prove the existence of the supernatural.
There are no arguments in favor of the supernatural. There are
theories and fears and mistakes and prejudices and guesses, but no
arguments--plenty of faith, but no facts; plenty of divine revelation,
but no demonstration. The supernatural, in my judgment, is a
mistake. I believe in the natural.

--_The Times_, Buffalo, New York, May 19, 1884.

BLASPHEMY.*

[* "If Robert G. Ingersoll indulges in blasphemy to-night in his
lecture, as he has in other places and in this city before, he
will be arrested before he leaves the city." So spoke Rev. Irwin
H. Torrence, General Secretary of the Pennsylvania Bible Society,
yesterday afternoon to a _Press_ reporter. "We have consulted
counsel; the law is with us, and Ingersoll has but to do what he
has done before, to find himself in a cell. Here is the act of
March 31, 1860:

"'If any person shall willfully, premeditatedly and despitefully
blaspheme or speak loosely and profanely of Almighty God, Christ
Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or the Scriptures of Truth, such person,
on conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding
one hundred dollars, and undergo an imprisonment not exceeding
three months, or either, at the discretion of the court.'"

Last evening Colonel Ingersoll sat in the dining room at Guy's
Hotel, just in from New York City. When told of the plans of Mr.
Torrence and his friends, he laughed and said: ]

I did not suppose that anybody was idiotic enough to want me arrested
for blasphemy. It seems to me that an infinite Being can take care
of himself without the aid of any agent of a Bible society. Perhaps
it is wrong for me to be here while the Methodist Conference is in
session. Of course no one who differs from the Methodist ministers
should ever visit Philadelphia while they are here. I most humbly
hope to be forgiven.

_Question_. What do you think of the law of 1860?

_Answer_. It is exceedingly foolish. Surely, there is no need
for the Legislature of Pennsylvania to protect an infinite God,
and why should the Bible be protected by law? The most ignorant
priest can hold Darwin up to orthodox scorn. This talk of the Rev.
Mr. Torrence shows that my lectures are needed; that religious
people do not know what real liberty is. I presume that the law
of 1860 is an old one re-enacted. It is a survival of ancient
ignorance and bigotry, and no one in the Legislature thought it
worth whi