66 lines
3.0 KiB
Plaintext
66 lines
3.0 KiB
Plaintext
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1 page printout
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Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship.
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**** ****
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1900
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FORWARD
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In presenting to the public this edition of the writings of
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Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, it has been the aim to make it as
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handsome, durable and complete as possible worthy in every way of
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the valiant, generous, much beloved genius who penned these magical
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pages.
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Robert Ingersoll's tremendous message -- one of the most
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important messages of all time -- thunders through these volumes.
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The orator himself has passed away, but the words that woke America
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from sleep and stupor ring out as liberty bells for all mankind!
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The Age of Enlightenment dawned upon the world in that hour
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when Robert Ingersoll first delivered his lecture on The Gods, the
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opening chapter of this volume. In that hour the darkness of
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medieval madness and hypocrisy and witchcraft and superstition
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began to give way. The armies of the Terrible Unseen commenced to
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melt away into mist. The phantoms and weird horrors which had
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haunted the imaginations of men faded in the sunshine and sanity of
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an Emancipator who was the personal friend of Lincoln and did as
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much for enslaved minds as Lincoln had done for enslaved bodies!
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Were these books of Ingersoll's go there will be tranquillity
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in the spirits of men. He brings peace to troubled minds, courage
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to frightened hearts. With infinite gaiety and good-humor he builds
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up the strong fortress of Reason to defend men against the
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whirlwinds of Superstition.
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His speeches and writings were originally collected and
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prepared for publication by his kinsman, C.P. Farrell. At a time
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when the hosts of the dealers in hob-goblins still made a great
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shouting against Ingersoll, this man had the courage to be his
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first "publisher". All honor to him!
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Now Mr. Farrell too has passed away, and the legacy which
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Ingersoll left to mankind, his thoughts and writings, impose a duty
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on his family and friends. To perpetuate his influence and insure
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to his fellow-countrymen the easiest and readiest access to his
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books, the Ingersoll League has been founded.
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The League feels it is its duty to make Mr. Ingersoll's
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victorious point of view available to all who need and crave it.
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There never was a time when his type of thinking was more needed
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than to-day! And by preparing this official edition the Ingersoll
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League hopes to deserve the praise and thanks of all who wish
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mankind well!
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The League sends its cordial greeting to all those who are now
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and later to be benefitted, strengthened, cheered and uplifted by
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these books. If they are enlightened and helped and stimulated, if
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their lives are a little freer and happier and more courageous --
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THE INGERSOLL LEAGUE.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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1
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