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The Trial of C.B. Reynolds: Robert G. Ingersoll's Address to the Jury
THIS 72 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll: Miscellany V11, by Robert G. Ingersoll. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766172805.
- GenresNonfiction
44 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1989
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About the author
Robert G. Ingersoll
1,005 books326 followers"On August 11, 1833, was born the greatest and noblest of the Western World; an immense personality, -- unique, lovable, sublime; the peerless orator of all time, and as true a poet as Nature ever held in tender clasp upon her loving breast, and, in words coined for the chosen few, told of the joys and sorrows, hopes, dreams, and fears of universal life; a patriot whose golden words and deathless deeds were worthy of the Great Republic; a philanthropist, real and genuine; a philosopher whose central theme was human love, -- who placed 'the holy hearth of home' higher than the altar of any god; an iconoclast, a builder -- a reformer, perfectly poised, absolutely honest, and as fearless as truth itself -- the most aggressive and formidable foe of superstition -- the most valiant champion of reason -- Robert G. Ingersoll." - Herman E. Kittredge
Robert Green Ingersoll, who became the best known advocate of freethought in the 19th-century, was born in Dresden, N.Y. The son of an impoverished itinerant pastor, he later recalled his formative church experiences: "The minister asked us if we knew that we all deserved to go to hell, and we all answered 'yes.' Then we were asked if we would be willing to go to hell if it was God's will, and every little liar shouted 'Yes!'" He became an attorney by apprenticeship, and a colonel in the Civil War, fighting in the Battle of Shiloh. In 1867, Ingersoll was appointed Illinois' first Attorney General. His political career was cut short by his refusal to halt his controversial lectures, but he achieved national political fame for his thrilling nomination speech for James G. Blaine for president at the national convention of the Republican Party in 1876. Ingersoll was good friends with three U.S. presidents. The distinguished attorney was known and admired by most of the leading progressives and thinkers of his day.
Ingersoll traveled the continent for 30 years, speaking to capacity audiences, once attracting 50,000 people to a lecture in Chicago—40,000 too many for the Exposition Center. His repertoire included 3 to 4-hour lectures on Shakespeare, Voltaire and Burns, but the largest crowds turned out to hear him denounce the bible and religion. He initially settled in Peoria, Illinois, then in Washington, D.C., where he successfully defended falsely accused men in the "Star Route" scandal, the most famous political trial of the 19th century. Religious rumors against Ingersoll abounded. One had it that Ingersoll's son was a drunkard who more than once had to be carried away from the table. Ingersoll wrote: "It is not true that intoxicating beverages are served at my table. It is not true that my son ever was drunk. It is not true that he had to be carried away from the table. Besides, I have no son!"
During the Civil War he was commissioned as Colonel and commander of the 11th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, and was captured near Corinth, Mississippi. Although soon released, he still made time to treat his Confederate captors to a rousing anti slavery speech.
He hoped for but was never awarded a Cabinet post. The Republicans were afraid of his unorthodox religious views. He was told that he could progress politically if he hid his religious views, but Ingersoll refused on the charge that withholding information from the public would be immoral.
He strongly advocated equal rights for blacks and women. He defended Susan B. Anthony from hecklers when she spoke in Peoria; when every hotel in the city refused to house Frederick Douglass, he welcomed him into his home.
More: https://ffrf.org/news/day/dayitems/it...
http://infidels.org/library/historica...
http://www.robertgreeningersoll.org/8-2/
http://www.positiveatheism.org/tochin...
http://www.philosopedia.org/index.php...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_G...
Robert Green Ingersoll, who became the best known advocate of freethought in the 19th-century, was born in Dresden, N.Y. The son of an impoverished itinerant pastor, he later recalled his formative church experiences: "The minister asked us if we knew that we all deserved to go to hell, and we all answered 'yes.' Then we were asked if we would be willing to go to hell if it was God's will, and every little liar shouted 'Yes!'" He became an attorney by apprenticeship, and a colonel in the Civil War, fighting in the Battle of Shiloh. In 1867, Ingersoll was appointed Illinois' first Attorney General. His political career was cut short by his refusal to halt his controversial lectures, but he achieved national political fame for his thrilling nomination speech for James G. Blaine for president at the national convention of the Republican Party in 1876. Ingersoll was good friends with three U.S. presidents. The distinguished attorney was known and admired by most of the leading progressives and thinkers of his day.
Ingersoll traveled the continent for 30 years, speaking to capacity audiences, once attracting 50,000 people to a lecture in Chicago—40,000 too many for the Exposition Center. His repertoire included 3 to 4-hour lectures on Shakespeare, Voltaire and Burns, but the largest crowds turned out to hear him denounce the bible and religion. He initially settled in Peoria, Illinois, then in Washington, D.C., where he successfully defended falsely accused men in the "Star Route" scandal, the most famous political trial of the 19th century. Religious rumors against Ingersoll abounded. One had it that Ingersoll's son was a drunkard who more than once had to be carried away from the table. Ingersoll wrote: "It is not true that intoxicating beverages are served at my table. It is not true that my son ever was drunk. It is not true that he had to be carried away from the table. Besides, I have no son!"
During the Civil War he was commissioned as Colonel and commander of the 11th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, and was captured near Corinth, Mississippi. Although soon released, he still made time to treat his Confederate captors to a rousing anti slavery speech.
He hoped for but was never awarded a Cabinet post. The Republicans were afraid of his unorthodox religious views. He was told that he could progress politically if he hid his religious views, but Ingersoll refused on the charge that withholding information from the public would be immoral.
He strongly advocated equal rights for blacks and women. He defended Susan B. Anthony from hecklers when she spoke in Peoria; when every hotel in the city refused to house Frederick Douglass, he welcomed him into his home.
More: https://ffrf.org/news/day/dayitems/it...
http://infidels.org/library/historica...
http://www.robertgreeningersoll.org/8-2/
http://www.positiveatheism.org/tochin...
http://www.philosopedia.org/index.php...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_G...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 26, 2012
As a fan of Inherit the Wind (1999, TV version of the 1955 play fictionalizing The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes) it is no surprise I felt compelled by such an amazing book.
Grandiloquent legal discourses appear to trespass the burden of time: Philosophical in essence, moral in its practical consequences, political in its scope, scientifically spirited from its grassroots. Robert G. Ingersoll's arguments come alive in his defense of History and reason against religious bigotry in a State Court.
Every paragraph of Ingersoll's discourse in defense of "whether a man has the right to express his honest thought" is a pleasure for the mind and testable testimony of a deeply acute philosophical sense. Almost every phrase stands in defiance of popular culture -even up to nowadays standards. Yet, rightly so, speaks of constitutional right through human emancipation from kings, priests, pastors and abusive government powers: The very US emancipation from the laws of the old England. I personally have never known of a person so progressive for his own time or the times that came after.
The profound questions derived from this book are quite current: All churches advocated religious toleration before been "clothed in a little authority", while "in the majority [...] practiced murder". For Ingersoll, Christianity is a bogus term. All church going Christians have abused themselves with blasphemy laws, therefore, why should those laws apply to non believers? We are in great debt with men like Ingersoll, who opened windows for free thought and self-cultivation in a world order where ignorance is to be respected and challenging prejudice makes you a candidate for the stake. See, for example, the recent case of Jessica Ahlquist [...] and previously John T. Scopes, the so called "Monkey" in 1925, among many others.
There is much more to say -specially on legal grounds-, but I think this is enough. I urge you to read and know one of the most proficient thinkers in US history.
Grandiloquent legal discourses appear to trespass the burden of time: Philosophical in essence, moral in its practical consequences, political in its scope, scientifically spirited from its grassroots. Robert G. Ingersoll's arguments come alive in his defense of History and reason against religious bigotry in a State Court.
Every paragraph of Ingersoll's discourse in defense of "whether a man has the right to express his honest thought" is a pleasure for the mind and testable testimony of a deeply acute philosophical sense. Almost every phrase stands in defiance of popular culture -even up to nowadays standards. Yet, rightly so, speaks of constitutional right through human emancipation from kings, priests, pastors and abusive government powers: The very US emancipation from the laws of the old England. I personally have never known of a person so progressive for his own time or the times that came after.
The profound questions derived from this book are quite current: All churches advocated religious toleration before been "clothed in a little authority", while "in the majority [...] practiced murder". For Ingersoll, Christianity is a bogus term. All church going Christians have abused themselves with blasphemy laws, therefore, why should those laws apply to non believers? We are in great debt with men like Ingersoll, who opened windows for free thought and self-cultivation in a world order where ignorance is to be respected and challenging prejudice makes you a candidate for the stake. See, for example, the recent case of Jessica Ahlquist [...] and previously John T. Scopes, the so called "Monkey" in 1925, among many others.
There is much more to say -specially on legal grounds-, but I think this is enough. I urge you to read and know one of the most proficient thinkers in US history.
January 8, 2015
great read!
Just trying to get a bit of morristown history...I quite frankly worried it would be be tedious and boring. I figured it was short enough to endure even if it was boring, but I loved it!
Just trying to get a bit of morristown history...I quite frankly worried it would be be tedious and boring. I figured it was short enough to endure even if it was boring, but I loved it!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews