Lambert, Rev. L. A. Notes on Ingersoll; Preface by Rev. Patrick Cronin. Buffalo, N. Y.: Buffalo Catholic Publication Society, 1884. Seventh Edition. [8449]
Black cloth with dull gilt titles, , binding rubbed and worn yet tight, 5 x 7 1/2 inches, wood engraved frontis portrait of Lambert. 200 clean pp., iv. pp. reviews. Good. Hardcover.
“Robert Green Ingersoll [1833-1899] was a popular orator of the 19th century who spoke boldly and artfully about the virtues of reason, the vices of religion, the rights of women, and the cruelties of slavery.” - skepticreview blog online.
“These Notes on Ingersoll, by the Reverend Louis A. Lambert, of Waterloo, New York…are, unquestionably, the most crushing reply yet made to that notorious little fraud - Ingersoll - who so loves to pose as a profoundly original thinker; and who lives, moves, and has his being, in the laughter and applause which his fescennine buffoonery provokes. Regarding them as a complete annihilation of the pretentious scoffer, and desirous that they should reach a much larger audience than could be secured by any newspaper…the present writer pointed out to the author…and earnestly urged their publication in the present form.” - from the Preface.
Louis A. Lambert 1835-1910), Roman Catholic priest, a native of Pennsylvania. During the Civil War he was chaplain to the 18th Regiment of Illinois Infantry, “and was under fire in many engagements, including the battle of Shiloh.” After serving as priest to congregants in Illinois and upstate New York, he was given the chair of moral theology in the house of studies established by the Paulist Fathers in New York City. He founded and edited several Catholic publications, including The Catholic Times of Buffalo.
“When the Buffalo papers were amalgamated Dr. Lambert was engaged to contribute a series of articles to the Catholic Union; he selected as his theme the teachings of Robert Ingersoll, the leading American agnostic. Ingersoll, although quite ignorant of even natural theology or the principles of logic, wild in his assertions, and badly informed, was, notwithstanding, gifted with an eloquent, witty tongue and facile pen and had wrought great havoc among the younger generation of Americans, and the learned attempts of non-Catholic writers to silence him were unavailing. In his series of articles, published later in book form as Notes on Ingersoll, Dr. Lambert pointed out in familiar language the agnostic’s multitudinous errors in religion, history, science, and even grammar. His method was simple, suited to the mental capacity of his untrained readers and so to Ingersoll’s. The latter failed to reply, and as a result his immense popularity waned at once.” - Catholic Encyclopedia.