Every cradle asks us “Whence?” and every coffin “Whither?” The poor barbarian, weeping above his dead, can answer these questions as well as the robed priest of the most authentic creed.

Ingersoll contrasts the universal human questions raised by birth and death—where we come from and where we go—with the claimed certainty of organized religion. By pairing “the poor barbarian” with “the robed priest,” he argues that neither social status nor ecclesiastical authority grants privileged access to ultimate answers. The line advances a skeptical, humanist point: the deepest metaphysical uncertainties are shared across cultures, and religious “creeds” often substitute ceremony and confidence for genuine knowledge. The quote also functions rhetorically to level hierarchies, suggesting that grief and wonder are common human experiences that do not require institutional mediation.