{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_38801/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_38801","id":"gutenberg_38801","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38801","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Free thought"],"text":"Produced by David Widger\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORKS OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL\n\n\"The Destroyer Of Weeds, Thistles And Thorns Is A Benefactor, Whether He\nSoweth Grain Or Not.\"\n\nIN TWELVE VOLUMES, VOLUME I.\n\nLECTURES\n\n1901\n\nTHE DRESDEN PUBLISHING CO.\n\n\nTO\n\nEVA A. INGERSOLL,\n\nMY WIFE,\n\nA WOMAN WITHOUT SUPERSTITION,\n\nTHIS VOLUME\n\nIS DEDICATED.\n\nFOR THE LOVE OF GOD.\n\nFOR THE USE OF MAN,\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF VOLUME I.\n\nTHE GODS.\n\n(1872.)\n\nAn Honest God is the Noblest Work of Man--Resemblance of Gods to\ntheir Creators--Manufacture and Characteristics of Deities--Their\nAmours--Deficient in many Departments of Knowledge--Pleased with the\nButchery of Unbelievers--A Plentiful Supply--Visitations--One God's\nLaws of War--The Book called the Bible--Heresy of Universalism--Faith\nan unhappy mixture of Insanity and Ignorance--Fallen Gods, or\nDevils--Directions concerning Human Slavery--The first Appearance of\nthe Devil--The Tree of Knowledge--Give me the Storm and Tempest of\nThought--Gods and Devils Natural Productions--Personal Appearance\nof Deities--All Man's Ideas suggested by his Surroundings--Phenomena\nSupposed to be Produced by Intelligent Powers--Insanity and Disease\nattributed to Evil Spirits--Origin of the Priesthood--Temptation of\nChrist--Innate Ideas--Divine Interference--Special Providence--The\nCrane and the Fish--Cancer as a proof of Design--Matter and\nForce--Miracle--Passing the Hat for just one Fact--Sir William Hamilton\non Cause and Effect--The Phenomena of Mind--Necessity and Free Will--The\nDark Ages--The Originality of Repetition--Of what Use have the Gods been\nto Man?--Paley and Design--Make Good Health Contagious--Periodicity of\nthe Universe and the Commencement of Intellectual Freedom--Lesson of\nthe ineffectual attempt to rescue the Tomb of Christ from the\nMohammedans--The Cemetery of the Gods--Taking away Crutches--Imperial\nReason\n\n\nHUMBOLDT.\n\n(1869.)\n\nThe Universe is Governed by Law--The Self-made Man--Poverty generally\nan Advantage--Humboldt's Birth-place--His desire for Travel--On what\nHumboldt's Fame depends--His Companions and Friends--Investigations\nin the New World--A Picture--Subjects of his Addresses--Victory of the\nChurch over Philosophy--Influence of the discovery that the World is\ngoverned by Law--On the term Law--Copernicus--Astronomy--Aryabhatta--\nDescartes--Condition of the World and Man when the morning of Science\nDawned--Reasons for Honoring Humboldt--The World his Monument\n\n\nTHOMAS PAINE.\n\n(1870.)\n\nWith his Name left out the History of Liberty cannot be Written--Paine's\nOrigin and Condition--His arrival in America with a Letter of\nIntroduction by Franklin--Condition of the Colonies--\"Common Sense\"--A\nnew Nation Born--Paine the Best of Political Writers--The \"Crisis\"--War\nnot to the Interest of a trading Nation--Paine's Standing at the Close\nof the Revolution--Close of the Eighteenth Century in France-The\n\"Rights of Man\"--Paine Prosecuted in England--\"The World is my\nCountry\"--Elected to the French Assembly--Votes against the Death of\nthe King--Imprisoned--A look behind the Altar--The \"Age of Reason\"--His\nArgument against the Bible as a Revelation--Christianity of Paine's\nDay--A Blasphemy Law in Force in Maryland--The Scotch \"Kirk\"--Hanging\nof Thomas Aikenhead for Denying the Inspiration of the\nScriptures--\"Cathedrals and Domes, and Chimes and Chants\"--Science--\"He\nDied in the Land his Genius Defended,\"\n\n\nINDIVIDUALITY.\n\n(1873.)\n\n\"His Soul was like a Star and Dwelt Apart\"--Disobedience one of the\nConditions of Progress.--Magellan--The Monarch and the Hermit-Why\nthe Church hates a Thinker--The Argument from Grandeur and\nProsperity-Travelers and Guide-boards--A Degrading Saying--Theological\nEducation--Scotts, Henrys and McKnights--The Church the Great\nRobber--Corrupting the Reason of Children--Monotony of Acquiescence: For\nGod's sake, say No--Protestant Intolerance: Luther and Calvin--Assertion\nof Individual Independence a Step toward Infidelity--Salute to\nJupiter--The Atheistic Bug-Little Religious Liberty in America--God in\nthe Constitution, Man Out--Decision of the Supreme Court of Illinois\nthat an Unbeliever could not testify in any Court--Dissimulation--Nobody\nin this Bed--The Dignity of a Unit\n\n\nHERETICS AND HERESIES.\n\n(1874.)\n\nLiberty, a Word without which all other Words are Vain--The Church, the\nBible, and Persecution--Over the wild Waves of War rose and fell\nthe Banner of Jesus Christ--Highest Type of the Orthodox\nChristian--Heretics' Tongues and why they should be Removed before\nBurning--The Inquisition Established--Forms of Torture--Act of Henry\nVIII for abolishing Diversity of Opinion--What a Good Christian was\nObliged to Believe--The Church has Carried the Black Flag--For what Men\nand Women have been Burned--John Calvin's Advent into the\nWorld--His Infamous Acts--Michael Servetus--Castalio--Spread of\nPresbyterianism--Indictment of a Presbyterian Minister in Illinois for\nHeresy--Specifications--The Real Bible\n\n\nTHE GHOSTS.\n\n(1877.)\n\nDedication to Ebon C. Ingersoll--Preface--Mendacity of the Religious\nPress--\"Materialism\"--Ways of Pleasing the Ghosts--The Idea of\nImmortality not Born of any Book--Witchcraft and Demon-ology--Witch\nTrial before Sir Matthew Hale--John Wesley a Firm Believer in\nGhosts--\"Witch-spots\"--Lycanthropy--Animals Tried and Convicted--The\nGovernor of Minnesota and the Grasshoppers--A Papal Bull against\nWitchcraft--Victims of the Delusion--Sir William Blackstone's\nAffirmation--Trials in Belgium--Incubi and Succubi--A Bishop\nPersonated by the Devil--The Doctrine that Diseases are caused by\nGhosts--Treatment--Timothy Dwight against Vaccination--Ghosts as\nHistorians--The Language of Eden--Leibnitz, Founder of the Science\nof Language--Cosmas on Astronomy--Vagaries of Kepler and Tycho\nBrahe--Discovery of Printing, Powder, and America--Thanks to the\nInventors--The Catholic Murderer and the Meat--Let the Ghosts Go\n\n\nTHE LIBERTY OF MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD.\n\n(1877.)\n\nLiberty sustains the same Relation to Mind that Space does to\nMatter--The History of Man a History of Slavery--The Infidel Our\nFathers in the good old Time--The iron Arguments that Christians\nUsed--Instruments of Torture--A Vision of the Inquisition--Models of\nMan's Inventions--Weapons, Armor, Musical Instruments, Paintings,\nBooks, Skulls--The Gentleman in the Dug-out--Homage to Genius and\nIntellect--Abraham Lincoln--What I mean by Liberty--The Man who cannot\nafford to Speak his Thought is a Certificate of the Meanness of the\nCommunity in which he Resides--Liberty of Woman--Marriage and the\nFamily--Ornaments the Souvenirs of Bondage-The Story of the Garden of\nEden--Adami and Heva--Equality of the Sexes-The word \"Boss\"--The Cross\nMan-The Stingy Man--Wives who are Beggars--How to Spend Money--By\nthe Tomb of the Old Napoleon--The Woman you Love will never Grow\nOld--Liberty of Children--When your Child tells a Lie--Disowning\nChildren--Beating your own Flesh and Blood--Make Home Pleasant--Sunday\nwhen I was a Boy--The Laugh of a Child--The doctrine of Eternal\nPunishment--Jonathan Edwards on the Happiness of Believing Husbands\nwhose Wives are in Hell--The Liberty of Eating and Sleeping--Water in\nFever--Soil and Climate necessary to the production of Genius--Against\nAnnexing Santo Domingo--Descent of Man--Conclusion\n\n\nABOUT FARMING IN ILLINOIS.\n\n(1877.)\n\nTo Plow is to Pray; to Plant is to Prophesy, and the Harvest Answers and\nFulfills--The Old Way of Farming--Cooking an Unknown Art-Houses, Fuel,\nand Crops--The Farmer's Boy--What a Farmer should Sell--Beautifying\nthe Home--Advantages of Illinois as a Farming State--Advantages of the\nFarmer over the Mechanic--Farm Life too Lonely-On Early Rising--Sleep\nthe Best Doctor--Fashion--Patriotism and Boarding Houses--The Farmer and\nthe Railroads--Money and Confidence--Demonetization of Silver-Area of\nIllinois--Mortgages and Interest--Kindness to Wives and Children--How\na Beefsteak should be Cooked--Decorations and Comfort--Let the Children\nSleep--Old Age\n\n\nWHAT MUST WE DO TO BE SAVED?\n\n(1880.)\n\nPreface--The Synoptic Gospels--Only Mark Knew of the Necessity of\nBelief--Three Christs Described--The Jewish Gentleman and the Piece of\nBacon--Who Wrote the New Testament?--Why Christ and the Apostles wrote\nNothing--Infinite Respect for the Man Christ--Different Feeling for\nthe Theological Christ--Saved from What?--Chapter on the Gospel of\nMatthew--What this Gospel says we must do to be Saved--Jesus and the\nChildren--John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards conceived of as Dimpled\nDarlings--Christ and the Man who inquired what Good Thing he should\ndo that he might have Eternal Life--Nothing said about Belief--An\nInterpolation--Chapter on the Gospel of Mark--The Believe or be Damned\nPassage, and why it was written--The last Conversation of Christ with\nhis Disciples--The Signs that Follow them that Believe--Chapter on\nthe Gospel of Luke--Substantial Agreement with Matthew and Mark--How\nZaccheus achieved Salvation--The two Thieves on the Cross--Chapter\non the Gospel of John--The Doctrine of Regeneration, or the New\nBirth--Shall we Love our Enemies while God Damns His?--Chapter on the\nCatholics--Communication with Heaven through Decayed Saints--Nuns and\nNunneries--Penitentiaries of God should be Investigated--The\nAthanasian Creed expounded--The Trinity and its Members--Chapter on the\nEpiscopalians--Origin of the Episcopal Church--Apostolic Succession\nan Imported Article--Episcopal Creed like the Catholic, with a\nfew Additional Absurdities--Chapter on the Methodists--Wesley and\nWhitfield--Their Quarrel about Predestination--Much Preaching for Little\nMoney--Adapted to New Countries--Chapter on the Presbyterians--John\nCalvin, Murderer--Meeting between Calvin and Knox--The Infamy of\nCalvinism--Division in the Church--The Young Presbyterian's Resignation\nto the Fate of his Mother--A Frightful, Hideous, and Hellish\nCreed--Chapter on the Evangelical Alliance--Jeremy Taylor's Opinion of\nBaptists--Orthodoxy not Dead--Creed of the Alliance--Total Depravity,\nEternal Damnation--What do You Propose?--The Gospel of Good-fellowship,\nCheerfulness, Health, Good Living, Justice--No Forgiveness--God's\nForgiveness Does not Pay my Debt to Smith--Gospel of Liberty, of\nIntelligence, of Humanity--One World at a Time--\"Upon that Rock I\nStand\"\n\n\n\n\nPUBLISHER'S PREFACE.\n\nIN presenting to the public this edition of the late Robert G.\nIngersoll's works, it has been the aim of the publisher to make it\nworthy of the author and a pleasure to his friends and admirers. No one\ncan be more conscious than he of the magnitude of the task\nundertaken, or more keenly feel how far short it must fall of adequate\naccomplishment.\n\nWhen it is remembered that countless utterances of the author were never\ncaught from his eloquent lips, it is matter for congratulation that\nso much has been preserved. The authorized addresses, arguments and\narticles that have already appeared in print and passed the review of\nthe authors more or less careful inspection, will be readily recognized\nas accurate and complete; but in this latest and fullest compilation\nare many emanations from his heart and brain that have never had his\nscrutiny, were not revised by him, and that yet, by general judgment,\nshould not be lost to the world.\n\nThese unedited sundries consist of fragments of speeches and incompleted\narticles discovered amongst the authors literary remains and for\nunknown reasons left in more or less unfinished form. It has been the\npublisher's ambition to gather these fugitive pieces and place them in\nthis edition by the side of the saved treasures. Whether the work has\nbeen well or ill done a generous public must decide, while the sole\nresponsibility must rest with, as it has been assumed by, the publisher.\n\nIn carrying out the design of the present edition, the publisher\ngratefully acknowledges the assistance of Mr. Ingersoll's family,\nwho have freely placed at his disposal many papers, inscriptions,\nmonographs, memoranda and pages of valuable material.\n\nRecognition is also here made of the kind courtesy of the press and of\npublishers of magazines who have generously permitted the publication of\narticles originally written for them.\n\nFinally, the publisher gives his thanks to all the devoted friends of\nthe author who in many ways, by suggestion and unselfish labor,\nhave aided in getting out this work. Of these, none have been more\nunremitting in service, and to none is the publisher more indebted, than\nto Mr. I. Newton Baker, Mr. Ingersoll's former private secretary, to Dr.\nEdgar C. Beall, and to Mr. George E. Macdonald for the fine Tables of\nContents and the very valuable Index to this edition.\n\nC. P. FARRELL.\n\nNew York, July, 1900.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GODS\n\nAn Honest God is the Noblest Work of Man.\n\nEACH nation has created a god, and the god has always resembled his\ncreators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved, and he was\ninvariably found on the side of those in power. Each god was intensely\npatriotic, and detested all nations but his own. All these gods demanded\npraise, flattery, and worship. Most of them were pleased with sacrifice,\nand the smell of innocent blood has ever been considered a divine\nperfume. All these gods have insisted upon having a vast number of\npriests, and the priests have always insisted upon being supported by\nthe people, and the principal business of these priests has been to\nboast about their god, and to insist that he could easily vanquish all\nthe other gods put together.\n\nThese gods have been manufactured after numberless models, and according\nto the most grotesque fashions. Some have a thousand arms, some a\nhundred heads, some are adorned with necklaces of living snakes, some\nare armed with clubs, some with sword and shield, some with bucklers,\nand some have wings as a cherub; some were invisible, some would show\nthemselves entire, and some would only show their backs; some were\njealous, some were foolish, some turned themselves into men, some into\nswans, some into bulls, some into doves, and some into Holy Ghosts,\nand made love to the beautiful daughters of men. Some were married--all\nought to have been--and some were considered as old bachelors from all\neternity. Some had children, and the children were turned into gods and\nworshiped as their fathers had been. Most of these gods were revengeful,\nsavage, lustful, and ignorant. As they generally depended upon\ntheir priests for information, their ignorance can hardly excite our\nastonishment.\n\nThese gods did not even know the shape of the worlds they had created,\nbut supposed them perfectly flat Some thought the day could be\nlengthened by stopping the sun, that the blowing of horns could throw\ndown the walls of a city, and all knew so little of the real nature\nof the people they had created, that they commanded the people to love\nthem. Some were so ignorant as to suppose that man could believe just\nas he might desire, or as they might command, and that to be governed\nby observation, reason, and experience was a most foul and damning sin.\nNone of these gods could give a true account of the creation of this\nlittle earth. All were wofully deficient in geology and astronomy. As a\nrule, they were most miserable legislators, and as executives, they were\nfar inferior to the average of American presidents.\n\nThese deities have demanded the most abject and degrading obedience. In\norder to please them, man must lay his very face in the dust Of course,\nthey have always been partial to the people who created them, and have\ngenerally shown their partiality by assisting those people to rob and\ndestroy others, and to ravish their wives and daughters.\n\nNothing is so pleasing to these gods as the butchery of unbelievers.\nNothing so enrages them, even now, as to have some one deny their\nexistence.\n\nFew nations have been so poor as to have but one god. Gods were made\nso easily, and the raw material cost so little, that generally the god\nmarket was fairly glutted, and heaven crammed with these phantoms. These\ngods not only attended to the skies, but were supposed to interfere in\nall the affairs of men. They presided over everybody and everything.\nThey attended to every department. All was supposed to be under their\nimmediate control. Nothing was too small--nothing too large; the falling\nof sparrows and the motions of the planets were alike attended to by\nthese industrious and observing deities. From their starry thrones they\nfrequently came to the earth for the purpose of imparting information to\nman. It is related of one that he came amid thunderings and lightnings\nin order to tell the people that they should not cook a kid in its\nmother's milk. Some left their shining abodes to tell women that they\nshould, or should not, have children, to inform a priest how to cut\nand wear his apron, and to give directions as to the proper manner of\ncleaning the intestines of a bird.\n\nWhen the people failed to worship one of these gods, or failed to feed\nand clothe his priests, (which was much the same thing,) he generally\nvisited them with pestilence and famine. Sometimes he allowed some other\nnation to drag them into slavery--to sell their wives and children; but\ngenerally he glutted his vengeance by murdering their first-born.\nThe priests always did their whole duty, not only in predicting these\ncalamities, but in proving, when they did happen, that they were brought\nupon the people because they had not given quite enough to them.\n\nThese gods differed just as the nations differed; the greatest and most\npowerful had the most powerful gods, while the weaker ones were obliged\nto content themselves with the very off-scourings of the heavens. Each\nof these gods promised happiness here and hereafter to all his slaves,\nand threatened to eternally punish all who either disbelieved in his\nexistence or suspected that some other god might be his superior; but to\ndeny the existence of all gods was, and is, the crime of crimes. Redden\nyour hands with human blood; blast by slander the fair fame of the\ninnocent; strangle the smiling child upon its mother's knees; deceive,\nruin and desert the beautiful girl who loves and trusts you, and\nyour case is not hopeless. For all this, and for all these you may\nbe forgiven. For all this, and for all these, that bankrupt court\nestablished by the gospel, will give you a discharge; but deny the\nexistence of these divine ghosts, of these gods, and the sweet and\ntearful face of Mercy becomes livid with eternal hate. Heaven's golden\ngates are shut, and you, with an infinite curse ringing in your\nears, with the brand of infamy upon your brow, commence your endless\nwanderings in the lurid gloom of hell--an immortal vagrant--an eternal\noutcast--a deathless convict.\n\nOne of these gods, and one who demands our love, our admiration and\nour worship, and one who is worshiped, if mere heartless ceremony is\nworship, gave to his chosen people for their guidance, the following\nlaws of war: \"When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it,\n_then proclaim peace unto it_. And it shall be if it make thee answer of\npeace, and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that is\nfound therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.\nAnd if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee,\nthen thou shalt besiege it.\n\n\"And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thy hands, thou shalt\nsmite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. But the women and\nthe little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all\nthe spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat\nthe spoil of thine enemies which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus\nshalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee,\nwhich are not of the cities of these nations. But of the cities of these\npeople which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, _thou\nshalt save alive nothing that breatheth_\"\n\nIs it possible for man to conceive of anything more perfectly infamous?\nCan you believe that such directions were given by any being except an\ninfinite fiend? Remember that the army receiving these instructions\nwas one of invasion. Peace was offered upon condition that the people\nsubmitting should be the slaves of the invader; but if any should have\nthe courage to defend their homes, to fight for the love of wife and\nchild, then the sword was to spare none--not even the prattling, dimpled\nbabe.\n\nAnd we are called upon to worship such a God; to get upon our knees and\ntell him that he is good, that he is merciful, that he is just, that he\nis love. We are asked to stifle every noble sentiment of the soul, and\nto trample under foot all the sweet charities of the heart. Because we\nrefuse to stultify ourselves--refuse to become liars--we are denounced,\nhated, traduced and ostracized here, and this same god threatens to\ntorment us in eternal fire the moment death allows him to fiercely\nclutch our naked helpless souls. Let the people hate, let the god\nthreaten--we will educate them, and we will despise and defy him.\n\nThe book, called the Bible, is filled with passages equally horrible,\nunjust and atrocious. This is the book to be read in schools in order\nto make our children loving, kind and gentle! This is the book to\nbe recognized in our Constitution as the source of all authority and\njustice!\n\nStrange! that no one has ever been persecuted by the church for\nbelieving God bad, while hundreds of millions have been destroyed\nfor thinking him good. The orthodox church never will forgive the\nUniversalist for saying \"God is love.\" It has always been considered\nas one of the very highest evidences of true and undefiled religion to\ninsist that all men, women and children deserve eternal damnation. It\nhas always been heresy to say, \"God will at last save all.\"\n\nWe are asked to justify these frightful passages, these infamous laws\nof war, because the Bible is the word of God. As a matter of fact, there\nnever was, and there never can be, an argument, even tending to prove\nthe inspiration of any book whatever. In the absence of positive\nevidence, analogy and experience, argument is simply impossible, and at\nthe very best, can amount only to a useless agitation of the air.\n\nThe instant we admit that a book is too sacred to be doubted, or even\nreasoned about, we are mental serfs. It is infinitely absurd to suppose\nthat a god would address a communication to intelligent beings, and yet\nmake it a crime, to be punished in eternal flames, for them to use their\nintelligence for the purpose of understanding his communication. If we\nhave the right to use our reason, we certainly have the right to act in\naccordance with it, and no god can have the right to punish us for such\naction.\n\nThe doctrine that future happiness depends upon belief is monstrous.\nIt is the infamy of infamies. The notion that faith in Christ is to\nbe rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason,\nobservation, and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for\nrefutation, and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of insanity\nand ignorance, called \"faith.\" What man, who ever thinks, can believe\nthat blood can appease God? And yet, our entire system of religion is\nbased upon that belief. The Jews pacified Jehovah with the blood of\nanimals, and according to the Christian system, the blood of Jesus\nsoftened the heart of God a little, and rendered possible the salvation\nof a fortunate few. It is hard to conceive how the human mind can give\nassent to such terrible ideas, or how any sane man can read the Bible\nand still believe in the doctrine of inspiration.\n\nWhether the Bible is true or false, is of no consequence in comparison\nwith the mental freedom of the race.\n\nSalvation through slavery is worthless. Salvation from slavery is\ninestimable.\n\nAs long as man believes the Bible to be infallible, that book is his\nmaster. The civilization of this century is not the child of faith, but\nof unbelief--the result of free thought.\n\nAll that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable\nperson that the Bible is simply and purely of human invention--of\nbarbarian invention--is to read it Read it as you would any other book;\nthink of it as you would of any other; get the bandage of reverence\nfrom your eyes; drive from your heart the phantom of fear; push from the\nthrone of your brain the cowled form of superstition--then read the Holy\nBible, and you will be amazed that you ever, for one moment, supposed a\nbeing of infinite wisdom, goodness and purity, to be the author of such\nignorance and of such atrocity.\n\nOur ancestors not only had their god-factories, but they made devils as\nwell. These devils were generally disgraced and fallen gods. Some had\nheaded unsuccessful revolts; some had been caught sweetly reclining in\nthe shadowy folds of some fleecy cloud, kissing the wife of the god of\ngods. These devils generally sympathized with man. There is in regard\nto them a most wonderful fact: In nearly all the theologies, mythologies\nand religions, the devils have been much more humane and merciful\nthan the gods. No devil ever gave one of his generals an order to kill\nchildren and to rip open the bodies of pregnant women. Such barbarities\nwere always ordered by the good gods. The pestilences were sent by the\nmost merciful gods. The frightful famine, during which the dying child\nwith pallid lips sucked the withered bosom of a dead mother, was sent by\nthe loving gods. No devil was ever charged with such fiendish brutality.\n\nOne of these gods, according to the account, drowned an entire world,\nwith the exception of eight persons. The old, the young, the beautiful\nand the helpless were remorsely devoured by the shoreless sea. This,\nthe most fearful tragedy that the imagination of ignorant priests ever\nconceived, was the act, not of a devil, but of a god, so-called, whom\nmen ignorantly worship unto this day. What a stain such an act would\nleave upon the character of a devil! One of the prophets of one of these\ngods, having in his power a captured king, hewed him in pieces in the\nsight of all the people. Was ever any imp of any devil guilty of such\nsavagery?\n\nOne of these gods is reported to have given the following directions\nconcerning human slavery: \"If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall\nhe serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he\ncame in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he were married, then\nhis wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and\nshe have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be\nher master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall\nplainly say, I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go\nout free. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also\nbring him unto the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall\nbore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.\"\n\nAccording to this, a man was given liberty upon condition that he would\ndesert forever his wife and children. Did any devil ever force upon a\nhusband, upon a father, so cruel and so heartless an alternative? Who\ncan worship such a god? Who can bend the knee to such a monster? Who can\npray to such a fiend?\n\nAll these gods threatened to torment forever the souls of their enemies.\nDid any devil ever make so infamous a threat? The basest thing recorded\nof the devil, is what he did concerning Job and his family, and that\nwas done by the express permission of one of these gods, and to decide\na little difference of opinion between their serene highnesses as to the\ncharacter of \"my servant Job.\" The first account we have of the devil is\nfound in that purely scientific book called Genesis, and is as follows:\n\"Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the\nLord God had made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye\nshall not eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden? And the woman\nsaid unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the\ngarden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden\nGod hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest\nye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.\nFor God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall\nbe opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the\nwoman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to\nthe eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the\nfruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and\nhe did eat.... And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of\nus, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take\nalso of the tree of life and eat, and live forever. Therefore the Lord\nGod sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which\nhe was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the\nGarden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way to\nkeep the way of the tree of life.\"\n\nAccording to this account the promise of the devil was fulfilled to\nthe very letter. Adam and Eve did not die, and they did become as gods,\nknowing good and evil.\n\nThe account shows, however, that the gods dreaded education and\nknowledge then just as they do now. The church still faithfully guards\nthe dangerous tree of knowledge, and has exerted in all ages her utmost\npower to keep mankind from eating the fruit thereof. The priests have\nnever ceased repeating the old falsehood and the old threat: \"Ye shall\nnot eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.\" From every\npulpit comes the same cry, born of the same fear: \"Lest they eat and\nbecome as gods, knowing good and evil.\" For this reason, religion\nhates science, faith detests reason, theology is the sworn enemy of\nphilosophy, and the church with its flaming sword still guards the hated\ntree, and like its supposed founder, curses to the lowest depths the\nbrave thinkers who eat and become as gods.\n\nIf the account given in Genesis is really true, ought we not, after all,\nto thank this serpent? He was the first schoolmaster, the first advocate\nof learning, the first enemy of ignorance, the first to whisper in human\nears the sacred word liberty, the creator of ambition, the author of\nmodesty, of inquiry, of doubt, of investigation, of progress and of\ncivilization.\n\nGive me the storm and tempest of thought and action, rather than the\ndead calm of ignorance and faith! Banish me from Eden when you will; but\nfirst let me eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge!\n\nSome nations have borrowed their gods; of this number, we are compelled\nto say, is our own. The Jews having ceased to exist as a nation, and\nhaving no further use for a god, our ancestors appropriated him and\nadopted their devil at the same time. This borrowed god is still an\nobject of some adoration, and this adopted devil still excites the\napprehensions of our people. He is still supposed to be setting his\ntraps and snares for the purpose of catching our unwary souls, and is\nstill, with reasonable success, waging the old war against our God.\n\nTo me, it seems easy to account for these ideas concerning gods and\ndevils. They are a perfectly natural production. Man has created them\nall, and under the same circumstances would create them again. Man has\nnot only created all these gods, but he has created them out of the\nmaterials by which he has been surrounded. Generally he has modeled them\nafter himself, and has given them hands, heads, feet, eyes, ears,\nand organs of speech. Each nation made its gods and devils speak its\nlanguage not only, but put in their mouths the same mistakes in history,\ngeography, astronomy, and in all matters of fact, generally made by the\npeople. No god was ever in advance of the nation that created him. The\nnegroes represented their deities with black skins and curly hair. The\nMongolian gave to his a yellow complexion and dark almond-shaped eyes.\nThe Jews were not allowed to paint theirs, or we should have seen\nJehovah with a full beard, an oval face, and an aquiline nose. Zeus was\na perfect Greek, and Jove looked as though a member of the Roman senate.\nThe gods of Egypt had the patient face and placid look of the loving\npeople who made them. The gods of northern countries were represented\nwarmly clad in robes of fur; those of the tropics were naked. The gods\nof India were often mounted upon elephants; those of some islanders were\ngreat swimmers, and the deities of the Arctic zone were passionately\nfond of whale's blubber. Nearly all people have carved or painted\nrepresentations of their gods, and these representations were, by the\nlower classes, generally treated as the real gods, and to these images\nand idols they addressed prayers and offered sacrifice.\n\nIn some countries? even at this day, if the people after long praying\ndo not obtain their desires, they turn their images off as impotent\ngods, or upbraid them in a most reproachful manner, loading them with\nblows and curses. 'How now, dog of a spirit,' they say, 'we give you\nlodging in a magnificent temple, we gild you with gold, feed you with\nthe choicest food, and offer incense to you; yet, after all this care,\nyou are so ungrateful as to refuse us what we ask.'\n\nHereupon they will pull the god down and drag him through the filth\nof the street. If, in the meantime, it happens that they obtain their\nrequest, then, with a great deal of ceremony, they wash him clean, carry\nhim back and place him in his temple again, where they fall down and\nmake excuses for what they have done. 'Of a truth,' they say, 'we were\na little too hasty, and you were a little too long in your grant. Why\nshould you bring this beating on yourself. But what is done cannot be\nundone. Let us not think of it any more. If you will forget what is\npast, we will gild you over brighter again than before.\n\nMan has never been at a loss for gods. He has worshiped almost\neverything, including the vilest and most disgusting beasts. He has\nworshiped fire, earth, air, water, light, stars, and for hundreds of\nages prostrated himself before enormous snakes. Savage tribes often make\ngods of articles they get from civilized people. The Todas worship a\ncow-bell. The Kotas worship two silver plates, which they regard as\nhusband and wife, and another tribe manufactured a god out of a king of\nhearts.\n\nMan, having always been the physical superior of woman, accounts for\nthe fact that most of the high gods have been males. Had woman been the\nphysical superior, the powers supposed to be the rulers of Nature would\nhave been women, and instead of being represented in the apparel of\nman, they would have luxuriated in trains, lownecked dresses, laces and\nback-hair.\n\nNothing can be plainer than that each nation gives to its god its\npeculiar characteristics, and that every individual gives to his god his\npersonal peculiarities.\n\nMan has no ideas, and can have none, except those suggested by his\nsurroundings. He cannot conceive of anything utterly unlike what he has\nseen or felt. He can exaggerate, diminish, combine, separate, deform,\nbeautify, improve, multiply and compare what he sees, what he feels,\nwhat he hears, and all of which he takes cognizance through the medium\nof the senses; but he cannot create. Having seen exhibitions of power,\nhe can say, omnipotent. Having lived, he can say, immortality. Knowing\nsomething of time, he can say, eternity. Conceiving something of\nintelligence, he can say, God. Having seen exhibitions of malice, he can\nsay, devil. A few gleams of happiness having fallen athwart the gloom of\nhis life, he can say, heaven. Pain, in its numberless forms, having been\nexperienced, he can say, hell. Yet all these ideas have a foundation\nin fact, and only a foundation. The superstructure has been reared\nby exaggerating, diminishing, combining, separating, deforming,\nbeautifying, improving or multiplying realities, so that the edifice or\nfabric is but the incongruous grouping of what man has perceived through\nthe medium of the senses. It is as though we should give to a lion the\nwings of an eagle, the hoofs of a bison, the tail of a horse, the pouch\nof a kangaroo, and the trunk of an elephant. We have in imagination\ncreated an impossible monster. And yet the various parts of this monster\nreally exist So it is with all the gods that man has made.\n\nBeyond nature man cannot go even in thought--above nature he cannot\nrise--below nature he cannot fall.\n\nMan, in his ignorance, supposed that all phenomena were produced by\nsome intelligent powers, and with direct reference to him. To preserve\nfriendly relations with these powers was, and still is, the object of\nall religions. Man knelt through fear and to implore assistance, or\nthrough gratitude for some favor which he supposed had been rendered. He\nendeavored by supplication to appease some being who, for some reason,\nhad, as he believed, become enraged. The lightning and thunder terrified\nhim. In the presence of the volcano he sank upon his knees. The great\nforests filled with wild and ferocious beasts, the monstrous serpents\ncrawling in mysterious depths, the boundless sea, the flaming comets,\nthe sinister eclipses, the awful calmness of the stars, and, more than\nall, the perpetual presence of death, convinced him that he was the\nsport and prey of unseen and malignant powers. The strange and frightful\ndiseases to which he was subject, the freezings and burnings of fever,\nthe contortions of epilepsy, the sudden palsies, the darkness of night,\nand the wild, terrible and fantastic dreams that filled his brain,\nsatisfied him that he was haunted and pursued by countless spirits\nof evil. For some reason he supposed that these spirits differed\nin power--that they were not all alike malevolent--that the higher\ncontrolled the lower, and that his very existence depended upon gaining\nthe assistance of the more powerful. For this purpose he resorted to\nprayer, to flattery, to worship and to sacrifice.\n\nThese ideas appear to have been almost universal in savage man.\n\nFor ages all nations supposed that the sick and insane were possessed by\nevil spirits. For thousands of years the practice of medicine consisted\nin frightening these spirits away. Usually the priests would make the\nloudest and most discordant noises possible. They would blow horns,\nbeat upon rude drums, clash cymbals, and in the meantime utter the most\nunearthly yells. If the noise-remedy failed, they would implore the aid\nof some more powerful spirit.\n\nTo pacify these spirits was considered of infinite importance. The poor\nbarbarian, knowing that men could be softened by gifts, gave to these\nspirits that which to him seemed of the most value. With bursting heart\nhe would offer the blood of his dearest child. It was impossible for him\nto conceive of a god utterly unlike himself, and he naturally supposed\nthat these powers of the air would be affected a little at the sight of\nso great and so deep a sorrow. It was with the barbarian then as with\nthe civilized now--one class lived upon and made merchandise of the\nfears of another. Certain persons took it upon themselves to appease the\ngods, and to instruct the people in their duties to these unseen powers.\nThis was the origin of the priesthood. The priest pretended to stand\nbetween the wrath of the gods and the helplessness of man. He was man's\nattorney at the court of heaven. He carried to the invisible world a\nflag of truce, a protest and a request. He came back with a command,\nwith authority and with power. Man fell upon his knees before his own\nservant, and the priest, taking advantage of the awe inspired by his\nsupposed influence with the gods, made of his fellow-man a cringing\nhypocrite and slave. Even Christ, the supposed son of God, taught that\npersons were possessed of evil spirits, and frequently, according to\nthe account, gave proof of his divine origin and mission by frightening\ndroves of devils out of his unfortunate countrymen. Casting out devils\nwas his principal employment, and the devils thus banished generally\ntook occasion to acknowledge him as the true Messiah; which was not only\nvery kind of them, but quite fortunate for him. The religious people\nhave always regarded the testimony of these devils as perfectly\nconclusive, and the writers of the New Testament quote the words of\nthese imps of darkness with great satisfaction.\n\nThe fact that Christ could withstand the temptations of the devil was\nconsidered as conclusive evidence that he was assisted by some god, or\nat least by some being superior to man. St. Matthew gives an account of\nan attempt made by the devil to tempt the supposed son of God; and it\nhas always excited the wonder of Christians that the temptation was\nso nobly and heroically withstood. The account to which I refer is as\nfollows:\n\n\"Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted\nof the devil. And when the tempter came to him, he said: 'If thou be the\nson of God, command that these stones be made bread.' But he answered,\nand said: 'It is written: man shall not live by bread alone, but by\nevery word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' Then the devil\ntaketh him up into the holy city and setteth him upon a pinnacle of\nthe temple and saith unto him: 'If thou be the son of God, cast thyself\ndown; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning\nthee, lest at any time thou shalt dash thy foot against a stone,'Jesus\nsaid unto him: 'It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy\nGod.' Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and\nsheweth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and\nsaith unto him: 'All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and\nworship me.'\"\n\nThe Christians now claim that Jesus was God. If he was God, of course\nthe devil knew that fact, and yet, according to this account, the devil\ntook 'the omnipotent God and placed him upon a pinnacle of the temple,\nand endeavored to induce him to dash himself against the earth. Failing\nin that, he took the creator, owner and governor of the universe up into\nan exceeding high mountain, and offered him this world--this grain of\nsand--if he, the God of all the worlds, would fall down and worship\nhim, a poor devil, without even a tax title to one foot of dirt! Is it\npossible the devil was such an idiot? Should any great credit be given\nto this deity for not being caught with such chaff? Think of it! The\ndevil--the prince of sharpers--the king of cunning--the master of\nfinesse, trying to bribe God with a grain of sand that belonged to God!\n\nIs there in all the religious literature of the world anything more\ngrossly absurd than this?\n\nThese devils, according to the Bible, were of various kinds--some could\nspeak and hear, others were deaf and dumb. All could not be cast out\nin the same way. The deaf and dumb spirits were quite difficult to deal\nwith. St. Mark tells of a gentleman who brought his son to Christ. The\nboy, it seems, was possessed of a dumb spirit, over which the disciples\nhad no control. \"Jesus said unto the spirit: 'Thou dumb and deaf spirit,\nI charge thee come out of him, and enter no more into him.'\" Whereupon,\nthe deaf spirit (having heard what was said) cried out (being dumb) and\nimmediately vacated the premises. The ease with which Christ controlled\nthis deaf and dumb spirit excited the wonder of his disciples, and they\nasked him privately why they could not cast that spirit out. To whom he\nreplied: \"This kind can come forth by nothing but prayer and fasting.\" Is\nthere a Christian in the whole world who would believe such a story\nif found in any other book? The trouble is, these pious people shut up\ntheir reason, and then open their Bible.\n\nIn the olden times the existence of devils was universally admitted. The\npeople had no doubt upon that subject, and from such belief it followed\nas a matter of course, that a person, in order to vanquish these devils,\nhad either to be a god, or to be assisted by one. All founders of\nreligions have established their claims to divine origin by controlling\nevil spirits and suspending the laws of nature. Casting out devils was\na certificate of divinity. A prophet, unable to cope with the powers\nof darkness was regarded with contempt The utterance of the highest\nand noblest sentiments, the most blameless and holy life, commanded but\nlittle respect, unless accompanied by power to work miracles and command\nspirits.\n\nThis belief in good and evil powers had its origin in the fact that man\nwas surrounded by what he was pleased to call good and evil phenomena.\nPhenomena affecting man pleasantly were ascribed to good spirits, while\nthose affecting him unpleasantly or injuriously, were ascribed to evil\nspirits. It being admitted that all phenomena were produced by spirits,\nthe spirits were divided according to the phenomena, and the phenomena\nwere good or bad as they affected man.\n\nGood spirits were supposed to be the authors of good phenomena, and evil\nspirits of the evil--so that the idea of a devil has been as universal\nas the idea of a god.\n\nMany writers maintain that an idea to become universal must be true;\nthat all universal ideas are innate, and that innate ideas cannot be\nfalse. If the fact that an idea has been universal proves that it\nis innate, and if the fact that an idea is innate proves that it is\ncorrect, then the believers in innate ideas must admit that the evidence\nof a god superior to nature, and of a devil superior to nature, is\nexactly the same, and that the existence of such a devil must be as\nself-evident as the existence of such a god. The truth is, a god was\ninferred from good, and a devil from bad, phenomena. And it is just as\nnatural and logical to suppose that a devil would cause happiness as\nto suppose that a god would produce misery. Consequently, if an\nintelligence, infinite and supreme, is the immediate author of all\nphenomena, it is difficult to determine whether such intelligence is the\nfriend or enemy of man. If phenomena were all good, we might say they\nwere all produced by a perfectly beneficent being. If they were all bad,\nwe might say they were produced by a perfectly malevolent power; but,\nas phenomena are, as they affect man, both good and bad, they must be\nproduced by different and antagonistic spirits; by one who is sometimes\nactuated by kindness, and sometimes by malice; or all must be produced\nof necessity, and without reference to their consequences upon man.\n\nThe foolish doctrine that all phenomena can be traced to the\ninterference of good and evil spirits, has been, and still is, almost\nuniversal. That most people still believe in some spirit that can change\nthe natural order of events, is proven by the fact that nearly all\nresort to prayer. Thousands, at this very moment, are probably imploring\nsome supposed power to interfere in their behalf. Some want health\nrestored; some ask that the loved and absent be watched over and\nprotected, some pray for riches, some for rain, some want diseases\nstayed, some vainly ask for food, some ask for revivals, a few ask for\nmore wisdom, and now and then one tells the Lord to do as he may think\nbest. Thousands ask to be protected from the devil; some, like David,\npray for revenge, and some implore even God, not to lead them into\ntemptation. All these prayers rest upon, and are produced by, the idea\nthat some power not only can, but probably will, change the order of the\nuniverse. This belief has been among the great majority of tribes\nand nations. All sacred books are filled with the accounts of such\ninterferences, and our own Bible is no exception to this rule.\n\nIf we believe in a power superior to nature, it is perfectly natural to\nsuppose that such power can and will interfere in the affairs of this\nworld. If there is no interference, of what practical use can such\npower be? The Scriptures give us the most wonderful accounts of divine\ninterference: Animals talk like men; springs gurgle from dry bones; the\nsun and moon stop in the heavens in order that General Joshua may have\nmore time to murder; the shadow on a dial goes back ten degrees to\nconvince a petty king of a barbarous people that he is not going to die\nof a boil; fire refuses to burn; water positively declines to seek its\nlevel, but stands up like a wall; grains of sand become lice; common\nwalking-sticks, to gratify a mere freak, twist themselves into serpents,\nand then swallow each other by way of exercise; murmuring streams,\nlaughing at the attraction of gravitation, run up hill for years,\nfollowing wandering tribes from a pure love of frolic; prophecy becomes\naltogether easier than history; the sons of God become enamored of the\nworld's girls; women are changed into salt for the purpose of keeping a\ngreat event fresh in the minds of men; an excellent article of brimstone\nis imported from heaven free of duty; clothes refuse to wear out for\nforty years; birds keep restaurants and feed wandering prophets free of\nexpense; bears tear children in pieces for laughing at old men without\nwigs; muscular development depends upon the length of one's hair; dead\npeople come to life, simply to get a joke on their enemies and heirs;\nwitches and wizards converse freely with the souls of the departed, and\nGod himself becomes a stone-cutter and engraver, after having been a\ntailor and dressmaker.\n\nThe veil between heaven and earth was always rent or lifted. The shadows\nof this world, the radiance of heaven, and the glare of hell mixed\nand mingled until man became uncertain as to which country he really\ninhabited. Man dwelt in an unreal world. He mistook his ideas, his\ndreams, for real things. His fears became terrible and malicious\nmonsters. He lived in the midst of furies and fairies, nymphs and\nnaiads, goblins and ghosts, witches and wizards, sprites and spooks,\ndeities and devils. The obscure and gloomy depths were filled with\nclaw and wing--with beak and hoof--with leering looks and sneering\nmouths--with the malice of deformity--with the cunning of hatred, and\nwith all the slimy forms that fear can draw and paint upon the shadowy\ncanvas of the dark.\n\nIt is enough to make one almost insane with pity to think what man in\nthe long night has suffered; of the tortures he has endured, surrounded,\nas he supposed, by malignant powers and clutched by the fierce phantoms\nof the air. No wonder that he fell upon his trembling knees--that he\nbuilt altars and reddened them even with his own blood. No wonder that\nhe implored ignorant priests and impudent magicians for aid. No wonder\nthat he crawled groveling in the dust to the temple's door, and there,\nin the insanity of despair, besought the deaf gods to hear his bitter\ncry of agony and fear.\n\nThe savage as he emerges from a state of barbarism, gradually loses\nfaith in his idols of wood and stone, and in their place puts a\nmultitude of spirits. As he advances in knowledge, he generally discards\nthe petty spirits, and in their stead believes in one, whom he supposes\nto be infinite and supreme. Supposing this great spirit to be superior\nto nature, he offers worship or flattery in exchange for assistance. At\nlast, finding that he obtains no aid from this supposed deity--:\nfinding that every search after the absolute must of necessity end in\nfailure--finding that man cannot by any possibility conceive of the\nconditionless--he begins to investigate the facts by which he is\nsurrounded, and to depend upon himself.\n\nThe people are beginning to think, to reason and to investigate. Slowly,\npainfully, but surely, the gods are being driven from the earth. Only\nupon rare occasions are they, even by the most religious, supposed to\ninterfere in the affairs of men. In most matters we are at last supposed\nto be free. Since the invention of steamships and railways, so that the\nproducts of all countries can be easily interchanged, the gods have quit\nthe business of producing famine. Now and then they kill a child because\nit is idolized by its parents. As a rule they have given up causing\naccidents on railroads, exploding boilers, and bursting kerosene lamps.\nCholera, yellow fever, and small-pox are still considered heavenly\nweapons; but measles, itch and ague are now attributed to natural\ncauses. As a general thing, the gods have stopped drowning children,\nexcept as a punishment for violating the Sabbath. They still pay some\nattention to the affairs of kings, men of genius and persons of great\nwealth; but ordinary people are left to shirk for themselves as best\nthey may. In wars between great nations, the gods still interfere; but\nin prize fights, the best man with an honest referee, is almost sure to\nwin.\n\nThe church cannot abandon the idea of special providence. To give up\nthat doctrine is to give up all. The church must insist that prayer\nis answered--that some power superior to nature hears and grants the\nrequest of the sincere and humble Christian, and that this same power in\nsome mysterious way provides for all.\n\nA devout clergyman sought every opportunity to impress upon the mind\nof his son the fact, that God takes care of all his creatures; that the\nfalling sparrow attracts his attention, and that his loving kindness is\nover all his works. Happening, one day, to see a crane wading in quest\nof food, the good man pointed out to his son the perfect adaptation of\nthe crane to get his living in that manner. \"See,\" said he, \"how his\nlegs are formed for wading! What a long slender bill he has! Observe how\nnicely he folds his feet when putting them in or drawing them out of\nthe water! He does not cause the slightest ripple. He is thus enabled\nto approach the fish without giving them any notice of his arrival.\"\n\"My son,\" said he, \"it is impossible to look at that bird without\nrecognizing the design, as well as the goodness of God, in thus\nproviding the means of subsistence.\" \"Yes,\" replied the boy, \"I think I\nsee the goodness of God, at least so far as the crane is concerned; but\nafter all, father, don't you think the arrangement a little tough on the\nfish?\"\n\nEven the advanced religionist, although disbelieving in any great amount\nof interference by the gods in this age of the world, still thinks,\nthat in the beginning, some god made the laws governing the universe.\nHe believes that in consequence of these laws a man can lift a greater\nweight with, than without, a lever; that this god so made matter, and so\nestablished the order of things, that two bodies cannot occupy the same\nspace at the same time; so that a body once put in motion will keep\nmoving until it is stopped; so that it is a greater distance around,\nthan across a circle; so that a perfect square has four equal sides,\ninstead of five or seven. He insists that it took a direct interposition\nof Providence to make the whole greater than a part, and that had it not\nbeen for this power superior to nature, twice one might have been more\nthan twice two, and sticks and strings might have had only one end\napiece. Like the old Scotch divine, he thanks God that Sunday comes at\nthe end instead of in the middle of the week, and that death comes at\nthe close instead of at the commencement of life, thereby giving us time\nto prepare for that holy day and that most solemn event These religious\npeople see nothing but design everywhere, and personal, intelligent\ninterference in everything. They insist that the universe has been\ncreated, and that the adaptation of means to ends is perfectly apparent.\nThey point us to the sunshine, to the flowers, to the April rain, and\nto all there is of beauty and of use in the world. Did it ever occur to\nthem that a cancer is as beautiful in its development as is the reddest\nrose? That what they are pleased to call the adaptation of means to\nends, is as apparent in the cancer as in the April rain? How beautiful\nthe process of digestion! By what ingenious methods the blood is\npoisoned so that the cancer shall have food! By what wonderful\ncontrivances the entire system of man is made to pay tribute to this\ndivine and charming cancer! See by what admirable instrumentalities it\nfeeds itself from the surrounding quivering, dainty flesh! See how it\ngradually but surely expands and grows! By what marvelous mechanism\nit is supplied with long and slender roots that reach out to the most\nsecret nerves of pain for sustenance and life! What beautiful colors\nit presents! Seen through the microscope it is a miracle of order and\nbeauty. All the ingenuity of man cannot stop its growth. Think of the\namount of thought it must have required to invent a way by which the\nlife of one man might be given to produce one cancer? Is it possible to\nlook upon it and doubt that there is design in the universe, and that\nthe inventor of this wonderful cancer must be infinitely powerful,\ningenious and good?\n\nWe are told that the universe was designed and created, and that it is\nabsurd to suppose that matter has existed from eternity, but that it is\nperfectly self-evident that a god has.\n\nIf a god created the universe, then, there must have been a time when he\ncommenced to create. Back of that time there must have been an eternity,\nduring which there had existed nothing--absolutely nothing--except this\nsupposed god. According to this theory, this god spent an eternity, so\nto speak, in an infinite vacuum, and in perfect idleness.\n\nAdmitting that a god did create the universe, the question then arises,\nof what did he create it? It certainly was not made of nothing. Nothing,\nconsidered in the light of a raw material, is a most decided failure. It\nfollows, then, that the god must have made the universe out of himself,\nhe being the only existence. The universe is material, and if it was\nmade of god, the god must have been material. With this very thought in\nhis mind, Anaximander of Miletus said: \"Creation is the decomposition of\nthe infinite.\"\n\nIt has been demonstrated that the earth would fall to the sun, only for\nthe fact, that it is attracted by other worlds, and those worlds must\nbe attracted by other worlds still beyond them, and so on, without\nend. This proves the material universe to be infinite. If an infinite\nuniverse has been made out of an infinite god, how much of the god is\nleft?\n\nThe idea of a creative deity is gradually being abandoned, and nearly\nall truly scientific minds admit that matter must have existed from\neternity. It is indestructible, and the indestructible cannot be\ncreated. It is the crowning glory of our century to have demonstrated\nthe indestructibility and the eternal persistence of force. Neither\nmatter nor force can be increased nor diminished. Force cannot exist\napart from matter. Matter exists only in connection with force, and\nconsequently, a force apart from matter, and superior to nature, is a\ndemonstrated impossibility.\n\nForce, then, must have also existed from eternity, and could not have\nbeen created. Matter in its countless forms, from dead earth to the\neyes of those we love, and force, in all its manifestations, from simple\nmotion to the grandest thought, deny creation and defy control.\n\nThought is a form of force. We walk with the same force with which we\nthink. Man is an organism, that changes several forms of force into\nthought-force. Man is a machine into which we put what we call food, and\nproduce what we call thought. Think of that wonderful chemistry by which\nbread was changed into the divine tragedy of Hamlet!\n\nA god must not only be material, but he must be an organism, capable of\nchanging other forms of force into thought-force. This is what we call\neating. Therefore, if the god thinks, he must eat, that is to say, he\nmust of necessity have some means of supplying the force with which to\nthink. It is impossible to conceive of a being who can eternally impart\nforce to matter, and yet have no means of supplying the force thus\nimparted.\n\nIf neither matter nor force were created, what evidence have we, then,\nof the existence of a power superior to nature? The theologian will\nprobably reply, \"We have law and order, cause and effect, and beside all\nthis, matter could not have put itself in motion.\"\n\nSuppose, for the sake of the argument, that there is no being superior\nto nature, and that matter and force have existed from eternity. Now,\nsuppose that two atoms should come together, would there be an effect?\nYes. Suppose they came in exactly opposite directions with equal force,\nthey would be stopped, to say the least. This would be an effect. If\nthis is so, then you have matter, force and effect without a being\nsuperior to nature. Now, suppose that two other atoms, just like the\nfirst two, should come together under precisely the same circumstances,\nwould not the effect be exactly the same? Yes. Like causes, producing\nlike effects, is what we mean by law and order. Then we have matter,\nforce, effect, law and order without a being superior to nature. Now, we\nknow that every effect must also be a cause, and that every cause must\nbe an effect. The atoms coming together did produce an effect, and as\nevery effect must also be a cause, the effect produced by the collision\nof the atoms, must as to something else have been a cause. Then we have\nmatter, force, law, order, cause and effect without a being superior to\nnature. Nothing is left for the supernatural but empty space. His throne\nis a void, and his boasted realm is without matter, without force,\nwithout law, without cause, and without effect.\n\nBut what put all this matter in motion? If matter and force have existed\nfrom eternity, then matter must have always been in motion. There can\nbe no force without motion. Force is forever active, and there is, and\nthere can be no cessation. If, therefore, matter and force have existed\nfrom eternity, so has motion. In the whole universe there is not even\none atom in a state of rest.\n\nA deity outside of nature exists in nothing, and is nothing. Nature\nembraces with infinite arms all matter and all force. That which is\nbeyond her grasp is destitute of both, and can hardly be worth the\nworship and adoration even of a man.\n\nThere is but one way to demonstrate the existence of a power independent\nof and superior to nature, and that is by breaking, if only for one\nmoment, the continuity of cause and effect Pluck from the endless chain\nof existence one little link; stop for one instant the grand procession,\nand you have shown beyond all contradiction that nature has a master.\nChange the fact, just for one second, that matter attracts matter, and a\ngod appears.\n\nThe rudest savage has always known this fact, and for that reason always\ndemanded the evidence of miracle. The founder of a religion must be able\nto turn water into wine--cure with a word the blind and lame, and\nraise with a simple touch the dead to life. It was necessary for him to\ndemonstrate to the satisfaction of his barbarian disciple, that he\nwas superior to nature. In times of ignorance this was easy to do. The\ncredulity of the savage was almost boundless. To him the marvelous\nwas the beautiful, the mysterious was the sublime. Consequently, every\nreligion has for its foundation a miracle--that is to say, a violation\nof nature--that is to say, a falsehood.\n\nNo one, in the world's whole history, ever attempted to substantiate a\ntruth by a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of miracle. Nothing but\nfalsehood ever attested itself by signs and wonders. No miracle ever was\nperformed, and no sane man ever thought he had performed one, and until\none is performed, there can be no evidence of the existence of any power\nsuperior to and independent of nature.\n\nThe church wishes us to believe. Let the church, or one of its\nintellectual saints, perform a miracle, and we will believe. We are told\nthat nature has a superior. Let this superior, for one single instant,\ncontrol nature, and we will admit the truth of your assertions.\n\nWe have heard talk enough. We have listened to all the drowsy, idealess,\nvapid sermons that we wish to hear. We have read your Bible and the\nworks of your best minds. We have heard your prayers, your solemn groans\nand your reverential amens. All these amount to less than nothing. We\nwant one fact. We beg at the doors of your churches for just one little\nfact We pass our hats along your pews and under your pulpits and implore\nyou for just one fact We know all about your mouldy wonders and your\nstale miracles. We want a this year's fact. We ask only one. Give us one\nfact for charity. Your miracles are too ancient. The witnesses have\nbeen dead for nearly two thousand years. Their reputation for \"truth and\nveracity\" in the neighborhood where they resided is wholly unknown to\nus. Give us a new miracle, and substantiate it by witnesses who still\nhave the cheerful habit of living in this world. Do not send us to\nJericho to hear the winding horns, nor put us in the fire with Shadrach,\nMeshech, and Abednego. Do not compel us to navigate the sea with Captain\nJonah, nor dine with Mr. Ezekiel. There is no sort of use in sending us\nfox-hunting with Samson. We have positively lost all interest in that\nlittle speech so eloquently delivered by Balaam's inspired donkey. It\nis worse than useless to show us fishes with money in their mouths,\nand call our attention to vast multitudes stuffing themselves with five\ncrackers and two sardines. We demand a new miracle, and we demand it\nnow. Let the church furnish at least one, or forever after hold her\npeace.\n\nIn the olden time, the church, by violating the order of nature, proved\nthe existence of her God. At that time miracles were performed with the\nmost astonishing ease. They became so common that the church ordered\nher priests to desist. And now this same church--the people having found\nsome little sense--admits, not only, that she cannot perform a miracle,\nbut insists that the absence of miracle--the steady, unbroken march of\ncause and effect, proves the existence of a power superior to nature.\nThe fact is, however, that the indissoluble chain of cause and effect\nproves exactly the contrary.\n\nSir William Hamilton, one of the pillars of modern theology, in\ndiscussing this very subject, uses the following language: \"The\nphenomena of matter taken by themselves, so far from warranting any\ninference to the existence of a god, would on the contrary ground even\nan argument to his negation. The phenomena of the material world are\nsubjected to immutable laws; are produced and reproduced in the same\ninvariable succession, and manifest only the blind force of a mechanical\nnecessity.\"\n\nNature is but an endless series of efficient causes. She cannot create,\nbut she eternally transforms. There was no beginning, and there can be\nno end.\n\nThe best minds, even in the religious world, admit that in material\nnature there is no evidence of what they are pleased to call a god.\nThey find their evidence in the phenomena of intelligence, and very\ninnocently assert that intelligence is above, and in fact, opposed to\nnature. They insist that man, at least, is a special creation; that\nhe has somewhere in his brain a divine spark, a little portion of the\n\"Great First Cause.\" They say that matter cannot produce thought; but\nthat thought can produce matter. They tell us that man has intelligence,\nand therefore there must be an intelligence greater than his. Why not\nsay, God has intelligence, therefore there must be an intelligence\ngreater than his? So far as we know, there is no intelligence apart\nfrom matter. We cannot conceive of thought, except as produced within a\nbrain.\n\nThe science, by means of which they demonstrate the existence of an\nimpossible intelligence, and an incomprehensible power is called,\nmetaphysics or theology. The theologians admit that the phenomena of\nmatter tend, at least, to disprove the existence of any power superior\nto nature, because in such phenomena we see nothing but an endless chain\nof efficient causes--nothing but the force of a mechanical necessity.\nThey therefore appeal to what they denominate the phenomena of mind to\nestablish this superior power.\n\nThe trouble is, that in the phenomena of mind we find the same endless\nchain of efficient causes; the same mechanical necessity. Every thought\nmust have had an efficient cause. Every motive, every desire, every\nfear, hope and dream must have been necessarily produced. There is no\nroom in the mind of man for providence or chance. The facts and forces\ngoverning thought are as absolute as those governing the motions of\nthe planets. A poem is produced by the forces of nature, and is as\nnecessarily and naturally produced as mountains and seas. You will seek\nin vain for a thought in man's brain without its efficient cause.\nEvery mental operation is the necessary result of certain facts and\nconditions. Mental phenomena are considered more complicated than those\nof matter, and consequently more mysterious. Being more mysterious, they\nare considered better evidence of the existence of a god. No one infers\na god from the simple, from the known, from what is understood, but from\nthe complex, from the unknown, and, incomprehensible. Our ignorance is\nGod; what we know is science.\n\nWhen we abandon the doctrine that some infinite being created matter\nand force, and enacted a code of laws for their government, the idea\nof interference will be lost. The real priest will then be, not the\nmouth-piece of some pretended deity, but the interpreter of nature. From\nthat moment the church ceases to exist. The tapers will die out upon the\ndusty altar; the moths will eat the fading velvet of pulpit and pew;\nthe Bible will take its place with the Shastras, Puranas, Vedas, Eddas,\nSagas and Korans, and the fetters of a degrading faith will fall from\nthe minds of men.\n\n\"But,\" says the religionist, \"you cannot explain everything; you cannot\nunderstand everything; and that which you cannot explain, that which you\ndo not comprehend, is my God.\"\n\nWe are explaining more every day. We are understanding more every day;\nconsequently your God is growing smaller every day.\n\nNothing daunted, the religionist then insists that nothing can exist\nwithout a cause, except cause, and that this uncaused cause is God.\n\nTo this we again reply: Every cause must produce an effect, because\nuntil it does produce an effect, it is not a cause. Every effect must\nin its turn become a cause. Therefore, in the nature of things, there\ncannot be a last cause, for the reason that a so-called last cause would\nnecessarily produce an effect, and that effect must of necessity becomes\na cause. The converse of these propositions must be true. Every effect\nmust have had a cause, and every cause must have been an effect.\nTherefore there could have been no first cause. A first cause is just as\nimpossible as a last effect.\n\nBeyond the universe there is nothing, and within the universe the\nsupernatural does not and cannot exist.\n\nThe moment these great truths are understood and admitted, a belief in\ngeneral or special providence become impossible. From that instant men\nwill cease their vain efforts to please an imaginary being, and will\ngive their time and attention to the affairs of this world. They will\nabandon the idea of attaining any object by prayer and supplication.\nThe element of uncertainty will, in a great measure, be removed from the\ndomain of the future, and man, gathering courage from a succession of\nvictories over the obstructions of nature, will attain a serene grandeur\nunknown to the disciples of any superstition. The plans of mankind will\nno longer be interfered with by the finger of a supposed omnipotence,\nand no one will believe that nations or individuals are protected or\ndestroyed by any deity whatever. Science, freed from the chains of pious\ncustom and evangelical prejudice, will, within her sphere, be supreme.\nThe mind will investigate without reverence, and publish its conclusions\nwithout fear. Agassiz will no longer hesitate to declare the Mosaic\ncosmogony utterly inconsistent with the demonstrated truths of geology,\nand will cease pretending any reverence for the Jewish Scriptures. The\nmoment science succeeds in rendering the church powerless for evil, the\nreal thinkers will be outspoken. The little flags of truce carried by\ntimid philosophers will disappear, and the cowardly parley will give\nplace to victory--lasting and universal.\n\nIf we admit that some infinite being has controlled the destinies of\npersons and peoples, history becomes a most cruel and bloody farce.\nAge after age, the strong have trampled upon the weak; the crafty\nand heartless have ensnared and enslaved the simple and innocent,\nand nowhere, in all the annals of mankind, has any god succored the\noppressed.\n\nMan should cease to expect aid from on high. By this time he should know\nthat heaven has no ear to hear, and no hand to help. The present is the\nnecessary child of all the past. There has been no chance, and there can\nbe no interference.\n\nIf abuses are destroyed, man must destroy them. If slaves are freed, man\nmust free them. If new truths are discovered, man must discover them.\nIf the naked are clothed; if the hungry are fed; if justice is done;\nif labor is rewarded; if superstition is driven from the mind; if the\ndefenceless are protected and if the right finally triumphs, all must be\nthe work of man. The grand victories of the future must be won by man,\nand by man alone.\n\nNature, so far as we can discern, without passion and without intention,\nforms, transforms, and retransforms forever. She neither weeps nor\nrejoices. She produces man without purpose, and obliterates him without\nregret. She knows no distinction between the beneficial and the hurtful.\nPoison and nutrition, pain and joy, life and death, smiles and tears are\nalike to her. She is neither merciful nor cruel. She cannot be flattered\nby worship nor melted by tears. She does not know even the attitude of\nprayer. She appreciates no difference between poison in the fangs of\nsnakes and mercy in the hearts of men. Only through man does nature take\ncognizance of the good, the true, and the beautiful; and, so far as we\nknow, man is the highest intelligence.\n\nAnd yet man continues to believe that there is some power independent\nof and superior to nature, and still endeavors, by form, ceremony,\nsupplication, hypocrisy and sacrifice, to obtain its aid. His best\nenergies have been wasted in the service of this phantom. The horrors\nof witchcraft were all born of an ignorant belief in the existence of\na totally depraved being superior to nature, acting in perfect\nindependence of her laws; and all religious superstition has had for its\nbasis a belief in at least two beings, one good and the other bad, both\nof whom could arbitrarily change the order of the universe. The history\nof religion is simply the story of man's efforts in all ages to avoid\none of these powers, and to pacify the other. Both powers have inspired\nlittle else than abject fear. The cold, calculating sneer of the devil,\nand the frown of God, were equally terrible. In any event, man's fate\nwas to be arbitrarily fixed forever by an unknown power superior to\nall law, and to all fact. Until this belief is thrown aside, man must\nconsider himself the slave of phantom masters--neither of whom promise\nliberty in this world nor in the next.\n\nMan must learn to rely upon himself. Reading bibles will not protect\nhim from the blasts of winter, but houses, fires, and clothing will.\nTo prevent famine, one plow is worth a million sermons, and even patent\nmedicines will cure more diseases than all the prayers uttered since the\nbeginning of the world.\n\nAlthough many eminent men have endeavored to harmonize necessity and\nfree will, the existence of evil, and the infinite power and good ness\nof God, they have succeeded only in producing learned and ingenious\nfailures. Immense efforts have been made to reconcile ideas utterly\ninconsistent with the facts by which we are surrounded, and all persons\nwho have failed to perceive the pretended reconciliation, have been\ndenounced as infidels, atheists and scoffers. The whole power of the\nchurch has been brought to bear against philosophers and scientists\nin order to compel a denial of the authority of demonstration, and to\ninduce some Judas to betray Reason, one of the saviors of mankind.\n\nDuring that frightful period known as the \"Dark Ages,\" Faith reigned,\nwith scarcely a rebellious subject. Her temples were \"carpeted with\nknees,\" and the wealth of nations adorned her countless shrines. The\ngreat painters prostituted their genius to immortalize her vagaries,\nwhile the poets enshrined them in song. At her bidding, man covered the\nearth with blood. The scales of Justice were turned with her gold, and\nfor her use were invented all the cunning instruments of pain. She built\ncathedrals for God, and dungeons for men. She peopled the clouds with\nangels and the earth with slaves. For centuries the world was retracing\nits steps--going steadily back toward barbaric night! A few infidels--a\nfew heretics cried, \"Halt!\" to the great rabble of ignorant devotion,\nand made it possible for the genius of the nineteenth century to\nrevolutionize the cruel creeds and superstitions of mankind.\n\nThe thoughts of man, in order to be of any real worth, must be free.\nUnder the influence of fear the brain is paralyzed, and instead of\nbravely solving a problem for itself, tremblingly adopts the solution\nof another. As long as a majority of men will cringe to the very earth\nbefore some petty prince or king, what must be the infinite abjectness\nof their little souls in the presence of their supposed creator and God?\nUnder such circumstances, what can their thoughts be worth?\n\nThe originality of repetition, and the mental vigor of acquiescence, are\nall that we have any right to expect from the Christian world. As long\nas every question is answered by the word \"God,\" scientific inquiry is\nsimply impossible. As fast as phenomena are satisfactorily explained the\ndomain of the power, supposed to be superior to nature must decrease,\nwhile the horizon of the known must as constantly continue to enlarge.\n\nIt is no longer satisfactory to account for the fall and rise of nations\nby saying, \"It is the will of God.\" Such an explanation puts ignorance\nand education upon an exact equality, and does away with the idea of\nreally accounting for anything whatever.\n\nWill the religionist pretend that the real end of science is to\nascertain how and why God acts? Science, from such a standpoint would\nconsist in investigating the law of arbitrary action, and in a grand\nendeavor to ascertain the rules necessarily obeyed by infinite caprice.\n\nFrom a philosophical point of view, science is knowledge of the laws\nof life; of the conditions of happiness; of the facts by which we are\nsurrounded, and the relations we sustain to men and things--by means\nof which, man, so to speak, subjugates nature and bends the elemental\npowers to his will, making blind force the servant of his brain.\n\nA belief in special providence does away with the spirit of\ninvestigation, and is inconsistent with personal effort. Why should man\nendeavor to thwart the designs of God? Which of you, by taking thought,\ncan add one cubit to his stature? Under the influence of this belief,\nman, basking in the sunshine of a delusion, considers the lilies of the\nfield and refuses to take any thought for the morrow. Believing himself\nin the power of an infinite being, who can, at any moment, dash him\nto the lowest hell or raise him to the highest heaven, he necessarily\nabandons the idea of accomplishing anything by his own efforts. As\nlong as this belief was general, the world was filled with ignorance,\nsuperstition and misery. The energies of man were wasted in a vain\neffort to obtain the aid of this power, supposed to be superior to\nnature. For countless ages, even men were sacrificed upon the altar of\nthis impossible god. To please him, mothers have shed the blood of their\nown babes; martyrs have chanted triumphant songs in the midst of flame;\npriests have gorged themselves with blood; nuns have forsworn the\necstasies of love; old men have tremblingly implored; women have sobbed\nand entreated; every pain has been endured, and every horror has been\nperpetrated.\n\nThrough the dim long years that have fled, humanity has suffered more\nthan can be conceived. Most of the misery has been endured by the weak,\nthe loving and the innocent Women have been treated like poisonous\nbeasts, and little children trampled upon as though they had been\nvermin. Numberless altars have been reddened, even with the blood of\nbabes; beautiful girls have been given to slimy serpents; whole races\nof men doomed to centuries of slavery, and everywhere there has been\noutrage beyond the power of genius to express. During all these years\nthe suffering have supplicated; the withered lips of famine have prayed;\nthe pale victims have implored, and Heaven has been deaf and blind.\n\nOf what use have the gods been to man?\n\nIt is no answer to say that some god created the world, established\ncertain laws, and then turned his attention to other matters, leaving\nhis children weak, ignorant and unaided, to fight the battle of life\nalone. It is no solution to declare that in some, other world this god\nwill render a few, or even all, his subjects happy. What right have we\nto expect that a perfectly wise, good and powerful being will ever\ndo better than he has done, and is doing? The world is filled with\nimperfections. If it was made by an infinite being, what reason have we\nfor saying that he will render it nearer perfect than it now is? If the\ninfinite \"Father\" allows a majority of his children to live in ignorance\nand wretchedness now, what evidence is there that he will ever improve\ntheir condition? Will God have more power? Will he become more merciful?\nWill his love for his poor creatures increase? Can the conduct of\ninfinite wisdom, power and love ever change? Is the infinite capable of\nany improvement whatever?\n\nWe are informed by the clergy that this world is a kind of school; that\nthe evils by which we are surrounded are for the purpose of developing\nour souls, and that only by suffering can men become pure, strong,\nvirtuous and grand.\n\nSupposing this to be true, what is to become of those who die in\ninfancy? The little children, according to this philosophy, can never\nbe developed. They were so unfortunate as to escape the ennobling\ninfluences of pain and misery, and as a consequence, are doomed to\nan eternity of mental inferiority. If the clergy are right on this\nquestion, none are so unfortunate as the happy, and we should envy only\nthe suffering and distressed. If evil is necessary to the development\nof man, in this life, how is it possible for the soul to improve in the\nperfect joy of Paradise?\n\nSince Paley found his watch, the argument of \"design\" has been relied\nupon as unanswerable. The church teaches that this world, and all that\nit contains, were created substantially as we now see them; that the\ngrasses, the flowers, the trees, and all animals, including man, were\nspecial creations, and that they sustain no necessary relation to each\nother. The most orthodox will admit that some earth has been washed into\nthe sea; that the sea has encroached a little upon the land, and that\nsome mountains may be a trifle lower than in the morning of creation.\nThe theory of gradual development was unknown to our fathers; the idea\nof evolution did not occur to them. Our fathers looked upon the then\narrangement of things as the primal arrangement. The earth appeared\nto them fresh from the hands of a deity. They knew nothing of the slow\nevolutions of countless years, but supposed that the almost infinite\nvariety of vegetable and animal forms had existed from the first.\n\nSuppose that upon some island we should find a man a million years of\nage, and suppose that we should find him in the possession of a most\nbeautiful carriage, constructed upon the most perfect model. And\nsuppose, further, that he should tell us that it was the result of\nseveral hundred thousand years of labor and of thought; that for\nfifty thousand years he used as flat a log as he could find, before\nit occurred to him, that by splitting the log, he could have the same\nsurface with only half the weight; that it took him many thousand years\nto invent wheels for this log; that the wheels he first used were solid,\nand that fifty thousand years of thought suggested the use of spokes\nand tire; that for many centuries he used the wheels without linch-pins;\nthat it took a hundred thousand years more to think of using four\nwheels, instead of two; that for ages he walked behind the carriage,\nwhen going down hill, in order to hold it back, and that only by a lucky\nchance he invented the tongue; would we conclude that this man, from\nthe very first, had been an infinitely ingenious and perfect mechanic?\nSuppose we found him living in an elegant mansion, and he should inform\nus that he lived in that house for five hundred thousand years before\nhe thought of putting on a roof, and that he had but recently invented\nwindows and doors; would we say that from the beginning he had been an\ninfinitely accomplished and scientific architect?\n\nDoes not an improvement in the things created, show a corresponding\nimprovement in the creator?\n\nWould an infinitely wise, good and powerful God, intending to produce\nman, commence with the lowest possible forms of life; with the simplest\norganism that can be imagined, and during immeasurable periods of time,\nslowly and almost imperceptibly improve upon the rude beginning, until\nman was evolved? Would countless ages thus be wasted in the production\nof awkward forms, afterwards abandoned? Can the intelligence of man\ndiscover the least wisdom in covering the earth with crawling, creeping\nhorrors, that live only upon the agonies and pangs of others? Can we see\nthe propriety of so constructing the earth, that only an insignificant\nportion of its surface is capable of producing an intelligent man? Who\ncan appreciate the mercy of so making the world that all animals devour\nanimals; so that every mouth is a slaughterhouse, and every stomach\na tomb? Is it possible to discover infinite intelligence and love in\nuniversal and eternal carnage?\n\nWhat would we think of a father, who should give a farm to his children,\nand before giving them possession should plant upon it thousands of\ndeadly shrubs and vines; should stock it with ferocious beasts, and\npoisonous reptiles; should take pains to put a few swamps in the\nneighborhood to breed malaria; should so arrange matters, that the\nground would occasionally open and swallow a few of his darlings, and\nbesides all this, should establish a few volcanoes in the immediate\nvicinity, that might at any moment overwhelm his children with rivers of\nfire? Suppose that this father neglected to tell his children which of\nthe plants were deadly; that the reptiles were poisonous; failed to say\nanything about the earthquakes, and kept the volcano business a profound\nsecret; would we pronounce him angel or fiend?\n\nAnd yet this is exactly what the orthodox God has done.\n\nAccording to the theologians, God prepared this globe expressly for the\nhabitation of his loved children, and yet he filled the forests with\nferocious beasts; placed serpents in every path; stuffed the world with\nearthquakes, and adorned its surface with mountains of flame.\n\nNotwithstanding all this, we are told that the world is perfect; that\nit was created by a perfect being, and is therefore necessarily perfect.\nThe next moment, these same persons will tell us that the world was\ncursed; covered with brambles, thistles and thorns, and that man was\ndoomed to disease and death, simply because our poor, dear mother ate an\napple contrary to the command of an arbitrary God.\n\nA very pious friend of mine, having heard that I had said the world\nwas full of imperfections, asked me if the report was true. Upon being\ninformed that it was, he expressed great surprise that any one could\nbe guilty of such presumption. He said that, in his judgment, it was\nimpossible to point out an imperfection. \"Be kind enough,\" said he, \"to\nname even one improvement that you could make, if you had the power.\"\n\"Well,\" said I, \"I would make good health catching, instead of disease.\"\nThe truth is, it is impossible to harmonize all the ills, and pains,\nand agonies of this world with the idea that we were created by, and\nare watched over and protected by an infinitely wise, powerful and\nbeneficent God, who is superior to and independent of nature.\n\nThe clergy, however, balance all the real ills of this life with the\nexpected joys of the next. We are assured that all is perfection in\nheaven--there the skies are cloudless--there all is serenity and peace.\nHere empires may be overthrown; dynasties may be extinguished in blood;\nmillions of slaves may toil 'neath the fierce rays of the sun, and the\ncruel strokes of the lash; yet all is happiness in heaven. Pestilences\nmay strew the earth with corpses of the loved; the survivors may bend\nabove them in agony--yet the placid bosom of heaven is unruffled.\nChildren may expire vainly asking for bread; babes may be devoured by\nserpents, while the gods sit smiling in the clouds. The innocent may\nlanguish unto death in the obscurity of dungeons; brave men and heroic\nwomen may be changed to ashes at the bigot's stake, while heaven is\nfilled with song and joy. Out on the wide sea, in darkness and in storm,\nthe shipwrecked struggle with the cruel waves while the angels play\nupon their golden harps. The streets of the world are filled with\nthe diseased, the deformed and the helpless; the chambers of pain are\ncrowded with the pale forms of the suffering, while the angels float\nand fly in the happy realms of day. In heaven they are too happy to have\nsympathy; too busy singing to aid the imploring and distressed. Their\neyes are blinded; their ears are stopped and their hearts are turned to\nstone by the infinite selfishness of joy. The saved mariner is too happy\nwhen he touches the shore to give a moment's thought to his drowning\nbrothers. With the indifference of happiness, with the contempt of\nbliss, heaven barely glances at the miseries of earth. Cities are\ndevoured by the rushing lava; the earth opens and thousands perish;\nwomen raise their clasped hands towards heaven, but the gods are too\nhappy to aid their children. The smiles of the deities are unacquainted\nwith the tears of men. The shouts of heaven drown the sobs of earth.\n\nHaving shown how man created gods, and how he became the trembling slave\nof his own creation, the questions naturally arise: How did he free\nhimself even a little, from these monarchs of the sky, from these\ndespots of the clouds, from this aristocracy of the air? How did he,\neven to the extent that he has, outgrow his ignorant, abject terror, and\nthrow off the yoke of superstition?\n\nProbably, the first thing that tended to disabuse his mind was the\ndiscovery of order, of regularity, of periodicity in the universe. From\nthis he began to suspect that everything did not happen purely with\nreference to him. He noticed, that whatever he might do, the motions\nof the planets were always the same; that eclipses were periodical,\nand that even comets came at certain intervals. This convinced him that\neclipses and comets had nothing to do with him, and that his conduct had\nnothing to do with them. He perceived that they were not caused for\nhis benefit or injury. He thus learned to regard them with admiration\ninstead of fear. He began to suspect that famine was not sent by some\nenraged and revengeful deity, but resuited often from the neglect and\nignorance of man. He learned that diseases were not produced by evil\nspirits. He found that sickness was occasioned by natural causes,\nand could be cured by natural means. He demonstrated, to his own\nsatisfaction at least, that prayer is not a medicine. He found by\nsad experience that his gods were of no practical use, as they never\nassisted him, except when he was perfectly able to help himself. At\nlast, he began to discover that his individual action had nothing\nwhatever to do with strange appearances in the heavens; that it was\nimpossible for him to be bad enough to cause a whirlwind, or good enough\nto stop one. After many centuries of thought, he about half concluded\nthat making mouths at a priest would not necessarily cause an\nearthquake. He noticed, and no doubt with considerable astonishment,\nthat very good men were occasionally struck by lightning, while very bad\nones escaped. He was frequently forced to the painful conclusion (and it\nis the most painful to which any human being ever was forced) that the\nright did not always prevail. He noticed that the gods did not interfere\nin behalf of the weak and innocent. He was now and then astonished\nby seeing an unbeliever in the enjoyment of most excellent health. He\nfinally ascertained that there could be no possible connection between\nan unusually severe winter and his failure to give a sheep to a priest.\nHe began to suspect that the order of the universe was not constantly\nbeing changed to assist him because he repeated a creed. He observed\nthat some children would steal after having been regularly baptized.\nHe noticed a vast difference between religion and justice, and that\nthe worshipers of the same god, took delight in cutting each other's\nthroats. He saw that these religious disputes filled the world with\nhatred and slavery. At last he had the courage to suspect, that no god\nat any time interferes with the order of events. He learned a few\nfacts, and these facts positively refused to harmonize with the ignorant\nsuperstitions of his fathers. Finding his sacred books incorrect and\nfalse in some particulars, his faith in their authenticity began to be\nshaken; finding his priests ignorant upon some points, he began to\nlose respect for the cloth. This was the commencement of intellectual\nfreedom.\n\nThe civilization of man has increased just to the same extent that\nreligious power has decreased. The intellectual advancement of man\ndepends upon how often he can exchange an old superstition for a new\ntruth. The church never enabled a human being to make even one of these\nexchanges; on the contrary, all her power has been used to prevent them.\nIn spite, however, of the church, man found that some of his religious\nconceptions were wrong. By reading his Bible, he found that the ideas\nof his God were more cruel and brutal than those of the most depraved\nsavage. He also discovered that this holy book was filled with\nignorance, and that it must have been written by persons wholly\nunacquainted with the nature of the phenomena by which we are\nsurrounded; and now and then, some man had the goodness and courage to\nspeak his honest thoughts. In every age some thinker, some doubter, some\ninvestigator, some hater of hypocrisy, some despiser of sham, some\nbrave lover of the right, has gladly, proudly and heroically braved\nthe ignorant fury of superstition for the sake of man and truth. These\ndivine men were generally torn in pieces by the worshipers of the\ngods. Socrates was poisoned because he lacked reverence for some of the\ndeities. Christ was crucified by a religious rabble for the crime of\nblasphemy. Nothing is more gratifying to a religionist than to destroy\nhis enemies at the command of God. Religious persecution springs from a\ndue admixture of love towards God and hatred towards man.\n\nThe terrible religious wars that inundated the world with blood tended\nat least to bring all religion into disgrace and hatred. Thoughtful\npeople began to question the divine origin of a religion that made its\nbelievers hold the rights of others in absolute contempt. A few began\nto compare Christianity with the religions of heathen people, and were\nforced to admit that the difference was hardly worth dying for. They\nalso found that other nations were even happier and more prosperous than\ntheir own. They began to suspect that their religion, after all, was not\nof much real value.\n\nFor three hundred years the Christian world endeavored to rescue from\nthe \"Infidel\" the empty sepulchre of Christ. For three hundred years the\narmies of the cross were baffled and beaten by the victorious hosts\nof an impudent impostor. This immense fact sowed the seeds of distrust\nthroughout all Christendom, and millions began to lose confidence in\na God who had been vanquished by Mohammed. The people also found that\ncommerce made friends where religion made enemies, and that religious\nzeal was utterly incompatible with peace between nations or individuals.\nThey discovered that those who loved the gods most were apt to love men\nleast; that the arrogance of universal forgiveness was amazing; that the\nmost malicious had the effrontery to pray for their enemies, and that\nhumility and tyranny were the fruit of the same tree.\n\nFor ages, a deadly conflict has been waged between a few brave men and\nwomen of thought and genius upon the one side, and the great ignorant\nreligious mass on the other. This is the war between Science and Faith.\nThe few have appealed to reason, to honor, to law, to freedom, to the\nknown, and to happiness here in this world. The many have appealed\nto prejudice, to fear, to miracle, to slavery, to the unknown, and\nto misery hereafter. The few have said, \"Think!\" The many have said,\n\"Believe!\"\n\nThe first doubt was the womb and cradle of progress, and from the first\ndoubt, man has continued to advance. Men began to investigate, and the\nchurch began to oppose. The astronomer scanned the heavens, while the\nchurch branded his grand forehead with the word, \"Infidel;\" and now,\nnot a glittering star in all the vast expanse bears a Christian name.\nIn spite of all religion, the geologist penetrated the earth, read her\nhistory in books of stone, and found, hidden within her bosom, souvenirs\nof all the ages. Old ideas perished in the retort of the chemist, and\nuseful truths took their places. One by one religious conceptions have\nbeen placed in the crucible of science, and thus far, nothing but dross\nhas been found. A new world has been discovered by the microscope;\neverywhere has been found the infinite; in every direction man has\ninvestigated and explored and nowhere, in earth or stars, has been found\nthe footstep of any being superior to or independent of nature. Nowhere\nhas been discovered the slightest evidence of any interference from\nwithout.\n\nThese are the sublime truths that enabled man to throw off the yoke of\nsuperstition. These are the splendid facts that snatched the sceptre of\nauthority from the hands of priests.\n\nIn that vast cemetery, called the past, are most of the religions of\nmen, and there, too, are nearly all their gods. The sacred temples of\nIndia were ruins long ago. Over column and cornice; over the painted and\npictured walls, cling and creep the trailing vines. Brahma, the golden,\nwith four heads and four arms; Vishnu, the sombre, the punisher of the\nwicked, with his three eyes, his crescent, and his necklace of skulls;\nSiva, the destroyer, red with seas of blood; Kali, the goddess;\nDraupadi, the white-armed, and Chrishna, the Christ, all passed away and\nleft the thrones of heaven desolate. Along the banks of the sacred\nNile, Isis no longer wandering weeps, searching for the dead Osiris. The\nshadow of Typhons scowl falls no more upon the waves. The sun rises\nas of yore, and his golden beams still smite the lips of Memnon, but\nMem-non is as voiceless as the Sphinx. The sacred fanes are lost in\ndesert sands; the dusty mummies are still waiting for the resurrection\npromised by their priests, and the old beliefs, wrought in curiously\nsculptured stone, sleep in the mystery of a language lost and dead.\nOdin, the author of life and soul, Vili and Ve, and the mighty giant\nYmir, strode long ago from the icy halls of the North; and Thor, with\niron glove and glittering hammer, dashes mountains to the earth no more.\nBroken are the circles and cromlechs of the ancient Druids; fallen upon\nthe summits of the hills, and covered with the centuries' moss, are the\nsacred cairns. The divine fires of Persia and of the Aztecs, have died\nout in the ashes of the past, and there is none to rekindle, and none to\nfeed the holy flames. The harp of Orpheus is still; the drained cup of\nBacchus has been thrown aside; Venus lies dead in stone, and her white\nbosom heaves no more with love. The streams still murmur, but no naiads\nbathe; the trees still wave, but in the forest aisles no dryads dance.\nThe gods have flown from high Olympus. Not even the beautiful women\ncan lure them back, and Danae lies unnoticed, naked to the stars. Hushed\nforever are the thunders of Sinai; lost are the voices of the prophets,\nand the land once flowing with milk and honey, is but a desert waste.\nOne by one, the myths have faded from the clouds: one by one, the\nphantom host has disappeared, and one by one, facts, truths and\nrealities have taken their places. The supernatural has almost gone, but\nthe natural remains. The gods have fled, but man is here.\n\nNations, like individuals, have their periods of youth, of manhood and\ndecay. Religions are the same. The same inexorable destiny awaits them\nall. The gods created by the nations must perish with their creators.\nThey were created by men, and like men, they must pass away. The deities\nof one age are the by-words of the next The religion of our day, and\ncountry, is no more exempt from the sneer of the future than the others\nhave been. When India was supreme, Brahma sat upon the world's throne.\nWhen the sceptre passed to Egypt, Isis and Osiris received the homage of\nmankind. Greece, with her fierce valor, swept to empire, and Zeus put\non the purple of authority. The earth trembled with the tread of Rome's\nintrepid sons, and Jove grasped with mailed hand the thunderbolts of\nheaven. Rome fell, and Christians from her territory, with the red sword\nof war, carved out the ruling nations of the world, and now Christ sits\nupon the old throne. Who will be his successor?\n\nDay by day, religious conceptions grow less and less intense. Day by\nday, the old spirit dies out of book and creed. The burning enthusiasm,\nthe quenchless zeal of the early church have gone, never, never to\nreturn. The ceremonies remain, but the ancient faith is fading out\nof the human heart. The worn-out arguments fail to convince, and\ndenunciations that once blanched the faces of a race, excite in us\nonly derision and disgust. As time rolls on, the miracles grow mean and\nsmall, and the evidences our fathers thought conclusive utterly fail to\nsatisfy us. There is an \"irrepressible conflict\" between religion and\nscience, and they cannot peaceably occupy the same brain nor the same\nworld.\n\nWhile utterly discarding all creeds, and denying the truth of all\nreligions, there is neither in my heart nor upon my lips a sneer for the\nhopeful, loving and tender souls who believe that from all this discord\nwill result a perfect harmony; that every evil will in some mysterious\nway become a good, and that above and over all there is a being who, in\nsome way, will reclaim and glorify every one of the children of men;\nbut for those who heartlessly try to prove that salvation is almost\nimpossible; that damnation is almost certain; that the highway of the\nuniverse leads to hell; who fill life with fear and death with horror;\nwho curse the cradle and mock the tomb, it is impossible to entertain\nother than feelings of pity, contempt and scorn.\n\nReason, Observation and Experience--the Holy Trinity of Science--have\ntaught us that happiness is the only good; that the time to be happy is\nnow, and the way to be happy is to make others so. This is enough for\nus. In this belief we are content to live and die. If by any possibility\nthe existence of a power superior to, and independent of, nature shall\nbe demonstrated, there will then be time enough to kneel. Until then,\nlet us stand erect.\n\nNotwithstanding the fact that infidels in all ages have battled for\nthe rights of man, and have at all times been the fearless advocates\nof liberty and justice, we are constantly charged by the church with\ntearing down without building again. The church should by this time know\nthat it is utterly impossible to rob men of their opinions. The history\nof religious persecution fully establishes the fact that the mind\nnecessarily resists and defies every attempt to control it by violence.\nThe mind necessarily clings to old ideas until prepared for the new.\nThe moment we comprehend the truth, all erroneous ideas are of necessity\ncast aside.\n\nA surgeon once called upon a poor cripple and kindly offered to render\nhim any assistance in his power. The surgeon began to discourse very\nlearnedly upon the nature and origin of disease; of the curative\nproperties of certain medicines; of the advantages of exercise, air and\nlight, and of the various ways in which health and strength could be\nrestored. These remarks were so full of good sense, and discovered so\nmuch profound thought and accurate knowledge, that the cripple, becoming\nthoroughly alarmed, cried out, \"Do not, I pray you, take away my\ncrutches. They are my only support, and without them I should be\nmiserable indeed!\" \"I am not going,\" said the surgeon, \"to take away\nyour crutches. I am going to cure you, and then you will throw the\ncrutches away yourself.\"\n\nFor the vagaries of the clouds the infidels propose to substitute the\nrealities of earth; for superstition, the splendid demonstrations and\nachievements of science; and for theological tyranny, the chainless\nliberty of thought.\n\nWe do not say that we have discovered all; that our doctrines are the\nall in all of truth. We know of no end to the development of man. We\ncannot unravel the infinite complications of matter and force. The\nhistory of one monad is as unknown as that of the universe; one drop of\nwater is as wonderful as all the seas; one leaf, as all the forests; and\none grain of sand, as all the stars.\n\nWe are not endeavoring to chain the future, but to free the present. We\nare not forging fetters for our children, but we are breaking those our\nfathers made for us. We are the advocates of inquiry, of investigation\nand thought This of itself, is an admission that we are not perfectly\nsatisfied with all our conclusions. Philosophy has not the egotism of\nfaith. While superstition builds walls and creates obstructions,\nscience opens all the highways of thought. We do not pretend to have\ncircumnavigated everything, and to have solved all difficulties, but we\ndo believe that it is better to love men than to fear gods; that it is\ngrander and nobler to think and investigate for yourself than to repeat\na creed. We are satisfied that there can be but little liberty on earth\nwhile men worship a tyrant in heaven. We do not expect to accomplish\neverything in our day; but we want to do what good we can, and to render\nall the service possible in the holy cause of human progress. We know\nthat doing away with gods and supernatural persons and powers is not an\nend. It is a means to an end: the real end being the happiness of man.\n\nFelling forests is not the end of agriculture. Driving pirates from the\nsea is not all there is of commerce.\n\nWe are laying the foundations of the grand temple of the future--not the\ntemple of all the gods, but of all the people--wherein, with appropriate\nrites, will be celebrated the religion of Humanity. We are doing what\nlittle we can to hasten the coming of the day when society shall cease\nproducing millionaires and mendicants--gorged indolence and famished\nindustry--truth in rags, and superstition robed and crowned. We are\nlooking for the time when the useful shall be the honorable; and when\nReason, throned upon the world's brain, shall be the King of Kings, and\nGod of Gods.\n\n\n\n\nHUMBOLDT.\n\nThe Universe is Governed by Law.\n\nGREAT men seem to be a part of the infinite--brothers of the mountains\nand the seas.\n\nHumboldt was one of these. He was one of those serene men, in some\nrespects like our own Franklin, whose names have all the lustre of a\nstar. He was one of the few, great enough to rise above the superstition\nand prejudice of his time, and to know that experience, observation, and\nreason are the only basis of knowledge.\n\nHe became one of the greatest of men in spite of having been born rich\nand noble--in spite of position. I say in spite of these things,\nbecause wealth and position are generally the enemies of genius, and the\ndestroyers of talent.\n\nIt is often said of this or that man, that he is a self-made man--that\nhe was born of the poorest and humblest parents, and that with every\nobstacle to overcome he became great. This is a mistake. Poverty is\ngenerally an advantage. Most of the intellectual giants of the world\nhave been nursed at the sad and loving breast of poverty. Most of those\nwho have climbed highest on the shining ladder of fame commenced at the\nlowest round. They were reared in the straw-thatched cottages of Europe;\nin the log-houses of America; in the factories of the great cities; in\nthe midst of toil; in the smoke and din of labor, and on the verge of\nwant. They were rocked by the feet of mothers whose hands, at the same\ntime, were busy with the needle or the wheel.\n\nIt is hard for the rich to resist the thousand allurements of pleasure,\nand so I say, that Humboldt, in spite of having been born to wealth and\nhigh social position, became truly and grandly great.\n\nIn the antiquated and romantic castle of Tegel, by the side of the pine\nforest, on the shore of the charming lake, near the beautiful city of\nBerlin, the great Humboldt, one hundred years ago to-day, was born, and\nthere he was educated after the method suggested by Rousseau,--Campe,\nthe philologist and critic, and the intellectual Kunth being his tutors.\nThere he received the impressions that determined his career; there the\ngreat idea that the universe is governed by law, took possession of\nhis mind, and there he dedicated his life to the demonstration of this\nsublime truth.\n\nHe came to the conclusion that the source of man's unhappiness is his\nignorance of nature.\n\nAfter having received the most thorough education at that time possible,\nand having determined to what end he would devote the labors of his\nlife, he turned his attention to the sciences of geology, mining,\nmineralogy, botany, the distribution of plants, the distribution\nof animals, and the effect of climate upon man. All grand physical\nphenomena were investigated and explained. From his youth he had felt a\ngreat desire for travel. He felt, as he says, a violent passion for\nthe sea, and longed to look upon nature in her wildest and most rugged\nforms. He longed to give a physical description of the universe--a grand\npicture of nature; to account for all phenomena; to discover the laws\ngoverning the world; to do away with that splendid delusion called\nspecial providence, and to establish the fact that the universe is\ngoverned by law.\n\nTo establish this truth was, and is, of infinite importance to mankind.\nThat fact is the death-knell of superstition; it gives liberty to every\nsoul, annihilates fear, and ushers in the Age of Reason.\n\nThe object of this illustrious man was to comprehend the phenomena of\nphysical objects in their general connection, and to represent nature as\none great whole, moved and animated by internal forces.\n\nFor this purpose he turned his attention to descriptive botany,\ntraversing distant lands and mountain ranges to ascertain with certainty\nthe geographical distribution of plants. He investigated the laws\nregulating the differences of temperature and climate, and the changes\nof the atmosphere. He studied the formation of the earth's crust,\nexplored the deepest mines, ascended the highest mountains, and wandered\nthrough the craters of extinct volcanoes.\n\nHe became thoroughly acquainted with chemistry, with astronomy, with\nterrestrial magnetism; and as the investigation of one subject leads\nto all others, for the reason that there is a mutual dependence and a\nnecessary connection between all facts, so Humboldt became acquainted\nwith all the known sciences.\n\nHis fame does not depend so much upon his discoveries (although he\ndiscovered enough to make hundreds of reputations) as upon his vast and\nsplendid generalizations.\n\nHe was to science what Shakespeare was to the drama.\n\nHe found, so to speak, the world full of unconnected facts--all portions\nof a vast system--parts of a great machine; he discovered the connection\nthat each bears to all; put them together, and demonstrated beyond all\ncontradiction that the earth is governed by law.\n\nHe knew that to discover the connection of phenomena is the primary aim\nof all natural investigation. He was infinitely practical.\n\nOrigin and destiny were questions with which he had nothing to do.\n\nHis surroundings made him what he was.\n\nIn accordance with a law not fully comprehended, he was a production of\nhis time.\n\nGreat men do not live alone; they are surrounded by the great; they are\nthe instruments used to accomplish the tendencies of their generation;\nthey fulfill the prophecies of their age.\n\nNearly all of the scientific men of the eighteenth century had the same\nidea entertained by Humboldt, but most of them in a dim and confused\nway. There was, however, a general belief among the intelligent that\nthe world is governed by law, and that there really exists a connection\nbetween all facts, _or that all facts are simply the different aspects\nof a general fact_, and that the task of science is to discover this\nconnection; to comprehend this general fact or to announce the laws of\nthings.\n\nGermany was full of thought, and her universities swarmed with\nphilosophers and grand thinkers in every department of knowledge.\n\nHumboldt was the friend and companion of the greatest poets, historians,\nphilologists, artists, statesmen, critics, and logicians of his time.\n\nHe was the companion of Schiller, who believed that man would be\nregenerated through the influence of the Beautiful; of Goethe, the grand\npatriarch of German literature; of Weiland, who has been called\nthe Voltaire of Germany; of Herder, who wrote the outlines of a\nphilosophical history of man; of Kotzebue, who lived in the world of\nromance; of Schleiermacher, the pantheist; of Schlegel, who gave to\nhis countrymen the enchanted realm of Shakespeare; of the sublime Kant,\nauthor of the first work published in Germany on Pure Reason; of Fichte,\nthe infinite idealist; of Schopenhauer, the European Buddhist who\nfollowed the great Gautama to the painless and dreamless Nirwana, and\nof hundreds of others, whose names are familiar to and honored by the\nscientific world.\n\nThe German mind had been grandly roused from the long lethargy of the\ndark ages of ignorance, fear, and faith. Guided by the holy light of\nreason, every department of knowledge was investigated, enriched and\nillustrated.\n\nHumboldt breathed the atmosphere of investigation; old ideas were\nabandoned; old creeds, hallowed by centuries, were thrown aside; thought\nbecame courageous; the athlete, Reason, challenged to mortal combat the\nmonsters of superstition.\n\nNo wonder that under these influences Humboldt formed the great purpose\nof presenting to the world a picture of Nature, in order that men might,\nfor the first time, behold the face of their Mother.\n\nEurope becoming too small for his genius, he visited the tropics in\nthe new world, where in the most circumscribed limits he could find the\ngreatest number of plants, of animals, and the greatest diversity of\nclimate, that he might ascertain the laws governing the production and\ndistribution of plants, animals and men, and the effects of climate\nupon them all. He sailed along the gigantic Amazon--the mysterious\nOrinoco--traversed the Pampas--climbed the Andes until he stood upon the\ncrags of Chimborazo, more than eighteen thousand feet above the level of\nthe sea, and climbed on until blood flowed from his eyes and lips.\nFor nearly five years he pursued his investigations in the new world,\naccompanied by the intrepid Bonpland. Nothing escaped his attention. He\nwas the best intellectual organ of these new revelations of science. He\nwas calm, reflective and eloquent; filled with a sense of the beautiful,\nand the love of truth. His collections were immense, and valuable beyond\ncalculation to every science. He endured innumerable hardships, braved\ncountless dangers in unknown and savage lands, and exhausted his fortune\nfor the advancement of true learning.\n\nUpon his return to Europe he was hailed as the second Columbus; as the\nscientific discoverer of America; as the revealer of a new world; as the\ngreat demonstrator of the sublime truth, that the universe is governed\nby law.\n\nI have seen a picture of the old man, sitting upon a mountain\nside--above him the eternal snow--below, the smiling valley of the\ntropics, filled with vine and palm; his chin upon his breast, his eyes\ndeep, thoughtful and calm--his forehead majestic--grander than the\nmountain upon which he sat--crowned with the snow of his whitened hair,\nhe looked the intellectual autocrat of this world.\n\nNot satisfied with his discoveries in America, he crossed the steppes\nof Asia, the wastes of Siberia, the great Ural range, adding to the\nknowledge of mankind at every step. His energy acknowledged no obstacle,\nhis life knew no leisure; every day was filled with labor and with\nthought.\n\nHe was one of the apostles of science, and he served his divine master\nwith a self-sacrificing zeal that knew no abatement; with an ardor that\nconstantly increased, and with a devotion unwavering and constant as the\npolar star.\n\nIn order that the people at large might have the benefit of his numerous\ndiscoveries, and his vast knowledge, he delivered at Berlin a course\nof lectures, consisting of sixty-one free addresses, upon the following\nsubjects:\n\nFive, upon the nature and limits of physical geography.\n\nThree, were devoted to a history of science.\n\nTwo, to inducements to a study of natural science.\n\nSixteen, on the heavens.\n\nFive, on the form, density, latent heat, and magnetic power of the\nearth, and to the polar light.\n\nFour, were on the nature of the crust of the earth, on hot springs\nearthquakes, and volcanoes.\n\nTwo, on mountains and the type of their formation.\n\nTwo, on the form of the earth's surface, on the connection of\ncontinents, and the elevation of soil over ravines.\n\nThree, on the sea as a globular fluid surrounding the earth.\n\nTen, on the atmosphere as an elastic fluid surrounding the earth, and on\nthe distribution of heat.\n\nOne, on the geographic distribution of organ ized matter in general.\n\nThree, on the geography of plants.\n\nThree, on the geography of animals, and\n\nTwo, on the races of men.\n\nThese lectures are what is known as the Cosmos, and present a scientific\npicture of the world--of infinite diversity in unity--of ceaseless\nmotion in the eternal grasp of law.\n\nThese lectures contain the result of his investigation, observation, and\nexperience; they furnish the connection between phenomena; they disclose\nsome of the changes through which the earth has passed in the countless\nages; the history of vegetation, animals and men, the effects of climate\nupon individuals and nations, the relation we sustain to other worlds,\nand demonstrate that all phenomena, whether insignificant or grand,\nexist in accordance with inexorable law.\n\nThere are some truths, however, that we never should forget:\nSuperstition has always been the relentless enemy of science; faith has\nbeen a hater of demonstration; hypocrisy has been sincere only in its\ndread of truth, and all religions are inconsistent with mental freedom.\n\nSince the murder of Hypatia in the fifth century, when the polished\nblade of Greek philosophy was broken by the club of ignorant\nCatholicism, until to-day, superstition has detested every effort of\nreason.\n\nIt is almost impossible to conceive of the completeness of the victory\nthat the church achieved over philosophy. For ages science was utterly\nignored; thought was a poor slave; an ignorant priest was master of the\nworld; faith put out the eyes of the soul; the reason was a trembling\ncoward; the imagination was set on fire of hell; every human feeling was\nsought to be suppressed; love was considered infinitely sinful; pleasure\nwas the road to eternal fire, and God was supposed to be happy only when\nhis children were miserable. The world was governed by an Almighty's\nwhim; prayers could change the order of things, halt the grand\nprocession of nature, could produce rain, avert pestilence, famine and\ndeath in all its forms. There was no idea of the certain; all depended\nupon divine pleasure or displeasure rather; heaven was full of\ninconsistent malevolence, and earth of ignorance. Everything was done to\nappease the divine wrath; every public calamity was caused by the\nsins of the people; by a failure to pay tithes, or for having, even in\nsecret, felt a disrespect for a priest. To the poor multitude, the earth\nwas a kind of enchanted forest, full of demons ready to devour, and\ntheological serpents lurking with infinite power to fascinate and\ntorture the unhappy and impotent soul. Life to them was a dim and\nmysterious labyrinth, in which they wandered weary, and lost, guided by\npriests as bewildered as themselves, without knowing that at every step\nthe Ariadne of reason offered them the long lost clue.\n\nThe very heavens were full of death; the lightning was regarded as the\nglittering vengeance of God, and the earth was thick with snares for the\nunwary feet of man. The soul was supposed to be crowded with the wild\nbeasts of desire; the heart to be totally corrupt, prompting only to\ncrime; virtues were regarded as deadly sins in disguise; there was a\ncontinual warfare being waged between the Deity and the Devil, for\nthe possession of every soul; the latter generally being considered\nvictorious. The flood, the tornado, the volcano, were all evidences of\nthe displeasure of heaven, and the sinfulness of man. The blight that\nwithered, the frost that blackened, the earthquake that devoured, were\nthe messengers of the Creator.\n\nThe world was governed by Fear.\n\nAgainst all the evils of nature, there was known only the defence of\nprayer, of fasting, of credulity, and devotion. _Man in his helplessness\nendeavored to soften the heart of God_. The faces of the multitude\nwere blanched with fear, and wet with tears; they were the prey of\nhypocrites, kings and priests.\n\nMy heart bleeds when I contemplate the sufferings endured by the\nmillions now dead; of those who lived when the world appeared to\nbe insane; when the heavens were filled with an infinite Horror who\nsnatched babes with dimpled hands and rosy cheeks from the white breasts\nof mothers, and dashed them into an abyss of eternal flame.\n\nSlowly, beautifully, like the coming of the dawn, came the grand truth,\nthat the universe is governed by law; that disease fastens itself\nupon the good and upon the bad; that the tornado cannot be stopped by\ncounting beads; that the rushing lava pauses not for bended knees, the\nlightning for clasped and uplifted hands, nor the cruel waves of the sea\nfor prayer; that paying tithes causes, rather than prevents famine; that\npleasure is not sin; that happiness is the only good; that demons and\ngods exist only in the imagination; that faith is a lullaby sung to put\nthe soul to sleep; that devotion is a bribe that fear offers to supposed\npower; that offering rewards in another world for obedience in this, is\nsimply buying a soul on credit; that knowledge consists in ascertaining\nthe laws of nature, and that wisdom is the science of happiness. Slowly,\ngrandly, beautifully, these truths are dawning upon mankind.\n\nFrom Copernicus we learned that this earth is only a grain of sand on\nthe infinite shore of the universe; that everywhere we are surrounded by\nshining worlds vastly greater than our own, all moving and existing in\naccordance with law. True, the earth began to grow small, but man began\nto grow great.\n\nThe moment the fact was, established that other worlds are governed\nby law, it was only natural to conclude that our little world was\nalso under its dominion. The old theological method of accounting for\nphysical phenomena by the pleasure and displeasure of the Deity was,\nby the intellectual, abandoned. They found that disease, death, life,\nthought, heat, cold, the seasons, the winds, the dreams of man, the\ninstinct of animals,--in short, that all physical and mental phenomena\nare governed by law, absolute, eternal and inexorable.\n\nLet it be understood that by the term Law is meant the same invariable\nrelations of succession and resemblance predicated of all facts\nspringing from like conditions. Law is a fact--not a cause. It is a\nfact, that like conditions produce like results: this fact is Law. When\nwe say that the universe is governed by law, we mean that this fact,\ncalled law, is incapable of change; that it is, has been, and forever\nwill be, the same inexorable, immutable Fact, inseparable from all\nphenomena. Law, in this sense, was not enacted or made. It could not\nhave been otherwise than as it is. That which necessarily exists has no\ncreator.\n\nOnly a few years ago this earth was considered the real center of\nthe universe; all the stars were supposed to revolve around this\ninsignificant atom. The German mind, more than any other, has done\naway with this piece of egotism. Purbach and Mullerus, in the fifteenth\ncentury, contributed most to the advancement of astronomy in their day.\nTo the latter, the world is indebted for the introduction of decimal\nfractions, which completed our arithmetical notation, and formed the\nsecond of the three steps by which, in modern times, the science\nof numbers has been so greatly improved; and yet, both of these men\nbelieved in the most childish absurdities, at least in enough of them,\nto die without their orthodoxy having ever been suspected.\n\nNext came the great Copernicus, and he stands at the head of the heroic\nthinkers of his time, who had the courage and the mental strength to\nbreak the chains of prejudice, custom, and authority, and to establish\ntruth on the basis of experience, observation and reason. He removed the\nearth, so to speak, from the centre of the universe, and ascribed to it\na two-fold motion, and demonstrated the true position which it occupies\nin the solar system.\n\nAt his bidding the earth began to revolve. At the command of his genius\nit commenced its grand flight mid the eternal constellations round the\nsun.\n\nFor fifty years his discoveries were disregarded. All at once, by the\nexertions of Galileo, they were kindled into so grand a conflagration as\nto consume the philosophy of Aristotle, to alarm the hierarchy of\nRome, and to threaten the existence of every opinion not founded upon\nexperience, observation, and reason.\n\nThe earth was no longer considered a universe, governed by the caprices\nof some revengeful Deity, who had made the stars out of what he had\nleft after completing the world, and had stuck them in the sky simply to\nadorn the night.\n\nI have said this much concerning astronomy because it was the first\nsplendid step forward! The first sublime blow that shattered the lance\nand shivered the shield of superstition; the first real help that\nman received from heaven; because it was the first great lever placed\nbeneath the altar of a false religion; the first revelation of the\ninfinite to man; the first authoritative declaration, that the universe\nis governed by law; the first science that gave the lie direct to the\ncosmogony of barbarism, and because it is the sublimest victory that the\nreason has achieved.\n\nIn speaking of astronomy, I have confined myself to the discoveries made\nsince the revival of learning. Long ago, on the banks of the Ganges,\nages before Copernicus lived, Aryabhatta taught that the earth is a\nsphere, and revolves on its own axis. This, however, does not detract\nfrom the glory of the great German. The discovery of the Hindu had been\nlost in the midnight of Europe--in the age of faith, and Copernicus was\nas much a discoverer as though Aryabhatta had never lived.\n\nIn this short address there is no time to speak of other sciences, and\nto point out the particular evidence furnished by each, to establish\nthe dominion of law, nor to more than mention the name of Descartes, the\nfirst who undertook to give an explanation of the celestial motions,\nor who formed the vast and philosophic conception of reducing all the\nphenomena of the universe to the same law; of Montaigne, one of the\nheroes of common sense; of Galvani, whose experiments gave the telegraph\nto the world; of Voltaire, who contributed more than any other of the\nsons of men to the destruction of religious intolerance; of August\nComte, whose genius erected to itself a monument that still touches the\nstars; of Guttenberg, Watt, Stephenson, Arkwright, all soldiers of\nscience, in the grand army of the dead kings.\n\nThe glory of science is, that it is freeing the soul--breaking the\nmental manacles--getting the brain out of bondage--giving courage to\nthought--filling the world with mercy, justice, and joy.\n\nScience found agriculture plowing with a stick reaping with a\nsickle--commerce at the mercy of the treacherous waves and the\ninconstant winds--a world without books--without schools man denying\nthe authority of reason, employing his ingenuity in the manufacture\nof instruments of torture, in building inquisitions and cathedrals.\nIt found the land filled with malicious monks--with persecuting\nProtestants, and the burners of men. It found a world full of fear;\nignorance upon its knees; credulity the greatest virtue; women treated\nlike beasts of burden; cruelty the only means of reformation.\n\nIt found the world at the mercy of disease and famine; men trying to\nread their fates in the stars, and to tell their fortunes by signs and\nwonders; generals thinking to conquer their enemies by making the sign\nof the cross, or by telling a rosary. It found all history full of petty\nand ridiculous falsehood, and the Almighty was supposed to spend most\nof his time turning sticks into snakes, drowning boys for swimming on\nSunday, and killing little children for the purpose of converting their\nparents. It found the earth filled with slaves and tyrants, the people\nin all countries downtrodden, half naked, half starved, without hope,\nand without reason in the world.\n\nSuch was the condition of man when the morning of science dawned upon\nhis brain, and before he had heard the sublime declaration that the\nuniverse is governed by law.\n\nFor the change that has taken place we are indebted solely to\nscience--the only lever capable of raising mankind. Abject faith is\nbarbarism; reason is civilization. To obey is slavish; to act from\na sense of obligation perceived by the reason, is noble. Ignorance\nworships mystery; Reason explains it: the one grovels, the other soars.\n\nNo wonder that fable is the enemy of knowledge. A man with a false\ndiamond shuns the society of lapidaries, and it is upon this principle\nthat superstition abhors science.\n\nIn all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have\nworshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most gigantic liars,\nand buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the loftiest\nmonuments sleeps the dust of murder.\n\nImposture has always worn a crown.\n\nThe world is beginning to change because the people are beginning\nto think. To think is to advance. Everywhere the great minds are\ninvestigating the creeds and the superstitions of men--the phenomena\nof nature, and the laws of things. At the head of this great army of\ninvestigators stood Humboldt--the serene leader of an intellectual\nhost--a king by the suffrage of Science, and the divine right of Genius.\n\nAnd to-day we are not honoring some butcher called a soldier--some\nwily politician called a statesman--some robber called a king, nor\nsome malicious metaphysician called a saint We are honoring the grand\nHumboldt, whose victories were all achieved in the arena of thought; who\ndestroyed prejudice, ignorance and error--not men; who shed light--not\nblood, and who contributed to the knowledge, the wealth, and the\nhappiness of all mankind.\n\nHis life was pure, his aims lofty, his learning varied and profound, and\nhis achievements vast.\n\nWe honor him because he has ennobled our race, because he has\ncontributed as much as any man living or dead to the real prosperity of\nthe world. We honor him because he honored us--because he labored\nfor others--because he was the most learned man of the most learned\nnation--because he left a legacy of glory to every human being. For\nthese reasons he is honored throughout the world. Millions are doing\nhomage to his genius at this moment, and millions are pronouncing his\nname with reverence and recounting what he accomplished.\n\nWe associate the name of Humboldt with oceans, continents, mountains,\nand volcanoes--with the great palms--the wide deserts--the snow-lipped\ncraters of the Andes--with primeval forests and European capitals--with\nwildernesses and universities--with savages and savans--with the lonely\nrivers of unpeopled wastes--with peaks and pampas, and steppes, and\ncliffs and crags--with the progress of the world--with every science\nknown to man, and with every star glittering in the immensity of space.\n\nHumboldt adopted none of the soul-shrinking creeds of his day; wasted\nnone of his time in the stupidities, inanities and contradictions of\ntheological metaphysics; he did not endeavor to harmonize the astronomy\nand geology of a barbarous people with the science of the nineteenth\ncentury. Never, for one moment, did he abandon the sublime standard of\ntruth; he investigated, he studied, he thought, he separated the gold\nfrom the dross in the crucible of his grand brain. He was never found on\nhis knees before the altar of superstition. He stood erect by the grand\ntranquil column of Reason. He was an admirer, a lover, an adorer of\nNature, and at the age of ninety, bowed by the weight of nearly\na century, covered with the insignia of honor, loved by a nation,\nrespected by a world, with kings for his servants, he laid his weary\nhead upon her bosom--upon the bosom of the universal Mother--and with\nher loving arms around him, sank into that slumber called Death.\n\nHistory added another name to the starry scroll of the immortals.\n\nThe world is his monument; upon the eternal granite of her hills he\ninscribed his name, and there upon everlasting stone his genius wrote\nthis, the sublimest of truths:\n\n\"The Universe is Governed by Law!\"\n\n\n\n\nTHOMAS PAINE\n\nWith His Name Left Out, the History of Liberty Cannot be Written.\n\nTO speak the praises of the brave and thoughtful dead, is to me a labor\nof gratitude and love.\n\nThrough all the centuries gone, the mind of man has been beleaguered by\nthe mailed hosts of superstition. Slowly and painfully has advanced the\narmy of deliverance. Hated by those they wished to rescue, despised\nby those they were dying to save, these grand soldiers, these immortal\ndeliverers, have fought without thanks, labored without applause,\nsuffered without pity, and they have died execrated and abhorred. For\nthe good of mankind they accepted isolation, poverty, and calumny. They\ngave up all, sacrificed all, lost all but truth and self-respect.\n\nOne of the bravest soldiers in this army was Thomas Paine; and for one,\nI feel indebted to him for the liberty we are enjoying this day. Born\namong the poor, where children are burdens; in a country where real\nliberty was unknown; where the privileges of class were guarded with\ninfinite jealousy, and the rights of the individual trampled beneath the\nfeet of priests and nobles; where to advocate justice was treason; where\nintellectual freedom was Infidelity, it is wonderful that the idea of\ntrue liberty ever entered his brain. .\n\nPoverty was his mother--Necessity his master.\n\nHe had more brains than books; more sense than education; more courage\nthan politeness; more strength than polish. He had no veneration for\nold mistakes--no admiration for ancient lies. He loved the truth for\nthe truth's sake, and for man's sake. He saw oppression on every hand;\ninjustice everywhere; hypocrisy at the altar, venality on the bench,\ntyranny on the throne; and with a splendid courage he espoused the cause\nof the weak against the strong--of the enslaved many against the titled\nfew.\n\nIn England he was nothing. He belonged to the lower classes. There was\nno avenue open for him. The people hugged their chains, and the whole\npower of the government was ready to crush any man who endeavored to\nstrike a blow for the right.\n\nAt the age of thirty-seven, Thomas Paine left England for America,\nwith the high hope of being instrumental in the establishment of a free\ngovernment. In his own country he could accomplish nothing. Those two\nvultures--Church and State--were ready to tear in pieces and devour the\nheart of any one who might deny their divine right to enslave the world.\n\nUpon his arrival in this country, he found himself possessed of a letter\nof introduction, signed by another Infidel, the illustrious Franklin.\nThis, and his native genius, constituted his entire capital; and he\nneeded no more. He found the colonies clamoring for justice; whining\nabout their grievances; upon their knees at the foot of the throne,\nimploring that mixture of idiocy and insanity, George the III., by the\ngrace of God, for a restoration of their ancient privileges. They were\nnot endeavoring to become free men, but were trying to soften the heart\nof their master. They were perfectly willing to make brick if Pharaoh\nwould furnish the straw. The colonists wished for, hoped for, and prayed\nfor reconciliation They did not dream of independence.\n\nPaine gave to the world his \"Common Sense.\" It was the first argument\nfor separation, the first assault upon the British form of government,\nthe first blow for a republic, and it aroused our fathers like a\ntrumpet's blast.\n\nHe was the first to perceive the destiny of the New World.\n\nNo other pamphlet ever accomplished such wonderful results. It was\nfilled with argument, reason, persuasion, and unanswerable logic. It\nopened a new world. It filled the present with hope and the future\nwith honor. Everywhere the people responded, and in a few months the\nContinental Congress declared the colonies free and independent States.\n\nA new nation was born.\n\nIt is simple justice to say that Paine did more to cause the Declaration\nof Independence than any other man. Neither should it be forgotten that\nhis attacks upon Great Britain were also attacks upon monarchy; and\nwhile he convinced the people that the colonies ought to separate from\nthe mother country, he also proved to them that a free government is the\nbest that can be instituted among men.\n\nIn my judgment, Thomas Paine was the best political writer that ever\nlived. \"What he wrote was pure nature, and his soul and his pen ever\nwent together.\" Ceremony, pageantry, and all the paraphernalia of\npower, had no effect upon him. He examined into the why and wherefore of\nthings. He was perfectly radical in his mode of thought. Nothing short\nof the bed-rock satisfied him. His enthusiasm for what he believed to\nbe right knew no bounds. During all the dark scenes of the Revolution,\nnever for one moment did he despair. Year after year his brave words\nwere ringing through the land, and by the bivouac fires the weary\nsoldiers read the inspiring words of \"Common Sense,\" filled with ideas\nsharper than their swords, and consecrated themselves anew to the cause\nof Freedom.\n\nPaine was not content with having aroused the spirit of independence,\nbut he gave every energy of his soul to keep that spirit alive. He was\nwith the army. He shared its defeats, its dangers, and its glory. When\nthe situation became desperate, when gloom settled upon all, he gave\nthem the \"Crisis.\" It was a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night,\nleading the way to freedom, honor, and glory. He shouted to them, \"These\nare the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier, and the sunshine\npatriot, will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country;\nbut he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and\nwoman.\"\n\nTo those who wished to put the war off to some future day, with a lofty\nand touching spirit of self-sacrifice he said: \"Every generous parent\nshould say, 'If there must be war let it be in my day, that my child\nmay have peace.'\" To the cry that Americans were rebels, he replied: \"He\nthat rebels against reason is a real rebel; but he that in defence of\nreason rebels against tyranny, has a better title to 'Defender of the\nFaith' than George the Third.\"\n\nSome said it was not to the interest of the colonies to be free. Paine\nanswered this by saying, \"To know whether it be the interest of\nthe continent to be independent, we need ask only this simple, easy\nquestion: 'Is it the interest of a man to be a boy all his life?'\" He\nfound many who would listen to nothing, and to them he said, \"That to\nargue with a man who has renounced his reason is like giving medicine\nto the dead.\" This sentiment ought to adorn the walls of every orthodox\nchurch.\n\nThere is a world of political wisdom in this: \"England lost her liberty\nin a long chain of right reasoning from wrong principles\"; and there\nis real discrimination in saying, \"The Greeks and Romans were strongly\npossessed of the spirit of liberty, but not the principles, for at\nthe time that they were determined not to be slaves themselves, they\nemployed their power to enslave the rest of mankind.\"\n\nIn his letter to the British people, in which he tried to convince them\nthat war was not to their interest, occurs the following passage brimful\nof common sense: \"War never can be the interest of a trading nation any\nmore than quarreling can be profitable to a man in business. But to\nmake war with those who trade with us is like setting a bull-dog upon a\ncustomer at the shop-door.\"\n\nThe writings of Paine fairly glitter with simple, compact, logical\nstatements, that carry conviction to the dullest and most prejudiced. He\nhad the happiest possible way of putting the case; in asking questions\nin such a way that they answer themselves, and in stating his premises\nso clearly that the deduction could not be avoided.\n\nDay and night he labored for America; month after month, year after\nyear, he gave himself to the Great Cause, until there was \"a government\nof the people and for the people,\" and until the banner of the stars\nfloated over a continent redeemed, and consecrated to the happiness of\nmankind.\n\nAt the close of the Revolution, no one stood higher in America than\nThomas Paine. The best, the wisest, the most patriotic, were his friends\nand admirers; and had he been thinking only of his own good he might\nhave rested from his toils and spent the remainder of his life in\ncomfort and in ease. He could have been what the world is pleased to\ncall \"respectable.\" He could have died surrounded by clergymen, warriors\nand statesmen. At his death there would have been an imposing funeral,\nmiles of carriages, civic societies, salvos of artillery, a nation in\nmourning, and, above all, a splendid monument covered with lies.\n\nHe chose rather to benefit mankind.\n\nAt that time the seeds sown by the great Infidels were beginning to bear\nfruit in France. The people were beginning to think.\n\nThe Eighteenth Century was crowning its gray hairs with the wreath of\nProgress.\n\nOn every hand Science was bearing testimony against the Church. Voltaire\nhad filled Europe with light; D'Holbach was giving to the _elite_\nof Paris the principles contained in his \"System of Nature.\" The\nEncyclopedists had attacked superstition with information for the\nmasses. The foundation of things began to be examined. A few had the\ncourage to keep their shoes on and let the bush burn. Miracles began to\nget scarce. Everywhere the people began to inquire. America had set an\nexample to the world. The word Liberty was in the mouths of men, and\nthey began to wipe the dust from their knees.\n\nThe dawn of a new day had appeared.\n\nThomas Paine went to France. Into the new movement he threw all his\nenergies. His fame had gone before him, and he was welcomed as a friend\nof the human race, and as a champion of free government.\n\nHe had never relinquished his intention of pointing out to his\ncountrymen the defects, absurdities and abuses of the English government\nFor this purpose he composed and published his greatest political work,\n\"The Rights of Man.\" This work should be read by every man and woman.\nIt is concise, accurate, natural, convincing, and unanswerable. It shows\ngreat thought; an intimate knowledge of the various forms of government;\ndeep insight into the very springs of human action, and a courage that\ncompels respect and admiration. The most difficult political problems\nare solved in a few sentences. The venerable arguments in favor of\nwrong are refuted with a question--answered with a word. For forcible\nillustration, apt comparison, accuracy and clearness of statement, and\nabsolute thoroughness, it has never been excelled.\n\nThe fears of the administration were aroused, and Paine was prosecuted\nfor libel and found guilty; and yet there is not a sentiment in the\nentire work that will not challenge the admiration of every civilized\nman. It is a magazine of political wisdom, an arsenal of ideas, and an\nhonor, not only to Thomas Paine, but to human nature itself. It could\nhave been written only by the man who had the generosity, the exalted\npatriotism, the goodness to say, \"The world is my country, and to do\ngood my religion.\"\n\nThere is in all the utterances of the world no grander, no sublimer\nsentiment. There is no creed that can be compared with it for a moment.\nIt should be wrought in gold, adorned with jewels, and impressed\nupon every human heart: \"The world is my country, and to do good my\nreligion.\"\n\nIn 1792, Paine was elected by the department of Calais as their\nrepresentative in the National Assembly. So great was his popularity in\nFrance that he was selected about the same time by the people of no less\nthan four departments.\n\nUpon taking his place in the Assembly he was appointed as one of a\ncommittee to draft a constitution for France. Had the French people\ntaken the advice of Thomas Paine there would have been no \"reign of\nterror.\" The streets of Paris would not have been filled with blood The\nRevolution would have been the grandest success of the world. The truth\nis that Paine was too conservative to suit the leaders of the French\nRevolution. They, to a great extent, were carried away by hatred, and\na desire to destroy. They had suffered so long, they had borne so much,\nthat it was impossible for them to be moderate in the hour of victory.\n\nBesides all this, the French people had been so robbed by the\ngovernment, so degraded by the church, that they were not fit material\nwith which to construct a republic. Many of the leaders longed to\nestablish a beneficent and just government, but the people asked for\nrevenge.\n\nPaine was filled with a real love for mankind. His philanthropy was\nboundless. He wished to destroy monarchy--not the monarch. He voted for\nthe destruction of tyranny, and against the death of the king. He wished\nto establish a government on a new basis; one that would forget the\npast; one that would give privileges to none, and protection to all.\n\nIn the Assembly, where nearly all were demanding the execution of the\nking--where to differ from the majority was to be suspected, and, where\nto be suspected was almost certain death Thomas Paine had the courage,\nthe goodness and the justice to vote against death. To vote against\nthe execution of the king was a vote against his own life. This was\nthe sublimity of devotion to principle. For this he was arrested,\nimprisoned, and doomed to death.\n\nSearch the records of the world and you will find but few sublimer acts\nthan that of Thomas Paine voting against the kings death. He, the hater\nof despotism, the abhorrer of monarchy, the champion of the rights\nof man, the republican, accepting death to save the life of a deposed\ntyrant--of a throneless king. This was the last grand act of his\npolitical life--the sublime conclusion of his political career.\n\nAll his life he had been the disinterested friend of man. He had\nlabored--not for money, not for fame, but for the general good. He had\naspired to no office; had asked no recognition of his services, but had\never been content to labor as a common soldier in the army of Progress.\nConfining his efforts to no country, looking upon the world as his field\nof action, filled with a genuine love for the right, he found himself\nimprisoned by the very people he had striven to save.\n\nHad his enemies succeeded in bringing him to the block, he would have\nescaped the calumnies and the hatred of the Christian world. In this\ncountry, at least, he would have ranked with the proudest names. On the\nanniversary of the Declaration his name would have been upon the lips of\nall the orators, and his memory in the hearts of all the people.\n\nThomas Paine had not finished his career.\n\nHe had spent his life thus far in destroying the power of kings, and\nnow he turned his attention to the priests. He knew that every abuse had\nbeen embalmed in Scripture--that every outrage was in partnership with\nsome holy text. He knew that the throne skulked behind the altar, and\nboth behind a pretended revelation from God. By this time he had found\nthat it was of little use to free the body and leave the mind in\nchains. He had explored the foundations of despotism, and had found them\ninfinitely rotten. He had dug under the throne, and it occurred to him\nthat he would take a look behind the altar.\n\nThe result of his investigations was given to the world in the \"Age of\nReason.\" From the moment of its publication he became infamous. He was\ncalumniated beyond measure. To slander him was to secure the thanks of\nthe church. All his services were instantly forgotten, disparaged or\ndenied. He was shunned as though he had been a pestilence. Most of his\nold friends forsook him. He was regarded as a moral plague, and at the\nbare mention of his name the bloody hands of the church were raised in\nhorror. He was denounced as the most despicable of men.\n\nNot content with following him to his grave, they pursued him after\ndeath with redoubled fury, and recounted with infinite gusto and\nsatisfaction the supposed horrors of his death-bed; gloried in the fact\nthat he was forlorn and friendless, and gloated like fiends over what\nthey supposed to be the agonizing remorse of his lonely death.\n\nIt is wonderful that all his services were thus forgotten. It is amazing\nthat one kind word did not fall from some pulpit; that some one did\nnot accord to him, at least--honesty. Strange, that in the general\ndenunciation some one did not remember his labor for liberty, his\ndevotion to principle, his zeal for the rights of his fellow-men. He\nhad, by brave and splendid effort, associated his name with the cause\nof Progress. He had made it impossible to write the history of political\nfreedom with his name left out He was one of the creators of light; one\nof the heralds of the dawn. He hated tyranny in the name of kings, and\nin the name of God, with every drop of his noble blood. He believed in\nliberty and justice, and in the sacred doctrine of human equality. Under\nthese divine banners he fought the battle of his life. In both worlds he\noffered his blood for the good of man. In the wilderness of America, in\nthe French Assembly, in the sombre cell waiting for death, he was the\nsame unflinching, unwavering friend of his race; the same undaunted\nchampion of universal freedom. And for this he has been hated; for this\nthe church has violated even his grave.\n\nThis is enough to make one believe that nothing is more natural than for\nmen to devour their benefactors. The people in all ages have crucified\nand glorified. Whoever lifts his voice against abuses, whoever arraigns\nthe past at the bar of the present, whoever asks the king to show his\ncommission, or questions the authority of the priest, will be denounced\nas the enemy of man and God. In all ages reason has been regarded as the\nenemy of religion. Nothing has been considered so pleasing to the Deity\nas a total denial of the authority of your own mind. Self-reliance has\nbeen thought a deadly sin; and the idea of living and dying without the\naid and consolation of superstition has always horrified the church. By\nsome unaccountable infatuation, belief has been and still is considered\nof immense importance. All religions have been based upon the idea that\nGod will forever reward the true believer, and eternally damn the man\nwho doubts or denies. Belief is regarded as the one essential thing. To\npractice justice, to love mercy, is not enough. You must believe in\nsome incomprehensible creed. You must say, \"Once one is three, and three\ntimes one is one.\" The man who practiced every virtue, but failed to\nbelieve, was execrated. Nothing so outrages the feelings of the church\nas a moral unbeliever--nothing so horrible as a charitable Atheist.\n\nWhen Paine was born, the world was religious, the pulpit was the real\nthrone, and the churches were making every effort to crush out of the\nbrain the idea that it had the right to think.\n\nThe splendid saying of Lord Bacon, that \"the inquiry of truth, which is\nthe love-making or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, which is the\npresence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it,\nare the sovereign good of human nature,\" has been, and ever will\nbe, rejected by religionists. Intellectual liberty, as a matter of\nnecessity, forever destroys the idea that belief is either praise\nor blame-worthy, and is wholly inconsistent with every creed in\nChristendom. Paine recognized this truth. He also saw that as long as\nthe Bible was considered inspired, this infamous doctrine of the virtue\nof belief would be believed and preached. He examined the Scriptures for\nhimself, and found them filled with cruelty, absurdity and immorality.\n\nHe again made up his mind to sacrifice himself for the good of his\nfellow-men.\n\nHe commenced with the assertion, \"That any system of religion that has\nanything in it that shocks the mind of a child cannot be a true system.\"\nWhat a beautiful, what a tender sentiment! No wonder the church began to\nhate him. He believed in one God, and no more. After this life he\nhoped for happiness. He believed that true religion consisted in doing\njustice, loving mercy, in endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures\nhappy, and in offering to God the fruit of the heart. He denied the\ninspiration of the Scriptures. This was his crime.\n\nHe contended that it is a contradiction in terms to call anything a\nrevelation that comes to us second-hand, either verbally or in writing.\nHe asserted that revelation is necessarily limited to the first\ncommunication, and that after that it is only an account of something\nwhich another person says was a revelation to him. We have only his word\nfor it, as it was never made to us. This argument never has been and\nprobably never will be answered. He denied the divine origin of Christ,\nand showed conclusively that the pretended prophecies of the Old\nTestament had no reference to him whatever; and yet he believed that\nChrist was a virtuous and amiable man; that the morality he taught and\npracticed was of the most benevolent and elevated character, and that\nit had not been exceeded by any. Upon this point he entertained the\nsame sentiments now held by the Unitarians, and in fact by all the most\nenlightened Christians.\n\nIn his time the church believed and taught that every word in the Bible\nwas absolutely true. Since his day it has been proven false in its\ncosmogony, false in its astronomy, false in its chronology, false in its\nhistory, and so far as the Old Testament is concerned, false in almost\neverything. There are but few, if any, scientific men who apprehend that\nthe Bible is literally true. Who on earth at this day would pretend to\nsettle any scientific question by a text from the Bible? The old belief\nis confined to the ignorant and zealous. The church itself will before\nlong be driven to occupy the position of Thomas Paine. The best minds of\nthe orthodox world, to-day, are endeavoring to prove the existence of\na personal Deity. All other questions occupy a minor place. You are no\nlonger asked to swallow the Bible whole, whale, Jonah and all; you are\nsimply required to believe in God, and pay your pew-rent. There is not\nnow an enlightened minister in the world who will seriously contend that\nSamson's strength was in his hair, or that the necromancers of Egypt\ncould turn water into blood, and pieces of wood into serpents. These\nfollies have passed away, and the only reason that the religious world\ncan now have for disliking Paine is that they have been forced to adopt\nso many of his opinions.\n\nPaine thought the barbarities of the Old Testament inconsistent with\nwhat he deemed the real character of God. He believed that murder,\nmassacre and indiscriminate slaughter had never been commanded by\nthe Deity. He regarded much of the Bible as childish, unimportant and\nfoolish The scientific world entertains the same opinion. Paine attacked\nthe Bible precisely in the same spirit in which he had attacked the\npretensions of kings. He used the same weapons. All the pomp in the\nworld could not make him cower. His reason knew no \"Holy of Holies,\"\nexcept the abode of Truth. The sciences were then in their infancy. The\nattention of the really learned had not been directed to an impartial\nexamination of our pretended revelation. It was accepted by most as\na matter of course. The church was all-powerful, and no one, unless\nthoroughly imbued with the spirit of self-sacrifice, thought for a\nmoment of disputing the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. The\ninfamous doctrines that salvation depends upon belief--upon a mere\nintellectual conviction--was then believed and preached. To doubt was\nto secure the damnation of your soul. This absurd and devilish doctrine\nshocked the common sense of Thomas Paine, and he denounced it with\nthe fervor of honest indignation. This doctrine, although infinitely\nridiculous, has been nearly universal, and has been as hurtful as\nsenseless. For the overthrow of this infamous tenet, Paine exerted all\nhis strength. He left few arguments to be used by those who should come\nafter him, and he used none that have been refuted. The combined wisdom\nand genius of all mankind cannot possibly conceive of an argument\nagainst liberty of thought. Neither can they show why any one should\nbe punished, either in this world or another, for acting honestly in\naccordance with reason; and yet a doctrine with every possible argument\nagainst it has been, and still is, believed and defended by the entire\northodox world. Can it be possible that we have been endowed with reason\nsimply that our souls may be caught in its toils and snares, that we may\nbe led by its false and delusive glare out of the narrow path that leads\nto joy into the broad way of everlasting death? Is it possible that\nwe have been given reason simply that we may through faith ignore its\ndeductions, and avoid its conclusions? Ought the sailor to throw away\nhis compass and depend entirely upon the fog? If reason is not to be\ndepended upon in matters of religion, that is to say, in respect of our\nduties to the Deity, why should it be relied upon in matters respecting\nthe rights of our fellows? Why should we throw away the laws given to\nMoses by God himself and have the audacity to make some of our own? How\ndare we drown the thunders of Sinai by calling the ayes and noes in a\npetty legislature? If reason can determine what is merciful, what is\njust, the duties of man to man, what more do we want either in time or\neternity?\n\nDown, forever down, with any religion that requires upon its ignorant\naltar the sacrifice of the goddess Reason, that compels her to abdicate\nforever the shining throne of the soul, strips from her form the\nimperial purple, snatches from her hand the sceptre of thought and makes\nher the bond-woman of a senseless faith!\n\nIf a man should tell you that he had the most beautiful painting in the\nworld, and after taking you where it was should insist upon having your\neyes shut, you would likely suspect, either that he had no painting or\nthat it was some pitiable daub. Should he tell you that he was a most\nexcellent performer on the violin, and yet refuse to play unless your\nears were stopped, you would think, to say the least of it, that he\nhad an odd way of convincing you of his musical ability. But would his\nconduct be any more wonderful than that of a religionist who asks that\nbefore examining his creed you will have the kindness to throw away your\nreason? The first gentleman says, \"Keep your eyes shut, my picture\nwill bear everything but being seen;\" \"Keep your ears stopped, my music\nobjects to nothing but being heard.\" The last says, \"Away with your\nreason, my religion dreads nothing but being understood.\"\n\nSo far as I am concerned, I most cheerfully admit that most Christians\nare honest, and most ministers sincere. We do not attack them; we\nattack their creed. We accord to them the same rights that we ask for\nourselves. We believe that their doctrines are hurtful. We believe\nthat the frightful text, \"He that believes shall be saved and he that\nbelieveth not shall be damned,\" has covered the earth with blood. It has\nfilled the heart with arrogance, cruelty and murder. It has caused\nthe religious wars; bound hundreds of thousands to the stake; founded\ninquisitions; filled dungeons; invented instruments of torture; taught\nthe mother to hate her child; imprisoned the mind; filled the world with\nignorance; persecuted the lovers of wisdom; built the monasteries and\nconvents; made happiness a crime, investigation a sin, and self-reliance\na blasphemy. It has poisoned the springs of learning; misdirected the\nenergies of the world; filled all countries with want; housed the people\nin hovels; fed them with famine; and but for the efforts of a few\nbrave Infidels it would have taken the world back to the midnight of\nbarbarism, and left the heavens without a star.\n\nThe maligners of Paine say that he had no right to attack this doctrine,\nbecause he was unacquainted with the dead languages; and for this\nreason, it was a piece of pure impudence in him to investigate the\nScriptures.\n\nIs it necessary to understand Hebrew in order to know that cruelty is\nnot a virtue, that murder is inconsistent with infinite goodness, and\nthat eternal punishment can be inflicted upon man only by an eternal\nfiend? Is it really essential to conjugate the Greek verbs before you\ncan make up your mind as to the probability of dead people getting out\nof their graves? Must one be versed in Latin before he is entitled to\nexpress his opinion as to the genuineness of a pretended revelation\nfrom God? Common sense belongs exclusively to no tongue. Logic is not\nconfined to, nor has it been buried with, the dead languages. Paine\nattacked the Bible as it is translated. If the translation is wrong, let\nits defenders correct it.\n\nThe Christianity of Paine's day is not the Christianity of our time.\nThere has been a great improvement since then. One hundred and fifty\nyears ago the foremost preachers of our time would have perished at\nthe stake. A Universalist would have been torn in pieces in England,\nScotland, and America. Unitarians would have found themselves in the\nstocks, pelted by the rabble with dead cats, after which their ears\nwould have been cut off, their tongues bored, and their foreheads\nbranded. Less than one hundred and fifty years ago the following law was\nin force in Maryland:\n\n\"Be it enacted by the Right Honorable, the Lord Proprietor, by and with\nthe advice and consent of his Lordship's governor, and the upper and\nlower houses of the Assembly, and the authority of the same:\n\n\"That if any person shall hereafter, within this province, wittingly,\nmaliciously, and advisedly, by writing or speaking, blaspheme or curse\nGod, or deny our Saviour, Jesus Christ, to be the Son of God, or shall\ndeny the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or the Godhead\nof any of the three persons, or the unity of the Godhead, or shall utter\nany profane words concerning the Holy Trinity, or any of the persons\nthereof, and shall thereof be convict by verdict, shall, for the first\noffence, be bored through the tongue, and fined twenty pounds to be\nlevied of his body. And for the second offence, the offender shall be\nstigmatized by burning in the forehead with the letter B, and fined\nforty pounds. And that for the third offence the offender shall suffer\ndeath without the benefit of clergy.\"\n\nThe strange thing about this law is, that it has never been repealed,\nand is still in force in the District of Columbia. Laws like this were\nin force in most of the colonies, and in all countries where the church\nhad power.\n\nIn the Old Testament, the death penalty is attached to hundreds of\noffences. It has been the same in all Christian countries. To-day, in\ncivilized governments, the death penalty is attached only to murder and\ntreason; and in some it has been entirely abolished. What a commentary\nupon the divine systems of the world!\n\nIn the day of Thomas Paine, the church was ignorant, bloody and\nrelentless. In Scotland the \"Kirk\" was at the summit of its power. It\nwas a full sister of the Spanish Inquisition. It waged war upon human\nnature. It was the enemy of happiness, the hater of joy, and the\ndespiser of religious liberty. It taught parents to murder their\nchildren rather than to allow them to propagate error. If the mother\nheld opinions of which the infamous \"Kirk\" disapproved, her children\nwere taken from her arms, her babe from her very bosom, and she was\nnot allowed to see them, or to write them a word. It would not allow\nshipwrecked sailors to be rescued from drowning on Sunday. It sought to\nannihilate pleasure, to pollute the heart by filling it with religious\ncruelty and gloom, and to change mankind into a vast horde of pious,\nheartless fiends. One of the most famous Scotch divines said: \"The Kirk\nholds that religious toleration is not far from blasphemy.\" And this\nsame Scotch Kirk denounced, beyond measure, the man who had the moral\ngrandeur to say, \"The world is my country, and to do good my religion.\"\nAnd this same Kirk abhorred the man who said, \"Any system of religion\nthat shocks the mind of a child cannot be a true system.\"\n\nAt that time nothing so delighted the church as the beauties of endless\ntorment, and listening to the weak wailings of damned infants struggling\nin the slimy coils and poison-folds of the worm that never dies.\n\nAbout the beginning of the nineteenth century, a boy by the name of\nThomas Aikenhead, was indicted and tried at Edinburgh for having denied\nthe inspiration of the Scriptures, and for having, on several\noccasions, when cold, wished himself in hell that he might get warm.\nNotwithstanding the poor boy recanted and begged for mercy, he was found\nguilty and hanged. His body was thrown in a hole at the foot of the\nscaffold and covered with stones.\n\nProsecutions and executions like this were common in every Christian\ncountry, and all of them were based upon the belief that an intellectual\nconviction is a crime.\n\nNo wonder the church hated and traduced the author of the \"Age of\nReason.\"\n\nEngland was filled with Puritan gloom and Episcopal ceremony. All\nreligious conceptions were of the grossest nature. The ideas of crazy\nfanatics and extravagant poets were taken as sober facts. Milton had\nclothed Christianity in the soiled and faded finery of the gods--had\nadded to the story of Christ the fables of Mythology. He gave to the\nProtestant Church the most outrageously material ideas of the Deity.\nHe turned all the angels into soldiers--made heaven a battlefield, put\nChrist in uniform, and described God as a militia general. His works\nwere considered by the Protestants nearly as sacred as the Bible\nitself, and the imagination of the people was thoroughly polluted by the\nhorrible imagery, the sublime absurdity of the blind Milton.\n\nHeaven and hell were realities--the judgment-day was expected--books of\naccount would be opened. Every man would hear the charges against him\nread. God was supposed to sit on a golden throne, surrounded by the\ntallest angels, with harps in their hands and crowns on their heads. The\ngoats would be thrust into eternal fire on the left, while the orthodox\nsheep, on the right, were to gambol on sunny slopes forever and forever.\n\nThe nation was profoundly ignorant, and consequently extremely\nreligious, so far as belief was concerned.\n\nIn Europe, Liberty was lying chained in the Inquisition--her white bosom\nstained with blood. In the New World the Puritans had been hanging\nand burning in the name of God, and selling white Quaker children into\nslavery in the name of Christ, who said, \"Suffer little children to come\nunto me.\"\n\nUnder such conditions progress was impossible. Some one had to lead\nthe way. The church is, and always has been, incapable of a forward\nmovement. Religion always looks back. The church has already reduced\nSpain to a guitar, Italy to a hand-organ, and Ireland to exile.\n\nSome one not connected with the church had to attack the monster that\nwas eating out the heart of the world. Some one had to sacrifice himself\nfor the good of all. The people were in the most abject slavery; their\nmanhood had been taken from them by pomp, by pageantry and power.\nProgress is born of doubt and inquiry.\n\nThe church never doubts--never inquires. To doubt is heresy--to inquire\nis to admit that you do not know--the church does neither.\n\nMore than a century ago Catholisism, wrapped in robes red with the\ninnocent blood of millions, holding in her frantic clutch crowns and\nscepters, honors and gold, the keys of heaven and hell, trampling\nbeneath her feet the liberties of nations, in the proud moment of almost\nuniversal dominion, felt within her heartless breast the deadly dagger\nof Voltaire. From that blow the church never can recover. Livid with\nhatred she launched her eternal anathema at the great destroyer, and\nignorant Protestants have echoed the curse of Rome.\n\nIn our country the church was all-powerful, and although divided into\nmany sects, would instantly unite to repel a common foe.\n\nPaine struck the first grand blow.\n\nThe \"Age of Reason\" did more to undermine the power of the Protestant\nChurch than all other books then known. It furnished an immense amount\nof food for thought. It was written for the average mind, and is a\nstraightforward, honest investigation of the Bible, and of the Christian\nsystem.\n\nPaine did not falter, from the first page to the last. He gives you his\ncandid thought, and candid thoughts are always valuable.\n\nThe \"Age of Reason\" has liberalized us all. It put arguments in the\nmouths of the people; it put the church on the defensive; it enabled\nsomebody in every village to corner the parson; it made the world wiser,\nand the church better; it took power from the pulpit and divided it\namong the pews.\n\nJust in proportion that the human race has advanced, the church has lost\npower. There is no exception to this rule.\n\nNo nation ever materially advanced that held strictly to the religion of\nits founders.\n\nNo nation ever gave itself wholly to the control of the church without\nlosing its power, its honor, and existence.\n\nEvery church pretends to have found the exact truth. This is the end of\nprogress. Why pursue that which you have? Why investigate when you know?\n\nEvery creed is a rock in running water: humanity sweeps by it. Every\ncreed cries to the universe, \"Halt!\" A creed is the ignorant Past\nbullying the enlightened Present.\n\nThe ignorant are not satisfied with what can be demonstrated. Science is\ntoo slow for them, and so they invent creeds. They demand completeness.\nA sublime segment, a grand fragment, are of no value to them. They\ndemand the complete circle--the entire structure.\n\nIn music they want a melody with a recurring accent at measured periods.\nIn religion they insist upon immediate answers to the questions of\ncreation and destiny. The alpha and omega of all things must be in the\nalphabet of their superstition. A religion that cannot answer every\nquestion, and guess every conundrum is, in their estimation, worse than\nworthless. They desire a kind of theological dictionary--a religious\nready reckoner, together with guide-boards at all crossings and turns.\nThey mistake impudence for authority, solemnity for wisdom, and bathos\nfor inspiration. The beginning and the end are what they demand. The\ngrand flight of the eagle is nothing to them. They want the nest in\nwhich he was hatched, and especially the dry limb upon which he roosts.\nAnything that can be learned is hardly worth knowing. The present is\nconsidered of no value in itself. Happiness must not be expected this\nside of the clouds, and can only be attained by self-denial and faith;\nnot selfdenial for the good of others, but for the salvation of your own\nsweet self.\n\nPaine denied the authority of bibles and creeds; this was his crime, and\nfor this the world shut the door in his face, and emptied its slops upon\nhim from the windows.\n\nI challenge the world to show that Thomas Paine ever wrote one line,\none word in favor of tyranny--in favor of immorality; one line, one\nword against what he believed to be for the highest and best interest\nof mankind; one line, one word against justice, charity, or liberty,\nand yet he has been pursued as though he had been a fiend from hell. His\nmemory has been execrated as though he had murdered some Uriah for his\nwife; driven some Hagar into the desert to starve with his child upon\nher bosom; defiled his own daughters; ripped open with the sword the\nsweet bodies of loving and innocent women; advised one brother to\nassassinate another; kept a harem with seven hundred wives and three\nhundred concubines, or had persecuted Christians even unto strange\ncities.\n\nThe church has pursued Paine to deter others. No effort has been in\nany age of the world spared to crush out opposition. The church used\npainting, music and architecture, simply to degrade mankind. But there\nare men that nothing can awe. There have been at all times brave spirits\nthat dared even the gods. Some proud head has always been above the\nwaves. In every age some Diogenes has sacrificed to all the gods. True\ngenius never cowers, and there is always some Samson feeling for the\npillars of authority.\n\nCathedrals and domes, and chimes and chants.--temples frescoed and\ngroined and carved, and gilded with gold--altars and tapers, and\npaintings of virgin and babe--censer and chalice--chasuble, paten\nand alb--organs, and anthems and incense rising to the winged and\nblest--maniple, amice and stole--crosses and crosiers, tiaras\nand crowns--mitres and missals and masses--rosaries, relics and\nrobes--martyrs and saints, and windows stained as with the blood of\nChrist--never, never for one moment awed the brave, proud spirit of the\nInfidel. He knew that all the pomp and glitter had been purchased with\nLiberty--that priceless jewel of the soul. In looking at the cathedral\nhe remembered the dungeon. The music of the organ was not loud enough\nto drown the clank of fetters. He could not forget that the taper had\nlighted the fagot. He knew that the cross adorned the hilt of the sword,\nand so where others worshiped, he wept and scorned.\n\nThe doubter, the investigator, the Infidel, have been the saviors\nof liberty. This truth is beginning to be realized, and the truly\nintellectual are honoring the brave thinkers of the past.\n\nBut the church is as unforgiving as ever, and still wonders why any\nInfidel should be wicked enough to endeavor to destroy her power.\n\nI will tell the church why.\n\nYou have imprisoned the human mind; you have been the enemy of liberty;\nyou have burned us at the stake--wasted us upon slow fires--torn\nour flesh with iron; you have covered us with chains--treated us as\noutcasts; you have filled the world with fear; you have taken our wives\nand children from our arms; you have confiscated our property; you have\ndenied us the right to testify in courts of justice; you have branded us\nwith infamy; you have torn out our tongues; you have refused us burial.\nIn the name of your religion, you have robbed us of every right; and\nafter having inflicted upon us every evil that can be inflicted in this\nworld, you have fallen upon your knees, and with clasped hands implored\nyour God to torment us forever.\n\nCan you wonder that we hate your doctrines--that we despise your\ncreeds--that we feel proud to know that we are beyond your power--that\nwe are free in spite of you--that we can express our honest thought, and\nthat the whole world is grandly rising into the blessed light?\n\nCan you wonder that we point with pride to the fact that Infidelity\nhas ever been found battling for the rights of man, for the liberty of\nconscience, and for the happiness of all?\n\nCan you wonder that we are proud to know that we have always been\ndisciples of Reason, and soldiers of Freedom; that we have denounced\ntyranny and superstition, and have kept our hands unstained with human\nblood?\n\nWe deny that religion is the end or object of this life. When it is so\nconsidered it becomes destructive of happiness--the real end of life.\nIt becomes a hydra-headed monster, reaching in terrible coils from the\nheavens, and thrusting its thousand fangs into the bleeding, quivering\nhearts of men. It devours their substance, builds palaces for God, (who\ndwells not in temples made with hands,) and allows his children to\ndie in huts and hovels. It fills the earth with mourning, heaven with\nhatred, the present with fear, and all the future with despair.\n\nVirtue is a subordination of the passions to the intellect. It is to\nact in accordance with your highest convictions. It does not consist in\nbelieving, but in doing. This is the sublime truth that the Infidels in\nall ages have uttered. They have handed the torch from one to the other\nthrough all the years that have fled. Upon the altar of Reason they have\nkept the sacred fire, and through the long midnight of faith they fed\nthe divine flame.\n\nInfidelity is liberty; all religion is slavery. In every creed man is\nthe slave of God--woman is the slave of man and the sweet children are\nthe slaves of all.\n\nWe do not want creeds; we want knowledge--we want happiness.\n\nAnd yet we are told by the church that we have accomplished nothing;\nthat we are simply destroyers; that we tear down without building again.\n\nIs it nothing to free the mind? Is it nothing to civilize mankind? Is it\nnothing to fill the world with light, with discovery, with science?\nIs it nothing to dignify man and exalt the intellect? Is it nothing to\ngrope your way into the dreary prisons, the damp and dropping dungeons,\nthe dark and silent cells of superstition, where the souls of men are\nchained to floors of stone; to greet them like a ray of light, like the\nsong of a bird, the murmur of a stream; to see the dull eyes open and\ngrow slowly bright; to feel yourself grasped by the shrunken and unused\nhands, and hear yourself thanked by a strange and hollow voice?\n\nIs it nothing to conduct these souls gradually into the blessed light of\nday--to let them see again the happy fields, the sweet, green earth, and\nhear the everlasting music of the waves? Is it nothing to make men wipe\nthe dust from their swollen knees, the tears from their blanched\nand furrowed cheeks? Is it a small thing to reave the heavens of an\ninsatiate monster and write upon the eternal dome, glittering with\nstars, the grand word--Freedom?\n\nIs it a small thing to quench the flames of hell with the holy tears of\npity--to unbind the martyr from the stake--break all the chains--put\nout the fires of civil war--stay the sword of the fanatic, and tear the\nbloody hands of the Church from the white throat of Science?\n\nIs it a small thing to make men truly free--to destroy the dogmas of\nignorance, prejudice and power--the poisoned fables of superstition, and\ndrive from the beautiful face of the earth the fiend of Fear?\n\nIt does seem as though the most zealous Christian must at times\nentertain some doubt as to the divine origin of his religion. For\neighteen hundred years the doctrine has been preached. For more than\na thousand years the church had, to a great extent, the control of the\ncivilized world, and what has been the result? Are the Christian nations\npatterns of charity and forbearance? On the contrary, their principal\nbusiness is to destroy each other. More than five millions of Christians\nare trained, educated, and drilled to murder their fellow-christians.\nEvery nation is groaning under a vast debt incurred in carrying on war\nagainst other Christians, or defending itself from Christian assault.\nThe world is covered with forts to protect Christians from Christians,\nand every sea is covered with iron monsters ready to blow Christian\nbrains into eternal froth. Millions upon millions are annually expended\nin the effort to construct still more deadly and terrible engines of\ndeath. Industry is crippled, honest toil is robbed, and even beggary is\ntaxed to defray the expenses of Christian warfare. There must be some\nother way to reform this world. We have tried creed, and dogma and\nfable, and they have failed; and they have failed in all the nations\ndead.\n\nThe people perish for the lack of knowledge.\n\nNothing but education--scientific education--can benefit mankind. We\nmust find out the laws of nature and conform to them.\n\nWe need free bodies and free minds,--free labor and free\nthought,--chainless hands and fetterless brains. Free labor will give us\nwealth. Free thought will give us truth.\n\nWe need men with moral courage to speak and write their real thoughts,\nand to stand by their convictions, even to the very death. We need have\nno fear of being too radical. The future will verify all grand and brave\npredictions. Paine was splendidly in advance of his time; but he was\northodox compared with the Infidels of to-day.\n\nScience, the great Iconoclast, has been busy since 1809, and by the\nhighway of Progress are the broken images of the Past.\n\nOn every hand the people advance. The Vicar of God has been pushed from\nthe throne of the Caesars, and upon the roofs of the Eternal City falls\nonce more the shadow of the Eagle.\n\nAll has been accomplished by the heroic few. The men of science have\nexplored heaven and earth, and with infinite patience have furnished\nthe facts. The brave thinkers have used them. The gloomy caverns of\nsuperstition have been transformed into temples of thought, and the\ndemons of the past are the angels of to-day.\n\nScience took a handful of sand, constructed a telescope, and with it\nexplored the starry depths of heaven. Science wrested from the gods\ntheir thunderbolts; and now, the electric spark, freighted with thought\nand love, flashes under all the waves of the sea. Science took a tear\nfrom the cheek of unpaid labor, converted it into steam, created a giant\nthat turns with tireless arm, the countless wheels of toil.\n\nThomas Paine was one of the intellectual heroes--one of the men to whom\nwe are indebted. His name is associated forever with the Great Republic.\nAs long as free government exists he will be remembered, admired and\nhonored.\n\nHe lived a long, laborious and useful life. The world is better for his\nhaving lived. For the sake of truth he accepted hatred and reproach for\nhis portion. He ate the bitter bread of sorrow. His friends were untrue\nto him because he was true to himself, and true to them. He lost the\nrespect of what is called society, but kept his own. His life is what\nthe world calls failure and what history calls success.\n\nIf to love your fellow-men more than self is goodness, Thomas Paine was\ngood.\n\nIf to be in advance of your time--to be a pioneer in the direction of\nright--is greatness, Thomas Paine was great.\n\nIf to avow your principles and discharge your duty in the presence of\ndeath is heroic, Thomas Paine was a hero.\n\nAt the age of seventy-three, death touched his tired heart. He died\nin the land his genius defended--under the flag he gave to the skies.\nSlander cannot touch him now--hatred cannot reach him more. He sleeps in\nthe sanctuary of the tomb, beneath the quiet of the stars.\n\nA few more years--a few more brave men--a few more rays of light, and\nmankind will venerate the memory of him who said:\n\n\"ANY SYSTEM OF RELIGION THAT SHOCKS THE MIND OF A CHILD CANNOT BE A TRUE\nSYSTEM;\"\n\n\"The world is my Country, and to do good my Religion.\"\n\n\n\n\nINDIVIDUALITY.\n\n\"His Soul was like a Star and dwelt apart.\"\n\nON every hand are the enemies of individuality and mental freedom.\nCustom meets us at the cradle and leaves us only at the tomb. Our first\nquestions are answered by ignorance, and our last by superstition. We\nare pushed and dragged by countless hands along the beaten track, and\nour entire training can be summed up in the word--suppression. Our\ndesire to have a thing or to do a thing is considered as conclusive\nevidence that we ought not to have it, and ought not to do it. At every\nturn we run against cherubim and a flaming sword guarding some entrance\nto the Eden of our desire. We are allowed to investigate all subjects in\nwhich we feel no particular interest, and to express the opinions of the\nmajority with the utmost freedom. We are taught that liberty of\nspeech should never be carried to the extent of contradicting the dead\nwitnesses of a popular superstition. Society offers continual rewards\nfor self-betrayal, and they are nearly all earned and claimed, and some\nare paid.\n\nWe have all read accounts of Christian gentlemen remarking, when about\nto be hanged, how much better it would have been for them if they had\nonly followed a mother's advice. But after all, how fortunate it is for\nthe world that the maternal advice has not always been followed. How\nfortunate it is for us all that it is somewhat unnatural for a human\nbeing to obey. Universal obedience is universal stagnation; disobedience\nis one of the conditions of progress. Select any age of the world and\ntell me what would have been the effect of implicit obedience. Suppose\nthe church had had absolute control of the human mind at any time, would\nnot the words liberty and progress have been blotted from human speech?\nIn defiance of advice, the world has advanced.\n\nSuppose the astronomers had controlled the science of astronomy; suppose\nthe doctors had controlled the science of medicine; suppose kings had\nbeen left to fix the forms of government; suppose our fathers had taken\nthe advice of Paul, who said, \"be subject to the powers that be, because\nthey are ordained of God;\" suppose the church could control the world\nto-day, we would go back to chaos and old night. Philosophy would be\nbranded as infamous; Science would again press its pale and thoughtful\nface against the prison bars, and round the limbs of liberty would climb\nthe bigot's flame.\n\nIt is a blessed thing that in every age some one has had individuality\nenough and courage enough to stand by his own convictions,--some one\nwho had the grandeur to say his say. I believe it was Magellan who said,\n\"The church says the earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the\nmoon, and I have more confidence even in a shadow than in the church.\"\nOn the prow of his ship were disobedience, defiance, scorn, and success.\n\nThe trouble with most people is, they bow to what is called authority;\nthey have a certain reverence for the old because it is old. They think\na man is better for being dead, especially if he has been dead a long\ntime. They think the fathers of their nation were the greatest and best\nof all mankind. All these things they implicitly believe because it is\npopular and patriotic, and because they were told so when they were very\nsmall, and remember distinctly of hearing mother read it out of a book.\nIt is hard to over-estimate the influence of early training in the\ndirection of superstition. You first teach children that a certain book\nis true--that it was written by God himself--that to question its truth\nis a sin, that to deny it is a crime, and that should they die without\nbelieving that book they will be forever damned without benefit of\nclergy. The consequence is, that long before they read that book, they\nbelieve it to be true. When they do read it their minds are wholly\nunfitted to investigate its claims. They accept it as a matter of\ncourse.\n\nIn this way the reason is overcome, the sweet instincts of humanity\nare blotted from the heart, and while reading its infamous pages even\njustice throws aside her scales, shrieking for revenge, and charity,\nwith bloody hands, applauds a deed of murder. In this way we are taught\nthat the revenge of man is the justice of God; that mercy is not the\nsame everywhere. In this way the ideas of our race have been subverted.\nIn this way we have made tyrants, bigots, and inquisitors. In this way\nthe brain of man has become a kind of palimpsest upon which, and over\nthe writings of nature, superstition has scrawled her countless lies.\nOne great trouble is that most teachers are dishonest. They teach as\ncertainties those things concerning which they entertain doubts. They\ndo not say, \"we _think_ this is so,\" but \"we _know_ this is so.\" They do\nnot appeal to the reason of the pupil, but they command his faith. They\nkeep all doubts to themselves; they do not explain, they assert. All\nthis is infamous. In this way you may make Christians, but you cannot\nmake men; you cannot make women. You can make followers, but no leaders;\ndisciples, but no Christs. You may promise power, honor, and happiness\nto all those who will blindly follow, but you cannot keep your promise.\n\nA monarch said to a hermit, \"Come with me and I will give you power.\"\n\n\"I have all the power that I know how to use\" replied the hermit.\n\n\"Come,\" said the king, \"I will give you wealth.\"\n\n\"I have no wants that money can supply,\" said the hermit.\n\n\"I will give you honor,\" said the monarch.\n\n\"Ah, honor cannot be given, it must be earned,\" was the hermit's answer.\n\n\"Come,\" said the king, making a last appeal, \"and I will give you\nhappiness.\"\n\n\"No,\" said the man of solitude, \"there is no happiness without liberty,\nand he who follows cannot be free.\"\n\n\"You shall have liberty too,\" said the king.\n\n\"Then I will stay where I am,\" said the old man.\n\nAnd all the king's courtiers thought the hermit a fool.\n\nNow and then somebody examines, and in spite of all keeps his manhood,\nand has the courage to follow where his reason leads. Then the pious\nget together and repeat wise saws, and exchange knowing nods and most\nprophetic winks. The stupidly wise sit owl-like on the dead limbs of the\ntree of knowledge, and solemnly hoot. Wealth sneers, and fashion laughs,\nand respectability passes by on the other side, and scorn points with\nall her skinny fingers, and all the snakes of superstition writhe and\nhiss, and slander lends her tongue, and infamy her brand, and perjury\nher oath, and the law its power, and bigotry tortures, and the church\nkills.\n\nThe church hates a thinker precisely for the same reason a robber\ndislikes a sheriff, or a thief despises the prosecuting witness. Tyranny\nlikes courtiers, flatterers, followers, fawners, and superstition wants\nbelievers, disciples, zealots, hypocrites, and subscribers. The church\ndemands worship--the very thing that man should give to no being, human\nor divine. To worship another is to degrade yourself. Worship is awe and\ndread and vague fear and blind hope. It is the spirit of worship that\nelevates the one and degrades the many; that builds palaces for robbers,\nerects monuments to crime, and forges manacles even for its own hands.\nThe spirit of worship is the spirit of tyranny. The worshiper always\nregrets that he is not the worshiped. We should all remember that the\nintellect has no knees, and that whatever the attitude of the body may\nbe, the brave soul is always found erect. Whoever worships, abdicates.\nWhoever believes at the command of power, tramples his own individuality\nbeneath his feet, and voluntarily robs himself of all that renders man\nsuperior to the brute.\n\nThe despotism of faith is justified upon the ground that Christian\ncountries are the grandest and most prosperous of the world. At one time\nthe same thing could have been truly said in India, in Egypt, in Greece,\nin Rome, and in every other country that has, in the history of the\nworld, swept to empire. This argument proves too much not only, but\nthe assumption upon which it is based is utterly false. Numberless\ncircumstances and countless conditions have produced the prosperity\nof the Christian world. The truth is, we have advanced in spite of\nreligious zeal, ignorance, and opposition. The church has won\nno victories for the rights of man. Luther labored to reform the\nchurch--Voltaire, to reform men. Over every fortress of tyranny has\nwaved, and still waves, the banner of the church. Wherever brave blood\nhas been shed, the sword of the church has been wet. On every chain has\nbeen the sign of the cross. The altar and throne have leaned against and\nsupported each other.\n\nAll that is good in our civilization is the result of commerce, climate,\nsoil, geographical position, industry, invention, discovery, art, and\nscience. The church has been the enemy of progress, for the reason\nthat it has endeavored to prevent man thinking for himself. To prevent\nthought is to prevent all advancement except in the direction of faith.\n\nWho can imagine the infinite impudence of a church assuming to think for\nthe human race? Who can imagine the infinite impudence of a church\nthat pretends to be the mouthpiece of God, and in his name threatens to\ninflict eternal punishment upon those who honestly reject its claims and\nscorn its pretensions? By what right does a man, or an organization\nof men, or a god, claim to hold a brain in bondage? When a fact can be\ndemonstrated, force is unnecessary; when it cannot be demonstrated, an\nappeal to force is infamous. In the presence of the unknown all have an\nequal right to think.\n\nOver the vast plain, called life, we are all travelers, and not one\ntraveler is perfectly certain that he is going in the right direction.\nTrue it is that no other plain is so well supplied with guide-boards. At\nevery turn and crossing you will find them, and upon each one is written\nthe exact direction and distance. One great trouble is, however, that\nthese boards are all different, and the result is that most travelers\nare confused in proportion to the number they read. Thousands of people\nare around each of these signs, and each one is doing his best to\nconvince the traveler that his particular board is the only one upon\nwhich the least reliance can be placed, and that if his road is taken\nthe reward for so doing will be infinite and eternal, while all the\nother roads are said to lead to hell, and all the makers of the other\nguide-boards are declared to be heretics, hypocrites and liars. \"Well,\"\nsays a traveler, \"you may be right in what you say, but allow me at\nleast to read some of the other directions and examine a little into\ntheir claims. I wish to rely a little upon my own judgment in a matter\nof so great importance.\" \"No, sir,\" shouts the zealot, \"that is the\nvery thing you are not allowed to do. You must go my way without\ninvestigation, or you are as good as damned already.\" \"Well,\" says the\ntraveler, \"if that is so, I believe I had better go your way.\" And so\nmost of them go along, taking the word of those who know as little as\nthemselves. Now and then comes one who, in spite of all threats, calmly\nexamines the claims of all, and as calmly rejects them all. These\ntravelers take roads of their own, and are denounced by all the others,\nas infidels and atheists.\n\nAround all of these guide-boards, as far as the eye can reach, the\nground is covered with mountains of human bones, crumbling and\nbleaching in the rain and sun. They are the bones of murdered men and\nwomen--fathers, mothers and babes.\n\nIn my judgment, every human being should take a road of his own. Every\nmind should be true to itself--should think, investigate and conclude\nfor itself. This is a duty alike incumbent upon pauper and prince. Every\nsoul should repel dictation and tyranny, no matter from what source they\ncome--from earth or heaven, from men or gods. Besides, every traveler\nupon this vast plain should give to every other traveler his best idea\nas to the road that should be taken. Each is entitled to the honest\nopinion of all. And there is but one way to get an honest opinion upon\nany subject whatever. The person giving the opinion must be free from\nfear. The merchant must not fear to lose his custom, the doctor his\npractice, nor the preacher his pulpit There can be no advance without\nliberty. Suppression of honest inquiry is retrogression, and must end in\nintellectual night. The tendency of orthodox religion to-day is toward\nmental slavery and barbarism. Not one of the orthodox ministers dare\npreach what he thinks if he knows a majority of his congregation think\notherwise. He knows that every member of his church stands guard over\nhis brain with a creed, like a club, in his hand. He knows that he\nis not expected to search after the truth, but that he is employed to\ndefend the creed. Every pulpit is a pillory, in which stands a hired\nculprit, defending the justice of his own imprisonment.\n\nIs it desirable that all should be exactly alike in their religious\nconvictions? Is any such thing possible? Do we not know that there are\nno two persons alike in the whole world? No two, trees, no two leaves,\nno two anythings that are alike? Infinite diversity is the law. Religion\ntries to force all minds into one mould. Knowing that all cannot\nbelieve, the church endeavors to make all say they believe. She longs\nfor the unity of hypocrisy, and detests the splendid diversity of\nindividuality and freedom.\n\nNearly all people stand in great horror of annihilation, and yet to\ngive up your individuality is to annihilate yourself. Mental slavery is\nmental death, and every man who has given up his intellectual freedom\nis the living coffin of his dead soul. In this sense, every church is a\ncemetery and every creed an epitaph.\n\nWe should all remember that to be like other people is to be unlike\nourselves, and that nothing can be more detestable in character than\nservile imitation. The great trouble with imitation is, that we are apt\nto ape those who are in reality far below us. After all, the poorest\nbargain that a human being can make, is to give his individuality for\nwhat is called respectability.\n\nThere is no saying more degrading than this: \"It is better to be the\ntail of a lion than the head of a dog.\" It is a responsibility to think\nand act for yourself. Most people hate responsibility; therefore they\njoin something and become the tail of some lion. They say, \"My party\ncan act for me--my church can do my thinking. It is enough for me to\npay taxes and obey the lion to which I belong, without troubling myself\nabout the right, the wrong, or the why or the wherefore of anything\nwhatever.\" These people are respectable. They hate reformers, and\ndislike exceedingly to have their minds disturbed. They regard\nconvictions as very disagreeable things to have. They love forms, and\nenjoy, beyond everything else, telling what a splendid tail their lion\nhas, and what a troublesome dog their neighbor is. Besides this natural\ninclination to avoid personal responsibility, is and always has been,\nthe fact, that every religionist has warned men against the presumption\nand wickedness of thinking for themselves. The reason has been denounced\nby all Christendom as the only unsafe guide. The church has left nothing\nundone to prevent man following the logic of his brain. The plainest\nfacts have been covered with the mantle of mystery. The grossest\nabsurdities have been declared to be self-evident facts. The order of\nnature has been, as it were, reversed, that the hypocritical few might\ngovern the honest many. The man who stood by the conclusion of his\nreason was denounced as a scorner and hater of God and his holy church.\nFrom the organization of the first church until this moment, to think\nyour own thoughts has been inconsistent with membership. Every member\nhas borne the marks of collar, and chain, and whip. No man ever\nseriously attempted to reform a church without being cast out and hunted\ndown by the hounds of hypocrisy. The highest crime against a creed is to\nchange it. Reformation is treason.\n\nThousands of young men are being educated at this moment by the various\nchurches. What for? In order that they may be prepared to investigate\nthe phenomena by which we are surrounded? No! The object, and the only\nobject, is that they may be prepared to defend a creed; that they may\nlearn the arguments of their respective churches, and repeat them in\nthe dull ears of a thoughtless congregation. If one, after being thus\ntrained at the expense of the Methodists, turns Presbyterian or Baptist,\nhe is denounced as an ungrateful wretch. Honest investigation is utterly\nimpossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you\nthink the church is right you will not investigate, and if you think it\nwrong, the church will investigate you. The consequence of this is,\nthat most of the theological literature is the result of suppression, of\nfear, tyranny and hypocrisy.\n\nEvery orthodox writer necessarily said to himself, \"If I write that, my\nwife and children may want for bread. I will be covered with shame and\nbranded with infamy; but if I write this, I will gain position, power,\nand honor. My church rewards defenders, and burns reformers.\"\n\nUnder these conditions all your Scotts, Hen-rys, and McKnights have\nwritten; and weighed in these scales, what are their commentaries worth?\nThey are not the ideas and decisions of honest judges, but the sophisms\nof the paid attorneys of superstition. Who can tell what the world has\nlost by this infamous system of suppression? How many grand thinkers\nhave died with the mailed hand of superstition upon their lips? How many\nsplendid ideas have perished in the cradle of the brain, strangled in\nthe poison-coils of that python, the Church!\n\nFor thousands of years a thinker was hunted down like an escaped\nconvict. To him who had braved the church, every door was shut, every\nknife was open. To shelter him from the wild storm, to give him a crust\nwhen dying, to put a cup of water to his cracked and bleeding lips;\nthese were all crimes, not one of which the church ever did forgive;\nand with the justice taught of her God, his helpless children were\nexterminated as scorpions and vipers.\n\nWho at the present day can imagine the courage, the devotion to\nprinciple, the intellectual and moral grandeur it once required to be an\ninfidel, to brave the church, her racks, her fagots, her dungeons, her\ntongues of fire,--to defy and scorn her heaven and her hell--her devil\nand her God? They were the noblest sons of earth. They were the real\nsaviors of our race, the destroyers of superstition and the creators of\nScience. They were the real Titans who bared their grand foreheads to\nall the thunderbolts of all the gods.\n\nThe church has been, and still is, the great robber. She has rifled not\nonly the pockets but the brains of the world. She is the stone at the\nsepulchre of liberty; the upas tree, in whose shade the intellect of man\nhas withered; the Gorgon beneath whose gaze the human heart has turned\nto stone. Under her influence even the Protestant mother expects to be\nhappy in heaven, while her brave boy, who fell fighting for the rights\nof man, shall writhe in hell.\n\nIt is said that some of the Indian tribes place the heads of their\nchildren between pieces of bark until the form of the skull is\npermanently changed. To us this seems a most shocking custom; and yet,\nafter all, is it as bad as to put the souls of our children in the\nstrait-jacket of a creed? to so utterly deform their minds that they\nregard the God of the Bible as a being of infinite mercy, and\nreally consider it a virtue to believe a thing just because it seems\nunreasonable? Every child in the Christian world has uttered its\nwondering protest against this outrage. All the machinery of the church\nis constantly employed in corrupting the reason of children. In every\npossible way they are robbed of their own thoughts and forced to accept\nthe statements of others. Every Sunday school has for its object the\ncrushing out of every germ of individuality. The poor children are\ntaught that nothing can be more acceptable to God than unreasoning\nobedience and eyeless faith, and that to believe God did an impossible\nact, is far better than to do a good one yourself. They are told that\nall religions have been simply the John-the-Baptists of ours; that all\nthe gods of antiquity have withered and shrunken into the Jehovah of the\nJews; that all the longings and aspirations of the race are realized in\nthe motto of the Evangelical Alliance, \"Liberty in non-essentials\",\nthat all there is, or ever was, of religion can be found in the\napostles' creed; that there is nothing left to be discovered; that all\nthe thinkers are dead, and all the living should simply be believers;\nthat we have only to repeat the epitaph found on the grave of wisdom;\nthat grave-yards are the best possible universities, and that the\nchildren must be forever beaten with the bones of the fathers.\n\nIt has always seemed absurd to suppose that a god would choose for his\ncompanions, during all eternity, the dear souls whose highest and only\nambition is to obey. He certainly would now and then be tempted to make\nthe same remark made by an English gentleman to his poor guest. The\ngentleman had invited a man in humble circumstances to dine with him.\nThe man was so overcome with the honor that to everything the gentleman\nsaid he replied \"Yes.\" Tired at last with the monotony of acquiescence,\nthe gentleman cried out, \"For God's sake, my good man, say 'No,' just\nonce, so there will be two of us.\"\n\nIs it possible that an infinite God created this world simply to be the\ndwelling-place of slaves and serfs? simply for the purpose of raising\northodox Christians? That he did a few miracles to astonish them; that\nall the evils of life are simply his punishments, and that he is finally\ngoing to turn heaven into a kind of religious museum filled with Baptist\nbarnacles, petrified Presbyterians and Methodist mummies? I want no\nheaven for which I must give my reason; no happiness in exchange for\nmy liberty, and no immortality that demands the surrender of my\nindividuality. Better rot in the windowless tomb, to which there is no\ndoor but the red mouth of the pallid worm, than wear the jeweled collar\neven of a god.\n\nReligion does not, and cannot, contemplate man as free. She accepts only\nthe homage of the prostrate, and scorns the offerings of those who stand\nerect. She cannot tolerate the liberty of thought. The wide and sunny\nfields belong not to her domain. The star-lit heights of genius and\nindividuality are above and beyond her appreciation and power. Her\nsubjects cringe at her feet, covered with the dust of obedience.\n\nThey are not athletes standing posed by rich life and brave endeavor\nlike antique statues, but shriveled deformities, studying with furtive\nglance the cruel face of power.\n\nNo religionist seems capable of comprehending this plain truth. There\nis this difference between thought and action: for our actions we\nare responsible to ourselves and to those injuriously affected; for\nthoughts, there can, in the nature of things, be no responsibility to\ngods or men, here or hereafter. And yet the Protestant has vied with\nthe Catholic in denouncing freedom of thought; and while I was taught to\nhate Catholicism with every drop of my blood, it is only justice to\nsay, that in all essential particulars it is precisely the same as every\nother religion. Luther denounced mental liberty with all the coarse and\nbrutal vigor of his nature; Calvin despised, from the very bottom of his\npetrified heart, anything that even looked like religious toleration,\nand solemnly declared that to advocate it was to crucify Christ afresh.\nAll the founders of all the orthodox churches have advocated the\nsame infamous tenet. The truth is, that what is called religion is\nnecessarily inconsistent with free thought A believer is a bird in a\ncage, a Freethinker is an eagle parting the clouds with tireless wing.\n\nAt present, owing to the inroads that have been made by liberals and\ninfidels, most of the churches pretend to be in favor of religious\nliberty. Of these churches, we will ask this question: How can a man,\nwho conscientiously believes in religious liberty, worship a God who\ndoes not? They say to us: \"We will not imprison you on account of your\nbelief, but our God will.\" \"We will not burn you because you throw away\nthe sacred Scriptures, but their author will.\" \"We think it an infamous\ncrime to persecute our brethren for opinion's sake,--but the God, whom\nwe ignorantly worship, will on that account, damn his own children\nforever.\"\n\nWhy is it that these Christians not only detest the infidels, but\ncordially despise each other? Why do they refuse to worship in the\ntemples of each other? Why do they care so little for the damnation of\nmen, and so much for the baptism of children? Why will they adorn their\nchurches with the money of thieves and flatter vice for the sake of\nsubscriptions? Why will they attempt to bribe Science to certify to\nthe writings of God? Why do they torture the words of the great into an\nacknowledgment of the truth of Christianity? Why do they stand with hat\nin hand before presidents, kings, emperors, and scientists, begging,\nlike Lazarus, for a few crumbs of religious comfort? Why are they so\ndelighted to find an allusion to Providence in the message of Lincoln?\nWhy are they so afraid that some one will find out that Paley wrote an\nessay in favor of the Epicurean philosophy, and that Sir Isaac Newton\nwas once an infidel? Why are they so anxious to show that Voltaire\nrecanted; that Paine died palsied with fear; that the Emperor Julian\ncried out \"Galilean, thou hast conquered\"; that Gibbon died a Catholic;\nthat Agassiz had a little confidence in Moses; that the old Napoleon\nwas once complimentary enough to say that he thought Christ greater\nthan himself or Caesar; that Washington was caught on his knees at Valley\nForge; that blunt old Ethan Allen told his child to believe the religion\nof her mother; that Franklin said, \"Don't unchain the tiger,\" and that\nVolney got frightened in a storm at sea?\n\nIs it because the foundation of their temple is crumbling, because the\nwalls are cracked, the pillars leaning, the great dome swaying to its\nfall, and because Science has written over the high altar its mene,\nmene, tekel, upharsin--the old words, destined to be the epitaph of all\nreligions?\n\nEvery assertion of individual independence has been a step toward\ninfidelity. Luther started toward Humboldt,--Wesley, toward John Stuart\nMill. To really reform the church is to destroy it. Every new religion\nhas a little less superstition than the old, so that the religion of\nScience is but a question of time.\n\nI will not say the church has been an unmitigated evil in all respects.\nIts history is infamous and glorious. It has delighted in the production\nof extremes. It has furnished murderers for its own martyrs. It has\nsometimes fed the body, but has always starved the soul. It has been a\ncharitable highwayman--a profligate beggar--a generous pirate. It\nhas produced some angels and a multitude of devils. It has built more\nprisons than asylums. It made a hundred orphans while it cared for one.\nIn one hand it has carried the alms-dish and in the other a sword.\nIt has founded schools and endowed universities for the purpose of\ndestroying true learning. It filled the world with hypocrites and\nzealots, and upon the cross of its own Christ it crucified the\nindividuality of man. It has sought to destroy the independence of the\nsoul and put the world upon its knees. This is its crime. The commission\nof this crime was necessary to its existence. In order to compel\nobedience it declared that it had the truth, and all the truth; that God\nhad made it the keeper of his secrets; his agent and his vicegerent. It\ndeclared that all other religions were false and infamous. It rendered\nall compromise impossible and all thought superfluous. Thought was its\nenemy, obedience was its friend. Investigation was fraught with danger;\ntherefore investigation was suppressed. The holy of holies was behind\nthe curtain. All this was upon the principle that forgers hate to\nhave the signature examined by an expert, and that imposture detests\ncuriosity.\n\n\"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear,\" has always been the favorite\ntext of the church.\n\nIn short, Christianity has always opposed every forward movement of the\nhuman race. Across the highway of progress it has always been building\nbreastworks of Bibles, tracts, commentaries, prayer-books, creeds,\ndogmas and platforms, and at every advance the Christians have gathered\ntogether behind these heaps of rubbish and shot the poisoned arrows of\nmalice at the soldiers of freedom.\n\nAnd even the liberal Christian of to-day has his holy of holies, and in\nthe niche of the temple of his heart has his idol. He still clings to a\npart of the old superstition, and all the pleasant memories of the old\nbelief linger in the horizon of his thoughts like a sunset. We associate\nthe memory of those we love with the religion of our childhood. It\nseems almost a sacrilege to rudely destroy the idols that our fathers\nworshiped, and turn their sacred and beautiful truths into the fables of\nbarbarism. Some throw away the Old Testament and cling to the New, while\nothers give up everything except the idea that there is a personal God,\nand that in some wonderful way we are the objects of his care.\n\nEven this, in my opinion, as Science, the great iconoclast, marches\nonward, will have to be abandoned with the rest. The great ghost\nwill surely share the fate of the little ones. They fled at the first\nappearance of the dawn, and the other will vanish with the perfect\nday. Until then the independence of man is little more than a dream.\nOvershadowed by an immense personality, in the presence of the\nirresponsible and the infinite, the individuality of man is lost, and\nhe falls prostrate in the very dust of fear. Beneath the frown of the\nabsolute, man stands a wretched, trembling slave,--beneath his smile he\nis at best only a fortunate serf. Governed by a being whose arbitrary\nwill is law, chained to the chariot of power, his destiny rests in the\npleasure of the unknown. Under these circumstances, what wretched object\ncan he have in lengthening out his aimless life?\n\nAnd yet, in most minds, there is a vague fear of the gods--a shrinking\nfrom the malice of the skies. Our fathers were slaves, and nearly all\ntheir children are mental serfs. The enfranchisement of the soul is\na slow and painful process. Superstition, the mother of those hideous\ntwins, Fear and Faith, from her throne of skulls, still rules the world,\nand will until the mind of woman ceases to be the property of priests.\n\nWhen women reason, and babes sit in the lap of philosophy, the victory\nof reason over the shadowy host of darkness will be complete.\n\nIn the minds of many, long after the intellect has thrown aside as\nutterly fabulous the legends of the church, there still remains a\nlingering suspicion, born of the mental habits contracted in childhood,\nthat after all there may be a grain of truth in these mountains of\ntheological mist, and that possibly the superstitious side is the side\nof safety.\n\nA gentleman, walking among the ruins of Athens, came upon a fallen\nstatue of Jupiter; making an exceedingly low bow he said: \"O Jupiter!\nI salute thee.\" He then added: \"Should you ever sit upon the throne of\nheaven again, do not, I pray you, forget that I treated you politely\nwhen you were prostrate.\"\n\nWe have all been taught by the church that nothing is so well calculated\nto excite the ire of the Deity as to express a doubt as to his\nexistence, and that to deny it is an unpardonable sin. Numerous\nwell-attested instances are referred to of atheists being struck dead\nfor denying the existence of God. According to these religious people,\nGod is infinitely above us in every respect, infinitely merciful, and\nyet he cannot bear to hear a poor finite man honestly question his\nexistence. Knowing, as he does, that his children are groping in\ndarkness and struggling with doubt and fear; knowing that he could\nenlighten them if he would, he still holds the expression of a sincere\ndoubt as to his existence, the most infamous of crimes. According to\northodox logic, God having furnished us with imperfect minds, has a\nright to demand a perfect result.\n\nSuppose Mr. Smith should overhear a couple of small bugs holding a\ndiscussion as to the existence of Mr. Smith, and suppose one should have\nthe temerity to declare, upon the honor of a bug, that he had examined\nthe whole question to the best of his ability, including the argument\nbased upon design, and had come to the conclusion that no man by the\nname of Smith had ever lived. Think then of Mr. Smith flying into an\necstasy of rage, crushing the atheist bug beneath his iron heel, while\nhe exclaimed, \"I will teach you, blasphemous wretch, that Smith is a\ndiabolical fact!\" What then can we think of a God who would open the\nartillery of heaven upon one of his own children for simply expressing\nhis honest thought? And what man who really thinks can help repeating\nthe words of Ennius: \"If there are gods they certainly pay no attention\nto the affairs of man.\"\n\nThink of the millions of men and women who have been destroyed simply\nfor loving and worshiping this God. Is it possible that this God, having\ninfinite power, saw his loving and heroic children languishing in the\ndarkness of dungeons; heard the clank of their chains when they lifted\ntheir hands to him in the agony of prayer; saw them stretched upon the\nbigot's rack, where death alone had pity; saw the serpents of flame\ncrawl hissing round their shrinking forms---saw all this for sixteen\nhundred years, and sat as silent as a stone?\n\nFrom such a God, why should man expect assistance? Why should he waste\nhis days in fruitless prayer? Why should he fall upon his knees and\nimplore a phantom--a phantom that is deaf, and dumb, and blind?\n\nAlthough we live in what is called a free government,--and politically\nwe are free,--there is but little religious liberty in America. Society\ndemands, either that you belong to some church, or that you suppress\nyour opinions. It is contended by many that ours is a Christian\ngovernment, founded upon the Bible, and that all who look upon that book\nas false or foolish are destroying the foundation of our country. The\ntruth is, our government is not founded upon the rights of gods, but\nupon the rights of men. Our Constitution was framed, not to declare and\nuphold the deity of Christ, but the sacredness of humanity. Ours is the\nfirst government made by the people and for the people. It is the only\nnation with which the gods have had nothing to do. And yet there are\nsome judges dishonest and cowardly enough to solemnly decide that this\nis a Christian country, and that our free institutions are based upon\nthe infamous laws of Jehovah. Such judges are the Jeffries of the\nchurch. They believe that decisions, made by hirelings at the bidding of\nkings, are binding upon man forever. They regard old law as far superior\nto modern justice. They are what might be called orthodox judges. They\nspend their days in finding out, not what ought to be, but what has\nbeen. With their backs to the sunrise they worship the night. There is\nonly one future event with which they concern themselves, and that is\ntheir reelection. No honest court ever did, or ever will, decide that\nour Constitution is Christian. The Bible teaches that the powers that\nbe, are ordained of God. The Bible teaches that God is the source of all\nauthority, and that all kings have obtained their power from him. Every\ntyrant has claimed to be the agent of the Most High. The Inquisition\nwas founded, not in the name of man, but in the name of God. All the\ngovernments of Europe recognize the greatness of God, and the littleness\nof the people. In all ages, hypocrites, called priests, have put crowns\nupon the heads of thieves, called kings.\n\nThe Declaration of Independence announces the sublime truth, that all\npower comes from the people. This was a denial, and the first denial of\na nation, of the infamous dogma that God confers the right upon one man\nto govern others. It was the first grand assertion of the dignity of the\nhuman race. It declared the governed to be the source of power, and\nin fact denied the authority of any and all gods. Through the ages of\nslavery--through the weary centuries of the lash and chain, God was the\nacknowledged ruler of the world. To enthrone man, was to dethrone him.\n\nTo Paine, Jefferson, and Franklin, are we indebted, more than to all\nothers, for a human government, and for a Constitution in which no God\nis recognized superior to the legally expressed will of the people.\n\nThey knew that to put God in the Constitution was to put man out. They\nknew that the recognition of a Deity would be seized upon by fanatics\nand zealots as a pretext for destroying the liberty of thought. They\nknew the terrible history of the church too well to place in her\nkeeping, or in the keeping of her God, the sacred rights of man. They\nintended that all should have the right to worship, or not to worship;\nthat our laws should make no distinction on account of creed. They\nintended to found and frame a government for man, and for man alone.\nThey wished to preserve the individuality and liberty of all; to prevent\nthe few from governing the many, and the many from persecuting and\ndestroying the few.\n\nNotwithstanding all this, the spirit of persecution still lingers in our\nlaws. In many of the States, only those who believe in the existence of\nsome kind of God, are under the protection of the law.\n\nThe supreme court of Illinois decided, in the year of grace 1856, that\nan unbeliever in the existence of an intelligent First Cause could not\nbe allowed to testify in any court. His wife and children might have\nbeen murdered before his very face, and yet in the absence of other\nwitnesses, the murderer could not have even been indicted. The atheist\nwas a legal outcast. To him, Justice was not only blind, but deaf. He\nwas liable, like other men, to support the Government, and was forced to\ncontribute his share towards paying the salaries of the very judges\nwho decided that under no circumstances could his voice be heard in any\ncourt. This was the law of Illinois, and so remained until the\nadoption of the new Constitution. By such infamous means has the church\nendeavored to chain the human mind, and protect the majesty of her God.\nThe fact is, we have no national religion, and no national God; but\nevery citizen is allowed to have a religion and a God of his own, or\nto reject all religions and deny the existence of all gods. The church,\nhowever, never has, and never will understand and appreciate the genius\nof our Government.\n\nLast year, in a convention of Protestant bigots, held in the city of New\nYork for the purpose of creating public opinion in favor of a religious\namendment to the Federal Constitution, a reverend doctor of divinity,\nspeaking of atheists, said: \"What are the rights of the atheist? I would\ntolerate him as I would tolerate a poor lunatic. I would tolerate him as\nI would tolerate a conspirator. He may live and go free, hold his\nlands and enjoy his home--he may even vote; but for any higher or more\nadvanced citizenship, he is, as I hold, utterly disqualified.\" These are\nthe sentiments of the church to-day.\n\nGive the church a place in the Constitution, let her touch once more\nthe sword of power, and the priceless fruit of all the ages will turn to\nashes on the lips of men.\n\nIn religious ideas and conceptions there has been for ages a slow and\nsteady development At the bottom of the ladder (speaking of modern\ntimes) is Catholicism, and at the top is Science. The intermediate\nrounds of this ladder are occupied by the various sects, whose name is\nlegion.\n\nBut whatever may be the truth upon any subject has nothing to do\nwith-our right to investigate that subject, and express any opinion\nwe may form. All that I ask, is the same right I freely accord to all\nothers.\n\nA few years ago a Methodist clergyman took it upon himself to give me a\npiece of friendly advice. \"Although you may disbelieve the Bible,\" said\nhe, \"you ought not to say so. That, you should keep to yourself.\"\n\n\"Do you believe the Bible,\" said I.\n\nHe replied, \"Most assuredly\".\n\nTo which I retorted, \"Your answer conveys no information to me. You may\nbe following your own advice. You told me to suppress my opinions. Of\ncourse a man who will advise others to dissimulate will not always be\nparticular about telling the truth himself.\"\n\nThere can be nothing more utterly subversive of all that is really\nvaluable than the suppression of honest thought. No man, worthy of the\nform he bears, will at the command of church or state solemnly repeat a\ncreed his reason scorns.\n\nIt is the duty of each and every one to maintain his individuality.\n\"This above all, to thine ownself be true, and it must follow as\nthe night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.\" It is\na magnificent thing to be the sole proprietor of yourself. It is a\nterrible thing to wake up at night and say, \"There is nobody in this\nbed.\" It is humiliating to know that your ideas are all borrowed; that\nyou are indebted to your memory for your principles; that your religion\nis simply one of your habits, and that you would have convictions if\nthey were only contagious. It is mortifying to feel that you belong to\na mental mob and cry \"crucify him,\" because the others do; that you reap\nwhat the great and brave have sown, and that you can benefit the world\nonly by leaving it.\n\nSurely every human being ought to attain to the dignity of the unit.\nSurely it is worth something to be one, and to feel that the census of\nthe universe would be incomplete without counting you. Surely there\nis grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought, at least, you are\nwithout a chain; that you have the right to explore all heights and all\ndepths; that there are no walls nor fences, nor prohibited places, nor\nsacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought; that your intellect\nowes no allegiance to any being, human or divine; that you hold all in\nfee and upon no condition and by no tenure whatever; that in the world\nof mind you are relieved from all personal dictation, and from the\nignorant tyranny of majorities. Surely it is worth something to feel\nthat there are no priests, no popes, no parties, no governments,\nno kings, no gods, to whom your intellect can be compelled to pay\na reluctant homage. Surely it is a joy to know that all the cruel\ningenuity of bigotry can devise no prison, no dungeon, no cell in which\nfor one instant to confine a thought; that ideas cannot be dislocated\nby racks, nor crushed in iron boots, nor burned with fire. Surely it is\nsublime to think that the brain is a castle, and that within its curious\nbastions and winding halls the soul, in spite of all worlds and all\nbeings, is the supreme sovereign of itself.\n\n\n\n\nHERETICS AND HERESIES.\n\nLiberty, a Word without which all other Words are Vain.\n\nWHOEVER has an opinion of his own, and honestly expresses it, will be\nguilty of heresy. Heresy is what the minority believe; it is the name\ngiven by the powerful to the doctrine of the weak. This word was born of\nthe hatred, arrogance and cruelty of those who love their enemies, and\nwho, when smitten on one cheek, turn the other. This word was born of\nintellectual slavery in the feudal ages of thought It was an epithet\nused in the place of argument. From the commencement of the Christian\nera, every art has been exhausted and every conceivable punishment\ninflicted to force all people to hold the same religious opinions. This\neffort was born of the idea that a certain belief was necessary to the\nsalvation of the soul. Christ taught, and the church still teaches,\nthat unbelief is the blackest of crimes. God is supposed to hate with\nan infinite and implacable hatred, every heretic upon the earth, and the\nheretics who have died are supposed at this moment to be suffering the\nagonies of the damned. The church persecutes the living and her God\nburns the dead.\n\nIt is claimed that God wrote a book called the Bible, and it is\ngenerally admitted that this book is somewhat difficult to understand.\nAs long as the church had all the copies of this book, and the people\nwere not allowed to read it, there was comparatively little heresy in\nthe world; but when it was printed and read, people began honestly to\ndiffer as to its meaning. A few were independent and brave enough to\ngive the world their real thoughts, and for the extermination of these\nmen the church used all her power. Protestants and Catholics vied with\neach other in the work of enslaving the human mind. For ages they were\nrivals in the infamous effort to rid the earth of honest people. They\ninfested every country, every city, town, hamlet and family. They\nappealed to the worst passions of the human heart They sowed the seeds\nof discord and hatred in every land. Brother denounced brother, wives\ninformed against their husbands, mothers accused their children,\ndungeons were crowded with the innocent; the flesh of the good and true\nrotted in the clasp of chains; the flames devoured the heroic, and in\nthe name of the most merciful God, his children were exterminated with\nfamine, sword, and fire. Over the wild waves of battle rose and fell\nthe banner of Jesus Christ. For sixteen hundred years the robes of the\nchurch were red with innocent blood. The ingenuity of Christians was\nexhausted in devising punishment severe enough to be inflicted upon\nother Christians who honestly and sincerely differed with them upon any\npoint whatever.\n\nGive any orthodox church the power, and to-day they would punish heresy\nwith whip, and chain, and fire. As long as a church deems a certain\nbelief essential to salvation, just so long it will kill and burn if it\nhas the power. Why should the church pity a man whom her God hates? Why\nshould she show mercy to a kind and noble heretic whom her God will burn\nin eternal fire? Why should a Christian be better than his God? It is\nimpossible for the imagination to conceive of a greater atrocity than\nhas been perpetrated by the church. Every nerve in the human body\ncapable of pain has been sought out and touched by the church.\n\nLet it be remembered that all churches have persecuted heretics to the\nextent of their power. Toleration has increased only when and where the\npower of the church has diminished. From Augustine until now the\nspirit of the Christians has remained the same. There has been the same\nintolerance, the same undying hatred of all who think for themselves,\nand the same determination to crush out of the human brain all knowledge\ninconsistent with an ignorant creed.\n\nEvery church pretends that it has a revelation from God, and that this\nrevelation must be given to the people through the church; that the\nchurch acts through its priests, and that ordinary mortals must be\ncontent with a revelation--not from God--but from the church. Had the\npeople submitted to this preposterous claim, of course there could have\nbeen but one church, and that church never could have advanced. It might\nhave retrograded, because it is not necessary to think or investigate in\norder to forget. Without heresy there could have been no progress.\n\nThe highest type of the orthodox Christian does not forget; neither\ndoes he learn. He neither advances nor recedes. He is a living fossil\nembedded in that rock called faith. He makes no effort to better his\ncondition, because all his strength is exhausted in keeping other people\nfrom improving theirs. The supreme desire of his heart is to force all\nothers to adopt his creed, and in order to accomplish this object he\ndenounces free thinking as a crime, and this crime he calls heresy. When\nhe had power, heresy was the most terrible and formidable of words. It\nmeant confiscation, exile, imprisonment, torture, and death.\n\nIn those days the cross and rack were inseparable companions. Across\nthe open Bible lay the sword and fagot. Not content with burning such\nheretics as were alive, they even tried the dead, in order that the\nchurch might rob their wives and children. The property of all heretics\nwas confiscated, and on this account they charged the dead with being\nheretical--indicted, as it were, their dust--to the end that the\nchurch might clutch the bread of orphans. Learned divines discussed\nthe propriety of tearing out the tongues of heretics before they were\nburned, and the general opinion was, that this ought to be done so that\nthe heretics should not be able, by uttering blasphemies, to shock\nthe Christians who were burning them. With a mixture of ferocity and\nChristianity, the priests insisted that heretics ought to be burned at\na slow fire, giving as a reason that more time was given them for\nrepentance.\n\nNo wonder that Jesus Christ said, \"I came not to bring peace, but a\nsword.\"\n\nEvery priest regarded himself as the agent of God. He answered all\nquestions by authority, and to treat him with disrespect was an insult\noffered to God. No one was asked to think, but all were commanded to\nobey.\n\nIn 1208 the Inquisition was established. Seven years afterward, the\nfourth council of the Lateran enjoined all kings and rulers to swear\nan oath that they would exterminate heretics from their dominions. The\nsword of the church was unsheathed, and the world was at the mercy of\nignorant and infuriated priests, whose eyes feasted upon the agonies\nthey inflicted. Acting, as they believed, or pretended to believe, under\nthe command of God; stimulated by the hope of infinite reward in another\nworld--hating heretics with every drop of their bestial blood; savage\nbeyond description; merciless beyond conception,--these infamous\npriests, in a kind of frenzied joy, leaped upon the helpless victims of\ntheir rage. They crushed their bones in iron boots; tore their quivering\nflesh with iron hooks and pincers; cut off their lips and eyelids;\npulled out their nails, and into the bleeding quick thrust needles; tore\nout their tongues; extinguished their eyes; stretched them upon racks;\nflayed them alive; crucified them with their heads downward; exposed\nthem to wild beasts; burned them at the stake; mocked their cries and\ngroans; ravished their wives; robbed their children, and then prayed God\nto finish the holy work in hell.\n\nMillions upon millions were sacrificed upon the altars of bigotry. The\nCatholic burned the Lutheran, the Lutheran burned the Catholic, the\nEpiscopalian tortured the Presbyterian, the Presbyterian tortured the\nEpiscopalian. Every denomination killed all it could of every other; and\neach Christian felt in duty bound to exterminate every other Christian\nwho denied the smallest fraction of his creed.\n\nIn the reign of Henry VIII.--that pious and moral founder of the\napostolic Episcopal Church,--there was passed by the parliament of\nEngland an act entitled \"An act for abolishing of diversity of opinion.\"\nAnd in this act was set forth what a good Christian was obliged to\nbelieve: First, That in the sacrament was the real body and blood of\nJesus Christ.\n\nSecond, That the body and blood of Jesus Christ was in the bread, and\nthe blood and body of Jesus Christ was in the wine.\n\nThird, That priests should not marry.\n\nFourth, That vows of chastity were of perpetual obligation.\n\nFifth, That private masses ought to be continued; and,\n\nSixth, That auricular confession to a priest must be maintained.\n\nThis creed was made by law, in order that all men might know just what\nto believe by simply reading the statute. The church hated to see the\npeople wearing out their brains in thinking upon these subjects. It was\nthought far better that a creed should be made by parliament, so that\nwhatever might be lacking in evidence might be made up in force. The\npunishment for denying the first article was death by fire. For\nthe denial of any other article, imprisonment, and for the second\noffence--death.\n\nYour attention is called to these six articles, established during the\nreign of Henry VIII., and by the Church of England, simply because not\none of these articles is believed by that church to-day. If the law then\nmade by the church could be enforced now, every Episcopalian would be\nburned at the stake.\n\nSimilar laws were passed in most Christian countries, as all orthodox\nchurches firmly believed that mankind could be legislated into heaven.\nAccording to the creed of every church, slavery leads to heaven, liberty\nleads to hell. It was claimed that God had founded the church, and that\nto deny the authority of the church was to be a traitor to God, and\nconsequently an ally of the devil. To torture and destroy one of the\nsoldiers of Satan was a duty no good Christian cared to neglect. Nothing\ncan be sweeter than to earn the gratitude of God by killing your own\nenemies. Such a mingling of profit and revenge, of heaven for yourself\nand damnation for those you dislike, is a temptation that your ordinary\nChristian never resists.\n\nAccording to the theologians, God, the Father of us all, wrote a letter\nto his children. The children have always differed somewhat as to the\nmeaning of this letter. In consequence of these honest differences,\nthese brothers began to cut out each other's hearts. In every land,\nwhere this letter from God has been read, the children to whom and for\nwhom it was written have been filled with hatred and malice. They have\nimprisoned and murdered each other, and the wives and children of each\nother. In the name of God every possible crime has been committed, every\nconceivable outrage has been perpetrated. Brave men, tender and loving\nwomen, beautiful girls, and prattling babes have been exterminated in\nthe name of Jesus Christ. For more than fifty generations the church\nhas carried the black flag. Her vengeance has been measured only by\nher power. During all these years of infamy no heretic has ever been\nforgiven. With the heart of a fiend she has hated; with the clutch of\navarice she has grasped; with the jaws of a dragon she has devoured;\npitiless as famine, merciless as fire, with the conscience of a serpent:\nsuch is the history of the Church of God.\n\nI do not say, and I do not believe, that Christians are as bad as their\ncreeds. In spite of church and dogma, there have been millions and\nmillions of men and women true to the loftiest and most generous\npromptings of the human heart. They have been true to their convictions,\nand, with a self-denial and fortitude excelled by none, have labored\nand suffered for the salvation of men. Imbued with the spirit of\nself-sacrifice, believing that by personal effort they could rescue at\nleast a few souls from the infinite shadow of hell, they have\ncheerfully endured every hardship and scorned every danger. And yet,\nnotwithstanding all this, they believed that honest error was a crime.\nThey knew that the Bible so declared, and they believed that all\nunbelievers would be eternally lost. They believed that religion was\nof God, and all heresy of the devil. They killed heretics in defence\nof their own souls and the souls of their children. They killed them\nbecause, according to their idea, they were the enemies of God, and\nbecause the Bible teaches that the blood of the unbeliever is a most\nacceptable sacrifice to heaven.\n\nNature never prompted a loving mother to throw her child into the\nGanges. Nature never prompted men to exterminate each other for a\ndifference of opinion concerning the baptism of infants. These crimes\nhave been produced by religions filled with all that is illogical,\ncruel and hideous. These religions were produced for the most part by\nignorance, tyranny and hypocrisy. Under the impression that the infinite\nruler and creator of the universe had commanded the destruction of\nheretics and infidels, the church perpetrated all these crimes.\n\nMen and women have been burned for thinking there is but one God; that\nthere was none; that the Holy Ghost is younger than God; that God was\nsomewhat older than his son; for insisting that good works will save a\nman without faith; that faith will do without good works; for declaring\nthat a sweet babe will not be burned eternally, because its parents\nfailed to have its head wet by a priest; for speaking of God as\nthough he had a nose; for denying that Christ was his own father; for\ncontending that three persons, rightly added together, make more than\none; for believing in purgatory; for denying the reality of hell; for\npretending that priests can forgive sins; for preaching that God is an\nessence; for denying that witches rode through the air on sticks;\nfor doubting the total depravity of the human heart; for laughing\nat irresistible grace, predestination and particular redemption; for\ndenying that good bread could be made of the body of a dead man; for\npretending that the pope was not managing this world for God, and in the\nplace of God; for disputing the efficacy of a vicarious atonement; for\nthinking the Virgin Mary was born like other people; for thinking that a\nman's rib was hardly sufficient to make a good-sized woman; for denying\nthat God used his finger for a pen; for asserting that prayers are not\nanswered, that diseases are not sent to punish unbelief; for denying\nthe authority of the Bible; for having a Bible in their possession; for\nattending mass, and for refusing to attend; for wearing a surplice; for\ncarrying a cross, and for refusing; for being a Catholic, and for being\na Protestant; for being an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, a Baptist, and\nfor being a Quaker. In short, every virtue has been a crime, and every\ncrime a virtue. The church has burned honesty and rewarded hypocrisy.\nAnd all this, because it was commanded by a book--a book that men had\nbeen taught implicitly to believe, long, before they knew one word that\nwas in it They had been taught that to doubt the truth of this book--to\nexamine it, even--was a crime of such enormity that it could not be\nforgiven, either in this world or in the next The Bible was the real\npersecutor. The Bible burned heretics, built dungeons, founded the\nInquisition, and trampled upon all the liberties of men.\n\nHow long, O how long will mankind worship a book? How long will they\ngrovel in the dust before the ignorant legends of the barbaric past?\nHow long, O how long will they pursue phantoms in a darkness deeper than\ndeath?\n\nUnfortunately for the world, about the beginning of the sixteenth\ncentury, a man by the name of Gerard Chauvin was married to Jeanne\nLefranc, and still more unfortunately for the world, the fruit of this\nmarriage was a son, called John Chauvin, who afterwards became famous as\nJohn Calvin, the founder of the Presbyterian Church.\n\nThis man forged five fetters for the brain. These fetters he called\npoints. That is to say, predestination, particular redemption, total\ndepravity, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. About\nthe neck of each follower he put a collar bristling with these five iron\npoints. The presence of all these points on the collar is still the test\nof orthodoxy in the church he founded. This man, when in the flush of\nyouth, was elected to the office of preacher in Geneva. He at once,\nin union with Farel, drew up a condensed statement of the Presbyterian\ndoctrine, and all the citizens of Geneva, on pain of banishment, were\ncompelled to take an oath that they believed this statement. Of this\nproceeding Calvin very innocently remarked that it produced great\nsatisfaction. A man named Caroli had the audacity to dispute with\nCalvin. For this outrage he was banished.\n\nTo show you what great subjects occupied the attention of Calvin, it is\nonly necessary to state that he furiously discussed the question as to\nwhether the sacramental bread should be leavened or unleavened. He drew\nup laws regulating the cut of the citizens' clothes, and prescribing\ntheir diet, and all those whose garments were not in the Calvin fashion\nwere refused the sacrament. At last, the people becoming tired of this\npetty theological tyranny, banished Calvin. In a few years, however,\nhe was recalled and received with great enthusiasm. After this he was\nsupreme, and the will of Calvin became the law of Geneva.\n\nUnder his benign administration, James Gruet was beheaded because he had\nwritten some profane verses. The slightest word against Calvin or his\nabsurd doctrines was punished as a crime.\n\nIn 1553 a man was tried at Vienne by the Catholic Church for heresy. He\nwas convicted and sentenced to death by burning. It was apparently his\ngood fortune to escape. Pursued by the sleuth hounds of intolerance he\nfled to Geneva for protection. A dove flying from hawks, sought safety\nin the nest of a vulture. This fugitive from the cruelty of Rome asked\nshelter from John Calvin, who had written a book in favor of religious\ntoleration. Servetus had forgotten that this book was written by Calvin\nwhen in the minority; that it was written in weakness to be forgotten\nin power; that it was produced by fear instead of principle. He did not\nknow that Calvin had caused his arrest at Vienne, in France, and had\nsent a copy of his work, which was claimed to be blasphemous, to the\narchbishop. He did not then know that the Protestant Calvin was\nacting as one of the detectives of the Catholic Church, and had been\ninstrumental in procuring his conviction for heresy. Ignorant of all\nthis unspeakable infamy, he put himself in the power of this very\nCalvin. The maker of the Presbyterian creed caused the fugitive\nServe-tus to be arrested for blasphemy. He was tried. Calvin was his\naccuser. He was convicted and condemned to death by fire. On the morning\nof the fatal day, Calvin saw him, and Servetus, the victim, asked\nforgiveness of Calvin, the murderer. Servetus was bound to the stake,\nand the fagots were lighted. The wind carried the flames somewhat away\nfrom his body, so that he slowly roasted for hours. Vainly he implored\na speedy death. At last the flames climbed round his form; through smoke\nand fire his murderers saw a white heroic face. And there they watched\nuntil a man became a charred and shriveled mass.\n\nLiberty was banished from Geneva, and nothing but Presbyterianism was\nleft. Honor, justice, mercy, reason and charity were all exiled, but\nthe five points of predestination, particular redemption, irresistible\ngrace, total depravity, and the certain perseverance of the saints\nremained instead.\n\nCalvin founded a little theocracy, modeled after the Old Testament, and\nsucceeded in erecting the most detestable government that ever existed,\nexcept the one from which it was copied.\n\nAgainst all this intolerance, one man, a minister, raised his voice. The\nname of this man should never be forgotten. It was Castalio. This brave\nman had the goodness and the courage to declare the innocence of honest\nerror. He was the first of the so-called reformers to take this noble\nground. I wish I had the genius to pay a fitting tribute to his memory.\nPerhaps it would be impossible to pay him a grander compliment than to\nsay, Castalio was in all things the opposite of Calvin. To plead for the\nright of individual judgment was considered a crime, and Castalio was\ndriven from Geneva by John Calvin. By him he was denounced as a child of\nthe devil, as a dog of Satan, as a beast from hell, and as one who, by\nthis horrid blasphemy of the innocence of honest error, crucified Christ\nafresh, and by him he was pursued until rescued by the hand of death.\n\nUpon the name of Castalio, Calvin heaped every epithet, until his malice\nwas nearly satisfied and his imagination entirely exhausted. It is\nimpossible to conceive how human nature can become so frightfully\nperverted as to pursue a fellow-man with the malignity of a fiend,\nsimply because he is good, just, and generous.\n\nCalvin was of a pallid, bloodless complexion, thin, sickly, irritable,\ngloomy, impatient, egotistic, tyrannical, heartless, and infamous. He\nwas a strange compound of revengeful morality, malicious forgiveness,\nferocious charity, egotistic humility, and a kind of hellish justice.\nIn other words, he was as near like the God of the Old Testament as his\nhealth permitted.\n\nThe best thing, however, about the Presbyterians of Geneva was, that\nthey denied the power of the Pope, and the best thing about the Pope\nwas, that he was not a Presbyterian.\n\nThe doctrines of Calvin spread rapidly, and were eagerly accepted by\nmultitudes on the continent; but Scotland, in a few years, became the\nreal fortress of Presbyterianism. The Scotch succeeded in establishing\nthe same kind of theocracy that flourished in Geneva. The clergy took\npossession and control of everybody and everything. It is impossible to\nexaggerate the mental degradation, the abject superstition of the people\nof Scotland during the reign of Presbyterianism. Heretics were hunted\nand devoured as though they had been wild beasts. The gloomy insanity of\nPresbyterianism took possession of a great majority of the people. They\nregarded their ministers as the Jews did Moses and Aaron. They believed\nthat they were the especial agents of God, and that whatsoever they\nbound in Scotland would be bound in heaven. There was not one particle\nof intellectual freedom. No man was allowed to differ with the church,\nor to even contradict a priest. Had Presbyterianism maintained its\nascendency, Scotland would have been peopled by savages to-day.\n\nThe revengeful spirit of Calvin took possession of the Puritans, and\ncaused them to redden the soil of the New World with the brave blood of\nhonest men. Clinging to the five points of Calvin, they too established\ngovernments in accordance with the teachings of the Old Testament. They\ntoo attached the penalty of death to the expression of honest thought.\nThey too believed their church supreme, and exerted all their power to\ncurse this continent with a spiritual despotism as infamous as it was\nabsurd. They believed with Luther that universal toleration is universal\nerror, and universal error is universal hell. Toleration was denounced\nas a crime.\n\nFortunately for us, civilization has had a softening effect even upon\nthe Presbyterian Church. To the ennobling influence of the arts and\nsciences the savage spirit of Calvinism has, in some slight degree,\nsuccumbed. True, the old creed remains substantially as it was written,\nbut by a kind of tacit understanding it has come to be regarded as a\nrelic of the past. The cry of \"heresy\" has been growing fainter and\nfainter, and, as a consequence, the ministers of that denomination\nhave ventured, now and then, to express doubts as to the damnation of\ninfants, and the doctrine of total depravity. The fact is, the old ideas\nbecame a little monotonous to the people. The fall of man, the scheme of\nredemption and irresistible grace, began to have a familiar sound. The\npreachers told the old stories while the congregations slept Some of the\nministers became tired of these stories themselves. The five points grew\ndull, and they felt that nothing short of irresistible grace could bear\nthis endless repetition. The outside world was full of progress, and in\nevery direction men advanced, while this church, anchored to a creed,\nidly rotted at the shore. Other denominations, imbued some little with\nthe spirit of investigation, were springing up on every side, while the\nold Presbyterian ark rested on the Ararat of the past, filled with the\ntheological monsters of another age.\n\nLured by the splendors of the outer world, tempted by the achievements\nof science, longing to feel the throb and beat of the mighty march of\nthe human race, a few of the ministers of this conservative denomination\nwere compelled, by irresistible sense, to say a few words in harmony\nwith the splendid ideas of to-day.\n\nThese utterances have upon several occasions so nearly wakened some of\nthe members that, rubbing their eyes, they have feebly inquired whether\nthese grand ideas were not somewhat heretical. These ministers found\nthat just in the proportion that their orthodoxy decreased, their\ncongregations increased. Those who dealt in the pure unadulterated\narticle found themselves demonstrating the five points to a less number\nof hearers than they had points. Stung to madness by this bitter truth,\nthis galling contrast, this harassing fact, the really orthodox have\nraised the cry of heresy, and expect with this cry to seal the lips\nof honest men. One of the Presbyterian ministers, and one who has been\nenjoying the luxury of a little honest thought, and the real rapture of\nexpressing it, has already been indicted, and is about to be tried by\nthe Presbytery of Illinois. He is charged--\n\n_First_. With having neglected to preach that most comforting and\nconsoling truth, the eternal damnation of the soul.\n\nSurely, that man must be a monster who could wish to blot this blessed\ndoctrine out and rob earth's wretched children of this blissful hope!\n\nWho can estimate the misery that has been caused by this most infamous\ndoctrine of eternal punishment? Think of the lives it has blighted--of\nthe tears it has caused--of the agony it has produced. Think of the\nmillions who have been driven to insanity by this most terrible of\ndogmas. This doctrine renders God the basest and most cruel being in\nthe universe. Compared with him, the most frightful deities of the most\nbarbarous and degraded tribes are miracles of goodness and mercy. There\nis nothing more degrading than to worship such a god. Lower than this\nthe soul can never sink. If the doctrine of eternal damnation is true,\nlet me share the fate of the unconverted; let me have my portion in\nhell, rather than in heaven with a god infamous enough to inflict\neternal misery upon any of the sons of men.\n\n_Second_. With having spoken a few kind words of Robert Collyer and John\nStuart Mill.\n\nI have the honor of a slight acquaintance with Robert Collyer. I have\nread with pleasure some of his exquisite productions. He has a brain\nfull of the dawn, the head of a philosopher, the imagination of a poet\nand the sincere heart of a child.\n\nIs a minister to be silenced because he speaks fairly of a noble and\ncandid adversary? Is it a crime to compliment a lover of justice, an\nadvocate of liberty; one who devotes his life to the elevation of man,\nthe discovery of truth, and the promulgation of what he believes to be\nright?\n\nCan that tongue be palsied by a presbytery that praises a self-denying\nand heroic life? Is it a sin to speak a charitable word over the grave\nof John Stuart Mill? Is it heretical to pay a just and graceful tribute\nto departed worth? Must the true Presbyterian violate the sanctity of\nthe tomb, dig open the grave and ask his God to curse the silent dust?\nIs Presbyterianism so narrow that it conceives of no excellence, of no\npurity of intention, of no spiritual and moral grandeur outside of its\nbarbaric creed? Does it still retain within its stony heart all the\nmalice of its founder? Is it still warming its fleshless hands at the\nflames that consumed Servetus? Does it still glory in the damnation of\ninfants, and does it still persist in emptying the cradle in order that\nperdition may be filled? Is it still starving the soul and famishing\nthe heart? Is it still trembling and shivering, crouching and crawling\nbefore its ignorant Confession of Faith?\n\nHad such men as Robert Collyer and John Stuart Mill been present at the\nburning of Servetus, they would have extinguished the flames with their\ntears. Had the presbytery of Chicago been there, they would have quietly\nturned their backs, solemnly divided their coat tails, and warmed\nthemselves.\n\n_Third_. With having spoken disparagingly of the doctrine of\npredestination.\n\nIf there is any dogma that ought to be protected by law, predestination\nis that doctrine. Surely it is a cheerful, joyous thing, to one who is\nlaboring, struggling, and suffering in this weary world, to think that\nbefore he existed; before the earth was; before a star had glittered in\nthe heavens; before a ray of light had left the quiver of the sun, his\ndestiny had been irrevocably fixed, and that for an eternity before his\nbirth he had been doomed to bear eternal pain.\n\n_Fourth._ With failing to preach the efficacy of a \"vicarious\nsacrifice.\"\n\nSuppose a man had been convicted of murder, and was about to be\nhanged--the governor acting as the executioner; and suppose that just\nas the doomed man was about to suffer death some one in the crowd\nshould step forward and say, \"I am willing to die in the place of that\nmurderer. He has a family, and I have none.\" And suppose further, that\nthe governor should reply, \"Come forward, young man, your offer is\naccepted. A murder has been committed and somebody must be hung,\nand your death will satisfy the law just as well as the death of the\nmurderer.\" What would you then think of the doctrine of \"vicarious\nsacrifice\"?\n\nThis doctrine is the consummation of two outrages--forgiving one crime\nand committing another.\n\n_Fifth_. With having inculcated a phase of the doctrine commonly known\nas \"evolution,\" or \"development\".\n\nThe church believes and teaches the exact opposite of this doctrine.\nAccording to the philosophy of theology, man has continued to degenerate\nfor six thousand years. To teach that there is that in nature which\nimpels to higher forms and grander ends, is heresy, of course. The\nDeity will damn Spencer and his \"Evolution,\" Darwin and his \"Origin\nof Species,\" Bastian and his \"Spontaneous Generation,\" Huxley and his\n\"Protoplasm,\" Tyndall and his \"Prayer Gauge,\" and will save those, and\nthose only, who declare that the universe has been cursed, from the\nsmallest atom to the grandest star; that everything tends to evil and to\nthat only, and that the only perfect thing in nature is the Presbyterian\nConfession of Faith.\n\n_Sixth_. With having intimated that the reception of Socrates and\nPenelope at heaven's gate was, to say the least, a trifle more cordial\nthan that of Catharine II.\n\nPenelope, waiting patiently and trustfully for her lord's return,\ndelaying her suitors, while sadly weaving and unweaving the shroud of\nLaertes, is the most perfect type of wife and woman produced by the\ncivilization of Greece.\n\nSocrates, whose life was above reproach and whose death was beyond all\npraise, stands to-day, in the estimation of every thoughtful man, at\nleast the peer of Christ.\n\nCatharine II. assassinated her husband. Stepping upon his corpse, she\nmounted the throne. She was the murderess of Prince Iwan, grand nephew\nof Peter the Great, who was imprisoned for eighteen years, and who\nduring all that time saw the sky but once. Taken all in all, Catharine\nwas probably one of the most intellectual beasts that ever wore a crown.\n\nCatharine, however, was the head of the Greek Church, Socrates was\na heretic and Penelope lived and died without having once heard of\n\"particular redemption\" or of \"irresistible grace.\"\n\n_Seventh_. With repudiating the idea of a \"call\" to the ministry, and\npretending that men were \"called\" to preach as they were to the other\navocations of life.\n\nIf this doctrine is true, God, to say the least of it, is an exceedingly\npoor judge of human nature. It is more than a century since a man of\ntrue genius has been found in an orthodox pulpit. Every minister is\nheretical just to the extent that intellect is above the average. The\nLord seems to be satisfied with mediocrity; but the people are not.\n\nAn old deacon, wishing to get rid of an unpopular preacher, advised him\nto give up the ministry and turn his attention to something else. The\npreacher replied that he could not conscientiously desert the pulpit, as\nhe had had a \"call\" to the ministry. To which the deacon replied, \"That\nmay be so, but it's very unfortunate for you, that when God called you\nto preach, he forgot to call anybody to hear you.\"\n\nThere is nothing more stupidly egotistic than the claim of the clergy\nthat they are, in some divine sense set apart to the service of the\nLord; that they have been chosen, and sanctified; that there is an\ninfinite difference between them and persons employed in secular\naffairs. They teach us that all other professions must take care of\nthemselves; that God allows anybody to be a doctor, a lawyer, statesman,\nsoldier, or artist; that the Motts and Coopers--the Mansfields and\nMarshalls--the Wilberforces and Sumners--the Angelos and Raphaels, were\nnever honored by a \"call.\" They chose their professions and won their\nlaurels without the assistance of the Lord. All these men were left free\nto follow their own inclinations, while God was busily engaged selecting\nand \"calling\" priests, rectors, elders, ministers and exhorters.\n\n_Eighth_. With having doubted that God was the author of the 109th\nPsalm.\n\nThe portion of that psalm which carries with it the clearest and most\nsatisfactory evidences of inspiration, and which has afforded almost\nunspeakable consolation to the Presbyterian Church, is as follows:\n\nSet thou a wicked man over him; and let Satan stand at his right hand.\n\nWhen he shall be judged, let him be condemned; and let his prayer become\nsin.\n\nLet his days be few; and let another take his office.\n\nLet his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.\n\nLet his children be continually vagabonds, and beg; let them seek their\nbread also out of their desolate places.\n\nLet the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the stranger spoil\nhis labor.\n\nLet there be none to extend mercy unto him; neither let there be any to\nfavor his fatherless children.\n\nLet his posterity be cut off: and in the generation following let their\nname be blotted out.\n\nBut do thou for me, O God the Lord, for Thy name's sake; because Thy\nmercy is good, deliver Thou me.... I will greatly praise the Lord with\nmy_ mouth_.\n\nThink of a God wicked and malicious enough to inspire this prayer. Think\nof one infamous enough to answer it.\n\nHad this inspired psalm been found in some temple erected for the\nworship of snakes, or in the possession of some cannibal king, written\nwith blood upon the dried skins of babes, there would have been a\nperfect harmony between its surroundings and its sentiments.\n\nNo wonder that the author of this inspired psalm coldly received\nSocrates and Penelope, and reserved his sweetest smiles for Catharine\nthe Second.\n\n_Ninth._ With having said that the battles in which the Israelites\nengaged, with the approval and command of Jehovah, surpassed in cruelty\nthose of Julius Caesar.\n\nWas it Julius Caesar who said, \"And the Lord our God delivered him before\nus; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all\nhis cities, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little\nones, of every city, we left none to remain\"?\n\nDid Julius Caesar send the following report to the Roman senate? \"And we\ntook all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not\nfrom them, three-score cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of\nOg in Bashan. All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and\nbars; beside unwalled towns a great many. And we utterly destroyed\nthem, as we did unto Sihon, king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men,\nwomen, and children of every city.\"\n\nDid Caesar take the city of Jericho \"and utterly destroy all that was\nin the city, both men and women, young and old\"? Did he smite \"all the\ncountry of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the\nsprings, and all their kings, and leave none remaining that breathed, as\nthe Lord God had commanded\"?\n\nSearch the records of the whole world, find out the history of every\nbarbarous tribe, and you can find no crime that touched a lower depth of\ninfamy than those the Bible's God commanded and approved. For such a God\nI have no words to express my loathing and contempt, and all the words\nin all the languages of man would scarcely be sufficient. Away with such\na God! Give me Jupiter rather, with Io and Europa, or even Siva with his\nskulls and snakes.\n\n_Tenth_. With having repudiated the doctrine of \"total depravity.\"\n\nWhat a precious doctrine is that of the total depravity of the human\nheart! How sweet it is to believe that the lives of all the good and\ngreat were continual sins and perpetual crimes; that the love a mother\nbears her child is, in the sight of God, a sin; that the gratitude of\nthe natural heart is simple meanness; that the tears of pity are impure;\nthat for the unconverted to live and labor for others is an offence to\nheaven; that the noblest aspirations of the soul are low and groveling\nin the sight of God; that man should fall upon his knees and ask\nforgiveness, simply for loving his wife and child, and that even the act\nof asking forgiveness is in fact a crime!\n\nSurely it is a kind of bliss to feel that every woman and child in the\nwide world, with the exception of those who believe the five points, or\nsome other equally cruel creed, and such children as have been baptized,\nought at this very moment to be dashed down to the lowest glowing gulf\nof hell.\n\nTake from the Christian the history of his own church--leave that\nentirely out of the question--and he has no argument left with which to\nsubstantiate the total depravity of man.\n\n_Eleventh_. With having doubted the \"perseverance of the saints.\"\n\nI suppose the real meaning of this doctrine is, that Presbyterians are\njust as sure of going to heaven as all other folks are of going to hell.\nThe real idea being, that it all depends upon the will of God, and not\nupon the character of the person to be damned or saved; that God has the\nweakness to send Presbyterians to Paradise, and the justice to doom the\nrest of mankind to eternal fire.\n\nIt is admitted that no unconverted brain can see the least particle of\nsense in this doctrine; that it is abhorrent to all who have not been\nthe recipients of a \"new heart;\" that only the perfectly good can\njustify the perfectly infamous.\n\nIt is contended that the saints do not persevere of their own free\nwill--that they are entitled to no credit for persevering; but that\nGod forces them to persevere, while on the other hand, every crime is\ncommitted in accordance with the secret will of God, who does all things\nfor his own glory.\n\nCompared with this doctrine, there is no other idea, that has ever been\nbelieved by man, that can properly be called absurd.\n\n_Twelfth_. With having spoken and written somewhat lightly of the idea\nof converting the heathen with doctrinal sermons.\n\nOf all the failures of which we have any history or knowledge, the\nmissionary effort is the most conspicuous. The whole question has been\ndecided here, in our own country, and conclusively settled. We have\nnearly exterminated the Indians, but we have converted none. From the\ndays of John Eliot to the execution of the last Modoc, not one Indian\nhas been the subject of irresistible grace or particular redemption.\nThe few red men who roam the western wilderness have no thought or care\nconcerning the five points of Calvin. They are utterly oblivious to\nthe great and vital truths contained in the Thirty-nine Articles, the\nSaybrook platform, and the resolutions of the Evangelical Alliance. No\nIndian has ever scalped another on account of his religious belief. This\nof itself shows conclusively that the missionaries have had no effect\nWhy should we convert the heathen of China and kill our own? Why should\nwe send missionaries across the seas, and soldiers over the plains?\nWhy should we send Bibles to the east and muskets to the west? If it\nis impossible to convert Indians who have no religion of their own; no\nprejudice for or against the \"eternal procession of the Holy Ghost,\" how\ncan we expect to convert a heathen who has a religion; who has plenty\nof gods and Bibles and prophets and Christs, and who has a religious\nliterature far grander than our own? Can we hope with the story of\nDaniel in the lions' den to rival the stupendous miracles of India? Is\nthere anything in our Bible as lofty and loving as the prayer of the\nBuddhist? Compare your \"Confession of Faith\" with the following: \"Never\nwill I seek nor receive private individual salvation--never enter into\nfinal peace alone; but forever and everywhere will I live and strive for\nthe universal redemption of every creature throughout all worlds. Until\nall are delivered, never will I leave the world of sin, sorrow, and\nstruggle, but will remain where I am.\"\n\nThink of sending an average Presbyterian to convert a man who daily\noffers this tender, this infinitely generous, this incomparable prayer.\nThink of reading the 109th Psalm to a heathen who has a Bible of his own\nin which is found this passage: \"Blessed is that man and beloved of all\nthe gods, who is afraid of no man, and of whom no man is afraid.\"\n\nWhy should you read even the New Testament to a Hindu, when his own\nChrishna has said, \"If a man strike thee, and in striking drop his\nstaff, pick it up and hand it to him again\"? Why send a Presbyterian to\na Sufi, who says, \"Better one moment of silent contemplation and inward\nlove, than seventy thousand years of outward worship\"? \"Whoso would\ncarelessly tread one worm that crawls on earth, that heartless one is\ndarkly alienate from God; but he that, living, embraceth all things\nin his love, to live with him God bursts all bounds above, below.\" Why\nshould we endeavor to thrust our cruel and heartless theology upon one\nwho prays this prayer: \"O God, show pity toward the wicked; for on\nthe good thou hast already bestowed thy mercy by having created them\nvirtuous\"?\n\nCompare this prayer with the curses and cruelties of the Old\nTestament--with the infamies commanded and approved by the being whom we\nare taught to worship as a God--and with the following tender product\nof Presbyterianism: \"It may seem absurd to human wisdom that God should\nharden, blind, and deliver up some men to a reprobate sense; that he\nshould first deliver them over to evil, and then condemn them for that\nevil; but the believing spiritual man sees no absurdity in all this,\nknowing that God would be never a whit less good even though he should\ndestroy all men.\"\n\nOf all the religions that have been produced by the egotism, the malice,\nthe ignorance and ambition of man, Presbyterianism is the most hideous.\n\nBut what shall I say more, for the time would fail me to tell of\nSabellianism, of a \"Modal Trinity,\" and the \"Eternal Procession of the\nHoly Ghost\"?\n\nUpon these charges, a minister is to be tried, here in Chicago; in\nthis city of pluck and progress--this marvel of energy--this miracle\nof nerve. The cry of \"heresy,\" here, sounds like a wail from the Dark\nAges--a shriek from the Inquisition, or a groan from the grave of\nCalvin.\n\nAnother effort is being made to enslave a man.\n\nIt is claimed that every member of the church has solemnly agreed\nnever to outgrow the creed; that he has pledged himself to remain an\nintellectual dwarf. Upon this condition the church agrees to save his\nsoul, and he hands over his brains to bind the bargain. Should a fact be\nfound inconsistent with the creed, he binds himself to deny the fact\nand curse the finder. With scraps of dogmas and crumbs of doctrine, he\nagrees that his soul shall be satisfied forever. What an intellectual\nfeast the Confession of Faith must be! It reminds one of the dinner\ndescribed by Sydney Smith, where everything was cold except the water,\nand everything sour except the vinegar.\n\nEvery member of a church promises to remain orthodox, that is to\nsay--stationary. Growth is heresy. Orthodox ideas are the feathers that\nhave been moulted by the eagle of progress. They are the dead leaves\nunder the majestic palm, while heresy is the bud and blossom at the top.\n\nImagine a vine that grows at one end and decays at the other. The\nend that grows is heresy, the end that rots is orthodox The dead are\northodox, and your cemetery is the most perfect type of a well regulated\nchurch. No thought, no progress, no heresy there. Slowly and silently,\nside by side, the satisfied members peacefully decay. There is only this\ndifference--the dead do not persecute.\n\nAnd what does a trial for heresy mean? It means that the church says to\na heretic, \"Believe as I do, or I will withdraw my support. I will not\nemploy you. I will pursue you until your garments are rags; until your\nchildren cry for bread; until your cheeks are furrowed with tears. I\nwill hunt you to the very portals of the tomb, and then my God will do\nthe rest I will not imprison you. I will not burn you. The law prevents\nmy doing that. I helped make the law, not however to protect you, nor\nto deprive me of the right to exterminate you but in order to keep\nother churches from exterminating me.\" A trial for heresy means that the\nspirit of persecution still lingers in the church; that it still denies\nthe right of private judgment; that it still thinks more of creed than\ntruth, and that it is still determined to prevent the intellectual\ngrowth of man. It means that churches are shambles in which are bought\nand sold the souls of men. It means that the church is still guilty of\nthe barbarity of opposing thought with force. It means that if it had\nthe power, the mental horizon would be bounded by a creed; that it would\nbring again the whips and chains and dungeon keys, the rack and fagot of\nthe past.\n\nBut let me tell the church it lacks the power. There have been, and\nstill are, too many men who own themselves--too much thought, too much\nknowledge for the church to grasp again the sword of power. The church\nmust abdicate. For the Eglon of superstition Science has a message from\nTruth.\n\nThe heretics have not thought and suffered and died in vain. Every\nheretic has been, and is, a ray of light. Not in vain did Voltaire, that\ngreat man, point from the foot of the Alps the finger of scorn at every\nhypocrite in Europe. Not in vain were the splendid utterances of the\ninfidels, while beyond all price are the discoveries of science.\n\nThe church has impeded, but it has not and it cannot stop the onward\nmarch of the human race. Heresy cannot be burned, nor imprisoned, nor\nstarved. It laughs at presbyteries and synods, at ecumenical councils\nand the impotent thunders of Sinai. Heresy is the eternal dawn, the\nmorning star, the glittering herald of the day. Heresy is the last and\nbest thought. It is the perpetual New World, the unknown sea, toward\nwhich the brave all sail. It is the eternal horizon of progress.\n\nHeresy extends the hospitalities of the brain to a new thought.\n\nHeresy is a cradle; orthodoxy, a coffin.\n\nWhy should man be afraid to think, and why should he fear to express his\nthoughts?\n\nIs it possible that an infinite Deity is unwilling that a man should\ninvestigate the phenomena by which he is surrounded? Is it possible that\na god delights in threatening and terrifying men? What glory, what honor\nand renown a god must win on such a field! The ocean raving at a drop; a\nstar envious of a candle; the sun jealous of a fire-fly.\n\nGo on, presbyteries and synods, go on! Thrust the heretics out of the\nchurch--that is to say, throw away your brains,--put out your eyes. The\ninfidels will thank you. They are willing to adopt your exiles. Every\ndeserter from your camp is a recruit for the army of progress. Cling to\nthe ignorant dogmas of the past; read the 109th Psalm; gloat over the\nslaughter of mothers and babes; thank God for total depravity; shower\nyour honors upon hypocrites, and silence every minister who is touched\nwith that heresy called genius.\n\nBe true to your history. Turn out the astronomers, the geologists, the\nnaturalists, the chemists, and all the honest scientists. With a whip of\nscorpions, drive them all out. We want them all. Keep the ignorant,\nthe superstitious, the bigoted, and the writers of charges and\nspecifications.\n\nKeep them, and keep them all. Repeat your pious platitudes in the drowsy\nears of the faithful, and read your Bible to heretics, as kings read\nsome forgotten riot-act to stop and stay the waves of revolution.\nYou are too weak to excite anger. We forgive your efforts as the sun\nforgives a cloud--as the air forgives the breath you waste.\n\nHow long, O how long, will man listen to the threats of God, and shut\nhis eyes to the splendid possibilities of Nature? How long, O how long\nwill man remain the cringing slave of a false and cruel creed?\n\nBy this time the whole world should know that the real Bible has not yet\nbeen written, but is being written, and that it will never be finished\nuntil the race begins its downward march, or ceases to exist.\n\nThe real Bible is not the work of inspired men, nor prophets, nor\napostles, nor evangelists, nor of Christs. Every man who finds a fact,\nadds, as it were, a word to this great book. It is not attested\nby prophecy, by miracles or signs. It makes no appeal to faith, to\nignorance, to credulity or fear. It has no punishment for unbelief, and\nno reward for hypocrisy. It appeals to man in the name of demonstration.\nIt has nothing to conceal. It has no fear of being read, of being\ncontradicted, of being investigated and understood. It does not pretend\nto be holy, or sacred; it simply claims to be true. It challenges the\nscrutiny of all, and implores every reader to verify every line for\nhimself. It is incapable of being blasphemed. This book appeals to\nall the surroundings of man. Each thing that exists testifies of its\nperfection. The earth, with its heart of fire and crowns of snow; with\nits forests and plains, its rocks and seas; with its every wave and\ncloud; with its every leaf and bud and flower, confirms its every word,\nand the solemn stars, shining in the infinite abysses, are the eternal\nwitnesses of its truth.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GHOSTS.\n\n     TO\n     EBON C. INGERSOLL,\n     MY BROTHER,\n     FROM WHOSE LIPS I HEARD THE FIRST APPLAUSE,\n     AND WITH WHOSE NAME I WISH MY OWN\n     ASSOCIATED UNTIL BOTH ARE FORGOTTEN,\n     THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED.\n\n\nPREFACE\n\nThese lectures have been so maimed and mutilated by orthodox malice;\nhave been made to appear so halt, crutched and decrepit by those who\nmistake the pleasures of calumny for the duties of religion, that in\nsimple justice to myself I concluded to publish them.\n\nMost of the clergy are, or seem to be, utterly incapable of discussing\nanything in a fair and catholic spirit. They appeal, not to reason,\nbut to prejudice; not to facts, but to passages of Scripture. They can\nconceive of no goodness, of no spiritual exaltation beyond the horizon\nof their creed. Whoever differs with them upon what they are pleased\nto call \"fundamental truths,\" is, in their opinion, a base and infamous\nman. To re-enact the tragedies of the sixteenth century, they lack only\nthe power. Bigotry in all ages has been the same. Christianity simply\ntransferred the brutality of the Colosseum to the Inquisition. For the\nmurderous combat of the gladiators, the saints substituted the _auto de\nfe_. What has been called religion is, after all, but the organization\nof the wild beast in man. The perfumed blossom of arrogance is heaven.\nHell is the consummation of revenge.\n\nThe chief business of the clergy has always been to destroy the joy of\nlife, and multiply and magnify the terrors and tortures of death and\nperdition. They have polluted the heart and paralyzed the brain; and\nupon the ignorant altars of the Past and the Dead, they have endeavored\nto sacrifice the Present and the Living.\n\nNothing can exceed the mendacity of the religious press. I have had some\nlittle experience with political editors, and am forced to say, that\nuntil I read the religious papers, I did not know what malicious and\nslimy falsehoods could be constructed from ordinary words. The ingenuity\nwith which the real and apparent meaning can be tortured out of\nlanguage, is simply amazing. The average religious editor is intolerant\nand insolent; he knows nothing of affairs; he has the envy of failure,\nthe malice of impotence, and always accounts for the brave and generous\nactions of unbelievers, by low, base and unworthy motives.\n\nBy this time, even the clergy should know that the intellect of the\nnineteenth century needs no guardian. They should cease to regard\nthemselves as shepherds defending flocks of weak, silly and fearful\nsheep from the claws and teeth of ravening wolves. By this time they\nshould know that the religion of the ignorant and brutal Past no\nlonger satisfies the heart and brain; that the miracles have become\ncontemptible; that the \"evidences\" have ceased to convince; that the\nspirit of investigation cannot be stopped nor stayed; that the church\nis losing her power; that the young are holding in a kind of tender\ncontempt the sacred follies of the old; that the pulpit and pews no\nlonger represent the culture and morality of the world, and that the\nbrand of intellectual inferiority is upon the orthodox brain.\n\nMen should be liberated from the aristocracy of the air. Every chain\nof superstition should be broken. The rights of men and women should\nbe equal and sacred--marriage should be a perfect partnership--children\nshould be governed by kindness,--every family should be a\nrepublic--every fireside a democracy.\n\nIt seems almost impossible for religious people to really grasp the idea\nof intellectual freedom. They seem to think that man is responsible for\nhis honest thoughts; that unbelief is a crime; that investigation is\nsinful; that credulity is a virtue, and that reason is a dangerous\nguide. They cannot divest themselves of the idea that in the realm of\nthought there must be government--authority and obedience--laws and\npenalties--rewards and punishments, and that somewhere in the universe\nthere is a penitentiary for the soul.\n\nIn the republic of mind, _one_ is a majority. There, all are monarchs,\nand all are equals. The tyranny of a majority even is unknown. Each one\nis crowned, sceptered and throned. Upon every brow is the tiara, and\naround every form is the imperial purple. Only those are good citizens\nwho express their honest thoughts, and those who persecute for opinion's\nsake, are the only traitors. There, nothing is considered infamous\nexcept an appeal to brute force, and nothing sacred but love, liberty,\nand joy. The church contemplates this republic with a sneer. From the\nteeth of hatred she draws back the lips of scorn. She is filled with the\nspite and spleen born of intellectual weakness. Once she was egotistic;\nnow she is envious.\n\nOnce she wore upon her hollow breast false gems, supposing them to be\nreal. They have been shown to be false, but she wears them still. She\nhas the malice of the caught, the hatred of the exposed.\n\nWe are told to investigate the Bible for ourselves, and at the same time\ninformed that if we come to the conclusion that it is not the inspired\nword of God, we will most assuredly be damned. Under such circumstances,\nif we believe this, investigation is impossible. Whoever is held\nresponsible for his conclusions cannot weigh the evidence with impartial\nscales. Fear stands at the balance, and gives to falsehood the weight of\nits trembling hand.\n\nI oppose the church because she is the enemy of liberty; because her\ndogmas are infamous and cruel; because she humiliates and degrades\nwoman; because she teaches the doctrines of eternal torment and the\nnatural depravity of man; because she insists upon the absurd, the\nimpossible, and the senseless; because she resorts to falsehood and\nslander; because she is arrogant and revengeful; because she allows men\nto sin on a credit; because she discourages self-reliance, and laughs\nat good works; because she believes in vicarious virtue and vicarious\nvice--vicarious punishment and vicarious reward; because she regards\nrepentance of more importance than restitution, and because she\nsacrifices the world we have to one we know not of.\n\nThe free and generous, the tender and affectionate, will understand me.\nThose who have escaped from the grated cells of a creed will appreciate\nmy motives. The sad and suffering wives, the trembling and loving\nchildren will thank me: This is enough.\n\nRobert G. Ingersoll.\n\nWashington, D. C.,\n\nApril 13, 1878.\n\n\n\nTHE GHOSTS,\n\nLET THEM COVER THEIR EYELESS SOCKETS WITH THEIR FLESHLESS HANDS AND FADE\nFOREVER FROM THE IMAGINATION OF MEN.\n\nHERE are three theories by which men account for all phenomena,\nfor everything that happens: First, the Supernatural; Second, the\nSupernatural and Natural; Third, the Natural. Between these theories\nthere has been, from the dawn of civilization, a continual conflict. In\nthis great war, nearly all the soldiers have been in the ranks of the\nsupernatural. The believers in the supernatural insist that matter\nis controlled and directed entirely by powers from without; while\nnaturalists maintain that Nature acts from within; that Nature is not\nacted upon; that the universe is all there is; that Nature with infinite\narms embraces everything that exists, and that all supposed powers\nbeyond the limits of the material are simply ghosts. You say, \"Oh, this\nis materialism!\" What is matter? I take in my hand some earth:--in this\ndust put seeds. Let the arrows of light from the quiver of the sun smite\nupon it; let the rain fall upon it. The seeds will grow and a plant will\nbud and blossom. Do you understand this? Can you explain it better than\nyou can the production of thought? Have you the slightest conception of\nwhat it really is? And yet you speak of matter as though acquainted with\nits origin, as though you had torn from the clenched hands of the rocks\nthe secrets of material existence. Do you know what force is? Can you\naccount for molecular action? Are you really familiar with chemistry,\nand can you account for the loves and hatreds of the atoms? Is there not\nsomething in matter that forever eludes? After all, can you get beyond,\nabove or below appearances? Before you cry \"materialism!\" had you not\nbetter ascertain what matter really is? Can you think even of anything\nwithout a material basis? Is it possible to imagine the annihilation of\na single atom? Is it possible for you to conceive of the creation of an\natom? Can you have a thought that was not suggested to you by what you\ncall matter?\n\nOur fathers denounced materialism, and accounted for all phenomena by\nthe caprice of gods and devils.\n\nFor thousands of years it was believed that ghosts, good and bad,\nbenevolent and malignant, weak and powerful, in some mysterious way,\nproduced all phenomena; that disease and health, happiness and misery,\nfortune and misfortune, peace and war, life and death, success and\nfailure, were but arrows from the quivers of these ghosts; that shadowy\nphantoms rewarded and punished mankind; that they were pleased and\ndispleased by the actions of men; that they sent and withheld the snow,\nthe light, and the rain; that they blessed the earth with harvests or\ncursed it with famine; that they fed or starved the children of men;\nthat they crowned and uncrowned kings; that they took sides in war; that\nthey controlled the winds; that they gave prosperous voyages, allowing\nthe brave mariner to meet his wife and child inside the harbor bar, or\nsent the storms, strewing the sad shores with wrecks of ships and the\nbodies of men.\n\nFormerly, these ghosts were believed to be almost innumerable. Earth,\nair, and water were filled with these phantom hosts. In modern times\nthey have greatly decreased in number, because the second theory,--a\nmingling of the supernatural and natural,--has generally been adopted.\nThe remaining ghosts, however, are supposed to perform the same offices\nas the hosts of yore.\n\nIt has always been believed that these ghosts could in some way be\nappeased; that they could be flattered by sacrifices, by prayer, by\nfasting, by the building of temples and cathedrals, by the blood of\nmen and beasts, by forms and ceremonies, by chants, by kneelings and\nprostrations, by flagellations and maimings, by renouncing the joys of\nhome, by living alone in the wide desert, by the practice of celibacy,\nby inventing instruments of torture, by destroying men, women and\nchildren, by covering the earth with dungeons, by burning unbelievers,\nby putting chains upon the thoughts and manacles upon the limbs of\nmen, by believing things without evidence and against evidence, by\ndisbelieving and denying demonstration, by despising facts, by hating\nreason, by denouncing liberty, by maligning heretics, by slandering\nthe dead, by subscribing to senseless and cruel creeds, by discouraging\ninvestigation, by worshiping a book, by the cultivation of credulity,\nby observing certain times and days, by counting beads, by gazing at\ncrosses, by hiring others to repeat verses and prayers, by burning\ncandles and ringing bells, by enslaving each other and putting out the\neyes of the soul. All this has been done to appease and flatter these\nmonsters of the air.\n\nIn the history of our poor world, no horror has been omitted, no infamy\nhas been left undone by the believers in ghosts,--by the worshipers of\nthese fleshless phantoms. And yet these shadows were born of cowardice\nand malignity. They were painted by the pencil of fear upon the canvas\nof ignorance by that artist called superstition.\n\nFrom these ghosts, our fathers received information. They were\nthe schoolmasters of our ancestors. They were the scientists and\nphilosophers, the geologists, legislators, astronomers, physicians,\nmetaphysicians and historians of the past. For ages these ghosts were\nsupposed to be the only source of real knowledge. They inspired men to\nwrite books, and the books were considered sacred. If facts were found\nto be inconsistent with these books, so much the worse for the facts,\nand especially for their discoverers. It was then, and still is,\nbelieved that these books are the basis of the idea of immortality; that\nto give up these volumes, or rather the idea that they are inspired, is\nto renounce the idea of immortality. This I deny.\n\nThe idea of immortality, that like a sea has ebbed and flowed in the\nhuman heart, with its countless waves of hope and fear, beating against\nthe shores and rocks of time and fate, was not born of any book, nor of\nany creed, nor of any religion. It was born of human affection, and it\nwill continue to ebb and flow beneath the mists and clouds of doubt\nand darkness as long as love kisses the lips of death. It is the\nrainbow--Hope shining upon the tears of grief.\n\nFrom the books written by the ghosts we have at last ascertained that\nthey knew nothing about the world in which we live. Did they know\nanything about the next? Upon every point where contradiction is\npossible, they have been contradicted.\n\nBy these ghosts, by these citizens of the air, the affairs of government\nwere administered; all authority to govern came from them. The emperors,\nkings and potentates all had commissions from these phantoms. Man was\nnot considered as the source of any power whatever. To rebel against the\nking was to rebel against the ghosts, and nothing less than the blood of\nthe offender could appease the invisible phantom or the visible tyrant.\nKneeling was the proper position to be assumed by the multitude.\nThe prostrate were the good. Those who stood erect were infidels and\ntraitors. In the name and by the authority of the ghosts, man was\nenslaved, crushed, and plundered. The many toiled wearily in the storm\nand sun that the few favorites of the ghosts might live in idleness.\nThe many lived in huts, and caves, and dens, that the few might dwell in\npalaces. The many covered themselves with rags, that the few might\nrobe themselves in purple and in gold. The many crept, and cringed, and\ncrawled, that the few might tread upon their flesh with iron feet.\n\nFrom the ghosts men received, not only authority, but information of\nevery kind. They told us the form of this earth. They informed us that\neclipses were caused by the sins of man; that the universe was made\nin six days; that astronomy, and geology were devices of wicked men,\ninstigated by wicked ghosts; that gazing at the sky with a telescope\nwas a dangerous thing; that digging into the earth was sinful curiosity;\nthat trying to be wise above what they had written was born of a\nrebellious and irreverent spirit.\n\nThey told us there was no virtue like belief, and no crime like doubt;\nthat investigation was pure impudence, and the punishment therefor,\neternal torment. They not only told us all about this world, but about\ntwo others; and if their statements about the other worlds are as true\nas about this, no one can estimate the value of their information.\n\nFor countless ages the world was governed by ghosts, and they spared no\npains to change the eagle of the human intellect into a bat of darkness.\nTo accomplish this infamous purpose; to drive the love of truth from the\nhuman heart; to prevent the advancement of mankind; to shut out from\nthe world every ray of intellectual light; to pollute every mind with\nsuperstition, the power of kings, the cunning and cruelty of priests,\nand the wealth of nations were exhausted.\n\nDuring these years of persecution, ignorance, superstition and slavery,\nnearly all the people, the kings, lawyers, doctors, the learned and the\nunlearned, believed in that frightful production of ignorance, fear, and\nfaith, called witchcraft. They believed that man was the sport and prey\nof devils. They really thought that the very air was thick with these\nenemies of man. With few exceptions, this hideous and infamous belief\nwas universal. Under these conditions, progress was almost impossible.\n\nFear paralyzes the brain. Progress is born of courage. Fear\nbelieves--courage doubts. Fear falls upon the earth and prays--courage\nstands erect and thinks. Fear retreats--courage advances. Fear is\nbarbarism--courage is civilization. Fear believes in witchcraft, in\ndevils and in ghosts. Fear is religion--courage is science.\n\nThe facts, upon which this terrible belief rested, were proved over\nand over again in every court of Europe. Thousands confessed themselves\nguilty--admitted that they had sold themselves to the devil. They gave\nthe particulars of the sale; told what they said and what the devil\nreplied. They confessed this, when they knew that confession was death;\nknew that their property would be confiscated, and their children left\nto beg their bread. This is one of the miracles of history--one of the\nstrangest contradictions of the human mind. Without doubt, they really\nbelieved themselves guilty. In the first place, they believed in\nwitchcraft as a fact, and when charged with it, they probably became\ninsane. In their insanity they confessed their guilt. They found\nthemselves abhorred and deserted--charged with a crime that they could\nnot disprove. Like a man in quicksand, every effort only sunk them\ndeeper. Caught in this frightful web, at the mercy of the spiders\nof superstition, hope fled, and nothing remained but the insanity of\nconfession. The whole world appeared to be insane.\n\nIn the time of James the First, a man was executed for causing a storm\nat sea with the intention of drowning one of the royal family. How could\nhe disprove it? How could he show that he did not cause the storm?\nAll storms were at that time generally supposed to be caused by\nthe devil--the prince of the power of the air--and by those whom he\nassisted.\n\nI implore you to remember that the believers in such impossible things\nwere the authors of our creeds and confessions of faith.\n\nA woman was tried and convicted before Sir Matthew Hale, one of the\ngreat judges and lawyers of England, for having caused children to\nvomit crooked pins. She was also charged with having nursed devils. The\nlearned judge charged the intelligent jury that there was no doubt as\nto the existence of witches; that it was established by all history, and\nexpressly taught by the Bible.\n\nThe woman was hanged and her body burned.\n\nSir Thomas More declared that to give up witchcraft was to throw away\nthe sacred Scriptures. In my judgment, he was right.\n\nJohn Wesley was a firm believer in ghosts and witches, and insisted upon\nit, years after all laws upon the subject had been repealed in England.\nI beg of you to remember that John Wesley was the founder of the\nMethodist Church.\n\nIn New England, a woman was charged with being a witch, and with having\nchanged herself into a fox. While in that condition she was attacked and\nbitten by some dogs. A committee of three men, by order of the court,\nexamined this woman. They removed her clothing and searched for \"witch\nspots.\" That is to say, spots into which needles could be thrust without\ngiving her pain. They reported to the court that such spots were found.\nShe denied, however, that she ever had changed herself into a fox. Upon\nthe report of the committee she was found guilty and actually executed.\nThis was done by our Puritan fathers, by the gentlemen who braved the\ndangers of the deep for the sake of worshiping God and persecuting their\nfellow-men.\n\nIn those days people believed in what was known as lycanthropy--that is,\nthat persons, with the assistance of the devil, could assume the form\nof wolves. An instance is given where a man was attacked by a wolf. He\ndefended himself, and succeeded in cutting off one of the animal's paws.\nThe wolf ran away. The man picked up the paw, put it in his pocket and\ncarried it home. There he found his wife with one of her hands gone. He\ntook the paw from his pocket. It had changed to a human hand. He charged\nhis wife with being a witch. She was tried. She confessed her guilt, and\nwas burned.\n\nPeople were burned for causing frosts in summer--for destroying crops\nwith hail--for causing storms--for making cows go dry, and even for\nsouring beer. There was no impossibility for which some one was not\ntried and convicted. The life of no one was secure. To be charged,\nwas to be convicted. Every man was at the mercy of every other. This\ninfamous belief was so firmly seated in the minds of the people, that to\nexpress a doubt as to its truth was to be suspected. Whoever denied the\nexistence of witches and devils was denounced as an infidel.\n\nThey believed that animals were often taken possession of by devils, and\nthat the killing of the animal would destroy the devil. They absolutely\ntried, convicted, and executed dumb beasts.\n\nAt Basle, in 1470, a rooster was tried upon the charge of having laid\nan egg. Rooster eggs were used only in making witch ointment,--this\neverybody knew. The rooster was convicted and with all due solemnity was\nburned in the public square. So a hog and six pigs were tried for having\nkilled and partially eaten a child. The hog was convicted,--but the\npigs, on account probably of their extreme youth, were acquitted. As\nlate as 1740, a cow was tried and convicted of being possessed by a\ndevil.\n\nThey used to exorcise rats, locusts, snakes and vermin. They used to go\nthrough the alleys, streets, and fields, and warn them to leave within\na certain number of days. In case they disobeyed, they were threatened\nwith pains and penalties.\n\nBut let us be careful how we laugh at these things. Let us not pride\nourselves too much on the progress of our age. We must not forget that\nsome of our people are yet in the same intelligent business. Only a\nlittle while ago, the governor of Minnesota appointed a day of fasting\nand prayer, to see if some power could not be induced to kill the\ngrasshoppers, or send them into some other state.\n\nAbout the close of the fifteenth century, so great was the excitement\nwith regard to the existence of witchcraft that Pope Innocent VIII.\nissued a bull directing the inquisitors to be vigilant in searching\nout and punishing all guilty of this crime. Forms for the trial\nwere regularly laid down in a book or a pamphlet called the \"Malleus\nMaleficorum\" (Hammer of Witches), which was issued by the Roman See.\nPopes Alexander, Leo, and Adrian, issued like bulls. For two hundred\nand fifty years the church was busy in punishing the impossible crime of\nwitchcraft; in burning, hanging and torturing men, women, and children.\nProtestants were as active as Catholics, and in Geneva five hundred\nwitches were burned at the stake in a period of three months. About one\nthousand were executed in one year in the diocese of Como. At least one\nhundred thousand victims suffered in Germany alone: the last execution\n(in Wurtzburg) taking place as late as 1749. Witches were burned in\nSwitzerland as late as 1780.\n\nIn England the same frightful scenes were enacted. Statutes were passed\nfrom Henry VI. to James I., defining the crime and its punishment. The\nlast act passed by the British parliament was when Lord Bacon was a\nmember of the House of Commons; and this act was not repealed until\n1736.\n\nSir William Blackstone, in his Commentaries on the Laws of England,\nsays: \"To deny the possibility, nay, actual existence of witchcraft\nand sorcery, is at once flatly to contradict the word of God in various\npassages both of the Old and New Testament; and the thing itself is\na truth to which every nation in the world hath in its turn borne\ntestimony, either by examples seemingly well attested, or by prohibitory\nlaws, which at least suppose the possibility of a commerce with evil\nspirits.\"\n\nIn Brown's Dictionary of the Bible, published at Edinburg, Scotland, in\n1807, it is said that: \"A witch is a woman that has dealings with Satan.\nThat such persons are among men is abundantly plain from Scripture, and\nthat they ought to be put to death.\"\n\nThis work was re-published in Albany, New York, in 1816. No wonder the\nclergy of that city are ignorant and bigoted even unto this day.\n\nIn 1716, Mrs. Hicks and her daughter, nine years of age, were hanged\nfor selling their souls to the devil, and raising a storm by pulling off\ntheir stockings and making a lather of soap.\n\nIn England it has been estimated that at least thirty thousand were\nhanged and burned. The last victim executed in Scotland, perished in\n1722. \"She was an innocent old woman, who had so little idea of her\nsituation as to rejoice at the sight of the fire which was destined\nto consume her. She had a daughter, lame both of hands and of feet--a\ncircumstance attributed to the witch having been used to transform her\ndaughter into a pony and getting her shod by the devil.\"\n\nIn 1692, nineteen persons were executed and one pressed to death in\nSalem, Massachusetts, for the crime of witchcraft.\n\nIt was thought in those days that men and women made compacts with the\ndevil, orally and in writing. That they abjured God and Jesus Christ,\nand dedicated themselves wholly to the devil. The contracts were\nconfirmed at a general meeting of witches and ghosts, over which the\ndevil himself presided; and the persons generally signed the articles of\nagreement with their own blood. These contracts were, in some instances,\nfor a few years; in others, for life. General assemblies of the witches\nwere held at least once a year, at which they appeared entirely naked,\nbesmeared with an ointment made from the bodies of unbaptized infants.\n\"To these meetings they rode from great distances on broomsticks,\npokers, goats, hogs, and dogs. Here they did homage to the prince of\nhell, and offered him sacrifices of young children, and practiced all\nsorts of license until the break of day.\"\n\n\"As late as 1815, Belgium was disgraced by a witch trial; and guilt was\nestablished by the water ordeal.\" \"In 1836, the populace of Hela, near\nDantzic, twice plunged into the sea a woman reputed to be a sorceress;\nand as the miserable creature persisted in rising to the surface, she\nwas pronounced guilty, and beaten to death.\"\n\n\"It was believed that the bodies of devils are not like those of men and\nanimals, cast in an unchangeable mould. It was thought they were like\nclouds, refined and subtle matter, capable of assuming any form and\npenetrating into any orifice. The horrible tortures they endured\nin their place of punishment rendered them extremely sensitive to\nsuffering, and they continually sought a temperate and somewhat moist\nwarmth in order to allay their pangs. It was for this reason they so\nfrequently entered into men and women.\"\n\nThe devil could transport men, at his will, through the air. He could\nbeget children; and Martin Luther himself had come in contact with one\nof these children. He recommended the mother to throw the child into the\nriver, in order to free their house from the presence of a devil.\n\nIt was believed that the devil could transform people into any shape he\npleased.\n\nWhoever denied these things was denounced as an infidel. All the\nbelievers in witchcraft confidently appealed to the Bible. Their mouths\nwere filled with passages demonstrating the existence of witches and\ntheir power Over human beings. By the Bible they proved that innumerable\nevil spirits were ranging over the world endeavoring to ruin mankind;\nthat these spirits possessed a power and wisdom far transcending the\nlimits of human faculties; that they delighted in every misfortune that\ncould befall the world; that their malice was superhuman. That they\ncaused tempests was proved by the action of the devil toward Job; by the\npassage in the book of Revelation describing the four angels who held\nthe four winds, and to whom it was given to afflict the earth. They\nbelieved the devil could carry persons hundreds of miles, in a few\nseconds, through the air. They believed this, because they knew that\nChrist had been carried by the devil in the same manner and placed on a\npinnacle of the temple. \"The prophet Habakkuk had been transported by a\nspirit from Judea to Babylon; and Philip, the evangelist, had been the\nobject of a similar miracle; and in the same way Saint Paul had been\ncarried in the body into the third heaven.\"\n\n\"In those pious days, they believed that _Incubi_ and _Succubi_ were\nforever wandering among mankind, alluring, by more than human charms,\nthe unwary to their destruction, and laying plots, which were too often\nsuccessful, against the virtue of the saints. Sometimes the witches\nkindled in the monastic priest a more terrestrial fire. People told,\nwith bated breath, how, under the spell of a vindictive woman, four\nsuccessive abbots in a German monastery had been wasted away by an\nunholy flame.\"\n\nAn instance is given in which the devil not only assumed the appearance\nof a holy man, in order to pay his addresses to a lady, but when\ndiscovered, crept under the bed, suffered himself to be dragged out,\nand was impudent enough to declare that he was the veritable bishop. So\nperfectly had he assumed the form and features of the prelate that those\nwho knew the bishop best were deceived.\n\nOne can hardly imagine the frightful state of the human mind during\nthese long centuries of darkness and superstition. To them, these things\nwere awful and frightful realities. Hovering above them in the air, in\ntheir houses, in the bosoms of friends, in their very bodies, in all the\ndarkness of night, everywhere, around, above and below, were innumerable\nhosts of unclean and malignant devils.\n\nFrom the malice of those leering and vindictive vampires of the air,\nthe church pretended to defend mankind. Pursued by these phantoms, the\nfrightened multitudes fell upon their faces and implored the aid of\nrobed hypocrisy and sceptered theft.\n\nTake from the orthodox church of to-day the threat and fear of hell, and\nit becomes an extinct volcano.\n\nTake from the church the miraculous, the supernatural, the\nincomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, and\nthe absurd, and nothing but a vacuum remains.\n\nNotwithstanding all the infamous things justly laid to the charge of the\nchurch, we are told that the civilization of to-day is the child of what\nwe are pleased to call the superstition of the past.\n\nReligion has not civilized man--man has civilized religion. God improves\nas man advances.\n\nLet me call your attention to what we have received from the followers\nof the ghosts. Let me give you an outline of the sciences as taught by\nthese philosophers of the clouds.\n\nAll diseases were produced, either as a punishment by the good ghosts,\nor out of pure malignity by the bad ones. There were, properly speaking,\nno diseases. The sick were possessed by ghosts. The science of medicine\nconsisted in knowing how to persuade these ghosts to vacate the\npremises. For thousands of years the diseased were treated with\nincantations, with hideous noises, with drums and gongs. Everything was\ndone to make the visit of the ghost as unpleasant as possible, and they\ngenerally succeeded in making things so disagreeable that if the ghost\ndid not leave, the patient did. These ghosts were supposed to be of\ndifferent rank, power and dignity. Now and then a man pretended to have\nwon the favor of some powerful ghost, and that gave him power over the\nlittle ones. Such a man became an eminent physician.\n\nIt was found that certain kinds of smoke, such as that produced by\nburning the liver of a fish, the dried skin of a serpent, the eyes of\na toad, or the tongue of an adder, were exceedingly offensive to the\nnostrils of an ordinary ghost. With this smoke, the sick room would be\nfilled until the ghost vanished or the patient died.\n\nIt was also believed that certain words,--the names of the most powerful\nghosts,--when properly pronounced, were very effective weapons. It was\nfor a long time thought that Latin words were the best,--Latin being a\ndead language, and known by the clergy. Others thought that two sticks\nlaid across each other and held before the wicked ghost would cause it\ninstantly to flee in dread away.\n\nFor thousands of years, the practice of medicine consisted in driving\nthese evil spirits out of the bodies of men.\n\nIn some instances, bargains and compromises were made with the ghosts.\nOne case is given where a multitude of devils traded a man for a herd\nof swine. In this transaction the devils were the losers, as the swine\nimmediately drowned themselves in the sea. This idea of disease appears\nto have been almost universal, and is by no means yet extinct.\n\nThe contortions of the epileptic, the strange twitchings of those\nafflicted with chorea, the shakings of palsy, dreams, trances, and the\nnumberless frightful phenomena produced by diseases of the nerves, were\nall seized upon as so many proofs that the bodies of men were filled\nwith unclean and malignant ghosts.\n\nWhoever endeavored to account for these things by natural causes,\nwhoever attempted to cure diseases by natural means, was denounced by\nthe church as an infidel. To explain anything was a crime. It was to the\ninterest of the priest that all phenomena should be accounted for by the\nwill and power of gods and devils. The moment it is admitted that all\nphenomena are within the domain of the natural, the necessity for a\npriest has disappeared. Religion breathes the air of the supernatural.\nTake from the mind of man the idea of the supernatural, and religion\nceases to exist. For this, reason, the church has always despised the\nman who explained the wonderful. Upon this principle, nothing was\nleft undone to stay the science of medicine. As long as plagues and\npestilences could be stopped by prayer, the priest was useful. The\nmoment the physician found a cure, the priest became an extravagance.\nThe moment it began to be apparent that prayer could do nothing for the\nbody, the priest shifted his ground and began praying for the soul.\n\nLong after the devil idea was substantially abandoned in the practice\nof medicine, and when it was admitted that God had nothing to do with\nordinary coughs and colds, it was still believed that all the frightful\ndiseases were sent by him as punishments for the wickedness of the\npeople. It was thought to be a kind of blasphemy to even try, by any\nnatural means, to stay the ravages of pestilence. Formerly, during the\nprevalence of plague and epidemics, the arrogance of the priest was\nboundless. He told the people that they had slighted the clergy, that\nthey had refused to pay tithes, that they had doubted some of the\ndoctrines of the church, and that God was now taking his revenge. The\npeople for the most part, believed this infamous tissue of priestcraft.\nThey hastened to fall upon their knees; they poured out their wealth\nupon the altars of hypocrisy; they abased and debased themselves; from\ntheir minds they banished all doubts, and made haste to crawl in the\nvery dust of humility.\n\nThe church never wanted disease to be under the control of man.\nTimothy Dwight, president of Yale College, preached a sermon against\nvaccination. His idea was, that if God had decreed from all eternity\nthat a certain man should die with the small-pox, it was a frightful sin\nto avoid and annul that decree by the trick of vaccination. Small-pox\nbeing regarded as one of the heaviest guns in the arsenal of heaven,\nto spike it was the height of presumption. Plagues and pestilences were\ninstrumentalities in the hands of God with which to gain the love and\nworship of mankind. To find a cure for disease was to take a weapon from\nthe church. No one tries to cure the ague with prayer. Quinine has been\nfound altogether more reliable. Just as soon as a specific is found\nfor a disease, that disease will be left out of the list of prayer. The\nnumber of diseases with which God from time to time afflicts mankind,\nis continually decreasing. In a few years all of them will be under the\ncontrol of man, the gods will be left unarmed, and the threats of their\npriests will excite only a smile.\n\nThe science of medicine has had but one enemy--religion. Man was afraid\nto save his body for fear he might lose his soul.\n\nIs it any wonder that the people in those days believed in and taught\nthe infamous doctrine of eternal punishment--a doctrine that makes God a\nheartless monster and man a slimy hypocrite and slave?\n\nThe ghosts were historians, and their histories were the grossest\nabsurdities. \"Tales told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying\nnothing.\" In those days the histories were written by the monks, who, as\na rule, were almost as superstitious as they were dishonest. They wrote\nas though they had been witnesses of every occurrence they related. They\nwrote the history of every country of importance. They told all the\npast and predicted all the future with an impudence that amounted to\nsublimity. \"They traced the order of St. Michael, in France, to the\narchangel himself, and alleged that he was the founder of a chivalric\norder in heaven itself. They said that Tartars originally came from\nhell, and that they were called Tartars because Tartarus was one of\nthe names of perdition. They declared that Scotland was so named after\nScota, a daughter of Pharaoh, who landed in Ireland, invaded Scotland,\nand took it by force of arms. This statement was made in a letter\naddressed to the Pope in the fourteenth century, and was alluded to as\na well-known fact. The letter was written by some of the highest\ndignitaries, and by the direction of the King himself.\"\n\nThese gentlemen accounted for the red on the breasts of robins, from the\nfact that these birds carried water to unbaptized infants in hell.\n\nMatthew, of Paris, an eminent historian of the fourteenth century, gave\nthe world the following piece of information: \"It is well known that\nMohammed was once a cardinal, and became a heretic because he failed in\nhis effort to be elected pope;\" and that having drank to excess, he fell\nby the roadside, and in this condition was killed by swine. \"And for\nthat reason, his followers abhor pork even unto this day.\"\n\nAnother eminent historian informs us that Nero was in the habit of\nvomiting frogs. When I read this, I said to myself: Some of the croakers\nof the present day against Progress would be the better for such a\nvomit.\n\nThe history of Charlemagne was written by Turpin, of Rheims. He was a\nbishop. He assures us that the walls of a city fell down in answer\nto prayer. That there were giants in those days who could take fifty\nordinary men under their arms and walk away with them. \"With the\ngreatest of these, a direct descendant of Goliath, one Orlando had a\ntheological discussion, and that in the heat of the debate, when the\ngiant was overwhelmed with the argument, Orlando rushed forward and\ninflicted a fatal stab.\"\n\nThe history of Britain, written by the archdeacons of Monmouth and\nOxford, was wonderfully popular. According to them, Brutus conquered\nEngland and built the city of London. During his time, it rained pure\nblood for three days. At another time, a monster came from the sea, and,\nafter having devoured great multitudes of people, swallowed the king\nand disappeared. They tell us that King Arthur was not born like other\nmortals, but was the result of a magical contrivance; that he had\ngreat luck in killing giants; that he killed one in France that had\nthe cheerful habit of eating some thirty men a day. That this giant had\nclothes woven of the beards of the kings he had devoured. To cap the\nclimax, one of the authors of this book was promoted for having written\nthe only reliable history of his country.\n\nIn all the histories of those days there is hardly a single truth. Facts\nwere considered unworthy of preservation. Anything that really happened\nwas not of sufficient interest or importance to be recorded. The great\nreligious historian, Eusebius, ingenuously remarks that in his history\nhe carefully omitted whatever tended to discredit the church, and that\nhe piously magnified all that conduced to her glory.\n\nThe same glorious principle was scrupulously adhered to by all the\nhistorians of that time.\n\nThey wrote, and the people believed, that the tracks of Pharoah's\nchariots were still visible on the sands of the Red Sea, and that they\nhad been miraculously preserved from the winds and waves as perpetual\nwitnesses of the great miracle there performed.\n\nIt is safe to say that every truth in the histories of those times is\nthe result of accident or mistake.\n\nThey accounted for everything as the work of good and evil spirits. With\ncause and effect they had nothing to do. Facts were in no way related\nto each other. God, governed by infinite caprice, filled the world with\nmiracles and disconnected events. From the quiver of his hatred came the\narrows of famine, pestilence, and death.\n\nThe moment that the idea is abandoned that all is natural; that all\nphenomena are the necessary links in the endless chain of being, the\nconception of history becomes impossible. With the ghosts, the present\nis not the child of the past, nor the mother of the future. In the\ndomain of religion all is chance, accident, and caprice.\n\nDo not forget, I pray you, that our creeds were written by the\ncotemporaries of these historians.\n\nThe same idea was applied to law. It was believed by our intelligent\nancestors that all law derived its sacredness and its binding force from\nthe fact that it had been communicated to man by the ghosts. Of course\nit was not pretended that the ghosts told everybody the law; but they\ntold it to a few, and the few told it to the people, and the people, as\na rule, paid them exceedingly well for their trouble. It was thousands\nof ages before the people commenced making laws for themselves, and\nstrange as it may appear, most of these laws were vastly superior to the\nghost article. Through the web and woof of human legislation began to\nrun and shine and glitter the golden thread of justice.\n\nDuring these years of darkness it was believed that rather than see an\nact of injustice done; rather than see the innocent suffer; rather than\nsee the guilty triumph, some ghost would interfere. This belief, as a\nrule, gave great satisfaction to the victorious party, and as the other\nman was dead, no complaint was heard from him.\n\nThis doctrine was the sanctification of brute force and chance. They had\ntrials by battle, by fire, by water, and by lot. Persons were made\nto grasp hot iron, and if it burned them their guilt was established.\nOthers, with tied hands and feet, were cast into the sea, and if they\nsank, the verdict of guilty was unanimous,--if they did not sink, they\nwere in league with devils.\n\nSo in England, persons charged with crime could appeal to the corsned.\nThe corsned was a piece of the sacramental bread. If the defendant could\nswallow this piece he went acquit. Godwin, Earl of Kent, in the time of\nEdward the Confessor, appealed to the corsned. He failed to swallow it\nand was choked to death.\n\nThe ghosts and their followers always took delight in torture, in cruel\nand unusual punishments. For the infraction of most of their laws, death\nwas the penalty--death produced by stoning and by fire. Sometimes,\nwhen man committed only murder, he was allowed to flee to some city of\nrefuge. Murder was a crime against man. But for saying certain words, or\ndenying certain doctrines, or for picking up sticks on certain days, or\nfor worshiping the wrong ghost, or for failing to pray to the right one,\nor for laughing at a priest, or for saying that wine was not blood,\nor that bread was not flesh, or for failing to regard ram's horns as\nartillery, or for insisting that a dry bone was scarcely sufficient to\ntake the place of water works, or that a raven, as a rule, made a poor\nlandlord:--death, produced by all the ways that the ingenuity of hatred\ncould devise, was the penalty.\n\nLaw is a growth--it is a science. Right and wrong exist in the nature\nof things. Things are not right because they are commanded, nor wrong\nbecause they are prohibited. There are real crimes enough without\ncreating artificial ones. All progress in legislation has for centuries\nconsisted in repealing the laws of the ghosts.\n\nThe idea of right and wrong is born of man's capacity to enjoy and\nsuffer. If man could not suffer, if he could not inflict injury upon his\nfellow, if he could neither feel nor inflict pain, the idea of right\nand wrong never would have entered his brain. But for this, the word\nconscience never would have passed the lips of man.\n\nThere is one good--happiness. There is but one sin--selfishness. All\nlaw should be for the preservation of the one and the destruction of the\nother.\n\nUnder the regime of the ghosts, laws were not supposed to exist in the\nnature of things. They were supposed to be simply the irresponsible\ncommand of a ghost. These commands were not supposed to rest upon\nreason, they were the product of arbitrary will.\n\nThe penalties for the violation of these laws were as cruel as the laws\nwere senseless and absurd. Working on the Sabbath and murder were both\npunished with death. The tendency of such laws is to blot from the human\nheart the sense of justice.\n\nTo show you how perfectly every department of knowledge, or ignorance\nrather, was saturated with superstition, I will for a moment refer to\nthe science of language.\n\nIt was thought by our fathers, that Hebrew was the original language;\nthat it was taught to Adam in the Garden of Eden by the Almighty, and\nthat consequently all languages came from, and could be traced to, the\nHebrew. Every fact inconsistent with that idea was discarded. According\nto the ghosts, the trouble at the tower of Babel accounted for the fact\nthat all people did not speak Hebrew. The Babel business settled all\nquestions in the science of language.\n\nAfter a time, so many facts were found to be inconsistent with the\nHebrew idea that it began to fall into disrepute, and other languages\nbegan to compete for the honor of being the original.\n\nAndre Kempe, in 1569, published a work on the language of Paradise,\nin which he maintained that God spoke to Adam in Swedish; that Adam\nanswered in Danish; and that the serpent--which appears to me quite\nprobable--spoke to Eve in French. Erro, in a work published at Madrid,\ntook the ground that Basque was the language spoken in the Garden of\nEden; but in 1580 Goropius published his celebrated work at Antwerp, in\nwhich he put the whole matter at rest by showing, beyond all doubt, that\nthe language spoken in Paradise was neither more nor less than plain\nHolland Dutch.\n\nThe real founder of the science of language was Liebnitz, a cotemporary\nof Sir Isaac Newton. He discarded the idea that all languages could\nbe traced to one language. He maintained that language was a natural\ngrowth. Experience teaches us that this must be so. Words are\ncontinually dying and continually being born. Words are naturally and\nnecessarily produced. Words are the garments of thought, the robes of\nideas. Some are as rude as the skins of wild beasts, and others glisten\nand glitter like silk and gold. They have been born of hatred and\nrevenge; of love and self-sacrifice; of hope and fear, of agony and joy.\nThese words are born of the terror and beauty of nature. The stars\nhave fashioned them. In them mingle the darkness and the dawn. From\neverything they have taken something. Words are the crystalizations of\nhuman history, of all that man has enjoyed and suffered--his victories\nand defeats--all that he has lost and won. Words are the shadows of all\nthat has been--the mirrors of all that is.\n\nThe ghosts also enlightened our fathers in astronomy and geology.\nAccording to them the earth was made out of nothing, and a little more\nnothing having been taken than was used in the construction of this\nworld, the stars were made out of what was left over. Cosmas, in the\nsixth century, taught that the stars were impelled by angels, who either\ncarried them on their shoulders, rolled them in front of them, or drew\nthem after. He also taught that each angel that pushed a star took great\npains to observe what the other angels were doing, so that the relative\ndistances between the stars might always remain the same. He also gave\nhis idea as to the form of the world.\n\nHe stated that the world was a vast parallelogram; that on the outside\nwas a strip of land, like the frame of a common slate; that then there\nwas a strip of water, and in the middle a great piece of land; that\nAdam and Eve lived on the outer strip; that their descendants, with\nthe exception of the Noah family, were drowned by a flood on this outer\nstrip; that the ark finally rested on the middle piece of land where we\nnow are. He accounted for night and day by saying that on the outside\nstrip of land there was a high mountain, around which the sun and moon\nrevolved, and that when the sun was on the other side of the mountain,\nit was night; and when on this side, it was day.\n\nHe also declared that the earth was flat. This he proved by many\npassages from the Bible. Among other reasons for believing the earth\nto be flat, he brought forward the following: We are told in the New\nTestament that Christ shall come again in glory and power, and all the\nworld shall see him. Now, if the world is round, how are the people\non the other side going to see Christ when he comes? That settled the\nquestion, and the church not only endorsed the book, but declared that\nwhoever believed less or more than stated by Cosmas, was a heretic.\n\nIn those blessed days, Ignorance was a king and Science an outcast.\n\nThey knew the moment this earth ceased to be the centre of the universe,\nand became a mere speck in the starry heaven of existence, that their\nreligion would become a childish fable of the past.\n\nIn the name and by the authority of the ghosts, men enslaved their\nfellow-men; they trampled upon the rights of women and children. In the\nname and by the authority of ghosts, they bought and sold and destroyed\neach other; they filled heaven with tyrants and earth with slaves, the\npresent with despair and the future with horror. In the name and by the\nauthority of the ghosts, they imprisoned the human mind, polluted the\nconscience, hardened the heart, subverted justice, crowned robbery,\nsainted hypocrisy, and extinguished for a thousand years the torch of\nreason.\n\nI have endeavored, in some faint degree, to show you what has happened,\nand what always will happen when men are governed by superstition and\nfear; when they desert the sublime standard of reason; when they take\nthe words of others and do not investigate for themselves.\n\nEven the great men of those days were nearly as weak in this matter\nas the most ignorant. Kepler, one of the greatest men of the world,\nan astronomer second to none, although he plucked from the stars the\nsecrets of the universe, was an astrologer, and really believed that\nhe could predict the career of a man by finding what star was in the\nascendant at his birth. This great man breathed, so to speak, the\natmosphere of his time. He believed in the music of the spheres, and\nassigned alto, bass, tenor, and treble to certain stars.\n\nTycho Brahe, another astronomer, kept an idiot, whose disconnected and\nmeaningless words he carefully set down, and then put them together in\nsuch manner as to make prophecies, and then waited patiently to see them\nfulfilled. Luther believed that he had actually seen the devil, and had\ndiscussed points of theology with him. The human mind was in chains.\nEvery idea almost was a monster. Thought was deformed. Facts were looked\nupon as worthless. Only the wonderful was worth preserving. Things that\nactually happened were not considered worth recording;--real occurrences\nwere too common. Everybody expected the miraculous.\n\nThe ghosts were supposed to be busy; devils were thought to be the\nmost industrious things in the universe, and with these imps, every\noccurrence of an unusual character was in some way connected. There was\nno order, no serenity, no certainty in anything. Everything depended\nupon ghosts and phantoms. Man was, for the most part, at the mercy of\nmalevolent spirits. He protected himself as best he could with holy\nwater and tapers and wafers and cathedrals. He made noises and rung\nbells to frighten the ghosts, and he made music to charm them. He used\nsmoke to choke them, and incense to please them. He wore beads and\ncrosses. He said prayers, and hired others to say them. He fasted when\nhe was hungry, and feasted when he was not. He believed everything that\nseemed unreasonable, just to appease the ghosts. He humbled himself. He\ncrawled in the dust. He shut the doors and windows, and excluded every\nray of light from the temple of the soul. He debauched and polluted\nhis own mind, and toiled night and day to repair the walls of his own\nprison. From the garden of his heart he plucked and trampled upon the\nholy flowers of pity.\n\nThe priests reveled in horrible descriptions of hell. Concerning\nthe wrath of God, they grew eloquent. They denounced man as totally\ndepraved. They made reason blasphemy, and pity a crime. Nothing so\ndelighted them as painting the torments and sufferings of the lost. Over\nthe worm that never dies they grew poetic; and the second death filled\nthem with a kind of holy delight. According to them, the smoke and cries\nascending from hell were the perfume and music of heaven.\n\nAt the risk of being tiresome, I have said what I have to show you the\nproductions of the human mind, when enslaved; the effects of wide-spread\nignorance--the results of fear. I want to convince you that every form\nof slavery is a viper, that, sooner or later, will strike its poison\nfangs into the bosoms of men.\n\nThe first great step towards progress, is, for man to cease to be the\nslave of man; the second, to cease to be the slave of the monsters of\nhis own creation--of the ghosts and phantoms of the air.\n\nFor ages the human race was imprisoned.\n\nThrough the bars and grates came a few struggling rays of light. Against\nthese grates and bars Science pressed its pale and thoughtful face,\nwooed by the holy dawn of human advancement.\n\nMen found that the real was the useful; that what a man knows is better\nthan what a ghost says; that an event is more valuable than a prophecy.\nThey found that diseases were not produced by spirits, and could not be\ncured by frightening them away. They found that death was as natural as\nlife. They began to study the anatomy and chemistry of the human body,\nand found that all was natural and within the domain of law.\n\nThe conjurer and sorcerer were discarded, and the physician and surgeon\nemployed. They found that the earth was not flat; that the stars were\nnot mere specks. They found that being born under a particular planet\nhad nothing to do with the fortunes of men.\n\nThe astrologer was discharged and the astronomer took his place.\n\nThey found that the earth had swept through the constellations for\nmillions of ages. They found that good and evil were produced by natural\ncauses, and not by ghosts; that man could not be good enough or bad\nenough to stop or cause a rain; that diseases were produced as naturally\nas grass, and were not sent as punishments upon man for failing to\nbelieve a certain creed. They found that man, through intelligence,\ncould take advantage of the forces of nature--that he could make the\nwaves, the winds, the flames, and the lightnings of heaven do his\nbidding and minister to his wants. They found that the ghosts\nknew nothing of benefit to man; that they were utterly ignorant\nof geology--of astronomy--of geography;--that they knew nothing of\nhistory;--that they were poor doctors and worse surgeons;--that they\nknew nothing of law and less of justice; that they were without brains,\nand utterly destitute of hearts; that they knew nothing of the rights\nof men; that they were despisers of women, the haters of progress, the\nenemies of science, and the destroyers of liberty.\n\nThe condition of the world during the Dark Ages shows exactly the result\nof enslaving the bodies and souls of men. In those days there was no\nfreedom. Labor was despised, and a laborer was considered but little\nabove a beast. Ignorance, like a vast cowl, covered the brain of the\nworld, and superstition ran riot with the imagination of man. The air\nwas filled with angels, with demons and monsters. Credulity sat upon\nthe throne of the soul, and Reason was an exiled king. A man to be\ndistinguished must be a soldier or a monk. War and theology, that is\nto say, murder and hypocrisy, were the principal employments of man.\nIndustry was a slave, theft was commerce; murder was war, hypocrisy was\nreligion.\n\nEvery Christian country maintained that it was no robbery to take the\nproperty of Mohammedans by force, and no murder to kill the owners. Lord\nBacon was the first man of note who maintained that a Christian country\nwas bound to keep its plighted faith with an infidel nation. Reading and\nwriting were considered dangerous arts. Every layman who could read and\nwrite was suspected of being a heretic. All thought was discouraged.\nThey forged chains of superstition for the minds, and manacles of iron\nfor the bodies of men. The earth was ruled by the cowl and sword,--by\nthe mitre and scepter,--by the altar and throne,--by Fear and Force,--by\nIgnorance and Faith,--by ghouls and ghosts.\n\nIn the fifteenth century the following law was in force in England:\n\n\"That whosoever reads the Scriptures in the mother tongue, shall forfeit\nland, cattle, life, and goods from their heirs forever, and so be\ncondemned for heretics to God, enemies to the crown, and most arrant\ntraitors to the land.\"\n\nDuring the first year this law was in force thirty-nine were hanged for\nits violation and their bodies burned.\n\nIn the sixteenth century men were burned because they failed to kneel to\na procession of monks.\n\nThe slightest word uttered against the superstition of the time was\npunished with death.\n\nEven the reformers, so-called, of those days, had no idea of\nintellectual liberty--no idea even of toleration. Luther, Knox, Calvin,\nbelieved in religious liberty only when they were in the minority. The\nmoment they were clothed with power they began to exterminate with fire\nand sword.\n\nCastalio was the first minister who advocated the liberty of the soul.\nHe was regarded by the reformers as a criminal, and treated as though he\nhad committed the crime of crimes.\n\nBodinus, a lawyer of France, about the same time, wrote a few words\nin favor of the freedom of conscience, but public opinion was\noverwhelmingly against him. The people were ready, anxious, and willing,\nwith whip, and chain, and fire, to drive from the mind of man the heresy\nthat he had a right to think.\n\nMontaigne, a man blest with so much common sense that he was the most\nuncommon man of his time, was the first to raise a voice against torture\nin France. But what was the voice of one man against the terrible cry of\nignorant, infatuated, superstitious and malevolent millions? It was the\ncry of a drowning man in the wild roar of the cruel sea.\n\nIn spite of the efforts of the brave few the infamous war against the\nfreedom of the soul was waged until at least one hundred millions of\nhuman beings--fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters--with hopes, loves,\nand aspirations like ourselves, were sacrificed upon the cruel altar\nof an ignorant faith. They perished in every way by which death can\nbe produced. Every nerve of pain was sought out and touched by the\nbelievers in ghosts.\n\nFor my part I glory in the fact, that here in the New World,--in the\nUnited States,--liberty of conscience was first guaranteed to man, and\nthat the Constitution of the United States was the first great decree\nentered in the high court of human equity forever divorcing church and\nstate,--the first injunction granted against the interference of the\nghosts. This was one of the grandest steps ever taken by the human race\nin the direction of Progress.\n\nYou will ask what has caused this wonderful change in three hundred\nyears. And I answer--the inventions and discoveries of the few;--the\nbrave thoughts, the heroic utterances of the few;--the acquisition of a\nfew facts.\n\nBesides, you must remember that every wrong in some way tends to abolish\nitself. It is hard to make a lie stand always. A lie will not fit a\nfact. It will only fit another lie made for the purpose. The life of\na lie is simply a question of time. Nothing but truth is immortal. The\nnobles and kings quarreled;--the priests began to dispute;--the ideas of\ngovernment began to change.\n\nIn 1441 printing was discovered. At that time the past was a vast\ncemetery with hardly an epitaph. The ideas of men had mostly perished\nin the brain that produced them. The lips of the human race had been\nsealed. Printing gave pinions to thought. It preserved ideas. It made it\npossible for man to bequeath to the future the riches of his brain, the\nwealth of his soul. At first, it was used to flood the world with the\nmistakes of the ancients, but since that time it has been flooding the\nworld with light.\n\nWhen people read they begin to reason, and when they reason they\nprogress. This was another grand step in the direction of Progress.\n\nThe discovery of powder, that put the peasant almost upon a par with\nthe prince;--that put an end to the so-called age of chivalry;--that\nreleased a vast number of men from the armies;--that gave pluck and\nnerve a chance with brute strength.\n\nThe discovery of America, whose shores were trod by the restless feet\nof adventure;--that brought people holding every shade of superstition\ntogether;--that gave the world an opportunity to compare notes, and to\nlaugh at the follies of each other. Out of this strange mingling of\nall creeds, and superstitions, and facts, and theories, and countless\nopinions, came the Great Republic.\n\nEvery fact has pushed a superstition from the brain and a ghost from the\nclouds. Every mechanic art is an educator. Every loom, every reaper and\nmower, every steamboat, every locomotive, every engine, every press,\nevery telegraph, is a missionary of Science and an apostle of Progress.\nEvery mill, every furnace, every building with its wheels and levers,\nin which something is made for the convenience, for the use, and for the\ncomfort and elevation of man, is a church, and every school-house is a\ntemple.\n\nEducation is the most radical thing in the world.\n\nTo teach the alphabet is to inaugurate a revolution.\n\nTo build a schoolhouse is to construct a fort.\n\nEvery library is an arsenal filled with the weapons and ammunition of\nProgress, and every fact is a monitor with sides of iron and a turret of\nsteel.\n\nI thank the inventors, the discoverers, the thinkers. I thank Columbus\nand Magellan. I thank Galileo, and Copernicus, and Kepler, and\nDescartes, and Newton, and Laplace. I thank Locke, and Hume, and Bacon,\nand Shakespeare, and Kant, and Fichte, and Leibnitz, and Goethe. I thank\nFulton, and Watts, and Volta, and Galvani, and Franklin, and Morse, who\nmade lightning the messenger of man. I thank Humboldt, the Shakespeare\nof science. I thank Crompton and Arkwright, from whose brains leaped the\nlooms and spindles that clothe the world. I thank Luther for protesting\nagainst the abuses of the church, and I denounce him because he was\nthe enemy of liberty. I thank Calvin for writing a book in favor of\nreligious freedom, and I abhor him because he burned Servetus. I thank\nKnox for resisting Episcopal persecution, and I hate him because he\npersecuted in his turn. I thank the Puritans for saying \"Resistance to\ntyrants is obedience to God,\" and yet I am compelled to say that they\nwere tyrants themselves. I thank Thomas Paine because he was a believer\nin liberty, and because he did as much to make my country free as any\nother human being. I thank Voltaire, that great man who, for half a\ncentury, was the intellectual emperor of Europe, and who, from his\nthrone at the foot of the Alps, pointed the finger of scorn at every\nhypocrite in Christendom. I thank Darwin, Haeckel and Buechner, Spencer,\nTyndall and Huxley, Draper, Lecky and Buckle.\n\nI thank the inventors, the discoverers, the thinkers, the scientists,\nthe explorers, I thank the honest millions who have toiled.\n\nI thank the brave men with brave thoughts. They are the Atlases upon\nwhose broad and mighty shoulders rests the grand fabric of civilization.\nThey are the men who have broken, and are still breaking, the chains of\nSuperstition. They are the Titans who carried Olympus by assault, and\nwho will soon stand victors upon Sinai's crags.\n\nWe are beginning to learn that to exchange a mistake for the truth--a\nsuperstition for a fact--to ascertain the real--is to progress.\n\nHappiness is the only possible good, and all that tends to the happiness\nof man is right, and is of value. All that tends to develop the bodies\nand minds of men; all that gives us better houses, better clothes,\nbetter food, better pictures, grander music, better heads, better\nhearts; all that renders us more intellectual and more loving, nearer\njust; that makes us better husbands and wives, better children, better\ncitizens--all these things combined produce what I call Progress.\n\nMan advances only as he overcomes the obstructions of Nature, and this\ncan be done only by labor and by thought. Labor is the foundation of\nall. Without labor, and without great labor, progress is impossible. The\nprogress of the world depends upon the men who walk in the fresh furrows\nand through the rustling corn; upon those who sow and reap; upon those\nwhose faces are radiant with the glare of furnace fires; upon the\ndelvers in the mines, and the workers in shops; upon those who give to\nthe winter air the ringing music of the axe; upon those who battle with\nthe boisterous billows of the sea; upon the inventors and discoverers;\nupon the brave thinkers.\n\nFrom the surplus produced by labor, schools and universities are built\nand fostered. From this surplus the painter is paid for the productions\nof the pencil; the sculptor for chiseling shapeless rock into forms\ndivinely beautiful, and the poet for singing the hopes, the loves, the\nmemories, and the aspirations of the world. This surplus has given us\nthe books in which we converse with the dead and living kings of the\nhuman race. It has given us all there is of beauty, of elegance, and of\nrefined happiness.\n\nI am aware that there is a vast difference of opinion as to what\nprogress really is; that many denounce the ideas of to-day as\ndestructive of all happiness--of all good, I know that there are many\nworshipers of the past. They venerate the ancient because it is ancient.\nThey see no beauty in anything from which they do not blow the dust of\nages with the breath of praise. They say, no masters like the old; no\nreligion, no governments like the ancient; no orators, no poets, no\nstatesmen like those who have been dust for two thousand years. Others\nlove the modern simply because it is modern.\n\nWe should have gratitude enough to acknowledge the obligations we are\nunder to the great and heroic of antiquity, and independence enough not\nto believe what they said simply because they said it.\n\nWith the idea that labor is the basis of progress goes the truth that\nlabor must be free. The laborer must be a free man.\n\nThe free man, working for wife and child, gets his head and hands in\npartnership.\n\nTo do the greatest amount of work in the shortest space of time, is the\nproblem of free labor.\n\nSlavery does the least work in the longest space of time.\n\nFree labor will give us wealth. Free thought will give us truth.\n\nSlowly but surely man is freeing his imagination of these sexless\nphantoms, of these cruel ghosts. Slowly but surely he is rising above\nthe superstitions of the past. He is learning to rely upon himself.\nHe is beginning to find that labor is the only prayer that ought to be\nanswered, and that hoping, toiling, aspiring, suffering men and women\nare of more importance than all the ghosts that ever wandered through\nthe fenceless fields of space.\n\nThe believers in ghosts claim still, that they are the only wise and\nvirtuous people upon the earth; claim still, that there is a difference\nbetween them and unbelievers so vast, that they will be infinitely\nrewarded, and the others infinitely punished.\n\nI ask you to-night, do the theories and doctrines of the theologians\nsatisfy the heart or brain of the nineteenth century?\n\nHave the churches the confidence of mankind?\n\nDoes the merchant give credit to a man because he belongs to a church?\n\nDoes the banker loan money to a man because he is a Methodist or\nBaptist?\n\nWill a certificate of good standing in any church be taken as collateral\nsecurity for one dollar?\n\nWill you take the word of a church member, or his note, or his oath,\nsimply because he is a church member?\n\nAre the clergy, as a class, better, kinder and more generous to their\nfamilies--to their fellow-men--than doctors, lawyers, merchants and\nfarmers?\n\nDoes a belief in ghosts and unreasonable things necessarily make people\nhonest?\n\nWhen a man loses confidence in Moses, must the people lose confidence in\nhim?\n\nDoes not the credit system in morals breed extravagance in sin?\n\nWhy send missionaries to other lands while every penitentiary in ours is\nfilled with criminals?\n\nIs it philosophical to say that they who do right carry a cross?\n\nIs it a source of joy to think that perdition is the destination of\nnearly all of the children of men?\n\nIs it worth while to quarrel about original sin--when there is so much\ncopy?\n\nDoes it pay to dispute about baptism, and the Trinity, and\npredestination, and apostolic succession and the infallibility of\nchurches, of popes and of books? Does all this do any good?\n\nAre the theologians welcomers of new truths? Are they noted for their\ncandor? Do they treat an opponent with common fairness? Are they\ninvestigators? Do they pull forward, or do they hold back?\n\nIs science indebted to the church for a solitary fact?\n\nWhat church is an asylum for a persecuted truth?\n\nWhat great reform has been inaugurated by the church?\n\nDid the church abolish slavery?\n\nHas the church raised its voice against war?\n\nI used to think that there was in religion no real restraining force.\nUpon this point my mind has changed. Religion will prevent man from\ncommitting artificial crimes and offences.\n\nA man committed murder. The evidence was so conclusive that he confessed\nhis guilt.\n\nHe was asked why he killed his fellow-man.\n\nHe replied: \"For money.\"\n\n\"Did you get any?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"How much?\"\n\n\"Fifteen cents.\"\n\n\"What did you do with this money?\"\n\n\"Spent it.\"\n\n\"What for?\"\n\n\"Liquor.\"\n\n\"What else did you find upon the dead man?\" \"He had his dinner in a\nbucket--some meat and bread.\"\n\n\"What did you do with that?\"\n\n\"I ate the bread.\"\n\n\"What did you do with the meat?\"\n\n\"I threw it away.\"\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"It was Friday.\"\n\nJust to the extent that man has freed himself from the dominion of\nghosts he has advanced. Just to the extent that he has freed himself\nfrom the tyrants of his own creation he has progressed. Just to the\nextent that he has investigated for himself he has lost confidence in\nsuperstition.\n\nWith knowledge obedience becomes intelligent acquiescence--it is no\nlonger degrading. Acquiescence in the understood--in the known--is the\nact of a sovereign, not of a slave. It ennobles, it does not degrade.\n\nMan has found that he must give liberty to others in order to have it\nhimself. He has found that a master is also a slave;--that a tyrant\nis himself a serf. He has found that governments should be founded and\nadministered by man and for man; that the rights of all are equal; that\nthe powers that be are not ordained by God; that woman is at least the\nequal of man; that men existed before books; that religion is one of the\nphases of thought through which the world is passing; that all creeds\nwere made by man; that everything is natural; that a miracle is\nan impossibility; that we know nothing of origin and destiny; that\nconcerning the unknown we are all equally ignorant; that the pew has\nthe right to contradict what the pulpit asserts; that man is responsible\nonly to himself and those he injures, and that all have a right to\nthink.\n\nTrue religion must be free. Without perfect liberty of the mind there\ncan be no true religion. Without liberty the brain is a dungeon--the\nmind a convict. The slave may bow and cringe and crawl, but he cannot\nadore--he cannot love.\n\nTrue religion is the perfume of a free and grateful heart. True religion\nis a subordination of the passions to the perceptions of the intellect.\nTrue religion is not a theory--it is a practice. It is not a creed--it\nis a life.\n\nA theory that is afraid of investigation is undeserving a place in the\nhuman mind.\n\nI do not pretend to tell what all the truth is. I do not pretend to have\nfathomed the abyss, nor to have floated on outstretched wings level with\nthe dim heights of thought. I simply plead for freedom. I denounce the\ncruelties and horrors of slavery. I ask for light and air for the souls\nof men. I say, take off those chains--break those manacles--free those\nlimbs--release that brain! I plead for the right to think--to reason--to\ninvestigate. I ask that the future may be enriched with the honest\nthoughts of men. I implore every human being to be a soldier in the army\nof progress.\n\nI will not invade the rights of others. You have no right to erect your\ntoll-gate upon the highways of thought. You have no right to leap from\nthe hedges of superstition and strike down the pioneers of the human\nrace. You have no right to sacrifice the liberties of man upon the\naltars of ghosts. Believe what you may; preach what you desire; have all\nthe forms and ceremonies you please; exercise your liberty in your own\nway but extend to all others the same right.\n\nI will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty\nto me. If they hold thought to be dangerous--if they aver that doubt is\na crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds\nof men.\n\nI attack the monsters, the phantoms of imagination that have ruled the\nworld. I attack slavery. I ask for room--room for the human mind.\n\nWhy should we sacrifice a real world that we have, for one we know not\nof? Why should we enslave ourselves? Why should we forge fetters for\nour own hands? Why should we be the slaves of phantoms. The darkness of\nbarbarism was the womb of these shadows. In the light of science they\ncannot cloud the sky forever. They have reddened the hands of man with\ninnocent blood. They made the cradle a curse, and the grave a place of\ntorment.\n\nThey blinded the eyes and stopped the ears of the human race. They\nsubverted all ideas of justice by promising infinite rewards for finite\nvirtues, and threatening infinite punishment for finite offences.\n\nThey filled the future with heavens and with hells, with the shining\npeaks of selfish joy and the lurid abysses of flame. For ages they kept\nthe world in ignorance and awe, in want and misery, in fear and chains.\n\nI plead for light, for air, for opportunity. I plead for individual\nindependence. I plead for the rights of labor and of thought. I plead\nfor a chainless future. Let the ghosts go--justice remains. Let them\ndisappear--men and women and children are left. Let the monsters fade\naway--the world is here with its hills and seas and plains, with its\nseasons of smiles and frowns, its spring of leaf and bud, its summer of\nshade and flower and murmuring stream; its autumn with the laden boughs,\nwhen the withered banners of the corn are still, and gathered fields are\ngrowing strangely wan; while death, poetic death, with hands that color\nwhat they touch, weaves in the Autumn wood her tapestries of gold and\nbrown.\n\nThe world remains with its winters and homes and firesides, where grow\nand bloom the virtues of our race. All these are left; and music, with\nits sad and thrilling voice, and all there is of art and song and hope\nand love and aspiration high. All these remain. Let the ghosts go--we\nwill worship them no more.\n\nMan is greater than these phantoms. Humanity is grander than all the\ncreeds, than all the books. Humanity is the great sea, and these creeds,\nand books, and religions, are but the waves of a day. Humanity is the\nsky, and these religions and dogmas and theories are but the mists and\nclouds changing continually, destined finally to melt away.\n\nThat which is founded upon slavery, and fear, and ignorance, cannot\nendure. In the religion of the future there will be men and women and\nchildren, all the aspirations of the soul, and all the tender humanities\nof the heart.\n\nLet the ghosts go. We will worship them no more. Let them cover their\neyeless sockets with their fleshless hands and fade forever from the\nimaginations of men.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LIBERTY OF MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD.\n\nLiberty sustains the same Relation to Mind that Space does to Matter.\n\nTHERE is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence.\n\nThe history of man is simply the history of slavery, of injustice and\nbrutality, together with the means by which he has, through the dead and\ndesolate years, slowly and painfully advanced. He has been the sport\nand prey of priest and king, the food of superstition and cruel might.\nCrowned force has governed ignorance through fear. Hypocrisy and\ntyranny--two vultures--have fed upon the liberties of man. From all\nthese there has been, and is, but one means of escape--intellectual\ndevelopment. Upon the back of industry has been the whip. Upon the brain\nhave been the fetters of superstition. Nothing has been left undone\nby the enemies of freedom. Every art and artifice, every cruelty and\noutrage has been practiced and perpetrated to destroy the rights of man.\nIn this great struggle every crime has been rewarded and every virtue\nhas been punished. Reading, writing, thinking and investigating have all\nbeen crimes.\n\nEvery science has been an outcast.\n\nAll the altars and all the thrones united to arrest the forward march of\nthe human race. The king said that mankind must not work for themselves.\nThe priest said that mankind must not think for themselves. One forged\nchains for the hands, the other for the soul. Under this infamous\n_regime_ the eagle of the human intellect was for ages a slimy serpent\nof hypocrisy.\n\nThe human race was imprisoned. Through some of the prison bars came a\nfew struggling rays of light. Against these bars Science pressed its\npale and thoughtful face, wooed by the holy dawn of human advancement.\nBar after bar was broken away. A few grand men escaped and devoted their\nlives to the liberation of their fellows.\n\nOnly a few years ago there was a great awakening of the human mind. Men\nbegan to inquire by what right a crowned robber made them work for him?\nThe man who asked this question was called a traitor. Others asked by\nwhat right does a robed hypocrite rule my thought? Such men were called\ninfidels. The priest said, and the king said, where is this spirit\nof investigation to stop? They said then and they say now, that it is\ndangerous for man to be free. I deny it. Out on the intellectual sea\nthere is room enough for every sail. In the intellectual air there is\nspace enough for every wing.\n\nThe man who does not do his own thinking is a slave, and is a traitor to\nhimself and to his fellow-men.\n\nEvery man should stand under the blue and stars, under the infinite flag\nof nature, the peer of every other man.\n\nStanding in the presence of the Unknown, all have the same right to\nthink, and all are equally interested in the great questions of origin\nand destiny. All I claim, all I plead for, is liberty of thought and\nexpression. That is all. I do not pretend to tell what is absolutely\ntrue, but what I think is true. I do not pretend to tell all the truth.\n\nI do not claim that I have floated level with the heights of thought, or\nthat I have descended to the very depths of things. I simply claim\nthat what ideas I have, I have a right to express; and that any man who\ndenies that right to me is an intellectual thief and robber. That is\nall.\n\nTake those chains from the human soul. Break those fetters. If I have no\nright to think, why have I a brain? If I have no such right, have three\nor four men, or any number, who may get together, and sign a creed, and\nbuild a house, and put a steeple upon it, and a bell in it--have they\nthe right to think? The good men, the good women are tired of the whip\nand lash in the realm of thought. They remember the chain and fagot\nwith a shudder. They are free, and they give liberty to others. Whoever\nclaims any right that he is unwilling to accord to his fellow-men is\ndishonest and infamous.\n\nIn the good old times, our fathers had the idea that they could make\npeople believe to suit them. Our ancestors, in the ages that are gone,\nreally believed that by force you could convince a man. You cannot\nchange the conclusion of the brain by torture; nor by social ostracism.\nBut I will tell you what you can do by these, and what you have done.\nYou can make hypocrites by the million. You can make a man say that\nhe has changed his mind; but he remains of the same opinion still. Put\nfetters all over him; crush his feet in iron boots; stretch him to the\nlast gasp upon the holy rack; burn him, if you please, but his ashes\nwill be of the same opinion still.\n\nOur fathers in the good old times--and the best thing I can say about\nthem is, that they have passed away--had an idea that they could force\nmen to think their way. That idea is still prevalent in many parts, even\nof this country. Even in our day some extremely religious people say,\n\"We will not trade with that man; we will not vote for him; we will not\nhire him if he is a lawyer; we will die before we will take his medicine\nif he is a doctor; we will not invite him to dinner; we will socially\nostracise him; he must come to our church; he must believe our\ndoctrines; he must worship our god or we will not in any way contribute\nto his support.\"\n\nIn the old times of which I have spoken, they desired to make all men\nthink exactly alike. All the mechanical ingenuity of the world cannot\nmake two clocks run exactly alike, and how are you going to make\nhundreds of millions of people, differing in brain and disposition, in\neducation and aspiration, in conditions and surroundings, each clad in\na living robe of passionate flesh--how are you going to make them think\nand feel alike? If there is an infinite god, one who made us, and wishes\nus to think alike, why did he give a spoonful of brains to one, and a\nmagnificent intellectual development to another? Why is it that we\nhave all degrees of intelligence, from orthodoxy to genius, if it was\nintended that all should think and feel alike?\n\nI used to read in books how our fathers persecuted mankind. But I never\nappreciated it. I read it, but it did not burn itself into my soul. I\ndid not really appreciate the infamies that have been committed in the\nname of religion, until I saw the iron arguments that Christians used.\nI saw the Thumbscrew--two little pieces of iron, armed on the inner\nsurfaces with protuberances, to prevent their slipping; through each end\na screw uniting the two pieces. And when some man denied the efficacy of\nbaptism, or may be said, \"I do not believe that a fish ever swallowed\na man to keep him from drowning,\" then they put his thumb between these\npieces of iron and in the name of love and universal forgiveness, began\nto screw these pieces together. When this was done most men said, \"I\nwill recant.\" Probably I should have done the same. Probably I would\nhave said: \"Stop; I will admit anything that you wish; I will admit that\nthere is one god or a million, one hell or a billion; suit yourselves;\nbut stop.\"\n\nBut there was now and then a man who would not swerve the breadth of a\nhair. There was now and then some sublime heart, willing to die for\nan intellectual conviction. Had it not been for such men, we would be\nsavages to-night. Had it not been for a few brave, heroic souls in every\nage, we would have been cannibals, with pictures of wild beasts tattooed\nupon our flesh, dancing around some dried snake fetich.\n\nLet us thank every good and noble man who stood so grandly, so proudly,\nin spite of opposition, of hatred and death, for what he believed to be\nthe truth.\n\nHeroism did not excite the respect of our fathers. The man who would not\nrecant was not forgiven. They screwed the thumbscrews down to the last\npang, and then threw their victim into some dungeon, where, in the\nthrobbing silence and darkness, he might suffer the agonies of the\nfabled damned. This was done in the name of love--in the name of\nmercy--in the name of the compassionate Christ.\n\nI saw, too, what they called the Collar of Torture. Imagine a circle\nof iron, and on the inside a hundred points almost as sharp as needles.\nThis argument was fastened about the throat of the sufferer. Then he\ncould not walk, nor sit down, nor stir without the neck being punctured,\nby these points. In a little while the throat would begin to swell, and\nsuffocation would end the agonies of that man. This man, it may be, had\ncommitted the crime of saying, with tears upon his cheeks, \"I do not\nbelieve that God, the father of us all, will damn to eternal perdition\nany of the children of men.\"\n\nI saw another instrument, called the Scavenger's Daughter. Think of a\npair of shears with handles, not only where they now are, but at the\npoints as well, and just above the pivot that unites the blades, a\ncircle of iron. In the upper handles the hands would be placed; in the\nlower, the feet; and through the iron ring, at the centre, the head of\nthe victim would be forced. In this condition, he would be thrown prone\nupon the earth, and the strain upon the muscles produced such agony that\ninsanity would in pity end his pain.\n\nThis was done by gentlemen who said: \"Whosoever smiteth thee upon one\ncheek turn to him the other also.\"\n\nI saw the Rack. This was a box like the bed of a wagon, with a windlass\nat each end, with levers, and ratchets to prevent slipping; over each\nwindlass went chains; some were fastened to the ankles of the sufferer;\nothers to his wrists. And then priests, clergymen, divines, saints,\nbegan turning these windlasses, and kept turning, until the ankles, the\nknees, the hips, the shoulders, the elbows, the wrists of the victim\nwere all dislocated, and the sufferer was wet with the sweat of agony.\nAnd they had standing by a physician to feel his pulse. What for? To\nsave his life? Yes. In mercy? No; simply that they might rack him once\nagain.\n\nThis was done, remember, in the name of civilization; in the name of law\nand order; in the name of mercy; in the name of religion; in the name of\nthe most merciful Christ.\n\nSometimes, when I read and think about these frightful things, it seems\nto me that I have suffered all these horrors myself. It seems sometimes,\nas though I had stood upon the shore of exile and gazed with tearful\neyes toward home and native land; as though my nails had been torn from\nmy hands, and into the bleeding quick needles had been thrust; as though\nmy feet had been crushed in iron boots; as though I had been chained in\nthe cell of the Inquisition and listened with dying ears for the coming\nfootsteps of release; as though I had stood upon the scaffold and had\nseen the glittering axe fall upon me; as though I had been upon the rack\nand had seen, bending above me, the white faces of hypocrite priests;\nas though I had been taken from my fireside, from my wife and children,\ntaken to the public square, chained; as though fagots had been piled\nabout me; as though the flames had climbed around my limbs and scorched\nmy eyes to blindness, and as though my ashes had been scattered to the\nfour winds, by all the countless hands of hate. And when I so feel, I\nswear that while I live I will do what little I can to preserve and to\naugment the liberties of man, woman, and child.\n\nIt is a question of justice, of mercy, of honesty, of intellectual\ndevelopment. If there is a man in the world who is not willing to give\nto every human being every right he claims for himself, he is just so\nmuch nearer a barbarian than I am. It is a question of honesty. The man\nwho is not willing to give to every other the same intellectual rights\nhe claims for himself, is dishonest, selfish, and brutal.\n\nIt is a question of intellectual development. Whoever holds another man\nresponsible for his honest thought, has a deformed and distorted brain.\nIt is a question of intellectual development.\n\nA little while ago I saw models of nearly everything that man has made.\nI saw models of all the water craft, from the rude dug-out in which\nfloated a naked savage--one of our ancestors--a naked savage, with\nteeth two inches in length, with a spoonful of brains in the back of\nhis head--I saw models of all the water craft of the world, from that\ndug-out up to a man-of-war, that carries a hundred guns and miles of\ncanvas--from that dug-out to the steamship that turns its brave prow\nfrom the port of New York, with a compass like a conscience, crossing\nthree thousand miles of billows without missing a throb or beat of its\nmighty iron heart.\n\nI saw at the same time the weapons that man has made, from a club, such\nas was grasped by that same savage, when he crawled from his den in\nthe ground and hunted a snake for his dinner; from that club to the\nboomerang, to the sword, to the cross-bow, to the blunderbuss, to the\nflint-lock, to the cap-lock, to the needle-gun, up to a cannon cast by\nKrupp, capable of hurling a ball weighing two thousand pounds through\neighteen inches of solid steel.\n\nI saw, too, the armor from the shell of a turtle, that one of our brave\nancestors lashed upon his breast when he went to fight for his country;\nthe skin of a porcupine, dried with the quills on, which this same\nsavage pulled over his orthodox head, up to the shirts of mail, that\nwere worn in the Middle Ages, that laughed at the edge of the sword and\ndefied the point of the spear; up to a monitor clad in complete steel.\n\nI saw at the same time, their musical instruments, from the\ntom-tom--that is, a hoop with a couple of strings of raw hide drawn\nacross it--from that tom-tom, up to the instruments we have to-day, that\nmake the common air blossom with melody.\n\nI saw, too, their paintings, from a daub of yellow mud, to the great\nworks which now adorn the galleries of the world. I saw also their\nsculpture, from the rude god with four legs, a half dozen arms, several\nnoses, and two or three rows of ears, and one little, contemptible,\nbrainless head, up to the figures of to-day--to the marbles that genius\nhas clad in such a personality that it seems almost impudent to touch\nthem without an introduction.\n\nI saw their books--books written upon skins of wild beasts--upon\nshoulder-blades of sheep--books written upon leaves, upon bark, up to\nthe splendid volumes that enrich the libraries of our day. When I\nspeak of libraries, I think of the remark of Plato: \"A house that has a\nlibrary in it has a soul.\"\n\nI saw their implements of agriculture, from a crooked stick that was\nattached to the horn of an ox by some twisted straw, to the agricultural\nimplements of this generation, that make it possible for a man to\ncultivate the soil without being an ignoramus.\n\nWhile looking upon these things I was forced to say that man advanced\nonly as he mingled his thought with his labor,--only as he got into\npartnership with the forces of nature,--only as he learned to take\nadvantage of his surroundings--only as he freed himself from the bondage\nof fear,--only as he depended upon himself--only as he lost confidence\nin the gods.\n\nI saw at the same time a row of human skulls, from the lowest skull\nthat has been found, the Neanderthal skull--skulls from Central Africa,\nskulls from the Bushmen of Australia--skulls from the farthest isles of\nthe Pacific sea--up to the best skulls of the last generation;--and I\nnoticed that there was the same difference between those skulls that\nthere was between the products of those skulls, and I said to myself,\n\"After all, it is a simple question of intellectual development.\" There\nwas the same difference between those skulls, the lowest and highest\nskulls, that there was between the dug-out and the man-of-war and the\nsteamship, between the club and the Krupp gun, between the yellow daub\nand the landscape, between the tom-tom and an opera by Verdi.\n\nThe first and lowest skull in this row was the den in which crawled the\nbase and meaner instincts of mankind, and the last was a temple in which\ndwelt joy, liberty, and love.\n\nIt is all a question of brain, of intellectual development.\n\nIf we are nearer free than were our fathers, it is because we have\nbetter heads upon the average, and more brains in them.\n\nNow, I ask you to be honest with me. It makes no difference to you what\nI believe, nor what I wish to prove. I simply ask you to be honest.\nDivest your minds, for a moment at least, of all religious prejudice.\nAct, for a few moments, as though you were men and women.\n\nSuppose the king, if there was one, and the priest, if there was one,\nat the time this gentleman floated in the dug-out, and charmed his ears\nwith the music of the tom-tom, had said: \"That dug-out is the best boat\nthat ever can be built by man; the pattern of that came from on high,\nfrom the great god of storm and flood, and any man who says that he can\nimprove it by putting a mast in it, with a sail upon it, is an infidel,\nand shall be burned at the stake;\" what, in your judgment--honor\nbright--would have been the effect upon the circumnavigation of the\nglobe?\n\nSuppose the king, if there was one, and the priest, if there was\none--and I presume there was a priest, because it was a very ignorant\nage--suppose this king and priest had said: \"That tom-tom is the most\nbeautiful instrument of music of which any man can conceive; that is the\nkind of music they have in heaven; an angel sitting upon the edge of\na fleecy cloud, golden in the setting sun, playing upon that tom-tom,\nbecame so enraptured, so entranced with her own music, that in a kind of\necstasy she dropped it--that is how we obtained it; and any man who\nsays that it can be improved by putting a back and front to it, and\nfour strings, and a bridge, and getting a bow of hair with rosin, is a\nblaspheming wretch, and shall die the death,\"--I ask you, what effect\nwould that have had upon music? If that course had been pursued, would\nthe human ears, in your judgment, ever have been enriched with the\ndivine symphonies of Beethoven?\n\nSuppose the king, if there was one, and the priest, had said: \"That\ncrooked stick is the best plow that can be invented: the pattern of that\nplow was given to a pious farmer in a holy dream, and that twisted straw\nis the _ne plus ultra_ of all twisted things, and any man who says he\ncan make an improvement upon that plow, is an atheist;\" what, in your\njudgment, would have been the effect upon the science of agriculture?\n\nBut the people said, and the king and priest said: \"We want better\nweapons with which to kill our fellow-Christians; we want better plows,\nbetter music, better paintings, and whoever will give us better weapons,\nand better music, better houses to live in, better clothes, we will robe\nhim in wealth, and crown him with honor.\" Every incentive was held out\nto every human being to improve these things. That is the reason the\nclub has been changed to a cannon, the dug-out to a steamship, the daub\nto a painting; that is the reason that the piece of rough and broken\nstone finally became a glorified statue.\n\nYou must not, however, forget that the gentleman in the dug-out,\nthe gentleman who was enraptured with the music of the tom-tom, and\ncultivated his land with a crooked stick, had a religion of his own.\nThat gentlemen in the dug-out was orthodox. He was never troubled with\ndoubts. He lived and died settled in his mind. He believed in hell; and\nhe thought he would be far happier in heaven, if he could just lean\nover and see certain people who expressed doubts as to the truth of his\ncreed, gently but everlastingly broiled and burned.\n\nIt is a very sad and unhappy fact that this man has had a great many\nintellectual descendants. It is also an unhappy fact in nature, that the\nignorant multiply much faster than the intellectual. This fellow in the\ndug-out believed in a personal devil. His devil had a cloven hoof, a\nlong tail, armed with a fiery dart; and his devil breathed brimstone.\nThis devil was at least the equal of God; not quite so stout but\na little shrewder. And do you know there has not been a patentable\nimprovement made upon that devil for six thousand years.\n\nThis gentleman in the dug-out believed that God was a tyrant; that he\nwould eternally damn the man who lived in accordance with his highest\nand grandest ideal. He believed that the earth was flat. He believed in\na literal, burning, seething hell of fire and sulphur. He had also his\nidea of politics; and his doctrine was, might makes right. And it will\ntake thousands of years before the world will reverse this doctrine, and\nbelievingly say, \"Right makes might.\"\n\nAll I ask is the same privilege to improve upon that gentleman's\ntheology as upon his musical instrument; the same right to improve upon\nhis politics as upon his dug-out. That is all. I ask for the human\nsoul the same liberty in every direction. That is the only crime I have\ncommitted. I say, let us think. Let each one express his thought. Let us\nbecome investigators, not followers, not cringers and crawlers. If there\nis in heaven an infinite being, he never will be satisfied with the\nworship of cowards and hypocrites. Honest unbelief, honest infidelity,\nhonest atheism, will be a perfume in heaven when pious hypocrisy, no\nmatter how religious it may be outwardly, will be a stench.\n\nThis is my doctrine: Give every other human being every right you claim\nfor yourself. Keep your mind open to the influences of nature. Receive\nnew thoughts with hospitality. Let us advance.\n\nThe religionist of to-day wants the ship of his soul to lie at the wharf\nof orthodoxy and rot in the sun. He delights to hear the sails of old\nopinions flap against the masts of old creeds. He loves to see the\njoints and the sides open and gape in the sun, and it is a kind of bliss\nfor him to repeat again and again: \"Do not disturb my opinions. Do not\nunsettle my mind; I have it all made up, and I want no infidelity. Let\nme go backward rather than forward.\"\n\nAs far as I am concerned I wish to be out on the high seas. I wish to\ntake my chances with wind, and wave, and star. And I had rather go down\nin the glory and grandeur of the storm, than to rot in any orthodox\nharbor whatever.\n\nAfter all, we are improving from age to age. The most orthodox people in\nthis country two hundred years ago would have been burned for the crime\nof heresy. The ministers who denounce me for expressing my thought would\nhave been in the Inquisition themselves. Where once burned and blazed\nthe bivouac fires of the army of progress, now glow the altars of the\nchurch. The religionists of our time are occupying about the same ground\noccupied by heretics and infidels of one hundred years ago. The church\nhas advanced in spite, as it were, of itself. It has followed the army\nof progress protesting and denouncing, and had to keep within protesting\nand denouncing distance. If the church had not made great progress I\ncould not express my thoughts.\n\nMan, however, has advanced just exactly in the proportion with which he\nhas mingled his thought with his labor. The sailor, without control\nof the wind and wave, knowing nothing or very little of the mysterious\ncurrents and pulses of the sea, is superstitious. So also is the\nagriculturist, whose prosperity depends upon something he cannot\ncontrol. But the mechanic, when a wheel refuses to turn, never thinks of\ndropping on his knees and asking the assistance of some divine power.\nHe knows there is a reason. He knows that something is too large or too\nsmall; that there is something wrong with his machine; and he goes to\nwork and he makes it larger or smaller, here or there, until the wheel\nwill turn. Now, just in proportion as man gets away from being, as it\nwere, the slave of his surroundings, the serf of the elements,--of the\nheat, the frost, the snow, and the lightning,--just to the extent that\nhe has gotten control of his own destiny, just to the extent that he has\ntriumphed over the obstacles of nature, he has advanced physically and\nintellectually. As man develops, he places a greater value upon his own\nrights. Liberty becomes a grander and diviner thing. As he values his\nown rights, he begins to value the rights of others. And when all men\ngive to all others all the rights they claim for themselves, this world\nwill be civilized.\n\nA few years ago the people were afraid to question the king, afraid to\nquestion the priest, afraid to investigate a creed, afraid to deny a\nbook, afraid to denounce a dogma, afraid to reason, afraid to think.\nBefore wealth they bowed to the very earth, and in the presence of\ntitles they became abject. All this is slowly but surely changing. We\nno longer bow to men simply because they are rich. Our fathers worshiped\nthe golden calf. The worst you can say of an American now is, he\nworships the gold of the calf. Even the calf is beginning to see this\ndistinction.\n\nIt no longer satisfies the ambition of a great man to be king or\nemperor. The last Napoleon was not satisfied with being the emperor of\nthe French. He was not satisfied with having a circlet of gold about his\nhead. He wanted some evidence that he had something of value within\nhis head. So he wrote the life of Julius Caesar, that he might become\na member of the French Academy. The emperors, the kings, the popes,\nno longer tower above their fellows. Compare King William with the\nphilosopher Haeckel. The king is one of the anointed by the most high,\nas they claim--one upon whose head has been poured the divine petroleum\nof authority. Compare this king with Haeckel, who towers an intellectual\ncolossus above the crowned mediocrity. Compare George Eliot with Queen\nVictoria. The Queen is clothed in garments given her by blind fortune\nand unreasoning chance, while George Eliot wears robes of glory woven in\nthe loom of her own genius.\n\nThe world is beginning to pay homage to intellect, to genius, to heart.\n\nWe have advanced. We have reaped the benefit of every sublime and heroic\nself-sacrifice, of every divine and brave act; and we should endeavor\nto hand the torch to the next generation, having added a little to the\nintensity and glory of the flame.\n\nWhen I think of how much this world has suffered; when I think of how\nlong our fathers were slaves, of how they cringed and crawled at the\nfoot of the throne, and in the dust of the altar, of how they abased\nthemselves, of how abjectly they stood in the presence of superstition\nrobed and crowned, I am amazed.\n\nThis world has not been fit for a man to live in fifty years. It was not\nuntil the year 1808 that Great Britain abolished the slave trade. Up to\nthat time her judges, sitting upon the bench in the name of justice,\nher priests, occupying her pulpits, in the name of universal love, owned\nstock in the slave ships, and luxuriated upon the profits of piracy and\nmurder. It was not until the same year that the United States of\nAmerica abolished the slave trade between this and other countries, but\ncarefully preserved it as between the States. It was not until the 28th\nday of August, 1833, that Great Britain abolished human slavery in\nher colonies; and it was not until the 1st day of January, 1863, that\nAbraham Lincoln, sustained by the sublime and heroic North, rendered our\nflag pure as the sky in which it floats.\n\nAbraham Lincoln was, in my judgment, in many respects, the grandest\nman ever President of the United States. Upon his monument these words\nshould be written: \"Here sleeps the only man in the history of the\nworld, who, having been clothed with almost absolute power, never abused\nit, except upon the side of mercy.\"\n\nThink how long we clung to the institution of human slavery, how long\nlashes upon the naked back were a legal tender for labor performed.\nThink of it. The pulpit of this country deliberately and willingly, for\na hundred years, turned the cross of Christ into a whipping post.\n\nWith every drop of my blood I hate and execrate every form of tyranny,\nevery form of slavery. I hate dictation. I love liberty.\n\nWhat do I mean by liberty? By physical liberty I mean the right to do\nanything which does not interfere with the happiness of another. By\nintellectual liberty I mean the right to think right and the right to\nthink wrong. Thought is the means by which we endeavor to arrive at\ntruth. If we know the truth already, we need not think. All that can\nbe required is honesty of purpose. You ask my opinion about anything;\nI examine it honestly, and when my mind is made up, what should I tell\nyou? Should I tell you my real thought? What should I do? There is a\nbook put in my hands. I am told this is the Koran; it was written by\ninspiration. I read it, and when I get through, suppose that I think in\nmy heart and in my brain, that it is utterly untrue, and you then ask\nme, what do you think? Now, admitting that I live in Turkey, and have\nno chance to get any office unless I am on the side of the Koran, what\nshould I say? Should I make a clean breast and say, that upon my honor\nI do not believe it? What would you think then of my fellow-citizens if\nthey said: \"That man is dangerous, he is dishonest.\"\n\nSuppose I read the book called the Bible, and when I get through I make\nup my mind that it was written by men. A minister asks me, \"Did you read\nthe Bible?\" I answer, that I did. \"Do you think it divinely inspired?\"\nWhat should I reply? Should I say to myself, \"If I deny the inspiration\nof the Scriptures, the people will never clothe me with power.\" What\nought I to answer? Ought I not to say like a man: \"I have read it; I do\nnot believe it.\" Should I not give the real transcript of my mind? Or\nshould I turn hypocrite and pretend what I do not feel, and hate myself\nforever after for being a cringing coward. For my part I would rather\na man would tell me what he honestly thinks. I would rather he\nwould preserve his manhood. I had a thousand times rather be a manly\nunbeliever than an unmanly believer. And if there is a judgment day,\na time when all will stand before some supreme being, I believe I will\nstand higher, and stand a better chance of getting my case decided in my\nfavor, than any man sneaking through life pretending to believe what he\ndoes not.\n\nI have made up my mind to say my say. I shall do it kindly, distinctly;\nbut I am going to do it. I know there are thousands of men who\nsubstantially agree with me, but who are not in a condition to express\ntheir thoughts. They are poor; they are in business; and they know that\nshould they tell their honest thought, persons will refuse to patronize\nthem--to trade with them; they wish to get bread for their little\nchildren; they wish to take care of their wives; they wish to have homes\nand the comforts of life. Every such person is a certificate of the\nmeanness of the community in which he resides. And yet I do not blame\nthese people for not expressing their thought. I say to them: \"Keep your\nideas to yourselves; feed and clothe the ones you love; I will do\nyour talking for you. The church can not touch, can not crush, can not\nstarve, cannot stop or stay me; I will express your thoughts.\"\n\nAs an excuse for tyranny, as a justification of slavery, the church has\ntaught that man is totally depraved. Of the truth of that doctrine, the\nchurch has furnished the only evidence there is. The truth is, we are\nboth good and bad. The worst are capable of some good deeds, and the\nbest are capable of bad. The lowest can rise, and the highest may fall.\nThat mankind can be divided into two great classes, sinners and saints,\nis an utter falsehood. In times of great disaster, called it may be, by\nthe despairing voices of women, men, denounced by the church as totally\ndepraved, rush to death as to a festival. By such men, deeds are done\nso filled with self-sacrifice and generous daring, that millions pay\nto them the tribute, not only of admiration, but of tears. Above all\ncreeds, above all religions, after all, is that divine thing,--Humanity;\nand now and then in shipwreck on the wide, wild sea, or 'mid the rocks\nand breakers of some cruel shore, or where the serpents of flame writhe\nand hiss, some glorious heart, some chivalric soul does a deed\nthat glitters like a star, and gives the lie to all the dogmas of\nsuperstition. All these frightful doctrines have been used to degrade\nand to enslave mankind.\n\nAway, forever away with the creeds and books and forms and laws and\nreligions that take from the soul liberty and reason. Down with the idea\nthat thought is dangerous! Perish the infamous doctrine that man can\nhave property in man. Let us resent with indignation every effort to put\na chain upon our minds. If there is no God, certainly we should not bow\nand cringe and crawl. If there is a God, there should be no slaves.\n\n\n\n\nLIBERTY OF WOMAN.\n\nWomen have been the slaves of slaves; and in my judgment it took\nmillions of ages for woman to come from the condition of abject slavery\nup to the institution of marriage. Let me say right here, that I regard\nmarriage as the holiest institution among men. Without the fireside\nthere is no human advancement; without the family relation there is no\nlife worth living. Every good government is made up of good families.\nThe unit of good government is the family, and anything that tends to\ndestroy the family is perfectly devilish and infamous. I believe in\nmarriage, and I hold in utter contempt the opinions of those long-haired\nmen and short-haired women who denounce the institution of marriage.\n\nThe grandest ambition that any man can possibly have, is to so live, and\nso improve himself in heart and brain, as to be worthy of the love of\nsome splendid woman; and the grandest ambition of any girl is to make\nherself worthy of the love and adoration of some magnificent man. That\nis my idea. There is no success in life without love and marriage. You\nhad better be the emperor of one loving and tender heart, and she the\nempress of yours, than to be king of the world. The man who has really\nwon the love of one good woman in this world, I do not care if he dies\nin the ditch a beggar, his life has been a success.\n\nI say it took millions of years to come from the condition of abject\nslavery up to the condition of marriage. Ladies, the ornaments you\nwear upon your persons to-night are but the souvenirs of your mother's\nbondage. The chains around your necks, and the bracelets clasped upon\nyour white arms by the thrilled hand of love, have been changed by the\nwand of civilization from iron to shining, glittering gold.\n\nBut nearly every religion has accounted for all the devilment in this\nworld by the crime of woman. What a gallant thing that is! And if it\nis true, I had rather live with the woman I love in a world full of\ntrouble, than to live in heaven with nobody but men.\n\nI read in a book--and I will say now that I cannot give the exact\nlanguage, as my memory does not retain the words, but I can give the\nsubstance--I read in a book that the Supreme Being concluded to make a\nworld and one man; that he took some nothing and made a world and one\nman, and put this man in a garden. In a little while he noticed that\nthe man got lonesome; that he wandered around as if he was waiting for\na train. There was nothing to interest him; no news; no papers; no\npolitics; no policy; and, as the devil had not yet made his appearance,\nthere was no chance for reconciliation; not even for civil service\nreform. Well, he wandered about the garden in this condition, until\nfinally the Supreme Being made up his mind to make him a companion.\n\nHaving used up all the nothing he originally took in making the world\nand one man, he had to take a part of the man to start a woman with. So\nhe caused a sleep to fall on this man--now understand me, I do not say\nthis story is true. After the sleep fell upon this man, the Supreme\nBeing took a rib, or as the French would call it, a cutlet, out of this\nman, and from that he made a woman. And considering the amount of raw\nmaterial used, I look upon it as the most successful job ever performed.\nWell, after he got the woman done, she was brought to the man; not to\nsee how she liked him, but to see how he liked her. He liked her, and\nthey started housekeeping; and they were told of certain things they\nmight do and of one thing they could not do--and of course they did it.\nI would have done it in fifteen minutes, and I know it. There wouldn't\nhave been an apple on that tree half an hour from date, and the limbs\nwould have been full of clubs. And then they were turned out of the park\nand extra policemen were put on to keep them from getting back.\n\nDevilment commenced. The mumps, and the measles, and the whooping-cough,\nand the scarlet fever started in their race for man. They began to have\nthe toothache, roses began to have thorns, snakes began to have poisoned\nteeth, and people began to divide about religion and politics, and the\nworld has been full of trouble from that day to this.\n\nNearly all of the religions of this world account for the existence of\nevil by such a story as that!\n\nI read in another book what appeared to be an account of the same\ntransaction. It was written about four thousand years before the other.\nAll commentators agree that the one that was written last was the\noriginal, and that the one that was written first was copied from the\none that was written last. But I would advise you all not to allow your\ncreed to be disturbed by a little matter of four or five thousand years.\nIn this other story, Brahma made up his mind to make the world and a man\nand woman. He made the world, and he made the man and then the woman,\nand put them on the island of Ceylon. According to the account it was\nthe most beautiful island of which man can conceive. Such birds, such\nsongs, such flowers and such verdure! And the branches of the trees\nwere so arranged that when the wind swept through them every tree was a\nthousand AEolian harps.\n\nBrahma, when he put them there, said: \"Let them have a period of\ncourtship, for it is my desire and will that true love should forever\nprecede marriage.\" When I read that, it was so much more beautiful and\nlofty than the other, that I said to myself, \"If either one of these\nstories ever turns out to be true, I hope it will be this one.\"\n\nThen they had their courtship, with the nightingale singing, and the\nstars shining, and the flowers blooming, and they fell in love. Imagine\nthat courtship! No prospective fathers or mothers-in-law; no prying and\ngossiping neighbors; nobody to say, \"Young man, how do you expect to\nsupport her?\" Nothing of that kind. They were married by the Supreme\nBrahma, and he said to them: \"Remain here; you must never leave this\nisland.\" Well, after a little while the man--and his name was Adami, and\nthe woman's name was Heva--said to Heva: \"I believe I'll look about a\nlittle.\" He went to the northern extremity of the island where there was\na little narrow neck of land connecting it with the mainland, and the\ndevil, who is always playing pranks with us, produced a mirage, and when\nhe looked over to the mainland, such hills and vales, such dells and\ndales, such mountains crowned with snow, such cataracts clad in bows of\nglory did he see there, that he went back and told Heva: \"The country\nover there is a thousand times better than this; let us migrate.\" She,\nlike every other woman that ever lived, said: \"Let well enough alone; we\nhave all we want; let us stay here.\" But he said \"No, let us go;\" so she\nfollowed him, and when they came to this narrow neck of land, he took\nher on his back like a gentleman, and carried her over. But the moment\nthey got over they heard a crash, and looking back, discovered that this\nnarrow neck of land had fallen into the sea. The mirage had disappeared,\nand there were naught but rocks and sand; and then the Supreme Brahma\ncursed them both to the lowest hell.\n\nThen it was that the man spoke,--and I have liked him ever since for\nit--\"Curse me, but curse not her, it was not her fault, it was mine.\"\n\nThat's the kind of man to start a world with.\n\nThe Supreme Brahma said: \"I will save her, but not thee.\" And then she\nspoke out of her fullness of love, out of a heart in which there was\nlove enough to make all her daughters rich in holy affection, and said:\n\"If thou wilt not spare him, spare neither me; I do not wish to live\nwithout him; I love him.\" Then the Supreme Brahma said--and I have liked\nhim ever since I read it--\"I will spare you both and watch over you and\nyour children forever.\"\n\nHonor bright, is not that the better and grander story?\n\nAnd from that same book I want to show you what ideas some of these\nmiserable heathen had; the heathen we are trying to convert. We send\nmissionaries over yonder to convert heathen there, and we send soldiers\nout on the plains to kill heathen here. If we can convert the heathen,\nwhy not convert those nearest home? Why not convert those we can get at?\nWhy not convert those who have the immense advantage of the example of\nthe average pioneer? But to show you the men we are trying to convert:\nIn this book it says: \"Man is strength, woman is beauty; man is courage,\nwoman is love. When the one man loves the one woman and the one woman\nloves the one man, the very angels leave heaven and come and sit in that\nhouse and sing for joy.\"\n\nThey are the men we are converting. Think of it! I tell you, when I read\nthese things, I say that love is not of any country; nobility does not\nbelong exclusively to any race, and through all the ages, there have\nbeen a few great and tender souls blossoming in love and pity.\n\nIn my judgment, the woman is the equal of the man. She has all the\nrights I have and one more, and that is the right to be protected. That\nis my doctrine. You are married; try and make the woman you love happy.\nWhoever marries simply for himself will make a mistake; but whoever\nloves a woman so well that he says \"I will make her happy,\" makes no\nmistake. And so with the woman who says, \"I will make him happy.\" There\nis only one way to be happy, and that is to make somebody else so, and\nyou cannot be happy by going cross lots; you have got to go the regular\nturnpike road.\n\nIf there is any man I detest, it is the man who thinks he is the head\nof a family--the man who thinks he is \"boss!\" The fellow in the dug-out\nused that word \"boss;\" that was one of his favorite expressions.\n\nImagine a young man and a young woman courting, walking out in the\nmoonlight, and the nightingale singing a song of pain and love, as\nthough the thorn touched her heart--imagine them stopping there in the\nmoonlight and starlight and song, and saying, \"Now, here, let us settle\nwho is 'boss!'\" I tell you it is an infamous word and an infamous\nfeeling--I abhor a man who is \"boss,\" who is going to govern in his\nfamily, and when he speaks orders all the rest to be still as some\nmighty idea is about to be launched from his mouth. Do you know I\ndislike this man unspeakably?\n\nI hate above all things a cross man. What right has he to murder the\nsunshine of a day? What right has he to assassinate the joy of life?\n\nWhen you go home you ought to go like a ray of light--so that it will,\neven in the night, bursty out of the doors and windows and illuminate\nthe darkness. Some men think their mighty brains have been in a turmoil;\nthey have been thinking about who will be alderman from the fifth ward;\nthey have been thinking about politics; great and mighty questions have\nbeen engaging their minds; they have bought calico at five cents or six,\nand want to sell it for seven. Think of the intellectual strain that\nmust have been upon that man, and when he gets home everybody else in\nthe house must look out for his comfort. A woman who has only taken care\nof five or six children, and one or two of them sick, has been nursing\nthem and singing to them, and trying to make one yard of cloth do the\nwork of two, she, of course, is fresh and fine and ready to wait upon\nthis gentleman--the head of the family--the boss!\n\nDo you know another thing? I despise a stingy man. I do not see how\nit is possible for a man to die worth fifty million of dollars, or ten\nmillion of dollars, in a city full of want, when he meets almost every\nday the withered hand of beggary and the white lips of famine. How a man\ncan withstand all that, and hold in the clutch of his greed twenty or\nthirty million of dollars, is past my comprehension. I do not see how he\ncan do it. I should not think he could do it any more than he could keep\na pile of lumber on the beach, where hundreds and thousands of men were\ndrowning in the sea.\n\nDo you know that I have known men who would trust their wives with their\nhearts and their honor but not with their pocketbook; not with a dollar.\nWhen I see a man of that kind, I always think he knows which of these\narticles is the most valuable. Think of making your wife a beggar! Think\nof her having to ask you every day for a dollar, or for two dollars or\nfifty cents! \"What did you do with that dollar I gave you last week?\"\nThink of having a wife that is afraid of you! What kind of children do\nyou expect to have with a beggar and a coward for their mother? Oh,\nI tell you if you have but a dollar in the world, and you have got to\nspend it, spend it like a king; spend it as though it were a dry leaf\nand you the owner of unbounded forests! That's the way to spend it! I\nhad rather be a beggar and spend my last dollar like a king, than be a\nking and spend my money like a beggar! If it has got to go, let it go!\n\nGet the best you can for your family--try to look as well as you can\nyourself. When you used to go courting, how elegantly you looked! Ah,\nyour eye was bright, your step was light, and you looked like a prince.\nDo you know that it is insufferable egotism in you to suppose a woman\nis going to love you always looking as slovenly as you can! Think of\nit! Any good woman on earth will be true to you forever when you do your\nlevel best.\n\nSome people tell me, \"Your doctrine about loving, and wives, and all\nthat, is splendid for the rich, but it won't do for the poor.\" I tell\nyou to-night there is more love in the homes of the poor than in the\npalaces of the rich. The meanest hut with love in it is a palace fit for\nthe gods, and a palace without love is a den only fit for wild beasts.\nThat is my doctrine! You cannot be so poor that you cannot help\nsomebody. Good nature is the cheapest commodity in the world; and love\nis the only thing that will pay ten per cent, to borrower and lender\nboth. Do not tell me that you have got to be rich! We have a false\nstandard of greatness in the United States. We think here that a man\nmust be great, that he must be notorious; that he must be extremely\nwealthy, or that his name must be upon the putrid lips of rumor. It is\nall a mistake. It is not necessary to be rich or to be great, or to be\npowerful, to be happy. The happy man is the successful man.\n\nHappiness is the legal tender of the soul.\n\nJoy is wealth.\n\nA little while ago, I stood by the grave of the old Napoleon--a\nmagnificent tomb of gilt and gold, fit almost for a dead deity--and\ngazed upon the sarcophagus of rare and nameless marble, where rest at\nlast the ashes of that restless man. I leaned over the balustrade and\nthought about the career of the greatest soldier of the modern world.\n\nI saw him walking upon the banks of the Seine, contemplating suicide.\nI saw him at Toulon--I saw him putting down the mob in the streets of\nParis--I saw him at the head of the army of Italy--I saw him crossing\nthe bridge of Lodi with the tri-color in his hand--I saw him in Egypt in\nthe shadows of the pyramids--I saw him conquer the Alps and mingle the\neagles of France with the eagles of the crags. I saw him at Marengo--at\nUlm and Austerlitz. I saw him in Russia, where the infantry of the snow\nand the cavalry of the wild blast scattered his legions like winter's\nwithered leaves. I saw him at Leipsic in defeat and disaster--driven by\na million bayonets back upon Paris--clutched like a wild beast--banished\nto Elba. I saw him escape and retake an empire by the force of his\ngenius. I saw him upon the frightful field of Waterloo, where Chance and\nFate combined to wreck the fortunes of their former king. And I saw him\nat St. Helena, with his hands crossed behind him, gazing out upon the\nsad and solemn sea.\n\nI thought of the orphans and widows he had made--of the tears that\nhad been shed for his glory, and of the only woman who ever loved him,\npushed from his heart by the cold hand of ambition. And I said I would\nrather have been a French peasant and worn wooden shoes. I would rather\nhave lived in a hut with a vine growing over the door, and the grapes\ngrowing purple in the kisses of the autumn sun. I would rather have been\nthat poor peasant with my loving wife by my side, knitting as the day\ndied out of the sky--with my children upon my knees and their arms about\nme--I would rather have been that man and gone down to the tongueless\nsilence of the dreamless dust, than to have been that imperial\nimpersonation of force and murder, known as \"Napoleon the Great.\"\n\nIt is not necessary to be great to be happy; it is not necessary to\nbe rich to be just and generous and to have a heart filled with divine\naffection. No matter whether you are rich or poor, treat your wife as\nthough she were a splendid flower, and she will fill your life with\nperfume and with joy.\n\nAnd do you know, it is a splendid thing to think that the woman you\nreally love will never grow old to you. Through the wrinkles of time,\nthrough the mask of years, if you really love her, you will always see\nthe face you loved and won. And a woman who really loves a man does not\nsee that he grows old; he is not decrepit to her; he does not tremble;\nhe is not old; she always sees the same gallant gentleman who won her\nhand and heart. I like to think of it in that way; I like to think that\nlove is eternal. And to love in that way and then go down the hill\nof life together, and as you go down, hear, perhaps, the laughter of\ngrandchildren, while the birds of joy and love sing once more in the\nleafless branches of the tree of age.\n\nI believe in the fireside. I believe in the democracy of home. I believe\nin the republicanism of the family. I believe in liberty, equality and\nlove.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LIBERTY OF CHILDREN.\n\nIf women have been slaves, what shall I say of children; of the little\nchildren in alleys and sub-cellars; the little children who turn pale\nwhen they hear their fathers' footsteps; little children who run away\nwhen they only hear their names called by the lips of a mother; little\nchildren--the children of poverty, the children of crime, the children\nof brutality, wherever they are--flotsam and jetsam upon the wild, mad\nsea of life--my heart goes out to them, one and all.\n\nI tell you the children have the same rights that we have, and we ought\nto treat them as though they were human beings. They should be reared\nwith love, with kindness, with tenderness, and not with brutality. That\nis my idea of children.\n\nWhen your little child tells a lie, do not rush at him as though the\nworld were about to go into bankruptcy. Be honest with him. A tyrant\nfather will have liars for his children; do you know that?\n\nA lie is born of tyranny upon the one hand and weakness upon the other,\nand when you rush at a poor little boy with a club in your hand, of\ncourse he lies.\n\nI thank thee, Mother Nature, that thou hast put ingenuity enough in the\nbrain of a child, when attacked by a brutal parent, to throw up a little\nbreastwork in the shape of a lie.\n\nWhen one of your children tells a lie, be honest with him; tell him that\nyou have told hundreds of them yourself. Tell him it is not the best\nway; that you have tried it. Tell him as the man did in Maine when his\nboy left home: \"John, honesty is the best policy; I have tried both.\" Be\nhonest with him. Suppose a man as much larger than you as you are larger\nthan a child five years old, should come at you with a liberty pole in\nhis hand, and in a voice of thunder shout, \"Who broke that plate?\" There\nis not a solitary one of you who would not swear you never saw it,\nor that it was cracked when you got it. Why not be honest with these\nchildren? Just imagine a man who deals in stocks whipping his boy for\nputting false rumors afloat! Think of a lawyer beating his own flesh and\nblood for evading the truth when he makes half of his own living that\nway! Think of a minister punishing his child for not telling all he\nthinks! Just think of it!\n\nWhen your child commits a wrong, take it in your arms; let it feel your\nheart beat against its heart; let the child know that you really and\ntruly and sincerely love it. Yet some Christians, good Christians, when\na child commits a fault, drive it from the door and say: \"Never do you\ndarken this house again.\" Think of that! And then these same people will\nget down on their knees and ask God to take care of the child they\nhave driven from home. I will never ask God to take care of my children\nunless I am doing my level best in that same direction.\n\nBut I will tell you what I say to my children: \"Go where you will;\ncommit what crime you may; fall to what depth of degradation you may;\nyou can never commit any crime that will shut my door, my arms, or my\nheart to you. As long as I live you shall have one sincere friend.\"\n\nDo you know that I have seen some people who acted as though they\nthought that when the Savior said \"Suffer little children to come unto\nme, for of such is the kingdom of heaven,\" he had a raw-hide under his\nmande, and made that remark simply to get the children within striking\ndistance?\n\nI do not believe in the government of the lash, if any one of you ever\nexpects to whip your children again, I want you to have a photograph\ntaken of yourself when you are in the act, with your face red with\nvulgar anger, and the face of the little child, with eyes swimming\nin tears and the little chin dimpled with fear, like a piece of water\nstruck by a sudden cold wind. Have the picture taken. If that little\nchild should die, I cannot think of a sweeter way to spend an autumn\nafternoon than to go out to the cemetery, when the maples are clad\nin tender gold, and little scarlet runners are coming, like poems of\nregret, from the sad heart of the earth--and sit down upon the grave and\nlook at that photograph, and think of the flesh now dust that you beat.\nI tell you it is wrong; it is no way to raise children! Make your home\nhappy. Be honest with them. Divide fairly with them in everything.\n\nGive them a little liberty and love, and you can not drive them out of\nyour house. They will want to stay there. Make home pleasant. Let them\nplay any game they wish. Do not be so foolish as to say: \"You may roll\nballs on the ground, but you must not roll them on a green cloth. You\nmay knock them with a mallet, but you must not push them with a cue.\nYou may play with little pieces of paper which have 'authors' written\non them, but you must not have 'cards.'\" Think of it! \"You may go to a\nminstrel show where people blacken themselves and imitate humanity below\nthem, but you must not go to a theatre and see the characters created\nby immortal genius put upon the stage.\" Why? Well, I can't think of any\nreason in the world except \"minstrel\" is a word of two syllables, and\n\"theatre\" has three.\n\nLet children have some daylight at home if you want to keep them there,\nand do not commence at the cradle and shout \"Don't!\" \"Don't!\" \"Stop!\"\nThat is nearly all that is said to a child from the cradle until he is\ntwenty-one years old, and when he comes of age other people begin saying\n\"Don't!\" And the church says \"Don't!\" and the party he belongs to says\n\"Don't!\"\n\nI despise that way of going through this world. Let us have\nliberty--just a little. Call me infidel, call me atheist, call me what\nyou will, I intend so to treat my children, that they can come to my\ngrave and truthfully say: \"He who sleeps here never gave us a moment of\npain. From his lips, now dust, never came to us an unkind word.\"\n\nPeople justify all kinds of tyranny toward children upon the ground that\nthey are totally depraved. At the bottom of ages of cruelty lies this\ninfamous doctrine of total depravity. Religion contemplates a child as a\nliving crime--heir to an infinite curse--doomed to eternal fire.\n\nIn the olden time, they thought some days were too good for a child to\nenjoy himself. When I was a boy Sunday was considered altogether too\nholy to be happy in. Sunday used to commence then when the sun went down\non Saturday night. We commenced at that time for the purpose of getting\na good ready, and when the sun fell below the horizon on Saturday\nevening, there was a darkness fell upon the house ten thousand times\ndeeper than that of night. Nobody said a pleasant word; nobody laughed;\nnobody smiled; the child that looked the sickest was regarded as the\nmost pious. That night you could not even crack hickory nuts. If you\nwere caught chewing gum it was only another evidence of the total\ndepravity of the human heart. It was an exceedingly solemn night.\n\nDyspepsia was in the very air you breathed. Everybody looked sad and\nmournful. I have noticed all my life that many people think they have\nreligion when they are troubled with dyspepsia. If there could be found\nan absolute specific for that disease, it would be the hardest blow the\nchurch has ever received.\n\nOn Sunday morning the solemnity had simply increased. Then we went to\nchurch. The minister was in a pulpit about twenty feet high, with a\nlittle sounding-board above him, and he commenced at \"firstly\" and went\non and on and on to about \"twenty-thirdly.\" Then he made a few remarks\nby way of application; and then took a general view of the subject, and\nin about two hours reached the last chapter in Revelation.\n\nIn those days, no matter how cold the weather was, there was no fire in\nthe church. It was thought to be a kind of sin to be comfortable while\nyou were thanking God. The first church that ever had a stove in it in\nNew England, divided on that account. So the first church in which they\nsang by note, was torn in fragments.\n\nAfter the sermon we had an intermission. Then came the catechism with\nthe chief end of man. We went through with that. We sat in a row with\nour feet coming in about six inches of the floor. The minister asked\nus if we knew that we all deserved to go to hell, and we all answered\n\"Yes.\" Then we were asked if we would be willing to go to hell if it was\nGod's will, and every little liar shouted \"Yes.\" Then the same sermon\nwas preached once more, commencing at the other end and going back.\nAfter that, we started for home, sad and solemn--overpowered with the\nwisdom displayed in the scheme of the atonement. When we got home, if we\nhad been good boys, and the weather was warm, sometimes they would take\nus out to the graveyard to cheer us up a little. It did cheer me. When\nI looked at the sunken tombs and the leaning stones, and read the\nhalf-effaced inscriptions through the moss of silence and forgetfulness,\nit was a great comfort. The reflection came to my mind that the\nobservance of the Sabbath could not last always. Sometimes they would\nsing that beautiful hymn in which occurs these cheerful lines:\n\n     \"Where congregations ne'er break up,\n     And Sabbaths never end.\"\n\nThese lines, I think, prejudiced me a little against even heaven. Then\nwe had good books that we read on Sundays by way of keeping us happy\nand contented. There were Milners' \"History of the Waldenses,\" Baxter's\n\"Call to the Unconverted,\" Yahn's \"Archaeology of the Jews,\" and\nJenkyns' \"On the Atonement.\" I used to read Jenkyns' \"On the Atonement.\"\nI have often thought that an atonement would have to be exceedingly\nbroad in its provisions to cover the case of a man who would write a\nbook like that for a boy.\n\nBut at last the Sunday wore away, and the moment the sun went down we\nwere free. Between three and four o'clock we would go out to see how the\nsun was coming on. Sometimes it seemed to me that it was stopping from\npure meanness. But finally it went down. It had to. And when the last\nrim of light sank below the horizon, off would go our caps, and we would\ngive three cheers for liberty once more.\n\nSabbaths used to be prisons. Every Sunday was a Bastile. Every Christian\nwas a kind of turnkey, and every child was a prisoner,--a convict. In\nthat dungeon, a smile was a crime.\n\nIt was thought wrong for a child to laugh upon this holy day. Think of\nthat!\n\nA little child would go out into the garden, and there would be a tree\nladen with blossoms, and the little fellow would lean against it, and\nthere would be a bird on one of the boughs, singing and swinging, and\nthinking about four little speckled eggs, warmed by the breast of its\nmate,--singing and swinging, and the music in happy waves rippling out\nof its tiny throat, and the flowers blossoming, the air filled with\nperfume and the great white clouds floating in the sky, and the little\nboy would lean up against that tree and think about hell and the worm\nthat never dies.\n\nI have heard them preach, when I sat in the pew and my feet did not\ntouch the floor, about the final home of the unconverted. In order to\nimpress upon the children the length of time they would probably stay if\nthey settled in that country, the preacher would frequently give us the\nfollowing illustration: \"Suppose that once in a billion years a bird\nshould come from some far-distant planet, and carry off in its little\nbill a grain of sand, a time would finally come when the last atom\ncomposing this earth would be carried away; and when this last atom was\ntaken, it would not even be sun up in hell.\" Think of such an infamous\ndoctrine being taught to children!\n\nThe laugh of a child will make the holiest day-more sacred still.\nStrike, with hand of fire, O weird musician, thy harp strung with\nApollo's golden hair; fill the vast cathedral aisles with symphonies\nsweet and dim, deft toucher of the organ keys; blow, bugler, blow, until\nthy silver notes do touch and kiss the moonlit waves, and charm the\nlovers wandering 'mid the vine-clad hills. But know, your sweetest\nstrains are discords all, compared with childhood's happy laugh--the\nlaugh that fills the eyes with light and every heart with joy. O\nrippling river of laughter, thou art the blessed boundary line between\nthe beasts and men; and every wayward wave of thine doth drown some\nfretful fiend of care. O Laughter, rose-lipped daughter of Joy, there\nare dimples enough in thy cheeks to catch and hold and glorify all the\ntears of grief.\n\nAnd yet the minds of children have been polluted by this infamous\ndoctrine of eternal punishment. I denounce it to-day as a doctrine, the\ninfamy of which no language is sufficient to express.\n\nWhere did that doctrine of eternal punishment for men and women and\nchildren come from? It came from the low and beastly skull of that\nwretch in the dug-out. Where did he get it? It was a souvenir from the\nanimals. The doctrine of eternal punishment was born in the glittering\neyes of snakes--snakes that hung in fearful coils watching for their\nprey. It was born of the howl and bark and growl of wild beasts. It\nwas born of the grin of hyenas and of the depraved chatter of unclean\nbaboons. I despise it with every drop of my blood. Tell me there is a\nGod in the serene heavens that will damn his children for the expression\nof an honest belief! More men have died in their sins, judged by your\northodox creeds, than there are leaves on all the forests in the wide\nworld ten thousand times over. Tell me these men are in hell; that these\nmen are in torment; that these children are in eternal pain, and that\nthey are to be punished forever and forever! I denounce this doctrine as\nthe most infamous of lies.\n\nWhen the great ship containing the hopes and aspirations of the world,\nwhen the great ship freighted with mankind goes down in the night of\ndeath, chaos and disaster, I am willing to go down with the ship. I\nwill not be guilty of the ineffable meanness of paddling away in some\northodox canoe. I will go down with the ship, with those who love me,\nand with those whom I have loved. If there is a God who will damn his\nchildren forever, I would rather go to hell than to go to heaven and\nkeep the society of such an infamous tyrant. I make my choice now. I\ndespise that doctrine. It has covered the cheeks of this world with\ntears. It has polluted the hearts of children, and poisoned the\nimaginations of men. It has been a constant pain, a perpetual terror to\nevery good man and woman and child. It has filled the good with horror\nand with fear; but it has had no effect upon the infamous and base. It\nhas wrung the hearts of the tender; it has furrowed the cheeks of the\ngood. This doctrine never should be preached again. What right have you,\nsir, Mr. clergyman, you, minister of the gospel, to stand at the portals\nof the tomb, at the vestibule of eternity, and fill the future with\nhorror and with fear? I do not believe this doctrine: neither do you.\nIf you did, you could not sleep one moment. Any man who believes it, and\nhas within his breast a decent, throbbing heart, will go insane. A man\nwho believes that doctrine and does not go insane has the heart of a\nsnake and the conscience of a hyena.\n\nJonathan Edwards, the dear old soul, who, if his doctrine is true, is\nnow in heaven rubbing his holy hands with glee, as he hears the cries\nof the damned, preached this doctrine; and he said: \"Can the believing\nhusband in heaven be happy with his unbelieving wife in hell? Can the\nbelieving father in heaven be happy with his unbelieving children\nin hell? Can the loving wife in heaven be happy with her unbelieving\nhusband in hell?\" And he replies: \"I tell you, yea. Such will be their\nsense of justice, that it will increase rather than diminish their\nbliss.\" There is no wild beast in the jungles of Africa whose reputation\nwould not be tarnished by the expression of such a doctrine.\n\nThese doctrines have been taught in the name of religion, in the name of\nuniversal forgiveness, in the name of infinite love and charity. Do not,\nI pray you, soil the minds of your children with this dogma. Let them\nread for themselves; let them think for themselves.\n\nDo not treat your children like orthodox posts to be set in a row. Treat\nthem like trees that need light and sun and air. Be fair and honest\nwith them; give them a chance. Recollect that their rights are equal to\nyours. Do not have it in your mind that you must govern them; that they\nmust obey. Throw away forever the idea of master and slave.\n\nIn old times they used to make the children go to bed when they were not\nsleepy, and get up when they were sleepy. I say let them go to bed when\nthey are sleepy, and get up when they are not sleepy.\n\nBut you say, this doctrine will do for the rich but not for the poor.\nWell, if the poor have to waken their children early in the morning it\nis as easy to wake them with a kiss as with a blow. Give your children\nfreedom; let them preserve their individuality. Let your children eat\nwhat they desire, and commence at the end of a dinner they like. That is\ntheir business and not yours. They know what they wish to eat. If they\nare given their liberty from the first, they know what they want better\nthan any doctor in the world can prescribe. Do you know that all the\nimprovement that has ever been made in the practice of medicine has\nbeen made by the recklessness of patients and not by the doctors?\nFor thousands and thousands of years the doctors would not let a man\nsuffering from fever have a drop of water. Water they looked upon as\npoison. But every now and then some man got reckless and said, \"I had\nrather die than not to slake my thirst.\" Then he would drink two or\nthree quarts of water and get well. And when the doctor was told of\nwhat the patient had done, he expressed great surprise that he was still\nalive, and complimented his constitution upon being able to bear such a\nfrightful strain. The reckless men, however, kept on drinking the water,\nand persisted in getting well. And finally the doctors said: \"In a\nfever, water is the very best thing you can take.\" So, I have more\nconfidence in the voice of nature about such things than I have in the\nconclusions of the medical schools.\n\nLet your children have freedom and they will fall into your ways; they\nwill do substantially as you do; but if you try to make them, there is\nsome magnificent, splendid thing in the human heart that refuses to be\ndriven. And do you know that it is the luckiest thing that ever happened\nfor this world, that people are that way. What would have become of the\npeople five hundred years ago if they had followed strictly the advice\nof the doctors? They would have all been dead. What would the people\nhave been, if at any age of the world they had followed implicitly\nthe direction of the church? They would have all been idiots. It is a\nsplendid thing that there is always some grand man who will not mind,\nand who will think for himself.\n\nI believe in allowing the children to think for themselves. I believe\nin the democracy of the family. If in this world there is anything\nsplendid, it is a home where all are equals.\n\nYou will remember that only a few years ago parents would tell their\nchildren to \"let their victuals stop their mouths.\" They used to eat as\nthough it were a religious ceremony--a very solemn thing. Life should\nnot be treated as a solemn matter. I like to see the children at table,\nand hear each one telling of the wonderful things he has seen and heard.\nI like to hear the clatter of knives and forks and spoons mingling with\ntheir happy voices. I had rather hear it than any opera that was ever\nput upon the boards. Let the children have liberty. Be honest and fair\nwith them; be just; be tender, and they will make you rich in love and\njoy.\n\nMen are oaks, women are vines, children are flowers.\n\nThe human race has been guilty of almost countless crimes; but I have\nsome excuse for mankind. This world, after all, is not very well adapted\nto raising good people. In the first place, nearly all of it is water.\nIt is much better adapted to fish culture than to the production of\nfolks. Of that portion which is land not one-eighth has suitable soil\nand climate to produce great men and women. You cannot raise men and\nwomen of genius, without the proper soil and climate, any more than you\ncan raise corn and wheat upon the ice fields of the Arctic sea. You must\nhave the necessary conditions and surroundings. Man is a product; you\nmust have the soil and food. The obstacles presented by nature must\nnot be so great that man cannot, by reasonable industry and courage,\novercome them. There is upon this world only a narrow belt of land,\ncircling zigzag the globe, upon which you can produce men and women of\ntalent. In the Southern Hemisphere the real climate that man needs falls\nmostly upon the sea, and the result is, that the southern half of our\nworld has never produced a man or woman of great genius. In the far\nnorth there is no genius--it is too cold. In the far south there is no\ngenius--it is too warm. There must be winter, and there must be summer.\nIn a country where man needs no coverlet but a cloud, revolution is his\nnormal condition. Winter is the mother of industry and prudence. Above\nall, it is the mother of the family relation. Winter holds in its icy\narms the husband and wife and the sweet children. If upon this earth we\never have a glimpse of heaven, it is when we pass a home in winter, at\nnight, and through the windows, the curtains drawn aside, we see the\nfamily about the pleasant hearth; the old lady knitting; the cat playing\nwith the yarn; the children wishing they had as many dolls or dollars or\nknives or somethings, as there are sparks going out to join the roaring\nblast; the father reading and smoking, and the clouds rising like\nincense from the altar of domestic joy. I never passed such a house\nwithout feeling that I had received a benediction.\n\nCivilization, liberty, justice, charity, intellectual advancement, are\nall flowers that blossom in the drifted snow.\n\nI do not know that I can better illustrate the great truth that only\npart of the world is adapted to the production of great men and women\nthan by calling your attention to the difference between vegetation\nin valleys and upon mountains. In the valley you find the oak and elm\ntossing their branches defiantly to the storm, and as you advance up the\nmountain side the hemlock, the pine, the birch, the spruce, the fir,\nand finally you come to little dwarfed trees, that look like other\ntrees seen through a telescope reversed--every limb twisted as though\nin pain--getting a scanty subsistence from the miserly crevices of the\nrocks. You go on and on, until at last the highest crag is freckled with\na kind of moss, and vegetation ends. You might as well try to raise oaks\nand elms where the mosses grow, as to raise great men and great women\nwhere their surroundings are unfavorable. You must have the proper\nclimate and soil.\n\nA few years ago we were talking about the annexation of Santo Domingo to\nthis country. I was in Washington at the time. I was opposed to it I\nwas told that it was a most delicious climate; that the soil produced\neverything. But I said: \"We do not want it; it is not the right kind\nof country in which to raise American citizens. Such a climate would\ndebauch us. You might go there with five thousand Congregational\npreachers, five thousand ruling elders, five thousand professors in\ncolleges, five thousand of the solid men of Boston and their wives;\nsettle them all in Santo Domingo, and you will see the second generation\nriding upon a mule, bareback, no shoes, a grapevine bridle, hair\nsticking out at the top of their sombreros, with a rooster under each\narm, going to a cock fight on Sunday.\" Such is the influence of climate.\n\nScience, however, is gradually widening the area within which men\nof genius can be produced. We are conquering the north with houses,\nclothing, food and fuel. We are in many ways overcoming the heat of the\nsouth. If we attend to this world instead of another, we may in time\ncover the land with men and women of genius.\n\nI have still another excuse. I believe that man came up from the lower\nanimals. I do not say this as a fact. I simply say I believe it to be\na fact. Upon that question I stand about eight to seven, which, for all\npractical purposes, is very near a certainty. When I first heard of that\ndoctrine I did not like it. My heart was filled with sympathy for those\npeople who have nothing to be proud of except ancestors. I thought, how\nterrible this will be upon the nobility of the Old World. Think of their\nbeing forced to trace their ancestry back to the duke Orang Outang, or\nto the princess Chimpanzee. After thinking it all over, I came to the\nconclusion that I liked that doctrine. I became convinced in spite of\nmyself. I read about rudimentary bones and muscles. I was told that\neverybody had rudimentary muscles extending from the ear into the cheek.\nI asked \"What are they?\" I was told: \"They are the remains of\nmuscles; that they became rudimentary from lack of use; they went into\nbankruptcy. They are the muscles with which your ancestors used to flap\ntheir ears.\" I do not now so much wonder that we once had them as that\nwe have outgrown them.\n\nAfter all I had rather belong to a race that started from the skull-less\nvertebrates in the dim Laurentian seas, vertebrates wiggling without\nknowing why they wiggled, swimming without knowing where they were\ngoing, but that in some way began to develop, and began to get a little\nhigher and a little higher in the scale of existence; that came up by\ndegrees through millions of ages through all the animal world, through\nall that crawls and swims and floats and climbs and walks, and finally\nproduced the gentleman in the dug-out; and then from this man, getting\na little grander, and each one below calling every one above him a\nheretic, calling every one who had made a little advance an infidel or\nan atheist--for in the history of this world the man who is ahead has\nalways been called a heretic--I would rather come from a race that\nstarted from that skull-less vertebrate, and came up and up and up and\nfinally produced Shakespeare, the man who found the human intellect\ndwelling in a hut, touched it with the wand of his genius and it became\na palace domed and pinnacled; Shakespeare, who harvested all the fields\nof dramatic thought, and from whose day to this, there have been only\ngleaners of straw and chaff--I would rather belong to that race that\ncommenced a skull-less vertebrate and produced Shakespeare, a race that\nhas before it an infinite future, with the angel of progress leaning\nfrom the far horizon, beckoning men forward, upward and onward\nforever--I had rather belong to such a race, commencing there, producing\nthis, and with that hope, than to have sprung from a perfect pair upon\nwhich the Lord has lost money every moment from that day to this.\n\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\nI have given you my honest thought. Surely investigation is better than\nunthinking faith. Surely reason is a better guide than fear. This world\nshould be controlled by the living, not by the dead. The grave is not a\nthrone, and a corpse is not a king. Man should not try to live on ashes.\n\nThe theologians dead, knew no more than the theologians now living.\nMore than this cannot be said. About this world little is known,--about\nanother world, nothing.\n\nOur fathers were intellectual serfs, and their fathers were slaves. The\nmakers of our creeds were ignorant and brutal. Every dogma that we have,\nhas upon it the mark of whip, the rust of chain, and the ashes of fagot.\n\nOur fathers reasoned with instruments of torture. They believed in the\nlogic of fire and sword. They hated reason. They despised thought. They\nabhorred liberty.\n\nSuperstition is the child of slavery. Free thought will give us truth.\nWhen all have the right to think and to express their thoughts, every\nbrain will give to all the best it has. The world will then be filled\nwith intellectual wealth.\n\nAs long as men and women are afraid of the church, as long as a minister\ninspires fear, as long as people reverence a thing simply because\nthey do not understand it, as long as it is respectable to lose your\nself-respect, as long as the church has power, as long as mankind\nworship a book, just so long will the world be filled with intellectual\npaupers and vagrants, covered with the soiled and faded rags of\nsuperstition.\n\nAs long as woman regards the Bible as the charter of her rights, she\nwill be the slave of man. The Bible was not written by a woman. Within\nits lids there is nothing but humiliation and shame for her. She is\nregarded as the property of man. She is made to ask forgiveness for\nbecoming a mother. She is as much below her husband, as her husband is\nbelow Christ. She is not allowed to speak. The gospel is too pure to be\nspoken by her polluted lips. Woman should learn in silence.\n\nIn the Bible will be found no description of a civilized home. The free\nmother surrounded by free and loving children, adored by a free man, her\nhusband, was unknown to the inspired writers of the Bible. They did not\nbelieve in the democracy of home--in the republicanism of the fireside.\n\nThese inspired gentlemen knew nothing of the rights of children. They\nwere the advocates of brute force--the disciples of the lash. They knew\nnothing of human rights. Their doctrines have brutalized the homes of\nmillions, and filled the eyes of infancy with tears.\n\nLet us free ourselves from the tyranny of a book, from the slavery of\ndead ignorance, from the aristocracy of the air.\n\nThere has never been upon the earth a generation of free men and\nwomen. It is not yet time to write a creed. Wait until the chains are\nbroken--until dungeons are not regarded as temples. Wait until solemnity\nis not mistaken for wisdom--until mental cowardice ceases to be known\nas reverence. Wait until the living are considered the equals of the\ndead--until the cradle takes precedence of the coffin. Wait until what\nwe know can be spoken without regard to what others may believe. Wait\nuntil teachers take the place of preachers--until followers become\ninvestigators. Wait until the world is free before you write a creed.\n\nIn this creed there will be but one word--Liberty.\n\nOh Liberty, float not forever in the far horizon--remain not forever in\nthe dream of the enthusiast, the philanthropist and poet, but come and\nmake thy home among the children of men!\n\nI know not what discoveries, what inventions, what thoughts may leap\nfrom the brain of the world. I know not what garments of glory may be\nwoven by the years to come. I cannot dream of the victories to be won\nupon the fields of thought; but I do know, that coming from the infinite\nsea of the future, there will never touch this \"bank and shoal of time\"\na richer gift, a rarer blessing than liberty for man, for woman, and for\nchild.\n\n\n\n\nABOUT FARMING IN ILLINOIS\n\nTo Plow is to Pray--to Plant is to Prophesy, and the Harvest Answers and\nFulfills.\n\nI AM not an old and experienced farmer, nor a tiller of the soil, nor\none of the hard-handed sons of labor. I imagine, however, that I know\nsomething about cultivating the soil, and getting happiness out of the\nground.\n\nI know enough to know that agriculture is the basis of all wealth,\nprosperity and luxury. I know that in a country where the tillers of the\nfields are free, everybody is free and ought to be prosperous. Happy is\nthat country where those who cultivate the land own it. Patriotism is\nborn in the woods and fields--by lakes and streams--by crags and plains.\n\nThe old way of farming was a great mistake. Everything was done the\nwrong way. It was all work and waste, weariness and want. They used\nto fence a hundred and sixty acres of land with a couple of dogs.\nEverything was left to the protection of the blessed trinity of chance,\naccident and mistake.\n\nWhen I was a farmer they used to haul wheat two hundred miles in wagons\nand sell it for thirty-five cents a bushel. They would bring home about\nthree hundred feet of lumber, two bunches of shingles, a barrel of salt,\nand a cook-stove that never would draw and never did bake.\n\nIn those blessed days the people lived on corn and bacon. Cooking was\nan unknown art. Eating was a necessity, not a pleasure. It was hard work\nfor the cook to keep on good terms even with hunger.\n\nWe had poor houses. The rain held the roofs in perfect contempt, and\nthe snow drifted joyfully on the floors and beds. They had no barns. The\nhorses were kept in rail pens surrounded with straw. Long before spring\nthe sides would be eaten away and nothing but roofs would be left. Food\nis fuel. When the cattle were exposed to all the blasts of winter, it\ntook all the corn and oats that could be stuffed into them to prevent\nactual starvation.\n\nIn those times most farmers thought the best place for the pig-pen was\nimmediately in front of the house. There is nothing like sociability.\n\nWomen were supposed to know the art of making fires without fuel. The\nwood pile consisted, as a general thing, of one log upon which an axe or\ntwo had been worn out in vain. There was nothing to kindle a fire with.\nPickets were pulled from the garden fence, clap-boards taken from the\nhouse, and every stray plank was seized upon for kindling. Everything\nwas done in the hardest way. Everything about the farm was disagreeable.\nNothing was kept in order. Nothing was preserved. The wagons stood\nin the sun and rain, and the plows rusted in the fields. There was\nno leisure, no feeling that the work was done. It was all labor and\nweariness and vexation of spirit. The crops were destroyed by wandering\nherds, or they were put in too late, or too early, or they were blown\ndown, or caught by the frost, or devoured by bugs, or stung by flies,\nor eaten by worms, or carried away by birds, or dug up by gophers, or\nwashed away by floods, or dried up by the sun, or rotted in the stack,\nor heated in the crib, or they all run to vines, or tops, or straw, or\nsmut, or cobs. And when in spite of all these accidents that lie in wait\nbetween, the plow and the reaper, they did succeed in raising a good\ncrop and a high price was offered, then the roads would be impassable.\nAnd when the roads got good, then the prices went down. Everything\nworked together for evil.\n\nNearly every farmer's boy took an oath that he never would cultivate\nthe soil. The moment they arrived at the age of twenty-one they left\nthe desolate and dreary farms and rushed to the towns and cities. They\nwanted to be bookkeepers, doctors, merchants, railroad men, insurance\nagents, lawyers, even preachers, anything to avoid the drudgery of the\nfarm. Nearly every boy acquainted with the three R's--reading, writing,\nand arithmetic--imagined that he had altogether more education than\nought to be wasted in raising potatoes and corn. They made haste to get\ninto some other business. Those who stayed upon the farm envied those\nwho went away.\n\nA few years ago the times were prosperous, and the young men went to the\ncities to enjoy the fortunes that were waiting for them. They wanted to\nengage in something that promised quick returns. They built railways,\nestablished banks and insurance companies. They speculated in stocks\nin Wall Street, and gambled in grain at Chicago. They became rich.\nThey lived in palaces. They rode in carriages. They pitied their poor\nbrothers on the farms, and the poor brothers envied them.\n\nBut time has brought its revenge. The farmers have seen the railroad\npresident a bankrupt, and the road in the hands of a receiver. They have\nseen the bank president abscond, and the insurance company a wrecked and\nruined fraud. The only solvent people, as a class, the only independent\npeople, are the tillers of the soil.\n\nFarming must be made more attractive. The comforts of the town must be\nadded to the beauty of the fields. The sociability of the city must be\nrendered possible in the country.\n\nFarming has been made repulsive. The farmers have been unsociable and\ntheir homes have been lonely. They have been wasteful and careless. They\nhave not been proud of their business.\n\nIn the first place, farming ought to be reasonably profitable. The\nfarmers have not attended to their own interests. They have been robbed\nand plundered in a hundred ways.\n\nNo farmer can afford to raise corn and oats and hay to sell. He should\nsell horses, not oats; sheep, cattle and pork, not corn. He should make\nevery profit possible out of what he produces. So long as the farmers of\nIllinois ship their corn and oats, so long they will be poor,--just so\nlong will their farms be mortgaged to the insurance companies and banks\nof the East,--just so long will they do the work and others reap the\nbenefit,--just so long will they be poor, and the money lenders grow\nrich,--just so long will cunning avarice grasp and hold the net profits\nof honest toil. When the farmers of the West ship beef and pork instead\nof grain,--when we manufacture here,--when we cease paying tribute to\nothers, ours will be the most prosperous country in the world.\n\nAnother thing--It is just as cheap to raise a good as a poor breed of\ncattle. Scrubs will eat just as much as thoroughbreds. If you are not\nable to buy Durhams and Alderneys, you can raise the corn breed. By\n\"corn breed\" I mean the cattle that have, for several generations, had\nenough to eat, and have been treated with kindness. Every farmer who\nwill treat his cattle kindly, and feed them all they want, will, in a\nfew years, have blooded stock on his farm. All blooded stock has been\nproduced in this way. You can raise good cattle just as you can raise\ngood people. If you wish to raise a good boy you must give him plenty to\neat, and treat him with kindness. In this way, and in this way only, can\ngood cattle or good people be produced.\n\nAnother thing--You must beautify your homes.\n\nWhen I was a farmer it was not fashionable to set out trees, nor to\nplant vines.\n\nWhen you visited the farm you were not welcomed by flowers, and greeted\nby trees loaded with fruit. Yellow dogs came bounding over the tumbled\nfence like wild beasts. There is no sense--there is no profit in such a\nlife. It is not living. The farmers ought to beautify their homes. There\nshould be trees and grass and flowers and running vines. Everything\nshould be kept in order--gates should be on their hinges, and about all\nthere should be the pleasant air of thrift. In every house there should\nbe a bath-room. The bath is a civilizer, a refiner, a beautifier.\nWhen you come from the fields tired, covered with dust, nothing is so\nrefreshing. Above all things, keep clean. It is not necessary to be a\npig in order to raise one. In the cool of the evening, after a day in\nthe field, put on clean clothes, take a seat under the trees, 'mid the\nperfume of flowers, surrounded by your family, and you will know what it\nis to enjoy life like a gentleman.\n\nIn no part of the globe will farming pay better than in Illinois. You\nare in the best portion of the earth. From the Atlantic to the Pacific,\nthere is no such country as yours. The East is hard and stony; the\nsoil is stingy. The far West is a desert parched and barren, dreary and\ndesolate as perdition would be with the fires out. It is better to dig\nwheat and corn from the soil than gold. Only a few days ago, I was where\nthey wrench the precious metals from the miserly clutch of the rocks.\nWhen I saw the mountains, treeless, shrub-less, flowerless, without even\na spire of grass, it seemed to me that gold had the same effect upon\nthe country that holds it, as upon the man who lives and labors only for\nthat. It affects the land as it does the man. It leaves the heart barren\nwithout a flower of kindness--without a blossom of pity.\n\nThe farmer in Illinois has the best soil--the greatest return for the\nleast labor--more leisure--more time for enjoyment than any other\nfarmer in the world. His hard work ceases with autumn. He has the long\nwinters in which to become acquainted with his family--with his\nneighbors--in which to read and keep abreast with the advanced thought\nof his day. He has the time and means for self-culture. He has more time\nthan the mechanic, the merchant or the professional man. If the farmer\nis not well informed it is his own fault. Books are cheap, and every\nfarmer can have enough to give him the outline of every science, and an\nidea of all that has been accomplished by man.\n\nIn many respects the farmer has the advantage of the mechanic. In our\ntime we have plenty of mechanics but no tradesmen. In the sub-division\nof labor we have a thousand men working upon different parts of the same\nthing, each taught in one particular branch, and in only one. We have,\nsay, in a shoe factory, hundreds of men, but not one shoemaker. It takes\nthem all, assisted by a great number of machines, to make a shoe. Each\ndoes a particular part, and not one of them knows the entire trade. The\nresult is that the moment the factory shuts down these men are out of\nemployment. Out of employment means out of bread--out of bread means\nfamine and horror. The mechanic of to-day has but little independence.\nHis prosperity often depends upon the good will of one man. He is liable\nto be discharged for a look, for a word. He lays by but little for his\ndeclining years. He is, at the best, the slave of capital.\n\nIt is a thousand times better to be a whole farmer than part of a\nmechanic. It is better to till the ground and work for yourself than\nto be hired by corporations. Every man should endeavor to belong to\nhimself.\n\nAbout seven hundred years ago, Khayyam, a Persian, said: \"Why should a\nman who possesses a piece of bread securing life for two days, and who\nhas a cup of water--why should such a man be commanded by another, and\nwhy should such a man serve another?\"\n\nYoung men should not be satisfied with a salary. Do not mortgage the\npossibilities of your future. Have the courage to take life as it comes,\nfeast or famine. Think of hunting a gold mine for a dollar a day, and\nthink of finding one for another man. How would you feel then?\n\nWe are lacking in true courage, when, for fear of the future, we take\nthe crusts and scraps and niggardly salaries of the present. I had\na thousand times rather have a farm and be independent, than to be\nPresident of the United States without independence, filled with doubt\nand trembling, feeling of the popular pulse, resorting to art and\nartifice, enquiring about the wind of opinion, and succeeding at last in\nlosing my self-respect without gaining the respect of others.\n\nMan needs more manliness, more real independence. We must take care of\nourselves. This we can do by labor, and in this way we can preserve our\nindependence. We should try and choose that business or profession the\npursuit of which will give us the most happiness. Happiness is wealth.\nWe can be happy without being rich--without holding office--without\nbeing famous. I am not sure that we can be happy with wealth, with\noffice, or with fame.\n\nThere is a quiet about the life of a farmer, and the hope of a\nserene old age, that no other business or profession can promise. A\nprofessional man is doomed sometime to feel that his powers are waning.\nHe is doomed to see younger and stronger men pass him in the race of\nlife. He looks forward to an old age of intellectual mediocrity. He will\nbe last where once he was the first. But the farmer goes, as it were,\ninto partnership with nature--he lives with trees and flowers--he\nbreathes the sweet air of the fields. There is no constant and frightful\nstrain upon his mind. His nights are filled with sleep and rest. He\nwatches his flocks and herds as they feed upon the green and sunny\nslopes. He hears the pleasant rain falling upon the waving corn, and the\ntrees he planted in youth rustle above him as he plants others for the\nchildren yet to be.\n\nOur country is filled with the idle and unemployed, and the great\nquestion asking for an answer is: What shall be done with these men?\nWhat shall these men do? To this there is but one answer: They must\ncultivate the soil. Farming must be rendered more attractive. Those who\nwork the land must have an honest pride in their business. They must\neducate their children to cultivate the soil. They must make farming\neasier, so that their children will not hate it--so that they will not\nhate it themselves. The boys must not be taught that tilling the ground\nis a curse and almost a disgrace. They must not suppose that education\nis thrown away upon them unless they become ministers, merchants,\nlawyers, doctors, or statesmen. It must be understood that education\ncan be used to advantage on a farm. We must get rid of the idea that a\nlittle learning unfits one for work. There is no real conflict between\nLatin and labor. There are hundreds of graduates of Yale and Harvard\nand other colleges, who are agents of sewing machines, solicitors for\ninsurance, clerks, copyists, in short, performing a hundred varieties of\nmenial service. They seem willing to do anything that is not regarded as\nwork--anything that can be done in a town, in the house, in an office,\nbut they avoid farming as they would a leprosy. Nearly every young man\neducated in this way is simply ruined. Such an education ought to be\ncalled ignorance. It is a thousand times better to have common sense\nwithout education, than education without the sense. Boys and girls\nshould be educated to help themselves. They should be taught that it is\ndisgraceful to be idle, and dishonorable to be useless.\n\nI say again, if you want more men and women on the farms, something must\nbe done to make farm life pleasant. One great difficulty is that the\nfarm is lonely. People write about the pleasures of solitude, but they\nare found only in books. He who lives long alone becomes insane. A\nhermit is a madman. Without friends and wife and child, there is nothing\nleft worth living for. The unsocial are the enemies of joy. They are\nfilled with egotism and envy, with vanity and hatred. People who live\nmuch alone become narrow and suspicious. They are apt to be the property\nof one idea. They begin to think there is no use in anything. They look\nupon the happiness of others as a kind of folly. They hate joyous folks,\nbecause, way down in their hearts, they envy them.\n\nIn our country, farm-life is too lonely. The farms are large, and\nneighbors are too far apart. In these days, when the roads are filled\nwith \"tramps,\" the wives and children need protection. When the farmer\nleaves home and goes to some distant field to work, a shadow of fear is\nupon his heart all day, and a like shadow rests upon all at home.\n\nIn the early settlement of our country the pioneer was forced to take\nhis family, his axe, his dog and his gun, and go into the far wild\nforest, and build his cabin miles and miles from any neighbor. He saw\nthe smoke from his hearth go up alone in all the wide and lonely sky.\n\nBut this necessity has passed away, and now, instead of living so far\napart upon the lonely farms, you should live in villages. With the\nimproved machinery which you have--with your generous soil--with\nyour markets and means of transportation, you can now afford to live\ntogether.\n\nIt is not necessary in this age of the world for the farmer to rise in\nthe middle of the night and begin his work. This getting up so early in\nthe morning is a relic of barbarism. It has made hundreds and thousands\nof young men curse the business. There is no need of getting up at three\nor four o'clock in the winter morning. The farmer who persists in doing\nit and persists in dragging his wife and children from their beds ought\nto be visited by a missionary. It is time enough to rise after the sun\nhas set the example. For what purpose do you get up? To feed the cattle?\nWhy not feed them more the night before? It is a waste of life. In the\nold times they used to get up about three o'clock in the morning, and go\nto work long before the sun had risen with \"healing upon his wings,\" and\nas a just punishment they all had the ague; and they ought to have it\nnow. The man who cannot get a living upon Illinois soil without rising\nbefore daylight ought to starve. Eight hours a day is enough for any\nfarmer to work except in harvest time. When you rise at four and work\ntill dark what is life worth? Of what use are all the improvements in\nfarming? Of what use is all the improved machinery unless it tends to\ngive the farmer a little more leisure? What is harvesting now, compared\nwith what it was in the old time? Think of the days of reaping, of\ncradling, of raking and binding and mowing. Think of threshing with\nthe flail and winnowing with the wind. And now think of the reapers and\nmowers, the binders and threshing machines, the plows and cultivators,\nupon which the farmer rides protected from the sun. If, with all these\nadvantages, you cannot get a living without rising in the middle of the\nnight, go into some other business. You should not rob your families of\nsleep. Sleep is the best medicine in the world. It is the best doctor\nupon the earth. There is no such thing as health without plenty of\nsleep. Sleep until you are thoroughly rested and restored. When you\nwork, work; and when you get through take a good, long, and refreshing\nrest.\n\nYou should live in villages, so that you can have the benefits of social\nlife. You can have a reading-room--you can take the best papers and\nmagazines--you can have plenty of books, and each one can have the\nbenefit of them all. Some of the young men and women can cultivate\nmusic. You can have social gatherings--you can learn from each\nother--you can discuss all topics of interest, and in this way you can\nmake farming a delightful business. You must keep up with the age.\nThe way to make farming respectable is for farmers to become really\nintelligent. They must live intelligent and happy lives. They must know\nsomething of books and something of what is going on in the world.\nThey must not be satisfied with knowing something of the affairs of a\nneighborhood and nothing about the rest of the earth. The business must\nbe made attractive, and it never can be until the farmer has prosperity,\nintelligence and leisure.\n\nAnother thing--I am a believer in fashion. It is the duty of every woman\nto make herself as beautiful and attractive as she possibly can.\n\n\"Handsome is as handsome does,\" but she is much handsomer if well\ndressed. Every man should look his very best. I am a believer in good\nclothes. The time never ought to come in this country when you can tell\na farmer's wife or daughter simply by the garments she wears. I say to\nevery girl and woman, no matter what the material of your dress may be,\nno matter how cheap and coarse it is, cut it and make it in the fashion.\nI believe in jewelry. Some people look upon it as barbaric, but in my\njudgment, wearing jewelry is the first evidence the barbarian gives of\na wish to be civilized. To adorn ourselves seems to be a part of our\nnature, and this desire seems to be everywhere and in everything. I\nhave sometimes thought that the desire for beauty covers the earth with\nflowers. It is this desire that paints the wings of moths, tints the\nchamber of the shell, and gives the bird its plumage and its song. Oh\ndaughters and wives, if you would be loved, adorn yourselves--if you\nwould be adored, be beautiful!\n\nThere is another fault common with the farmers of our country--they want\ntoo much land. You cannot, at present, when taxes are high, afford to\nown land that you do not cultivate. Sell it and let others make farms\nand homes. In this way what you keep will be enhanced in value. Farmers\nought to own the land they cultivate, and cultivate what they own.\nRenters can hardly be called farmers. There can be no such thing in the\nhighest sense as a home unless you own it. There must be an incentive\nto plant trees, to beautify the grounds, to preserve and improve. It\nelevates a man to own a home. It gives a certain independence, a force\nof character that is obtained in no other way. A man without a home\nfeels like a passenger. There is in such a man a little of the vagrant.\nHomes make patriots. He who has sat by his own fireside with wife and\nchildren will defend it. When he hears the word country pronounced, he\nthinks of his home.\n\nFew men have been patriotic enough to shoulder a musket in defence of a\nboarding house.\n\nThe prosperity and glory of our country depend upon the number of our\npeople who are the owners of homes. Around the fireside cluster the\nprivate and the public virtues of our race. Raise your sons to be\nindependent through labor--to pursue some business for themselves\nand upon their own account--to be self-reliant--to act upon their own\nresponsibility, and to take the consequences like men. Teach them above\nall things to be good, true and tender husbands--winners of love and\nbuilders of homes.\n\nA great many farmers seem to think that they are the only laborers\nin the world. This is a very foolish thing. Farmers cannot get along\nwithout the mechanic. You are not independent of the man of genius.\nYour prosperity depends upon the inventor. The world advances by the\nassistance of all laborers; and all labor is under obligations to the\ninventions of genius. The inventor does as much for agriculture as he\nwho tills the soil. All laboring men should be brothers. You are in\npartnership with the mechanics who make your reapers, your mowers and\nyour plows; and you should take into your granges all the men who make\ntheir living by honest labor. The laboring people should unite and\nshould protect themselves against all idlers. You can divide mankind\ninto two classes: the laborers and the idlers, the supporters and the\nsupported, the honest and the dishonest. Every man is dishonest who\nlives upon the unpaid labor of others, no matter if he occupies a\nthrone. All laborers should be brothers. The laborers should have equal\nrights before the world and before the law. And I want every farmer to\nconsider every man who labors either with hand or brain as his brother.\nUntil genius and labor formed a partnership there was no such thing\nas prosperity among men. Every reaper and mower, every agricultural\nimplement, has elevated the work of the farmer, and his vocation grows\ngrander with every invention. In the olden time the agriculturist\nwas ignorant; he knew nothing of machinery, he was the slave of\nsuperstition. He was always trying to appease some imaginary power by\nfasting and prayer. He supposed that some being actuated by malice, sent\nthe untimely frost, or swept away with the wild wind his rude abode.\nTo him the seasons were mysteries. The thunder told him of an enraged\ngod--the barren fields of the vengeance of heaven. The tiller of the\nsoil lived in perpetual and abject fear. He knew nothing of mechanics,\nnothing of order, nothing of law, nothing of cause and effect. He was\na superstitious savage. He invented prayers instead of plows, creeds\ninstead of reapers and mowers. He was unable to devote all his time to\nthe gods, and so he hired others to assist him, and for their influence\nwith the gentlemen supposed to control the weather, he gave one-tenth of\nall he could produce.\n\nThe farmer has been elevated through science and he should not forget\nthe debt he owes to the mechanic, to the inventor, to the thinker. He\nshould remember that all laborers belong to the same grand family--that\nthey are the real kings and queens, the only true nobility.\n\nAnother idea entertained by most farmers is that they are in some\nmysterious way oppressed by every other kind of business--that they are\ndevoured by monopolies, especially by railroads.\n\nOf course, the railroads are indebted to the farmers for their\nprosperity, and the farmers are indebted to the railroads. Without them\nIllinois would be almost worthless.\n\nA few years ago you endeavored to regulate the charges of railroad\ncompanies. The principal complaint you had was that they charged too\nmuch for the transportation of corn and other cereals to the East. You\nshould remember that all freights are paid by the consumer; and that\nit made little difference to you what the railroad charged for\ntransportation to the East, as that transportation had to be paid by\nthe consumers of the grain. You were really interested in transportation\nfrom the East to the West and in local freights. The result is that\nwhile you have put down through freights you have not succeeded so well\nin local freights. The exact opposite should be the policy of Illinois.\nPut down local freights; put them down, if you can, to the lowest\npossible figure, and let through rates take care of themselves. If all\nthe corn raised in Illinois could be transported to New York absolutely\nfree, it would enhance but little the price that you would receive.\nWhat we want is the lowest possible local rate. Instead of this you have\nsimply succeeded in helping the East at the expense of the West. The\nrailroads are your friends. They are your partners. They can prosper\nonly where the country through which they run prospers. All intelligent\nrailroad men know this. They know that present robbery is future\nbankruptcy. They know that the interest of the farmer and of the\nrailroad is the same. We must have railroads. What can we do without\nthem?\n\nWhen we had no railroads, we drew, as I said before, our grain two\nhundred miles to market.\n\nIn those days the farmers did not stop at hotels. They slept under their\nwagons--took with them their food--fried their own bacon, made their\ncoffee, and ate their meals in the snow and rain. Those were the days\nwhen they received ten cents a bushel for corn--when they sold four\nbushels of potatoes for a quarter--thirty-three dozen eggs for a dollar,\nand a hundred pounds of pork for a dollar and a half.\n\nWhat has made the difference?\n\nThe railroads came to your door and they brought with them the markets\nof the world. They brought New York and Liverpool and London into\nIllinois, and the State has been clothed with prosperity as with a\nmantle. It is the interest of the farmer to protect every great interest\nin the State. You should feel proud that Illinois has more railroads\nthan any other State in this Union. Her main tracks and side tracks\nwould furnish iron enough to belt the globe. In Illinois there are\nten thousand miles of railways. In these iron highways more than three\nhundred million dollars have been invested--a sum equal to ten times\nthe original cost of all the land in the State. To make war upon the\nrailroads is a short-sighted and suicidal policy. They should be treated\nfairly and should be taxed by the same standard that farms are taxed,\nand in no other way. If we wish to prosper we must act together, and we\nmust see to it that every form of labor is protected.\n\nThere has been a long period of depression in all business. The farmers\nhave suffered least of all. Your land is just as rich and productive as\never. Prices have been reasonable. The towns and cities have suffered.\nStocks and bonds have shrunk from par to worthless paper. Princes have\nbecome paupers, and bankers, merchants and millionaires have passed into\nthe oblivion of bankruptcy. The period of depression is slowly passing\naway, and we are entering upon better times.\n\nA great many people say that a scarcity of money is our only difficulty.\nIn my opinion we have money enough, but we lack confidence in each other\nand in the future.\n\nThere has been so much dishonesty, there have been so many failures,\nthat the people are afraid to trust anybody. There is plenty of money,\nbut there seems to be a scarcity of business. If you were to go to the\nowner of a ferry, and, upon seeing his boat lying high and dry on the\nshore, should say, \"There is a superabundance of ferryboat,\" he would\nprobably reply, \"No, but there is a scarcity of water.\" So with us there\nis not a scarcity of money, but there is a scarcity of business. And\nthis scarcity springs from lack of confidence in one another. So many\npresidents of savings banks, even those belonging to the Young Men's\nChristian Association, run off with the funds; so many railroad and\ninsurance companies are in the hands of receivers; there is so much\nbankruptcy on every hand, that all capital is held in the nervous clutch\nof fear. Slowly, but surely we are coming back to honest methods in\nbusiness. Confidence will return, and then enterprise will unlock the\nsafe and money will again circulate as of yore; the dollars will leave\ntheir hiding places and every one will be seeking investment.\n\nFor my part, I do not ask any interference on the part of the Government\nexcept to undo the wrong it has done. I do not ask that money be made\nout of nothing. I do not ask for the prosperity born of paper. But I do\nask for the remonetization of silver. Silver was demonetized by fraud.\nIt was an imposition upon every solvent man; a fraud upon every honest\ndebtor in the United States. It assassinated labor. It was done in the\ninterest of avarice and greed, and should be undone by honest men.\n\nThe farmers should vote only for such men as are able and willing to\nguard and advance the interests of labor. We should know better than\nto vote for men who will deliberately put a tariff of three dollars\na thousand upon Canada lumber, when every farmer in Illinois is a\npurchaser of lumber. People who live upon the prairies ought to vote for\ncheap lumber. We should protect ourselves. We ought to have intelligence\nenough to know what we want and how to get it. The real laboring men of\nthis country can succeed if they are united. By laboring men, I do not\nmean only the farmers. I mean all who contribute in some way to the\ngeneral welfare. They should forget prejudices and party names, and\nremember only the best interests of the people. Let us see if we cannot,\nin Illinois, protect every department of industry. Let us see if all\nproperty cannot be protected alike and taxed alike, whether owned by\nindividuals or corporations.\n\nWhere industry creates and justice protects, prosperity dwells.\n\nLet me tell you something more about Illinois. We have fifty-six\nthousand square miles of land--nearly thirty-six million acres. Upon\nthese plains we can raise enough to feed and clothe twenty million\npeople. Beneath these prairies were hidden millions of ages ago, by\nthat old miser, the sun, thirty-six thousand square miles of coal. The\naggregate thickness of these veins is at least fifteen feet. Think of a\ncolumn of coal one mile square and one hundred miles high! All this\ncame from the sun. What a sunbeam such a column would be! Think of the\nengines and machines this coal will run and turn and whirl! Think of\nall this force, willed and left to us by the dead morning of the world!\nThink of the firesides of the future around which will sit the fathers,\nmothers and children of the years to be! Think of the sweet and happy\nfaces, the loving and tender eyes that will glow and gleam in the sacred\nlight of all these flames!\n\nWe have the best country in the world, and Illinois is the best State\nin that country. Is there any reason that our farmers should not be\nprosperous and happy men? They have every advantage, and within their\nreach are all the comforts and conveniences of life.\n\nDo not get the land fever and think you must buy all that joins you. Get\nout of debt as soon as you possibly can. A mortgage casts a shadow on\nthe sunniest field. There is no business under the sun that can pay ten\nper cent.\n\nAinsworth R. Spofford gives the following facts about interest: \"One\ndollar loaned for one hundred years at six per cent., with the interest\ncollected annually and added to the principal, will amount to three\nhundred and forty dollars. At eight per cent, it amounts to two thousand\ntwo hundred and three dollars. At three per cent, it amounts only to\nnineteen dollars and twenty-five cents. At ten per cent, it is thirteen\nthousand eight hundred and nine dollars, or about seven hundred times\nas much. At twelve per cent, it amounts to eighty-four thousand and\nseventy-five dollars, or more than four thousand times as much. At\neighteen per cent, it amounts to fifteen million one hundred and\nforty-five thousand and seven dollars. At twenty-four per cent, (which\nwe sometimes hear talked of) it reaches the enormous sum of two billion\nfive hundred and fifty-one million seven hundred and ninety-nine\nthousand four hundred and four dollars.\"\n\nOne dollar at compound interest, at twenty-four per cent., for one\nhundred years, would produce a sum equal to our national debt.\n\nInterest eats night and day, and the more it eats the hungrier it grows.\nThe farmer in debt, lying awake at night, can, if he listens, hear it\ngnaw. If he owes nothing, he can hear his corn grow. Get out of debt\nas soon as you possibly can. You have supported idle avarice and lazy\neconomy long enough.\n\nAbove all let every farmer treat his wife and children with infinite\nkindness. Give your sons and daughters every advantage within your\npower. In the air of kindness they will grow about you like flowers.\nThey will fill your homes with sunshine and all your years with joy.\nDo not try to rule by force. A blow from a parent leaves a scar on the\nsoul. I should feel ashamed to die surrounded by children I had whipped.\nThink of feeling upon your dying lips the kiss of a child you had\nstruck.\n\nSee to it that your wife has every convenience. Make her life worth\nliving. Never allow her to become a servant. Wives, weary and worn,\nmothers, wrinkled and bent before their time, fill homes with grief\nand shame. If you are not able to hire help for your wives, help them\nyourselves. See that they have the best utensils to work with.\n\nWomen cannot create things by magic. Have plenty of wood and coal--good\ncellars and plenty in them. Have cisterns, so that you can have plenty\nof rain water for washing. Do not rely on a barrel and a board. When the\nrain comes the board will be lost or the hoops will be off the barrel.\n\nFarmers should live like princes. Eat the best things you raise and sell\nthe rest. Have good things to cook and good things to cook with. Of all\npeople in our country, you should live the best. Throw your miserable\nlittle stoves out of the window. Get ranges, and have them so built that\nyour wife need not burn her face off to get you a breakfast. Do not make\nher cook in a kitchen hot as the orthodox perdition. The beef, not the\ncook, should be roasted. It is just as easy to have things convenient\nand right as to have them any other way.\n\nCooking is one of the fine arts. Give your wives and daughters things to\ncook, and things to cook with, and they will soon become most excellent\ncooks. Good cooking is the basis of civilization. The man whose arteries\nand veins are filled with rich blood made of good and well cooked food,\nhas pluck, courage, endurance and and noble impulses. The inventor of\na good soup did more for his race than the maker of any creed. The\ndoctrines of total depravity and endless punishment were born of bad\ncooking and dyspepsia. Remember that your wife should have the things to\ncook with.\n\nIn the good old days there would be eleven children in the family and\nonly one skillet. Everything was broken or cracked or loaned or lost.\n\nThere ought to be a law making it a crime, punishable by imprisonment,\nto fry beefsteak. Broil it; it is just as easy, and when broiled it is\ndelicious. Fried beefsteak is not fit for a wild beast. You can broil\neven on a stove. Shut the front damper--open the back one--then take off\na griddle. There will then be a draft downwards through this opening.\nPut on your steak, using a wire broiler, and not a particle of smoke\nwill touch it, for the reason that the smoke goes down. If you try to\nbroil it with the front damper open, the smoke will rise. For broiling,\ncoal, even soft coal, makes a better fire than wood.\n\nThere is no reason why farmers should not have fresh meat all the year\nround. There is certainly no sense in stuffing yourself full of salt\nmeat every morning, and making a well or a cistern of your stomach for\nthe rest of the day. Every farmer should have an ice house. Upon or near\nevery farm is some stream from which plenty of ice can be obtained, and\nthe long summer days made delightful. Dr. Draper, one of the world's\ngreatest scientists, says that ice water is healthy, and that it has\ndone away with many of the low forms of fever in the great cities. Ice\nhas become one of the necessaries of civilized life, and without it\nthere is very little comfort.\n\nMake your homes pleasant. Have your houses warm and comfortable for the\nwinter. Do not build a story-and-a-half house. The half story is simply\nan oven in which, during the summer, you will bake every night, and feel\nin the morning as though only the rind of yourself was left.\n\nDecorate your rooms, even if you do so with cheap engravings. The\ncheapest are far better than none. Have books--have papers, and read\nthem. You have more leisure than the dwellers in cities. Beautify your\ngrounds with plants and flowers and vines. Have good gardens. Remember\nthat everything of beauty tends to the elevation of man. Every little\nmorning-glory whose purple bosom is thrilled with the amorous kisses of\nthe sun, tends to put a blossom in your heart. Do not judge of the\nvalue of everything by the market reports. Every flower about a house\ncertifies to the refinement of somebody. Every vine climbing and\nblossoming, tells of love and joy.\n\nMake your houses comfortable. Do not huddle together in a little room\naround a red-hot stove, with every window fastened down. Do not live in\nthis poisoned atmosphere, and then, when one of your children dies, put\na piece in the papers commencing with, \"Whereas, it has pleased divine\nProvidence to remove from our midst--.\" Have plenty of air, and plenty\nof warmth. Comfort is health. Do not imagine anything is unhealthy\nsimply because it is pleasant. That is an old and foolish idea.\n\nLet your children sleep. Do not drag them from their beds in the\ndarkness of night. Do not compel them to associate all that is tiresome,\nirksome and dreadful with cultivating the soil. In this way you bring\nfarming into hatred and disrepute. Treat your children with infinite\nkindness--treat them as equals. There is no happiness in a home not\nfilled with love. Where the husband hates his wife--where the wife hates\nthe husband; where children hate their parents and each other--there is\na hell upon earth.\n\nThere is no reason why farmers should not be the kindest and most\ncultivated of men. There is nothing in plowing the fields to make men\ncross, cruel and crabbed. To look upon the sunny slopes covered with\ndaisies does not tend to make men unjust. Whoever labors for the\nhappiness of those he loves, elevates himself, no matter whether he\nworks in the dark and dreary shops, or in the perfumed fields. To work\nfor others is, in reality, the only way in which a man can work for\nhimself. Selfishness is ignorance. Speculators cannot make unless\nsomebody loses. In the realm of speculation, every success has at least\none victim. The harvest reaped by the farmer benefits all and injures\nnone. For him to succeed, it is not necessary that some one should fail.\nThe same is true of all producers--of all laborers.\n\nI can imagine no condition that carries with it such a promise of joy as\nthat of the farmer in the early winter. He has his cellar filled--he has\nmade every preparation for the days of snow and storm--he looks forward\nto three months of ease and rest; to three months of fireside-content;\nthree months with wife and children; three months of long, delightful\nevenings; three months of home; three months of solid comfort.\n\nWhen the life of the farmer is such as I have described, the cities and\ntowns will not be filled with want--the streets will not be crowded with\nwrecked rogues, broken bankers, and bankrupt speculators. The fields\nwill be tilled, and country villages, almost hidden by trees and vines\nand flowers, filled with industrious and happy people, will nestle in\nevery vale and gleam like gems on every plain.\n\nThe idea must be done away with that there is something intellectually\ndegrading in cultivating the soil. Nothing can be nobler than to be\nuseful. Idleness should not be respectable.\n\nIf farmers will cultivate well, and without waste; if they will so build\nthat their houses will be warm in winter and cool in summer; if they\nwill plant trees and beautify their homes; if they will occupy their\nleisure in reading, in thinking, in improving their minds and in\ndevising ways and means to make their business profitable and pleasant;\nif they will live nearer together and cultivate sociability; if they\nwill come together often; if they will have reading rooms and cultivate\nmusic; if they will have bath-rooms, ice-houses and good gardens; if\ntheir wives can have an easy time; if their sons and daughters can have\nan opportunity to keep in line with the thoughts and discoveries of\nthe world; if the nights can be taken for sleep and the evenings for\nenjoyment, everybody will be in love with the fields. Happiness should\nbe the object of life, and if life on the farm can be made really happy,\nthe children will grow up in love with the meadows, the streams, the\nwoods and the old home. Around the farm will cling and cluster the happy\nmemories of the delighful years.\n\nRemember, I pray you, that you are in partnership with all labor--that\nyou should join hands with all the sons and daughters of toil, and that\nall who work belong to the same noble family.\n\nFor my part, I envy the man who has lived on the same broad acres from\nhis boyhood, who cultivates the fields where in youth he played, and\nlives where his father lived and died.\n\nI can imagine no sweeter way to end one's life\n\n\n\n\nWHAT MUST WE DO TO BE SAVED?\n\n\nPREFACE\n\nIf what is known as the Christian Religion is true, nothing can be more\nwonderful than the fact that Matthew, Mark and Luke say nothing about\n\"salvation by faith;\" that they do not even hint at the doctrine of\nthe atonement, and are as silent as empty tombs as to the necessity of\nbelieving anything to secure happiness in this world or another.\n\nFor a good many years it has been claimed that the writers of these\ngospels knew something about the teachings of Christ, and had, at least,\na general knowledge of the conditions of salvation. It now seems to\nbe substantiated that the early Christians did not place implicit\nconfidence in the gospels, and did not hesitate to make such changes and\nadditions as they thought proper. Such changes and additions are about\nthe only passages in the New Testament that the Evangelical Churches\nnow consider sacred. That portion of the last chapter of Mark, in which\nunbelievers are so cheerfully and promptly damned, has been shown to be\nan interpolation, and it is asserted that in the revised edition of the\nNew Testament, soon to be issued, the infamous passages will not appear.\nWith these expunged, there is not one word in Matthew, Mark, or Luke,\neven tending to show that belief in Christ has, or can have, any effect\nupon the destiny of the soul.\n\nThe four gospels are the four corner-stones upon which rests the fabric\nof orthodox Christianity. Three of these stones have crumbled, and the\nfourth is not likely to outlast this generation. The gospel of John\ncannot alone uphold the infinite absurdity of vicarious virtue and vice,\nand it cannot, without the aid of \"interpolation,\" sustain the illogical\nand immoral dogma of salvation by faith. These frightful doctrines must\nbe abandoned; the miraculous must be given up, the wonderful stories\nmust be expunged, and from the creed of noble deeds the forgeries\nof superstition must be blotted out. From the temple of Morality\nand Truth--from the great windows towards the sun--the parasitic and\npoisonous vines of faith and fable must be torn.\n\nThe church will be compelled at last to rest its case, not upon the\nwonders Christ is said to have performed, but upon the system of\nmorality he taught. All the miracles, including the resurrection and\nascension, are, when compared with portions of the \"Sermon on the\nMount,\" but dust and darkness.\n\nThe careful reader of the New Testament will find three Christs\ndescribed:--One who wished to preserve Judaism--one who wished to\nreform it, and one who built a system of his own. The apostles and their\ndisciples, utterly unable to comprehend a religion that did away with\nsacrifices, churches, priests, and creeds, constructed a Christianity\nfor themselves, so that the orthodox churches of to-day rest--first,\nupon what Christ endeavored to destroy--second, upon what he never said,\nand, third, upon a misunderstanding of what he did say.\n\nIf a certain belief is necessary to insure the salvation of the soul,\nthe church ought to explain, and without any unnecessary delay, why such\nan infinitely important fact was utterly ignored by Matthew, Mark\nand Luke. There are only two explanations possible. Either belief is\nunnecessary, or the writers of these three gospels did not understand\nthe Christian system. The \"sacredness\" of the subject cannot longer hide\nthe absurdity of the \"scheme of salvation,\" nor the failure of Matthew,\nMark and Luke to mention, what is now claimed to have been, the entire\nmission of Christ. The church must take from the New Testament the\nsupernatural'; the idea that an intellectual conviction can subject an\nhonest man to eternal pain--the awful doctrine that the innocent can\njustly suffer for the guilty, and allow the remainder to be discussed,\ndenied or believed without punishment and without reward. No one will\nobject to the preaching of kindness, honesty and justice. To preach less\nis a crime, and to practice more is impossible.\n\nThere is one thing that ought to be again impressed upon the average\ntheologian, and that is the utter futility of trying to answer arguments\nwith personal abuse. It should be understood once for all that these\nquestions are in no sense personal. If it should turn out that all the\nprofessed Christians in the world are sinless saints, the question of\nhow Matthew, Mark, and Luke, came to say nothing about the atonement and\nthe scheme of salvation by faith, would still be asked. And if it should\nthen be shown that all the doubters, deists, and atheists, are vile and\nvicious wretches, the question still would wait for a reply.\n\nThe origin of all religions, creeds, and sacred books, is substantially\nthe same, and the history of one, is, in the main, the history of all.\nThus far these religions have been the mistaken explanations of our\nsurroundings. The appearances of nature have imposed upon the ignorance\nand fear of man. But back of all honest creeds was, and is, the desire\nto know, to understand, and to explain, and that desire will, as I\nmost fervently hope and earnestly believe, be gratified at last by\nthe discovery of the truth. Until then, let us bear with the theories,\nhopes, dreams, mistakes, and honest thoughts of all.\n\nRobert G. Ingersoll.\n\nWashington, D. C.,\n\nOctober, 1880.\n\n\nWHAT MUST WE DO TO BE SAVED?\n\n\"THE NUREMBERG MAN WAS OPERATED BY A COMBINATION OF PIPES AND LEVERS,\nAND THOUGH HE COULD BREATHE AND DIGEST PERFECTLY, AND EVEN REASON AS\nWELL AS MOST THEOLOGIANS, WAS MADE OF NOTHING BUT WOOD AND LEATHER.\"\n\nTHE whole world has been filled with fear.\n\nIgnorance has been the refuge of the soul. For thousands of years the\nintellectual ocean was ravaged by the buccaneers of reason. Pious souls\nclung to the shore and looked at the lighthouse. The seas were filled\nwith monsters and the islands with sirens. The people were driven in the\nmiddle of a narrow road while priests went before, beating the hedges on\neither side to frighten the robbers from their lairs. The poor followers\nseeing no robbers, thanked their brave leaders with all their hearts.\n\n\n\n\nI. WHAT WE MUST DO TO BE SAVED\n\nHuddled in folds they listened with wide eyes while the shepherds told\nof ravening wolves. With great gladness they exchanged their fleeces for\nsecurity. Shorn and shivering, they had the happiness of seeing their\nprotectors comfortable and warm.\n\nThrough all the years, those who plowed divided with those who prayed.\nWicked industry supported pious idleness, the hut gave to the cathedral,\nand frightened poverty gave even its rags to buy a robe for hypocrisy.\n\nFear is the dungeon of the mind, and superstition is a dagger with which\nhypocrisy assassinates the soul. Courage is liberty. I am in favor of\nabsolute freedom of thought. In the realm of mind every one is monarch;\nevery one is robed, sceptered, and crowned, and every one wears the\npurple of authority. I belong to the republic of intellectual liberty,\nand only those are good citizens of that republic who depend upon reason\nand upon persuasion, and only those are traitors who resort to brute\nforce.\n\nNow, I beg of you all to forget just for a few moments that you are\nMethodists or Baptists or Catholics or Presbyterians, and let us for an\nhour or two remember only that we are men and women. And allow me to\nsay \"man\" and \"woman\" are the highest titles that can be bestowed upon\nhumanity.\n\nLet us, if possible, banish all fear from the mind. Do not imagine that\nthere is some being in the infinite expanse who is not willing that\nevery man and woman should think for himself and herself. Do not imagine\nthat there is any being who would give to his children the holy torch of\nreason, and then damn them for following that sacred light. Let us have\ncourage.\n\nPriests have invented a crime called \"blasphemy,\" and behind that\ncrime hypocrisy has crouched for thousands of years. There is but one\nblasphemy, and that is injustice. There is but one worship, and that is\njustice!\n\nYou need not fear the anger of a god that you cannot injure. Rather\nfear to injure your fellow-men. Do not be afraid of a crime you can not\ncommit. Rather be afraid of the one that you may commit. The reason that\nyou cannot injure God is that the Infinite is conditionless. You cannot\nincrease or diminish the happiness of any being without changing that\nbeing's condition. If God is conditionless, you can neither injure nor\nbenefit him.\n\nThere was a Jewish gentleman went into a restaurant to get his dinner,\nand the devil of temptation whispered in his ear: \"Eat some bacon.\"\nHe knew if there was anything in the universe calculated to excite the\nwrath of an infinite being, who made every shining star, it was to see\na gentleman eating bacon. He knew it, and he knew the infinite being was\nlooking, that he was the eternal eavesdropper of the universe. But his\nappetite got the better of his conscience, as it often has with us all,\nand he ate that bacon. He knew it was wrong, and his conscience felt\nthe blood of shame in its cheek. When he went into that restaurant the\nweather was delightful, the sky was as blue as June, and when he came\nout the sky was covered with angry clouds, the lightning leaping\nfrom one to the other, and the earth shaking beneath the voice of the\nthunder. He went back into that restaurant with a face as white as milk,\nand he said to one of the keepers:\n\n\"My God, did you ever hear such a fuss about a little piece of bacon?\"\n\nAs long as we harbor such opinions of infinity; as long as we imagine\nthe heavens to be filled with such tyranny, just so long the sons of\nmen will be cringing, intellectual cowards. Let us think, and let us\nhonestly express our thought.\n\nDo not imagine for a moment that I think people who disagree with me\nare bad people. I admit, and I cheerfully admit, that a very large\nproportion of mankind, and a very large majority, a vast number are\nreasonably honest. I believe that most Christians believe what they\nteach; that most ministers are endeavoring to make this world better.\nI do not pretend to be better than they are. It is an intellectual\nquestion. It is a question, first, of intellectual liberty, and after\nthat, a question to be settled at the bar of human reason. I do not\npretend to be better than they are. Probably I am a good deal worse than\nmany of them, but that is not the question. The question is: Bad as\nI am, have I the right to think? And I think I have for two reasons:\nFirst, I cannot help it. And secondly, I like it. The whole question is\nright at a point. If I have not a right to express my thoughts, who has?\n\n\"Oh,\" they say, \"we will allow you to think, we will not burn you.\"\n\n\"All right; why won't you burn me?\"\n\n\"Because we think a decent man will allow others to think and to express\nhis thought.\"\n\n\"Then the reason you do not persecute me for my thought is that you\nbelieve it would be infamous in you?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"And yet you worship a God who will, as you declare, punish me forever?\"\n\nSurely an infinite God ought to be as just as man. Surely no God can\nhave the right to punish his children for being honest. He should not\nreward hypocrisy with heaven, and punish candor with eternal pain.\n\nThe next question then is: Can I commit a sin against God by thinking?\nIf God did not intend I should think, why did he give me a thinker? For\none, I am convinced, not only that I have the right to think, but that\nit is my duty to express my honest thoughts. Whatever the gods may say\nwe must be true to ourselves.\n\nWe have got what they call the Christian system of religion, and\nthousands of people wonder how I can be wicked enough to attack that\nsystem.\n\nThere are many good things about it, and I shall never attack anything\nthat I believe to be good! I shall never fear to attack anything I\nhonestly believe to be wrong! We have what they call the Christian\nreligion, and I find, just in proportion that nations have been\nreligious, just in the proportion they have clung to the religion of\ntheir founders, they have gone back to barbarism. I find that Spain,\nPortugal, Italy, are the three worst nations in Europe. I find that the\nnation nearest infidel is the most prosperous--France.\n\nAnd so I say there can be no danger in the exercise of absolute\nintellectual freedom. I find among ourselves the men who think are at\nleast as good as those who do not.\n\nWe have, I say, a Christian system, and that system is founded upon\nwhat they are pleased to call the \"New Testament.\" Who wrote the New\nTestament? I do not know. Who does know? Nobody. We have found many\nmanuscripts containing portions of the New Testament. Some of these\nmanuscripts leave out five or six books--many of them. Others more;\nothers less. No two of these manuscripts agree. Nobody knows who wrote\nthese manuscripts. They are all written in Greek. The disciples of\nChrist, so far as we know, knew only Hebrew. Nobody ever saw so far as\nwe know, one of the original Hebrew manuscripts.\n\nNobody ever saw anybody who had seen anybody who had heard of anybody\nthat had ever seen anybody that had ever seen one of the original Hebrew\nmanuscripts. No doubt the clergy of your city have told you these facts\nthousands of times, and they will be obliged to me for having repeated\nthem once more. These manuscripts are written in what are called capital\nGreek letters. They are called Uncial manuscripts, and the New Testament\nwas not divided into chapters and verses, even, until the year of grace\n1551. In the original the manuscripts and gospels are signed by nobody.\nThe epistles are addressed to nobody; and they are signed by the same\nperson. All the addresses, all the pretended ear-marks showing to\nwhom they were written, and by whom they were written, are simply\ninterpolations, and everybody who has studied the subject knows it.\n\nIt is further admitted that even these manuscripts have not been\nproperly translated, and they have a syndicate now making a new\ntranslation; and I suppose that I can not tell whether I really believe\nthe New Testament or not until I see that new translation.\n\nYou must remember, also, one other thing. Christ never wrote a solitary\nword of the New Testament--not one word. There is an account that he\nonce stooped and wrote something in the sand, but that has not been\npreserved. He never told anybody to write a word. He never said:\n\"Matthew, remember this. Mark, do not forget to put that down. Luke, be\nsure that in your gospel you have this. John, do not forget it.\" Not one\nword. And it has always seemed to me that a being coming from another\nworld, with a message of infinite importance to mankind, should at least\nhave verified that message by his own signature. Is it not wonderful\nthat not one word was written by Christ? Is it not strange that he\ngave no orders to have his words preserved--words upon which hung the\nsalvation of a world?\n\nWhy was nothing written? I will tell you. In my judgment they expected\nthe end of the world in a few days. That generation was not to pass away\nuntil the heavens should be rolled up as a scroll, and until the earth\nshould melt with fervent heat. That was their belief. They believed that\nthe world was to be destroyed, and that there was to be another coming,\nand that the saints were then to govern the earth. And they even went so\nfar among the apostles, as we frequently do now before election, as to\ndivide out the offices in advance. This Testament, as it now is, was not\nwritten for hundreds of years after the apostles were dust. Many of the\npretended facts lived in the open mouth of credulity. They were in the\nwastebaskets of forgetfulness. They depended upon the inaccuracy of\nlegend, and for centuries these doctrines and stories were blown about\nby the inconstant winds. And when reduced to writing, some gentleman\nwould write by the side of the passage his idea of it, and the next\ncopyist would put that in as a part of the text. And, when it was mostly\nwritten, and the church got into trouble, and wanted a passage to help\nit out, one was interpolated to order. So that now it is among\nthe easiest things in the world to pick out at least one hundred\ninterpolations in the Testament. And I will pick some of them out before\nI get through.\n\nAnd let me say here, once for all, that for the man Christ I have\ninfinite respect. Let me say, once for all, that the place where man has\ndied for man is holy ground. And let me say, once for all, that to that\ngreat and serene man I gladly pay, I gladly pay, the tribute of my\nadmiration and my tears. He was a reformer in his day. He was an infidel\nin his time. He was regarded as a blasphemer, and his life was destroyed\nby hypocrites, who have, in all ages, done what they could to trample\nfreedom and manhood out of the human mind. Had I lived at that time I\nwould have been his friend, and should he come again he will not find a\nbetter friend than I will be.\n\nThat is for the man. For the theological creation I have a different\nfeeling. If he was, in fact, God, he knew there was no such thing as\ndeath. He knew that what we called death was but the eternal opening of\nthe golden gates of everlasting joy; and it took no heroism to face a\ndeath that was eternal life.\n\nBut when a man, when a poor boy sixteen years of age, goes upon the\nfield of battle to keep his flag in heaven, not knowing but that death\nends all; not knowing but that when the shadows creep over him, the\ndarkness will be eternal, there is heroism. For the man who, in the\ndarkness, said: \"My God, why hast thou forsaken me?\"--for that man I\nhave nothing but respect, admiration, and love. Back of the theological\nshreds, rags, and patches, hiding the real Christ, I see a genuine man.\n\nA while ago I made up my mind to find out what was necessary for me to\ndo in order to be saved. If I have got a soul, I want it saved. I do not\nwish to lose anything that is of value.\n\nFor thousands of years the world has been asking that question:\n\n\"What must we do to be saved?\"\n\nSaved from poverty? No. Saved from crime? No. Tyranny? No. But \"What\nmust we do to be saved from the eternal wrath of the God who made us\nall?\"\n\nIf God made us, he will not destroy us. Infinite wisdom never made a\npoor investment. Upon all the works of an infinite God, a dividend must\nfinally be declared. Why should God make failures? Why should he waste\nmaterial? Why should he not correct his mistakes, instead of damning\nthem? The pulpit has cast a shadow over even the cradle. The doctrine\nof endless punishment has covered the cheeks of this world with tears. I\ndespise it, and I defy it.\n\nI made up my mind, I say, to see what I had to do in order to save my\nsoul according to the Testament, and thereupon I read it. I read the\ngospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and found that the church had\nbeen deceiving me. I found that the clergy did not understand their own\nbook; that they had been building upon passages that had been\ninterpolated; upon passages that were entirely untrue, and I will tell\nyou why I think so.\n\n\n\n\nII. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW\n\n\nACCORDING to the church, the first gospel was written by Matthew. As a\nmatter of fact he never wrote a word of it--never saw it, never heard of\nit and probably never will. But for the purposes of this lecture I admit\nthat he wrote years; that he was his constant companion; that he shared\nhis sorrows and his triumphs; that he heard his words by the lonely\nlakes, the barren hills, in synagogue and street, and that he knew his\nheart and became acquainted with his thoughts and aims.\n\nNow let us see what Matthew says we must do in order to be saved. And\nI take it that, if this is true, Matthew is as good authority as any\nminister in the world.\n\nI will admit that he was with Christ for three years.\n\nThe first thing I find upon the subject of salvation is in the fifth\nchapter of Matthew, and is embraced in what is commonly known as the\nSermon on the Mount. It is as follows:\n\n\"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\"\nGood!\n\n\"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.\" Good! Whether\nthey belonged to any church or not; whether they believed the Bible or\nnot?\n\n\"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.\" Good!\n\n\"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the\npeacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are\nthey which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the\nkingdom of heaven.\" Good!\n\nIn the same sermon he says: \"Think not that I am come to destroy the law\nor the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.\" And then he\nmakes use of this remarkable language, almost as applicable to-day as\nit was then: \"For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall\nexceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no\nwise enter into the kingdom of heaven.\" Good!\n\nIn the sixth chapter I find the following, and it comes directly after\nthe prayer known as the Lord's prayer:\n\n\"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also\nforgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will\nyour father forgive your trespasses.\"\n\nI accept the condition. There is an offer; I accept it. If you will\nforgive men that trespass against you, God will forgive your trespasses\nagainst him. I accept the terms, and I never will ask any God to treat\nme better than I treat my fellow-men. There is a square promise. There\nis a contract. If you will forgive others God will forgive you. And it\ndoes not say you must believe in the Old Testament, or be baptized, or\njoin the church, or keep Sunday; that you must count beads, or pray, or\nbecome a nun, or a priest; that you must preach sermons or hear them,\nbuild churches or fill them. Not one word is said about eating or\nfasting, denying or believing. It simply says, if you forgive others God\nwill forgive you; and it must of necessity be true. No god could afford\nto damn a forgiving man. Suppose God should damn to everlasting fire a\nman so great and good, that he, looking from the abyss of hell, would\nforgive God,--how would a god feel then?\n\nNow let me make myself plain upon one subject, perfectly plain. For\ninstance, I hate Presbyterianism, but I know hundreds of splendid\nPresbyterians. Understand me. I hate Methodism, and yet I know hundreds\nof splendid Methodists. I hate Catholicism, and like Catholics. I hate\ninsanity but not the insane.\n\nI do not war against men. I do not war against persons. I war against\ncertain doctrines that I believe to be wrong. But I give to every other\nhuman being every right that I claim for myself.\n\nThe next thing that I find is in the seventh chapter and the second\nverse: \"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with\nwhat measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.\" Good! That\nsuits me!\n\nAnd in the twelfth chapter of Matthew: \"For whosoever shall do the will\nof my Father that is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and\nmother. For the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with\nhis angels, and then he shall reward every man according.... To the\nchurch he belongs to? No. To the manner in which he was baptized? No.\nAccording to his creed? No. Then he shall reward every man according to\nhis works.\" Good! I subscribe to that doctrine.\n\nAnd in the eighteenth chapter: \"And Jesus called a little child to him\nand stood him in the midst; and said, 'Verily I say unto you, except ye\nbe converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into\nthe kingdom of heaven.'\" I do not wonder that in his day, surrounded by\nscribes and Pharisees, he turned lovingly to little children.\n\nAnd yet, see what children the little children of God have been. What\nan interesting dimpled darling John Calvin was. Think of that\nprattling babe, Jonathan Edwards! Think of the infants that founded the\nInquisition, that invented instruments of torture to tear human flesh.\nThey were the ones who had become as little children. They were the\nchildren of faith.\n\nSo I find in the nineteenth chapter: \"And behold, one came and said unto\nhim: 'Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal\nlife?' And he said unto him, 'Why callest thou me good? There is none\ngood but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the\ncommandments.' He saith unto him, 'which?'\"\n\nNow, there is a fair issue. Here is a child of God asking God what is\nnecessary for him to do in order to inherit eternal life. And God said\nto him: Keep the commandments. And the child said to the Almighty:\n\"Which?\" Now, if there ever has been an opportunity given to the\nAlmighty to furnish a man of an inquiring mind with the necessary\ninformation upon that subject, here was the opportunity. \"He said unto\nhim, which? And Jesus said: Thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not\ncommit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false\nwitness; honor thy father and mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor\nas thyself.\"\n\nHe did not say to him: \"You must believe in me--that I am the only\nbegotten son of the living God.\" He did not say: \"You must be born\nagain.\" He did not say: \"You must believe the Bible.\" He did not say:\n\"You must remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.\" He simply said:\n\"Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt\nnot steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy\nmother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\" And thereupon the\nyoung man, who I think was mistaken, said unto him: \"All these things\nhave I kept from my youth up.\"\n\nWhat right has the church to add conditions of salvation? Why should we\nsuppose that Christ failed to tell the young man all that was necessary\nfor him to do? Is it possible that he left out some important thing\nsimply to mislead? Will some minister tell us why he thinks that Christ\nkept back the \"scheme\"?\n\nNow comes an interpolation.\n\nIn the old times when the church got a little scarce of money, they\nalways put in a passage praising poverty. So they had this young man\nask: \"What lack I yet? And Jesus said unto him: If thou wilt be perfect,\ngo and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have\ntreasure in heaven.\"\n\nThe church has always been willing to swap off treasures in heaven for\ncash down. And when the next verse was written the church must have been\nnearly bankrupt. \"And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel\nto go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into\nthe kingdom of God.\" Did you ever know a wealthy disciple to unload on\naccount of that verse?\n\nAnd then comes another verse, which I believe is an interpolation: \"And\neveryone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father,\nor mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall\nreceive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life.\"\n\nChrist never said it. Never. \"Whosoever shall forsake father and\nmother.\"\n\nWhy, he said to this man that asked him, \"What shall I do to inherit\neternal life?\" among other things, he said: \"Honor thy father and thy\nmother.\" And we turn over the page and he says again: \"If you will\ndesert your father and mother you shall have everlasting life.\" It will\nnot do. If you will desert your wife and your little children, or your\nlands--the idea of putting a house and lot on equality with wife and\nchildren! Think of that! I do not accept the terms. I will never desert\nthe one I love for the promise of any god.\n\nIt is far more important to love your wife than to love God, and I will\ntell you why. You cannot help him, but you can help her. You can fill\nher life with the perfume of perpetual joy. It is far more important\nthat you love your children than that you love Jesus Christ. And why?\nIf he is God you cannot help him, but you can plant a little flower of\nhappiness in every footstep of the child, from the cradle until you die\nin that child's arms. Let me tell you to-day it is far more important\nto build a home than to erect a church. The holiest temple beneath the\nstars is a home that love has built. And the holiest altar in all the\nwide world is the fireside around which gather father and mother and the\nsweet babes.\n\nThere was a time when people believed the infamy commanded in this\nfrightful passage. There was a time when they did desert fathers and\nmothers and wives and children. St. Augustine says to the devotee: Fly\nto the desert, and though your wife put her arms around your neck, tear\nher hands away; she is a temptation of the devil. Though your father and\nmother throw their bodies athwart your threshold, step over them; and\nthough your children pursue, and with weeping' eyes beseech you to\nreturn, listen not. It is the temptation of the evil one. Fly to the\ndesert and save your soul. Think of such a soul being worth saving.\nWhile I live I propose to stand by the ones I love.\n\nThere is another condition of salvation. I find it in the twenty-fifth\nchapter: \"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come,\nye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the\nfoundation of the world. For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat; I\nwas thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye took me in;\nnaked and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited me; I was in prison\nand ye came unto me.\" Good!\n\nI tell you to-night that God will not punish with eternal thirst the man\nwho has put the cup of cold water to the lips of his neighbor. God will\nnot leave in the eternal nakedness of pain the man who has clothed his\nfellow-men.\n\nFor instance, here is a shipwreck, and here is some brave sailor who\nstands aside and allows a woman whom he never saw before to take his\nplace in the boat, and he stands there, grand and serene as the wide\nsea, and he goes down. Do you tell me that there is any God who will\npush the lifeboat from the shore of eternal life, when that man wishes\nto step in? Do you tell me that God can be unpitying to the pitiful,\nthat he can be unforgiving to the forgiving? I deny it; and from the\naspersions of the pulpit I seek to rescue the reputation of the Deity.\n\nNow, I have read you substantially everything in Matthew on the subject\nof salvation. That is all there is. Not one word about believing\nanything. It is the gospel of deed, the gospel of charity, the gospel\nof self-denial; and if only that gospel had been preached, persecution\nnever would have shed one drop of blood. Not one.\n\nAccording to the testimony Matthew was well acquainted with Christ.\nAccording to the testimony, he had been with him, and his companion for\nyears, and if it was necessary to believe anything in order to get to\nheaven, Matthew should have told us. But he forgot it, or he did not\nbelieve it, or he never heard of it. You can take your choice.\n\nIn Matthew, we find that heaven is promised, first, to the poor in\nspirit. Second, to the merciful. Third, to the pure in heart. Fourth, to\nthe peacemakers. Fifth, to those who are persecuted for righteousness'\nsake. Sixth, to those who keep and teach the commandments. Seventh, to\nthose who forgive men that trespass against them. Eighth, that we will\nbe judged as we judge others. Ninth, that they who receive prophets and\nrighteous men shall receive a prophet's reward. Tenth, to those who do\nthe will of God. Eleventh, that every man shall be rewarded according to\nhis works. Twelfth, to those who become as little children. Thirteenth,\nto those who forgive the trespasses of others. Fourteenth, to the\nperfect: they who sell all that they have and give to the poor.\nFifteenth, to them who forsake houses, and brethren, and sisters, and\nfather, and mother, and wife, and children, and lands for the sake of\nChrist's name. Sixteenth, to those who feed the hungry, give drink to\nthe thirsty, shelter to the stranger, clothes to the naked, comfort to\nthe sick, and who visit the prisoner.\n\nNothing else is said with regard to salvation in the gospel according to\nSt. Matthew. Not one word about believing the Old Testament to have been\ninspired; not one word about being baptized or joining a church; not\none word about believing in any miracle; not even a hint that it was\nnecessary to believe that Christ was the son of God, or that he did any\nwonderful or miraculous things, or that he was born of a virgin, or that\nhis coming had been foretold by the Jewish prophets. Not one word\nabout believing in the Trinity, or in foreordination or predestination.\nMatthew had not understood from Christ that any such things were\nnecessary to ensure the salvation of the soul.\n\nAccording to the testimony, Matthew had been in the company of Christ,\nsome say three years and some say one, but at least he had been with him\nlong enough to find out some of his ideas upon this great subject. And\nyet Matthew never got the impression that it was necessary to believe\nsomething in order to get to heaven. He supposed that if a man forgave\nothers God would forgive him; he believed that God would show mercy\nto the merciful; that he would not allow those who fed the hungry to\nstarve; that he would not put in the flames of hell those who had given\ncold water to the thirsty; that he would not cast into the eternal\ndungeon of his wrath those who had visited the imprisoned; and that he\nwould not damn men who forgave others.\n\nMatthew had it in his mind that God would treat us very much as we\ntreated other people; and that in the next world he would treat with\nkindness those who had been loving and gentle in their lives. It may be\nthe apostle was mistaken; but evidently that was his opinion.\n\n\n\n\nIII. THE GOSPEL OF MARK\n\nET us now see what Mark thought it necessary for a man to do to save his\nsoul. In the fourth chapter, after Jesus had given to the multitude by\nthe sea the parable of the sower, his disciples, when they were again\nalone, asked him the meaning of the parable. Jesus replied:\n\n\"Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but\nunto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:\n\n\"That seeing, they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear,\nand not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their\nsins should be forgiven them.\"\n\nIt is a little hard to understand why he should have preached to people\nthat he did not intend should know his meaning. Neither is it quite\nclear why he objected to their being converted. This, I suppose, is one\nof the mysteries that we should simply believe without endeavoring to\ncomprehend.\n\nWith the above exception, and one other that I will mention hereafter,\nMark substantially agrees with Matthew, and says that God will be\nmerciful to the merciful, that he will be kind to the kind, that he\nwill pity the pitying, and love the loving. Mark upholds the religion\nof Matthew until we come to the fifteenth and sixteenth verses of\nthe sixteenth chapter, and then I strike an interpolation put in by\nhypocrisy, put in by priests who longed to grasp with bloody hands\nthe sceptre of universal power. Let me read it to you. It is the most\ninfamous passage in the Bible. Christ never said it. No sensible man\never said it.\n\n\"And He said unto them\" (that is, unto his disciples), \"go ye into all\nthe world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and\nis baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.\"\n\nThat passage was written so that fear would give alms to hypocrisy. Now,\nI propose to prove to you that this is an interpolation. How will I do\nit? In the first place, not one word is said about belief, in Matthew.\nIn the next place, not one word about belief, in Mark, until I come to\nthat verse, and where is that said to have been spoken? According to\nMark, it is a part of the last conversation of Jesus Christ,--just\nbefore, according to the account, he ascended bodily before their eyes.\nIf there ever was any important thing happened in this world that was\nit. If there is any conversation that people would be apt to recollect,\nit would be the last conversation with a god before he rose visibly\nthrough the air and seated himself upon the throne of the infinite. We\nhave in this Testament five accounts of the last conversation happening\nbetween Jesus Christ and his apostles. Matthew gives it, and yet Matthew\ndoes not state that in that conversation Christ said: \"Whoso believeth\nand is baptized shall be saved, and whoso believeth not shall be\ndamned.\" And if he did say those words they were the most important that\never fell from lips. Matthew did not hear it, or did not believe it, or\nforgot it.\n\nThen I turn to Luke, and he gives an account of this same last\nconversation, and not one word does he say upon that subject. Luke does\nnot pretend that Christ said that whoso believeth not shall be damned.\nLuke certainly did not hear it. May be he forgot it. Perhaps he did not\nthink that it was worth recording. Now, it is the most important thing,\nif Christ said it, that he ever said.\n\nThen I turn to John, and he gives an account of the last conversation,\nbut not one solitary word on the subject of belief or unbelief. Not one\nsolitary word on the subject of damnation. Not one. John might not have\nbeen listening.\n\nThen I turn to the first chapter of the Acts, and there I find an\naccount of the last conversation; and in that conversation there is not\none word upon this subject. This is a demonstration that the passage in\nMark is an interpolation. What other reason have I got? There is not one\nparticle of sense in it. Why? No man can control his belief. You hear\nevidence for and against, and the integrity of the soul stands at the\nscales and tells which side rises and which side falls. You can not\nbelieve as you wish. You must believe as you must. And he might as well\nhave said: \"Go into the world and preach the gospel, and whosoever has\nred hair shall be saved, and whosoever hath not shall be damned.\"\n\nI have another reason. I am much obliged to the gentleman who\ninterpolated these passages. I am much obliged to him that he put in\nsome more--two more. Now hear:\n\n\"And these signs shall follow them that believe.\" Good!\n\n\"In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new\ntongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing\nit shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall\nrecover.\"\n\nBring on your believer! Let him cast out a devil. I do not ask for a\nlarge one. Just a little one for a cent. Let him take up serpents. \"And\nif they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them.\" Let me mix up a\ndose for the believer, and if it does not hurt him I will join a church.\n\"Oh! but,\" they say, \"those things only lasted through the Apostolic\nage.\" Let us see. \"Go into all the world and preach the gospel, and\nwhosoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, and these signs shall\nfollow them that believe.\"\n\nHow long? I think at least until they had gone into all the world.\nCertainly those signs should follow until all the world had been\nvisited. And yet if that declaration was in the mouth of Christ, he then\nknew that one-half of the world was unknown, and that he would be dead\nfourteen hundred and fifty-nine years before his disciples would know\nthat there was another continent. And yet he said, \"Go into all the\nworld and preach the gospel,\" and he knew then that it would be fourteen\nhundred and fifty-nine years before anybody could go. Well, if it was\nworth while to have signs follow believers in the Old World, surely it\nwas worth while to have signs follow believers in the New. And the very\nreason that signs should follow would be to convince the unbeliever,\nand there are as many unbelievers now as ever, and the signs are as\nnecessary to-day as they ever were. I would like a few myself.\n\nThis frightful declaration, \"He that believeth and is baptized shall be\nsaved, but he that believeth not shall be damned,\" has filled the world\nwith agony and crime. Every letter of this passage has been sword and\nfagot; every word has been dungeon and chain. That passage made the\nsword of persecution drip with innocent blood through centuries of agony\nand crime. That passage made the horizon of a thousand years lurid with\nthe fagot's flames. That passage contradicts the Sermon on the Mount;\ntravesties the Lord's prayer; turns the splendid religion of deed\nand duty into the superstition of creed and cruelty. I deny it. It is\ninfamous! Christ never said it!\n\n\n\n\nIV. THE GOSPEL OF LUKE.\n\nIT is sufficient to say that Luke agrees substantially with Matthew and\nMark.\n\n\"Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.\" Good!\n\n\"Judge not and ye shall not be judged: condemn not and ye shall not be\ncondemned: forgive and ye shall be forgiven.\" Good!\n\n\"Give and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down, and\nshaken together, and running over.\" Good! I like it.\n\n\"For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to\nyou again.\"\n\nHe agrees substantially with Mark; he agrees substantially with Matthew;\nand I come at last to the nineteenth chapter.\n\n\"And Zaccheus stood and said unto the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, the half of\nmy goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man\nby false accusation, I restore him four fold.' And Jesus said unto him,\n'this day is salvation come to this house.'\"\n\nThat is good doctrine. He did not ask Zaccheus what he believed. He did\nnot ask him, \"Do you believe in the Bible? Do you believe in the five\npoints? Have you ever been baptized--sprinkled? Or immersed?\" \"Half of\nmy goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man\nby false accusation, I restore him four fold.\" \"And Christ said, this\nday is salvation come to this house.\" Good!\n\nI read also in Luke that Christ when upon the cross forgave his\nmurderers, and that is considered the shining gem in the crown of his\nmercy. He forgave his murderers. He forgave the men who drove the nails\nin his hands, in his feet, that plunged a spear in his side; the soldier\nthat in the hour of death offered him in mockery the bitterness to\ndrink. He forgave them all freely, and yet, although he would forgive\nthem, he will in the nineteenth century, as we are told by the orthodox\nchurch, damn to eternal fire a noble man for the expression of his\nhonest thoughts. That will not do. I find, too, in Luke, an account\nof two thieves that were crucified at the same time. The other gospels\nspeak of them. One says they both railed upon him. Another says nothing\nabout it. In Luke we are told that one railed upon him, but one of the\nthieves looked and pitied Christ, and Christ said to that thief:\n\n\"To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.\" Why did he say that? Because\nthe thief pitied him. God can not afford to trample beneath the feet\nof his infinite wrath the smallest blossom of pity that ever shed its\nperfume in the human heart!\n\nWho was this thief? To what church did he belong? I do not know. The\nfact that he was a thief throws no light on that question. Who was he?\nWhat did he believe? I do not know. Did he believe in the Old Testament?\nIn the miracles? I do not know. Did he believe that Christ was God? I\ndo not know. Why then was the promise made to him that he should meet\nChrist in Paradise? Simply because he pitied suffering innocence upon\nthe cross.\n\nGod can not afford to damn any man who is capable of pitying anybody.\n\n\n\n\nV. THE GOSPEL OF JOHN\n\nAND now we come to John, and that is where the trouble commences.\n\nThe other gospels teach that God will be merciful to the merciful,\nforgiving to the forgiving, kind to the kind, loving to the loving, just\nto the just, merciful to the good.\n\nNow we come to John, and here is another doctrine. And allow me to say\nthat John was not written until long after the others. John was mostly\nwritten by the church.\n\n\"Jesus answered and said unto him: Verily, verily, I say unto thee,\nExcept a man be born again he can not see the kingdom of God.\"\n\nWhy did he not tell Matthew that? Why did he not tell Luke that? Why did\nhe not tell Mark that? They never heard of it, or forgot it, or they did\nnot believe it.\n\n\"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into\nthe kingdom of God.\" Why?\n\n\"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of\nthe Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born\nagain.\" \"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is\nborn of the Spirit is spirit,\" and he might have added, that which is\nborn of water is water.\n\n\"Marvel not that I said unto thee, 'ye must be born again.'\" And then\nthe reason is given, and I admit I did not understand it myself until I\nread the reason, and when you hear the reason, you will understand it\nas well as I do; and here it is: \"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and\nthou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and\nwhither it goeth.\" So, I find in the book of John the idea of the Real\nPresence.\n\n\"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the\nSon of man be lifted up; That whosoever believeth in him should not\nperish, but have eternal life.\"\n\n\"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that\nwhosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.\n\n\"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that\nthe world through him might be saved.\n\n\"He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is\ncondemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only\nbegotten Son of God.\"\n\n\"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that\nbelieveth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth\non him.\" \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and\nbelieveth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come\ninto condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.\n\n\"Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when\nthe dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear\nshall live.\"\n\n\"And shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection\nof life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of\ndamnation.\"-\"And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone\nwhich seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life;\nand I will raise him up at the last day.\"\n\n\"No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him;\nand I will raise him up at the last day.\"\n\n\"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath\neverlasting life.\n\n\"I am that bread of life.\n\n\"Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.\n\n\"This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat\nthereof, and not die.\n\n\"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of\nthis bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is my\nflesh, which I will give for the life of the world.\"\n\n\"Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye\neat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in\nyou.\n\n\"Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I\nwill raise him up at the last day.\n\n\"For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.\n\n\"He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I\nin him.\n\n\"As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that\neateth me, even he shall live by me.\n\n\"This is that bread which came down from heaven; not as your fathers\ndid eat manna, and are dead; he that eateth of this bread shall live\nforever.\"\n\n\"And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me,\nexcept it were given unto him of my Father.\"\n\n\"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that\nbelieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.\n\n\"And whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.\"\n\n\"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in\nthis world, shall keep it unto life eternal.\"\n\nSo I find in the book of John, that in order to be saved we must not\nonly believe in Jesus Christ, but we must eat the flesh and we must\ndrink the blood of Jesus Christ. If that gospel is true, the Catholic\nChurch is right. But it is not true. I can not believe it, and yet for\nall that, it may be true. But I do not believe it. Neither do I\nbelieve there is any god in the universe who will damn a man simply for\nexpressing his belief.\n\n\"Why,\" they say to me, \"suppose all this should turn out to be true, and\nyou should come to the day of judgment and find all these things to be\ntrue. What would you do then?\" I would walk up like a man, and say, \"I\nwas mistaken.\"\n\n\"And suppose God was about to pass judgment upon you, what would you\nsay?\" I would say to him, \"Do unto others as you would that others\nshould do unto you.\" Why not?\n\nI am told that I must render good for evil. I am told that if smitten\non one cheek I must turn the other. I am told that I must overcome evil\nwith good. I am told that I must love my enemies; and will it do for\nthis God who tells me to love my enemies to damn his? No, it will not\ndo. It will not do.\n\nIn the book of John all these doctrines of regeneration--that it is\nnecessary to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; that salvation depends\nupon belief--in this book of John all these doctrines find their\nwarrant; nowhere else.\n\nRead Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and then read John, and you will agree\nwith me that the three first gospels teach that if we are kind and\nforgiving to our fellows, God will be kind and forgiving to us. In John\nwe are told that another man can be good for us, or bad for us, and that\nthe only way to get to heaven is to believe something that we know is\nnot so.\n\nAll these passages about believing in Christ, drinking his blood\nand eating his flesh, are afterthoughts. They were written by the\ntheologians, and in a few years they will be considered unworthy of the\nlips of Christ.\n\n\n\n\nVI. THE CATHOLICS\n\nNOW, upon these gospels that I have read the churches rest; and out of\nthese things, mistakes and interpolations, they have made their\ncreeds. And the first church to make a creed, so far as I know, was the\nCatholic. It was the first church that had any power. That is the church\nthat has preserved all these miracles for us. That is the church that\npreserved the manuscripts for us. That is the church whose word we have\nto take. That church is the first witness that Protestantism brought to\nthe bar of history to prove miracles that took place eighteen hundred\nyears ago; and while the witness is there Protestantism takes pains to\nsay: \"You cannot believe one word that witness says, _now_.\"\n\nThat church is the only one that keeps up a constant communication with\nheaven through the instrumentality of a large number of decayed saints.\nThat church has an agent of God on earth, has a person who stands in\nthe place of deity; and that church is infallible. That church has\npersecuted to the exact extent of her power--and always will. In Spain\nthat church stands erect, and is arrogant. In the United States that\nchurch crawls; but the object in both countries is the same--and that is\nthe destruction of intellectual liberty. That church teaches us that we\ncan make God happy by being miserable ourselves; that a nun is holier in\nthe sight of God than a loving mother with her child in her thrilled and\nthrilling arms; that a priest is better than a father; that celibacy is\nbetter than that passion of love that has made everything of beauty in\nthis world. That church tells the girl of sixteen or eighteen years of\nage, with eyes like dew and light; that girl with the red of health in\nthe white of her beautiful cheeks--tells that girl, \"Put on the veil,\nwoven of death and night, kneel upon stones, and you will please God.\"\n\nI tell you that, by law, no girl should be allowed to take the veil and\nrenounce the joys and beauties of this life.\n\nI am opposed to allowing these spider-like priests to weave webs\nto catch the loving maidens of the world. There ought to be a law\nappointing commissioners to visit such places twice a year and release\nevery person who expresses a desire to be released. I do not believe in\nkeeping the penitentiaries of God. No doubt they are honest about it.\nThat is not the question. These ignorant superstitions fill millions of\nlives with weariness and pain, with agony and tears.\n\nThis church, after a few centuries of thought, made a creed, and that\ncreed is the foundation of the orthodox religion. Let me read it to you:\n\n\"Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he\nhold the Catholic faith; which faith except every one do keep entire and\ninviolate, without doubt, he shall everlastingly perish.\" Now the faith\nis this: \"That we worship one God in trinity and trinity in unity.\"\n\nOf course you understand how that is done, and there is no need of\nmy explaining it. \"Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the\nsubstance.\" You see what a predicament that would leave the deity in if\nyou divided the substance.\n\n\"For one is the person of the Father, another of the Son, and another\nof the Holy Ghost; but the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of\nthe Holy Ghost is all one\"--you know what I mean by Godhead. \"In glory\nequal, and in majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son,\nsuch is the Holy Ghost. The Father is uncreated, the Son uncreated,\nthe Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son\nincomprehensible, the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.\" And that is the\nreason we know so much about the thing. \"The Father is eternal, the Son\neternal, the Holy Ghost eternal, and yet there are not three eternals,\nonly one eternal, as also there are not three uncreated, nor three\nincomprehensibles, only one uncreated, one incomprehensible.\"\n\n\"In like manner, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy\nGhost almighty. Yet there are not three almighties, only one Almighty.\nSo the Father is God, the Son God, the Holy Ghost God, and yet not three\nGods; and so, likewise, the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy\nGhost is Lord, yet there are not three Lords, for as we are compelled by\nthe Christian truth to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and\nLord, so we are all forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there are\nthree Gods, or three Lords. The Father is made of no one; not created or\nbegotten. The Son is from the Father alone, not made, not created, but\nbegotten. The Holy Ghost is from the Father and the Son, not made nor\nbegotten, but proceeding.\"\n\nYou know what proceeding is.\n\n\"So there is one Father, not three Fathers.\" Why should there be three\nfathers, and only one Son? \"One Son, and not three Sons; one Holy Ghost,\nnot three Holy Ghosts; and in this Trinity there is nothing before or\nafterward, nothing greater or less, but the whole three persons are\ncoeternal with one another and coequal, so that in all things the unity\nis to be worshiped in Trinity, and the Trinity is to be worshiped\nin unity. Those who will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.\nFurthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also\nbelieve rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the right\nof this thing is this: That we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus\nChrist, the Son of God, is both God and man. He is God of the substance\nof his Father begotten before the world was.\"\n\nThat was a good while before his mother lived. \"And he is man of the\nsubstance of his mother, born in this world, perfect God and perfect\nman, and the rational soul in human flesh, subsisting equal to the\nFather according to his Godhead, but less than the Father according to\nhis manhood, who being both God and man is not two but one, one not\nby conversion of God into flesh, but by the taking of the manhood into\nGod.\" You see that is a great deal easier than the other way would be.\n\n\"One altogether, not by a confusion of substance but by unity of person,\nfor as the rational soul and the flesh is one man, so God and man is one\nChrist, who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again\nthe third day from the dead, ascended into heaven, and he sitteth at the\nright hand of God, the Father Almighty, and He shall come to judge the\nliving and the dead.\" In order to be saved it is necessary to believe\nthis. What a blessing that we do not have to understand it. And in order\nto compel the human intellect to get upon its knees before that infinite\nabsurdity, thousands and millions have suffered agonies; thousands and\nthousands have perished in dungeons and in fire; and if all the bones\nof all the victims of the Catholic Church could be gathered together,\na monument higher than all the pyramids would rise, in the presence of\nwhich the eyes even of priests would be wet with tears.\n\nThat church covered Europe with cathedrals and dungeons, and robbed men\nof the jewel of the soul. That church had ignorance upon its knees. That\nchurch went in partnership with the tyrants of the throne, and between\nthose two vultures, the altar and the throne, the heart of man was\ndevoured.\n\nOf course I have met, and cheerfully admit that there are thousands\nof good Catholics; but Catholicism is contrary to human liberty.\nCatholicism bases salvation upon belief. Catholicism teaches man to\ntrample his reason under foot. And for that reason it is wrong.\n\nThousands of volumes could not contain the crimes of the Catholic\nChurch. They could not contain even the names of her victims. With sword\nand fire, with rack and chain, with dungeon and whip she endeavored to\nconvert the world. In weakness a beggar--in power a highwayman,--alms\ndish or dagger--tramp or tyrant.\n\n\n\n\nVII. THE EPISCOPALIANS\n\nTHE next church I wish to speak of is the Episcopalian. That was\nfounded by Henry VIII., now in heaven. He cast off Queen Catherine and\nCatholicism together, and he accepted Episcopalianism and Annie Boleyn\nat the same time. That church, if it had a few more ceremonies, would be\nCatholic. If it had a few less, nothing. We have an Episcopalian Church\nin this country, and it has all the imperfections of a poor relation. It\nis always boasting of its rich relative. In England the creed is made\nby law, the same as we pass statutes here. And when a gentleman dies in\nEngland, in order to determine whether he shall be saved or not, it is\nnecessary for the power of heaven to read the acts of Parliament. It\nbecomes a question of law, and sometimes a man is damned on a very nice\npoint. Lost on demurrer.\n\nA few years ago, a gentleman by the name of Seabury, Samuel Seabury, was\nsent over to England to get some apostolic succession. We had not a drop\nin the house. It was necessary for the bishops of the English Church\nto put their hands upon his head. They refused. There was no act of\nParliament justifying it. He had then to go to the Scotch bishops; and,\nhad the Scotch bishops refused, we never would have had any apostolic\nsuccession in the New World, and God would have been driven out of half\nthe earth, and the true church never could have been founded upon this\ncontinent. But the Scotch bishops put their hands on his head, and now\nwe have an unbroken succession of heads and hands from St. Paul to the\nlast bishop.\n\nIn this country the Episcopalians have done some good, and I want\nto thank that church. Having on an average less religion than the\nothers--on an average you have done more good to mankind. You preserved\nsome of the humanities. You did not hate music; you did not absolutely\ndespise painting, and you did not altogether abhor architecture, and you\nfinally admitted that it was no worse to keep time with your feet than\nwith your hands. And some went so far as to say that people could play\ncards, and that God would overlook it, or would look the other way. For\nall these things accept my thanks.\n\nWhen I was a boy, the other churches looked upon dancing as probably the\nmysterious sin against the Holy Ghost; and they used to teach that when\nfour boys got in a hay-mow, playing seven-up, that the eternal God stood\nwhetting the sword of his eternal wrath waiting to strike them down to\nthe lowest hell. That church has done some good.\n\nThe Episcopal creed is substantially like the Catholic, containing a few\nadditional absurdities. The Episcopalians teach that it is easier to\nget forgiveness for sin after you have been baptized. They seem to think\nthat the moment you are baptized you become a member of the firm, and as\nsuch are entitled to wickedness at cost. This church is utterly unsuited\nto a free people. Its government is tyrannical, supercilious and absurd.\nBishops talk as though they were responsible for the souls in their\ncharge. They wear vests that button on one side. Nothing is so essential\nto the clergy of this denomination as a good voice. The Episcopalians\nhave persecuted just to the extent of their power. Their treatment of\nthe Irish has been a crime--a crime lasting for three hundred years.\nThat church persecuted the Puritans of England and the Presbyterians of\nScotland. In England the altar is the mistress of the throne, and this\nmistress has always looked at honest wives with scorn.\n\n\n\n\nVIII. THE METHODISTS\n\nABOUT a hundred and fifty years ago, two men, John Wesley and George\nWhitfield, said, If everybody is going to hell, somebody ought to\nmention it. The Episcopal clergy said: Keep still; do not tear your\ngown. Wesley and Whitfield said: This frightful truth ought to be\nproclaimed from the housetop of every opportunity, from the highway\nof every occasion. They were good, honest men. They believed their\ndoctrine. And they said: If there is a hell, and a Niagara of souls\npouring over an eternal precipice of ignorance, somebody ought to say\nsomething. They were right; somebody ought, if such a thing is true.\nWesley was a believer in the Bible. He believed in the actual presence\nof the Almighty.\n\nGod used to do miracles for him; used to put off a rain several days to\ngive his meeting a chance; used to cure his horse of lameness; used to\ncure Mr. Wesley's headaches.\n\nAnd Mr. Wesley also believed in the actual existence of the devil. He\nbelieved that devils had possession of people. He talked to the devil\nwhen he was in folks, and the devil told him that he was going to leave;\nand that he was going into another person. That he would be there at a\ncertain time; and Wesley went to that other person, and there the devil\nwas, prompt to the minute. He regarded every conversion as warfare\nbetween God and this devil for the possession of that human soul, and\nthat in the warfare God had gained the victory. Honest, no doubt. Mr.\nWesley did not believe in human liberty. Honest, no doubt. Was opposed\nto the liberty of the colonies. Honestly so. Mr. Wesley preached a\nsermon entitled: \"The Cause and Cure of Earthquakes,\" in which he took\nthe ground that earthquakes were caused by sin; and the only way to stop\nthem was to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. No doubt an honest man.\n\nWesley and Whitfield fell out on the question of predestination. Wesley\ninsisted that God invited everybody to the feast. Whitfield said he did\nnot invite those he knew would not come. Wesley said he did. Whitfield\nsaid: Well, he did not put plates for them, anyway. Wesley said he did.\nSo that, when they were in hell he could show them that there was a\nseat left for them. The church that they founded is still active. And\nprobably no church in the world has done so much preaching for as little\nmoney as the Methodists. Whitfield believed in slavery, and advocated\nthe slave-trade. And it was of Whitfield that Whittier made the two\nlines:\n\n     \"He bade the slave ships speed from coast to coast,\n     Fanned by the wings of the Holy Ghost.\"\n\nWe have lately had a meeting of the Methodists, and I find by their\nstatistics that they believe that they have converted 130,000 folks in\na year. That, in order to do this, they have 26,000 preachers, 226,000\nSunday school scholars, and about $100,000,000 invested in church\nproperty. I find, in looking over the history of the world, that there\nare 40,000,000 or 50,000,000 of people born a year, and if they are\nsaved at the rate of 130,000 a year, about how long will it take that\ndoctrine to save this world? Good, honest people; but they are mistaken.\n\nIn old times they were very simple. Churches used to be like barns. They\nused to have them divided--men on that side, and women on this. A little\nbarbarous. We have advanced since then, and we now find as a fact,\ndemonstrated by experience, that a man sitting by the woman he loves\ncan thank God as heartily as though sitting between two men that he has\nnever been introduced to.\n\nThere is another thing the Methodists should remember, and that is that\nthe Episcopalians were the greatest enemies they ever had. And they\nshould remember that the Freethinkers have always treated them kindly\nand well.\n\nThere is one thing about the Methodist Church in the North that I like.\nBut I find that it is not Methodism that does that. I find that the\nMethodist Church in the South is as much opposed to liberty as the\nMethodist Church North is in favor of liberty. So it is not Methodism\nthat is in favor of liberty or slavery. They differ a little in their\ncreed from the rest. They do not believe that God does everything. They\nbelieve that he does his part, and that you must do the rest, and that\ngetting to heaven is a partnership business. The Methodist Church is\nadapted to new countries--its ministers are generally uncultured, and\nwith them zeal takes the place of knowledge. They convert people with\nnoise. In the silence that follows most of the converts backslide.\n\nIn a little while a struggle will commence between the few who are\ngrowing and the orthodox many. The few will be driven out, and the\nchurch will be governed by those who believe without understanding.\n\n\n\n\nIX. THE PRESBYTERIANS\n\nTHE next church is the Presbyterian, and in my judgment the worst of\nall, as far as creed is concerned. This church was founded by John\nCalvin, a murderer!\n\nJohn Calvin, having power in Geneva, inaugurated human torture. Voltaire\nabolished torture in France. The man who abolished torture, if the\nChristian religion be true, God is now torturing in hell, and the man\nwho inaugurated torture, is now a glorified angel in heaven. It will not\ndo.\n\nJohn Knox started this doctrine in Scotland, and there is this\npeculiarity about Presbyterianism--it grows best where the soil is\npoorest. I read the other day an account of a meeting between John Knox\nand John Calvin. Imagine a dialogue between a pestilence and a famine!\nImagine a conversation between a block and an ax! As I read their\nconversation it seemed to me as though John Knox and John Calvin were\nmade for each other; that they fitted each other like the upper and\nlower jaws of a wild beast. They believed happiness was a crime; they\nlooked upon laughter as blasphemy; and they did all they could to\ndestroy every human feeling, and to fill the mind with the infinite\ngloom of predestination and eternal death. They taught the doctrine that\nGod had a right to damn us because he made us. That is just the reason\nthat he has not a right to damn us. There is some dust. Unconscious\ndust! What right has God to change that unconscious dust into a human\nbeing, when he knows that human being will sin; when he knows that human\nbeing will suffer eternal agony? Why not leave him in the unconscious\ndust? What right has an infinite God to add to the sum of human agony?\nSuppose I knew that I could change that piece of furniture into a\nliving, sentient human being, and I knew that that being would suffer\nuntold agony forever. If I did it, I would be a fiend. I would leave\nthat being in the unconscious dust.\n\nAnd yet we are told that we must believe such a doctrine or we are to be\neternally damned! It will not do.\n\nIn 1839 there was a division in this church, and they had a lawsuit to\nsee which was the church of God. And they tried it by a judge and jury,\nand the jury decided that the new school was the church of God, and then\nthey got a new trial, and the next jury decided that the old school\nwas the church of God, and that settled it. That church teaches that\ninfinite innocence was sacrificed for me! I do not want it! I do not\nwish to go to heaven unless I can settle by the books, and go there\nbecause I ought to go there. I have said, and I say again, I do not wish\nto be a charity angel. I have no ambition to become a winged pauper of\nthe skies.\n\nThe other day a young gentleman, a Presbyterian who had just been\nconverted, came to me and he gave me a tract, and he told me he was\nperfectly happy. Said I, \"Do you think a great many people are going to\nhell?\" \"Oh, yes.\" \"And you are perfectly happy?\" Well, he did not know\nas he was, quite. \"Would not you be happier if they were all going to\nheaven?\" \"Oh, yes.\" \"Well, then, you are not perfectly happy?\" No,\nhe did not think he was. \"When you get to heaven, then you will be\nperfectly happy?\" \"Oh, yes.\" \"Now, when we are only going to hell, you\nare not quite happy; but when we are in hell, and you in heaven, then\nyou will be perfectly happy? You will not be as decent when you get to\nbe an angel as you are now, will you?\" \"Well,\" he said, \"that was not\nexactly it.\" Said I, \"Suppose your mother were in hell, would you be\nhappy in heaven then?\" \"Well,\" he says, \"I suppose God would know the\nbest place for mother.\" And I thought to myself, then, if I was a woman,\nI would like to have five or six boys like that.\n\nIt will not do. Heaven is where those are we love, and those who love\nus. And I wish to go to no world unless I can be accompanied by those\nwho love me here. Talk about the consolations of this infamous doctrine.\nThe consolations of a doctrine that makes a father say, \"I can be happy\nwith my daughter in hell;\" that makes a mother say, \"I can be happy with\nmy generous, brave boy in hell;\" that makes a boy say, \"I can enjoy the\nglory of heaven with the woman who bore me, the woman _who would have\ndied for me_, in eternal agony.\" And they call that tidings of great\njoy.\n\nNo church has done more to fill the world with gloom than the\nPresbyterian. Its creed is frightful, hideous, and hellish. The\nPresbyterian god is the monster of monsters. He is an eternal\nexecutioner, jailer and turnkey. He will enjoy forever the shrieks\nof the lost,--the wails of the damned. Hell is the festival of the\nPresbyterian god.\n\n\n\n\nX. THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.\n\nI HAVE not time to speak of the Baptists,--that Jeremy Taylor said\nwere as much to be rooted out as anything that is the greatest pest and\nnuisance on the earth. He hated the Baptists because they represented,\nin some little degree, the liberty of thought. Nor have I time to speak\nof the Quakers, the best of all, and abused by all.\n\nI cannot forget that John Fox, in the year of grace 1640, was put in\nthe pillory and whipped from town to town, scarred, put in a dungeon,\nbeaten, trampled upon, and what for? Simply because he preached the\ndoctrine: \"Thou shalt not resist evil with evil.\" \"Thou shalt love thy\nenemies.\"\n\nThink of what the church must have been that day to scar the flesh of\nthat loving man! Just think of it! I say I have not time to speak of all\nthese sects--the varieties of Presbyterians and Campbellites. There are\nhundreds and hundreds of these sects, all founded upon this creed that I\nread, differing simply in degree.\n\nAh! but they say to me: You are fighting something that is dead. Nobody\nbelieves this now. The preachers do not believe what they preach in the\npulpit. The people in the pews do not believe what they hear preached.\nAnd they say to me: You are fighting something that is dead. This is all\na form, we do not believe a solitary creed in the world. We sign them\nand swear that we believe them, but we do not. And none of us do. And\nall the ministers, they say in private, admit that they do not believe\nit, not quite. I do not know whether this is so or not. I take it\nthat they believe what they preach. I take it that when they meet and\nsolemnly agree to a creed, they are honest and really believe in that\ncreed. But let us see if I am waging a war against the ideas of the\ndead. Let us see if I am simply storming a cemetery.\n\nThe Evangelical Alliance, made up of all orthodox denominations of the\nworld, met only a few years ago, and here is their creed: They believe\nin the divine inspiration, authority and sufficiency of the holy\nScriptures; the right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation\nof the holy Scriptures, but if you interpret wrong you are damned.\nThey believe in the unity of the godhead and the Trinity of the persons\ntherein. They believe in the utter depravity of human nature. There can\nbe no more infamous doctrine than that. They look upon a little child as\na lump of depravity. I look upon it as a bud of humanity, that will, in\nthe air and light of love and joy, blossom into rich and glorious life.\n\nTotal depravity of human nature! Here is a woman whose husband has been\nlost at sea; the news comes that he has been drowned by the ever-hungry\nwaves, and she waits. There is something in her heart that tells her he\nis alive. And she waits. And years afterward as she looks down toward\nthe little gate she sees him; he has been given back by the sea, and she\nrushes to his arms, and covers his face with kisses and with tears. And\nif that infamous doctrine is true every tear is a crime, and every kiss\na blasphemy. It will not do. According to that doctrine, if a man steals\nand repents, and takes back the property, the repentance and the taking\nback of the property are two other crimes. It is an infamy. What else\ndo they believe? \"The justification of a sinner by faith alone,\" without\nworks--just faith. Believing something that you do not understand. Of\ncourse God can not afford to reward a man for believing anything that\nis reasonable. God rewards only for believing something that is\nunreasonable. If you believe something that is improbable and\nunreasonable, you are a Christian; but if you believe something that you\nknow is not so, then,--you are a saint.\n\nThey believe in the eternal blessedness of the righteous, and in the\neternal punishment of the wicked.\n\nTidings of great joy! They are so good that they will not associate with\nUniversalists. They will not associate with Unitarians; they will not\nassociate with scientists; they will only associate with those who\nbelieve that God so loved the world that he made up his mind to damn the\nmost of us.\n\nThe Evangelical Alliance reiterates the absurdities of the Dark\nAges--repeats the five points of Calvin--replenishes the fires of\nhell--certifies to the mistakes and miracles of the Bible--maligns the\nhuman race, and kneels to a god who accepted the agony of the innocent\nas an atonement for the guilty.\n\n\n\n\nXI. WHAT DO YOU PROPOSE?\n\nTHEN they say to me: \"What do you propose? You have torn this down, what\ndo you propose to give us in place of it?\"\n\nI have not torn the good down. I have only endeavored to trample out the\nignorant, cruel fires of hell. I do not tear away the passage: \"God will\nbe merciful to the merciful.\" I do not destroy the promise; \"If you will\nforgive others, God will forgive you.\" I would not for anything blot out\nthe faintest star that shines in the horizon of human despair, nor in\nthe sky of human hope; but I will do what I can to get that infinite\nshadow out of the heart of man.\n\n\"What do you propose in place of this?\"\n\nWell, in the first place, I propose good fellowship--good friends all\naround. No matter what we believe, shake hands and let it go. That is\nyour opinion; this is mine: let us be friends. Science makes friends;\nreligion, superstition, makes enemies. They say: Belief is important.\nI say: No, actions are important. Judge by deed, not by creed. Good\nfellowship--good friends--sincere men and women--mutual forbearance,\nborn of mutual respect. We have had too many of these solemn people.\nWhenever I see an exceedingly solemn man, I know he is an exceedingly\nstupid man. No man of any humor ever founded a religion--never. Humor\nsees both sides. While reason is the holy light, humor carries the\nlantern, and the man with a keen sense of humor is preserved from\nthe solemn stupidities of superstition. I like a man who has got good\nfeeling for everybody; good fellowship. One man said to another:\n\n\"Will you take a glass of wine?\"\n\n\"I do not drink.\"\n\n\"Will you smoke a cigar?\"\n\n\"I do not smoke.\"\n\n\"Maybe you will chew something?\"\n\n\"I do not chew.\"\n\n\"Let us eat some hay.\"\n\n\"I tell you I do not eat hay.\"\n\n\"Well, then, good-by, for you are no company for man or beast.\"\n\nI believe in the gospel of Cheerfulness, the gospel of Good Nature; the\ngospel of Good Health. Let us pay some attention to our bodies. Take\ncare of our bodies, and our souls will take care of themselves. Good\nhealth! And I believe the time will come when the public thought will be\nso great and grand that it will be looked upon as infamous to perpetuate\ndisease. I believe the time will come when man will not fill the future\nwith consumption and insanity. I believe the time will come when we will\nstudy ourselves, and understand the laws of health and then we will say:\nWe are under obligation to put the flags of health in the cheeks of our\nchildren. Even if I got to heaven, and had a harp, I would hate to\nlook back upon my children and grandchildren, and see them diseased,\ndeformed, crazed--all suffering the penalties of crimes I had committed.\n\nI believe in the gospel of Good Living. You can not make any god happy\nby fasting. Let us have good food, and let us have it well cooked--and\nit is a thousand times better to know how to cook than it is to\nunderstand any theology in the world.\n\nI believe in the gospel of good clothes; I believe in the gospel of\ngood houses; in the gospel of water and soap. I believe in the gospel\nof intelligence; in the gospel of education. The school-house is\nmy cathedral. The universe is my Bible. I believe in that gospel of\njustice, that we must reap what we sow.\n\nI do not believe in forgiveness as it is preached by the church. We do\nnot need the forgiveness of God, but of each other and of ourselves. If\nI rob Mr. Smith and God forgives me, how does that help Smith? If I, by\nslander, cover some poor girl with the leprosy of some imputed crime,\nand she withers away like a blighted flower and afterward I get the\nforgiveness of God, how does that help her? If there is another world,\nwe have got to settle with the people we have wronged in this. No\nbankrupt court there. Every cent must be paid.\n\nThe Christians say, that among the ancient Jews, if you committed a\ncrime you had to kill a sheep. Now they say \"charge it.\" \"Put it on the\nslate.\" It will not do. For every crime you commit you must answer to\nyourself and to the one you injure. And if you have ever clothed another\nwith woe, as with a garment of pain, you will never be quite as happy as\nthough you had not done that thing. No forgiveness by the gods. Eternal,\ninexorable, everlasting justice, so far as Nature is concerned. You must\nreap the result of your acts. Even when forgiven by the one you have\ninjured, it is not as though the injury had not been done. That is what\nI believe in. And if it goes hard with me, I will stand it, and I will\ncling to my logic, and I will bear it like a man.\n\nAnd I believe, too, in the gospel of Liberty, in giving to others what\nwe claim for ourselves. I believe there is room everywhere for thought,\nand the more liberty you give away, the more you will have. In liberty\nextravagance is economy. Let us be just. Let us be generous to each\nother.\n\nI believe in the gospel of Intelligence. That is the only lever capable\nof raising mankind. Intelligence must be the savior of this world.\nHumanity is the grand religion, and no God can put a man in hell in\nanother world, who has made a little heaven in this. God cannot make a\nman miserable if that man has made somebody else happy. God cannot hate\nanybody who is capable of loving anybody. Humanity--that word embraces\nall there is.\n\nSo I believe in this great gospel of Humanity.\n\n\"Ah! but,\" they say, \"it will not do. You must believe.\" I say, No. My\ngospel of health will bring life. My gospel of intelligence, my gospel\nof good living, my gospel of good-fellowship will cover the world with\nhappy homes. My doctrine will put carpets upon your floors, pictures\nupon your walls. My doctrine will put books upon your shelves, ideas in\nyour minds. My doctrine will rid the world of the abnormal monsters born\nof ignorance and superstition. My doctrine will give us health, wealth\nand happiness. That is what I want. That is what I believe in. Give us\nintelligence. In a little while a man will find that he can not steal\nwithout robbing himself. He will find that he cannot murder without\nassassinating his own joy. He will find that every crime is a mistake.\nHe will find that only that man carries the cross who does wrong, and\nthat upon the man who does right the cross turns to wings that will bear\nhim upward forever. He will find that even intelligent self-love embraces\nwithin its mighty arms all the human race.\n\n\"Oh,\" but they say to me, \"you take away immortality.\" I do not. If we\nare immortal it is a fact in nature, and we are not indebted to priests\nfor it, nor to bibles for it, and it cannot be destroyed by unbelief.\n\nAs long as we love we will hope to live, and when the one dies that we\nlove we will say: \"Oh, that we could meet again,\" and whether we do or\nnot it will not be the work of theology. It will be a fact in nature. I\nwould not for my life destroy one star of human hope, but I want it\nso that when a poor woman rocks the cradle and sings a lullaby to the\ndimpled darling, she will not be compelled to believe that ninety-nine\nchances in a hundred she is raising kindling wood for hell.\n\nOne world at a time is my doctrine.\n\nIt is said in this Testament, \"Sufficient unto the day is the evil\nthereof;\" and I say: Sufficient unto each world is the evil thereof.\n\nAnd suppose after all that death does end all. Next to eternal joy, next\nto being forever with those we love and those who have loved us, next to\nthat, is to be wrapt in the dreamless drapery of eternal peace. Next to\neternal life is eternal sleep. Upon the shadowy shore of death the\nsea of trouble casts no wave. Eyes that have been curtained by the\neverlasting dark, will never know again the burning touch of tears. Lips\ntouched by eternal silence will never speak again the broken words of\ngrief. Hearts of dust do not break. The dead do not weep. Within the\ntomb no veiled and weeping sorrow sits, and in the ray-less gloom is\ncrouched no shuddering fear.\n\nI had rather think of those I have loved, and lost, as having returned\nto earth, as having become a part of the elemental wealth of the\nworld--I would rather think of them as unconscious dust, I would rather\ndream of them as gurgling in the streams, floating in the clouds,\nbursting in the foam of light upon the shores of worlds, I would rather\nthink of them as the lost visions of a forgotten night, than to have\neven the faintest fear that their naked souls have been clutched by an\northodox god. I will leave my dead where nature leaves them. Whatever\nflower of hope springs up in my heart I will cherish, I will give it\nbreath of sighs and rain of tears. But I can not believe that there\nis any being in this universe who has created a human soul for eternal\npain. I would rather that every god would destroy himself; I\nwould rather that we all should go to eternal chaos, to black and\nstarless night, than that just one soul should suffer eternal agony.\n\nI have made up my mind that if there is a God, he will be merciful to\nthe merciful.\n\nUpon that rock I stand.--\n\nThat he will not torture the forgiving.--\n\nUpon that rock I stand.--\n\nThat every man should be true to himself, and that there is no world, no\nstar, in which honesty is a crime.\n\nUpon that rock I stand.\n\nThe honest man, the good woman, the happy child, have nothing to fear,\neither in this world or the world to come.\n\nUpon that rock I stand.","title":"The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 01 (of 12): Dresden Edition\u2014Lectures","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":99716}