INFIDELITY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LII, Issue 187, 11 September 1909, Page 6

INFIDELITY.

No\\ , what does an atheistic objector propose to offer us as a substitute for our belief'ln God? The man who would • ih me of my God must offer me an .'.. '. M.alent. What has he to offer--' A <"'•!. blank atheism. But before I i.'i'iu it I want to know what it will '' i tor me. Andl can only know wlint 1 1 \. ill do by what it has done. Ha.s it <\<r 'aiseu a man or woman from the limn 1 ' ot 'vice and made a sinful lif< cle,.!)'' Jlas it ever taken a drunkard fi.-n th" gutter, the gambler from bis i ,t i^ the fallen from a life of shame Mas it e\cj found n in»n coarse and I'r.it.il in cTinracter and life nnd made liii.i .« Kind father and a faithful biisbuid'-' Has it ever gone out into a I'l.-tlien land and found » peopl«> igi. iriint and barbarous, delighting ri !,i|'i''.e and murder, and by the iio«ci < ( its If.iching.s lifted them out of their denudation and nmde of them a noble peonl"" Hns •• ever written dov n I m ii-i 'es tran-hfe'l literature, pic )\ned text hooks planted school-.. <•> tnblished academies, seminaries, col-

leges and uiiuitsilu's' Has it e\«>i founded hospitals, built <is\lunis, established orphanages, and brought blessings to the poor, tlii' sick, the mainii'd and the blind? Wliat disi'ov«Tios has it made? What improvements lias a introduced:-' Is there in all the histon of mlidelity a stoij of its moral triumphs that will match the regeneration ot the Fiji Islands under the lalH)iu-j ot the missionaries:' Has it added anything to the sum ot human happiness? Does it bruit; one ray ot oomrort into the chamber of death, filling the soul of the dying with peac< and the hearts ot weeping iriends with hope? lias it? "The tree is known \.y its fruits. 1 ' "Do men gather grapes of thoins, or figs of thistle*"" Does infidelity bear figs or thistles? When lnlidehty proves itself benevolent in spirt, philanthropic in its activities; w hen it sheds its blood for the betterment of humanity, then shall we be prepared to consider it. But till it does, ire are not so foolish as to accept it as a substitute for Christianity. But the case of infidelity does not stop there. Not only has it no fruits to recommend it to our notice, hut it is destruetiie ol all that is noble and g.MKI. BEECHKR AND INGERSOLL. Colonel Ingersoil was thrown inciden- j tally into the society ot Henry Ward Beecher. There were tour or five gentlemen present, all of whom were pro- ' miuent in the world ot brains. A \ariety of topics was discussed with decided brilliancy, but no allusion to religion. The distinguished infidol j was, or course, too polite to introduce the subject himself, but one of the party, finally, desiring to see a tilt between Bob and Beecher, made a playful lenuik about Col. Ingersoll's i idiosyncrasy, as he termed it. The j colonel at once defended his views in his usual apt thetoric. He was leplied to by several gentlemen in \ery effective repartee. Contrary to the expectations of all, Air. Beecher remained an abstracted listener, and said not one word. At last one of the gentlemen remarked: "Mr. Beecher, have you nothing to say on the question?" The old man slowly lifted himself irom hi.s attitude and replied: "Nothing; in fact you will excuse me ior changing the conversation, I will say that, while you gentlemen were talking, my mind was bent on a deplorable spectacle which I witnessed to-day." "What was it?" at once inquired lngersoll. "Why," said Mr. Beecher, "as I was walking down town to-day I saw a poor lame man with crutches, slowly and caret idly picking his way through"" a cesspool of mud in the endeavour to cross the street. He had just reached the middle of the filth, when a big burly ruffian, himself bespattered, jerked the crutches from under the unfortunate man, and left him sprawling and helpless in the pool of liquid dirt, which almost engulphed him." "WHAT A BRUTE HE WAS," * I taid Colonel lngersoll. '"Yes," said the old man rising from his ohair and brushing back his long white hair, while his eyes flashed on lngersoll, "Yes, Colonel lngersoll and you are the man. The human soul is lame, but Christianity gives it crutches to enable it to pass the highway of life. It is your teaching that knocks these crutches from under it and leaves it a helpless and rudderless wreck in the slough of despond. If robbing the human soul of its only support on this carth — religion — be your profession, why, ply it to your heart's content. It requires an architect to erect a building ; an incendiary may reduce it to ashes."