I think him the best platform orator I
have ever listened to, though I have twice been charmed by the eloquence
of Phillips, and a dozen times by that of Beecher. I shall not outrage
your own and my own manhood by alluding to anything which the more
partisan church people say of this brilliant agnostic; and I say what I
do, only because in your distant home you may some day wonder just what
is behind an agnostic demonstration such as he is leading up to, and
which is certain to centralize the dissatisfied spirit of the country
into an anti-church propaganda of no mean proportions. I am opposed to
such a movement; but I believe in truth as the only durable weapon, and
I love truth for truth's sake--I should refuse to enter the gateway of
heaven if liars were admitted. I cannot go into the history of this man,
but this much is fact: There are reasons which cause him to believe that
in striking at Christianity he is performing a highly praiseworthy
action. In this belief he is as sincere and as enthusiastic in his cold
logical way, as is any Christian in _his_ belief. If duplicity were
possible to this man--or if he could have found it consistent with his
sense of right even to keep silence concerning his opinion on religious
subjects--he would by this time have been Governor of Illinois; and,
with his ability, there is no elective office in the country to which he
might not aspire with reasonable certainty of success.
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