| Show LINCOLN AND VOLTAIRE col robert 0 ingersoll lug ersoll is one of the most eloquent of men gauged by certain standards his language Is flowing rhythmical mical incisive and orlu ornate ate that abat it at times lacks jacks in symmetry and proportion Dro portion that his tropes are quite frequently devoid of literary legitimacy count for nothing with the crowd brok d that listens to him for there t i no time evou when there Is in the he abil abi ity to analyze a sentence the listener Is all at once treated to another at d another and the general t aloot is th tant t the listeners are captivated the latest public effort of the kind boken i of was his recent eulogy of abraham lincoln A writer in the chicago record speaking of this occasion pays cays evidently ingersoll Inger soli has a geu genuine aine biot for many of the flits fine qualities which were found in mr lincoln but has he done justice to his subject mr lincoln was not a member of any oberen but he was an intensely religious man in early lite he be formed an intimate acquaintance with the christian bible and that book went with him to 90 tae white house and was upon the table in the room where be did the public busin business esp he was a man of faith and prayer he was indeed h a samson but the springs of his bis strength lay in his religious nature all this col ingersoll Inger soU ignores it is as it if an artist had bad painted mr lincoln with his bis long body and limbs without spy any head and it will not be forgotten that hat col ingersoll Inger soU is in the man who preaches v so BO loudly that and lying are wrong the writer quoting that portion of the eulogy spoken of which says saysa baysa few men and women make the nation Shake shakespeare peare made englana immortal Vl voltaire mire civilized aud and hu t manizer Fra france nobl thiu kelt it might be profitable to look at france after voltaire had given it those cessns in civilizing and humanizing we think so BO too especially in view of the tact fact that that period was waa recognized r and has bus come down to history as aa the he feinn of terror a reign so 00 eminent ly deserving of its name that no mis take is ever made as to its ita identity even in a land where such bloody and inhumane epochs epoch wert were common oo one of the writers of that time one who was probably numbered among those civilized and humanized humanize dP by vo take taire said we WB are the only people in the world flat ever attempted t do without religion but what is our sad sad exper experience leDee every tenth day we are astounded by the recital of more crimes and assassinations trian tian were fr formerly merly ammitt d in a whole year and we declare that we must et stop p trying to destroy religion if we would save society from utter destruction this quotation moves the writer iu in the record to comment us as follows fol lowa here we get a sight of france as civilized and humanized by voltaire that v col ingersoll should be an admirer of voltaire is very natural he is working along alone the same lines in his efforts to i civilize oivi lize and humanize his fellow coun thymen and if his work has not been V quite so successful as was the french mans he be himself tells us why he could not and did not get through his lecture without opening opening to the world his poor sore heart he I 1 e wanted to be the governor over nor of illinoia Illi noli but he did not got get there and why not he tells us the reason ithe the average man is afraid of genius and of course the average voter was afraid of him and again 1 genius carries too much sail che the ballasi ballast ol of dullness inspires confidence tl there bere iere f was the trouble there can be no hope for a people who ballast with dullness how plain all these things look when f brought within reach of this great searchlight but we can safely trust the name and fame of lincoln col ingersoll may class him with voltaire but even this cannot dim his name nor cloud his memory it is a great pity that a man of col cl Ingers Inger splendid intellectuality mental acquirements acquire ments and humane disposition can find no better men in history to point to as shining examples of greatness than those who figure in the category occupied by voltaire cunning Cunnin it cruel an anil cat cal being shriven shrived and forgiven by a priest at the apparent approach of death wid ald returning to his bis blasphemous practices so soon as he recovered surely what there was that was philosophical and reasonable of Volt alres aires work was so be clouded and bedimmed that it is scarcely worthy ol of any place at all in the archives of the world of intellect and ad advancement vano ement |
