy Christian senti-
nent you appeal to when you condemn polygamy. You
Bteal the weapons of Christians to combat that which
cannot be combatted by your infidel principles.
Inobrsoll— " All languaj4es of the world are not suffl.
oient to express the iilth of polygamy."
OoMitKNT—Until you produce argument for this state-
ment, your opiniomis no bet er than that of the Mormon.
the Turk, or the Hindoo. In fact the opinion of t' e is
preferable, since they have had experience. Your idea
18 derived from Christian teaching, by which you are un-
oonscionBly influenced. In opposing polygamy from an
mfidel point of view you have no right to make use of that
popular sentiment or judgment which is the result of a
religion yon repudiate. Having reject* the Chrisiion
rehgion you cannot con«i;>tentIy or logically make use of
its weapons in opposing polvgamy. fou cannot appro-
Snate the triuni-;hs of Oh? gtianity as victories of in-
dehty, or anhghtened } man reason. If Christians
Me disposed . . accept your statement ifc is on account of
their convictions, founded on Christian teaching, and not
because of any p.r«'nment you have or cnn produce, from
anmfidc poin, of ,iew, again polygamy.
Inoebsoll— «' i(ij (polygamy) makcH man a »> .ast nd
woman a slftTe."
you ppeai to a sentiruent or
>rodr ad by and foundc I on
yf reject. This s illogical,
eg a, in opposing polygamy,
.. ould coavince a Turk r a Mor-
mon. But polygamy makes a man a beast, you say.
Then it is as bad but no worse than your modern li Mel
^auoBopny. xnis iiniiotiophy makes man a beast by denv-
ing the immortahty of his soul and asserting that he is
evolved fWHn the monkey or protoplasm. If he is a de-
^
OoKHENT — Here again
public opinion which ir
Christian principles wLu
Yc'ir infidel p< ^jition req
to use arguments that
Y'O
m
POhYQAittt
n
^nf Li L^Tif***"^ the propensities of his ancestor?
Yoo teU him there is nothing above him or beyond him,
«li^?»,* ^^ oorafnture. Why then should he aspire
when there is no object worthy of his aspirations ? You
point to the oyster or to the libidinous ourang-ouUnR as
K °fi^°' """^^^^ ^'"^ ^'^ '«*°'« i« • Wank. Why, thei^
to°JJh f h! iS'^ J»i8 passions or limit his impulses ? Is it
worth the effort? Ybumal man a beast when you make
hiH ongm and destiny the same as that of the beast.
Polygamy can do no more than this. And if man is a
beast, and If there is no future, what is to prevent him from
followmg the instincts of hia animai nature? Reason?
Reason must forbid polygamy if it can be shown that
there IS anything In it contrary to the first principles of
nature. By first principles of nature T mean the object,
end, and purpose of marriage, the continuance of human
hfe on earth, etc. Does polygamy antagonize any of these
objecid ? When you prove it does, you will have proved
that It la contrary to reason— not till then.
iNOEnsoLL-.- Certainly, Jehovah had time to instruct
idcaes s to the infamy of polygamy."
Co" NT-- There is no sense in this, except on the as-
sump. that you know more about the subject than
Jehovah -tli your crude notions of virtue and propriety
should govern His actions. r i^ j
Rousseau, an infidel like yourself, but an honester and
abler man, has given a descriptiou of the class of philos-
ophers to which you belong, and it is highly w b-; of
attention just here. He says ; —
"I have consulted our philosophers, I have vern^A
their books, I have examined their several opinioL>3. I
have fouiid them all proud, positive and dogmatizing even
m theur pretended scepticism, knowing everything, prov-
mg nothing, and ridicuhng one another, anc^ this is the
only point in which they concur, and in wl ich they are
nght. I-annfr when they attack, they defend themselves
without vigor. If you consider their arguments, the v
have none but for destruction. Where is the philosopher
whole human race? W ere is ha who, in the secret of
his heart, proposes ai-y other object than his own distin6.
tion? Provided he can raise himself above the com-
H
MotKs otr tMOBitoOLl.
monalty, provided he oan eclipse his competitors, he haa
E?!^- . *M ?"i.«°' ^^ ambition. The great thing for
fcSJ! \ *^*°^ differently from other plople. Among
St „t. "t ® ?v*" ?J^®'«*' *™o°8 atheists he is a believer.
Sjnun, shun, then, those who, under pretence of explain-
mg .atnre, sow in the hearts of men the most dispintinc
^iiJ!°i^C^T ^^VtioiBxn is fur more affirmative and dog-
matical than the decided tone of their adversaries, (/nder
pretense of being themtelves the only people enliohtened, they
tmpertounly ,u}pect u, to their nutgitterial dicmon,] and
would Jam palm upon us, for the true causes of thtnys, the
untntelltytble systems they have erected in thHr own Lads ;
whilst tliey overturn, de8fcrov and trample under foot all
Jn^foST^ri """.^"^^^ ?°**°^ ^'^"^ **^« afflicted the only
f^^i?? left them m their misery, from the rich and great
^e only curb that cten restrain their passions; tear from
i^ti ^^""'l fu '^^o'^® o' vice, all hopes of virtue ; they
Btill boast themselves benefactors of mankind. ' Truth '
they say, 'is never hurtful to man,'— I believe that as well
B»mey,andthe same, in my opinion, is proof thafwhat iht i
teach unot the *r««A."-Bousseau. as qSoted by (HvdJ^'r
in his defence of the Ancient Faith. j' v^«uuuJiiu/
anHi? A'i" «^i°° i^ somewhat long, but it is so true, so
apt to the present occasion, that I have given it place
here. You infidels have not changed much snoe Rom
Beau's time, and his description fito yon so VrwiiVw
one might imagine he had ?ou in K in 'sTye wtte
pezmed the above eloquent wid truthful pussageV
Y^"-
CHAPTER Xm.
woman's nioHTS— motherhood— woman's condition among
JEWS AND PAGANS — SOME OF MB. INaSBSOU^'S MIS>
STATEMENTS, ETC.
INGERSOLL— •• Where will we find, in the Old Tes-
tament, the rights of wife, mother and daughter de-
fined ?" ^
Comment — They are found in the warp and woof of
the whole book. But, before particularizing, it is neces-
sary to know what you mean by these " rights " and if
your notions on the subject are correct. What you may
affirm as " rights " I may deny. Until these rights are
determined rightly and independently of your or my sen-
timents or feelings, the question as to \irhat the Bible
says on the subject cannot be intelligently discussed.
INOERSOLL — " Even in the New Testament she (woman)
is told to * learn in silence and all subjection.' "
Comment — Most excellent advice for man, woman
and child. How can you learn otherwise ? Would you
have the learner pert and impertinent ?
According to the Christian idea, the husband and wife
are two in one flesh. They are united by an intimate
and mutual love in God, and should edify each other in
peace, in fideUty, and mutual support. The husband is
the head of the wife, whom he should love, esteem, and
respect as himself, :.»id protect. The wife is, within the
circle of her duties, at the side of the man, not subject to
him as the child is to its father, or as the slave to the
master, but as the mother, side by side with the father,
having, no less than he, sjicred andiraprescriptable rights.
But as in every company or corporation it is necessary that
some hold superior rank and authority that order and
peace may prevail, so in that association of man and
woman called marriage, in which the parties are bound
cne to the other, there muHt be a Huporior, while each, ac-
cording to rank, has necessities, duties and righta The
woman thus raised above that condition of absolute sub-
jection and low esteem which she occupies outside of
76
76
KOTES OK IKOtBSOLt.
1
Chnstendom, takes honorable and imposing rank by the
side of her husband. Nevertheless, she is, in certain
respects, subject to his authority. She should, according
to Christian law, obey her husband as a superior, not astf
in slayenr, but freely, in the same way that the Church
obeys Christ, her head. A loving, pious, moral, interior,
laborious hfe is the glory of the woman. The duties of the
husband are described by St. Paul. " But yet neither is
the man without the woman : nor the woman without ihe
man m the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, so
aJso IS the man by the woman : but all things of God." (1
Cor. 11, 12.) Again: " Husbands, love your wives, as
Christ also loved the Church, and delivered himself up for
It. * » So also ought mon to love their wives as their
own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For
no man ever hatefh his own flesh : but nouriaheth and
chensheth it, as also Christ doth the Church. Because
we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
J?or this sause shall a man leave his father and mother,
and shall cleave to his wife, and they shaU be two m one
flesn. * * Nevertheless, let every one of yon in par.
ticular love ills wife as himself." (Ephesians v. 25 to 88.)
These are tt' doctrines that have liberated woman.
INGEESOLL— "According to the Old Testament, woman
had to ask pardon, and had to be purified for the crime of
havmg borne sons and daughters."
Comment— No race on earth ever held motherhood in
higher esteem than the Jewish race. This you must have
known unless you are utterly ignorant of the history of that
remarkable people as it is recorded in the Bible. Mother-
^^1^*^ *r ^^^^ ^^ *^® matrons of Israel, and the
^ i^^u^'S mourned her unhappy fate, and wept, and
prayed the God of Abraham to take away her reproach.
Read the Canticle of Anna at the birth of her son Samuel
(Samuel ii.), and you wiU learn what you seem not to know,
that to become a mother in Judea gave occasion for thanks-
gmng and rejoicmg, and to be chUdless was considered an
affliction and a judgment of an angry God. When the
mother of Samuel came to offer the sacrifice of purifica-
tion she placed him m the hands of Heli, the higfi.priest
and said ; " For this child did I nrav. and thfl lf« Jh-^^
granted me my petition, which I aiked of him. Therefore
I also have lent him to the Lord. And they adored the
I
i
li|«'
WOMAN'S OONOmOH AMONO JEWS AND PAQANS. ??
E^^«S®'®**v.H^ Anna prayed and said: My heart hath
lejoiced m the Lord. ♦ * There is none iSras the
Lord IS. for there is none other beside theef and theV ij
tone strong like our God." ^. ««* suei© is
Here is a subject for a painter. These sweet, iovful
prateful w€*ds come from aiappy mother's heart. ^T^i
she ask pardon for having borie a son ? Is there a^
thmg here to suggest that she had been JuUt? of a crime^?
SSS^^*^' ^'*T.^^ "» ^'^^^ motler %to yoS nn!
truthful words, and how coarse and vulgar you appear in
her sacred presence. You taint the atmosphere Kored
hoS ""^^ ^^ ^ ""^^^ ^^ ^** surrounded mothM.
INGBESOLL-" According to the Old Testament, woman
daihte« ••^"^'''''' *^' "'^^ "^ ^*^°8 »^'^« «>^ »*S
CoMMENT-This is an untruth. I leave you to say
whether it was intentional, or made through ignorance.
INGEHSOLL— But " womau had to be purified."
€oMMENT--Yes, but this purification W no reference to
crime or ^Ut. There were manv purifications reqmred
m toe Jewish ritual. To be ritualfy Mclean was no crime
or disgrace. A physician who touched his patient, fo"S!
stance,tocount his pulse, became unclean by that act
a^y. XV. 7). He who performed the charitible act of
burying a dead body became unclean, as did he also who
iw^iir? u **^ *^® "*?.'^ **®^- When, therefore, you
imagine that "unclean" means guilt or crime, and tolk
about the crime of bearing sons and daughters, you sim^
9U so flippantly tolk about.
snow your ignorance of what you
Pope was right when he said :
•• A little learning is a dangerous tiling."
biGBESOLL— " The doctrine that woman is the slave or
^-.w -».«. „..^4„„.. ^uv w uratuer jew nor Christian
behoves that woman is a shive or a serf, I cannot see the
purpose of vQnr remark. ■
' InobbsoiX--" in no county in the world had woman
less liberiiy than in the Holy Land."
CojoiBKT— It depends on what you mean by " liberty."
m
M«-
T8
NOTES ON IMaBBSOLL.
It 18 trne, women in Jndea had not the liberty to do
many thmgs that were permitted to the women of paean
nations, just as virtuous women have not the liberty of
the depraved and fallen. It is this fact that gives the
laws of Moses a pre-eminence over the laws of pagan
nations. The honor ofj wives and the modesty of daugh-
ters were protected in Judea. The women of Egj^t
Chaldea, Persia, Greece, etc., had the liberty to marry
their uncles, brothers, fathers, and even mothers were free
I^u^*!?^ ^^^i' ^^^ ^°°8- ^^^ cruel in Moses to
forbid these hberties to the women of Jndea I Pagan
women had the liberty to sacrifice their virtue at the
*ewd altars of Venns and Cybele. A description of the
wickedness and impurity the worship of these heathens
mvolved can be r6ad by no virtuous Christian without
a shudder. Moses forbade these abominations, in honor
of God and human nature, and for this you accuse him
of taking away the " rights " of women. It is to the
honor of Hebrew women that they did not practice such
•• liberties," and to Hebrew legislation that they were
not permitted. If you had read and studied the historians
Herodotus and Strabo in reference to the condition of
women in Babylon, Xydia, Thrace, Armenia, Medea,
India, Egypt and Greece, you would have less to sav
about their "hberties." I refer you to these authors, as
It would not be proper to quote their descriptions of life
manners, and worship in those countries, in a book intend-
ed for modem civilized readers. The lives of mother and
child were protected in Judea. In those sountries I have
mentioned they were at the mercy cf the husband who
was master. This was also the case in ancient Rome
INOERSOLL— "The position of woman waff far better in
Egypt than in Palestine."
Comment— This is one of those bold, reckless statements
which characterize all your lectures and writings Ac
cording to Strabo, who traveled in Egypt before the
Christian era, women were the toilers and^the tillers of
the soil. Their condition was somewhat analogous to
that of the squaws among the Indians of our western
territories.
■^ftyp" *o """ iaaa oi Biieaot) aiiu vl myaiery. A^v> origin
ancient religion, customs and laws are at the beat matters
Of conjecture to the hieroglyphic archaeologist. The stone-
#»
MISSTATEMENTS, ETO,
19
#»
teft? n^M '^M"^ '?^^^- ^«y«^d tl^e seventeenth
falT*? °^. ^»°etho, when Joseph was premier of the
land, there is no reliable or intelligible history. Egvptolo
gists, from Clement of Alexandria down to ChaShon
j3\-n°^ Wi kinson, have exhausted their learS and
Ttha n2V ^nravelthe mystery of the silent valley
of the Nile, to make the footprints of that mysterious
C?at« "' something of the past-whence they came'
their laws, social customs and habits. The sphinx smilea
Ks ofte'n^^a^'r/' T^' °' '^'' Kathe? about the
oases ot tbe pyramids, and man s about to eive nn thn
long.lost heht breaks forth in all its brilliancv— Wflrsnit
speaks, an^ all is light. .• The posiLn of woLn wS far
better m Egypt than in PalestinS," says ha. But deMfiir
how or where do you learn this ? The history of Eg^SJ b^'
SL^arv Ynn'r^^'^t"' "^ apocryphal. Manetho is
tament, Herodotus and Strabo, and the two last only echo
the dying agonies, the death sighs of a once powerfur
E^ Vh«2 '"^^ ^"^°? *^" "«^^S «^°"«« of GrS^e and
S old F^f writers only record the last act in the drama
statement ""^^^ ^^^ ^"^ '^*'*''^ contradicts your
iNGERsou,-" Upon ancient tombs husband and wife are
represented as seated in the same chair."
nnnS^T"'":;'^^'^ '^ °^ °P consequence whatever; but I
quote It for the purpose of asking you how you know tW
were represented as husband and wife ; ^ ^
Ingersoll— " In Persia women were priests."
Comment— Yes, but a woman-priest meant one who if
itS^^Sa^"'" "'"'^P^-'^y. would Lt:i^
of ^viI.T,f \ /^'•.u^*''*^? ^^^^*^« *'^** ^^e'^e was a temple
of Venus at Cormth so rich that it maintained abovea
&tia;?tPi*:?-hei? "" '^^' *^^ ^^' *^^ ^-^* ^'
iiri
w
NOTES OH XNOBBSOLL.
too»B8ox*-«« They goArded the eternal Are/'
OOMMENT— And they will probably oontinne to do so. .
uiosBsou,-." From their lips oame the oraolea of fate."
CoicHEMT— Just as they continue to come from IJie lipa
ot female mediums of questionable reputation, fortune-
telleiib gypsies, etc.
it
m:sr^if,:^'i
o.
fate."
) lips
tune-
CHAPTER XIV.
MOEH ABOUT WOHBK-.BnjLB.KI> RBVBLAmK-HOaB MIBBBP.
BB8BNTATI0N. ««iust'.
« thousand ye»M " ^*"* "^ "««»* """Te for at least
for proofs aod s^^^S^ ffiSf.?^ '."^ "5* » «"'
in the pagan worfdSm.n^V^*^??"': '""""J '"""■•n
phwedW at hta bMb « t^^ *''• f ^ »t '"ised her up and
MdfromVta^ost^e""""'"^''"''"" »^« '»f»»8».
raJoS°fSrn'.'"""' ""*"«^ «"»' <*«»>8'' «<>■»» the
hoMS^?i^,:JSy7''om? Christianity does not
of ET;,f„Eyo ™;"e»eS rir^^K^' "■» dTsobedieno^
%, as Adam waT n 2!IS '«?'??«'''l8 »gent of human-
us, that thTrSell IfS?'""'!'' »'™..«8 St. Paul informs
world, aid b;"Si;t-»u,?5' »« """•■ «" stored into the
ao^bt^hrziesesTXi^t^eSr- -^ -"- -
In Adam's fall
We Binned all.
-o^t'"^o,n^7^^nl' ^r:^\i^%,' f >;^ !f nfr^^f ,,^f^,*"- Eve was
the occasion m- V^.V: ?.? °J *h« /a^l' Just as Mary was
a!!^e sprS^oml"'"" ''°' '"""^ "'" >»« J^'^-ed
v;uMiit^i<; M T — n udge.
Ingkrsoll — " Will Mr nUj^h k-„« i.u u • a
* few of his objeci to fbe^^evi? '' ^^ ^^"'^ *° «^^
94
IM
82
HOTBS ON INOERSOLL.
OoMMUMT— He is the prince of liars, fall of sophistry
and deceit, misleading and nnreliable— « purveyor of
Dead Sea apples.
Ingersoll— '♦ Again I ask, why were the Jewish peo-
ple as wicked, orael and ignorant, with a revelation from
God, as other nations were without ?"
Comment — This question is based on a false hypothesis.
I deny that the Jews were a«; wicked, cruel and ignorant
as other nations of their time. They were angels m com-
parison with the diseased, rotten and pestiferous races
about them.
Inoebsoll — " Why were the worshippers of false deities
as brave, as kind, and generous as those who knew the
only true and living God ?"
Comment — Because they were not. If the Canaanites
were as brave as the Jews why did they permit the latter,
hungry and exhausted from the deuert, to kicik them out
of Palestine at the toe of their sandals ?
iNGERsoLir— •« Will you tell me why God failed to give
the Bible to the whole world ?"
Comment— God did not fail to give his revelation to
the whole world. In the beginning, He revealed Himseif
and His will to man, who afterwards to a great extent for-
got that revelation. Man began on this earth with a true
knowledge of the true God, but subsequently fell into
idolatry. The wise sayings and moral precepts of the
philosophers in the remoter ages were but the echoes of
that original divine revelaticm. The nearer we approach
to the origin of the human race the purer we find both
docti'ine and morals. This has been demonstrated by
Thebaud in his remarkable work on Oentilism.
God then gave mankind originally a revelation, but
man, in the couise of time, failed to keep it in his memory
and fell into ignorance, idolatry and barbarism. He
became a victim, not of evolution, bujb of devilution.
Inoersoll—" If Jehovah was in fact God He knew the
end from the beginning. He knew that His Bible would
be a breastwork behind which tyranny and hypocrisy
would crouch."
Comment— Granted. T^Tiattheu? Because He knew
that His revelation would be abused, misrepresented and
ridiculed by some, must He therefore refuse it to the
Vor^dV Ever^ pift of God— food, life, health, abiUty,
i#
# •
KISSTATEMXNTS.
I*
i
88
reason, are abased bjr some. Mast He deny to man.
groping in error, the light of revelation beoaase fie knew
the hypocnto woald deny it and blaspheme ?
,iw»T n^u.^^ ^5T ***** ^* ^<>»ld ^ *!»« defence of
robbers caUed kings, and hypocrites called priests."
OoMMENT-He knew that it would be misquoted in
defence of tyranny, and that it would be miarepreaentad
by hvpoontes called infidels, but that is no reason why
He should not give His revelation to man. ^
iNOERsoLL— "He knew that He taught the Jewish
people but little of importance." •'ewisn
CoMMENT-You only imagine that you know this.
YOU must not confound your knowledge with that of
Jehovah. How do you know what He knew? You evi-
dently do not need to pray the old Scotch dominie's
prayer :— •• O Lord, gie us a gude conceit o' oursel'."
1 -Y?EiwoLL— "He knew that He found them free and
left them captives."
Comment— He knew that He found them in Eevntian
slavery aud made them a powerful nation.
lNOERsoLL-.««He knew that He had never fulfilled the
promisea made to them."
Comment— He knew that the promises made to the
Jews were expressly and distinctly conditional on their
obedience to His commands and laws, and that they had
disregarded those commands and broken those laws.
Ibey disobeyed Him and in consequence fell again into
bondage— the sct-ptre passed from the hands of Israel
INGERSOLL— "I here take occasion to thank Mr. Black
for having admitted that Jehovah gave no commandment
against the practice of polygamy, that He established
slavery, v^aged wars of extermination, and persecuted for
opinion's take even unto death."
Qomumvi— First. You must have been in a very
gushing humor when you so formally thanked your
opponent for admitting what no Christian ever dreamt
of denying. Your opponent said that "if you were a
statesman instead of a mere politician you would see
good and sufficient reasons for the forbearance to leeis-
'"'"", J "i""."-'' '""^ ~"i" suyjccu {yyjiy^&iuy}," auu that •• it
would be improper for him to set them forth " in an article
mtended for the generel reader. Not being a statesman,
§ mpr^ist, or a |)hysiciau, ^ou, of course, do uq^ s^ ^q^
84
NOTES ON INOERSOLL.
t^jt^to which your opponent deUcately directs your at-
^-?'w"u 7^^^^ you say Mr. Black admitted that Jehovah
established slavery, you say what is not true. It is the
height of unwisdom to make a statement that is so easily
refuted. Your thanks were premature, as Mr. Black
fhZ' Hi T^ 1,'" **»« ^'^ol?, yoa reply to. admitted any.
thing of the kmd. He said:-" Jehovah />er»ii«^d His
chosen people to hold the captives they took in war or
purchased from the heathen as servants for life." That
IS, He pennitted the Jews to follow the custom of the
times in this matter. Is this an admission that Jehovah
established slavery ? Like a lawyer more " cute " or cun-
ning than able, w)u change the word permitted to es-
taUuhal. You do not need to be told that there is a
difference between to permit and to estahlish. It is very
unbecoming to the §reat apostle of " candor " and "honor
JSS« fu Ki* ,"^ misrepresent his antagonist, and it must
bring the blush of shame even to your cheek to be caught
m such petty chicanery. ^»uKm
J^aV^""^' t'^^ exterminate, from ex and terminus, mee.na
to drive from the border, to expel, to drive out. This
the Jews did to the Canaamtes, just as we are extorminat-
mg the Indians from this continent. It is the logic of
migration, the law of human movement. The raoe in its
movements on the surface of the earth is governed by laws
of social dynamics of which individuals and natiohs are
unconscious. Some gushing philosopher of the future
wdl condemn us of the nineteenth century as bitterly for
extermmatmg tiie Indian, as you condemn the IsrS
for dispossessing the Canaanite. And he wiU have as
much influence on his age as you h«ye on your^-and no
more. ^ « **«
J'ourth. When you say your opponent admitted that
Jehovah persecuted " for opinion's s*ke even unto death ''
you again misrepresent him. God, as God, holds His in-
telligent creatures responsible for e^ery thought, but God
as the temporal monarch of Judea inflicted pi^ishment
thl^ Z^2"i^'- i^^''" i« "° P«ni8hment mentioned ?n
^IfJl^^^^^""^.}*:^ fo*^ «n« «f thought, or mere
^'u'^'' — ^'^o.-w Au la uui, Irue to say that God nun-
l?ff °T P«'r''^«4 fof opinion's sake. Crimes cognizaWe
^ ^9 Jewi^ criminal code were acts capble of proof-^
ili
f t
iH
MlBftBPRESENtATlON. Qft
Thewfore M one w^ paaMied te^nZ t'"^- ?' P"^"^'
fromTrBla?rtoT«\rt' ^°" ""^representations
attribute to him. wtile vo^h«Lv« n.f k*® ^'* ^^** you
and a Bar, you begin to whimper about the Stel who
teUs them to turn the other nh««lr vZ J!r_ ■^_*"^' ^*^o
seriously telT your opponent he oannc , and in4t not!
M
Kofms ON lirGEksott.
according to his principles, biow your brains out ; while
you claim the right to shoot him through the heait, if you
can. There is no epithet in your vocabulary low or ven-
omous enough to fling at priests and theologians, but u^hen
a *' policeman " hke Mr. Black ventures to catalogue you,
you are up in indignation, and whine and whimper about
decency and the etiquette of debate.
f you
r ven-
vhen
>you,
Ekbout
CHAPTER XV.
6LD ANB NEW TEST AMENTS—SLAVERF AND CHRISTIANITY—
THJS APOSTLES NEITHER LUNATICS NOR IMP08TER8.
T^^M? i?.^^>r'" -^f * « %*'^^ °^ ^*°* and domonstration
:taJt • 'I'^'^^^^nS to ^nd a man who believer so thor-
anS^mmoraL" ""^"^^'^^'^^ ^^ nuraculous. the impossible
Comment— Here you assume to determine what is mon-
Btrous miraculous, impossible and immoral ir?8
refieshing in thm age of general educafciou to see an infidel
offenng his crude notior.a aR ultimate principles or aiioms
^wfir-'"' ^PP^"?^*- belieyes in the monstro. 9, impos-
favor-to play the counsel for the prosecution and the
judge at the same time-a thing not ^rmissible.
«,wti7°'*5f «" ^*?* " *"^ ••demonstration" are to you
Jjhat the red flag is to the Spanish matadore; youfi
J^a^-^i'tif^';' °^ the people as the matadore rfouts 2ho
red flag in the face of his intended victim, and you ima-
S^h nf^h'"'" throw down their heads, shut their eyes and
rush at them-and be taken in. You are mistaken. You
may deceive some-but the people on the average are not
fhi''wT''''''~^*J*'- ^^"""^ °°^®« *<» the conclusion that
Testfmenr' '' "" ^""^^^ ^^^^^^^ with the New
CoMMENT-Mr. Black came to no such conclusion. It is
no doubt true that the Old and New Testaments •• are so
connected together that if one is true the other Lno? be
fa^e. This IS your opponent's statement and it is very
different from what you represent him as saying. ^
i« l^^^^l'''~'7i^'^^^^ ^«™« P*^««*>le to ixe that there
IS a right-mmded, sane man, except Mr. Black whn
believes that a God of infinite kindnL and jmL eve?
commanded one nation to extarminata another-"
Comment— It, no doubt, appears strange "and hardlv
possible to you. after your prodigal use of deceit anJ
sophistry, that any one should believe anything at all,
97
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>IPPLIED ^ IIVMGE . Inc
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88 Kof B8 OK IKOIBSOLL.
y^®" ^ «>?»?}ands one nation to exterminate anothef
toe Christian believes that there is very serious reason for it.
de believes that God knows more than he ; and does not
think that to be a philosopher it is necessary to exhaust
the resources of his lachrymal glands on every guilty
wretch and law-breaker whom the God of justice deems it
proper to lash or exterminate. God makes instruments
of nations to punish nations.
infalhble God estabhshed slavery in Judea, he takes occa-
sion to say that • the doctrine that slavery is a crime under
all ourcumstanoes was first started by the adherents of a
pohtical faction m this country less than forty years
OoMMBOT— i'lV**. Mr. Black never made any efforts to
prove that God established slavery in Judea, notwith-
standmg your inverted commas.
Second. In your blundering haste to reply you fail to
catch your opponent's meaning. Black says: "The
doctnne that slavery |is a crime under aU eiroumtances,
was first started, etc., less than forty years ago." When
Black made this statement he took it for granted that you
ITu if ^?«'en<» between that which is wrong in itself,
and that which is wrong by oiroumstances—wia/Mm in »e
and malum per aeoidens. Your opponent is too good a
historian to say that the anti-slavery movement beean onlv
forty years ago. ^ ^
Smoe the advent of Christianity, slavery has been con-
sidered a social and circumstantial evil, an improper rela-
taon between labor and capital, but it was never considered
by men of healthy brains an evil per te, an evil in its
nature or essence. This is what Mr. Black meant by " aU
ciroumstanoes," but you were in such a hurry you did not
see It. This distmotion takes the pith out of aU your
eloquence on this point. The anti-slavery movement is as
old as Christianity. The councils of the Christian Church
have, age after age, labored to abolish it, or to mitigate its
TOventies. It ^d not begin forty years ago. Mr. Black
does not say it did. He says that the doctrine that slavery
was wrong under all ciroumttanoee, was first started forty
JL?*!*" ¥^9' .J^. **»iB he is, for all practical Durooses. correct.
With this distinction in view, your argument" on this point
loses its wind. The Christian Church, during eighteen
ftlSB ANt> SMlEAl) Of OHttlStlANITY.
60
i\%
centuries, has fought against slavery, and taught that aU
^^"^^^^^^^ioteGod. It was this teaching that in
part brought about the persecutions of Christians in the
Roman Empire. The law-makersof Rome at that time
"^^"1.^^ V ?i^®'.^* ?^^y ^^^ '^o* 'eUsh the doctrine
preached by the Apostles, that aU men are equal, and thev
If^HS ]^^^vl coercion and repression. But the geniuJ
of Christian hberty smUed at their imbecile efforts, know-^
mg tiiat she would live to look back through centuries at
the forgotten urns of these law-makers, and consider their
acts as matters of ancient history.
When I say Christianity antagonized slavery I do not
mean that it was by a general, indefinite sentiment, but*
bv actual lemslation. I will, in proof of this, give iome
of the councils which legislated to protect the slave. The
council of Elvira, held m the year 806; the council of
Epaon, year 617; the council of Toledo, year 694; the
fifth council of Aries, year 649 ; Emerita, 666 ; the eleventh
?l ^r^xt^^'X®*? ^'°5 Worms, 868; second of Macon, 686:
the 5th of Pans, 614 ; the third of Toledo, 689 ; the fourth
of Toledo. 688; of Agde, 0O6; Rheims, 626; the third of
Lyons, 688; the council of St. Patrick, celebrated in Ire-
land in 460, reqmred church property to be used in
redeemmg captives; the second council of Vernenil. 844.
did the same. The second council of Lyons excom-
munioated tiiose who enslaved others. A counoU held in
922 declared that he who sold another into slavery was
ffml *^l*!?°lu*^®-,.> *^P°^^ ^®^^ *" ^°iBN•^-Certainly not, and that is the reason why
Mr. Black did not take that ground, althongh you labor to
make your readers believe he did. Theoloirians do nn*
tea^ii that rapidity of rise and spread, taken "alo^, is
evidence of the divine character of Christianity. Hence
your flwveval pages devoted to show the nnsoundness of
I
m
t •
00
NOTES ON INOBBSoil..
toat position aro just so much waste natM^r n ;- i
That it may S^efthS ^„'° T' ^^^^ invagination!
the position /on as^riL to him v^Tf h '^ ^°fV°* ^°M
inent in its cJmpletene^ • * '"'" ^®" ^^^'^ ^« »'gn-
sons who heard His worS iSd^^^S^ thousands of per.
His divinity wiSonTheSitatln "" §*^ ^""I^ *^"«^«^ in
creation, nothinHM om^3^°' ®!?°S ^^^ "oming of
with which this^reli^rh^srrelS"^^?*^? *^^^^^^^
who were in the noon of Itf « J£^ *^" abroad. Men
as a n,alefactori?v^ ?o see Kim iTt""*^^"* **» ^«»*^
organized bodies T beli^«.?S ^°'^*PP®^*« <*od by
Koman empiS^^^ i„ » few mZ v. ^T? P,'^^°*^ «' the
se^on of ?he generaVS^'Sff t^^^^^t^Tr^ P^^'
and wrought a radical change iShSJS J^jfet "*'''''■'
Mr^SlLSc\:S?^S^tr^t of H^^^^^^ the case.
these circumstances aro an^?ii.-?*"5? ^^ P^«» J and
forit.isby themSltX?aSdS^?f'SK"i^^^^ W™ent.
tmguishablo from that of nfW , r • ^nnstianity is dis-
Christianity iS iTo faL of SiS^"?' ««theriseof
constitutes'^the eiSdencJ^f ite SjSL*^?°?"***°^ that
continues : »'««noo oi itg divme origin. Mr. Black
ant4onizedby^1hee?iuCsS??v.°^**^«- I*™
edness, and the vuIcm orimLT?K **®'',J^® ^"s°«^ ^ck-
thepoU8hed^cSSrth?S?nSon**'®,'°'^'**"^«' " ^ell as
TiolStly opp^ even bv S ««^*.""^. ' "^^ ™ most
and Military heroir"1?lt,^4°^Vottlv ff*^^*^"*
anoe and superstition, but thriearnW ^^5 ^^-f**® '^^r-
the time. Barbarism and HiSi/ff* ° * *"^ philosophy of
enemies. The Sth^^^o^^f^ipn were alike its Seidly
and the authorlty^^e^ !Z^ established religioj
against it AlftLe combSed*^ t^tSr"* ''r^ »"^ed
and Pe-efurdStS;:^,^^^*-^
i
ItlMB AMD SPftBAb Of OBBUTtAMlTtr.
01
t
#1%
the daily peril of their lives. Ts it Mr. Ingersoll'B idea
that this happened throngh chance ? If not, there are bnt
two other way a to account for it ; either the evidence by
which the Apostles were able to prove th».t the super*
natural origin of the Oospels was oyBtwhelvaiag and irre-
sistible, or else its propagation was provided for and
carried on by the direct aid of the Divine Being himself.
Between these two infidelity may take its choice."
'/his, Mr. Ingei'soU, is your adversary's argument in full*
and the reader will see why you try to twist it out of shape
b«jfjre you attempt to answer it, and why you notice one
p4.rt and ignore the other.
Your rejply is that other religions arose and spread
-mth equal rapidity. Oranted, for argument's sake. But
did they arise undor like circumstances, and did they
meet and overcome like obstacles? Christianity met
and overcame obstacles " which, according to every human
calculation, were insurmountable," says Mr. Black. You
do not deny this, and you cannot assert 't of other
religions.
iNGBBsoLir-** Imagine a Mohammedan answering an
infidel; ^onld he not use the argument of Mr. Black,
simply substituting Mohammed for Christ, just m efifectu-
ally as it has been used against me ? "
CoMMKNT— No, because a Mohammedan could not use
it with truth or force. It would be equally groundless
in the mouth of a Brahmin or a priest of Isis and Osiris,
for the rise and spread of these false reL^ions have
nothing in common with the rise and progress of Chris-
tianity, except perhaps rapidity, and this is not given
by Mr. Black as a proof of the divine origin of Chris-
tianity. Yon evidently set about answering his argu-
ment before you got a good hoW of its fuU foror and
meaning.
Inoessoll— *< Do you not see that your argument
proves too much, and that it is equally applicable to all
the religions of the world ? "
Comment— No ; the flickering and uncertain glare of
your light does not enable me to see it. A better light,
that of reason, toother with a little knowledge of the
Sssva iu the Cose, wul c^ivixzce your readers that it h appii- ~
cable to Christianity alone of all religions that ever
claimed the attention of man. Your efforts to make tb«
^
fr'J
od
KO*fcd OK mOERSOLt.
you have sot hwititSTS^^* "' "'"'*• ^ "" "V.
good men or Ken, takL fc °""» '>.Te been eiftet
hot two olsMeTof ^^.vi°' f^ted^that there are
«^t^«re arL'S"£f el8.e?t,d~''tt-
taken they ueUdlS'S'^'^ "* dishonestly mi>.
to the two dLSf wW^"S?f "15'* """* «»»e baok
granted"? ^^ Wuoh "the old argument takes for
insrr'i*e«^m»te."' "Vl '«« " filed with
it is their dSmZ have J«^iv*^^'' «°PPo««o» ? Then
constitutes the insten^r JfE^^S comnmnications that
filled. Now a dJ^1Jrometwi^a\r°.K?y ^«^'y «
that can be tested. When »^.„°? .tangible, something
a commnnicatioTiom gS Ch3?«T^ ^^ ^^^ '«««»^ed
9ible people teavdtelom^'J^di^^'^^ *°^ *" o*her sen-
of his claL, S Tis^Ss tei fw "* Pu'f^' «' *^« *wth
guish between^ and >^i*^** ^^J«8 °8 to distin-
wmmnnications. ffi?torJ^?*fon7; .*T *"^ P^tended
hare claimed to haiS Sv^^d^J?L'°***"'^^^*'«'« *»««>
is also full of instMcesThl^ thlS® communications ; it
-err;^eS*^r.."°«* -y« *h-*. being good
triSSU??UX!S?rsi^U«^S^ «-*
were eye-witnesses to ttS ^^IL?® *^*° ^^^ ^ho
infidel iay lack, be irn^^L«?*'®T ®^ » ^o^e"*
It is his steong ^int. ^"""^ ''*°*»^ ^ assurance.
The Arties claimed a divine «ommn«;^x.. , .
^«. xaey worked irirttoiea'in'«^#''''?'^xi' ?°" "**«"
Th«» «i«d, i.^ .STto'^a.iar^J ^d^'tolhlS
- 1 »
s
THl AFOSTUt NOT IMPOSTUU. gs
Uable witnesB, of evenS f SLfU oetter judge, a more re-
years ago in JuleaX^ thl*T£"?Ko"tt„«?.^»?^
saw those events with th«{*. «-«^ ^^ *°®? ^^®^» «^d
their own ^? W„„m S''** •yf 1 *»' *»®««d them with
ciroumsSoen; tiS l^K f^***"?"*". under the.
justice? ®° *8auist theirs in any court of
icaUn\tea*?tewhrf^^^^^^^ »»dfanat.
God, but tbiad^Bnit^^^,^^^ ^^^^ ^^ » °^««on from
real'comSon?LTmS„sfromT^^ "°* »^*d
does not destroy ^e iS^^whL «# ^^- • A '*^« P«>Pl»et
as a counterfeit non^8**Jot d!S?r^^S« * V°« ^"«'
eenuine cn*« t»,«.^ °®'' *»e8troy the value of a
StaSs aSd Quein VicSria'^?/ «' «>« United
their hallucinations Ste fL^" "»8ane asylums. Do
prove that there ?s ^ .^^i,^ '®*^ president's title or
Or does ttieddusiii of ??n5/^'!?''." Q'^««'» Victoria?
Moses or a St PaTto I SS^JS"" ^^**'°? *^« «^«^« of a
the assmnpTiou and artfJ o?vr^'''^°'' ^ Y^* *^« «
mission of 4e ApOTtlMl yL^" a'Kument against the
is this : ^P<»"es I Your reasoning stated in form
Some men have been mistaken,
found. W)*ed-if boxes hurge enough oo2d be
' CHAPTER XVI.
evidence, common tradition and con'/» "»»««*« wiSiout^
2J?«SS* *-,°?J y°?f honesty and virtue to be taken tor
granted until there Li evidence to the contra^ ?^not
?5*5"f.*»'. by^ l»^t8 or winks or inainuatini quitiJns^
Christianity teaches that ho is, whatever yoS mS^fi
with your code of morals. The world, afteineailf tvS
oentun^,haj found nothing but hoUiIeM iS X cWwt^J
?n ^! ^^•'*^^^.*e? ?^^y ^»^« «^«d during iSS SS tiSl
Patera SXTr«^«t* **' T^^l^' ^^^ *°fide& and oS?
vet XSiiTf„^J^%'""?^^ "°i**^8 '^^^ them^and
yet, alter this long trial, when their Dwsonal honflaVTia
a^rted^ou,,the aiH>stle of fair play aS^ol?TSht"
^ '1 f^"^ " *^** ^°own ?•• fl^w small men canSmA
«« fifi^v ^ ? ^**"** performed the miracles recorded
in the New Testament. Why would She Jews puttodSS
a man able to raise the dead ?" ^ "**
OoMMEKT— The miraclea of Chriat reconl«l I'n fi,^ m«
m the banks «-the NUe7 The Jem l^TioSlSS^? •
1IIBA0LK8 Oy OHBIST.
97
tho unapeakable word from the temple ; and some of them
said he worked miraoleB by the power of the de" I ThS
explanations of his miracles are the strongest oydenw^
their reahtv. Porphyry (A.D. 270) said :•' Jesus haWna
been raiserfobscnrely. went to Egypt, where having loarnSS
to perform some miracles, he returned to Judea and nro
claimed himself to be God." «"«»•' naea, ana pro-
mi^^'^^A^A^ Emperor and Apostate (861) said: "He
(Ohnst) did not dp anything worth speak ng of. untess w2
consider It a great thing to have curS the 5eaf aSd blind
and to have expe ed the demons from tliosTwho were
possessed m the villages of Bethsaidaand Bethany ° The
fnlt^Z r ^^"J* ^«« «o striking and so public that thi
anti-christian philosophers were driven to the necessit?
of admitting them and trying to explain them^iv
Thus, Hierocles, a pagan philosopher, and governor of Al-'
exandna under the Emperor Dioclesian. wis not satisfied
with persecuting the Christians, but he must, to provrhls
loyalty, no doubt, write a book in which ho comS Uie
pretended miracles of ApoUonius Thyanwus to those of
I'hrist. There were no lecture bureaus at thrtimrand
no North American lieview, so Hierocles had to write a
book. He wrote his book in which he saS as f^Hots
5m twin ^^ ' ''"^ recognize a certain Ingerwl-
" The Christiana make a great noise and rive i af
Sfw ^ A^""^ »^28e he gave sight to the bliSd. anj did
other wonders. * # We have better reason in kttribut.
mg like works to many great men. such as ArteteSs.
Pythagoras, ApoUonius." ^*^«»waB,
, ¥*«r J?»ving described the wonders worked by Anol.
loniua, this pagan philosopher continues : ^
" I speak of these wonders to show that we think mnf«
wisely than the Christians; we do not relrf m a gS
but as a friend of the gods, a man who his worked suTh
gr|at wonders; the Christians, on the contrary. puS
that Jesus 18 God on aecount of the trijiing prodirjies he per •
formed. Peter, Paul, and some others of that ^
hars. ignoranto. and magicians, have boasted of the actiaS
01 Jesus, Lit Maximua Deffeng. th^ «iiii«Hr.«i — t^---
Philostratus. wise men and lovers of t^tii, hafe toid M°of
the miracles of Apollonius."
Aooording to Aruobius the pagans held that Jesus had
«i
W Mons ox nraiBSoix.
■tolen from tho MnotiiMT of the Egyptiftni the luunei of
S? wZden ■**"^*' by which he pSrSrmi
Now, Mr. Ingersoll, do not aU these attemptii of ancient
DhilcMDhert to belittle and explain away ?he woVkii of
Jean. (Jhriat. prove that those works were reai-that thev
J!2!S ^u^ and admitted? These men knew the facto
better than yon do, and instead of denying them as you
do. they tried to make little of them or explSn th^
i^'Z'r^'V"'*" Christ performed the miracles recorded
In the New Testament, why would the Jews put to doaS
ft man able to raise their dead ? " *» • *" uu»bu
CoinncOT-~The argument of this question is, that be-
cause the Jews piit Shrist to death, they did n^t beUeve
In His nairaoles as recorded in the GoepelJ. But this wn!
?#"*? falw. The Jews beUeved*U,at God had to?,
bidden them to abandon the law of Moses, even if a pro-
phetperformmg miracles requhred them to do so. From
ihe tmie of Christ down to the present, the Jews ha^
always and muformlv beUeved in the reaUty of the
th?i?Tl^u£ ^''" ^** °^* believe-this, consS?
WeU, then, you will ask, if ihey admitted the fact of
mj miracles, why did they not accept Him as the Messiah ?
While they adm^ the nurades, they did not beUeve
ttiat th^ proved Him to be the Messiah. Their piopheto
had performed miraclra under the Mosaic law. S'hey
had even raised the dead. The Jews in the time of Christ
could not understand how miracles could be worked to
***'*^Hu^**>''-. ?^?^ *^**^**» *°d prejudices, ttien^
caused th«a to reject the evidence ot H& miracles whUe
they admitted the /act oi them. They attributed them
to Beelsebub. Agam, they believed that the promised Son
of David was to be a great temporal prince, that He was
to free the Jewish neople and estabfish a great JewiSJ
enapire. restore the Jewish nobihty. and raise the AaroSc
priesthood to ito ancient preeminence and glory. His
preachmg and humble life gave no encouragement to them
Bones, and they reused to beUeve in Him as the promiwd
— ' JH — "r ■"—'J nuuxxcccu iiis xasracies. AiiTEnxvn.
inRACLB8 OF OHRtST— JOSBPHUg.
miracle?" ^*' ***** ^® *»»d wrought a
Christ, that He wrought miiikclfiH tk^oJ^ i • 1 •
whatever that it wu e^ diS^ A„ ?k '" "» «"<'e'«»
history takes thoM mSes m h^ts ?bJt,^""^- *2
npou a. no long« legitimate" ia'KZte^"^^''*
tte m moles of Chnst, it most be taken for Vanted «,f?
^KfiraoSs-iaiHS
true ; you actual y call on Christians to prove thit no sucfh
evidence ever existed I You sav • «• Mni^ i« ;* i7 !? .
it. was not denied V The DevL' hdZV^ *t' - --^*
niKiifc of his genius, never 8urpa8sed"thirii;^:5%nn«m«
impertinence. You are a lawveTand S^SJ ^""®
supposed to know something^^K^^
102
K0tB8 dM INOERSOLL.
that no Bnohe^S!^Tl;l^%^^^'^ZT^''''i?^'9''^
your able opponent in thl\^^„L f°PP<»«« Merrick,
you feel like saying of him 9 Whl^^!t L xu ^°** ^°«'<*
of him ? This ia thfl tTrSiV. ?* ^**°^'* **^® ^o"' t think
when you a^rHow1sT^^Tthi.T T^^^jonrselt in
were never defied 7 ° *^** *^® miracles of Christ
4T^^;siit%t7^^ ^^'^^ 0^-^* was -i*
pr?pS w;;e^al7o clSh^d^"^..*^*'^ '^^"^^^d ^^at their
fhafof raTrgteVi^^fnd'to^^^ P°^«^' ^^^'^
ot^lJelii^*^^-"^^^^^^
histo^rthrii^Clr^^^^^ J- ephus. the best
life or death of Chr^t?"' ^^^ '"''^^^^ ^^'O"* the
CoMMKNT-Nothing? Here is what he savs-
it be^a^f *?rcS^Ht"i *Sf n*?^VK>«%-- «
SMe^Sh\i^%-d?S^^^^^
rL^cts^^HSir^r^^^^^ "-
fhts^^oTalTOiS?^^^^
adhere to Hi^ FofH?a^^?L*^t^?£l^^^ to
the third day ; the divine nSfnhfS.^®^ "i*""® *Sain on
it Jot? " ""*""■■« ••«"» *•» J»« "d death of Christ. i»
be »S^,; Jn*' ■.'^"«"""' "■ '"^P""' " -fitted t,
„2''X'?f?-*«™'<«d by whom? B, ,.„ ..J „.,__
««3u TOicaire, aud other in«#i<^i» »r~S - — I ""^ ^Biuo,
%
de
^0SBPBU8*
lOB
was
'*
»
frateraity cannot get over its foroe except by denvina ita
BenninenesB. And this they do aocordSngly. After thia
denial, which m itself is of no weight, however, they pro-
ceed to the next step in infidel tactics and say, •• it w ad-
mitted. Now, sir, it is not admitted that this paracraph
is an intem>lation. On the contrary, it is held to be
genmne, and for the best of reasons. It is found in aU
the copies of Josephus's works now extant, whether printed
or manuscript ; m a Hebrew translation preserved in
the Vatican Library, and in an Arabic version preserved
by the Maronites of Mount Libanus. It is cited by
iiusebius, the most ancient of Church historians, by St.
Jerome, Rafinus, Isidore of Pelusium, Sozomen, Cassio-
dorus, Nicephorus, and many others. Eusebius was the
first to quote this passage, and it is morally impossible
that he could have forged it without being detected.
No objection was made to this passage in the early ages
by any of the opponents of the Christian faith. The
paragraph is then genuine, according to all rules of evi-
dence and all the canons of sound criticism.
Inoersoll— 'fls it not wonderful that no historian ever
mentioned any of these prodigies ?"
CoMMENT—The prodigies you refer to are, let, the
massacre of the infants by Herod; 2nd, the Star of Beth-
lehem ; 8rd, the darkness at the time of the crucifixion, eto.
The first IS referred to by Macrobins, a heathen histo-
nan, in such a manner as to leave no doubt as to the
universal belief in the fact.
The second is mentioned by Chalddus, a Platonic phil-
osopher, who attests the fact in ahnost the same words as
the gospel : —
This Platonist says:— "There is another history most
worthy of our reUgious veneration, which notes the ap.
pantion of a star destined to announce to men, no dis-
ease or temble mortality, but the advent of a God
who came down for the salvation and happiness of the
human race.' Julian the Emperor and Apostate admit-
ted the truth of the account of this star which led the
wise men, by saying that it was the ster Ataph, observed
by the Egyptians as making ito apDearanoft overv fonr
Dundred years. ~ " - - , -
The tWrd (the darkness) is mentionel by Phlegon of
Tralliam, a pagan who lived in the middle of (be Mooad
104
ttona ON oroBiisoLt.
H ejer been WthSS aIS th!,""' ^l «'*"^««* «»»*
visible. A great earthquake t^«i. *^® *\e»vea8 became
many hons^ in the o5vo#Sr-P'*^»^*'»** overturned
202nd Olympiad vprfl^ *^' ^''^ **» Bythania." This
the ChrisSn 2?; ^ h?« ^fr^"^" ^^'*» «»« 88rd year of
fixion. But tet "s go Ck a^fJr v"*^ *^°*" *»' *^« ««<^
M the best histor&n the h1!!* ^°« 8?^ •-•• Josephus
ask you. on what pSnc^ie^l^'t^J £L^°°^.-" Now, I
Josephus as genuine. wSle tnJS^ "^^^ **•« ^O'^s of
thew, Mark, Lke S,d JohnT T^f * **'^ ™^« '^^ ^at-
nes. « the evidenoefor thL Lf ?^? Y®'® contempora-
of the histories attributed ^ ?h« p"**''**^,.*" ««n»«ei,ess
cient to give thS tiie 8^m« !.*^''*"8elists is not suffi!
evidence have von fo7 *ifo ^ ?' veracity, what more
Josephus? Wh^do?ou w1eKi°'"T 4^ ^eracitTol
lists and admit tL wSL of w k "''^^ ^' *^« Evange-
ask the question and «vT1«* "^^^sephus ? It is useless to
*(
t"-,-.~-
CHAPTER Xvni.
Man came not to be ministerXi^to but fn^.J^l "^'^ °i
^0 f'e hU life a rede^i, Wor^^^^^^^^^
makes the statement word for worf -i I?* ?*i'^
n ""j^' J^f »««e»'»y of belief.
a^nSl'"-^:^ fr T"^" ^if'UevHh not shall be oo».
thou shiUbe •JJS.W te„"se*li:?1/™r= "?
wite, and that a mana««.in°"M™.SffP^. ''''•. ."""^^
any modern senae, it was DoidI,irX>rS!™ n^"",'" '"
ha™ been written ^ttaluhr^U.M.i^f-*'™?*'" *•
t. mi>acl«i withont exoitSjg „n.'SVr &" "'"™"*
106
106
KottS OK 1K0BB80LL.
V^'r^^'^n^S'^.J^^ *^® ***^°' "^^""^ 0' the
xjew iestament were better known in the ace in which
fanJ^'mhrwi? "*" n ^'*^«' books. 8L^^".-pio
ltl\^^^ s *^^* were written for the few, the It d •
SSnte^ Th«v*w« ^"^ J««t«°>ent were written fo. .he
people. They were read every Sunday to the people.
S,1i?ft" **'^^"'« "^-^J?® *h"' rnleof^jonducti^C
wSi kl^j;"*?^/'l^"ri^*^«" *°^ ?~'»°e historians
were known only to the student; they Sid not enter into
why i1erof^«,^J*^v.*^? n^^'' '^*»" » one reason
r«2 »KM *u *^®f®. *»"torian8 have survived the Upse of
Sf^Aln th*"^ "^^"i^f **' ^P««"^ h»^« comedown to
S ^«5 *?^" .completeness. They were therefore put^
iS«f ?® n»»acles recorded in them did excite Sm-
?ews*anrGe^Si:?.*'^ ^^^^^'^^^ '' '"^^^^^^ <>' ^^
INOBBSOLL-" There is not, in all the contempora-
fh?H^*?'^^^.u*7®F ** ™*y ha^e »>een, there is little of
UrnlT""^^ *^ prove your statement false. JoJephui
was a contemporary of the Apostles. He was born^ the
Inol fn -m?" ?y. 'i?* "*^?« ^ ^'^^t^ »^« tefltimonj™ ^efw
ence to Chnst : " Now. there was about this timJ Jesus a
wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man " * hS
drew over to him many of the Jews, anu also many of £e
GentileB. This man was the Christ!" eto. ^
be'TnlSJSJSitil^^'^'^^" ^ '^^P*^"' *« •^^-*<-^ *o
Je meaning. They give room for sophistry. A wit-
ness may meau oae who has sees an event take place, or
it may mean one who gives testimony of what he has
Been. The Evangelists were ihe inspired narrators of
«»
108
NOTES OH INOERsOLt.
I
the ETangelists were alfte eto B. .fS'^T?** ""^ by
»eota that were „„( S° bV f^f.^"* f,?'?'^« "' ■"«»«•
Matthews history ends with'^th„ , ' ""^'. ^vaiiMliet.
He ™,,re»i,ed up i^f Wei'^'d'^^tr^-Sg^tte
Jpr^^X' r bT^o'ff «"> »*»*« " toport.
to this fact, but' that TOs'not mIJi.™^?'"*? """y words
remaooor. The diffeiS^ Ww^n h • ""*^'"« ""« ""t a
He was inspired to ^^tl^^T^S "^ 3™" ^ this :
•And it came to nS. tS?^"„ "'u,*''« ""tnesse^ «,ya-
P«ted from them ffia^S^ nn'in^T"^ ""?""• « "^
..iSr-^^-"''' ■"""'.t-ur»trd"-«;'tofM.rk
ne|™g"rjS;*;„^j'4.^'»"*« ""'tt™. by «yi»g
^MrTaS"""" ^- "wh-iisi^ dl^
find •• nothing of thTwnd^ifr^l"^ *'"*^- Now. ^ wl
found it, you \imni;ff£^L*,Hl^hen you say you hav!
ignorant ad^i^^r'TlitthV^^^^^^^^
t
THE ASCENSION.
100
18
#
t'
at your hands is no exoase for you. The veniAM in f hn Ua^
found in almost all the ancient manuscripts. ThTmoBfc
ancient of the fathers admit them, as StfLuffius Te?
*??*"• St Clement, St. Ambrose, St? AuZS' and
others. AU the oldest Latin, Syriw, and Sic V^es
have them, They must, therefore, be consider^ gemffi
?o?r ^ weM.^""" ^'^' '"^^'^ '"' "^^°*^°« «»«^ ^^
Let us now sum up :
Jt^u^pSis^^^eLt.^* **^'" ^' ^^^ --' bliJSTSl^J?
CouMEHT--.First. The ascension of Christ will not be
given up. It should never have been believed if it could
w^ents'?'''' ^^ "^^ ^^. ^'"^ ^^^^ y^''^ advin^""i2
5«?o»d. The evidence of the three Evangelists whom I
ha^^quoted, does ajeree, and no man of seiise and unbi-
assed judgment wiU pretend to the contrary. Thev all
^.f..°?S^°'''^ *°^ micontradictory evidence to^the
fact o- the ascension.
*»,f **'"''• i?^!"?!,"® ®°^y. '**"' Evangelists. Three of
them speak of the ascension, as is sron by the ahove
2e?e1hr«dof''it"^'^'"^' youfind your o.^r three who
Butyoucontradictyourself. Acoordinff to vour reason
irig onfy one of the HVangeUsto mention! Se^Ze^n
event. Now, if only one of four witnesses speak, £ow can
they contradict each other? There is sucfa thing m
being too smart. You should not let your zeal for godless-
ness run away with your judgment. The conclusiBnfrom
^hl^l *5 fw* .f^^ Evangelists do not contradict eiwjh
other, and that their testimony is alike on the ascensi^
INOEESOLL-" Again, if an/thin^ could ^ve^t 1£
iiLro^SThrist.'? "^^ '"^' '* "-«* ^-^^ ^- *^«
CnMMRMT — Nn rlnnKf. nt i*: Tin..j. i.i a
INOBBSOLL—" The last words, accordmg to Matthew
are : , "Go ye. therefore, and teach aU mtL?s. bapS
them in thename of the Father, and of the sin, Snd o?
110
NOTES ON INOBBSOLU
always, even to the end of the worid - ' ^^ y**"
accoX;rS:rth^^^^^^^^^ of Christ
were the lastlSwhv^n"**^''.'!*^'' "°<* »*y tbey
gospel of Matrhew 'a Yt^LmLfT >"*«'T>o'»to «to thj
Yon mnst ex^Srme STmn^W^''''^ ^ ^«°«»^« ?
facts; yourstat^m^ntis absort^ v^Jli*°^'^ ?,« ^ J^^
Matthew. P^ *'"' '"» '""h repotted by
'w» ewj, - — ^* -.«iu«j« upon
is hJ^n;il;t^thTyS!; 3?d^^? 2L^« ^^ ^ -^ **
representing Lnke when von slV^ ^^ y**** ^^^ °»w-
milimited fSith in the crednufi o?Vi .^'"' "ns* >ve an
bottomless ignorSi^^rthe ^^' «^,W »»d in the
whenyonmalestrchastatemeS^Tf^o ^^*? .7°° *PP«»1
that ^eat and learned rhSS.: i*»no*at all surprising
to mSet yoiu The reason ST-?^^^ ^'^ »«* ^
men o^8ense It ,« w !i. • *5®? "^®°°® » evident to
aside to^^J^i e4 y Wa^Tb1;«Jh^' ^'"^S^ <« *«^
tongue against Christianityfordo^^^^ ^"S* *»»
of being a philosonher ^-hn^T v •^^®' '**® pretence
iNouBoit-' The lut wotO. w»otding (o John. w«e :
*. «
v#
OBNBALOOT.
Ill
*. *
#1%
f
TW*1'**^*'I~^**?°*^«"'**> *«" *he reader, after what
Eva^cZf ^? '«^'«"<« to .^«' falsificationa of the othJr
Evangehsts, that vour assertion as to what St. John savs
are squandenuK your reputation too cheaply.
in thf ?«?f*Vri,'^"A*°*^.?°* *»' theascensloi is also given
;« *H^A°*« of the Apostles ; and the last wordd of Christ
saSXJiie^SJs^^ls^"^^ " ''^ " ^^** ^- ^-«
thJrrra^of h^s^^S^n^ ^'-^^ — ^^ -
CoMMENT-Luke nowhere testifies that Christ ascended
?i^^ia „r^ t*y **J *"® resurrection. On the contrary, he
tells us in his Acts of tJu Apostles, that "He (Christ)
showed himself aUve after his"^ passion, by many p?3
for forty days appearing to them and speaking oMhe
kingdom of God.;^-i. 8. Here Luke tefltifi^iic?Uy a^
^'es^Tthii^' *^°^*^"' ^'«"" ^ ^ <^~P«^^
INOEESOLL— " These depositions do not agree."
«aS?™^^~? ^ ^?"' *'*^«"^y *»' them that does not
fSriepl^Sn^.'"*'^"' "^^ alike whenfairly and truth.
mJr ?i,T''^"i ^''*' ^'i?«. ^i*no88«». Matthew and Luke,
pve the genealogy of Christ. Matthew says that there
were forty-two generations from Abraham to Christ
Luke insists that there were forty-two freL, ChrisTto
David, while Matthew gives the number as twent^eicht
It may be said that this is an old objection. An oMon
remains young until it has been answered." ""J««won
.•f £'*i'S"*'Tni*' »>Jeed an old objection, and in this
It IS like all the objections you have made. They*re aU.
aius far, merely the old, oft-repeated, and oft-iswered
yes varnished and revamped into modem pmK
Ihey lose some of their force in ths trap«"»-«-" »™i
S flumSeir *^** ^""^ ^ °^^ "^ ^^ flippan^FSV^:
«Jh ^K«,^SJ*;f° ^ ^** Matthew and Luke contract
each other m the numbex of generations. Oeneration haii
• I
tl9
JfO-ng Off iNOKBaOLL.
I i
sou, etc. Generation in thig sense i/ives us no meaauM of
\^^r°^r^'^. individaal in the aXove series mjt have
hv^ from twenty to Ave hundred years or more Thi«
^lf«n «?»«'^»««° .i« therefore of noC what^er in c^
on atinR time or hiatorical epochs. It is tcS^ fndofln^te
inherit^rr^'Tf" • °"^ ^ P':°^« legitimacy, and the rC of
JrlnJi^^' I* « generation in this sense that St.luko
iAh!']*^°*?^ ** ^*« his purpose to show that Christ was
,sf?»,i/'"f was the porKoa who, if royalty had oontkmS
m the family of Davia. would have legally inherited th«
throne Luke was dealing with the questiW reforeice
supposed to be thirty-three years. As men live/Ccer in
the early history of the rac^ than now, the average gfe S
woXen«r J" ,°*^^ ^«"««^- Now MatSZTsiMhe
«nn J^T** °° i^J^i^rence to titne-to the average dura^
rS^i.; i''^ when the prophecies concerning the 3ina of
was or the royai line of David. Generations of /?«,!
then, m the sense used by Matthew, might w^^^^^ twT
te' ?. *nf 8«°«?t^0"« o' individuals in SSlSs^ of
Luke. It follows, then, that as these two Evange?i«?«
were writing about two different things they dM l f io«
INOKRSOLL-" Is it not wondorful that Luke and Matth««
JhaeLoke give, the ^. ^ell^ SS^^^JZ^l
• «
HIMIOH or TBI AH.WUM. „,
bluDdenng. ' •'^°" * good deal of ignoranb
IN(»KR80LL — •• Til "^ tr n ^,u
' witue.H08 • »« to ^'.aM-fe Go3^f PK°??!°° among tho
time that it i« .sal tnJ«*^f' *"*' discovered by this
proof of Bu^o iintto TerX'Te' ••^•'r^"'^ -^*»""'
proved thatgomething mo^ tSn vonrwn^/P^"°°°« »"»«
Voa must specify these diffnrono/ ^ ^"^^^ '« necessary,
conflicting ^texts, anrgive tlSr L?' ^P'*^*""' 1"°^ the
have done this it will be tim« f^ '^^'Pf^^cos. After you
threrSr^'; teef?.'4Vte ' ^"^^-^ '-- "^oae
in answer to your stSi^ment tL^fK *^°°S'^°<'- This was
nothing of thit do^S!"" i?oVSow lLl*L.^I*"^^^ ^^^^
another dress. This time it i« 5^.' PI*' *^® «*o»e idea in
nothing about it. and yoTrive M^evfdi;^ ^»°^«
Selists, whom vou asi^rf « Jj evidence the three Evan-
row. if it wer J t?ur(^s *itT notUll^^^^^^^^ '""l «"»>J^°'m
never referred to the doctriiflnf If *'^''^ Evangelists
quote them as witnos s^SgLts^rnr*' J^ °*» y°«
ctoctnne ? Your statement is false and wiM?'^!"^ °/ *^»*
i./i^rrt^vL'tTs^--^^^^^^^
:^;;:S?ire:,.^'« -^^- ^SUo^t^^-S^
the^TS;;;^'^:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ to the m^d Of
agree as you assert. ^^ ^"^^ «»ch failure to
But thus far your effort to profe 7w n. f-^ inspired,
miserable failure. If you llll\ti^J^V^l'^^'^ « a
caan wiiau you have alreadv mVo«"'Vr" --.-««* i,u offer
men^„.^ the* Ev.agoU,i P^J^ ^LV^
lU
NOTES ON INaEBSOLL.
iNasBsou/— '* Neither do the witnesses agree as to the
last words of Christ, when He was crucified."
Comment— You are positive about this. Now let us see.
Inoeesoll— «• Matthew says that He cried : ' My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?' "
CoMMENT->Do^ Matthew say that these were tho last
words of Christ? The words are the last reported by
Matthew, but he does not report them as the last words of
Christ.
Inoersoll— " Mark agrees with Matthew."
Comment — Then, as Matthew reports no words as the
last spoken by Christ, it follows that Mark did not. So
much for your " last words " thus far.
Inoersoll — «• Luke testifies that His last words were :
* Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.' "
Comment— Lukte •• testifies " to nothing of the kind.
These are the last words reported by Luke, but he does
*not report them as the last words of Christ.
Inoeesoll— " John states that He cried: *It is fin-
ished.' "
Comment— True, but he does not state that these were
His last words. The fact is, none of the Evangelists re-
port any words as the last words of Christ. It is at best
a matter of inference what the last words were. There-
fore when you quote the Evangelists as reporting the last
words of Christ, you misrepresent them ; and the contra-
dictions, which you pretend were made by them,, exist
only in your ignorant or unprincipled misrepresentations
of the Gospels. It would be interesting to know by what
code of morals you are governed, if any. Gautama,
Confucius, or Eoang-Foo-Tzee, Zoroaster, Lao-Tzsu,
Hermes Trismegistus, Moses, and Mahomet, all forbid
lying in their moral codes. What code do you follow, any-
how?
Inoersoll—" John says that Christ, on the day of His
resurrection, said to His disciples ; ' Whosesoever sins ye
remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins
ye retain, they are retained.' The other disciples do not
record this monstrous passage."
Comment— The other disciples do not record this pas-
sage, eh ? Matibuw was an apostle and a disciple was he
not ? Well, Matthew says : " Verily, I say unto you, what-
fwerer ^e shall bind on earth shall b^ ll^und io h^ven.
MISSION OF THK AP0STLX8.
118
i
and whatsoever ye shaU loose npon earth shaU be loosed
thee the keys of the kingdom c2 heaven, and whatsoever
-X vi 19 "^ **'' ^""* '^'^ ^ *^^d ^ he»vSn!!^ete!
von *i?Jf l^r^^ *° P'?^? y^^i ignorant or dishonest, and
ft?Jio?S i*^® y°''' ^^^^^^^ <>' position. You should not
forget that you are not only sacrificing your ownSfr?
Sft'I^Ji?"^'*"* "^ sacrificing anrhumbS^TlS
dust, so far as one man can do it, the dimity of our
SSentr"''"^^' ^^ ^"'^ ^^' ^^^' Sd WkleS^
d^^^'ru'^'r'l'^^^^- ^f^® AposUes) were not present
h«^f pn^i'^J placed ,n thoir hands the keys of heavenwid
hell, and put a world beneath the feet of priests."
ww'w^''';~^^^^uy.°'l «*r' " They were not present
when He placed m their hands the keys," etc., you intended
to perpetrate one of those side-splitting jokJs whteh a?e
ITli^ '^* ^T ^"^^f°^ ^° a roar.^Theideaof theiJ
IS droU, when we come to think of it. But the snbiect
18 very serious, and tiie joke is out of plane. When we
miustrels. fiutletus return. %n say that that com!
mission which Christ gave to His A^stles to paXn
sinners " puts a world beneath the feet^f prieste."^ bS2?
wK^'*K P"^*'""»g criminals, which is reposed in the
Ket 9 tS.i£T"?v:-PI'^ ^^ P^°P^« *>' *^i« State at
?w 5? ^ ^''^ ^'^ *^'^'°' * moment, and you will learn
that there is more sound than sense in your observaS
I iii 1
CHAPTER XIX.
CONTRADIOTIONS—INOERSOLL'S METHOD OP ACCOUNTING FOR
THEM— HOW TO BE SAVED— INGERSOLL's NEW PATENT.
INGER80LL— "It is very easy to account for the
differences and contradictions in these ' depositions •
by saying that eaoh one told the story as he remembered
I.LnL5\ ! -J^^M? »*• o'^^l^a* tlie accounts have been
SLpif^ of add " " ^*^ "'** *^® witnesses were
CoMMENT-It is easy to account by " saying."— Yes,
this IS the way y*u account for almost everything. It
IS easy indeed, but it has this disadvantage, it does nSt ac-
v«S;\/°', «7«7thing- It has been X' misfortune ^f
your tlieological career that you have placed too much
reliance on '• saying " and too Uttle on proving.
wil 1- * *»™«*o account for the contradictions of the
Evangelists when those contradictions are made appar-
ent. Thus far you have not made them visible. Hence
your cunning method of accounting for them bv " savins "
rJi^^^i^''^' ""called for, and entirely inconsistent wfth
Christian principles. Christianity must be defended by
!ffn A*i"®'^*f^^*T'?''* methods, or none. It cannot
afford to be defended in the spirit in which you attack
It. It must not use so|)histry. or cunning, or wit, or jokes.
spSgCt;.'''*^^ •''^'^^ '""'"^ ^ ^^'^^ o"« --
COMMENT-The /act that there were four inspired
Gospels written IS sufficient evidence that there was
reason for four. God does not act without reason. But
Sl/nfT^-'"*" •^^?^^ *^** y°° ^« "*>* understand what is
meant by mspiration. An insfired history is not neces-
S'JiL^ W'^'.^^torjr. The ipspiration has referent
tf^^^^r!^uS::f ^^ *° "^*P"^^ ^"<«'' a°d not to what is
While the four Gospels are inspired histories, they are
Wt complete and fi5l narrations of aU the eVen^^a^
dOKTBADICtlONS.
117
TINO FOB
WENT.
b for the
ositions '
embered
ive been
Bes were
;."— Yes,
ling. It
B not ac-
rtane of
x> much
B of the
3 appar-
Hence
saying "
mt with
ided by
i cannot
I attack
r jokes,
sinks it
one in-
nspired
re was
1. But
what is
neces-
ference
what is
ley are
1^ 1^
. New TeStomont to S ™? ^^ other Mthorg of the
fawrifaW it did a„r to^&i'^gl'^*" *?» ««,
thing that could hn TinLiu\„ ^ ™ *® yinto every,
whicli they twat^ TinLJai- ^'^ ^^^^^ ««*>i««* «'
there would b^ no ieed for S.nr«7i, "'^*°* *^'« i**ter,
^aiMHbly a.ouf SSir;Sra?roJ £.t-^J{fin<*adictory.
can or An&o-Saxon teSoT^J^r^^Tt'^^S f ^T
facts and circumstances in «n«S f *°^^- J^ most state
thoughts. T^do a3a r«iSir«a ™ »^»y M to meet their
thinis -ust^L^'said^'JtT^Tot^^^e"^^^^^^
written for the American reader^ Thi= ,• "-^ history
further illustration is unn^ar. v ^^ evident that
into sacred histo^ '.Sd ^^Hm 8^7.*^ ^H* '^«»
satisfactory reason for four insfcZinff * ^'^^'C'fnt and
A Gospel bitten fo?thrjewsto^|'.„Tely ^^^
traditions prophecies, customs, and haWte of life !Sf'
aU perfectly familiar to them. A Gosnel wr,?Ln ?' ^^'^
nseof the GentUes would havetoexSunmlnwv' ^%
which those people were icnorant A L« "7 *i^«^ <*'
arose as to certain pointe tS Wnri.t^*"' ,^ disputes
devote more attentiorS t^e p^fnte^^^^^
done had the disputes not arisen tiS?;^ ^^^" V*ve
were governed by^th^ coLfdSonl TheTw^f J^
different circumJtances and for Senfc SJ^*®°°^^I
S!;'^:?!?" .H.°»?r-»«? .*« >™. who blue^^-
dictions of their prophets had b^ iuSiS v.*5®P^-
Mark wrote his GosDel for th« ?i«^??"P^*^®**- ^^
Borne.. His obj^r^to'^prolS S^^SirSTw^thl
Sovereign Master of aU tWn^. and Ito tlwSStok d^o^
118
NOtBS OK INOBBSOLt.
almost all hia chapters to a recital of the works of Christ,
which show His divine power. St. Luke wrote his Gospel
more particularly for Theophilas, a pagan convert. Hia
design was to prove that Jesus of Nazareth is the true
Saviour of men, as the facts and circumstances of His life
prove. For this purpose he makes known certain facts
omitted by Matthew and Mark. St John wrote his
Gospel to refute the heresies of the Corinthians, Ebionites,
and Valentinians who attacked the divinitv of Christ and
denied many of His acts and words which the other
Evangelists had omitted. His primary object was to
prove the divinity of Christ, and for this purpose he be-
gins his Gospel with these sublime words : •' In the be-
ginning was the TJTord, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God." The Evangelists then differ in their
recitals according to the different circumstances in which
tiiey wrote and the objects in view.
Inoersoll — •• There can be only one true account of
anything."
Comment — There can be as many true accounts of an
event as there are points of view to consider the event, or
circumstances that surround it. You confound true with
eonvplete or adequate. A history that does not give all
the events and circumstances of a man's life, and their
relations with others, is true history if its statements are
true, although it may be incomplete, inadequate, and de-
fective. The four Gospels are true histories, although
none of them are complete, for none of them give all the
events in the life of Christ— in fact, all of ^em taken
together do not. They are all true, different, yet not con-
tradictory. The truth of a history depends on what
it says, not on what it does not say. When I say : '* Wash-
ington was bom, lived, and died," I give a true account.
It is not as full, complete and adequate as that of Irving
or Sparks, but it is as true what there is of it. You may
object that it is short, which I will not deny, but yon
cannot say it is not true. You simply confound true with
complete or adequate. A school-boy writing his first
composition might be excused for an iranrooer nne nf
adjectives, bat a philosopher should be more careful— or
more honest.
INGEB80LL— " That whioh is a test of truth as to ordi.
nary witnesjses is a demonstration against their inspiration."
*l*
TUB WAT to fiE SAVBD.
119
Comment— The test of truth in the case of ordmary
witnesses is the fact of their agreement. The fact that
the Evangelists agree in the statements made by them
18 evidence of their truth, just as it is in the case of
ordinary witnesses. Now, ho n the evidence of their ver-
acity can be a demonstration against their inspiration is
difficult to understand. You have said if they disagree
they cannot be inspired, and you are right. But you are
not satisfied ; you now try to prove that if they agree they.
• »• cannot be inspired. Any remarks of mine on this reason-
ing of yours would only draw the reader from a con-
templation of its sublimity. So we will pass in silence to
other points.
Inoersoll— " My doctrine is that there is only one way
to be saved, and that is to act in harmony with your
surroundings— to live in accordance with the facts of your
being."
Comment— Then you have changed your "doctrine"
considerably since you began your article. Your "doc-
trine " in the first part of it was that there is no God, or
at least that we cannot know whether there is or not ;
that a future life was " invented " by Christians to give
God a chance to rectify the mistakes of this. Your
" doctrine " now is that there is one way at least, to be
saved— it is " to act in harmony with your BuirouJidings."
Well, your surroundings are certainly Christian. If yea
lived among Mormons you should be a Mormon; if in
Turkey you should have a harem and sit cross-legged
like a tailor ; if among Thugs you should be a Thug ; if
among assassins, an assassin ; if among thieves, a thief I
This theory has the advantage of being in harmony with
the " elastic cord of human feeling."
But you explain. To live in harmony with your sur-
roundings is to live—" in accordance with the facts of
your being." Good. This is preci lely What Christianity
demands of us. But what are the facts of our being?
There's the rub. This question brings the whole con-
troversy back to the startmg-point. It is time you should
linnArRtll.nd tbnf. illlA whola nnaafinn VkAfmAnn «.nr. ^^A i.1.-
Christian, as well as between the heathen, the pagan, the
barbarian, and the Christian, is : What are the facta of our
being * This question is the root or foundation of all the
difference of opinion that ever existed in the world as to
120
K0TE8 ON INGERSOLL.
»ot force himseU toThe iZ? / * f"''^*"*' ""^ "honld
by his ignorant, g«„X„8to?k ?# r"*""". i-vestigation
oothing of tbo mhi^? J . " ^e confessedly knows
bento"! hTmri, « S^Tn o'Jtie'Thlgyr ' I' '» ^"^^
but there is notSTadmiSbfe I an """'^ "^^ ^*'^^*'
gnorant .an trying to^^^^^ .^1/ aTSr *o^^S.i
jKthfn,— ^**'*! «' °« being?
dixMiing it intJ tHars S h * *1tvT .;"™«»« it aid
^-afcon after generation froSthhil'^rj?? *^^««"-
to the year of our Lord i«ft4 o«5 •* •?, ®' ^^^ down
spuntiltheangelof e^ni^vcSi*'"".^'^"'^"^ ^ do
Vo^taires, FrerltsroSs^DMerS- T •**'■'*»" «' *i«^«-
soils will appear fromS to HtSl' *'°^'' *?^ ^°g«-
to survive tL'one, ^X hll ^^'SS^^'^^^^
CHAPTER XX.
THE HONEST INFIDEL-THE UPRIGHT ATHEIST-LUNATIC * AND
IDIOTS— JUDAS I8CARI0T— HOW ?
TNGERSOLL-«'For the honest infidel, according to
± the American Evangelical pulpit, there is no heaven^
, CoMMENT-The cook-book says : The first step in Jook
in« a hare is to catch it. I do iot believe any infidel wm
!Zw'**.r''f ^°'.^"«*^°"««*y- I havenoLThorlty to
speak for the American Evangelical pulpit, but I suppoM
If It could be convinced of the " honesty " of an SeT
Comment— The upright or downright atheist will ha
doubt be treated as the upright rebel or traitor is TreatS
by the government whose laws he defies, and whoj^ aT
thonty he rejects. Christianity teaches that God^oves
the honest man, that He wiU never punish" him forlls
honest convictions ; it teaches also that God, who is in!
finitely w:.se, knows the diflference between an honest man
and a loquacious demagogue. Christianity teaches S
honesty is an affair of the heart and conscience, and not a
matter of word-spinning or gush.
INGERSOLL-" Mr. Black admits that lunatics and idiots
are in no danger of hell." *uioiia
arf^t^lTt^e'^iri:;^^^^^^^^
only^irarra^d'^rifoJ:^?^ ^*^' ^^^ «-^ «^^^^
CoMMENT-He has in His inscrutable ways created more
than we poor finjt^ creatures can understand the rewJn
for, and He permits them to play their antics before S
heaven to an extent that can be explained onlv hv rif?. .
eacti bO liiu iUQuiCu patience. " **' ~ ""
INGERSOLL-" Why should the fatal gift of brain be given
181
122
KOTES ON INOERSOLt,
ip
bo^wT""A^*'^° "^^^ 8^^^" *° °»ao *o be used, not to
bo abused. According to your theory no man should bo
tZi^ tr''^'' ^^^^^i°« **^** ^«"^<5 render him iSble
^J^nJ^L^l A^' °' misfortune of any kind. Reflect for
trrodwlw '•^T^'"^ *^^" leads. Yon should not b^
hint 1 **u *.P^«*o'' oi^ a 'azor, or a knife, for you miRht
the others. A man should not be permitted to irarn
hi.l'1^% *^e*"f! i* "^^«^« »»i«» «aWe to coSt for«e?v°
?^ „ff ?' should be cut off because they render him Ee
You should n'TE^'^'S?^.*** *^^ co^sejuent punishment
lou should not have the dangerous liberty of eatinc leafc
JhonS'&V*V*?° ^"^^^^ "^"d !>« sick; Ld your &gue
should be dumb, lest you might be liable to talk noSse
or commit perjury. What would you think or say o°^S
t ^f IverrfiT ^^ r '^We^*4r, He shouKpri^
^n/titS ^r *^ '^** "*y u^ *b"««*^' °f everything that
canshtutes us men-everything that makes life worth
helZl^^'Z'i^,^ - '^^' - tb- -rid. if you can
CoMMENT--Bettor be an idiot saved than a phUosonhor
damned. But fortunately for men of common a veCo
areextrerJ'r'^'^^ T'«^^ ^^^<>^ anTphSosJpK
ffcv nf m!??i^7P*'®°°'^l°*^ *°^ exceptional. The major-
INOEBSOLL-" A being of infinite wisdom has no right to
create a person destined to everlasting pain." ^
Comment— Parsing the question of right, which is to no
SaSK^ ^'^' J^^ ^fi'' *^** <*°^ «'«»ted Jy being to Eo
damned? God created man to enjoy hapniness forevfir
and no man will be damned but he wL damns Sm^5''
INOEB80LL--For nearly two thousand yearaXdas
Iscariot has been execrated by mankind"; anJ yS, if the
CoMMEOT-^udas is iustly execrated, because he was a
^An w?S?ff "^^ *7'^y h '*"«°^- His treasrhas noThing
*^^^°. ^*Sl the doctrine of Atonement. Judas wrr a fr«5
bijrnit^^rt^eatrr^uX"^^^^^^
iNGBMoiA-" Suppose Judas had known of this plan-
JUSTICE.
128
known that he was seleoted by Ohrist for tbat Tery pur-
pose, that Christ was depending on him."
CoMiCENT — Suppose that he was not selected for this
very purpose; that Christ was not depending on him.
Where did yon learn that Jndas was selected for this very
purpose, or that Christ depended on him ?
Inobrsoll — •• And suppose."
Comment — No, sir ; we must suppose nothing. I want
facts, and not suppositions or guesses.
Ingbrsou. — " Are you willing to rely upon an argument
that justifies the treachery of that wretch (Judas) ?" ^
ComAent — No, I am not, any more than I am rendy to
rely upon your assertions. Judas was a bad man, but
there are worse men Uving than he. He did not go lectur-
ing about Judea, boasting of his crime, and ridiculing the
Christ whom he had betrayed — ^he went and hanged him-
self. I do not commend his desperate act, because suicide
is murder, but the fellow showed some respect for the
opinions of his fellow-men by ridding them of his destest-
able presence. He loved money, but in this he was not
alone. There were no lecture bureaus in those days, and
he felt that his career was at an end. Had he known that
others would come to continue his work he might hare
been terrified, and perhaps repented, but not foreseeing
this he only hanged nimself.
iNOERSOiiL — " I insisted upon knowing how the sufferings
of an innocent man could satisfy justice for the sins of
the guilty."
Comment— It would have been wiser to have insisted
upon knowing the fact than upon knowing the how of it.
There are many facts that you know and admit, and yet
if you were asked the how of them yon could not answer.
How do you think * How 4o yon apprehend a thought ?
How do you know that you are, or that you are Ingersoll ?
Would it be just to infer that you know nothing because
you cannot explain ♦♦ how " you knowl This is precisely
what you expect of your opponent. You ask, how can
the sufiterings of the innocent satisfy for the sins of the
guilty ? Your opponent replies by saying that the answer
mvoives a queBtioB of metapbysics. He 25, in my opioion,
wroQg in tnis, because he confounds the supernatural
with the metaphysical. These terms are not synonyms.
To answer your question he had no need to appeu to
194
NoVkS OM INGERSOLL.
conflnSn h3" to th? <■ ?" '°„'"'««'» ■■. he "hould hwe
"ottotheWof it We d„',;.?V„'i' PJ^'WWy »' ». Md
tting; .„a the philo^phe °Vho wLlt^^H " »' "y-
adequate answer is nofKin« kI** ^t " *°" expects an
minatrel show r^^ f^ *^''®' ****^ a° end man in a
boffiandJu;ntcork ^'"T "^ »««>ciated with tSn
n.i?u'nTrr^5iS^^^^^^^^ most . disputes and
often draC into^he Jvii*'^^^^^^^^ are ,
do duty under fSse a)C V« ^^H^'^^T ??^ ?*^« *<>
consists mainly S liwS^ Tk ^"^ o^/efuting fallacies
service. The only dfficSlJv^in^^ words from enforced
answer based on somA on« «# Yu ^ should give an
word, it might not bTthem^i*^® many meaningl'of the^
and hence my ^swer rSKi^ ^^'""^ you attach to it,
your thought, or the diffii?JtvLT"^'- T"^^^ "*>* «»««*
This shows with wW^tf^ *^ .*' ®?.'8*s »° yonr mind.
«8e wordl * ^^** ^'^^ mtelligent men should
^r'^^\n^l^VZ^^^^ nsed
Justice in abstract is a msr. .iS.' !• ? '1'® abstract ?
of Its own. A MM lb»JZ?i.?^*"^'T' '"™? "O entity
»o duties, no -ffin^'offn'ro^ »X°° °^'^'"'"''
Adam-, fau «.d ^stoT^V^*^' nK^^'^l'J.u'rSL""' "/
toeg,detonLrrS&V'Ut^\.*^' "" "« *»
JUSTIOB.
125
Do yon mean justice in its theological sense ? In that
sense it is a moral virtue or influence'tonstantly inclining
the will of man to render to every one his own. This
meaning can have no application to your question,
Do you mean legal justice ? Legal justice is that which
co-orders the parts or individuals of a community in refer-
ence to the whole, and inclines the individual to render
to the community what is necessary for the common good.
Do you mean distributive justice? This directs the
whole in reference to its parts— the community in its
acfcion towards the individual.
There remain commutative justice, which regulates the
actions of the citizen to his fellow citizen, and vindicative
justice, by which the superior visits punishment on the
guilty. You see the word justice has many meanings.
As you are a theolc^ian, philosopher, and lawyer, you
should be able to say in what sense you use the word, and
you must not imagire youk' opponent to be fool enough
to commit himself to any answer till he knows T7hat you
ask.
The fallacy of your question consists in this : It sup-
poses justice to be a thing existing independent of God
and man, whereas it is an attribute, in dififerent degrees,
of both God and man, and has no existence outside of
them.
But I am not done with your question yet. You ask :
.How can the sufferings of the innocent satv• ■nff«rin«s of the innocent
tatirfy for the nns of the gniltr ? The meS^Bufferino? S^i
This J^?^°* '^ »«ot satitfy for the m« of The^ISuy
of the gmjty, ijhioh i. quite another thin/ Yon cm Set
a fine of five dollars fo? a loafer who hi committ^^JJ
JJS °f J *"*5 ,'!'*»"« yo"* vicarious sufferinffs to ^e
"^tSff J*, f^'^^i?*'"^'^' '^"i* **»« prndshment "h?J dS w?
o^a il^. *t*' **** **?®"°«- I **»«»« by thl« time the roader
eees that the question upon which you " inSstod " m^l
l^if^'a^lx'^^'^ ."»^ cleane/of its wpWstry ^d
iNOBasoLL— " To answer an arinunent. is it onlv »«««.
'^Zt'^^ *^v** *V*^» * loetapfi^S^^iieBtio^^' ~~'
ohS?S\'''''~^**' **"' * questioS, to deiSrve m answer
should haye some sense in it. *«««»»» m answer.
nr qDM*
nnooent
ga alone
I guilty,
toe sins
Muipay
tted aa
in the
to the
do not
reader
meani
ry and
I when
should
qne8«
i|When
neoes-
Eiawer,
CHAPTER XXI.
MULISH 8TUBB0RNWB8S VBRSUS RATIONAL OBEDIRMCK—
STANUARD OV ItlOHT AND WRONG, WHAT la IT ? — MR.
INQERSOLL'S FOOT-LIOHT DEriNITIONS W0BTHLKS8 — U
MURDBB A OaiMB OB A VIRTUE ?
INOERSOLL— ** The idea of non-resistanco never oo<
curred to a man who had the power to protect him<
self. This doctrine is the child of weakness, born when
resistance waH impossible."
Comment — This is one of your soft, indefinite gener*
alities. Let us see what it means and what it is worth
practically.
Non-resistance to what ? Resistance or non-resistance
has place only where there is aggression. Aggression
ma^ \e just or unjust, and the lawfulness of resistance
to it depends on this distinction. Aggression is any
infringement whatever on your natural rights. Your
natural rights are necessarily limited or infringed on by
society. The individual must yield to society many of
his natural rights for the common good. Without this,
society Would be impossible. Society is necessary for
human life, for man is a social being, and cannot live
out of society. Therefore the aggression which society
makes on the natural rights of the individual is just, and
therefore the individual yields them up, not because he
must, but because he ought to. It is a question of duti/.
Now society aggresses on your natural rights for the
common good. You yield because yon consider the
benefit you derive from living in society a fair set-off to
the rights which vou give up. You do not resist, because
common sense tells you you would be wrong if you did.
Then the idea of non-resistance must have occurred to
you, otherwise you would not consent to the arrangement.
Again. Society, to exist, must have government, which
costs money. To meet the expenses the tax collector ag-
gresses on you. You feel that the demand is just, and yoa
vieid and pay, not because you kaow you can be made
to pay, but because you know you ought to — ^here a^aiii
the idea of non-resiatance.
m
128
NOTES ON INOERSOLL.
The idea of non-resistance occnrs to every honest man
vrho lives in society, and who believes in his duty to obey
the laws and support his government. Woe to that
government whose citizens obey only because they must,
or because they cannot protect themselves agaiust the
power that enforces law. Such citizens cannot be trusted
m timtf of danger. They are latent rebels, every one of
them. Resistance to the just requirements of law is sin-
ful, and non-resistance a duty. Hence the idea of it
should and does occur to every honest, loyal citizen.
You will say that you meant non-resistance to unjust
power or tyranny. Probably you did. But you did not
say it, and a man of your power of talk is expected to say
what he means.
Ingersoll— -" I do not believe in the doctrine of non-
resistance."
Comment— Ntk-resistance to what ? As you reject the
doctrine of non-resistance without limitation, it follows
that you hold the opposite doctrine without limitation,
which is that you believe in resistance to everything. But
you are not original in this. The world is familiar with
men of this kind, and has provided for them as comfortably
as circumstances will permit.
Ingersoll— •' IVTr. Black insists that without belief in
God there can be no perception of right and wrong
and that it is impossible for an atheist to have a con'^
science."
Comment— Mr. Black makes no such statement— in-
sists on neither of the things which you attribute to him.
Why this persistent misrepresentation? To give the
reader an idea of your sense of «' honor bright," and your
method of meeting an opponent, I will here quote Mr.
Black's words on this point. He says : " Here let me
call attention to the difficulty of reasoning about justice
with a man who has no acknowledged standard of right and
wrong. What is justice ? That which accords with law ;
and the supreme law is the will of God. But I am dealing
with an adversary who does not admit that there is a God ;
then for him there ig^ no standard at all ; one thing is as
right as^nother, and all things are equally wrong. With-
out a soTereign tuier there is no law, and where there is
no law there can be no transgression. It is the misfortune
of the atheistic theory that it makes the moral world aq
3nest man
ity to obey
) to that
5hey must,
taAast the
be trusted
ry one of
law is sin-
dea of it
Ken.
to unjust
Qu did not
ted to say
le of non-
reject the
it follows
imitation,
ing. But
iliar with
mfortably
belief in
d wrong
e a con-
dent — in-
to him.
Sive the
md your
note Mr.
3 let me
t justice
•ight and
ith law ;
1 dealing
isaOod;
ng is as
. With-
there is
isfortune
7orld an
fBS STAHDABir OT BJOHT AMD WBOMO.
1S9
aaarohjr, it fefom all ethiool qneBtfons to ^at oobfaBed
tribnnal where chaos aits as mnpire. wd ' by decision
more embroUa the frw.' Bat Uirongh the whole of this
(Ingwaoll's) p^;Mt t&ere runs a rem of piesomptaons
Motism which says as plainly as words can speak n that
the aatiior holdii km$e{f to be the ultimate Judge of all
good and evil ; what he approves is righi, tad what he dis-
likes is certainhr wron£. Of comrse I concede nothing to
a daim like tbat"--^'tfrf& Anuriotm Beview for Augtut.
ISBl, pa^t IBS. ' T
Iliis IS the only paragraph in your opponent's artlole
referring to this sabjeot. Where does he msist that with-
■ oat a belief in 0od there can bo no perception of right and
wtoiDft—no niflitition of consdeiice in the whole paragraph.
He says that you, denyfoa Ood, have no ttandard of
right and wrong. Now it ooes not require moch brains
or education to distinguish between a perception of
right and a standard of rfght. A perception ci right
is as different from tiie standud of right as tiie perception
of length is from a yardstick, by which Imigth is mearaxed.
Your next statement illustrates this.
iNttSBsour- -** Mr. Black, the Christian, the believer in
Qod, upholds wars of eztonnination. I dieaionnce such
wars as murders.**
Comain— Now how is this difference of opini(m be-^
tween yon and Mr. Black to be determined ? Your oon-
science tells yon that such wars are murders; his con-
sdeQce tells hhn the contrary. Whose conscience teaches
the iAfgti ? His opinion of right and wrong is evidently
different frem yours. Which of yon is rieht ? And how
isittobd4«tormine$f He will not yield hia Judgment
to yours : yott will not yield yours to his. What is to be
done ? Will yod appeal to reason ? But his reason and
yours have already drawn their conolusicMis, and they are
oppc»ed to each other. WiU you appeal to force ? Then
might makes right. Then slavery is ri|[ht as long as it
can be eui^orbed : and polygamy is right m Turkey and in
Utah, since it preiriliB in those places, and that which pre-
tyj^ha8.fQr tofttimaat leaat,the superior force behind
ii Do y— ** And evervtbiss is ynana tihtat isdreases
the sum of human misery." " "'
OoHMBNT— Certainly. But who is to determine whidli
of ill and e?ery act ol his inaceaset the aom of human
ttandard or
THB 8TAin>Aia> 0» RIGHT AMD WBONQ.
181
ak iDdfeaBea
misery f Yonr definition of wrong ii as Taeae and onaatia.
factory as your definition of right; ""•B'WMaunaaBa.
tooBBsoLt— •• What is cousoienoe ?•♦
2S? JS^^®°* ***** y'*" ^® "»* J™ow what it is. iSid I
SSiSSf **"rl?^ y^" • ^^^^^ «»titude ofe^
w the one which does so. Now.no man can know this-
and hence, «>cording to your criterion, no man^ know
thenatureof any given act. Your standard tiie^affoSI
^mi P««*»«a fnfpmation as to the nature of any act
which he may be called upon to Derfflrm. ItimtA^^t^
ussuciy worthiess. ~ ~ " ' — '-■ «^-«»
nbe ^ mm^tnjcam, the dillloDl^»till nmSoa.
ff
i
r
r i.i
183
Nom cm woBBsraiL.
iNdiBsoLL— " If consaqnenoes are good, so lathe action.*'
Ogmmeht — According to this diotam, yoa oannot sav a
cold-blooded niarder or aa asgassinatidn ia good or bad
nntil yoa hat^ leimed the oomeqaences of itl The con-
■e^aenoea^ef Garfield's taldng your death oannot be known, it follows that
you£ muMor %2ight be a good or bad act I This is the
rebuH or c>fase(iaen<» of your philosophy. From a Ohris-
ti&n ^idhit of view it is a very bad o(mseqaeQoe» and there-
fore, n there is any virtue in ktfio. your philosophy is ba&
The Gbrfstiaa holds not only t£«t murder is a crima, but
tiiat evon the intention, determination, or iimaetnated re-
solve jle a orims, deserving of hell. It is tbos that the
Christian retigioc strikes at the very root of this murder-
c«as propensity in man, and kills the dragon before he
Issues from hn Innermost den in the human heart. The
dootHne that acts take their nature and quality from their
x^ETilts is m logical and necessary oonsequuioe of the
denial of Ood. It destooys individiMl resioonsibility and
is dubversive of all government and social order. It
denim all appeal to ri^t, and destroys not only jtutioe^
but the very idea of it. It contemplates uothu^ but re*
BoltB^i^ysioalr cognisable xesults.
^'»l<
OHAMEBXXa
BOLL'S PLAU8IBL. Zs^S^mtZ^lJ: "«• «'<'«»-
—A CHALLBNQK TO TBS OUB iiJ^*"^*^"* "* ^ 'OOUS
INOBB80LL SCHOOL. ''"''* ^WirKTS OW THB
0«^t^#h- K^ "r'&? -"-anences. they
not actions th^^to^^f «o? bl ti^^ « 'I •?«<«« we«
actors. Yon can no^w ^m!l ***^^ "« fr«n their
«qaence than yoa Si?*S? ^5Sh«n"f ^^^^ '^"»°"* » «»
the conwqnenoes of aote are sTm^^Jh*" !2^';: '» '»«*»
continued under new Itomf Bnf ?,S® ~^ themselves
consequences, it doeanoSwiwM^ every act has
takes Its quaUty from tho8?oJS^n«Il5»^« «««»» *»»at it
Inokbsoll— •« Man di«l^«»4i^??***'®*'
"eqnonoes of ac^ Swn Oof hn*"#i"**'''«^ o' con.
teaaoa:' «*« «om «od, but from expSienoe and
Bi[tb^;e^l^ &2isf?t i^'^^.J^'^''^^^ of
get It fromeSperienceand «,S^!f'*"**r* **»* he did not
held that maTae^i^V^V »n^ no Christian ever
all acts from qT oS C^A ^J con».qnences of
physicdl acts is limited to a Wl!2^**' ^°^<« «ven of
are two orders of acS/physi^fa^^^T !?'°*«' ^^ *here
are two orders of waaH S! •?^ »ntellectual, so there
moral. Man cSinot SlT £ n?&?^ ^"lintell^stni, or
purely physical act! Cast a JSSS T^\^*^^^ simples?
what are the consequeniL ? w if '"***, **»® ocean, and
of gravitation w) tw2 s^^J JL^^ f^^^^ Newton's law
time it wiU chan«nhe3»f.^-^^x.*^'* ^« ^"^ that in
«"s» *5 wiii ohanse thA naU»^_ V*" '?*"°«' i?«ot onlv
which t«osiii„ d;^^J^~ •« »h. mooS
i
184
MOTES ON nfOEBSOLL*
tinne as long as matter and its law last, for the arrange*
ment of the molecnles of matter will never again be the
same as they wonld have been if that pebble had not
been cast. This is « mere general oatline of the limit-
less results of that act. Now, who can tell or know, but
Ood, these resalts in detail ?
The resalts ^ «noral or hnman acts are still more diffi-
cnlt to know, for a homau act, that is an intellectual act,
has its ooontless effects in the intellectual world in time
and eternity. A false principle taught to a child will
grow with it and spread from it to others, and from these
others to yet ethers, and thns on throngh the ages, uid
when time oeases it will continue into eternity and aJffect
heaven and helL. Thus this one act of Sr false teacher
changes the current and harmony of the world. This is a
l^neral. outline; bnt who can tell us the nature of each
individual result— of each Unk in the endless chain ? To
know all these oonseqnenoes by experience we must ac-
tually experience them; we most not only experience
them individually and in detail, bnt we must also experi-
enoe their united and combined result. This is a task be-
yond the power of the human race combined. Hence to
talk of learning results by experience is to babble nonsense
like an infant. That man did not get aU his knowledge
of the consequences of physical acts from God direotiy
we admit, with astonishment that a man of your calibre
should deem it necessary to state it. We must, however,
assert that man cannot associate facts with prior facts, in
the relation of cause and effect, without an intuition or
primary revelation of that relation between two events
which is called cause and effect. In other words, the
human mind could never associate two events in the re-
lation to each other of causb s,isd. effect unless the idea of
this relationship had been revealed by God in some man-
ner. As the fashion of denying everything is so popular
we may as well join in the rout and deny that there is any
such relation as cause and effect, or cause aud consequence.
And as long as yon deny the existence of the first cause
we must deny in toto that sequence of events known as
Cftuse 3uit*x enscv. i.i!sa uusu jroc provv imaii tiQere sn^
such things as causes and ^eots, the standard of mocalitT
whioh you dednoe from them is but the basotoss fabrio
of a cueam. Denial, yon wiU observe, is a two-edged
'Ul
SXPEftlBMOB MO BVAMDABD.
105
calibre
jword. You seem to have taken it Into onrliead that
Chnstians admit anything and everything that brings grist
to your infidel miU, andlSat anything yo5 " admitTaSds
no further proof. In this you are mistaken. The Chris-
tian nants you nothmg— absolutely nothing. And unless
you admit a Jirst cause, God, he denies the existence of
all causes whatsoever, and therefore of aU eflfects. If von
deny God vou deprive yourself of the right to base a
standard of morals on causes and effects, because without
God, the first cause, thoy are inconceivable.
lN0EE80LL--«If man by actt I experience discovered^'
the right and wrong of actions, .a it not utterly illogical
to declare that they who do not believe in God can have
no standard of right or wrong ? "
CoMMENT-As man cannot by actual experience dis-
cover the nght and wrong of actions, it folfows that he
must learn It m some other way, and as there is no other
way left but to learn it from God, it is most logical to de-
Clare that thejr who do not beUeve m God cannot have the
true standard of right and wrong. Man cannot learn the
right and wrong of actions by experience, for aU human
experience is necessarUy incomplete, and aU knowledge
derived from mcomplete experience must be incom.
plete also. Hence a standard of right and wrong that
IS derived from incomplete experience must necessarily be
incomplete, imperfect, defective— in a Tvord, worthless'
We may learn some things from the experience of the
past, but if you deny divine teaching how can you know
that the experience of the futurr niay not cause us to re-
ject all those things which you imagine the experience of
the past has taught us ? How do you know but that the
experience of the future may demonstrate that polygamv
and slavery and wars are nght, because in the long run
they may prove beneficial to society ? How can yS as-
sert, with any show of consisteney, that these are wronff.
th°m 9^^^®"®"** **** °®* *^ y®* "Po^en ^ h»t words about
Tnoersoli^" Consequences are the standard by whteh
actions are judged." ' "««*«
CoMMENT-^Then sin<^ the consequences of acts oannol
k! .l!E ?"f;i*i;?*?*'S ^''^o* ^ known. Philosophew
heretofore held that efiFects took their nature from the?
cause, and not the oause from the effects. They ooiild
I
186
ttOTBS 611 IKOBBSOLL.
'B t
not see how that which w could take its nature from that
which w notf or how aft effect could be the canse of its
own oan8e*8 nature. They were keen-sighted enongh to
see that this involved the dogma of Lord Dondreary, that
the tail wags the dog.
Inobusoll— "God or no God, larceny is an enemy of
udostry." '
Comment— To sa^ an act is a larceny is to determine
Its nature— its quahtjr. You have said that the qtkality of
an action is determined by its consequences. How then
can you assert that any given act m a larceny tiU its con-
sequences are known? To assert larceny you most
assert it of particular acts, for larceny in the al»btrat t is
simply nothing, and can have none bat abstract con-
sequences^ which are no consequences at all, and there-
fore cannot be an enemy of industry, unless it be industry
m the abstract, which again is no industry at all. Lar-
ceny, to injure industry, must be larceny m act and prao-
face— the act of A., B. or 0. Bnt how can yon assert that
the act of A., B. or 0. is evil or larcenous till its oonse-
qnences are known ? for, according to your philosophy,
the nature of the act of A., B. or 0. can be known and
judged only by its consequences.
LiOBBSOLL— " Indusb^ is the mother of prosperity."
CoMMBNT— Industry, aside from industrious acts, is
an abstraction, having no more reality than larceny aside
from a larcenous act. Indiistry, to exist, must exist as
the acts of A., B. or C. Bnt here you are again met by
your philosophy that " consequences determine the quality
of actions, ' and you cannot assert that the actions of
A., B. or 0. are industrious or idle till you know the con.
sequences.
. iNOEBSOiiL— "Prosperity is good."
Comment— Accordmg to your standard prosperity is
good only when its consequences are good. But the philo-
sophy of history teaches that prosperity leads to the
downfall of nations as well as of individuals. What did
prosperity do for Egypt, Greece, and Rome ? It made
the people luxurious, voluptuous and imbecile, and buried
tge mpn^anents of hardier ages in mjns. It was the
m«t>a toaii £bd Hauuibal, Alesander and uaesar to untimely
grave8,«nd Napoleon to Moscow and Waterloo. Pros-
perilgr lead^ to decay, national, individual, hxteUeotual,
.''T^..-
fXJLITBtBUi ttOtfSKNSX.
m
■•
d^ifSif^lf'^' When prosperity is at its seniih.
iTkS. « * *^® door I whea th^ tre« is in fnU bloom there
?J^!Li ^ '**®P ^ ^^ ^^ *»* 7^°^ J«rf- Prosperity
S!L!^ consequences ; and if. as'you say, oonwo^S
detennine the qnahty of actions, tow caS'pro^ri^b!
»»iS!2; ^^*^^^^7* wide from those who prosper, is an
abstraction, noteg. and therefore the gocS ySu assert
of It IS equaUy an abstraction, a delnsion ind a snareT^
INOKBSOLL-." God or no God, murder is a crime!^
OoMMKNT-It is a bad thing for one to foraet one'a^'
L'l^S.fn^'iSP^^- rJ^°.^^? '^ *»^** "conaequSces de^
tTfiJ"!"^ ^^*^< **^ actions." How then^ you as-
aert that murder is a crime until you know the conse-
quences of it f Murder in the abstrwt is at b^t SSlTi
^ ^'^^2^?'^J^ the act of A., B. or C. Buthow clmwS
assert that the act of. A.. B. or 0. is murder w a^T^
SSi?S^**^S?~^^"«"*^^ According to thrnow
standard of nght and wrong set up by votu I have tiie
same right to asserii that muJder is a 4tue s* ySJ havl
to asserti it is a crime, until aU the consequences 5 the sS!
must determine che nature of the act. "-^^uwiweB
^«B8oix-« There has always been • law against
CoMMKNT-Yes, but the law is unjust if larceny be a
wtue. And you cannot asserii it is not, as long as iu the
consequences of the larceny are not knowntlince they
are, aocordmg to you, the standard by which the act is to
be judged. If there is no God the "law against Wny
fcaf^r*^2L^^^ obligations, for if^ade b/ mSJ
whThid Jot. ^ ^"^"^ ^^"^ *^' ftgainst^those
But those who have not axe in the majority in the world.
r^nSff^trS ^"'^^ no right to impose^laws on SS
majority. » there is no God, the reaTthieves are those
who have and hold the goods of this world from the neat
majon^ who have not This is in fact the docteS^
, prorfiet of infidelity. Ian it down as a maximtibi
rk robbery.^ The^erenpe between yoa 23
is this: hedemea God and carries that d«2iS
I8d
iroTM OH nroBiMottit
i
S hL^^^ «m>|»queiM»a, whUe yon, without an a'otrt
Ja right ; hnt God or no God, yon are wronir. """"""
I. S""">™— Conyictod nraideron objeot to beins killed •
ina^;'tf^*™^.°.?P'y- T*»« *» *»>e consequence of t°y.
ing to xeason without a standard of truth and morality
sSSdT^^oteaS™!^^^^^^^ -
CoMMBNT^You ought to be ashamed to misrenreHAnf
SJiS?«TSv ^ jftegonist. Mr. Black iSve? SXHSr
SSoSni »^i, ^*'^- 1.?^ complained of the difficulty
?tenSS^«rf i^hi ^nS ^± ^°^ St° *^»? "« acknowledge
uJ^^^^^^lii^ possible that only those who be.
iievemtheGod who persecuted for opinion's sake hftv«
any standard of right and wrong ?" ^ ^^""^
•w***^VP"i*y ^^ whofcelieve in the true God
ZIo °? L®" /**?®Jy '"^"^o of persecuting, can have the ■ conscience and his acta.
MiSi^U^' *1?»^° worthless ones; b^^
afflwUty d knowing where to find yon. ifa. iSa^
ftAmnjJt K0M8KN81.
189
i an a'oni
asert the
Proadhon
ig killed,
ig killed ;
m ? But
Des above
nrhioh ao>
> objection
f murder I
us to be-
th, since
se of try-
tnorality.
nan who
Bdges no
present
that, nor
in infer-
lifSoulty
mledged
tint was
ir to him
I contra-
who be*
ke have
ne Ood,
the trus
> not be*
rom the
is, such
the ex-
len Mr.
> rubber
tne and
lisaeto,
Dce the
tta<^
complaint la t lat you hare no standard that holds yon.
?L „fi. PT*l^*"i 7^"* '~°* *^*^"« "^« **»« "*«« joker ii
the game of thimble— now you see it, and now you don't.
INQERSOLL-H Were the greatest men of aU antiqiSty
without ♦his standard ?" •u.Mjim.y
CoMMBNT-Whioh standard? Do you refer to the tnu
standard, or to some standard? These great men had a
standard-the will of the gods. They thus reco,,nuzed a
u^i^"i!~''^°*»*'"*^ 5 namely, that the standard of morals
should be B mil superior to the human will. They erred
in iooating this superior or supreme wiU, buUhey recog-
nized Its necessity tometchere. In doing this these great
men paid a magnificent tribute to the tme God aud to
humaa reason. These men whosf^ genius the world honors
St?«^^^ ^"^^ and failed only to identify Him, or under-
stand His nature. They honored the tme God when by
mistake they accepted a false one, as you would honor a
genuine United States bon i by accepting a counterfeit
through ignorance. Th jy had then a standard of right
and wrong, and althouffh it was not the true one, yet
they were consistent and held themselves amenable to it
in their lives and m their logic. Their philosophy and
theology begun where yours end. It is your misfortune
: 1 ?&."5^^' studied them profoundly, as they deserve
to be studied, for they were giants, these men of old.
lN0BRS0LL--"In the eyes of the intelligent men of
Grepoe and Home, were all deeds, whether good or evU.
morally alike ?" ^ '
CoMM|NT-No, sir. As we have seen, they had a
standard-the will of the gods-and therefore all deeds
r^/ w°*' lu ^^^" eyes, morally alike. Their standard,
not being the true one, did not enable them to correctly
distinguish the right from the wrong, but it taught them
that there was a right and a wrong. In this their stand-
ard was superior to any you have advanced; for your
denial of God destroys all diflference betw«;n right and
wrong, and leaves the words crime and virtue without
ameanmg. These men of Greece and Rome were not so
naupiu »3 w sjeii«»5 j^oui uieOrv that consequences deter-
-Sf-wi® °*i"" of actions. They never stole the truths,
teantiea and magdfioeBt reanlta of the Christian reli^
udtnedtomaktt belieye they were the fruits of p4i^
uo
MoYu oy nrasBsoxx*
Ism, M modern infidels try to make it aoDAAr fthnfc ♦».«««
f»'S."'"5i "^""i' ! dilferenoe between rightjnd^;'
£irJ!'Sey delS^Sf^' "• " "^^ >""> <^^: »■ U^n*
»/1f r"^" ? " P<»»iM« that a being ounot be icrt
V'^!:^i^^^^ wbJtin.tic'S'viJssii:
not cynt«n the'doo^r yA^^uVoTp^lT^J^
ricuonlons. God is jast brmnu he is Jutiiee , an.1 iWi™
SS^Hta^hf •°'*'°?.!l°^ ,""" because He is^ani^r
e^iJt^ ^'^ indicate bete Christian princiolc. ■ tf
ni^yi^X'^^rf^''^ believe in so™ befe, M.
that ihoM
nd ezperi*
Rome had
d of lying.
exJBtenoa
r Btftndard
Igence, or
no right,
sen them.
no stand*
standard
> say that
id wrong,
the con-
9t be jest
infinitely
on very
for every
r to him-
l>oing to
irtae are
^n God
mpposes
worthy
osopher
er does
luestion
simply
justice
d with-
aything
Im ; to
is with
which
)8iirate
ig ifi.
WMTi AND ofmrm.
141
iKOEMou^.. If there fa » Ood, taLto ta^^ ^^
OonnNT— It is no pleasant task i£% »«&•<%« «.j*u
i^lnli^iL* g«» •b«»*»o«on~a nonentity TwJ
w.?***^*"^^* "■ oonilne oorselves to this t i i* i.
tte only one yoo professedly know anythS^ about Y^!
have nren a standi of right and wrJng to wS I iSS
actions/' As long as you hold yourself iSnnd ht thif
ttandajd, your td£ about virtiue aid or^,e iTZni^S
^pocrisy ; for. until the conwquences uf l^ ^ ffi^
there is no differanoe whateve? between ^toe^d ^J!2'
iMGBMOix^MIhave insisted, a .d ttill tosiBt^aJTS;
STte^KSie^? "^ ^ ^--^* '^ ^ ' ^-'4i!J
OoHminv-A little more reason and a little lam ««o«.
SS^K? J/"* "-£P"^i' however and nS OhrisS ^e?
thought of asserting the contrary. Finite man in »«
more experi«ioe infinite suffering tJan he ^n SpSn^
mfimte happiness, for between 5ie finite Md tS^X^^S
there can be no equation, We have had o««Jw *™»*?
your attention to tiiis latent f^rbSore^^^^i**"
doubt, be astoniafafid *« Cm tw\^ui?t__ *^. ^. no
vigorously is asserted with equal ^ii^^w'/Sbrfl*^'' "w.**
sophy. ftyouhad.puSSSZaM^^toPSSSi
■tatement. You are arguing against everS^ pjffi
143
M0TK8 ON UrOBSMUiL.
Fr
ment ; and yoa bagin by stating a self-evident propositinn.
This being admitted, you proceed to joggle in another»and
Tory different idea. Here is year argument in short:
Finite man oannot suffer infinite pnnii^ent ; therefore he
cannot snffor enerhuting punishmont. Why do yon oon-
found these terms ? Was it through ignorance or design ?
I| through ignorance, you are to be pitied ; if through de-
sign, you are not honest. Iniinite and eyerUstinff are not
convertible terms. Man cannot, because he is finite, suffer
vnfinite punishment ; but it does not follow, as you seem
to think, that he cannot suffer everlasflng punishment.
With this distinction your whole argument on this point
collapses like a punctured balloon. Happiness and misery
are limited by the capacity of the receiver; a, finite zeceiver
cannot receive uifinite happiness or punishment, but an
everlatting receiver can receive evertaating happiness or
misery. Man is everlasting, and therefore ot^pable of ever-
lasting happmess or punishment ; and aU your *• insisting "
to the contrary is of no consequence.
Inoebsoll — ** Of the supernatural we have no ooncoD-
tion." *^
OoMMSNT— U yon have no conc^tion of it, how can yon
affirm or deny anvthing about it ? To admit that you have
no conception <» the supematun^ after having talked
abont it through thirty-five p^es of the North Ameriean
Review IB to advertise yourself a thouffhtlees gabbler. A
moment's reflection should show you that it is ab$olutely
iwpoaeibU to think or say anything whatever-— even non-
8ense---abont that of which yon have no conception. That
of which we have no bonoeptoon is to us tiiat which is not,
and that which is not, is not, and caniurt be, the object
of human thought at fnteUigMico. It is not sunurising
then, under the circumstances, that you have saiomany
curious and wonderful tlvings in your reply to Mr. Black.
iNOBBSoxxr— •' Mr. Black takw the ground that if a man
believes in the creation of the universe * * he has no
right to deny anything."
OoMMENT— This is mere trifling, and shows what an in-
fidel philosopher is capable of when put to ti^ stretch.
There is not a word of truth in what yon say, and vou knew
yon, in utter disr^gazd of ii» obUeatioiM of veradty,
achate to him.
A VALSIITKB.
148
the Pagin u^^m"*™*""' •''™»»»ed the teaUty ot aU
when we C dSwd wSho