Chapter 2 of Ingersollia is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Ingersollia is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
50. Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think. Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly? Would he give me brains and make it a crime to think? Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
Chapter 2 of Ingersollia is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a loop in a rope
From this reading “Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.”
plural of “brain” — that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading “Would he give me brains and make it a crime to think?”
a position or opinion or judgment reached after consideration
From this reading “Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.”
(criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act
From this reading “Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?”
used as expletives
From this reading “Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.”
socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
From this reading “Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.”
a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it
From this reading “Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.”
a means of flight or ascent
From this reading “Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 50.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
a loop in a rope
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?
plural of “brain” — that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading Would he give me brains and make it a crime to think?
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
a position or opinion or judgment reached after consideration
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
(criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act
From this reading Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?
used as expletives
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?
the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
From this reading Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Would he give me brains and make it a crime to think?
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?
engage in
From this reading Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Would he give me brains and make it a crime to think?
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
precisely, exactly
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Every Man a Bight to Think Now we have come to the conclusion that every man has a right to think.
a means of flight or ascent
From this reading Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief.
Chapter 2 of Ingersollia by Robert Green Ingersoll holds 402 sentences, grouped into 81 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 2 holds 402 sentences of Ingersollia, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Ingersollia by Robert Green Ingersoll exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 402 sentences, grouped into 81 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 2 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Ingersollia by Robert Green Ingersoll on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3993 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38106 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38106, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 332 minutes of reading across 799 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ingersollia section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of Ingersollia to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Ingersollia, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
