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Popular Edition of Col. Ingersoll's Lectures. (freethought Publ. Co.'s Ed.).
Popular Edition of Col Ingersoll's Lectures - freethought Publ. Co.'s Ed. Author:Robert Green Ingersoll General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1883 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: THE SAYIOES OF THE WORLD. Ladies And Gentlemen, -- It is to me a sacred duty to rescue from the leprosy of slander a great and splendid name. I stand here to-night to vindicate the lives, and to reverently acknowledge the services of the great infidels. The'infldels of oue age have been the aureole saints of the next. The destroyers of the old have always been the creators of the new. The old passes away and the new becomes old. There is in the intellectual world, as in the material, decay and growth; and even by the sunken grave of age stand youth and joy. The history of progress is written in the Ines of infidels. Political rights have1 been preserved by traitors; intellectual rights by infidels. To attack the kings was treason ; to dispute the priests blasphemy. The sword and cross have always been allies; they defended each other. The throne and altar are twins -- vultures born of the same egg. It was James I. who said: " No king no bishop;" no church no crown; no tyrant in heaven no tyrant on earth. Every monarchy that has disgraced the world, every despotism that has covered the cheeks of men with fear bears the marks of having been copied after the supposed despotism of hell. The king owned the bodies and the priest owned the souls; one lived on taxes and the other on alms; one was a robber and the other a beggar. The history of the world will not show you one charitable beggar. He who lives on charity never has anything to give away. The robbers and beggars controlled not only this world, but the next. The king made laws, the priest made creeds; with bowed backs the people received and bore th...« less