That is Christianity. And they say to him: "Come in! Let the band play!"
That is orthodox Christianity. Every man that is hanged—there is a minister there, and the minister tells him he is all right. All he has to do is just to believe on the Lord.
Another objection this gentleman has, and that is that I am scurrilous. Scurrilous! And the gentleman, in order to show that he is not scurrilous, calls infidels, "donkeys, serpents, buzzards." That is simply to show that he is not scurrilous.
Dr. Lorimer is also of the opinion that the mind thinks independently of the will; and I propose to prove by him that it does. He is the last man in the world to controvert that doctrine—the last man. In spite of himself his mind absorbed the sermon of another man, and he repeated it as his own. I am satisfied he is an honest man; consequently his mind acted independently of his will, and he furnishes the strongest evidence in favor of my position that it is possible to conceive. I am infinitely obliged to him for the testimony he has unconsciously offered.
He also takes the ground that infidelity debases a man and renders him unfit for the discharge of the highest duties pertaining to life, and that we show the greatest shallowness when we endeavor to overthrow Calvinism. What is Calvinism? It is the doctrine that an infinite God made millions of people, knowing that they would be damned. I have answered that a thousand times. I answer it again. No God has a right to make a mistake, and then damn the mistake. No God has a right to make a failure, and a man who is to be eternally damned is not a conspicuous success. No God has a right to make an investment that will not finally pay a dividend.
The world is getting better, and the ministers, all your life and all mine, have been crying out from the pulpit that we are all going wrong, that immorality was stalking through the land, that crime was about to engulf the world, and yet, in spite of all their prophecies, the world has steadily grown better, and there is more justice, more charity, more kindness, more goodness, and more liberty in the world to-day than ever before. And there is more infidelity in the world to-day than ever before.
A REPLY TO REV. JOHN HALL AND WARNER VAN NORDEN.
* The attention of the Morning Advertiser readers was, in the
issue of February 27th, called to two sets of facts
transpiring contemporaneously in this city. One was the
starving condition of four hundred cloakmakers who had
struck because they could not live on reduced wages.
Arbitration had failed; two hundred of the number, seeing
starvation staring them in the face, were forced to give up
the fight, and the remaining number continued to do battle
for higher wages
While these cloakmakers were in the extremity of
destitution, millionaires were engaged in subscribing to a
fund "for the extension of the church." The extension
committee, received at the home of Jay Gould, had met with
such signal success as to cause comment throughout the city.
The host subscribed ten thousand dollars, his daughter
twenty-five hundred and the assembled guests sums ranging
between five hundred and one thousand. The Morning
Advertiser made inquiry as to whether any of the money
contributed for the extension of the church would find its
way into the pockets of the hungry cloakmakers.
Dr. John Hall said he did not have time to discuss the
matter of aiding the needy poor, as there were so many other
things that demanded his immediate attention.
Mr. Warner Van Norden, Treasurer of the Church Extension
Committee, was seen at his office in the North American
Bank, of which institution he is President.
He took the view that the cloakmakers had brought their
trouble upon themselves, and it was not the duty of the
charitable to extend to them direct aid.
Generally speaking, he was not in favor of helping the poor
and needy of the city, save in the way employed by the
church.
"The experience of centuries, said he, "teaches us that the
giving of alms to the poor only encourage them in their
idleness and their crimes. The duty of the church is to save
men's a souls, and to minister to their bodies incidentally.
"It is best to teach people to rely upon their own
resources. If the poor felt that they could get material
help, they would want it always. In these days if a man or
woman can't get along it's their own fault. There is my
typewriter. She was brought up in a tenement house. Now she
gets two dollars a day, and dresses better than did the
lords and ladies of other times. You'll find that where
people are poor, it's their own fault.
"After all, happiness does not lie in the enjoyment of
material things—it is the soul that makes life worth
living. You should come to our Working Girls' Club and see
this fact illustrated. There you will see girls who have
been working all day, singing hymns and following the leader
in prayer."
Don't you think there are many worthy poor in this city who
need material help?" was asked.
"No, sir; I do not," said Mr. Van Norden. "If a man or woman
wants money, they should work for It."
"But is employment always to be had?"
"I think it is by Americans. You'll find that most of the
people out of work are those who are not adapted to the
conditions of this country.