It was no doubt also in Chicago that the It was no doubt also in Chicago that the Swami first met the famous agnostic and orator Robert Ingersoll and more than once discussed religious and philosophical matters with him. During the course of these conversations the great agnostic cautioned the Swami not to be too bold and outspoken, to be careful in his preaching of new doctrines and in his criticisms of the ways of life and thought of the people. When asked why, Mr. Ingersoll replied, "Fifty years ago you would have been hanged if you had come to preach in this country, or you would have been burned alive. You would have been stoned out of the villages if you had come even much later:" The Swami was surprised; he could not believe that there was so much fanati¬cism and bigotry in the American nation, and he told Mr. Ingersoll as much. But there was a difference in the approaches of these two great preachers; for Mr. Ingersoll was antagonistic toward all religious ideals, whereas the Swami, though presenting a new order of religious thought, was tolerant of all religions and was a devotee of Christ. The difference between these two great men is best shown in an anecdote told by the Swami himself in the course of a class talk: "Ingersoll once said to me, `I believe in making the most out of this world, in squeezing the orange dry, because this world is all we are sure of' I replied, `I know a better way to squeeze the orange of this world than you do; and I get more out of it. I know I cannot die, so I am not in a hurry. I know that there is no fear, so I enjoy the squeezing. I have no duty, no bondage of wife and children and property; and so I can love all men and women. Everyone is God to me. Think of the joy of loving man as God! Squeeze your orange this way and get ten thousand-fold more out of it. Get every single drop!' "