Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 July 1879 — Beecher On Ingersoll, [ARTICLE]

Beecher On Ingersoll,

Mr. Beecher spoke of the recent address of Robert Ingersoll at the funeral of his brother, and in this relation said of Mr. Ingersoll: “He is a man of great merit and power,and he has made himself perhaps as widely known as almost any man in this generation by his condemning of, I will not say religion, but of those views of religion

handed down to us by the teachers of Christianity. He has great power of imagination—a flaming wit—and has said a great many things, not wise, but by which wise men may profit. He has uttered a great many criticisms, yet taking his views of religion as a whole, they lack completeness; it is a special plea, a fault-finding plea which sees only one side. Now, while I accord to him the extremest liberty of discussion and disclaim any right to Interfere with his liberty, we have a right to whatever of instruction there may be, and I think be can instruct us by his latest utterance. He has lost a brother dearly beloved, a good man who lived happily with his family and was respected by the community, and at that brother’s funeral Mr. Ingereoll made one ot the most exquisite, yet one of the most sad and mournful sermons I ever read. lam going to read some of it te you.” Mr Beecher here read in the most effective manner nearly the whole of Mr Ingersoll’s funeral oration as reported in the papers at the time, and commenting on it. said: “Was ever anything uttered by the lips of man more pathetic? But we have not only a hope, w’e have the certainty—we know that If our earthly tabernacle is lost we have a building not made with hands eternal in the heavens. To us the sweet voice conges under burdens, under sorrows, in pain, in persecution,, in prison dungeon—the voice of the spirit and the bride say come, and the voice of the whole church of God cries out to us, ‘it is real—it is real—come;’ and when this noble brother of Mr. Ingersoll felt the touch of death. I don’t doubt thathetelt the touch of God the second lime, and saw in the eternal world things which he had counted but shadows here. Even skepticism and that which had been provocation of skepticism iu others says when it comes to the death of hope> “In spite of the doubts or-dogmas, let us hope that there is a better world.’ ” In conclusion, Mr. Beecher urged his hearers to hold fast to the faith of their fathers, and never to doubt the reality of Divine love or of immortality.