The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll novel. A total of 512 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll.Vol. 1.by Robert G. Ingersoll.PREFACE.IN presenting to
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll.Vol. 1.by Robert G. Ingersoll.PREFACE.IN presenting to the public this edition of the late Robert G.Ingersoll's works, it has been the aim of the publisher to make it worthy of the author and a pleasure to his friends
- 512 In his praise it was impossible to be extravagant. Sculptor, poet and painter exhausted their genius in the portrayal of the peasant, who was in fact the creator of all worlds.His wisdom excited the wonder, his sufferings the pity and his resurrection and
- 511 A TRIBUTE TO DR. THOMAS SETON ROBERTSON.New York September 8, 1898.IN the pulseless hush of death, silence seems more expressive, more appropriate--than speech. In the presence of the Great Mystery, the great mystery that waits to enshroud us all, we feel
- 510 He has uttered more supreme words than any writer of our century, possibly of almost any other. He was, above all things, a man, and above genius, above all the snow-capped peaks of intelligence, above all art, rises the true man. Greater than all is the
- 509 To him all miracles were mistakes, whose parents were cunning and credulity. He knew that miracles were not, because they are not.He believed in the sublime, unbroken, and eternal march of causes and effects--denying the chaos of chance, and the caprice o
- 508 She gave her utmost thought. She praised all generous deeds; applauded the struggling and even those who failed.She pitied the poor, the forsaken, the friendless. No one could fall below her pity, no one could wander beyond the circ.u.mference of her symp
- 507 Farewell! If this is the end, then you have left to us the sacred memory of a n.o.ble life. If this is not the end, there is no world in which you, my friend, will not be loved and welcomed. Farewell!A TRIBUTE TO COURTLANDT PALMER.New York, July 26, 1888.
- 506 This imperious man entered public life in the dawn of the reformation--at a time when the country needed men of pride, of principle and courage. The inst.i.tution of slavery had poisoned all the springs of power. Before this crime ambition fell upon its k
- 505 You are about to take this dear dust home--to the home of her girlhood, and to the place that was once my home. You will lay her with neighbors whom I have loved, and who are now at rest. You will lay her where my father sleeps."Lay her i' the e
- 504 A TRIBUTE TO JOHN G. MILLS.Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., April 15, 1883.MY FRIENDS: Again we are face to face with the great mystery that shrouds this world. We question, but there is no reply. Out on the wide waste seas, there drifts no spar. Over the desert of
- 503 August 8, 1883.AT THE GRAVE OF BENJAMIN W. PARKER.* This was the first tribute ever delivered by Colonel Ingersoll at a grave. Mr. Parker himself was an Agnostic, was the father of Mrs. Ingersoll, and was always a devoted friend and admirer of the Colonel
- 502 In Geneva, Germany and France, all kinds of innocent amus.e.m.e.nt were allowed on that day; and I believe the same was true of Holland.But in Scotland the Jewish idea was adopted to the fullest extent. There Sabbath-breaking was one of the blackest and o
- 501 When shrill chanticleer pierces the dull ear of morn.Orthodoxy is the refuge of mediocrity.The ocean is the womb of all that will be, the tomb of all that has been.Jealousy never knows the value of a fact.Envy cannot reason, malice cannot prophesy.Love ha
- 500 FATE.--Never hurried, never delayed, pa.s.sionless, pitiless, patient, keeping the tryst--neither early nor late--there, on the very stroke and center of the instant fixed.QUIET, and introspective calm come with the afternoon. Toward evening the mind grow
- 499 THE UNTHINKABLE.--It is admitted by all who have thought upon the question that a First Cause is unthinkable--that a creative power is beyond the reach of human thought. It therefore follows that the miraculous is unthinkable. There is no possible way in
- 498 If we had free thought, then we could collect the wealth of the intellectual world. In the physical world, springs make the creeks and brooks, and they the rivers, and the rivers empty into the great sea. So each brain should add to the sum of human knowl
- 497 August 11, 1892. R. G. Ingersoll.The World is Growing Poor.--Darwin the naturalist, the observer, the philosopher, is dead. Wagner the greatest composer the world has produced, is silent. Hugo the poet, patriot and philanthropist, is at rest. Three mighty
- 496 GIFT GIVING.--I believe in the festival called Christmas--not in the celebration of the birth of any man, but to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness--the victory of the sun.I believe in giving gifts on that day, and a real gift should be given to
- 495 The ignorant believer, coa.r.s.e and brutal as he is, is going to heaven.He will be washed in the blood of the Lamb. He will have wings--a harp and a halo.The intelligent and generous man who loves his fellow-men--who develops his brain, who enjoys the be
- 494 No intelligent minister believes the story of Daniel in the Lion's den, or of the three men who were cast into the furnace, or the story of Jonah. These miracles seem to have done no good--seem to have convinced n.o.body and to have had no consequences.
- 493 As a rule, the wives of good and generous men are true and faithful.They love their homes, they adore their children. In poverty and disaster they cling the closer. But when husbands are indolent and mean, when they are cruel and selfish, when they make a
- 492 Neither should we forget Wainwright's heroic exploit, as commander of the Gloucester, by which he demonstrated that torpedo destroyers have no terrors for a yacht manned by American pluck. Manila Bay and Santiago both are surpa.s.singly wonderful. Th
- 491 I would like to have all corporal punishment abolished, and I would also like to see the money that is given to charity distributed by charity and by intelligence. I hope all these inst.i.tutions will be overhauled.I hope all places where people are prete
- 490 Now, what is a Christian?First. He is a believer in the existence of G.o.d, the Creator and Governor of the Universe.Second. He believes in the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments.Third. He believes in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ; that the
- 489 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: While I have never sought any place in any organization, and while I never intended to accept any place in any organization, yet as you have done me the honor to elect me president of the American Secular Union, I not only accept the
- 488 If we have an interest in the business, I would fight for it. If our cause were a.s.sailed by law, then I say fight; and our cause is a.s.sailed, and I say fight. They will not allow me, in many States of this Union, to testify. I say fight until every on
- 487 "Well, there was nothing in his career of which any one might feel ashamed. He was as irreproachable as you." "Ay, but they might attack you and tell of some devilment you went into before we were married.""Then you better not run
- 486 And such a man, when he dies--or the friend of such a man, when that man dies--should not imagine that it is a very generous and liberal thing for some minister to say a few words above the corpse--and I do not want to see this profession cringe before an
- 485 So I congratulate you all that you were born in a great nation, born rich; and why do I say rich? Because you fell heir to a great, expressive, flexible language; that is one thing. What could a man do who speaks a poor language, a language of a few words
- 484 WESTERN SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BANQUET.Chicago, January 31, 1894.* Every soldier of the Army of the Potomac: remembers, the colors that for two years floated over the headquarters of Gen. Meade. Last night when one hundred and fifty men who fo
- 483 They commenced making G.o.ds to account for everything that happens; G.o.ds of dreams and G.o.ds of love and friends.h.i.+p, and heroism and courage.Splendid! They kept making more and more. The more they found out in nature, up to a certain point, the mo
- 482 The love-music in Tristan and Isolde is, like Romeo and Juliet, an expression of the human heart for all time. So the love-duet in The Flying Dutchman has in it the consecration, the infinite self-denial, of love. The whole heart is given; every note has
- 481 Spooks and phantoms hover about the undeveloped and diseased, as vultures sail above the dead.Our ancestors had the idea that they ought to be spiritual, and that good health was inconsistent with the highest forms of piety. This heresy crept into the min
- 480 * The tribute at Delmonico's last night was to the man Grant as a supreme type of the confidence of the American Republic in its own strength and destiny. Soldiers over whose lost cause the wheels of a thousand cannons rolled, and whose doctrines wer
- 479 In those days, too, they despised music, cared nothing for art; and yet I have lived long enough to hear the world--that is, the civilized world--say that Shakespeare wrote the greatest book that man has ever read. I have lived long enough to see men like
- 478 Ingersoll rose after the speech of General Pope, to respond to the toast, "The Volunteer Soldiers," a large part of the audience rose with him, and the cheering was long and loud.Colonel Ingersoll may fairly be regarded as the foremost orator of
- 477 Henry M. Taber, the author, has for many years taken great interest in religious questions. He was raised in an orthodox atmosphere, was acquainted with many eminent clergymen from whom he endeavored to find out what Christianity is--and the facts and evi
- 476 Is it to obey without question, or is it to act in accordance with perceived obligation? Is it something with which intelligence has nothing to do? Must the ignorant child carry out the command of the wise father--the rude peasant rush to death at the req
- 475 I HAVE read, this story, this fragment of a life mingled with fragments of other lives, and have been pleased, interested, and instructed. It is filled with the pathos of truth, and has in it the humor that accompanies actual experience. It has but little
- 474 No one will blame Mr. Brown or Mr. Jones for not writing like Shakespeare. Should they be blamed for not acting like Christ? We say that a great painter has genius. Is it not possible that a certain genius is required to be what is called "good"
- 473 The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll.Vol. 12.by Robert G. Ingersoll.PROF. VAN BUREN DENSLOW'S "MODERN THINKERS."IF others who read this book get as much information as I did from the advance sheets, they will feel repaid a hundred times. It is
- 472 Fifty-first. Can we blame the Hebrews for getting tired of their G.o.d?Never was a people so murdered, starved, stoned, burned, deceived, humiliated, robbed, and outraged. Never was there so little liberty among men. Never did the meanest king so meddle,
- 471 2 Ex. xxi, 2-6, 4 Ex, xxiii, 28 And gave all the orders concerning mitres, girdles, and onyx stones, ouches, emeralds, breastplates, chains, rings, Urim and Thummim, and the hole in the top of the ephod like the hole of a habergeon?1 Thirty-seventh. Is th
- 470 THE Old Testament must have been written nearly two thousand years before the invention of printing. There were but few copies, and these were in the keeping of those whose interest might have prompted interpolations, and whose ignorance might have led to
- 469 Of course, the critics were denounced from most of the pulpits, and the religious papers, edited generally by men who had failed as preachers, were filled with bitter denials and vicious attacks. The religious editors refused to be enlightened. They fough
- 468 All over Christendom religions are declining. Only children and the intellectually undeveloped have faith--the old faith that defies facts.Only a few years ago to be excommunicated by the pope blanched the cheeks of the bravest. Now the result would be la
- 467 Formerly it was believed that all men were by nature wicked, and that it would be perfectly just for G.o.d to d.a.m.n the entire human race. In fact, it was thought that G.o.d, feeling that he had to d.a.m.n all his children, invented a scheme by which so
- 466 In some of the minor prophets there is now and then a good verse, now and then an elevated thought.You can, by selecting pa.s.sages from different books, make a very good creed, and by selecting pa.s.sages from different books, you can make a very bad cre
- 465 The thoughtful man knows that there is not the slightest evidence that these miracles ever were performed. Why should he allow his children to be stuffed with these foolish and impossible falsehoods? Why should he give his lambs to the care and keeping of
- 464 Moody better than I did before. The other day, in New York, Mr. Moody said that he implicitly believed the story of Jonah and really thought that he was in the fish for three days.When I read it I was surprised that a man living in the century of Humboldt
- 463 "Why, Maj. Blank," he said, "come in. I did tell the boy I wouldn't see anybody, but you are more important than the biggest law case in the world."The Colonel's memory had retained the sound of the major's voice, and be
- 462 No one, so far as I know, asks that men shall be tried by partial and prejudiced jurors, or that judges shall be allowed to disregard the law for the sake of securing convictions, or that verdicts shall be allowed to stand unsupported by sufficient legal
- 461 The sources of justice were poisoned, and patriotism became the defender of piracy. In the name of humanity mothers were robbed of their babes.Thirty years ago to-day a shot was fired, and in a moment all the promises, all the laws, all the const.i.tution
- 460 Sun wors.h.i.+p is not only the first, but the most natural and most reasonable of all. And not only the most natural and the most reasonable, but by far the most poetic, the most beautiful.The sun is the G.o.d of benefits, of growth, of life, of warmth,
- 459 The doctrine of eternal punishment is in perfect harmony with the savagery of the men who made the orthodox creeds. It is in harmony with torture, with flaying alive and with burnings. The men who burned their fellow-men for a moment, believed that G.o.d
- 458 I also became acquainted with a large number of Jewish people, and I found them like other people, except that, as a rule, they were more industrious, more temperate, had fewer vagrants among them, no beggars, very few criminals; and in addition to all th
- 457 There is still another side, and that is this: The Freethinker knows that all the priests and cardinals and popes know nothing of the supernatural--they know nothing about G.o.ds or angels or heavens or h.e.l.ls--nothing about inspired books or Holy Ghost
- 456 REV. DR. NEWTON'S SERMON ON A NEW RELIGION.I HAVE read the report of the Rev. R. Heber Newton's sermon and I am satisfied, first, that Mr. Newton simply said what he thoroughly believes to be true, and second, that some of the conclusions at whi
- 455 CRITICISM OF "ROBERT ELSMERE," "JOHN WARD, PREACHER," AND "AN AFRICAN FARM."IF one wishes to know what orthodox religion really is--I mean that religion unsoftened by Infidelity, by doubt--let him read "John Ward, Preach
- 454 CONVERSION OF THE ARCH ATHEIST."Mr. Isaac Loveland, of Sh.o.r.eham, desires us to insert the following:-- "November 27, 1886."Dear Mr. Loveland.--A day or two since, I received from Mr.Hine the exhilarating intelligence that through his lec
- 453 A fool friend is the sewer of bad news, of slander and all base and unpleasant things.A fool friend always knows every mean thing that has been said against you and against the party.He always knows where your party is losing, and the other is making larg
- 452 By this act it is provided, among other things, that any Chinaman convicted of not being lawfully in the country shall be removed to China, after having been imprisoned at hard labor for not exceeding one year. This law also does away with bail on _habeas
- 451 Mr. B. also said that the price of the article manufactured by him fixed the wages of the persons employed, and that he, Mr. B., was not responsible for the price of the article he manufactured; consequently he was not responsible for the wages of the wor
- 450 Paine came back to America hoping to spend the remainder of his life surrounded by those for whose happiness and freedom he had labored so many years. He expected to be rewarded with the love and reverence of the American people.In 1794 James Monroe had w
- 449 On the 2d day of November, 1779, there was introduced into the a.s.sembly of Pennsylvania an act for the abolition of slavery. The preamble was written by Thomas Paine. To him belongs the honor and glory of having written the first Proclamation of Emanc.i
- 448 We are conditioned beings; and if the conditions are changed, the result may be pain or death or greater joy. We can only live within certain degrees of heat. If the weather were a few degrees hotter or a few degrees colder, we could not exist. We need fo
- 447 Renan was a man of most excellent temper; candid; not striving for victory, but for truth; conquering, as far as he could, the old superst.i.tions; not entirely free, it may be, but believing himself to be so. He did great good. He has helped to destroy t
- 446 Into the path of reason, or rather into the highway, Renan was led by Henriette, his sister, to whom he pays a tribute that has the perfume of a perfect flower."I was," writes Renan, "brought up by women and priests, and therein lies the wh
- 445 The Princ.i.p.al of King's College evidently believes in the necessity of belief. He puts conviction or creed or credulity in place of character.According to his idea, it is impossible to win the approbation of G.o.d by intelligent investigation and
- 444 IN the February number of the Nineteenth Century, 1889, is an article by Professor Huxley, ent.i.tled "Agnosticism." It seems that a church congress was held at Manchester in October, 1888, and that the Princ.i.p.al of King's College brough
- 443 North American Review, December, 1889.II.THE Christian religion rests on miracles. There are no miracles in the realm of science. The real philosopher does not seek to excite wonder, but to make that plain which was wonderful. He does not endeavor to asto
- 442 The defenders of the orthodox faith, by this time, should know that the foundations are insecure.They should have the courage to defend, or the candor to abandon. If the Bible is an inspired book, it ought to be true. Its defenders must admit that Jehovah
- 441 It is, however, still insisted that the Bible is inspired in its morality. Let us examine this question.We must admit, if we know anything, if we feel anything, if conscience is more than a word, if there is such a thing as right and such a thing as wrong
- 440 The nude in art has rendered holy the beauty of woman. Every Greek statue pleads for mothers and sisters. From these marbles come strains of music. They have filled the heart of man with tenderness and wors.h.i.+p.They have kindled reverence, admiration a
- 439 In the days of savagery the strong devoured the weak--actually ate their flesh. In spite of all the laws that man has made, in spite of all advance in science, literature and art, the strong, the cunning, the heartless still live on the weak, the unfortun
- 438 Change it if you will, according to the laws of nations, but on no account excuse a breach of national faith by pretending that we are dishonest for G.o.d's sake.SOME INTERROGATION POINTS.A NEW party is struggling for recognition--a party with leader
- 437 A WOODEN G.o.d.To the Editor: To-day Messrs. Wright, d.i.c.key, O'Connor, and Murch, of the select committee on the causes of the present depression of labor, presented the majority special report upon Chinese immigration.These gentlemen are in great
- 436 There are, however, men who pursue crime as a vocation--as a profession--men who have been convicted again and again, and who will persist in using the liberty of intervals to prey upon the rights of others. What shall be done with these men and women?Put
- 435 Have we not advanced far enough intellectually to deny the existence of chance? Are we not satisfied now that back of every act and thought and dream and fancy is an efficient cause? Is anything, or can anything, be produced that is not necessarily produc
- 434 If G.o.d is allowed in the Const.i.tution, man must abdicate. There is no room for both. If the people of the great Republic become superst.i.tious enough and ignorant enough to put G.o.d in the Const.i.tution of the United States, the experiment of self-
- 433 In other words, without liberty of thought, no human being has the right to form a judgment. It is impossible that there should be such a thing as real religion without liberty. Without liberty there can be no such thing as conscience, no such word as jus
- 432 To violate your conscience--that is blasphemy.The jury that gives an unjust verdict, and the judge who p.r.o.nounces an unjust sentence, are blasphemers.The man who bows to public opinion against his better judgment and against his honest conviction, is a
- 431 Imagination, like the atmosphere of spring, woos every seed of earth to seek the blue of heaven, and whispers of bud and flower and fruit.Imagination gathers from every field of thought and pours the wealth of many lives into the lap of one. To the contra
- 430 Suppose we had a statute that whoever scoffed at science--whoever by profane language should bring the rule of three into contempt, or whoever should attack the proposition that two parallel lines will never include a s.p.a.ce, should be sent to the penit
- 429 Think of such a law as that, pa.s.sed under a const.i.tution that says, "No law shall abridge the liberty of speech." But you must not ridicule the Scriptures. Did anybody ever dream of pa.s.sing a law to protect Shakespeare from being laughed a
- 428 I find in that const.i.tution, in its Eighteenth Section, this: "No person shall ever in this State be deprived of the inestimable privilege of wors.h.i.+ping G.o.d, in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; nor under any pretence
- 427 Mr. Reynolds went to Boonton last summer to hold "free- thought" meetings. Announcing his purpose without any flourish, he secured a piece of ground, pitched a tent upon it, and invited the towns-people to come and hear him. It was understood th
- 426 12. The 14th Amendment provides that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the States wherein they reside. This is also an affirmation. It is not a prohibitio
- 425 "Congress must possess the choice of means, and must be empowered to use any means which are in fact conducive to the exercise of a power granted by the Const.i.tution." U. S. vs. Fisher, 2 Cranch, 358.Again: "The power of Congress to pa.s.
- 424 "When the wrongful refusal is because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, Congress can interfere and provide for the punishment of any individual guilty of such refusal."That is the key that unlocks the whole question. Congress h
- 423 Surely the question of citizens.h.i.+p is "national in its character."Surely the question as to what are the rights, privileges and immunities of a citizen of the United States is "national in its character."Unless the declarations and
- 422 And he declares that: "The Southern States imposed upon the colored race onerous disabilities and burdens--curtailed their rights in the pursuit of liberty and property, to such an extent that their freedom was of little value, while the colored peop
- 421 The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll.Vol. 11.by Robert G. Ingersoll.ADDRESS ON THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT.ON the 22d of October, 1883, a vast number of citizens met at Lincoln Hall, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., to give expression to their views concerning the decision of
- 420 And now we come to the word "liberal," is that a hard word to define?Everybody in the world has his notion of what liberal means. Given the circ.u.mstances and the actions of the man, and everyone you meet is ready to decide whether he is libera
- 419 There they are, all of them related except Swaim and Duckworth and Taylor; and Duckworth, he is in the tie business along with Eddy.There is the family tree. All growing on the same tree, and there is a wonderful likeness in the fruit. Why, that Glasgow h
- 418 Sometimes an accident happens in our favor; a piece of that will was torn off this morning. You see the edge there torn off slanting. You see that "o-f"; how much that ink has sunk into that paper. Not the millionth part of a hair. It lies dead
- 417 Now, another improbability. All the evidence shows that Judge Davis was a business-like, quiet, methodical, careful, suspicious man, secretive, keeping his business to himself, keeper of his own counsels; and when he did make a will it was sealed; it was
- 416 Here are hundreds, almost, of witnesses that take the stand and swear that Eddy is the author of that will. He wrote it--every word of it. He negotiated with John A. Davis for it, and I will come to that after a little. And how do they support this will t
- 415 These are the questions, and as we examine them, other questions arise that have to be answered. The first question then is: Who wrote the will of 1866? Whose work is it? When, where and by whom was it done? And I don't want you, gentlemen, to pay an
- 414 That he, Rerdell, drew the money himself. And that his entire testimony is absurd, contradictory, and utterly unworthy of credit.Let me say another thing to you, gentlemen, right here. It would be better a thousand times that all the defendants tried in t
- 413 Gentlemen, is it wonderful that all the people of the West want mails?Do you not know, and do I not know, that the mail is the substantial benefit we get from the General Government? Don't you know that the mail is the pioneer of civilization? Do you