{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_38804/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_38804","id":"gutenberg_38804","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38804","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\n\nTHE WORKS OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL\n\nBy Robert G. Ingersoll\n\n\"The Hands That Help Are Better Far Than Lips That Pray.\"\n\nIn Twelve Volumes, Volume IV.\n\n1900\n\nTHE DRESDEN EDITION\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF VOLUME IV.\n\nWHY I AM AN AGNOSTIC.\n\n(1896.)\n\nI. Influence of Birth in determining Religious Belief--Scotch, Irish,\nEnglish, and Americans Inherit their Faith--Religions of Nations\nnot Suddenly Changed--People who Knew--What they were Certain\nAbout--Revivals--Character of Sermons Preached--Effect of Conversion--A\nVermont Farmer for whom Perdition had no Terrors--The Man and his\nDog--Backsliding and Re-birth--Ministers who were Sincere--A Free Will\nBaptist on the Rich Man and Lazarus--II. The Orthodox God--The\nTwo Dispensations--The Infinite Horror--III. Religious Books--The\nCommentators--Paley's Watch Argument--Milton, Young, and Pollok--IV.\nStudying Astronomy--Geology--Denial and Evasion by the Clergy--V. The\nPoems of Robert Burns--Byron, Shelley, Keats, and Shakespeare--VI.\nVolney, Gibbon, and Thomas Paine--Voltaire's Services to Liberty--Pagans\nCompared with Patriarchs--VII. Other Gods and Other Religions--Dogmas,\nMyths, and Symbols of Christianity Older than our Era--VIII. The Men\nof Science, Humboldt, Darwin, Spencer, Huxley, Haeckel--IX. Matter and\nForce Indestructible and Uncreatable--The Theory of Design--X. God an\nImpossible Being--The Panorama of the Past--XI. Free from Sanctified\nMistakes and Holy Lies.\n\nTHE TRUTH.\n\n(1897.)\n\nI. The Martyrdom of Man--How is Truth to be Found--Every Man should be\nMentally Honest--He should be Intellectually Hospitable--Geologists,\nChemists, Mechanics, and Professional Men are Seeking for the Truth--II.\nThose who say that Slavery is Better than Liberty--Promises are not\nEvidence--Horace Greeley and the Cold Stove--III. \"The Science of\nTheology\" the only Dishonest Science--Moses and Brigham Young--Minds\nPoisoned and Paralyzed in Youth--Sunday Schools and Theological\nSeminaries--Orthodox Slanderers of Scientists--Religion has nothing\nto do with Charity--Hospitals Built in Self-Defence--What Good has the\nChurch Accomplished?--Of what use are the Orthodox Ministers, and\nWhat are they doing for the Good of Mankind--The Harm they are\nDoing--Delusions they Teach--Truths they Should Tell about the\nBible--Conclusions--Our Christs and our Miracles.\n\nHOW TO REFORM MANKIND.\n\n(1896.)\n\nI. \"There is no Darkness but Ignorance\"--False Notions Concerning\nAll Departments of Life--Changed Ideas about Science, Government and\nMorals--II. How can we Reform the World?--Intellectual Light the First\nNecessity--Avoid Waste of Wealth in War--III. Another Waste--Vast Amount\nof Money Spent on the Church--IV. Plow can we Lessen Crime?--Frightful\nLaws for the Punishment of Minor Crimes--A Penitentiary should be a\nSchool--Professional Criminals should not be Allowed to Populate the\nEarth--V. Homes for All-Make a Nation of Householders--Marriage\nand Divorce-VI. The Labor Question--Employers cannot Govern\nPrices--Railroads should Pay Pensions--What has been Accomplished\nfor the Improvement of the Condition of Labor--VII. Educate the\nChildren--Useless Knowledge--Liberty cannot be Sacrificed for the Sake\nof Anything--False worship of Wealth--VIII. We must Work and Wait.\n\nA THANKSGIVING SERMON.\n\n(1897.)\n\nI. Our fathers Ages Ago--From Savagery to Civilization--For the\nBlessings we enjoy, Whom should we Thank?--What Good has the Church\nDone?-Did Christ add to the Sum of Useful Knowledge--The Saints--What\nhave the Councils and Synods Done?--What they Gave us, and What they\ndid Not--Shall we Thank them for the Hell Here and for the Hell of\nthe Future?--II. What Does God Do?--The Infinite Juggler and his\nPuppets--What the Puppets have Done--Shall we Thank these\nGods?--Shall we Thank Nature?--III. Men who deserve our Thanks--The\nInfidels, Philanthropists and Scientists--The Discoverers and\nInventors--Magellan--Copernicus--Bruno--Galileo--Kepler, Herschel,\nNewton, and LaPlace--Lyell--What the Worldly have Done--Origin and\nVicissitudes of the Bible--The Septuagint--Investigating the Phenomena\nof Nature--IV. We thank the Good Men and Good Women of the Past--The\nPoets, Dramatists, and Artists--The Statesmen--Paine, Jefferson,\nEricsson, Lincoln. Grant--Voltaire, Humboldt, Darwin.\n\nA LAY SERMON.\n\n(1886.)\n\nPrayer of King Lear--When Honesty wears a Rag and Rascality a Robe-The\nNonsense of \"Free Moral Agency \"--Doing Right is not Self-denial-Wealth\noften a Gilded Hell--The Log House--Insanity of Getting\nMore--Great Wealth the Mother of Crime--Separation of Rich and\nPoor--Emulation--Invention of Machines to Save Labor--Production and\nDestitution--The Remedy a Division of the Land--Evils of Tenement\nHouses--Ownership and Use--The Great Weapon is the Ballot--Sewing\nWomen--Strikes and Boycotts of No Avail--Anarchy, Communism, and\nSocialism--The Children of the Rich a Punishment for Wealth--Workingmen\nNot a Danger--The Criminals a Necessary Product--Society's Right\nto Punish--The Efficacy of Kindness--Labor is Honorable--Mental\nIndependence.\n\nTHE FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH.\n\n(1895.)\n\nI. The Old Testament--Story of the Creation--Age of the Earth and\nof Man--Astronomical Calculations of the Egyptians--The Flood--The\nFirmament a Fiction--Israelites who went into Egypt--Battles of the\nJews--Area of Palestine--Gold Collected by David for the Temple--II. The\nNew Testament--Discrepancies about the Birth of Christ--Herod and\nthe Wise Men--The Murder of the Babes of Bethlehem--When was Christ\nborn--Cyrenius and the Census of the World--Genealogy of Christ\naccording to Matthew and Luke--The Slaying of Zacharias--Appearance of\nthe Saints at the Crucifixion--The Death of Judas Iscariot--Did\nChrist wish to be Convicted?--III. Jehovah--IV. The Trinity--The\nIncarnation--Was Christ God?--The Trinity Expounded--\"Let us pray\"--V.\nThe Theological Christ--Sayings of a Contradictory Character--Christ a\nDevout Jew--An ascetic--His Philosophy--The Ascension--The Best that Can\nbe Said about Christ--The Part that is beautiful and Glorious--The Other\nSide--VI. The Scheme of Redemption--VII. Belief--Eternal Pain--No Hope\nin Hell, Pity in Heaven, or Mercy in the Heart of God--VIII. Conclusion.\n\nSUPERSTITION.\n\n(1898.)\n\nI. What is Superstition?--Popular Beliefs about the Significance\nof Signs, Lucky and Unlucky Numbers, Days, Accidents, Jewels,\netc.--Eclipses, Earthquakes, and Cyclones as Omens--Signs and Wonders\nof the Heavens--Efficacy of Bones and Rags of Saints--Diseases and\nDevils--II. Witchcraft--Necromancers--What is a Miracle?--The Uniformity\nof Nature--III. Belief in the Existence of Good Spirits or Angels--God\nand the Devil--When Everything was done by the Supernatural--IV. All\nthese Beliefs now Rejected by Men of Intelligence--The Devil's Success\nMade the Coming of Christ a Necessity--\"Thou shalt not Suffer a Witch\nto Live\"--Some Biblical Angels--Vanished Visions--V. Where are Heaven\nand Hell?--Prayers Never Answered--The Doctrine of Design--Why Worship\nour Ignorance?--Would God Lead us into Temptation?--President McKinley's\nThanks giving for the Santiago Victory--VI. What Harm Does Superstition\nDo?--The Heart Hardens and the Brain Softens--What Superstition has Done\nand Taught--Fate of Spain--Of Portugal, Austria, Germany--VII. Inspired\nBooks--Mysteries added to by the Explanations of Theologians--The\nInspired Bible the Greatest Curse of Christendom--VIII. Modifications\nof Jehovah--Changing the Bible--IX. Centuries of Darkness--The Church\nTriumphant--When Men began to Think--X. Possibly these Superstitions are\nTrue, but We have no Evidence--We Believe in the Natural--Science is the\nReal Redeemer.\n\nTHE DEVIL.\n\n(1899.)\n\nI. If the Devil should Die, would God Make Another?--How was the Idea\nof a Devil Produced--Other Devils than Ours--Natural Origin of these\nMonsters--II. The Atlas of Christianity is The Devil--The Devil of the\nOld Testament--The Serpent in Eden--\"Personifications\" of Evil--Satan\nand Job--Satan and David--III. Take the Devil from the Drama\nof Christianity and the Plot is Gone--Jesus Tempted by the Evil\nOne--Demoniac Possession--Mary Magdalene--Satan and Judas--Incubi\nand Succubi--The Apostles believed in Miracles and Magic--The Pool of\nBethesda--IV. The Evidence of the Church--The Devil was forced to\nFather the Failures of God--Belief of the Fathers of the Church\nin Devils--Exorcism at the Baptism of an Infant in the Sixteenth\nCentury--Belief in Devils made the Universe a Madhouse presided over by\nan Insane God--V. Personifications of the Devil--The Orthodox Ostrich\nThrusts his Head into the Sand--If Devils are Personifications so are\nall the Other Characters of the Bible--VI. Some Queries about the\nDevil, his Place of Residence, his Manner of Living, and his Object in\nLife--Interrogatories to the Clergy--VII. The Man of Straw the Master\nof the Orthodox Ministers--His recent Accomplishments--VIII. Keep the\nDevils out of Children--IX. Conclusion.--Declaration of the Free.\n\nPROGRESS.\n\n(1860-64.)\n\nThe Prosperity of the World depends upon its Workers--Veneration for the\nAncient--Credulity and Faith of the Middle Ages--Penalty for Reading\nthe Scripture in the Mother Tongue--Unjust, Bloody, and Cruel Laws--The\nReformers too were Persecutors--Bigotry of Luther and Knox--Persecution\nof Castalio--Montaigne against Torture in France--\"Witchcraft\" (chapter\non)--Confessed Wizards--A Case before Sir Matthew Hale--Belief\nin Lycanthropy--Animals Tried and Executed--Animals received\nas Witnesses--The Corsned or Morsel of Execution--Kepler an\nAstrologer--Luther's Encounter with the Devil--Mathematician\nStoefflers, Astronomical Prediction of a Flood--Histories Filled with\nFalsehood--Legend about the Daughter of Pharaoh invading Scotland and\ngiving the Country her name--A Story about Mohammed--A History of the\nBritains written by Archdeacons--Ingenuous Remark of Eusebius--Progress\nin the Mechanic Arts--England at the beginning of the Eighteenth\nCentury--Barbarous Punishments--Queen Elizabeth's Order Concerning\nClergymen and Servant Girls--Inventions of Watt, Arkwright, and\nOthers--Solomon's Deprivations--Language (chapter on)--Belief that the\nHebrew was< the original Tongue--Speculations about the Language\nof Paradise--Geography (chapter on)--The Works of Cosmas--Printing\nInvented--Church's Opposition to Books--The Inquisition--The\nReformation--\"Slavery\" (chapter on)--Voltaire's Remark on Slavery as\na Contract--White Slaves in Greece, Rome, England, Scotland, and\nFrance--Free minds make Free Bodies--Causes of the Abolition of White\nSlavery in Europe--The French Revolution--The African Slave Trade,\nits Beginning and End--Liberty Triumphed (chapter head)--Abolition of\nChattel Slavery--Conclusion.\n\nWHAT IS RELIGION?\n\n(1899.)\n\nI. Belief in God and Sacrifice--Did an Infinite God Create the Children\nof Men and is he the Governor of the Universe?--II. If this God Exists,\nhow do we Know he is Good?--Should both the Inferior and the Superior\nthank God for their Condition?--III. The Power that Works for\nRighteousness--What is this Power?--The Accumulated Experience of the\nWorld is a Power Working for Good?--Love the Commencement of the Higher\nVirtues--IV. What has our Religion Done?--Would Christians have been\nWorse had they Adopted another Faith?--V. How Can Mankind be Reformed\nWithout Religion?--VI. The Four Corner-stones of my Theory--VII. Matter\nand Force Eternal--Links in the Chain of Evolution--VIII. Reform--The\nGutter as a Nursery--Can we Prevent the Unfit from Filling the World\nwith their Children?--Science must make Woman the Owner and Mistress\nof Herself--Morality Born of Intelligence--IX. Real Religion and Real\nWorship.\n\n\n\n\nWHY I AM AN AGNOSTIC.\n\n\nI.\n\nFOR the most part we inherit our opinions. We are the heirs of habits\nand mental customs. Our beliefs, like the fashion of our garments,\ndepend on where we were born. We are moulded and fashioned by our\nsurroundings.\n\nEnvironment is a sculptor--a painter.\n\nIf we had been born in Constantinople, the most of us would have said:\n\"There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.\" If our parents\nhad lived on the banks of the Ganges, we would have been worshipers of\nSiva, longing for the heaven of Nirvana.\n\nAs a rule, children love their parents, believe what they teach, and\ntake great pride in saying that the religion of mother is good enough\nfor them.\n\nMost people love peace. They do not like to differ with their neighbors.\nThey like company. They are social. They enjoy traveling on the highway\nwith the multitude. They hate to walk alone.\n\nThe Scotch are Calvinists because their fathers were. The Irish are\nCatholics because their fathers were. The English are Episcopalians\nbecause their fathers were, and the Americans are divided in a hundred\nsects because their fathers were. This is the general rule, to which\nthere are many exceptions. Children sometimes are superior to their\nparents, modify their ideas, change their customs, and arrive at\ndifferent conclusions. But this is generally so gradual that the\ndeparture is scarcely noticed, and those who change usually insist that\nthey are still following the fathers.\n\nIt is claimed by Christian historians that the religion of a nation was\nsometimes suddenly changed, and that millions of Pagans were made into\nChristians by the command of a king. Philosophers do not agree with\nthese historians. Names have been changed, altars have been overthrown,\nbut opinions, customs and beliefs remained the same. A Pagan, beneath\nthe drawn sword of a Christian, would probably change his religious\nviews, and a Christian, with a scimitar above his head, might suddenly\nbecome a Mohammedan, but as a matter of fact both would remain exactly\nas they were before--except in speech.\n\nBelief is not subject to the will. Men think as they must. Children\ndo not, and cannot, believe exactly as they were taught. They are not\nexactly like their parents. They differ in temperament, in experience,\nin capacity, in surroundings. And so there is a continual, though almost\nimperceptible change. There is development, conscious and unconscious\ngrowth, and by comparing long periods of time we find that the old\nhas been almost abandoned, almost lost in the new. Men cannot remain\nstationary. The mind cannot be securely anchored. If we do not advance,\nwe go backward. If we do not grow, we decay. If we do not develop, we\nshrink and shrivel.\n\nLike the most of you, I was raised among people who knew--who were\ncertain. They did not reason or investigate. They had no doubts. They\nknew that they had the truth. In their creed there was no guess--no\nperhaps. They had a revelation from God. They knew the beginning of\nthings. They knew that God commenced to create one Monday morning,\nfour thousand and four years before Christ. They knew that in the\neternity--back of that morning, he had done nothing. They knew that it\ntook him six days to make the earth--all plants, all animals, all life,\nand all the globes that wheel in space. They knew exactly what he did\neach day and when he rested. They knew the origin, the cause of evil, of\nall crime, of all disease and death.\n\nThey not only knew the beginning, but they knew the end. They knew that\nlife had one path and one road. They knew that the path, grass-grown and\nnarrow, filled with thorns and nettles, infested with vipers, wet with\ntears, stained by bleeding feet, led to heaven, and that the road, broad\nand smooth, bordered with fruits and flowers, filled with laughter and\nsong and all the happiness of human love, led straight to hell. They\nknew that God was doing his best to make you take the path and that the\nDevil used every art to keep you in the road.\n\nThey knew that there was a perpetual battle waged between the great\nPowers of good and evil for the possession of human souls. They knew\nthat many centuries ago God had left his throne and had been born a\nbabe into this poor world--that he had suffered death for the sake of\nman--for the sake of saving a few. They also knew that the human heart\nwas utterly depraved, so that man by nature was in love with wrong and\nhated God with all his might.\n\nAt the same time they knew that God created man in his own image and\nwas perfectly satisfied with his work. They also knew that he had been\nthwarted by the Devil, who with wiles and lies had deceived the first\nof human kind. They knew that in consequence of that, God cursed the man\nand woman; the man with toil, the woman with slavery and pain, and both\nwith death; and that he cursed the earth itself with briers and thorns,\nbrambles and thistles. All these blessed things they knew. They knew\ntoo all that God had done to purify and elevate the race. They knew all\nabout the Flood--knew that God, with the exception of eight, drowned\nall his children--the old and young--the bowed patriarch and the dimpled\nbabe--the young man and the merry maiden--the loving mother and the\nlaughing child--because his mercy endureth forever. They knew too, that\nhe drowned the beasts and birds--everything that walked or crawled or\nflew--because his loving kindness is over all his works. They knew that\nGod, for the purpose of civilizing his children, had devoured some with\nearthquakes, destroyed some with storms of fire, killed some with\nhis lightnings, millions with famine, with pestilence, and sacrificed\ncountless thousands upon the fields of war. They knew that it was\nnecessary to believe these things and to love God. They knew that there\ncould be no salvation except by faith, and through the atoning blood of\nJesus Christ.\n\nAll who doubted or denied would be lost. To live a moral and honest\nlife--to keep your contracts, to take care of wife and child--to make a\nhappy home--to be a good citizen, a patriot, a just and thoughtful man,\nwas simply a respectable way of going to hell.\n\nGod did not reward men for being honest, generous and brave, but for the\nact of faith. Without faith, all the so-called virtues were sins, and\nthe men who practiced these virtues, without faith, deserved to suffer\neternal pain.\n\nAll of these comforting and reasonable things were taught by the\nministers in their pulpits--by teachers in Sunday schools and by\nparents at home. The children were victims. They were assaulted in the\ncradle--in their mother's arms. Then, the schoolmaster carried on the\nwar against their natural sense, and all the books they read were filled\nwith the same impossible truths. The poor children were helpless. The\natmosphere they breathed was filled with lies--lies that mingled with\ntheir blood.\n\nIn those days ministers depended on revivals to save souls and reform\nthe world.\n\nIn the winter, navigation having closed, business was mostly suspended.\nThere were no railways and the only means of communication were wagons\nand boats. Generally the roads were so bad that the wagons were laid up\nwith the boats. There were no operas, no theatres, no amusement except\nparties and balls. The parties were regarded as worldly and the balls\nas wicked. For real and virtuous enjoyment the good people depended on\nrevivals.\n\nThe sermons were mostly about the pains and agonies of hell, the joys\nand ecstasies of heaven, salvation by faith, and the efficacy of the\natonement. The little churches, in which the services were held, were\ngenerally small, badly ventilated, and exceedingly warm. The emotional\nsermons, the sad singing, the hysterical amens, the hope of heaven, the\nfear of hell, caused many to lose the little sense they had. They became\nsubstantially insane. In this condition they flocked to the \"mourners\nbench\"--asked for the prayers of the faithful--had strange feelings,\nprayed and wept and thought they had been \"born again.\" Then they would\ntell their experience--how wicked they had been--how evil had been their\nthoughts, their desires, and how good they had suddenly become.\n\nThey used to tell the story of an old woman who, in telling her\nexperience, said:--\"Before I was converted, before I gave my heart to\nGod, I used to lie and steal, but now, thanks to the grace and blood of\nJesus Christ, I have quit 'em both, in a great measure.\"\n\nOf course all the people were not exactly of one mind. There were some\nscoffers, and now and then some man had sense enough to laugh at\nthe threats of priests and make a jest of hell. Some would tell of\nunbelievers who had lived and died in peace.\n\nWhen I was a boy I heard them tell of an old farmer in Vermont. He was\ndying. The minister was at his bedside--asked him if he was a Christian\n--if he was prepared to die. The old man answered that he had made\nno preparation, that he was not a Christian--that he had never done\nanything but work. The preacher said that he could give him no hope\nunless he had faith in Christ, and that if he had no faith his soul\nwould certainly be lost.\n\nThe old man was not frightened. He was perfectly calm. In a weak and\nbroken voice he said: \"Mr. Preacher, I suppose you noticed my farm. My\nwife and I came here more than fifty years ago. We were just married. It\nwas a forest then and the land was covered with stones. I cut down the\ntrees, burned the logs, picked up the stones and laid the walls. My\nwife spun and wove and worked every moment. We raised and educated our\nchildren--denied ourselves. During all these years my wife never had a\ngood dress, or a decent bonnet. I never had a good suit of clothes. We\nlived on the plainest food. Our hands, our bodies are deformed by toil.\nWe never had a vacation. We loved each other and the children. That is\nthe only luxury we ever had. Now I am about to die and you ask me if I\nam prepared. Mr. Preacher, I have no fear of the future, no terror of\nany other world. There may be such a place as hell--but if there is, you\nnever can make me believe that it's any worse than old Vermont.\"\n\nSo, they told of a man who compared himself with his dog. \"My dog,\"\nhe said, \"just barks and plays--has all he wants to eat. He never\nworks--has no trouble about business. In a little while he dies, and\nthat is all. I work with all my strength. I have no time to play. I have\ntrouble every day. In a little while I will die, and then I go to hell.\nI wish that I had been a dog.\"\n\nWell, while the cold weather lasted, while the snows fell, the revival\nwent on, but when the winter was over, when the steamboat's whistle was\nheard, when business started again, most of the converts \"backslid\" and\nfell again into their old ways. But the next winter they were on hand,\nready to be \"born again.\" They formed a kind of stock company, playing\nthe same parts every winter and backsliding every spring.\n\nThe ministers, who preached at these revivals, were in earnest. They\nwere zealous and sincere. They were not philosophers. To them science\nwas the name of a vague dread--a dangerous enemy. They did not know\nmuch, but they believed a great deal. To them hell was a burning\nreality--they could see the smoke and flames. The Devil was no myth. He\nwas an actual person, a rival of God, an enemy of mankind. They thought\nthat the important business of this life was to save your soul--that\nall should resist and scorn the pleasures of sense, and keep their\neyes steadily fixed on the golden gate of the New Jerusalem. They were\nunbalanced, emotional, hysterical, bigoted, hateful, loving, and insane.\nThey really believed the Bible to be the actual word of God--a\nbook without mistake or contradiction. They called its cruelties,\njustice--its absurdities, mysteries--its miracles, facts, and the\nidiotic passages were regarded as profoundly spiritual. They dwelt on\nthe pangs, the regrets, the infinite agonies of the lost, and showed how\neasily they could be avoided, and how cheaply heaven could be obtained.\nThey told their hearers to believe, to have faith, to give their hearts\nto God, their sins to Christ, who would bear their burdens and make\ntheir souls as white as snow.\n\nAll this the ministers really believed. They were absolutely certain. In\ntheir minds the Devil had tried in vain to sow the seeds of doubt.\n\nI heard hundreds of these evangelical sermons--heard hundreds of the\nmost fearful and vivid descriptions of the tortures inflicted in hell,\nof the horrible state of the lost. I supposed that what I heard was true\nand yet I did not believe it. I said: \"It is,\" and then I thought: \"It\ncannot be.\"\n\nThese sermons made but faint impressions on my mind. I was not\nconvinced.\n\nI had no desire to be \"converted,\" did not want a \"new heart\" and had no\nwish to be \"born again.\"\n\nBut I heard one sermon that touched my heart, that left its mark, like a\nscar, on my brain.\n\nOne Sunday I went with my brother to hear a Free Will Baptist preacher.\nHe was a large man, dressed like a farmer, but he was an orator. He\ncould paint a picture with words.\n\nHe took for his text the parable of \"the rich man and Lazarus.\" He\ndescribed Dives, the rich man--his manner of life, the excesses in which\nhe indulged, his extravagance, his riotous nights, his purple and fine\nlinen, his feasts, his wines, and his beautiful women.\n\nThen he described Lazarus, his poverty, his rags and wretchedness, his\npoor body eaten by disease, the crusts and crumbs he devoured, the dogs\nthat pitied him. He pictured his lonely life, his friendless death.\n\nThen, changing his tone of pity to one of triumph--leaping from tears\nto the heights of exultation--from defeat to victory--he described the\nglorious company of angels, who with white and outspread wings carried\nthe soul of the despised pauper to Paradise--to the bosom of Abraham.\n\nThen, changing his voice to one of scorn and loathing, he told of the\nrich man's death. He was in his palace, on his costly couch, the air\nheavy with perfume, the room filled with servants and physicians. His\ngold was worthless then. He could not buy another breath. He died, and\nin hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment.\n\nThen, assuming a dramatic attitude, putting his right hand to his ear,\nhe whispered, \"Hark! I hear the rich man's voice. What does he say?\nHark! 'Father Abraham! Father Abraham! I pray thee send Lazarus that he\nmay dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my parched tongue, for I\nam tormented in this flame.'\"\n\n\"Oh, my hearers, he has been making that request for more than eighteen\nhundred years. And millions of ages hence that wail will cross the gulf\nthat lies between the saved and lost and still will be heard the cry:\n'Father Abraham! Father Abraham! I pray thee send Lazarus that he may\ndip the tip of his finger in water and cool my parched tongue, for I am\ntormented in this flame.'\"\n\nFor the first time I understood the dogma of eternal pain--appreciated\n\"the glad tidings of great joy.\" For the first time my imagination\ngrasped the height and depth of the Christian horror. Then I said: \"It\nis a lie, and I hate your religion. If it is true, I hate your God.\"\n\nFrom that day I have had no fear, no doubt. For me, on that day, the\nflames of hell were quenched. From that day I have passionately hated\nevery orthodox creed. That Sermon did some good.\n\n\nII.\n\nFROM my childhood I had heard read and read the Bible. Morning and\nevening the sacred volume was opened and prayers were said. The Bible\nwas my first history, the Jews were the first people, and the events\nnarrated by Moses and the other inspired writers, and those predicted\nby prophets were the all important things. In other books were found the\nthoughts and dreams of men, but in the Bible were the sacred truths of\nGod.\n\nYet in spite of my surroundings, of my education, I had no love for God.\nHe was so saving of mercy, so extravagant in murder, so anxious to kill,\nso ready to assassinate, that I hated him with all my heart. At his\ncommand, babes were butchered, women violated, and the white hair of\ntrembling age stained with blood. This God visited the people with\npestilence--filled the houses and covered the streets with the dying\nand the dead--saw babes starving on the empty breasts of pallid mothers,\nheard the sobs, saw the tears, the sunken cheeks, the sightless eyes,\nthe new made graves, and remained as pitiless as the pestilence.\n\nThis God withheld the rain--caused the famine--saw the fierce eyes of\nhunger--the wasted forms, the white lips, saw mothers eating babes, and\nremained ferocious as famine.\n\nIt seems to me impossible for a civilized man to love or worship, or\nrespect the God of the Old Testament. A really civilized man, a really\ncivilized woman, must hold such a God in abhorrence and contempt.\n\nBut in the old days the good people justified Jehovah in his treatment\nof the heathen. The wretches who were murdered were idolaters and\ntherefore unfit to live.\n\nAccording to the Bible, God had never revealed himself to these people\nand he knew that without a revelation they could not know that he was\nthe true God. Whose fault was it then that they were heathen?\n\nThe Christians said that God had the right to destroy them because he\ncreated them. What did he create them for? He knew when he made them\nthat they would be food for the sword. He knew that he would have the\npleasure of seeing them murdered.\n\nAs a last answer, as a final excuse, the worshipers of Jehovah said\nthat all these horrible things happened under the \"old dispensation\"\nof unyielding law, and absolute justice, but that now under the \"new\ndispensation,\" all had been changed--the sword of justice had been\nsheathed and love enthroned. In the Old Testament, they said, God is the\njudge--but in the New, Christ is the merciful. As a matter of fact, the\nNew Testament is infinitely worse than the Old. In the Old there is no\nthreat of eternal pain. Jehovah had no eternal prison--no everlasting\nfire. His hatred ended at the grave. His revenge was satisfied when his\nenemy was dead.\n\nIn the New Testament, death is not the end, but the beginning of\npunishment that has no end. In the New Testament the malice of God is\ninfinite and the hunger of his revenge eternal.\n\nThe orthodox God, when clothed in human flesh, told his disciples not\nto resist evil, to love their enemies, and when smitten on one cheek to\nturn the other, and yet we are told that this same God, with the same\nloving lips, uttered these heartless, these fiendish words: \"Depart ye\ncursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.\"\n\nThese are the words of \"eternal love.\"\n\nNo human being has imagination enough to conceive of this infinite\nhorror.\n\nAll that the human race has suffered in war and want, in pestilence and\nfamine, in fire and flood,--all the pangs and pains of every disease\nand every death--all this is as nothing compared with the agonies to be\nendured by one lost soul.\n\nThis is the consolation of the Christian religion. This is the justice\nof God--the mercy of Christ.\n\nThis frightful dogma, this infinite lie, made me the implacable enemy of\nChristianity. The truth is that this belief in eternal pain has been\nthe real persecutor. It founded the Inquisition, forged the chains, and\nfurnished the fagots. It has darkened the lives of many millions. It\nmade the cradle as terrible as the coffin. It enslaved nations and shed\nthe blood of countless thousands. It sacrificed the wisest, the bravest\nand the best. It subverted the idea of justice, drove mercy from the\nheart, changed men to fiends and banished reason from the brain.\n\nLike a venomous serpent it crawls and coils and hisses in every orthodox\ncreed.\n\nIt makes man an eternal victim and God an eternal fiend. It is the one\ninfinite horror. Every church in which it is taught is a public curse.\nEvery preacher who teaches it is an enemy of mankind. Below this\nChristian dogma, savagery cannot go. It is the infinite of malice,\nhatred, and revenge.\n\nNothing could add to the horror of hell, except the presence of its\ncreator, God.\n\nWhile I have life, as long as I draw breath, I shall deny with all my\nstrength, and hate with every drop of my blood, this infinite lie.\n\nNothing gives me greater joy than to know that this belief in eternal\npain is growing weaker every day--that thousands of ministers are\nashamed of it. It gives me joy to know that Christians are\nbecoming merciful, so merciful that the fires of hell are burning\nlow--flickering, choked with ashes, destined in a few years to die out\nforever.\n\nFor centuries Christendom was a madhouse. Popes, cardinals, bishops,\npriests, monks and heretics were all insane.\n\nOnly a few--four or five in a century were sound in heart and brain.\nOnly a few, in spite of the roar and din, in spite of the savage cries,\nheard reason's voice. Only a few in the wild rage of ignorance, fear and\nzeal preserved the perfect calm that wisdom gives.\n\nWe have advanced. In a few years the Christians will become--let us\nhope--humane and sensible enough to deny the dogma that fills the\nendless years with pain. They ought to know now that this dogma is\nutterly inconsistent with the wisdom, the justice, the goodness of their\nGod. They ought to know that their belief in hell, gives to the Holy\nGhost--the Dove--the beak of a vulture, and fills the mouth of the Lamb\nof God with the fangs of a viper.\n\n\nIII.\n\nIN my youth I read religious books--books about God, about the\natonement--about salvation by faith, and about the other worlds. I\nbecame familiar with the commentators--with Adam Clark, who thought that\nthe serpent seduced our mother Eve, and was in fact the father of Cain.\nHe also believed that the animals, while in the ark, had their natures'\nchanged to that degree that they devoured straw together and enjoyed\neach other's society--thus prefiguring the blessed millennium. I read\nScott, who was such a natural theologian that he really thought\nthe story of Phaeton--of the wild steeds dashing across the\nsky--corroborated the story of Joshua having stopped the sun and moon.\nSo, I read Henry and MacKnight and found that God so loved the world\nthat he made up his mind to damn a large majority of the human race. I\nread Cruden, who made the great Concordance, and made the miracles as\nsmall and probable as he could.\n\nI remember that he explained the miracle of feeding the wandering Jews\nwith quails, by saying that even at this day immense numbers of quails\ncrossed the Red Sea, and that sometimes when tired, they settled on\nships that sank beneath their weight. The fact that the explanation\nwas as hard to believe as the miracle made no difference to the devout\nCruden.\n\nTo while away the time I read Calvin's Institutes, a book calculated to\nproduce, in any natural mind, considerable respect for the Devil.\n\nI read Paley's Evidences and found that the evidence of ingenuity in\nproducing the evil, in contriving the hurtful, was at least equal to the\nevidence tending to show the use of intelligence in the creation of what\nwe call good.\n\nYou know the watch argument was Paley's greatest effort. A man finds a\nwatch and it is so wonderful that he concludes that it must have had\na maker. He finds the maker and he is so much more wonderful than the\nwatch that he says he must have had a maker. Then he finds God, the\nmaker of the man, and he is so much more wonderful than the man that he\ncould _not_ have had a maker. This is what the lawyers call a departure\nin pleading.\n\nAccording to Paley there can be no design without a designer--but there\ncan be a designer without a design. The wonder of the watch suggested\nthe watchmaker, and the wonder of the watchmaker, suggested the creator,\nand the wonder of the creator demonstrated that he was not created--but\nwas uncaused and eternal.\n\nWe had Edwards on The Will, in which the reverend author shows that\nnecessity has no effect on accountability--and that when God creates a\nhuman being, and at the same time determines and decrees exactly what\nthat being shall do and be, the human being is responsible, and God in\nhis justice and mercy has the right to torture the soul of that human\nbeing forever. Yet Edwards said that he loved God.\n\nThe fact is that if you believe in an infinite God, and also in eternal\npunishment, then you must admit that Edwards and Calvin were absolutely\nright. There is no escape from their conclusions if you admit their\npremises. They were infinitely cruel, their premises infinitely absurd,\ntheir God infinitely fiendish, and their logic perfect.\n\nAnd yet I have kindness and candor enough to say that Calvin and Edwards\nwere both insane.\n\nWe had plenty of theological literature. There was Jenkyn on the\nAtonement, who demonstrated the wisdom of God in devising a way in which\nthe sufferings of innocence could justify the guilty. He tried to show\nthat children could justly be punished for the sins of their ancestors,\nand that men could, if they had faith, be justly credited with the\nvirtues of others. Nothing could be more devout, orthodox, and idiotic.\nBut all of our theology was not in prose. We had Milton with his\ncelestial militia--with his great and blundering God, his proud\nand cunning Devil--his wars between immortals, and all the sublime\nabsurdities that religion wrought within the blind man's brain.\n\nThe theology taught by Milton was dear to the Puritan heart. It was\naccepted by New England, and it poisoned the souls and ruined the lives\nof thousands. The genius of Shakespeare could not make the theology of\nMilton poetic. In the literature of the world there is nothing, outside\nof the \"sacred books,\" more perfectly absurd.\n\nWe had Young's Night Thoughts, and I supposed that the author was an\nexceedingly devout and loving follower of the Lord. Yet Young had a\ngreat desire to be a bishop, and to accomplish that end he electioneered\nwith the king's mistress. In other words, he was a fine old hypocrite.\nIn the \"Night Thoughts\" there is scarcely a genuinely honest, natural\nline. It is pretence from beginning to end. He did not write what he\nfelt, but what he thought he ought to feel.\n\nWe had Pollok's Course of Time, with its worm that never dies, its\nquenchless flames, its endless pangs, its leering devils, and its\ngloating God. This frightful poem should have been written in a\nmadhouse. In it you find all the cries and groans and shrieks of\nmaniacs, when they tear and rend each other's flesh. It is as heartless,\nas hideous, as hellish as the thirty-second chapter of Deuteronomy.\n\nWe all know the beautiful hymn commencing with the cheerful line:\n\"Hark from the tombs, a doleful sound.\" Nothing could have been more\nappropriate for children. It is well to put a coffin where it can be\nseen from the cradle. When a mother nurses her child, an open grave\nshould be at her feet. This would tend to make the babe serious,\nreflective, religious and miserable.\n\nGod hates laughter and despises mirth. To feel free, untrammeled,\nirresponsible, joyous,--to forget care and death--to be flooded with\nsunshine without a fear of night--to forget the past, to have no thought\nof the future, no dream of God, or heaven, or hell--to be intoxicated\nwith the present--to be conscious only of the clasp and kiss of the one\nyou love--this is the sin against the Holy Ghost.\n\nBut we had Cowper's poems. Cowper was sincere. He was the opposite\nof Young. He had an observing eye, a gentle heart and a sense of the\nartistic. He sympathized with all who suffered--with the imprisoned,\nthe enslaved, the outcasts. He loved the beautiful. No wonder that the\nbelief in eternal punishment made this loving soul insane. No wonder\nthat the \"tidings of great joy\" quenched Hope's great star and left his\nbroken heart in the darkness of despair.\n\nWe had many volumes of orthodox sermons, filled with wrath and the\nterrors of the judgment to come--sermons that had been delivered by\nsavage saints.\n\nWe had the Book of Martyrs, showing that Christians had for many\ncenturies imitated the God they worshiped.\n\nW|e had the history of the Waldenses--of the Reformation of the Church.\nWe had Pilgrim's Progress, Baxter's Call and Butler's Analogy.\n\nTo use a Western phrase or saying, I found that Bishop Butler dug\nup more snakes than he killed--suggested more difficulties than he\nexplained--more doubts than he dispelled.\n\n\nIV.\n\nAMONG such books my youth was passed. All the seeds of Christianity--of\nsuperstition, were sown in my mind and cultivated with great diligence\nand care.\n\nAll that time I knew nothing of any science--nothing about the other\nside--nothing of the objections that had been urged against the blessed\nScriptures, or against the perfect Congregational creed. Of course I\nhad heard the ministers speak of blasphemers, of infidel wretches,\nof scoffers who laughed at holy things. They did not answer their\narguments, but they tore their characters into shreds and demonstrated\nby the fury of assertion that they had done the Devil's work. And yet in\nspite of all I heard--of all I read, I could not quite believe. My brain\nand heart said No.\n\nFor a time I left the dreams, the insanities, the illusions and\ndelusions, the nightmares of theology. I studied astronomy, just a\nlittle--I examined maps of the heavens--learned the names of some of the\nconstellations--of some of the stars--found something of their size and\nthe velocity with which they wheeled in their orbits--obtained a faint\nconception of astronomical spaces--found that some of the known stars\nwere so far away in the depths of space that their light, traveling at\nthe rate of nearly two hundred thousand miles a second, required many\nyears to reach this little world--found that, compared with the great\nstars, our earth was but a grain of sand--an atom--found that the old\nbelief that all the hosts of heaven had been created for the benefit of\nman, was infinitely absurd.\n\nI compared what was really known about the stars with the account of\ncreation as told in Genesis. I found that the writer of the inspired\nbook had no knowledge of astronomy--that he was as ignorant as a Choctaw\nchief--as an Eskimo driver of dogs. Does any one imagine that the author\nof Genesis knew anything about the sun--its size? that he was acquainted\nwith Sirius, the North Star, with Capella, or that he knew anything of\nthe clusters of stars so far away that their light, now visiting our\neyes, has been traveling for two million years?\n\nIf he had known these facts would he have said that Jehovah worked\nnearly six days to make this world, and only a part of the afternoon of\nthe fourth day to make the sun and moon and all the stars?\n\nYet millions of people insist that the writer of Genesis was inspired by\nthe Creator of all worlds.\n\nNow, intelligent men, who are not frightened, whose brains have not been\nparalyzed by fear, know that the sacred story of creation was written by\nan ignorant savage. The story is inconsistent with all known facts,\nand every star shining in the heavens testifies that its author was an\nuninspired barbarian.\n\nI admit that this unknown writer was sincere, that he wrote what he\nbelieved to be true--that he did the best he could. He did not claim\nto be inspired--did not pretend that the story had been told to him by\nJehovah. He simply stated the \"facts\" as he understood them.\n\nAfter I had learned a little about the stars I concluded that this\nwriter, this \"inspired\" scribe, had been misled by myth and legend, and\nthat he knew no more about creation than the average theologian of my\nday. In other words, that he knew absolutely nothing.\n\nAnd here, allow me to say that the ministers who are answering me are\nturning their guns in the wrong direction. These reverend gentlemen\nshould attack the astronomers. They should malign and vilify Kepler,\nCopernicus, Newton, Herschel and Laplace. These men were the real\ndestroyers of the sacred story. Then, after having disposed of them,\nthey can wage a war against the stars, and against Jehovah himself for\nhaving furnished evidence against the truthfulness of his book.\n\nThen I studied geology--not much, just a little--just enough to find in\na general way the principal facts that had been discovered, and some of\nthe conclusions that had been reached. I learned something of the action\nof fire--of water--of the formation of islands and continents--of\nthe sedimentary and igneous rocks--of the coal measures--of the chalk\ncliffs, something about coral reefs--about the deposits made by rivers,\nthe effect of volcanoes, of glaciers, and of the all surrounding\nsea--just enough to know that the Laurentian rocks were millions of ages\nolder than the grass beneath my feet--just enough to feel certain that\nthis world had been pursuing its flight about the sun, wheeling in light\nand shade, for hundreds of millions of years--just enough to know that\nthe \"inspired\" writer knew nothing of the history of the earth--nothing\nof the great forces of nature--of wind and wave and fire--forces that\nhave destroyed and built, wrecked and wrought through all the countless\nyears.\n\nAnd let me tell the ministers again that they should not waste their\ntime in answering me. They should attack the geologists. They should\ndeny the facts that have been discovered. They should launch their\ncurses at the blaspheming seas, and dash their heads against the infidel\nrocks.\n\nThen I studied biology--not much--just enough to know something of\nanimal forms, enough to know that life existed when the Laurentian rocks\nwere made--just enough to know that implements of stone, implements that\nhad been formed by human hands, had been found mingled with the bones\nof extinct animals, bones that had been split with these implements, and\nthat these animals had ceased to exist hundreds of thousands of years\nbefore the manufacture of Adam and Eve.\n\nThen I felt sure that the \"inspired\" record was false--that many\nmillions of people had been deceived and that all I had been taught\nabout the origin of worlds and men was utterly untrue. I felt that I\nknew that the Old Testament was the work of ignorant men--that it was a\nmingling of truth and mistake, of wisdom and foolishness, of cruelty and\nkindness, of philosophy and absurdity--that it contained some\nelevated thoughts, some poetry,---a good deal of the solemn and\ncommonplace,--some hysterical, some tender, some wicked prayers, some\ninsane predictions, some delusions, and some chaotic dreams.\n\nOf course the theologians fought the facts found by the geologists, the\nscientists, and sought to sustain the sacred Scriptures. They mistook\nthe bones of the mastodon for those of human beings, and by them proudly\nproved that \"there were giants in those days.\" They accounted for the\nfossils by saying that God had made them to try our faith, or that the\nDevil had imitated the works of the Creator.\n\nThey answered the geologists by saying that the \"days\" in Genesis were\nlong periods of time, and that after all the flood might have been\nlocal. They told the astronomers that the sun and moon were not\nactually, but only apparently, stopped. And that the appearance was\nproduced by the reflection and refraction of light.\n\nThey excused the slavery and polygamy, the robbery and murder upheld\nin the Old Testament by saying that the people were so degraded that\nJehovah was compelled to pander to their ignorance and prejudice.\n\nIn every way the clergy sought to evade the facts, to dodge the truth,\nto preserve the creed.\n\nAt first they flatly denied the facts--then they belittled them--then\nthey harmonized them--then they denied that they had denied them. Then\nthey changed the meaning of the \"inspired\" book to fit the facts.\n\nAt first they said that if the facts, as claimed, were true, the Bible\nwas false and Christianity itself a superstition. Afterward they said\nthe facts, as claimed, were true and that they established beyond all\ndoubt the inspiration of the Bible and the divine origin of orthodox\nreligion.\n\nAnything they could not dodge, they swallowed, and anything they could\nnot swallow, they dodged.\n\nI gave up the Old Testament on account of its mistakes, its absurdities,\nits ignorance and its cruelty. I gave up the New because it vouched\nfor the truth of the Old. I gave it up on account of its miracles,\nits contradictions, because Christ and his disciples believed in the\nexistence of devils--talked and made bargains with them, expelled them\nfrom people and animals.\n\nThis, of itself, is enough. We know, if we know anything, that devils do\nnot exist--that Christ never cast them out, and that if he pretended to,\nhe was either ignorant, dishonest or insane. These stories about devils\ndemonstrate the human, the ignorant origin of the New Testament. I gave\nup the New Testament because it rewards credulity, and curses brave and\nhonest men, and because it teaches the infinite horror of eternal pain.\n\nV.\n\nHAVING spent my youth in reading books about religion--about the \"new\nbirth\"--the disobedience of our first parents, the atonement, salvation\nby faith, the wickedness of pleasure, the degrading consequences of\nlove, and the impossibility of getting to heaven by being honest and\ngenerous, and having become somewhat weary of the frayed and raveled\nthoughts, you can imagine my surprise, my delight when I read the poems\nof Robert Burns.\n\nI was familiar with the writings of the devout and insincere, the pious\nand petrified, the pure and heartless. Here was a natural honest man. I\nknew the works of those who regarded all nature as depraved, and looked\nupon love as the legacy and perpetual witness of original sin. Here was\na man who plucked joy from the mire, made goddesses of peasant girls,\nand enthroned the honest man. One whose sympathy, with loving arms,\nembraced all forms of suffering life, who hated slavery of every kind,\nwho was as natural as heaven's blue, with humor kindly as an autumn day,\nwith wit as sharp as Ithuriel's spear, and scorn that blasted like the\nsimoon's breath. A man who loved this world, this life, the things of\nevery day, and placed above all else the thrilling ecstasies of human\nlove.\n\nI read and read again with rapture, tears and smiles, feeling that a\ngreat heart was throbbing in the lines.\n\nThe religious, the lugubrious, the artificial, the spiritual poets were\nforgotten or remained only as the fragments, the half remembered horrors\nof monstrous and distorted dreams.\n\nI had found at last a natural man, one who despised his country's cruel\ncreed, and was brave and sensible enough to say: \"All religions are auld\nwives' fables, but an honest man has nothing to fear, either in this\nworld or the world to come.\"\n\nOne who had the genius to write Holy Willie's Prayer--a poem that\ncrucified Calvinism and through its bloodless heart thrust the spear\nof common sense--a poem that made every orthodox creed the food of\nscorn--of inextinguishable laughter.\n\nBurns had his faults, his frailties. He was intensely human. Still, I\nwould rather appear at the \"Judgment Seat\" drunk, and be able to\nsay that I was the author of \"A man's a man for 'a that,\" than to\nbe perfectly sober and admit that I had lived and died a Scotch\nPresbyterian.\n\nI read Byron--read his Cain, in which, as in Paradise Lost, the Devil\nseems to be the better god--read his beautiful, sublime and bitter\nlines--read his Prisoner of Chillon--his best--a poem that filled my\nheart with tenderness, with pity, and with an eternal hatred of tyranny.\n\nI read Shelley's Queen Mab--a poem filled with beauty, courage, thought,\nsympathy, tears and scorn, in which a brave soul tears down the prison\nwalls and floods the cells with light. I read his Skylark--a winged\nflame--passionate as blood--tender as tears--pure as light.\n\nI read Keats, \"whose name was writ in water\"--read St. Agnes Eve, a\nstory told with such an artless art that this poor common world is\nchanged to fairy land--the Grecian Urn, that fills the soul with ever\neager love, with all the rapture of imagined song--the Nightingale--a\nmelody in which there is the memory of morn--a melody that dies away in\ndusk and tears, paining the senses with its perfectness.\n\nAnd then I read Shakespeare, the plays, the sonnets, the poems--read\nall. I beheld a new heaven and a new earth; Shakespeare, who knew the\nbrain and heart of man--the hopes and fears, the loves and hatreds,\nthe vices and the virtues of the human race; whose imagination read the\ntear-blurred records, the blood-stained pages of all the past, and\nsaw falling athwart the outspread scroll the light of hope and love;\nShakespeare, who sounded every depth--while on the loftiest peak there\nfell the shadow of his wings.\n\nI compared the Plays with the \"inspired\" books--Romeo and Juliet with\nthe Song of Solomon, Lear with Job, and the Sonnets with the Psalms, and\nI found that Jehovah did not understand the art of speech. I compared\nShakespeare's women--his perfect women--with the women of the Bible.\nI found that Jehovah was not a sculptor, not a painter--not an\nartist--that he lacked the power that changes clay to flesh--the art,\nthe plastic touch, that moulds the perfect form--the breath that gives\nit free and joyous life--the genius that creates the faultless.\n\nThe sacred books of all the world are worthless dross and common stones\ncompared with Shakespeare's glittering gold and gleaming gems.\n\n\nVI.\n\nUP to this time I had read nothing against our blessed religion except\nwhat I had found in Burns, Byron and Shelley. By some accident I read\nVolney, who shows that all religions are, and have been, established in\nthe same way--that all had their Christs, their apostles, miracles and\nsacred books, and then asked how it is possible to decide which is the\ntrue one. A question that is still waiting for an answer.\n\nI read Gibbon, the greatest of historians, who marshaled his facts as\nskillfully as Caesar did his legions, and I learned that Christianity\nis only a name for Paganism--for the old religion, shorn of its\nbeauty--that some absurdities had been exchanged for others--that some\ngods had been killed--a vast multitude of devils created, and that hell\nhad been enlarged.\n\nAnd then I read the Age of Reason, by Thomas Paine. Let me tell you\nsomething about this sublime and slandered man. He came to this country\njust before the Revolution. He brought a letter of introduction from\nBenjamin Franklin, at that time the greatest American.\n\nIn Philadelphia, Paine was employed to write for the _Pennsylvania\nMagazine_. We know that he wrote at least five articles. The first was\nagainst slavery, the second against duelling, the third on the treatment\nof prisoners--showing that the object should be to reform, not to punish\nand degrade--the fourth on the rights of woman, and the fifth in favor\nof forming societies for the prevention of cruelty to children and\nanimals.\n\nFrom this you see that he suggested the great reforms of our century.\n\nThe truth is that he labored all his life for the good of his\nfellow-men, and did as much to found the Great Republic as any man who\never stood beneath our flag.\n\nHe gave his thoughts about religion--about the blessed Scriptures, about\nthe superstitions of his time. He was perfectly sincere and what he said\nwas kind and fair.\n\nThe Age of Reason filled with hatred the hearts of those who loved their\nenemies, and the occupant of every orthodox pulpit became, and still is,\na passionate maligner of Thomas Paine.\n\nNo one has answered--no one will answer, his argument against the dogma\nof inspiration--his objections to the Bible.\n\nHe did not rise above all the superstitions of his day. While he hated\nJehovah, he praised the God of Nature, the creator and preserver of all.\nIn this he was wrong, because, as Watson said in his Reply to Paine, the\nGod of Nature is as heartless, as cruel as the God of the Bible.\n\nBut Paine was one of the pioneers--one of the Titans, one of the\nheroes, who gladly gave his life, his every thought and act, to free and\ncivilize mankind.\n\nI read Voltaire--Voltaire, the greatest man of his century, and who did\nmore for liberty of thought and speech than any other being, human or\n\"divine.\" Voltaire, who tore the mask from hypocrisy and found behind\nthe painted smile the fangs of hate. Voltaire, who attacked the savagery\nof the law, the cruel decisions of venal courts, and rescued victims\nfrom the wheel and rack. Voltaire, who waged war against the tyranny of\nthrones, the greed and heartlessness of power. Voltaire, who filled the\nflesh of priests with the barbed and poisoned arrows of his wit and made\nthe pious jugglers, who cursed him in public, laugh at themselves\nin private. Voltaire, who sided with the oppressed, rescued the\nunfortunate, championed the obscure and weak, civilized judges, repealed\nlaws and abolished torture in his native land.\n\nIn every direction this tireless man fought the absurd, the miraculous,\nthe supernatural, the idiotic, the unjust. He had no reverence for the\nancient. He was not awed by pageantry and pomp, by crowned Crime or\nmitered Pretence. Beneath the crown he saw the criminal, under the\nmiter, the hypocrite.\n\nTo the bar of his conscience, his reason, he summoned the barbarism and\nthe barbarians of his time. He pronounced judgment against them all,\nand that judgment has been affirmed by the intelligent world. Voltaire\nlighted a torch and gave to others the sacred flame. The light still\nshines and will as long as man loves liberty and seeks for truth.\n\nI read Zeno, the man who said, centuries before our Christ was born,\nthat man could not own his fellow-man.\n\n\"No matter whether you claim a slave by purchase or capture, the title\nis bad. They who claim to own their fellow-men, look down into the pit\nand forget the justice that should rule the world.\"\n\nI became acquainted with Epicurus, who taught the religion of\nusefulness, of temperance, of courage and wisdom, and who said: \"Why\nshould I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why\nshould I fear that which cannot exist when I do?\"\n\nI read about Socrates, who when on trial for his life, said, among other\nthings, to his judges, these wondrous words: \"I have not sought during\nmy life to amass wealth and to adorn my body, but I have sought to adorn\nmy soul with the jewels of wisdom, patience, and above all with a love\nof liberty.\"\n\nSo, I read about Diogenes, the philosopher who hated the\nsuperfluous--the enemy of waste and greed, and who one day entered the\ntemple, reverently approached the altar, crushed a louse between the\nnails of his thumbs, and solemnly said: \"The sacrifice of Diogenes to\nall the gods.\" This parodied the worship of the world--satirized all\ncreeds, and in one act put the essence of religion.\n\nDiogenes must have know of this \"inspired\" passage--\"Without the\nshedding of blood there is no remission of sins.\"\n\nI compared Zeno, Epicurus and Socrates, three heathen wretches who had\nnever heard of the Old Testament or the Ten Commandments, with Abraham,\nIsaac and Jacob, three favorites of Jehovah, and I was depraved enough\nto think that the Pagans were superior to the Patriarchs--and to Jehovah\nhimself.\n\n\nVII.\n\nMY attention was turned to other religions, to the sacred books, the\ncreeds and ceremonies of other lands--of India, Egypt, Assyria, Persia,\nof the dead and dying nations.\n\nI concluded that all religions had the same foundation--a belief in\nthe supernatural--a power above nature that man could influence by\nworship--by sacrifice and prayer.\n\nI found that all religions rested on a mistaken conception of\nnature--that the religion of a people was the science of that people,\nthat is to say, their explanation of the world--of life and death--of\norigin and destiny.\n\nI concluded that all religions had substantially the same origin, and\nthat in fact there has never been but one religion in the world. The\ntwigs and leaves may differ, but the trunk is the same.\n\nThe poor African that pours out his heart to his deity of stone is on an\nexact religious level with the robed priest who supplicates his God. The\nsame mistake, the same superstition, bends the knees and shuts the eyes\nof both. Both ask for supernatural aid, and neither has the slightest\nthought of the absolute uniformity of nature.\n\nIt seems probable to me that the first organized ceremonial religion was\nthe worship of the sun. The sun was the \"Sky Father,\" the \"All Seeing,\"\nthe source of life--the fireside of the world. The sun was regarded as a\ngod who fought the darkness, the power of evil, the enemy of man.\n\nThere have been many sun-gods, and they seem to have been the chief\ndeities in the ancient religions. They have been worshiped in many\nlands--by many nations that have passed to death and dust.\n\nApollo was a sun-god and he fought and conquered the serpent of night.\nBaldur was a sun-god. He was in love with the Dawn--a maiden. Chrishna\nwas a sun-god. At his birth the Ganges was thrilled from its source to\nthe sea, and all the trees, the dead as well as the living, burst into\nleaf and bud and flower. Hercules was a sun-god and so was Samson, whose\nstrength was in his hair--that is to say, in his beams. He was shorn of\nhis strength by Delilah, the shadow--the darkness. Osiris, Bacchus, and\nMithra, Hermes, Buddha, and Quetzalcoatl, Prometheus, Zoroaster, and\nPerseus, Cadom, Lao-tsze, Fo-hi, Horus and Rameses, were all sun-gods.\n\nAll of these gods had gods for fathers and their mothers were virgins.\nThe births of nearly all were announced by stars, celebrated by\ncelestial music, and voices declared that a blessing had come to the\npoor world. All of these gods were born in humble places--in caves,\nunder trees, in common inns, and tyrants sought to kill them all\nwhen they were babes. All of these sun-gods were born at the winter\nsolstice--on Christmas. Nearly all were worshiped by \"wise men.\" All of\nthem fasted for forty days--all of them taught in parables--all of them\nwrought miracles--all met with a violent death, and all rose from the\ndead.\n\nThe history of these gods is the exact history of our Christ.\n\nThis is not a coincidence--an accident. Christ was a sun-god. Christ was\na new name for an old biography--a survival--the last of the sun-gods.\nChrist was not a man, but a myth--not a life, but a legend.\n\nI found that we had not only borrowed our Christ--but that all our\nsacraments, symbols and ceremonies were legacies that we received from\nthe buried past. There is nothing original in Christianity.\n\nThe cross was a symbol thousands of years before our era. It was a\nsymbol of life, of immortality--of the god Agni, and it was chiseled\nupon tombs many ages before a line of our Bible was written.\n\nBaptism is far older than Christianity--than Judaism. The Hindus,\nEgyptians, Greeks and Romans had Holy Water long before a Catholic\nlived. The eucharist was borrowed from the Pagans. Ceres was the goddess\nof the fields--Bacchus of the vine. At the harvest festival they made\ncakes of wheat and said: \"This is the flesh of the goddess.\" They drank\nwine and cried: \"This is the blood of our god.\"\n\nThe Egyptians had a Trinity. They worshiped Osiris, Isis and Horus,\nthousands of years before the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were known.\n\nThe Tree of Life grew in India, in China, and among the Aztecs, long\nbefore the Garden of Eden was planted.\n\nLong before our Bible was known, other nations had their sacred books.\n\nThe dogmas of the Fall of Man, the Atonement and Salvation by Faith, are\nfar older than our religion.\n\nIn our blessed gospel,--in our \"divine scheme,\"--there is nothing\nnew--nothing original. All old--all borrowed, pieced and patched.\n\nThen I concluded that all religions had been naturally produced, and\nthat all were variations, modifications of one,--then I felt that I knew\nthat all were the work of man.\n\n\nVIII.\n\nTHE theologians had always insisted that their God was the creator\nof all living things--that the forms, parts, functions, colors and\nvarieties of animals were the expressions of his fancy, taste and\nwisdom--that he made them all precisely as they are to-day--that he\ninvented fins and legs and wings--that he furnished them with the\nweapons of attack, the shields of defence--that he formed them with\nreference to food and climate, taking into consideration all facts\naffecting life.\n\nThey insisted that man was a special creation, not related in any way\nto the animals below him. They also asserted that all the forms of\nvegetation, from mosses to forests, were just the same to-day as the\nmoment they were made.\n\nMen of genius, who were for the most part free from religious prejudice,\nwere examining these things--were looking for facts. They were\nexamining the fossils of animals and plants--studying the forms of\nanimals--their bones and muscles--the effect of climate and food--the\nstrange modifications through which they had passed.\n\nHumboldt had published his lectures--filled with great thoughts--with\nsplendid generalizations--with suggestions that stimulated the spirit\nof investigation, and with conclusions that satisfied the mind. He\ndemonstrated the uniformity of Nature--the kinship of all that lives and\ngrows--that breathes and thinks.\n\nDarwin, with his Origin of Species, his theories about Natural\nSelection, the Survival of the Fittest, and the influence of\nenvironment, shed a flood of light upon the great problems of plant and\nanimal life.\n\nThese things had been guessed, prophesied, asserted, hinted by many\nothers, but Darwin, with infinite patience, with perfect care and\ncandor, found the facts, fulfilled the prophecies, and demonstrated the\ntruth of the guesses, hints and assertions. He was, in my judgment, the\nkeenest observer, the best judge of the meaning and value of a fact, the\ngreatest Naturalist the world has produced.\n\nThe theological view began to look small and mean.\n\nSpencer gave his theory of evolution and sustained it by countless\nfacts. He stood at a great height, and with the eyes of a philosopher,\na profound thinker, surveyed the world. He has influenced the thought of\nthe wisest.\n\nTheology looked more absurd than ever.\n\nHuxley entered the lists for Darwin. No man ever had a sharper sword--a\nbetter shield. He challenged the world. The great theologians and the\nsmall scientists--those who had more courage than sense, accepted the\nchallenge. Their poor bodies were carried away by their friends.\n\nHuxley had intelligence, industry, genius, and the courage to express\nhis thought. He was absolutely loyal to what he thought was truth.\nWithout prejudice and without fear, he followed the footsteps of life\nfrom the lowest to the highest forms.\n\nTheology looked smaller still.\n\nHaeckel began at the simplest cell, went from change to change--from\nform to form--followed the line of development, the path of life,\nuntil he reached the human race. It was all natural. There had been no\ninterference from without.\n\nI read the works of these great men--of many others--and became\nconvinced that they were right, and that all the theologians--all the\nbelievers in \"special creation\" were absolutely wrong.\n\nThe Garden of Eden faded away, Adam and Eve fell back to dust, the snake\ncrawled into the grass, and Jehovah became a miserable myth.\n\n\nIX.\n\nI TOOK another step. What is matter--substance? Can it be\ndestroyed--annihilated? Is it possible to conceive of the destruction of\nthe smallest atom of substance? It can be ground to powder--changed from\na solid to a liquid--from a liquid to a gas--but it all remains. Nothing\nis lost--nothing destroyed.\n\nLet an infinite God, if there be one, attack a grain of sand--attack\nit with infinite power. It cannot be destroyed. It cannot surrender. It\ndefies all force. Substance cannot be destroyed.\n\nThen I took another step.\n\nIf matter cannot be destroyed, cannot be annihilated, it could not have\nbeen created.\n\nThe indestructible must be uncreateable.\n\nAnd then I asked myself: What is force?\n\nWe cannot conceive of the creation of force, or of its destruction.\nForce may be changed from one form to another--from motion to heat--but\nit cannot be destroyed--annihilated.\n\nIf force cannot be destroyed it could not have been created. It is\neternal.\n\nAnother thing--matter cannot exist apart from force. Force cannot exist\napart from matter. Matter could not have existed before force. Force\ncould not have existed before matter. Matter and force can only be\nconceived of together. This has been shown by several scientists, but\nmost clearly, most forcibly by Buechner.\n\nThought is a form of force, consequently it could not have caused or\ncreated matter. Intelligence is a form of force and could not have\nexisted without or apart from matter. Without substance there could have\nbeen no mind, no will, no force in any form, and there could have been\nno substance without force.\n\nMatter and force were not created. They have existed from eternity. They\ncannot be destroyed.\n\nThere was, there is, no creator. Then came the question: Is there a\nGod? Is there a being of infinite intelligence, power and goodness, who\ngoverns the world?\n\nThere can be goodness without much intelligence--but it seems to me\nthat perfect intelligence and perfect goodness must go together.\n\nIn nature I see, or seem to see, good and evil--intelligence and\nignorance--goodness and cruelty--care and carelessness--economy and\nwaste. I see means that do not accomplish the ends--designs that seem to\nfail.\n\nTo me it seems infinitely cruel for life to feed on life--to create\nanimals that devour others.\n\nThe teeth and beaks, the claws and fangs, that tear and rend, fill me\nwith horror. What can be more frightful than a world at-war? Every leaf\na battle-field--every flower a Golgotha--in every drop of water pursuit,\ncapture and death. Under every piece of bark, life lying in wait for\nlife. On every blade of grass, something that kills,--something that\nsuffers. Everywhere the strong living on the weak--the superior on\nthe inferior. Everywhere the weak, the insignificant, living on\nthe strong--the inferior on the superior--the highest food for the\nlowest--man sacrificed for the sake of microbes. Murder universal.\nEverywhere pain, disease and death--death that does not wait for bent\nforms and gray hairs, but clutches babes and happy youths. Death that\ntakes the mother from her helpless, dimpled child--death that fills the\nworld with grief and tears.\n\nHow can the orthodox Christian explain these things?\n\nI know that life is good. I remember the sunshine and rain. Then I think\nof the earthquake and flood. I do not forget health and harvest, home\nand love--but what of pestilence and famine? I cannot harmonize all\nthese contradictions--these blessings and agonies--with the existence of\nan infinitely good, wise and powerful God.\n\nThe theologian says that what we call evil is for our benefit--that we\nare placed in this world of sin and sorrow to develop character. If\nthis is true I ask why the infant dies? Millions and millions draw a few\nbreaths and fade away in the arms of their mothers. They are not allowed\nto develop character.\n\nThe theologian says that serpents were given fangs to protect themselves\nfrom their enemies. Why did the God who made them, make enemies? Why is\nit that many species of serpents have no fangs?\n\nThe theologian says that God armored the hippopotamus, covered his body,\nexcept the under part, with scales and plates, that other animals could\nnot pierce with tooth or tusk. But the same God made the rhinoceros\nand supplied him with a horn on his nose, with which he disembowels the\nhippopotamus.\n\nThe same God made the eagle, the vulture, the hawk, and their helpless\nprey.\n\nOn every hand there seems to be design to defeat design.\n\nIf God created man--if he is the father of us all, why did he make the\ncriminals, the insane, the deformed and idiotic?\n\nShould the inferior man thank God? Should the mother, who clasps to her\nbreast an idiot child, thank God? Should the slave thank God?\n\nThe theologian says that God governs the wind, the rain, the lightning.\nHow then can we account for the cyclone, the flood, the drought, the\nglittering bolt that kills?\n\nSuppose we had a man in this country who could control the wind, the\nrain and lightning, and suppose we elected him to govern these things,\nand suppose that he allowed whole States to dry and wither, and at the\nsame time wasted the rain in the sea. Suppose that he allowed the winds\nto destroy cities and to crush to shapelessness thousands of men and\nwomen, and allowed the lightnings to strike the life out of mothers and\nbabes. What would we say? What would we think of such a savage?\n\nAnd yet, according to the theologians, this is exactly the course\npursued by God.\n\nWhat do we think of a man, who will not, when he has the power, protect\nhis friends? Yet the Christian's God allowed his enemies to torture and\nburn his friends, his worshipers.\n\nWho has ingenuity enough to explain this?\n\nWhat good man, having the power to prevent it, would allow the innocent\nto be imprisoned, chained in dungeons, and sigh against the dripping\nwalls their weary lives away?\n\nIf God governs the world, why is innocence not a perfect shield? Why\ndoes injustice triumph?\n\nWho can answer these questions?\n\nIn answer, the intelligent, honest man must say: I do not know.\n\n\nX.\n\nTHIS God must be, if he exists, a person--a conscious being. Who can\nimagine an infinite personality? This God must have force, and we cannot\nconceive of force apart from matter. This God must be material. He must\nhave the means by which he changes force to what we call thought. When\nhe thinks he uses force, force that must be replaced. Yet we are told\nthat he is infinitely wise. If he is, he does not think. Thought is\na ladder--a process by which we reach a conclusion. He who knows all\nconclusions cannot think. He cannot hope or fear. When knowledge is\nperfect there can be no passion, no emotion. If God is infinite he does\nnot want. He has all. He who does not want does not act. The infinite\nmust dwell in eternal calm.\n\nIt is as impossible to conceive of such a being as to imagine a square\ntriangle, or to think of a circle without a diameter.\n\nYet we are told that it is our duty to love this God. Can we love the\nunknown, the inconceivable? Can it be our duty to love anybody? It is\nour duty to act justly, honestly, but it cannot be our duty to love. We\ncannot be under obligation to admire a painting--to be charmed with a\npoem--or thrilled with music. Admiration cannot be controlled. Taste\nand love are not the servants of the will. Love is, and must be free. It\nrises from the heart like perfume from a flower.\n\nFor thousands of ages men and women have been trying to love the\ngods--trying to soften their hearts--trying to get their aid.\n\nI see them all. The panorama passes before me. I see them with\noutstretched hands--with reverently closed eyes--worshiping the sun. I\nsee them bowing, in their fear and need, to meteoric stones--imploring\nserpents, beasts and sacred trees--praying to idols wrought of wood and\nstone. I see them building altars to the unseen powers, staining them\nwith blood of child and beast. I see the countless priests and hear\ntheir solemn chants. I see the dying victims, the smoking altars, the\nswinging censers, and the rising clouds. I see the half-god men--the\nmournful Christs, in many lands. I see the common things of life change\nto miracles as they speed from mouth to mouth. I see the insane prophets\nreading the secret book of fate by signs and dreams. I see them\nall--the Assyrians chanting the praises of Asshur and Ishtar--the Hindus\nworshiping Brahma, Vishnu and Draupadi, the whitearmed--the Chaldeans\nsacrificing to Bel and Hea--the Egyptians bowing to Ptah and Ra, Osiris\nand Isis--the Medes placating the storm, worshiping the fire--the\nBabylonians supplicating Bel and Morodach--I see them all by the\nEuphrates, the Tigris, the Ganges and the Nile. I see the Greeks\nbuilding temples for Zeus, Neptune and Venus. I see the Romans kneeling\nto a hundred gods. I see others spurning idols and pouring out their\nhopes and fears to a vague image in the mind. I see the multitudes,\nwith open mouths, receive as truths the myths and fables of the vanished\nyears. I see them give their toil, their wealth to robe the priests, to\nbuild the vaulted roofs, the spacious aisles, the glittering domes. I\nsee them clad in rags, huddled in dens and huts, devouring crusts and\nscraps, that they may give the more to ghosts and gods. I see them make\ntheir cruel creeds and fill the world with hatred, war, and death. I see\nthem with their faces in the dust in the dark days of plague and sudden\ndeath, when cheeks are wan and lips are white for lack of bread. I hear\ntheir prayers, their sighs, their sobs. I see them kiss the unconscious\nlips as their hot tears fall on the pallid faces of the dead. I see the\nnations as they fade and fail. I see them captured and enslaved. I see\ntheir altars mingle with the common earth, their temples crumble slowly\nback to dust. I see their gods grow old and weak, infirm and faint.\nI see them fall from vague and misty thrones, helpless and dead. The\nworshipers receive no help. Injustice triumphs. Toilers are paid with\nthe lash,--babes are sold,--the innocent stand on scaffolds, and the\nheroic perish in flames. I see the earthquakes devour, the volcanoes\noverwhelm, the cyclones wreck, the floods destroy, and the lightnings\nkill.\n\nThe nations perished. The gods died. The toil and wealth were lost. The\ntemples were built in vain, and all the prayers died unanswered in the\nheedless air.\n\nThen I asked myself the question: Is there a supernatural power--an\narbitrary mind--an enthroned God--a supreme will that sways the tides\nand currents of the world--to which all causes bow?\n\nI do not deny. I do not know--but I do not believe. I believe that the\nnatural is supreme--that from the infinite chain no link can be lost or\nbroken--that there is no supernatural power that can answer prayer--no\npower that worship can persuade or change--no power that cares for man.\n\nI believe that with infinite arms Nature embraces the all--that there\nis no interference--no chance--that behind every event are the necessary\nand countless causes, and that beyond every event will be and must be\nthe necessary and countless effects.\n\nMan must protect himself. He cannot depend upon the supernatural--upon\nan imaginary father in the skies. He must protect himself by finding\nthe facts in Nature, by developing his brain, to the end that he may\novercome the obstructions and take advantage of the forces of Nature.\n\nIs there a God?\n\nI do not know.\n\nIs man immortal?\n\nI do not know.\n\nOne thing I do know, and that is, that neither hope, nor fear, belief,\nnor denial, can change the fact. It is as it is, and it will be as it\nmust be.\n\nWe wait and hope.\n\n\nXI.\n\nWHEN I became convinced that the Universe is natural--that all the\nghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul,\ninto every drop of my blood, the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom.\nThe walls of my prison crumbled and fell, the dungeon was flooded with\nlight and all the bolts, and bars, and manacles became dust. I was no\nlonger a servant, a serf or a slave. There was for me no master in all\nthe wide world--not even in infinite space. I was free--free to think,\nto express my thoughts--free to live to my own ideal--free to live\nfor myself and those I loved--free to use all my faculties, all my\nsenses--free to spread imagination's wings--free to investigate, to\nguess and dream and hope--free to judge and determine for myself--free\nto reject all ignorant and cruel creeds, all the \"inspired\" books that\nsavages have produced, and all the barbarous legends of the past--free\nfrom popes and priests--free from all the \"called\" and \"set apart\"--free\nfrom sanctified mistakes and holy lies--free from the fear of eternal\npain--free from the winged monsters of the night--free from devils,\nghosts and gods. For the first time I was free. There were no prohibited\nplaces in all the realms of thought--no air, no space, where fancy could\nnot spread her painted wings--no chains for my limbs--no lashes for my\nback--no fires for my flesh--no master's frown or threat--no following\nanother's steps--no need to bow, or cringe, or crawl, or utter lying\nwords. I was free. I stood erect and fearlessly, joyously, faced all\nworlds.\n\nAnd then my heart was filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, and went\nout in love to all the heroes, the thinkers who gave their lives for\nthe liberty of hand and brain--for the freedom of labor and thought--to\nthose who fell on the fierce fields of war, to those who died in\ndungeons bound with chains--to those who proudly mounted scaffold's\nstairs--to those whose bones were crushed, whose flesh was scarred and\ntorn--to those by fire consumed--to all the wise, the good, the brave of\nevery land, whose thoughts and deeds have given freedom to the sons of\nmen. And then I vowed to grasp the torch that they had held, and hold it\nhigh, that light might conquer darkness still.\n\nLet us be true to ourselves--true to the facts we know, and let us,\nabove all things, preserve the veracity of our souls.\n\nIf there be gods we cannot help them, but we can assist our fellow-men.\nWe cannot love the inconceivable, but we can love wife and child and\nfriend.\n\nWe can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is\nbeyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know. We can\ntell the truth, and we can enjoy the blessed freedom that the brave have\nwon. We can destroy the monsters of superstition, the hissing snakes\nof ignorance and fear. We can drive from our minds the frightful things\nthat tear and wound with beak and fang. We can civilize our fellow-men.\nWe can fill our lives with generous deeds, with loving words, with art\nand song, and all the ecstasies of love. We can flood our years with\nsunshine--with the divine climate of kindness, and we can drain to the\nlast drop the golden cup of joy.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRUTH.\n\n\nI.\n\nTHROUGH millions of ages, by countless efforts to satisfy his wants,\nto gratify his passions, his appetites, man slowly developed his brain,\nchanged two of his feet into hands and forced into the darkness of\nhis brain a few gleams and glimmerings of reason. He was hindered by\nignorance, by fear, by mistakes, and he advanced only as he found the\ntruth--the absolute facts. Through countless years he has groped and\ncrawled and struggled and climbed and stumbled toward the light. He has\nbeen hindered and delayed and deceived by augurs and prophets--by popes\nand priests. He has been betrayed by saints, misled by apostles and\nChrists, frightened by devils and ghosts--enslaved by chiefs and\nkings--robbed by altars and thrones. In the name of education his\nmind has been filled with mistakes, with miracles, and lies, with the\nimpossible, the absurd and infamous. In the name of religion he has been\ntaught humility and arrogance, love and hatred, forgiveness and revenge.\n\nBut the world is changing. We are tired of barbarian bibles and savage\ncreeds.\n\nNothing is greater, nothing is of more importance, than to find amid the\nerrors and darkness of this life, a shining truth.\n\nTruth is the intellectual wealth of the world.\n\nThe noblest of occupations is to search for truth.\n\nTruth is the foundation, the superstructure, and the glittering dome of\nprogress.\n\nTruth is the mother of joy. Truth civilizes, ennobles, and purifies. The\ngrandest ambition that can enter the soul is to know the truth.\n\nTruth gives man the greatest power for good. Truth is sword and shield.\nIt is the sacred light of the soul.\n\nThe man who finds a truth lights a torch.\n\nHow is Truth to be Found?\n\nBy investigation, experiment and reason.\n\nEvery human being should be allowed to investigate to the extent of\nhis desire--his ability. The literature of the world should be open to\nhim--nothing prohibited, sealed or hidden. No subject can be too\nsacred to be understood. Each person should be allowed to reach his own\nconclusions and to speak his honest thought.\n\nHe who threatens the investigator with punishment here, or hereafter, is\nan enemy of the human race. And he who tries to bribe the investigator\nwith the promise of eternal joy is a traitor to his fellow-men.\n\nThere is no real investigation without freedom--freedom from the fear of\ngods and men.\n\nSo, all investigation--all experiment--should be pursued in the light of\nreason.\n\nEvery man should be true to himself--true to the inward light. Each man,\nin the laboratory of his own mind, and for himself alone, should\ntest the so-called facts--the theories of all the world. Truth, _in\naccordance with his reason_, should be his guide and master.\n\nTo love the truth, thus perceived, is mental virtue--intellectual\npurity. This is true manhood. This is freedom.\n\nTo throw away your reason at the command of churches, popes, parties,\nkings or gods, is to be a serf, a slave.\n\nIt is not simply the right, but it is the duty of every man to think--to\ninvestigate for himself--and every man who tries to prevent this\nby force or fear, is doing all he can to degrade and enslave his\nfellow-men.\n\nEvery Man Should be Mentally Honest.\n\nHe should preserve as his most precious jewel the perfect veracity of\nhis soul.\n\nHe should examine all questions presented to his mind, without\nprejudice,--unbiased by hatred or love--by desire or fear. His object\nand his only object should be to find the truth. He knows, if he listens\nto reason, that truth is not dangerous and that error is. He should\nweigh the evidence, the arguments, in honest scales--scales that passion\nor interest cannot change. He should care nothing for authority--nothing\nfor names, customs or creeds--nothing for anything that his reason does\nnot say is true.\n\nOf his world he should be the sovereign, and his soul should wear the\npurple. From his dominions should be banished the hosts of force and\nfear.\n\nHe Should be Intellectually Hospitable.\n\nPrejudice, egotism, hatred, contempt, disdain, are the enemies of truth\nand progress.\n\nThe real searcher after truth will not receive the old because it\nis old, or reject the new because it is new. He will not believe men\nbecause they are dead, or contradict them because they are alive. With\nhim an utterance is worth the truth, the reason it contains, without\nthe slightest regard to the author. He may have been a king or serf--a\nphilosopher or servant,--but the utterance neither gains nor loses in\ntruth or reason. Its value is absolutely independent of the fame or\nstation of the man who gave it to the world.\n\nNothing but falsehood needs the assistance of fame and place, of robes\nand mitres, of tiaras and crowns.\n\nThe wise, the really honest and intelligent, are not swayed or governed\nby numbers--by majorities.\n\nThey accept what they really believe to be true. They care nothing for\nthe opinions of ancestors, nothing for creeds, assertions and theories,\nunless they satisfy the reason.\n\nIn all directions they seek for truth, and when found, accept it with\njoy--accept it in spite of preconceived opinions--in spite of prejudice\nand hatred.\n\nThis is the course pursued by wise and honest men, and no other course\nis possible for them.\n\nIn every department of human endeavor men are seeking for the truth--for\nthe facts. The statesman reads the history of the world, gathers the\nstatistics of all nations to the end that his country may avoid the\nmistakes of the past. The geologist penetrates the rocks in search of\nfacts--climbs mountains, visits the extinct craters, traverses islands\nand continents that he may know something of the history of the world.\nHe wants the truth.\n\nThe chemist, with crucible and retort, with countless experiments, is\ntrying to find the qualities of substances--to ravel what nature has\nwoven.\n\nThe great mechanics dwell in the realm of the real. They seek by natural\nmeans to conquer and use the forces of nature. They want the truth--the\nactual facts.\n\nThe physicians, the surgeons, rely on observation, experiment and\nreason. They become acquainted with the human body--with muscle, blood\nand nerve--with the wonders of the brain. They want nothing but the\ntruth.\n\nAnd so it is with the students of every science. On every hand they\nlook for facts, and it is of the utmost importance that they give to the\nworld the facts they find.\n\nTheir courage should equal their intelligence. No matter what the dead\nhave said, or the living believe, they should tell what they know. They\nshould have intellectual courage.\n\nIf it be good for man to find the truth--good for him to be\nintellectually honest and hospitable, then it is good for others to know\nthe truths thus found.\n\nEvery man should have the courage to give his honest thought. This makes\nthe finder and publisher of truth a public benefactor.\n\nThose who prevent, or try to prevent, the expression of honest thought,\nare the foes of civilization--the enemies of truth. Nothing can exceed\nthe egotism and impudence of the man who claims the right to express his\nthought and denies the same right to others.\n\nIt will not do to say that certain ideas are sacred, and that man has\nnot the right to investigate and test these ideas for himself.\n\nWho knows that they are sacred? Can anything be sacred to us that we do\nnot know to be true?\n\nFor many centuries free speech has been an insult to God. Nothing has\nbeen more blasphemous than the expression of honest thought. For many\nages the lips of the wise were sealed. The torches that truth had\nlighted, that courage carried and held aloft, were extinguished with\nblood.\n\nTruth has always been in favor of free speech--has always asked to be\ninvestigated--has always longed to be known and understood. Freedom,\ndiscussion, honesty, investigation and courage are the friends and\nallies of truth. Truth loves the light and the open field. It appeals\nto the senses--to the judgment, the reason, to all the higher and nobler\nfaculties and powers of the mind. It seeks to calm the passions, to\ndestroy prejudice and to increase the volume and intensity of reason's\nflame.\n\nIt does not ask man to cringe or crawl. It does not desire the worship\nof the ignorant or the prayers and praises of the frightened. It says to\nevery human being, \"Think for yourself. Enjoy the freedom of a god, and\nhave the goodness and the courage to express your honest thought.\"\n\nWhy should we pursue the truth? and why should we investigate and\nreason? and why should we be mentally honest and hospitable? and why\nshould we express our honest thoughts? To this there is but one answer:\nfor the benefit of mankind.\n\nThe brain must be developed. The world must think. Speech must be free.\nThe world must learn that credulity is not a virtue and that no question\nis settled until reason is fully satisfied.\n\nBy these means man will overcome many of the obstructions of nature. He\nwill cure or avoid many diseases. He will lessen pain. He will lengthen,\nennoble and enrich life. In every direction he will increase his power.\nHe will satisfy his wants, gratify his tastes. He will put roof and\nraiment, food and fuel, home and happiness within the reach of all.\n\nHe will drive want and crime from the world. He will destroy the\nserpents of fear, the monsters of superstition. He will become\nintelligent and free, honest and serene.\n\nThe monarch of the skies will be dethroned--the flames of hell will be\nextinguished. Pious beggars will become honest and useful men. Hypocrisy\nwill collect no tolls from fear, lies will not be regarded as sacred,\nthis life will not be sacrificed for another, human beings will love\neach other instead of gods, men will do right, not for the sake of\nreward in some other world, but for the sake of happiness here. Man\nwill find that Nature is the only revelation, and that he, by his own\nefforts, must learn to read the stories told by star and cloud, by rock\nand soil, by sea and stream, by rain and fire, by plant and flower,\nby life in all its curious forms, and all the things and forces of the\nworld.\n\nWhen he reads these stories, these records, he will know that man must\nrely on himself,--that the supernatural does not exist, and that man\nmust be the providence of man.\n\nIt is impossible to conceive of an argument against the freedom of\nthought--against maintaining your self-respect and preserving the\nspotless and stainless veracity of the soul.\n\n\nII.\n\nALL that I have said seems to be true--almost self-evident,--and you may\nask who it is that says slavery is better than liberty. Let me tell you.\n\nAll the popes and priests, all the orthodox churches and clergymen, say\nthat they have a revelation from God.\n\nThe Protestants say that it is the duty of every person to read, to\nunderstand, and to believe this revelation--that a man should use his\nreason; but if he honestly concludes that the Bible is not a revelation\nfrom God, and dies with that conclusion in his mind, he will be\ntormented forever. They say:--\"Read,\" and then add: \"Believe, or be\ndamned.\"\n\n\"No matter how unreasonable the Bible may appear to you, you must\nbelieve. No matter how impossible the miracles may seem, you must\nbelieve. No matter how cruel the laws, your heart must approve them\nall!\"\n\nThis is what the church calls the liberty of thought. We read the Bible\nunder the scowl and threat of God. We read by the glare of hell. On one\nside is the devil, with the instruments of torture in his hands. On the\nother, God, ready to launch the infinite curse. And the church says to\nthe readers: \"You are free to decide. God is good, and he gives you the\nliberty to choose.\"\n\nThe popes and the priests say to the poor people: \"You need not read\nthe Bible. You cannot understand it. That is the reason it is called a\nrevelation. We will read it for you, and you must believe what we say.\nWe carry the key of hell. Contradict us and you will become eternal\nconvicts in the prison of God.\"\n\nThis is the freedom of the Catholic Church.\n\nAnd all these priests and clergymen insist that the Bible is superior\nto human reason--that it is the duty of man to accept it--to believe it,\nwhether he really thinks it is true or not, and without the slightest\nregard to evidence or reason.\n\nIt is his duty to cast out from the temple of his soul the goddess\nReason, and bow before the coiled serpent of Fear.\n\nThis is what the church calls virtue.\n\nUnder these conditions what can thought be worth? The brain, swept by\nthe sirocco of God's curse, becomes a desert.\n\nBut this is not all. To compel man to desert the standard of Reason,\nthe church does not entirely rely on the threat of eternal pain to be\nendured in another world, but holds out the reward of everlasting joy.\n\nTo those who believe, it promises the endless ecstasies of heaven. If it\ncannot frighten, it will bribe. It relies on fear and hope.\n\nA religion, to command the respect of intelligent men, should rest on a\nfoundation of established facts. It should appeal, not to passion,\nnot to hope and fear, but to the judgment. It should ask that all the\nfaculties of the mind, all the senses, should assemble and take\ncounsel together, and that its claims be passed upon and tested without\nprejudice, without fear, in the calm of perfect candor.\n\nBut the church cries: \"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt\nbe saved.\" Without this belief there is no salvation. Salvation is the\nreward for belief.\n\nBelief is, and forever must be, the result of evidence. A promised\nreward is not evidence. It sheds no intellectual light. It establishes\nno fact, answers no objection, and dissipates no doubt.\n\nIs it honest to offer a reward for belief?\n\nThe man who gives money to a judge or juror for a decision or verdict\nis guilty of a crime. Why? Because he induces the judge, the juror, to\ndecide, not according to the law, to the facts, the right, but according\nto the bribe.\n\nThe bribe is not evidence.\n\nSo, the promise of Christ to reward those who will believe is a bribe.\nIt is an attempt to make a promise take the place of evidence. He\nwho says that he believes, and does this for the sake of the reward,\ncorrupts his soul.\n\nSuppose I should say that at the center of the earth there is a diamond\none hundred miles in diameter, and that I would give ten thousand\ndollars to any man who would believe my statement. Could such a promise\nbe regarded as evidence?\n\nIntelligent people would ask not for rewards, but reasons. Only\nhypocrites would ask for the money.\n\nYet, according to the New Testament, Christ offered a reward to those\nwho would believe, and this promised reward was to take the place of\nevidence. When Christ made this promise he forgot, ignored, or held in\ncontempt the rectitude of a brave, free and natural soul.\n\nThe declaration that salvation is the reward for belief is inconsistent\nwith mental freedom, and could have been made by no man who thought that\nevidence sustained the slightest relation to belief.\n\nEvery sermon in which men have been told that they could save their\nsouls by believing, has been an injury. Such sermons dull the moral\nsense and subvert the true conception of virtue and duty.\n\nThe true man, when asked to believe, asks for evidence. The true man,\nwho asks another to believe, offers evidence.\n\nBut this is not all.\n\nIn spite of the threat of eternal pain--of the promise of everlasting\njoy, unbelievers increased, and the churches took another step.\n\nThe churches said to the unbelievers, the heretics: \"Although our God\nwill punish you forever in another world--in his prison--the doors of\nwhich open only to receive, we, unless you believe, will torment you\nnow.\"\n\nAnd then the members of these churches, led by priests, popes, and\nclergymen, sought out their unbelieving neighbors--chained them in\ndungeons, stretched them on racks, crushed their bones, cut out their\ntongues, extinguished their eyes, flayed them alive and consumed their\npoor bodies in flames.\n\nAll this was done because these Christian savages believed in the dogma\nof eternal pain. Because they believed that heaven was the reward\nfor belief. So believing, they were the enemies of free thought and\nspeech--they cared nothing for conscience, nothing for the veracity of\na soul,--nothing for the manhood of a man. In all ages most priests have\nbeen heartless and relentless. They have calumniated and tortured. In\ndefeat they have crawled and whined. In victory they have killed. The\nflower of pity never blossomed in their hearts and in their brain.\nJustice never held aloft the scales. Now they are not as cruel. They\nhave lost their power, but they are still trying to accomplish the\nimpossible. They fill their pockets with \"fool's gold\" and think they\nare rich. They stuff their minds with mistakes and think they are wise.\nThey console themselves with legends and myths, have faith in fiction\nand forgery--give their hearts to ghosts and phantoms and seek the aid\nof the non-existent.\n\nThey put a monster--a master--a tyrant in the sky, and seek to enslave\ntheir fellow-men. They teach the cringing virtues of serfs. They abhor\nthe courage of manly men. They hate the man who thinks. They long for\nrevenge.\n\nThey warm their hands at the imaginary fires of hell.\n\nI show them that hell does not exist and they denounce me for destroying\ntheir consolation.\n\nHorace Greeley, as the story goes, one cold day went into a country\nstore, took a seat by the stove, unbuttoned his coat and spread out his\nhands.\n\nIn a few minutes, a little boy who clerked in the store said: \"Mr.\nGreeley, there aint no fire in that stove.\"\n\n\"You d----d little rascal,\" said Greeley, \"What did you tell me for, I\nwas getting real warm.\"\n\n\nIII.\n\n\"THE SCIENCE OF THEOLOGY.\"\n\nALL the sciences--except Theology--are eager for facts--hungry for the\ntruth. On the brow of a finder of a fact the laurel is placed.\n\nIn a theological seminary, if a professor finds a fact inconsistent with\nthe creed, he must keep it secret or deny it, or lose his place. Mental\nveracity is a crime, cowardice and hypocrisy are virtues.\n\nA fact, inconsistent with the creed, is denounced as a lie, and the\nman who declares or announces the fact is a blasphemer. Every professor\nbreathes the air of insincerity. Every one is mentally dishonest. Every\none is a pious fraud. Theology is the only dishonest science--the only\none that is based on belief--on credulity,--the only one that abhors\ninvestigation, that despises thought and denounces reason.\n\nAll the great theologians in the Catholic Church have denounced reason\nas the light furnished by the enemy of mankind--as the road that leads\nto perdition. All the great Protestant theologians, from Luther to\nthe orthodox clergy of our time, have been the enemies of reason. All\northodox churches of all ages have been the enemies of science. They\nattacked the astronomers as though they were criminals--the geologists\nas though they were assassins. They regarded physicians as the enemies\nof God--as men who were trying to defeat the decrees of Providence.\nThe biologists, the anthropologists, the archaeologists, the readers of\nancient inscriptions, the delvers in buried cities, were all hated by\nthe theologians. They were afraid that these men might find something\ninconsistent with the Bible.\n\nThe theologians attacked those who studied other religions. They\ninsisted that Christianity was not a growth--not an evolution--but\na revelation. They denied that it was in any way connected with any\nnatural religion.\n\nThe facts now show beyond all doubt that all religions came from\nsubstantially the same source--but there is not an orthodox Christian\ntheologian who will admit the facts. He must defend his creed--his\nrevelation. He cannot afford to be honest. He was not educated in an\nhonest school. He was not taught to be honest. He was taught to believe\nand to defend his belief, not only against argument but against facts.\n\nThere is not a theologian in the whole world who can produce the\nslightest, the least particle of evidence tending to show that the Bible\nis the inspired word of God.\n\nWhere is the evidence that the book of Ruth was written by an inspired\nman? Where is the evidence that God is the author of the Song of\nSolomon? Where is the evidence that any human being has been inspired?\nWhere is the evidence that Christ was and is God? Where is the evidence\nthat the places called heaven and hell exist? Where is the evidence that\na miracle was ever wrought?\n\nThere is none.\n\nTheology is entirely independent of evidence.\n\nWhere is the evidence that angels and ghosts--that devils and gods\nexist? Have these beings been seen or touched? Does one of our senses\ncertify to their existence?\n\nThe theologians depend on assertions. They have no evidence. They\nclaim that their inspired book is superior to reason and independent of\nevidence.\n\nThey talk about probability--analogy--inferences--but they present no\nevidence. They say that they know that Christ lived, in the same way\nthat they know that Caesar lived. They might add that they know Moses\ntalked with Jehovah on Sinai the same way they know that Brigham Young\ntalked with God in Utah. The evidence in both cases is the same,--none\nin either.\n\nHow do they prove that Christ rose from the dead? They find the account\nin a book. Who wrote the book? They do not know. What evidence is this?\nNone, unless all things found in books are true.\n\nIt is impossible to establish one miracle except by another--and that\nwould have to be established by another still, and so on without end.\nHuman testimony is not sufficient to establish a miracle. Each human\nbeing, to be really convinced, must witness the miracle for himself.\n\nThey say that Christianity was established, proven to be true, by\nmiracles wrought nearly two thousand years ago. Not one of these\nmiracles can be established except by impudent and ignorant\nassertion--except by poisoning and deforming the minds of the ignorant\nand the young. To succeed, the theologians invade the cradle, the\nnursery. In the brain of innocence they plant the seeds of superstition.\nThey pollute the minds and imaginations of children. They frighten the\nhappy with threats of pain--they soothe the wretched with gilded lies.\n\nThis perpetual insincerity stamps itself on the face--affects every\nfeature. We all know the theological countenance,--cold, unsympathetic,\ncruel, lighted with a pious smirk,--no line of laughter--no dimpled\nmirth--no touch of humor--nothing human.\n\nThis face is a rebuke, a reprimand to natural joy. It says to the happy:\n\"Beware of the dog\"--\"Prepare for death.\" This face, like the fabled\nGorgon, turns cheerfulness to stone. It is a protest against pleasure--a\nwarning and a threat.\n\nYou see every soul is a sculptor that fashions the features, and in this\nway reveals itself.\n\nEvery thought leaves its impress.\n\nThe student of this science of theology must be taught in youth,--in\nhis mother's arms. These lies must be sown and planted in his brain the\nfirst of all. He must be taught to believe, to accept without question.\nHe must be told that it is wicked to doubt, that it is sinful to\ninquire--that Faith is a virtue and unbelief a crime.\n\nIn this way his mind is poisoned, paralyzed. On all other subjects he\nhas liberty--and in all other directions he is urged to study and think.\nFrom his mother's arms he goes to the Sunday school. His poor little\nmind is filled with miracles and wonders. He is told about a God who\nmade the world and who rewards and punishes. He is told that this God\nis the author of the Bible--that Christ is his son. He is told about\noriginal sin and the atonement, and he believes what he hears. No\nreasons are given--no facts--no evidence is presented--nothing\nbut assertion. If he asks questions, he is silenced by more solemn\nassertions and warned against the devices of the evil one. Every Sunday\nschool is a kind of inquisition where they torture and deform the minds\nof children--where they force their souls into Catholic or Protestant\nmoulds--and do all they can to destroy the originality, the\nindividuality, and the veracity of the soul. In the theological seminary\nthe destruction is complete.\n\nWhen the minister leaves the seminary, he is not seeking the truth.\nHe has it. He has a revelation from God, and he has a creed in exact\naccordance with that revelation. His business is to stand by that\nrevelation and to defend that creed. Arguments against the revelation\nand the creed he will not read, he will not hear. All facts that are\nagainst his religion he will deny. It is impossible for him to be\ncandid. The tremendous \"verities\" of eternal joy, of everlasting pain\nare in his creed, and they result from believing the false and denying\nthe true.\n\nInvestigation is an infinite danger, unbelief is an infinite offence\nand deserves and will receive infinite punishment. In the shadow of this\ntremendous \"fact\" his courage dies, his manhood is lost, and in his fear\nhe cries out that he believes, whether he does or not.\n\nHe says and teaches that credulity is safe and thought dangerous. Yet he\npretends to be a teacher--a leader, one selected by God to educate his\nfellow-men.\n\nThese orthodox ministers have been the slanderers of the really great\nmen of our century. They denounced Lyell, the great geologist, for\ngiving facts to the world. They hated and belittled Humboldt, one of the\ngreatest and most intellectual of the race. They ridiculed and derided\nDarwin, the greatest naturalist, the keenest observer, the best judge\nof the value of a fact, the most wonderful discoverer of truth that the\nworld has produced.\n\nIn every orthodox pulpit stood a traducer of the greatest of\nscientists--of one who filled the world with intellectual light.\n\nThe church has been the enemy of every science, of every real thinker,\nand for many centuries has used her power to prevent intellectual\nprogress.\n\nMinisters ought to be free. They should be the heralds of the ever\ncoming day, but they are the bats, the owls that inhabit ruins, that\nhate the light. They denounce honest men who express their thoughts, as\nblasphemers, and do what they can to close their mouths. For their Bible\nthey ask the protection of law. They wish to be shielded from laughter\nby the Legislature. They ask that the arguments of their opponents\nbe answered by the courts. This is the result of a due admixture of\ncowardice, hypocrisy and malice.\n\nWhat valuable fact has been proclaimed from an orthodox pulpit? What\necclesiastical council has added to the intellectual wealth of the\nworld?\n\nMany centuries ago the church gave to Christendom a code of laws,\nstupid, unphilosophic and brutal to the last degree.\n\nThe church insists that it has made man merciful and just. Did it do\nthis by torturing heretics--by extinguishing their eyes--by flaying them\nalive? Did it accomplish this result through the Inquisition--by the\nuse of the thumb-screw, the rack and the fagot? Of what science has the\nchurch been the friend and champion? What orthodox church has opened its\ndoors to a persecuted truth? Of what use has Christianity been to man?\n\nThey tell us that the church has been and is the friend of education.\nI deny it. The church founded colleges not to educate men, but to\nmake proselytes, converts, defenders. This was in accordance with the\ninstinct of self-preservation. No orthodox church ever was, or ever\nwill be in favor of real education. A Catholic is in favor of enough\neducation to make a Catholic out of a savage, and the Protestant is in\nfavor of enough education to make a Protestant out of a Catholic, but\nboth are opposed to the education that makes free and manly men.\n\nSo, ministers say that they teach charity. This is natural. They live on\nalms. All beggars teach that others should give.\n\nSo, they tell us that the church has built hospitals. This is not true.\nMen have not built hospitals because they were Christians, but\nbecause they were men. They have not built them for charity--but in\nself-defence.\n\nIf a man comes to your door with the smallpox, you cannot let him in,\nyou cannot kill him. As a necessity, you provide a place for him. And\nyou do this to protect yourself. With this Christianity has had nothing\nto do.\n\nThe church cannot give, because it does not produce. It is claimed that\nthe church has made men and women forgiving. I admit that the church has\npreached forgiveness, but it has never forgiven an enemy--never. Against\nthe great and brave thinkers it has coined and circulated countless\nlies. Never has the church told, or tried to tell, the truth about an\nhonest foe.\n\nThe church teaches the existence of the supernatural. It believes in\nthe divine sleight-of-hand--in the \"presto\" and \"open sesame\" of the\nInfinite; in some invisible Being who produces effects without causes\nand causes without effects; whose caprice governs the world and who can\nbe persuaded by prayer, softened by ceremony, and who will, as a reward\nfor faith, save men from the natural consequences of their actions.\n\nThe church denies the eternal, inexorable sequence of events.\n\nWhat Good has the Church Accomplished?\n\nIt claims to have preached peace because its founder said, \"I came not\nto bring peace but a sword.\"\n\nIt claims to have preserved the family because its founder offered a\nhundred-fold here and life everlasting to those who would desert wife\nand children.\n\nSo, it claims to have taught the brotherhood of man and that the gospel\nis for all the world, because Christ said to the woman of Samaria that\nhe came only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and declared that\nit was not meet to take the bread of the children and cast it unto dogs.\n\nIn the name of Christ, who threatened eternal revenge, it has preached\nforgiveness.\n\nOf what Use are the Orthodox Ministers?\n\nThey are the enemies of pleasure. They denounce dancing as one of\nthe deadly sins. They are shocked at the wickedness of the waltz--the\npollution of the polka. They are the enemies of the theatre. They\nslander actors and actresses. They hate them because they are rivals.\nThey are trying to preserve the sacredness of the Sabbath. It fills them\nwith malice to see the people happy on that day. They preach against\nexcursions and picnics--against those who seek the woods and the sea,\nthe shadows and the waves. They are filled with holy wrath against\nbicycles and bloomers. They are opposed to divorces. They insist that\nfor the glory of God, husbands and wives who loathe each other should\nbe compelled to live together. They abhor all works of fiction, and love\nthe Bible. They declare that the literary master-pieces of the world are\nunfit to be read. They think that the people should be satisfied with\nsermons and poems about death and hell. They hate art--abhor the marbles\nof the Greeks, and all representations of the human form. They want\nnothing painted or sculptured but hands, faces and clothes. Most of the\npriests are prudes, and publicly denounce what they secretly admire and\nenjoy. In the presence of the nude they cover their faces with their\nholy hands, but keep their fingers apart. They pretend to believe in\nmoral suasion, and want everything regulated by law. If they had the\npower, they would prohibit everything that men and women really enjoy.\nThey want libraries, museums and art galleries closed on the Sabbath.\nThey would abolish the Sunday paper--stop the running of cars and all\npublic conveyances on the holy day, and compel all the people to enjoy\nsermons, prayers and psalms.\n\nThese dear ministers, when they have poor congregations, thunder against\ntrusts, syndicates, and corporations--against wealth, fashion and\nluxury. They tell about Dives and Lazarus, paint rich men in hell and\nbeggars in heaven. If their congregations are rich they turn their guns\nin the other direction.\n\nThey have no confidence in education--in the development of the\nbrain. They appeal to hopes and fears. They ask no one to think--to\ninvestigate. They insist that all shall believe. Credulity is the\ngreatest of virtues, and doubt the deadliest of sins.\n\nThese men are the enemies of science--of intellectual progress. They\nridicule and calumniate the great thinkers. They deny everything that\nconflicts with the \"sacred Scriptures.\" They still believe in the\nastronomy of Joshua and the geology of Moses. They believe in the\nmiracles of the past, and deny the demonstrations of the present. They\nare the foes of facts--the enemies of knowledge. A desire to be happy\nhere, they regard as wicked and worldly--but a desire to be happy in\nanother world, as virtuous and spiritual.\n\nEvery orthodox church is founded on mistake and falsehood. Every good\northodox minister asserts what he does not know, and denies what he does\nknow.\n\nWhat are the Orthodox Clergy Doing for the Good of Mankind?\n\nAbsolutely nothing.\n\nWhat harm are they doing?\n\nOn every hand they sow the seeds of superstition. They paralyze the\nminds, and pollute the imaginations of children. They fill their hearts\nwith fear. By their teachings, thousands become insane. With them,\nhypocrisy is respectable and candor infamous.\n\nThey enslave the minds of men. Under their teachings men waste and\nmisdirect their energies, abandon the ends that can be accomplished,\ndedicate their lives to the impossible, worship the unknown, pray to the\ninconceivable, and become the trembling slaves of a monstrous myth born\nof ignorance and fashioned by the trembling hands of fear.\n\nSuperstition is the serpent that crawls and hisses in every Eden and\nfastens its poisonous fangs in the hearts of men.\n\nIt is the deadliest foe of the human race.\n\nSuperstition is a beggar--a robber, a tyrant.\n\nScience is a benefactor.\n\nSuperstition sheds blood.\n\nScience sheds light.\n\nThe dear preachers must give up the account of creation--the Garden of\nEden, the mud-man, the rib-woman, and the walking, talking, snake. They\nmust throw away the apple, the fall of man, the expulsion, and the gate\nguarded by angels armed with swords. They must give up the flood and the\ntower of Babel and the confusion of tongues. They must give up Abraham\nand the wrestling match between Jacob and the Lord. So, the story of\nJoseph, the enslavement of the Hebrews by the Egyptians, the story of\nMoses in the bullrushes, the burning bush, the turning of sticks into\nserpents, of water into blood, the miraculous creation of frogs, the\nkilling of cattle with hail and changing dust into lice, all must be\ngiven up. The sojourn of forty years in the desert, the opening of the\nRed Sea, the clothes and shoes that refused to wear out, the manna,\nthe quails and the serpents, the water that ran up hill, the talking of\nJehovah with Moses face to face, the giving of the Ten Commandments, the\nopening of the earth to swallow the enemies of Moses--all must be thrown\naway.\n\nThese good preachers must admit that blowing horns could not throw down\nthe walls of a city, that it was horrible for Jephthah to sacrifice his\ndaughter, that the day was not lengthened and the moon stopped for the\nsake of Joshua, that the dead Samuel was not raised by a witch, that\na man was not carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, that the river\nJordan was not divided by the stroke of a cloak, that the bears did not\ndestroy children for laughing at a prophet, that a wandering soothsayer\ndid not collect lightnings from heaven to destroy the lives of innocent\nmen, that he did not cause rain and make iron float, that ravens did not\nkeep a hotel where preachers got board and lodging free, that the shadow\non a dial was not turned back ten degrees to show that a king was going\nto recover from a boil, that Ezekiel was not told by God how to prepare\na dinner, that Jonah did not take cabin passage in a fish--and that all\nthe miracles in the old Testament are not allegories, or poems, but just\nold-fashioned lies. And the dear preachers will be compelled to admit\nthat there never was a miraculous babe without a natural father, that\nChrist, if he lived, was a man and nothing more. That he did not cast\ndevils out of folks--that he did not cure blindness with spittle and\nclay, nor turn water into wine, nor make fishes and loaves of bread out\nof nothing--that he did not know where to catch fishes with money in\ntheir mouths--that he did not take a walk on the water--that he did\nnot at will become invisible--that he did not pass through closed\ndoors--that he did not raise the dead--that angels never rolled stones\nfrom a sepulchre--that Christ did not rise from the dead and did not\nascend to heaven.\n\nAll these mistakes and illusions and delusions--all these miracles and\nmyths must fade from the minds of intelligent men.\n\nMy dear preachers, I beg you to tell the truth. Tell your congregations\nthat Moses was not the author of the Pentateuch. Tell them that nobody\nknows who wrote the five books. Tell them that Deuteronomy was not\nwritten until about six hundred years before Christ. Tell them that\nnobody knows who wrote Joshua, or Judges, or Ruth, Samuel, Kings, or\nChronicles, Job, or the Psalms, or the Song of Solomon. Be honest,\ntell the truth. Tell them that nobody knows who wrote Esther--that\nEcclesiastes was written long after Christ--that many of the prophecies\nwere written after the events pretended to be foretold had happened.\nTell them that Ezekiel and Daniel were insane. Tell them that nobody\nknows who wrote the gospels, and tell them that no line about Christ\nwritten by a contemporary has been found. Tell them it is all guess--and\nmay be, and perhaps. Be honest. Tell the truth, develop your brains, use\nall your senses and hold high the torch of Reason.\n\nIn a few years the pulpits will be filled with teachers instead of\npreachers--with thoughtful, brave, and honest men. The congregations\nwill be civilized--intellectually honest and hospitable.\n\nNow, most of the ministers insist that the old falsehoods shall\nbe treated with reverence--that ancient lies with long white\nbeards--wrinkled and bald-headed frauds--round-shouldered and toothless\nmiracles, and palsied mistakes on crutches, shall be called allegories,\nparables, oriental imagery, inspired poems. In their presence the\nungodly should remove their hats. They should respect the mould and moss\nof antiquity. They should remember that these lies, these frauds, the\nmiracles and mistakes, have for thousands of years ruled, enslaved, and\ncorrupted the human race.\n\nThese ministers ought to know that their creeds are based on imagined\nfacts and demonstrated by assertion.\n\nThey ought to know that they have no evidence,--nothing but promises\nand threats. They ought to know that it is impossible to conceive of\nforce existing without and before matter--that it is equally impossible\nto conceive of matter without force--that it is impossible to conceive\nof the creation or destruction of matter or force,--that it is\nimpossible to conceive of infinite intelligence dwelling from eternity\nin infinite space, and that it is impossible to conceive of the creator,\nor creation, of substance.\n\nThe God of the Christian is an enthroned guess--a perhaps--an inference.\n\nNo man, and no body of men, can answer the questions of the Whence and\nWhither. The mystery of existence cannot be explained by the intellect\nof man.\n\nBack of life, of existence, we cannot go--beyond death we cannot see.\nAll duties, all obligations, all knowledge, all experience, are for this\nlife, for this world.\n\nWe know that men and women and children exist. We know that happiness,\nfor the most part, depends on conduct.\n\nWe are satisfied that all the gods are phantoms and that the\nsupernatural does not exist.\n\nWe know the difference between hope and knowledge, we hope for happiness\nhere and we dream of joy hereafter, but we do not know. We cannot\nassert, we can only hope. We can have our dream. In the wide night our\nstar can shine and shed its radiance on the graves of those we love. We\ncan bend above our pallid dead and say that beyond this life there are\nno sighs--no tears--no breaking hearts.\n\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\nLET us be honest. Let us preserve the veracity of our souls. Let\neducation commence in the cradle--in the lap of the loving mother.\nThis is the first school. The teacher, the mother, should be absolutely\nhonest.\n\nThe nursery should not be an asylum for lies.\n\nParents should be modest enough to be truthful--honest enough to\nadmit their ignorance. Nothing should be taught as true that cannot be\ndemonstrated.\n\nEvery child should be taught to doubt, to inquire, to demand reasons.\nEvery soul should defend itself--should be on its guard against\nfalsehood, deceit, and mistake, and should beware of all kinds of\nconfidence men, including those in the pulpit.\n\nChildren should be taught to express their doubts--to demand reasons.\nThe object of education should be to develop the brain, to quicken the\nsenses. Every school should be a mental gymnasium. The child should be\nequipped for the battle of life. Credulity, implicit obedience, are the\nvirtues of slaves and the enslavers of the free. All should be taught\nthat there is nothing too sacred to be investigated--too holy to be\nunderstood.\n\nEach mind has the right to lift all curtains, withdraw all veils, scale\nall walls, explore all recesses, all heights, all depths for itself, in\nspite of church or priest, or creed or book.\n\nThe great volume of Nature should be open to all. None but the\nintelligent and honest can really read this book. Prejudice clouds and\ndarkens every page. Hypocrisy reads and misquotes, and credulity accepts\nthe quotation. Superstition cannot read a line or spell the shortest\nword. And yet this volume holds all knowledge, all truth, and is the\nonly source of thought. Mental liberty means the right of all to read\nthis book. Here the Pope and Peasant are equal. Each must read\nfor himself--and each ought honestly and fearlessly to give to his\nfellow-men what he learns.\n\nThere is no authority in churches or priests--no authority in numbers or\nmajorities. The only authority is Nature--the facts we know. Facts are\nthe masters, the enemies of the ignorant, the servants and friends of\nthe intelligent.\n\nIgnorance is the mother of mystery and misery, of superstition and\nsorrow, of waste and want.\n\nIntelligence is the only light. It enables us to keep the highway, to\navoid the obstructions, and to take advantage of the forces of nature.\nIt is the only lever capable of raising mankind. To develop the brain\nis to civilize the world. Intelligence reaves the heavens of winged and\nfrightful monsters--drives ghosts and leering fiends from the darkness,\nand floods with light the dungeons of fear.\n\nAll should be taught that there is no evidence of the existence of the\nsupernatural--that the man who bows before an idol of wood or stone\nis just as foolish as the one who prays to an imagined God,--that all\nworship has for its foundation the same mistake--the same ignorance, the\nsame fear--that it is just as foolish to believe in a personal god as in\na personal devil--just as foolish to believe in great ghosts as little\nones.\n\nSo, all should be taught that the forces, the facts in Nature, cannot be\ncontrolled or changed by prayer or praise, by supplication, ceremony,\nor sacrifice; that there is no magic, no miracle; that force can be\novercome only by force, and that the whole world is natural.\n\nAll should be taught that man must protect himself--that there is no\npower superior to Nature that cares for man--that Nature has neither\npity nor hatred--that her forces act without the slightest regard for\nman--that she produces without intention and destroys without regret.\n\nAll should be taught that usefulness is the bud and flower and fruit of\nreal religion. The popes and cardinals, the bishops, priests and parsons\nare all useless. They produce nothing. They live on the labor of others.\nThey are parasites that feed on the frightened. They are vampires that\nsuck the blood of honest toil. Every church is an organized beggar.\nEvery one lives on alms--on alms collected by force and fear. Every\northodox church promises heaven and threatens hell, and these promises\nand threats are made for the sake of alms, for revenue. Every church\ncries: \"Believe and give.\"\n\nA new era is dawning on the world. We are beginning to believe in the\nreligion of usefulness.\n\nThe men who felled the forests, cultivated the earth, spanned the rivers\nwith bridges of steel, built the railways and canals, the great ships,\ninvented the locomotives and engines, supplying the countless wants of\nman; the men who invented the telegraphs and cables, and freighted the\nelectric spark with thought and love; the men who invented the looms and\nspindles that clothe the world, the inventors of printing and the great\npresses that fill the earth with poetry, fiction and fact, that save and\nkeep all knowledge for the children yet to be; the inventors of all the\nwonderful machines that deftly mould from wood and steel the things we\nuse; the men who have explored the heavens and traced the orbits of\nthe stars--who have read the story of the world in mountain range and\nbillowed sea; the men who have lengthened life and conquered pain; the\ngreat philosophers and naturalists who have filled the world with\nlight; the great poets whose thoughts have charmed the souls, the great\npainters and sculptors who have made the canvas speak, the marble live;\nthe great orators who have swayed the world, the composers who have\ngiven their souls to sound, the captains of industry, the producers,\nthe soldiers who have battled for the right, the vast host of useful\nmen--these are our Christs, our apostles and our saints. The triumphs of\nscience are our miracles. The books filled with the facts of Nature are\nour sacred scriptures, and the force that is in every atom and in every\nstar--in everything that lives and grows and thinks, that hopes and\nsuffers, is the only possible god.\n\nThe absolute we cannot know--beyond the horizon of the Natural we cannot\ngo. All our duties are within our reach--all our obligations must be\ndischarged here, in this world. Let us love and labor. Let us wait and\nwork. Let us cultivate courage and cheerfulness--open our hearts to the\ngood--our minds to the true. Let us live free lives. Let us hope that\nthe future will bring peace and joy to all the children of men, and\nabove all, let us preserve the veracity of our souls.\n\n\n\n\nHOW TO REFORM MANKIND.\n\n     * This address was delivered before the Militant Church at\n     the Columbia Theatre, Chicago, Ills., April 12, 1896.\n\n\nI.\n\n\"THERE is no darkness but ignorance.\" Every human being is a necessary\nproduct of conditions, and every one is born with defects for which\nhe cannot be held responsible. Nature seems to care nothing for the\nindividual, nothing for the species.\n\nLife pursuing life and in its turn pursued by death, presses to the snow\nline of the possible, and every form of life, of instinct, thought and\naction is fixed and determined by conditions, by countless antecedent\nand co-existing facts. The present is the child, and the necessary\nchild, of all the past, and the mother of all the future.\n\nEvery human being longs to be happy, to satisfy the wants of the body\nwith food, with roof and raiment, and to feed the hunger of the mind,\naccording to his capacity, with love, wisdom, philosophy, art and song.\n\nThe wants of the savage are few; but with civilization the wants of the\nbody increase, the intellectual horizon widens and the brain demands\nmore and more.\n\nThe savage feels, but scarcely thinks. The passion of the savage is\nuninfluenced by his thought, while the thought of the philosopher is\nuninfluenced by passion. Children have wants and passions before they\nare capable of reasoning. So, in the infancy of the race, wants and\npassions dominate.\n\nThe savage was controlled by appearances, by impressions; he was\nmentally weak, mentally indolent, and his mind pursued the path of least\nresistance. Things were to him as they appeared to be. He was a natural\nbeliever in the supernatural, and, finding himself beset by dangers and\nevils, he sought in many ways the aid of unseen powers. His children\nfollowed his example, and for many ages, in many lands, millions and\nmillions of human beings, many of them the kindest and the best, asked\nfor supernatural help. Countless altars and temples have been built,\nand the supernatural has been worshiped with sacrifice and song, with\nself-denial, ceremony, thankfulness and prayer.\n\nDuring all these ages, the brain of man was being slowly and painfully\ndeveloped. Gradually mind came to the assistance of muscle, and thought\nbecame the friend of labor. Man has advanced just in the proportion that\nhe has mingled thought with his work, just in the proportion that he has\nsucceeded in getting his head and hands into partnership. All this was\nthe result of experience.\n\nNature, generous and heartless, extravagant and miserly as she is, is\nour mother and our only teacher, and she is also the deceiver of men.\nAbove her we cannot rise, below her we cannot fall. In her we find\nthe seed and soil of all that is good, of all that is evil. Nature\noriginates, nourishes, preserves and destroys.\n\nGood deeds bear fruit, and in the fruit are seeds that in their turn\nbear fruit and seeds. Great thoughts are never lost, and words of\nkindness do not perish from the earth.\n\nEvery brain is a field where nature sows the seeds of thought, and the\ncrop depends upon the soil.\n\nEvery flower that gives its fragrance to the wandering air leaves\nits influence on the soul of man. The wheel and swoop of the winged\ncreatures of the air suggest the flowing lines of subtle art. The\nroar and murmur of the restless sea, the cataract's solemn chant, the\nthunder's voice, the happy babble of the brook, the whispering leaves,\nthe thrilling notes of mating birds, the sighing winds, taught man to\npour his heart in song and gave a voice to grief and hope, to love and\ndeath.\n\nIn all that is, in mountain range and billowed plain, in winding stream\nand desert sand, in cloud and star, in snow and rain, in calm and storm,\nin night and day, in woods and vales, in all the colors of divided\nlight, in all there is of growth and life, decay and death, in all that\nflies and floats and swims, in all that moves, in all the forms and\nqualities of things, man found the seeds and symbols of his thoughts;\nand all that man has wrought becomes a part of nature's self, forming\nthe lives of those to be. The marbles of the Greeks, like strains of\nmusic, suggest the perfect, and teach the melody of life. The great\npoems, paintings, inventions, theories and philosophies, enlarge\nand mould the mind of man. All that is is natural. All is naturally\nproduced. Beyond the horizon of the natural man cannot go.\n\nYet, for many ages, man in all directions has relied upon, and sincerely\nbelieved in, the existence of the supernatural. He did not believe in\nthe uniformity of nature; he had no conception of cause and effect, of\nthe indestructibility of force.\n\nIn medicine he believed in charms, magic, amulets, and incantations. It\nnever occurred to the savage that diseases were natural.\n\nIn chemistry he sought for the elixir of life, for the philosopher's\nstone, and for some way of changing the baser metals into gold.\n\nIn mechanics he searched for perpetual motion, believing that he, by\nsome curious combinations of levers, could produce, could create a\nforce.\n\nIn government, he found the source of authority in the will of the\nsupernatural.\n\nFor many centuries his only conception of morality was the idea of\nobedience, not to facts as they exist in nature, but to the supposed\ncommand of some being superior to nature. During all these years\nreligion consisted in the praise and worship of the invisible and\ninfinite, of some vast and incomprehensible power, that is to say, of\nthe supernatural.\n\nBy experience, by experiment, possibly by accident, man found that some\ndiseases could be cured by natural means; that he could be relieved in\nmany instances of pain by certain kinds of leaves or bark.\n\nThis was the beginning. Gradually his confidence increased in the\ndirection of the natural, and began to decrease in charms and amulets,\nThe war was waged for many centuries, but the natural gained the\nvictory. Now we know that all diseases are naturally produced, and that\nall remedies, all curatives, act in accordance with the facts in nature.\nNow we know that charms, magic, amulets and incantations are just\nas useless in the practice of medicine as they would be in solving\na problem in mathematics. We now know that there are no supernatural\nremedies.\n\nIn chemistry the war was long and bitter; but we now no longer seek\nfor the elixir of life, and no one is trying to find the philosopher's\nstone. We are satisfied that there is nothing supernatural in all the\nrealm of chemistry. We know that substances are always true to their\nnatures; we know that just so many atoms of one substance will\nunite with just so many of another. The miraculous has departed from\nchemistry; in that science there is no magic, no caprice and no possible\nuse for the supernatural. We are satisfied that there can be no change,\nthat we can absolutely rely on the uniformity of nature; that the\nattraction of gravitation will always remain the same; and we feel\nthat we know this as certainly as we know that the relation between the\ndiameter and circumference of a circle can never change.\n\nWe now know that in mechanics the natural is supreme. We know that man\ncan by no possibility create a force; that by no possibility can he\ndestroy a force. No mechanic dreams of depending upon or asking for\nany supernatural aid. He knows that he works in accordance with certain\nfacts that no power can change.\n\nSo we in the United States believe that the authority to govern, the\nauthority to make and execute laws, comes from the consent of the\ngoverned and not from any supernatural source. We do not believe that\nthe king occupied his throne because of the will of the supernatural.\nNeither do we believe that others are subjects or serfs or slaves by\nreason of any supernatural will.\n\nSo, our ideas of morality have changed, and millions now believe that\nwhatever produces happiness and well-being is in the highest sense\nmoral. Unreasoning obedience is not the foundation or the essence of\nmorality. That is the result of mental slavery. To act in accordance\nwith obligation perceived is to be free and noble. To simply obey is to\npractice what might be called a slave virtue; but real morality is the\nflower and fruit of liberty and wisdom.\n\nThere are very many who have reached the conclusion that the\nsupernatural has nothing to do with real religion. Religion does not\nconsist in believing without evidence or against evidence. It does not\nconsist in worshiping the unknown or in trying to do something for the\nInfinite. Ceremonies, prayers and inspired books, miracles, special\nprovidence, and divine interference all belong to the supernatural and\nform no part of real religion.\n\nEvery science rests on the natural, on demonstrated facts. So, morality\nand religion must find their foundations in the necessary nature of\nthings.\n\n\nII. HOW CAN WE REFORM THE WORLD?\n\nIGNORANCE being darkness, what we need is intellectual light. The most\nimportant things to teach, as the basis of all progress, are that the\nuniverse is natural; that man must be the providence of man; that, by\nthe development of the brain, we can avoid some of the dangers, some of\nthe evils, overcome some of the obstructions, and take advantage of some\nof the facts and forces of nature; that, by invention and industry,\nwe can supply, to a reasonable degree, the wants of the body, and by\nthought, study and effort, we can in part satisfy the hunger of the\nmind.\n\nMan should cease to expect any aid from any supernatural source. By this\ntime he should be satisfied that worship has not created wealth, and\nthat prosperity is not the child of prayer. He should know that the\nsupernatural has not succored the oppressed, clothed the naked, fed\nthe hungry, shielded the innocent, stayed the pestilence, or freed the\nslave.\n\nBeing satisfied that the supernatural does not exist, man should turn\nhis entire attention to the affairs of this world, to the facts in\nnature.\n\nAnd, first of all, he should avoid waste--waste of energy, waste of\nwealth. Every good man, every good woman, should try to do away with\nwar, to stop the appeal to savage force. Man in a savage state relies\nupon his strength, and decides for himself what is right and what is\nwrong. Civilized men do not settle their differences by a resort to\narms. They submit the quarrel to arbitrators and courts. This is the\ngreat difference between the savage and the civilized. Nations, however,\nsustain the relations of savages to each other. There is no way of\nsettling their disputes. Each nation decides for itself, and each\nnation endeavors to carry its decision into effect. This produces war.\nThousands of men at this moment are trying to invent more deadly weapons\nto destroy their fellow-men. For eighteen hundred years peace has been\npreached, and yet the civilized nations are the most warlike of the\nworld. There are in Europe to-day between eleven and twelve millions of\nsoldiers, ready to take the field, and the frontiers of every civilized\nnation are protected by breastwork and fort. The sea is covered with\nsteel clad ships, filled with missiles of death.\n\nThe civilized world has impoverished itself, and the debt of\nChristendom, mostly for war, is now nearly thirty thousand million\ndollars. The interest on this vast sum has to be paid; it has to be paid\nby labor, much of it by the poor, by those who are compelled to deny\nthemselves almost the necessities of life. This debt is growing year by\nyear. There must come a change, or Christendom will become bankrupt.\n\nThe interest on this debt amounts at least to nine hundred million\ndollars a year; and the cost of supporting armies and navies, of\nrepairing ships, of manufacturing new engines of death, probably\namounts, including the interest on the debt, to at least six million\ndollars a day. Allowing ten hours for a day, that is for a working day,\nthe waste of war is at least six hundred thousand dollars an hour, that\nis to say, ten thousand dollars a minute.\n\nThink of all this being paid for the purpose of killing and preparing to\nkill our fellow-men. Think of the good that could be done with this vast\nsum of money; the schools that could be built, the wants that could\nbe supplied. Think of the homes it would build, the children it would\nclothe.\n\nIf we wish to do away with war, we must provide for the settlement of\nnational differences by an international court. This court should be\nin perpetual session; its members should be selected by the various\ngovernments to be affected by its decisions, and, at the command and\ndisposal of this court, the rest of Christendom being disarmed, there\nshould be a military force sufficient to carry its judgments into\neffect. There should be no other excuse, no other business for an army\nor a navy in the civilized world.\n\nNo man has imagination enough to paint the agonies, the horrors and\ncruelties of war. Think of sending shot and shell crashing through the\nbodies of men! Think of the widows and orphans! Think of the maimed, the\nmutilated, the mangled!\n\n\nIII. ANOTHER WASTE.\n\nLET us be perfectly candid with each other. We are seeking the truth,\ntrying to find what ought to be done to increase the well-being of man.\nI must give you my honest thought. You have the right to demand it, and\nI must maintain the integrity of my soul.\n\nThere is another direction in which the wealth and energies of man are\nwasted. From the beginning of history until now man has been seeking the\naid of the supernatural. For many centuries the wealth of the world was\nused to propitiate the unseen powers. In our own country, the property\ndedicated to this purpose is worth at least one thousand million\ndollars. The interest on this sum is fifty million dollars a year, and\nthe cost of employing persons, whose business it is to seek the aid\nof the supernatural and to maintain the property, is certainly as much\nmore. So that the cost in our country is about two million dollars a\nweek, and, counting ten hours as a working day, this amounts to about\nfive hundred dollars a minute.\n\nFor this vast amount of money the returns are remarkably small. The good\naccomplished does not appear to be great. There is no great diminution\nin crime. The decrease of immorality and poverty is hardly perceptible.\nIn spite, however, of the apparent failure here, a vast sum of money\nis expended every year to carry our ideas of the supernatural to other\nraces. Our churches, for the most part, are closed during the week,\nbeing used only a part of one day in seven. No one wishes to destroy\nchurches or church organizations. The only desire is that they shall\naccomplish substantial good for the world. In many of our small\ntowns--towns of three or four thousand people--will be found four\nor five churches, sometimes more. These churches are founded upon\nimmaterial differences; a difference as to the mode of baptism; a\ndifference as to who shall be entitled to partake of the Lord's\nsupper; a difference of ceremony; of government; a difference about\nfore-ordination; a difference about fate and free will. And it must be\nadmitted that all the arguments on all sides of these differences have\nbeen presented countless millions of times. Upon these subjects nothing\nnew is produced or anticipated, and yet the discussion is maintained by\nthe repetition of the old arguments.\n\nNow, it seems to me that it would be far better for the people of a\ntown, having a population of four or five thousand, to have one church,\nand the edifice should be of use, not only on Sunday, but on every day\nof the week. In this building should be the library of the town.\nIt should be the clubhouse of the people, where they could find the\nprincipal newspapers and periodicals of the world. Its auditorium\nshould be like a theatre. Plays should be presented by home talent; an\norchestra formed, music cultivated. The people should meet there at any\ntime they desire. The women could carry their knitting and sewing; and\nconnected with it should be rooms for the playing of games, billiards,\ncards, and chess. Everything should be made as agreeable as possible.\nThe citizens should take pride in this building. They should adorn\nits niches with statues and its walls with pictures. It should be the\nintellectual centre. They could employ a gentleman of ability, possibly\nof genius, to address them on Sundays, on subjects that would be of real\ninterest, of real importance. They could say to this minister:\n\n\"We are engaged in business during the week; while we are working at our\ntrades and professions, we want you to study, and on Sunday tell us what\nyou have found out.\"\n\nLet such a minister take for a series of sermons the history, the\nphilosophy, the art and the genius of the Greeks. Let him tell of the\nwondrous metaphysics, myths and religions of India and Egypt. Let him\nmake his congregation conversant with the philosophies of the world,\nwith the great thinkers, the great poets, the great artists, the\ngreat actors, the great orators, the great inventors, the captains of\nindustry, the soldiers of progress. Let them have a Sunday school in\nwhich the children shall be made acquainted with the facts of nature;\nwith botany, entomology, something of geology and astronomy.\n\nLet them be made familiar with the greatest of poems, the finest\nparagraphs of literature, with stories of the heroic, the self-denying\nand generous.\n\nNow, it seems to me that such a congregation in a few years would become\nthe most intelligent people in the United States.\n\nThe truth is that people are tired of the old theories. They have lost\nconfidence in the miraculous, in the supernatural, and they have ceased\nto take interest in \"facts\" that they do not quite believe.\n\n     \"There is no darkness but ignorance.\"\n     There is no light but intelligence,\n\nAs often as we can exchange a mistake for a fact, a falsehood for a\ntruth, we advance. We add to the intellectual wealth of the world, and\nin this way, and in this way alone, can be laid the foundation for the\nfuture prosperity and civilization of the race.\n\nI blame no one; I call in question the motives of no person; I admit\nthat the world has acted as it must.\n\nBut hope for the future depends upon the intelligence of the present.\nMan must husband his resources. He must not waste his energies in\nendeavoring to accomplish the impossible.\n\nHe must take advantage of the forces of nature. He must depend on\neducation, on what he can ascertain by the use of his senses, by\nobservation, by experiment and reason. He must break the chains of\nprejudice and custom. He must be free to express his thoughts on all\nquestions. He must find the conditions of happiness and become wise\nenough to live in accordance with them.\n\n\nIV. HOW CAN WE LESSEN CRIME?\n\nIN spite of all that has been done for the reformation of the world, in\nspite of all the inventions, in spite of all the forces of nature that\nare now the tireless slaves of man, in spite of all improvements in\nagriculture, in mechanics, in every department of human labor, the world\nis still cursed with poverty and with crime.\n\nThe prisons are full, the courts are crowded, the officers of the law\nare busy, and there seems to be no material decrease in crime.\n\nFor many thousands of years man has endeavored to reform his fellow-men\nby imprisonment, torture, mutilation and death, and yet the history\nof the world shows that there has been and is no reforming power in\npunishment. It is impossible to make the penalty great enough, horrible\nenough to lessen crime.\n\nOnly a few years ago, in civilized countries, larceny and many offences\neven below larceny, were punished by death; and yet the number of\nthieves and criminals of all grades increased. Traitors were hanged and\nquartered or drawn into fragments by horses; and yet treason flourished.\n\nMost of these frightful laws have been repealed, and the repeal\ncertainly did not increase crime. In our own country we rely upon the\ngallows, the penitentiary and the jail. When a murder is committed, the\nman is hanged, shocked to death by electricity, or lynched, and in a few\nminutes a new murderer is ready to suffer a like fate. Men steal; they\nare sent to the penitentiary for a certain number of years, treated\nlike wild beasts, frequently tortured. At the end of the term they are\ndischarged, having only enough money to return to the place from which\nthey were sent. They are thrown upon the world without means--without\nfriends--they are convicts. They are shunned, suspected and despised.\nIf they obtain a place, they are discharged as soon as it is found that\nthey were in prison. They do the best they can to retain the respect of\ntheir fellow-men by denying their imprisonment and their identity. In\na little while, unable to gain a living by honest means, they resort\nto crime, they again appear in court, and again are taken within the\ndungeon walls. No reformation, no chance to reform, nothing to give them\nbread while making new friends.\n\nAll this is infamous. Men should not be sent to the pentitentiary as a\npunishment, because we must remember that men do as they must. Nature\ndoes not frequently produce the perfect. In the human race there is a\nlarge percentage of failures. Under certain conditions, with certain\nappetites and passions and with a certain quality, quantity and shape of\nbrain, men will become thieves, forgers and counterfeiters. The question\nis whether reformation is possible, whether a change can be produced\nin the person by producing a change in the conditions. The criminal\nis dangerous and society has the right to protect itself. The\ncriminal should be confined, and, if possible, should be reformed. A\npentitentiary should be a school; the convicts should be educated. So,\nprisoners should work, and they should be paid a reasonable sum for\ntheir labor. The best men should have charge of prisons. They should be\nphilanthropists and philosophers; they should know something of\nhuman nature. The prisoner, having been taught, we will say, for five\nyears--taught the underlying principles of conduct, of the naturalness\nand harmony of virtue, of the discord of crime; having been convinced\nthat society has no hatred, that nobody wishes to punish, to degrade,\nor to rob him; and being at the time of his discharge paid a reasonable\nprice for his labor; being allowed by law to change his name, so that\nhis identity will not be preserved, he could go out of the prison a\nfriend of the government. He would have the feeling that he had been\nmade a better man; that he had been treated with justice, with mercy,\nand the money he carried with him would be a breastwork behind which he\ncould defy temptation, a breastwork that would support and take care of\nhim until he could find some means by which to support himself. And this\nman, instead of making crime a business, would become a good, honorable\nand useful-citizen.\n\nAs it is now, there is but little reform. The same faces appear again\nand again at the bar; the same men hear again and again the verdict of\nguilty and the sentence of the court, and the same men return again and\nagain to the prison cell. Murderers, those belonging to the dangerous\nclasses, those who are so formed by nature that they rush to the crimes\nof desperation, should be imprisoned for life; or they should be put\nupon some island, some place where they can be guarded, where it may\nbe that by proper effort they could support themselves; the men on\none island, the women on another. And to these islands should be sent\nprofessional criminals, those who have deliberately adopted a life\nof crime for the purpose of supporting themselves, the women upon one\nisland, the men upon another. Such people should not populate the earth.\n\nNeither the diseases nor the deformities of the mind or body should be\nperpetuated. Life at the fountain should not be polluted.\n\n\nV. HOMES FOR ALL.\n\nTHE home is the unit of the nation. The more homes the broader the\nfoundation of the nation and the more secure.\n\nEverything that is possible should be done to keep this from being\na nation of tenants. The men who cultivate the earth should own it.\nSomething has already been done in our country in that direction, and\nprobably in every State there is a homestead exemption. This exemption\nhas thus far done no harm to the creditor class. When we imprisoned\npeople for debt, debts were as insecure, to say the least, as now. By\nthe homestead laws, a home of a certain value or of a certain extent,\nis exempt from forced levy or sale; and these laws have done great good.\nUndoubtedly they have trebled the homes of the nation.\n\nI wish to go a step further. I want, if possible, to get the people\nout of the tenements, out of the gutters of degradation, to homes where\nthere can be privacy, where these people can feel that they are in\npartnership with nature; that they have an interest in good government.\nWith the means we now have of transportation, there is no necessity for\npoor people being huddled in festering masses in the vile, filthy and\nloathsome parts of cities, where poverty breeds rags, and the rags breed\ndiseases. I would exempt a homestead of a reasonable value, say of\nthe value of two or three thousand dollars, not only from sale under\nexecution, but from sale for taxes of every description. These homes\nshould be absolutely exempt; they should belong to the family, so that\nevery mother should feel that the roof above her head was hers; that\nher house was her castle, and that in its possession she could not be\ndisturbed, even by the nation. Under certain conditions I would allow\nthe sale of this homestead, and exempt the proceeds of the sale for a\ncertain time, during which they might be invested in another home; and\nall this could be done to make a nation of householders, a nation of\nland-owners, a nation of home-builders.\n\nI would invoke the same power to preserve these homes, and to acquire\nthese homes, that I would invoke for acquiring lands for building\nrailways. Every State should fix the amount of land that could be owned\nby an individual, not liable to be taken from him for the purpose of\ngiving a home to another, and when any man owned more acres than the law\nallowed, and another should ask to purchase them, and he should refuse,\nI would have the law so that the person wishing to purchase could file\nhis petition in court. The court would appoint commissioners, or a\njury would be called, to determine the value of the land the petitioner\nwished for a home, and, upon the amount being paid, found by such\ncommission, or jury, the land should vest absolutely in the petitioner.\n\nThis right of eminent domain should be used not only for the benefit\nof the person wishing a home, but for the benefit of all the people.\nNothing is more important to America than that the babes of America\nshould be born around the firesides of homes.\n\nThere is another question in which I take great interest, and it ought,\nin my judgment, to be answered by the intelligence and kindness of our\ncentury.\n\nWe all know that for many, many ages, men have been slaves, and we all\nknow that during all these years, women have, to some extent been the\nslaves of slaves. It is of the utmost importance to the human race that\nwomen, that mothers, should be free. Without doubt, the contract of\nmarriage is the most important and the most sacred that human beings can\nmake. Marriage is the most important of all institutions. Of course, the\nceremony of marriage is not the real marriage. It is only evidence\nof the mutual flames that burn within. There can be no real marriage\nwithout mutual love. So I believe in the ceremony of marriage, that it\nshould be public; that records should be kept. Besides, the ceremony\nsays to all the world that those who marry are in love with each other.\n\nThen arises the question of divorce. Millions of people imagine that the\nmarried are joined together by some supernatural power, and that they\nshould remain together, or at least married, during life. If all who\nhave been married were joined together by the supernatural, we must\nadmit that the supernatural is not infinitely wise.\n\nAfter all, marriage is a contract, and the parties to the contract are\nbound to keep its provisions; and neither should be released from such\na contract unless, in some way, the interests of society are involved.\nI would have the law so that any husband could obtain a divorce when the\nwife had persistently and flagrantly violated the contract; such divorce\nto be granted on equitable terms. I would give the wife a divorce if she\nrequested it, if she wanted it.\n\nAnd I would do this, not only for her sake, but for the sake of the\ncommunity, of the nation. All children should be children of love. All\nthat are born should be sincerely welcomed. The children of mothers\nwho dislike, or hate, or loathe the fathers, will fill the world with\ninsanity and crime. No woman should by law, or by public opinion,\nbe forced to live with a man whom she abhors. There is no danger of\ndemoralizing the world through divorce. Neither is there any danger of\ndestroying in the human heart that divine thing called love. As long as\nthe human race exists, men and women will love each other, and just so\nlong there will be true and perfect marriage. Slavery is not the soil or\nrain of virtue.\n\nI make a difference between granting divorce to a man and to a woman,\nand for this reason: A woman dowers her husband with her youth and\nbeauty. He should not be allowed to desert her because she has grown\nwrinkled and old. Her capital is gone; her prospects in life lessened;\nwhile, on the contrary, he may be far better able to succeed than when\nhe married her. As a rule, the man can take care of himself, and as a\nrule, the woman needs help. So, I would not allow him to cast her off\nunless she had flagrantly violated the contract. But, for the sake of\nthe community, and especially for the sake of the babes, I would give\nher a divorce for the asking.\n\nThere will never be a generation of great men until there has been a\ngeneration of free women--of free mothers.\n\nThe tenderest word in our language is maternity. In this word is the\ndivine mingling of ecstasy and agony--of love and self-sacrifice. This\nword is holy!\n\n\nVI. THE LABOR QUESTION.\n\nHERE has been for many years ceaseless discussion upon what is called\nthe labor question; the conflict between the workingman and the\ncapitalist. Many ways have been devised, some experiments have been\ntried for the purpose of solving this question. Profit-sharing would\nnot work, because it is impossible to share profits with those who are\nincapable of sharing losses. Communities have been formed, the object\nbeing to pay the expenses and share the profits among all the persons\nbelonging to the society. For the most part these have failed.\n\nOthers have advocated arbitration. And, while it may be that the\nemployers could be bound by the decision of the arbitrators, there has\nbeen no way discovered by which the employees could be held by such\ndecision. In other words, the question has not been solved.\n\nFor my own part, I see no final and satisfactory solution except\nthrough the civilization of employers and employed. The question is so\ncomplicated, the ramifications are so countless, that a solution by law,\nor by force, seems at least improbable. Employers are supposed to\npay according to their profits. They may or may not. Profits may\nbe destroyed by competition. The employer is at the mercy of other\nemployers, and as much so as his employees are at his mercy. The\nemployers cannot govern prices; they cannot fix demand; they cannot\ncontrol supply; and at present, in the world of trade, the laws of\nsupply and demand, except when interfered with by conspiracy, are in\nabsolute control.\n\nWill the time arrive, and can it arrive, except by developing the brain,\nexcept by the aid of intellectual light, when the purchaser will wish to\ngive what a thing is worth, when the employer will be satisfied with a\nreasonable profit, when the employer will be anxious to give the real\nvalue for raw material; when he will be really anxious to pay the\nlaborer the full value of his labor? Will the employer ever become\ncivilized enough to know that the law of supply and demand should not\nabsolutely apply in the labor market of the world? Will he ever become\ncivilized enough not to take advantage of the necessities of the\npoor, of the hunger and rags and want of poverty? Will he ever become\ncivilized enough to say: \"I will pay the man who labors for me enough to\ngive him a reasonable support, enough for him to assist in taking care\nof wife and children, enough for him to do this, and lay aside something\nto feed and clothe him when old age comes; to lay aside something,\nenough to give him house and hearth during the December of his life, so\nthat he can warm his worn and shriveled hands at the fire of home\"?\n\nOf course, capital can do nothing without the assistance of labor. All\nthere is of value in the world is the product of labor. The laboring man\npays all the expenses. No matter whether taxes are laid on luxuries or\non the necessaries of life, labor pays every cent.\n\nSo we must remember that, day by day, labor is becoming intelligent.\nSo, I believe the employer is gradually becoming civilized, gradually\nbecoming kinder; and many men who have made large fortunes from the\nlabor of their fellows have given of their millions to what they\nregarded as objects of charity, or for the interests of education. This\nis a kind of penance, because the men that have made this money from\nthe brain and muscle of their fellow-men have ever felt that it was not\nquite their own. Many of these employers have sought to balance their\naccounts by leaving something for universities, for the establishment\nof libraries, drinking fountains, or to build monuments to departed\ngreatness. It would have been, I think, far better had they used this\nmoney to better the condition of the men who really earned it.\n\nSo, I think that when we become civilized, great corporations will make\nprovision for men who have given their lives to their service. I think\nthe great railroads should pay pensions to their worn out employees.\nThey should take care of them in old age. They should not maim and\nwear out their servants and then discharge them, and allow them to be\nsupported in poorhouses. These great companies should take care of the\nmen they maim; they should look out for the ones whose lives they have\nused and whose labor has been the foundation of their prosperity. Upon\nthis question, public sentiment should be aroused to such a degree that\nthese corporations would be ashamed to use a human life and then throw\naway the broken old man as they would cast aside a rotten tie.\n\nIt may be that the mechanics, the workingmen, will finally become\nintelligent enough to really unite, to act in absolute concert. Could\nthis be accomplished, then a reasonable rate of compensation could be\nfixed and enforced. Now such efforts are local, and the result up to\nthis time has been failure. But, if all could unite, they could obtain\nwhat is reasonable, what is just, and they would have the sympathy of a\nvery large majority of their fellow-men, provided they were reasonable.\n\nBut, before they can act in this way, they must become really\nintelligent, intelligent enough to know what is reasonable and honest\nenough to ask for no more.\n\nSo much has already been accomplished for the workingman that I have\nhope, and great hope, of the future. The hours of labor have been\nshortened, and materially shortened, in many countries. There was a time\nwhen men worked fifteen and sixteen hours a day. Now, generally, a day's\nwork is not longer than ten hours, and the tendency is to still further\ndecrease the hours.\n\nBy comparing long periods of time, we more clearly perceive the advance\nthat has been made. In 1860, the average amount earned by the laboring\nmen, workmen, mechanics, per year, was about two hundred and eighty-five\ndollars. It is now about five hundred dollars, and a dollar to-day will\npurchase more of the necessaries of life, more food, clothing and fuel,\nthan it would in 1860. These facts are full of hope for the future.\n\nAll our sympathies should be with the men who work, who toil; for the\nwomen who labor for themselves and children; because we know that labor\nis the foundation of all, and that those who labor are the Caryatides\nthat support the structure and glittering dome of civilization and\nprogress.\n\n\nVII. EDUCATE THE CHILDREN.\n\nEVERY child should be taught to be self-supporting, and every one should\nbe taught to avoid being a burden on others, as they would shun death.\n\nEvery child should be taught that the useful are the honorable, and that\nthey who live on the labor of others are the enemies of society. Every\nchild should be taught that useful work is worship and that intelligent\nlabor is the highest form of prayer.\n\nChildren should be taught to think, to investigate, to rely upon the\nlight of reason, of observation and experience; should be taught to\nuse all their senses; and they should be taught only that which in some\nsense is really useful. They should be taught the use of tools, to use\ntheir hands, to embody their thoughts in the construction of things.\nTheir lives should not be wasted in the acquisition of the useless, or\nof the almost useless. Years should not be devoted to the acquisition of\ndead languages, or to the study of history which, for the most part, is\na detailed account of things that never occurred. It is useless to fill\nthe mind with dates of great battles, with the births and deaths of\nkings. They should be taught the philosophy of history, the growth of\nnations, of philosophies, theories, and, above all, of the sciences.\n\nSo, they should be taught the importance, not only of financial, but of\nmental honesty; to be absolutely sincere; to utter their real thoughts,\nand to give their actual opinions; and, if parents want honest children,\nthey should be honest themselves. It may be that hypocrites transmit\ntheir failing to their offspring. Men and women who pretend to agree\nwith the majority, who think one way and talk another, can hardly expect\ntheir children to be absolutely sincere.\n\nNothing should be taught in any school that the teacher does not\nknow. Beliefs, superstitions, theories, should not be treated like\ndemonstrated facts. The child should be taught to investigate, not to\nbelieve. Too much doubt is better than too much credulity. So, children\nshould be taught that it is their duty to think for themselves, to\nunderstand, and, if possible, to know.\n\nReal education is the hope of the future. The development of the brain,\nthe civilization of the heart, will drive want and crime from the world.\nThe schoolhouse is the real cathedral, and science the only possible\nsavior of the human race. Education, real education, is the friend of\nhonesty, of morality, of temperance.\n\nWe cannot rely upon legislative enactments to make people wise and good;\nneither can we expect to make human beings manly and womanly by keeping\nthem out of temptation. Temptations are as thick as the leaves of the\nforest, and no one can be out of the reach of temptation unless he is\ndead. The great thing is to make people intelligent enough and strong\nenough, not to keep away from temptation, but to resist it. All the\nforces of civilization are in favor of morality and temperance. Little\ncan be accomplished by law, because law, for the most part, about\nsuch things, is a destruction of personal liberty. Liberty cannot be\nsacrificed for the sake of temperance, for the sake of morality, or for\nthe sake of anything. It is of more value than everything else. Yet some\npeople would destroy the sun to prevent the growth of weeds. Liberty\nsustains the same relation to all the virtues that the sun does to life.\nThe world had better go back to barbarism, to the dens, the caves and\nlairs of savagery; better lose all art, all inventions, than to lose\nliberty. Liberty is the breath of progress; it is the seed and soil, the\nheat and rain of love and joy.\n\nSo, all should be taught that the highest ambition is to be happy,\nand to add to the well-being of others; that place and power are not\nnecessary to success; that the desire to acquire great wealth is a kind\nof insanity. They should be taught that it is a waste of energy, a waste\nof thought, a waste of life, to acquire what you do not need and what\nyou do not really use for the benefit of yourself or others.\n\nNeither mendicants nor millionaires are the happiest of mankind. The man\nat the bottom of the ladder hopes to rise; the man at the top fears to\nfall. The one asks; the other refuses; and, by frequent refusal, the\nheart becomes hard enough and the hand greedy enough to clutch and hold.\n\nFew men have intelligence enough, real greatness enough, to own a\ngreat fortune. As a rule, the fortune owns them. Their fortune is their\nmaster, for whom they work and toil like slaves. The man who has a good\nbusiness and who can make a reasonable living and lay aside something\nfor the future, who can educate his children and can leave enough to\nkeep the wolf of want from the door of those he loves, ought to be the\nhappiest of men.\n\nNow, society bows and kneels at the feet of wealth. Wealth gives power.\nWealth commands flattery and adulation. And so, millions of men give\nall their energies, as well as their very souls, for the acquisition of\ngold. And this will continue as long as society is ignorant enough and\nhypocritical enough to hold in high esteem the man of wealth without the\nslightest regard to the character of the man.\n\nIn judging of the rich, two things should be considered: How did they\nget it, and what are they doing with it? Was it honestly acquired? Is\nit being used for the benefit of mankind? When people become really\nintelligent, when the brain is really developed, no human being will\ngive his life to the acquisition of what he does not need or what he\ncannot intelligently use.\n\nThe time will come when the truly intelligent man cannot be happy,\ncannot be satisfied, when millions of his fellow-men are hungry and\nnaked. The time will come when in every heart will be the perfume of\npity's sacred flower. The time will come when the world will be anxious\nto ascertain the truth, to find out the conditions of happiness, and to\nlive in accordance with such conditions; and the time will come when\nin the brain of every human being will be the climate of intellectual\nhospitality.\n\nMan will be civilized when the passions are dominated by the intellect,\nwhen reason occupies the throne, and when the hot blood of passion no\nlonger rises in successful revolt.\n\nTo civilize the world, to hasten the coming of the Golden Dawn of the\nPerfect Day, we must educate the children, we must commence at the\ncradle, at the lap of the loving mother.\n\n\nVIII. WE MUST WORK AND WAIT.\n\nTHE reforms that I have mentioned cannot be accomplished in a day,\npossibly not for many centuries; and in the meantime there is much\ncrime, much poverty, much want, and consequently something must be done\nnow.\n\nLet each human being, within the limits of the possible be\nself-supporting; let every one take intelligent thought for the morrow;\nand if a human being supports himself and acquires a surplus, let him\nuse a part of that surplus for the unfortunate; and let each one to the\nextent of his ability help his fellow-men. Let him do what he can in the\ncircle of his own acquaintance to rescue the fallen, to help those\nwho are trying to help themselves, to give work to the idle. Let him\ndistribute kind words, words of wisdom, of cheerfulness and hope. In\nother words, let every human being do all the good he can, and let him\nbind up the wounds of his fellow-creatures, and at the same time put\nforth every effort, to hasten the coming of a better day.\n\nThis, in my judgment, is real religion. To do all the good you can is to\nbe a saint in the highest and in the noblest sense. To do all the good\nyou can; this is to be really and truly spiritual. To relieve suffering,\nto put the star of hope in the midnight of despair, this is true\nholiness. This is the religion of science. The old creeds are too\nnarrow, they are not for the world in which we live. The old dogmas lack\nbreadth and tenderness; they are too cruel, too merciless, too savage.\nWe are growing grander and nobler.\n\nThe firmament inlaid with suns is the dome of the real cathedral. The\ninterpreters of nature are the true and only priests. In the great creed\nare all the truths that lips have uttered, and in the real litany will\nbe found all the ecstasies and aspirations of the soul, all dreams\nof joy, all hopes for nobler, fuller life. The real church, the real\nedifice, is adorned and glorified with all that Art has done. In the\nreal choir is all the thrilling music of the world, and in the star-lit\naisles have been, and are, the grandest souls of every land and clime.\n\n     \"There is no darkness but ignorance.\"\n     Let us flood the world with intellectual light.\n\n\n\n\nA THANKSGIVING SERMON.\n\nMANY ages ago our fathers were living in dens and caves. Their bodies,\ntheir low foreheads, were covered with hair. They were eating berries,\nroots, bark and vermin. They were fond of snakes and raw fish. They\ndiscovered fire and, probably by accident, learned how to cause it by\nfriction. They found how to warm themselves--to fight the frost and\nstorm. They fashioned clubs and rude weapons of stone with which they\nkilled the larger beasts and now and then each other. Slowly, painfully,\nalmost imperceptibly they advanced. They crawled and stumbled, staggered\nand struggled toward the light. To them the world was unknown. On every\nhand was the mysterious, the sinister, the hurtful. The forests were\nfilled with monsters, and the darkness was crowded with ghosts, devils,\nand fiendish gods.\n\nThese poor wretches were the slaves of fear, the sport of dreams.\n\nNow and then, one rose a little above his fellows--used his senses--the\nlittle reason that he had--found something new--some better way. Then\nthe people killed him and afterward knelt with reverence at his grave.\nThen another thinker gave his thought--was murdered--another tomb became\nsacred--another step was taken in advance. And so through countless\nyears of ignorance and cruelty--of thought and crime--of murder and\nworship, of heroism, suffering, and self-denial, the race has reached\nthe heights where now we stand.\n\nLooking back over the long and devious roads that lie between the\nbarbarism of the past and the civilization of to-day, thinking of the\ncenturies that rolled like waves between these distant shores, we\ncan form some idea of what our fathers suffered--of the mistakes they\nmade--some idea of their ignorance, their stupidity--and some idea of\ntheir sense, their goodness, their heroism.\n\nIt is a long road from the savage to the scientist--from a den to\na mansion--from leaves to clothes--from a flickering rush to the\narc-light--from a hammer of stone to the modern mill--a long distance\nfrom the pipe of Pan to the violin--to the orchestra--from a floating\nlog to the steamship--from a sickle to a reaper--from a flail to a\nthreshing machine---from a crooked stick to a plow--from a spinning\nwheel to a spinning jenny--from a hand loom to a Jacquard--a Jacquard\nthat weaves fair forms and wondrous flowers beyond Arachne's utmost\ndream--from a few hieroglyphics on the skins of beasts--on bricks\nof clay--to a printing press, to a library--a long distance from the\nmessenger, traveling on foot, to the electric spark--from knives\nand tools of stone to those of steel--a long distance from sand to\ntelescopes--from echo to the phonograph, the phonograph that buries in\nindented lines and dots the sounds of living speech, and then gives\nback to life the very words and voices of the dead--a long way from the\ntrumpet to the telephone, the telephone that transports speech as swift\nas thought and drops the words, perfect as minted coins, in listening\nears--a long way from a fallen tree to the suspension bridge--from\nthe dried sinews of beasts to the cables of steel--from the oar to\nthe propeller--from the sling to the rifle--from the catapult to the\ncannon--a long distance from revenge to law--from the club to the\nLegislature--from slavery to freedom--from appearance to fact--from fear\nto reason.\n\nAnd yet the distance has been traveled by the human race. Countless\nobstructions have been overcome--numberless enemies have been\nconquered--thousands and thousands of victories have been won for the\nright, and millions have lived, labored and died for their fellow-men.\n\nFor the blessings we enjoy--for the happiness that is ours, we ought to\nbe grateful. Our hearts should blossom with thankfulness.\n\nWhom, what, should we thank?\n\nLet us be honest--generous.\n\nShould we thank the church?\n\nChristianity has controlled Christendom for at least fifteen hundred\nyears.\n\nDuring these centuries what have the orthodox churches accomplished, for\nthe good of man?\n\nIn this life man needs raiment and roof, food and fuel. He must be\nprotected from heat and cold, from snow and storm. He must take thought\nfor the morrow. In the summer of youth he must prepare for the winter of\nage. He must know something of the causes of disease--of the conditions\nof health. If possible he must conquer pain, increase happiness and\nlengthen life. He must supply the wants of the body--and feed the hunger\nof the mind.\n\nWhat good has the church done?\n\nHas it taught men to cultivate the earth? to build homes? to weave cloth\nto cure or prevent disease? to build ships, to navigate the seas? to\nconquer pain, or to lengthen life?\n\nDid Christ or any of his apostles add to the sum of useful knowledge?\nDid they say one word in favor of any science, of any art? Did they\nteach their fellow-men how to make a living, how to overcome the\nobstructions of nature, how to prevent sickness--how to protect\nthemselves from pain, from famine, from misery and rags?\n\nDid they explain any of the phenomena of nature? any of the facts\nthat affect the life of man? Did they say anything in favor of\ninvestigation--of study--of thought? Did they teach the gospel of\nself-reliance, of industry--of honest effort? Can any farmer, mechanic,\nor scientist find in the New Testament one useful fact? Is there\nanything in the sacred book that can help the geologist, the astronomer,\nthe biologist, the physician, the inventor--the manufacturer of any\nuseful thing?\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nFrom the very first it taught the vanity--the worthlessness of all\nearthly things. It taught the wickedness of wealth, the blessedness of\npoverty. It taught that the business of this life was to prepare\nfor death. It insisted that a certain belief was necessary to insure\nsalvation, and that all who failed to believe, or doubted in the least\nwould suffer eternal pain. According to the church the natural desires,\nambitions and passions of man were all wicked and depraved.\n\nTo love God, to practice self-denial, to overcome desire, to despise\nwealth, to hate prosperity, to desert wife and children, to live on\nroots and berries, to repeat prayers, to wear rags, to live in filth,\nand drive love from the heart--these, for centuries, were the highest\nand most perfect virtues, and those who practiced them were saints.\n\nThe saints did not assist their fellow-men. Their fellow-men\nassisted them. They did not labor for others. They were\nbeggars--parasites--vermin. They were insane. They followed the\nteachings of Christ. They took no thought for the morrow. They mutilated\ntheir bodies--scarred their flesh and destroyed their minds for the\nsake of happiness in another world. During the journey of life they\nkept their eyes on the grave. They gathered no flowers by the way--they\nwalked in the dust of the road--avoided the green fields. Their moans\nmade all the music they wished to hear. The babble of brooks, the songs\nof birds, the laughter of children, were nothing to them. Pleasure was\nthe child of sin, and the happy needed a change of heart. They\nwere sinless and miserable--but they had faith--they were pious and\nwretched--but they were limping towards heaven.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nIt has denounced pride and luxury--all things that adorn and enrich\nlife--all the pleasures of sense--the ecstasies of love--the happiness\nof the hearth--the clasp and kiss of wife and child.\n\nAnd the church has done this because it regarded this life as a period\nof probation--a time to prepare--to become spiritual--to overcome\nthe natural--to fix the affections on the invisible--to become\npassionless--to subdue the flesh--to congeal the blood--to fold the\nwings of fancy--to become dead to the world--so that when you appeared\nbefore God you would be the exact opposite of what he made you.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nIt pretended to have a revelation from God. It knew the road to eternal\njoy, the way to death. It preached salvation by faith, and declared that\nonly orthodox believers could become angels, and all doubters would be\ndamned. It knew this, and so knowing it became the enemy of discussion,\nof investigation, of thought. Why investigate, why discuss, why think\nwhen you know? It sought to enslave the world. It appealed to force.\nIt unsheathed the sword, lighted the fagot, forged the chain, built\nthe dungeon, erected the scaffold, invented and used the instruments\nof torture. It branded, maimed and mutilated--it imprisoned and\ntortured--it blinded and burned, hanged and crucified, and utterly\ndestroyed millions and millions of human beings. It touched every nerve\nof the body--produced every pain that can be felt, every agony that can\nbe endured.\n\nAnd it did all this to preserve what it called the truth--to destroy\nheresy and doubt, and to save, if possible, the souls of a few. It was\nhonest. It was necessary to prevent the development of the brain--to\narrest all progress--and to do this the church used all its power. If\nmen were allowed to think and express their thoughts they would fill\ntheir minds and the minds of others with doubts. If they were allowed to\nthink they would investigate, and then they might contradict the creed,\ndispute the words of priests and defy the church. The priests cried to\nthe people: \"It is for us to talk. It is for you to hear. Our duty is to\npreach and yours is to believe.\"\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nThere have been thousands of councils and synods--thousands and\nthousands of occasions when the clergy have met and discussed and\nquarreled--when pope and cardinals, bishops and priests have added to\nor explained their creeds--and denied the rights of others. What useful\ntruth did they discover? What fact did they find? Did they add to\nthe intellectual wealth of the world? Did they increase the sum of\nknowledge?\n\nI admit that they looked over a number of Jewish books and picked out\nthe ones that Jehovah wrote.\n\nDid they find the medicinal virtue that dwells in any weed or flower?\n\nI know that they decided that the Holy Ghost was not created--not\nbegotten--but that he proceeded.\n\nDid they teach us the mysteries of the metals and how to purify the ores\nin furnace flames?\n\nThey shouted: \"Great is the mystery of Godliness.\"\n\nDid they show us how to improve our condition in this world?\n\nThey informed us that Christ had two natures and two wills.\n\nDid they give us even a hint as to any useful thing?\n\nThey gave us predestination, foreordination and just enough \"free will\"\nto go to hell.\n\nDid they discover or show us how to produce anything for food?\n\nDid they produce anything to satisfy the hunger of man?\n\nInstead of this they discovered that a peasant girl who lived in\nPalestine, was the mother of God. This they proved by a book, and to\nmake the book evidence they called it inspired.\n\nDid they tell us anything about chemistry--how to combine and separate\nsubstances--how to subtract the hurtful--how to produce the useful?\n\nThey told us that bread, by making certain motions and mumbling certain\nprayers, could be changed into the flesh of God, and that in the same\nway wine could be changed to his blood. And this, notwithstanding the\nfact that God never had any flesh or blood, but has always been a spirit\nwithout body, parts or passions.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nIt gave us the history of the world--of the stars, and the beginning of\nall things. It taught the geology of Moses--the astronomy of Joshua\nand Elijah. It taught the fall of man and the atonement--proved that a\nJewish peasant was God--established the existence of hell, purgatory and\nheaven.\n\nIt pretended to have a revelation from God--the Scriptures, in which\ncould be found all knowledge--everything that man could need in the\njourney of life. Nothing outside of the inspired book--except legends\nand prayers--could be of any value. Books that contradicted the Bible\nwere hurtful, those that agreed with it--useless. Nothing was of\nimportance except faith, credulity--belief. The church said: \"Let\nphilosophy alone, count your beads. Ask no questions, fall upon your\nknees. Shut your eyes, and save your souls.\"\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nFor centuries it kept the earth flat, for centuries it made all the\nhosts of heaven travel around this world--for centuries it clung to\n\"sacred\" knowledge, and fought facts with the ferocity of a fiend. For\ncenturies it hated the useful. It was the deadly enemy of medicine.\nDisease was produced by devils and could be cured only by priests,\ndecaying bones, and holy water. Doctors were the rivals of priests. They\ndiverted the revenues.\n\nThe church opposed the study of anatomy--was against the dissection of\nthe dead. Man had no right to cure disease--God would do that through\nhis priests.\n\nMan had no right to prevent disease--diseases were sent by God as\njudgments.\n\nThe church opposed inoculation--vaccination, and the use of chloroform\nand ether. It was declared to be a sin, a crime for a woman to lessen\nthe pangs of motherhood. The church declared that woman must bear the\ncurse of the merciful Jehovah.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nIt taught that the insane were inhabited by devils. Insanity was not a\ndisease. It was produced by demons. It could be cured by prayers--gifts,\namulets and charms. All these had to be paid for. This enriched the\nchurch. These ideas were honestly entertained by Protestants as well as\nCatholics--by Luther, Calvin, Knox and Wesley.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nIt taught the awful doctrine of witchcraft. It filled the darkness with\ndemons--the air with devils, and the world with grief and shame. It\ncharged men, women and children with being in league with Satan to\ninjure their fellows. Old women were convicted for causing storms at\nsea--for preventing rain and for bringing frost. Girls were convicted\nfor having changed themselves into wolves, snakes and toads. These\nwitches were burned for causing diseases--for selling their souls and\nfor souring beer. All these things were done with the aid of the Devil\nwho sought to persecute the faithful, the lambs of God. Satan sought in\nmany ways to scandalize the church. He sometimes assumed the appearance\nof a priest and committed crimes.\n\nOn one occasion he personated a bishop--a bishop renowned for his\nsanctity--allowed himself to be discovered and dragged from the room of\na beautiful widow. So perfectly did he counterfeit the features and form\nof the bishop, that many who were well acquainted with the prelate,\nwere actually deceived, and the widow herself thought her lover was the\nbishop. All this was done by the Devil to bring reproach upon holy men.\n\nHundreds of like instances could be given, as the war waged between\ndemons and priests was long and bitter.\n\nThese popes and priests--these clergymen, were not hypocrites. They\nbelieved in the New Testament--in the teachings of Christ, and they knew\nthat the principal business of the Savior was casting out devils.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nIt made the wife a slave--the property of the husband, and it placed\nthe husband as much above the wife as Christ was above the husband. It\ntaught that a nun is purer, nobler than a mother. It induced millions of\npure and conscientious girls to renounce the joys of life--to take the\nveil woven of night and death, to wear the habiliments of the dead--made\nthem believe that they were the brides of Christ.\n\nFor my part, I would as soon be a widow as the bride of a man who had\nbeen dead for eighteen hundred years.\n\nThe poor deluded girls imagined that they, in some mysterious way, were\nin spiritual wedlock united with God. All worldly desires were\ndriven from their hearts. They filled their lives with fastings--with\nprayers--with self-accusings. They forgot fathers and mothers and gave\ntheir love to the invisible. They were the victims, the convicts of\nsuperstition--prisoners in the penitentiaries of God. Conscientious,\ngood, sincere--insane.\n\nThese loving women gave their hearts to a phantom, their lives to a\ndream.\n\nA few years ago, at a revival, a fine buxom girl was \"converted,\" \"born\nagain.\" In her excitement she cried, \"I'm married to Christ--I'm married\nto Christ.\" In her delirium she threw her arms around the neck of an old\nman and again cried, \"I'm married to Christ.\" The old man, who happened\nto be a kind of skeptic, gently removed her hands, saying at the same\ntime: \"I don't know much about your husband, but I have great respect\nfor your father-in-law.\"\n\nPriests, theologians, have taken advantage of women--of their\ngentleness--their love of approbation. They have lived upon their hopes\nand fears. Like vampires, they have sucked their blood. They have made\nthem responsible for the sins of the world. They have taught them the\nslave virtues--meekness, humility--implicit obedience. They have\nfed their minds with mistakes, mysteries and absurdities. They have\nendeavored to weaken and shrivel their brains, until, to them, there\nwould be no possible connection between evidence and belief--between\nfact and faith.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nIt was the enemy of commerce--of business. It denounced the taking\nof interest for money. Without taking interest for money, progress is\nimpossible. The steamships, the great factories, the railroads have all\nbeen built with borrowed money, money on which interest was promised and\nfor the most part paid.\n\nThe church was opposed to fire insurance--to life insurance. It\ndenounced insurance in any form as gambling, as immoral. To insure your\nlife was to declare that you had no confidence in God--that you relied\non a corporation instead of divine providence. It was declared that God\nwould provide for your widow and your fatherless children.\n\nTo insure your life was to insult heaven.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nThe church regarded epidemics as the messengers of the good God. The\n\"Black Death\" was sent by the eternal Father, whose mercy spared some\nand whose justice murdered the rest. To stop the scourge, they tried to\nsoften the heart of God by kneelings and prostrations--by processions\nand prayers--by burning incense and by making vows. They did not try to\nremove the cause. The cause was God. They did not ask for pure water,\nbut for holy water. Faith and filth lived or rather died together.\nReligion and rags, piety and pollution kept company. Sanctity kept its\nodor.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nIt was the enemy of art and literature. It destroyed the marbles of\nGreece and Rome. Beauty was Pagan. It destroyed so far as it could the\nbest literature of the world. It feared thought--but it preserved the\nScriptures, the ravings of insane saints, the falsehoods of the Fathers,\nthe bulls of popes, the accounts of miracles performed by shrines, by\ndried blood and faded hair, by pieces of bones and wood, by rusty nails\nand thorns, by handkerchiefs and rags, by water and beads and by a\nfinger of the Holy Ghost.\n\nThis was the literature of the church.\n\nI admit that the priests were honest--as honest as ignorant. More could\nnot be said.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nChristianity claims, with great pride, that it established asylums for\nthe insane. Yes, it did. But the insane were treated as criminals. They\nwere regarded as the homes--as the tenement-houses of devils. They were\npersecuted and tormented. They were chained and flogged, starved and\nkilled. The asylums were prisons, dungeons, the insane were victims and\nthe keepers were ignorant, conscientious, pious fiends. They were not\ntrying to help men, they were fighting devils--destroying demons. They\nwere not actuated by love--but by hate and fear.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nIt founded schools where facts were denied, where science was denounced\nand philosophy despised. Schools, where priests were made--where they\nwere taught to hate reason and to look upon doubts as the suggestions of\nthe Devil. Schools where the heart was hardened and the brain shriveled.\nSchools in which lies were sacred and truths profane. Schools for the\nmore general diffusion of ignorance--schools to prevent thought--to\nsuppress knowledge. Schools for the purpose of enslaving the world.\nSchools in which teachers knew less than pupils.\n\nWhat has the church done?\n\nIt has used its influence with God to get rain and sunshine--to stop\nflood and storm--to kill insects, rats, snakes and wild beasts--to stay\npestilence and famine--to delay frost and snow--to lengthen the lives of\nkings and queens--to protect presidents--to give legislators wisdom--to\nincrease collections and subscriptions. In marriages it has made God the\nparty of the third part. It has sprinkled water on babes when they were\nnamed. It has put oil on the dying and repeated prayers for the dead.\nIt has tried to protect the people from the malice of the Devil--from\nghosts and spooks, from witches and wizards and all the leering fiends\nthat seek to poison the souls of men. It has endeavored to protect the\nsheep of God from the wolves of science--from the wild beasts of doubt\nand investigation. It has tried to wean the lambs of the Lord from the\ndelights, the pleasures, the joys, of life. According to the philosophy\nof the church, the virtuous weep and suffer, the vicious laugh and\nthrive, the good carry a cross, and the wicked fly. But in the next life\nthis will be reversed. Then the good will be happy, and the bad will be\ndamned.\n\nThe church filled the world with faith and crime.\n\nIt polluted the fountains of joy. It gave us an ignorant, jealous,\nrevengeful and cruel God--sometimes merciful--sometimes ferocious. Now\njust, now infamous--sometimes wise--generally foolish. It gave us\na Devil, cunning, malicious, almost the equal of God, not quite as\nstrong--but quicker--not as profound--but sharper.\n\nIt gave us angels with wings--cherubim and seraphim and a heaven with\nharps and hallelujahs--with streets of gold and gates of pearl.\n\nIt gave us fiends and imps with wings like bats. It gave us ghosts\nand goblins, spooks and sprites, and little devils that swarmed in the\nbodies of men, and it gave us hell where the souls of men will roast in\neternal flames. Shall we thank the church? Shall we thank the orthodox\nchurches?\n\nShall we thank them for the hell they made here? Shall we thank them for\nthe hell of the future?\n\n\nII.\n\nWE must remember that the church was founded and has been protected by\nGod, that all the popes, and cardinals, all the bishops, priests and\nmonks, all the ministers and exhorters were selected and set apart--all\nsanctified and enlightened by the infinite God--that the Holy Scriptures\nwere inspired by the same Being, and that all the orthodox creeds were\nreally made by him.\n\nWe know what these men--filled with the Holy Ghost--have done. We know\nthe part they have played. We know the souls they have saved and the\nbodies they have destroyed. We know the consolation they have given and\nthe pain they have inflicted--the lies they have defended--the truths\nthey have denied. We know that they convinced millions that celibacy is\nthe greatest of all virtues--that women are perpetual temptations,\nthe enemies of true holiness--that monks and priests are nobler than\nfathers, that nuns are purer than mothers. We know that they taught the\nblessed absurdity of the Trinity--that God once worked at the trade\nof a carpenter in Palestine. We know that they divided knowledge into\nsacred and profane--taught that Revelation was sacred--that Reason was\nblasphemous--that faith was holy and facts false. That the sin of Adam\nand Eve brought disease and pain, vice and death into the world. We know\nthat they have taught the dogma of special providence--that all\nevents are ordered and regulated by God--that he crowns and uncrowns\nkings--preserves and destroys--guards and kills--that it is the duty of\nman to submit to the divine will, and that no matter how much evil\nthere may be--no matter how much suffering--how much pain and death, man\nshould pour out-his heart in thankfulness that it is no worse.\n\nLet me be understood. I do not say and I do not think that the church\nwas dishonest, that the clergy were insincere. I admit that all\nreligions, all creeds, all priests, have been naturally produced. I\nadmit, and cheerfully admit, that the believers in the supernatural have\ndone some good--not because they believed in gods and devils--but in\nspite of it.\n\nI know that thousands and thousands of clergymen are honest,\nself-denying and humane--that they are doing what they believe to be\ntheir duty--doing what they can to induce men and women to live pure and\nnoble lives. This is not the result of their creeds--it is because they\nare human.\n\nWhat I say is that every honest teacher of the supernatural has been and\nis an unconscious enemy of the human race.\n\nWhat is the philosophy of the church--of those who believe in the\nsupernatural?\n\nBack of all that is--back of all events--Christians put an infinite\nJuggler who with a wish creates, preserves, destroys. The world is his\nstage and mankind his puppets. He fills them with wants and desires,\nwith appetites and ambitions--with hopes and fears--with love and hate.\nHe touches the springs. He pulls the strings--baits the hooks, sets the\ntraps and digs the pits.\n\nThe play is a continuous performance.\n\nHe watches these puppets as they struggle and fail. Sees them outwit\neach other and themselves--leads them to every crime, watches the\nbirths and deaths--hears lullabies at cradles and the fall of\nclods on coffins. He has no pity. He enjoys the tragedies--the\ndesperation--the despair--the suicides. He smiles at the murders, the\nassassinations,--the seductions, the desertions--the abandoned babes of\nshame. He sees the weak enslaved--mothers robbed of babes--the innocent\nin dungeons--on scaffolds. He sees crime crowned and hypocrisy robed.\n\nHe withholds the rain and his puppets starve. He opens the earth and\nthey are devoured. He sends the flood and they are drowned. He empties\nthe volcano and they perish in fire. He sends the cyclone and they are\ntorn and mangled. With quick lightnings they are dashed to death.\nHe fills the air and water with the invisible enemies of life--the\nmessengers of pain, and watches the puppets as they breathe and\ndrink. He creates cancers to feed upon their flesh--their quivering\nnerves--serpents, to fill their veins with venom,--beasts to crunch\ntheir bones--to lap their blood.\n\nSome of the poor puppets he makes insane--makes them struggle in the\ndarkness with imagined monsters with glaring eyes and dripping jaws, and\nsome are made without the flame of thought, to drool and drivel through\nthe darkened days. He sees all the agony, the injustice, the rags\nof poverty, the withered hands of want--the motherless babes--the\ndeformed--the maimed--the leprous, knows the tears that flow--hears\nthe sobs and moans--sees the gleam of swords, hears the roar of the\nguns--sees the fields reddened with blood--the white faces of the dead.\nBut he mocks when their fear cometh, and at their calamity he fills the\nheavens with laughter. And the poor puppets who are left alive, fall on\ntheir knees and thank the Juggler with all their hearts.\n\nBut after all, the gods have not supported the children of men, men have\nsupported the gods. They have built the temples. They have sacrificed\ntheir babes, their lambs, their cattle. They have drenched the altars\nwith blood. They have given their silver, their gold, their gems. They\nhave fed and clothed their priests--but the gods have given nothing in\nreturn. Hidden in the shadows they have answered no prayer--heard\nno cry--given no sign--extended no hand--uttered no word. Unseen and\nunheard they have sat on their thrones, deaf and dumb--paralyzed and\nblind. In vain the steeples rise--in vain the prayers ascend.\n\nAnd think what man has done to please the gods. He has renounced his\nreason--extinguished the torch of his brain, he has believed without\nevidence and against evidence. He has slandered and maligned himself.\nHe has fasted and starved. He has mutilated his body--scarred his\nflesh--given his blood to vermin. He has persecuted, imprisoned and\ndestroyed his fellows. He has deserted wife and child. He has lived\nalone in the desert. He has swung-censers and burned incense, counted\nbeads and sprinkled himself with holy water--shut his eyes, clasped his\nhands--fallen upon his knees and groveled in the dust--but the gods have\nbeen silent--silent as stones.\n\nHave these cringings and crawlings--these cruelties and\nabsurdities--this faith and foolishness pleased the gods?\n\nWe do not know.\n\nHas any disaster been averted--any blessing obtained? We do not know.\n\nShall we thank these gods?\n\nShall we thank the church's God?\n\nWho and what is he?\n\nThey say that he is the creator and preserver of all that has been--of\nall that is--of all that will be--that he is the father of angels and\ndevils, the architect of heaven and hell--that he made the earth--a\nman and woman--that he made the serpent who tempted them, made his\nown rival--gave victory to his enemy--that he repented of what he had\ndone--that he sent a flood and destroyed all of the children of men with\nthe exception of eight persons--that he tried to civilize the survivors\nand their children--tried to do this with earthquakes and fiery serpents\n--with pestilence and famine. But he failed. He intended to fail. Then\nhe was born into the world, preached for three years, and allowed some\nsavages to kill him. Then he rose from the dead and went back to heaven.\n\nHe knew that he would fail, knew that he would be killed. In fact he\narranged everything himself and brought everything to pass just as he\nhad predestined it an eternity before the world was. All who believe\nthese things will be saved and they who doubt or deny will be lost.\n\nHas this God good sense?\n\nNot always. He creates his own enemies and plots against himself.\nNothing lives, except in accordance with his will, and yet the devils do\nnot die.\n\nWhat is the matter with this God? Well, sometimes he is\nfoolish--sometimes he is cruel and sometimes he is insane.\n\nDoes this God exist? Is there any intelligence back of Nature? Is there\nany being anywhere among the stars who pities the suffering children of\nmen?\n\nWe do not know.\n\nShall we thank Nature?\n\nDoes Nature care for us more than for leaves, or grass, or flies?\n\nDoes Nature know that we exist? We do not know.\n\nBut we do know that Nature is going to murder us all.\n\nWhy should we thank Nature? If we thank God or Nature for the sunshine\nand rain, for health and happiness, whom shall we curse for famine and\npestilence, for earthquake and cyclone--for disease and death?\n\n\nIII.\n\nIF we cannot thank the orthodox churches--if we cannot thank the\nunknown, the incomprehensible, the supernatural--if we cannot thank\nNature--if we can not kneel to a Guess, or prostrate ourselves before a\nPerhaps--whom shall we thank?\n\nLet us see what the worldly have done--what has been accomplished by\nthose not \"called,\" not \"set apart,\" not \"inspired,\" not filled with the\nHoly Ghost--by those who were neglected by all the Gods.\n\nPassing over the Hindus, the Egyptians, the Greeks and Romans, their\npoets, philosophers and metaphysicians--we will come to modern times.\n\nIn the 10th century after Christ the Saracens--governors of a vast\nempire--\"established colleges in Mongolia, Tartary, Persia, Mesopotamia,\nSyria, Egypt, North Africa, Morocco, Fez and in Spain.\" The region owned\nby the Saracens was greater than the Roman Empire. They had not only\ncolleges--but observatories. The sciences were taught. They introduced\nthe ten numerals--taught algebra and trigonometry--understood cubic\nequations--knew the art of surveying--they made catalogues and maps\nof the stars--gave the great stars the names they still bear--they\nascertained the size of the earth--determined the obliquity of the\necliptic and fixed the length of the year. They calculated eclipses,\nequinoxes, solstices, conjunctions of planets and occultations of stars.\nThey constructed astronomical instruments. They made clocks of\nvarious kinds and were the inventors of the pendulum. They originated\nchemistry--discovered sulphuric and nitric acid and alcohol.\n\n\"They were the first to publish pharmacopoeias and dispensatories.\n\n\"In mechanics they determined the laws of falling bodies. They\nunderstood the mechanical powers, and the attraction of gravitation.\n\n\"They taught hydrostatics and determined the specific gravities of\nbodies.\n\n\"In optics they discovered that a ray of light did not proceed from the\neye to an object--but from the object to the eye.\"\n\n\"They were manufacturers of cotton, leather, paper and steel.\n\n\"They gave us the game of chess.\n\n\"They produced romances and novels and essays on many subjects.\n\n\"In their schools they taught the modern doctrines of evolution and\ndevelopment.\" They anticipated Darwin and Spencer.\n\nThese people were not Christians. They were the followers, for the most\npart, of an impostor--of a pretended prophet of a false God. And yet\nwhile the true Christians, the men selected by the true God and filled\nwith the Holy Ghost were tearing out the tongues of heretics, these\nwretches were irreverently tracing the orbits of the stars. While the\ntrue believers were flaying philosophers and extinguishing the eyes of\nthinkers, these godless followers of Mohammed were founding colleges,\ncollecting manuscripts, investigating the facts of nature and giving\ntheir attention to science. Afterward the followers of Mohammed became\nthe enemies of science and hated facts as intensely and honestly as\nChristians. Whoever has a revelation from God will defend it with all\nhis strength--will abhor reason and deny facts.\n\nBut it is well to know that we are indebted to the Moors--to the\nfollowers of Mohammed--for having laid the foundations of modern\nscience. It is well to know that we are not indebted to the church, to\nChristianity, for any useful fact.\n\nIt is well to know that the seeds of thought were sown in our minds by\nthe Greeks and Romans, and that our literature came from those seeds.\nThe great literature of our language is Pagan in its thought--Pagan\nin its beauty--Pagan in its perfection. It is well to know that when\nMohammedans were the friends of science, Christians were its enemies.\nHow consoling it is to think that the friends of science--the men who\neducated their fellows--are now in hell, and that the men who persecuted\nand killed philosophers are now in heaven! Such is the justice of God.\n\nThe Christians of the Middle Ages, the men who were filled with the Holy\nGhost, knew all about the worlds beyond the grave, but nothing about\nthe world in which they lived. They thought the earth was flat--a little\ndishing if anything--that it was about five thousand years old, and that\nthe stars were little sparkles made to beautify the night.\n\nThe fact is that Christianity was in existence for fifteen hundred years\nbefore there was an astronomer in Christendom. No follower of Christ\nknew the shape of the earth.\n\nThe earth was demonstrated to be a globe, not by a pope or cardinal--not\nby a collection of clergymen--not by the \"called\" or the \"set apart,\"\nbut by a sailor. Magellan left Seville, Spain, August 10th, 1519, sailed\nwest and kept sailing west, and the ship reached Seville, the port it\nleft, on Sept. 7th, 1522.\n\nThe world had been circumnavigated. The earth was known to be round.\nThere had been a dispute between the Scriptures and a sailor. The fact\ntook the sailor's side.\n\nIn 1543 Copernicus published his book, \"On the Revolutions of the\nHeavenly Bodies.\"\n\nHe had some idea of the vastness of the stars--of the astronomical\nspaces--of the insignificance of this world.\n\nToward the close of the sixteenth century, Bruno, one of the greatest\nmen this world has produced, gave his thoughts to his fellow-men. He\ntaught the plurality of worlds. He was a Pantheist, an Atheist, an\nhonest man. He called the Catholic Church the \"Triumphant Beast.\" He\nwas imprisoned for many years, tried, convicted, and on the 16th day of\nFebruary, 1600, burned in Rome by men filled with the Holy Ghost,\nburned on the spot where now his monument rises. Bruno, the noblest, the\ngreatest of all the martyrs. The only one who suffered death for what he\nbelieved to be the truth. The only martyr who had no heaven to gain, no\nhell to shun, no God to please. He was nobler than inspired men,\ngrander than prophets, greater and purer than apostles. Above all the\ntheologians of the world, above the makers of creeds, above the founders\nof religions rose this serene, unselfish and intrepid man.\n\nYet Christians, followers of Christ, murdered this incomparable man.\nThese Christians were true to their creed. They believed that faith\nwould be rewarded with eternal joy, and doubt punished with eternal\npain. They were logical. They were pious and pitiless--devout and\ndevilish--meek and malicious--religious and revengeful--Christ-like and\ncruel--loving with their mouths and hating with their hearts. And yet,\nhonest victims of ignorance and fear.\n\nWhat have the wordly done?\n\nIn 1608, Lippersheim, a Hollander, so arranged lenses that objects were\nexaggerated.\n\nHe invented the telescope.\n\nHe gave countless worlds to our eyes, and made us citizens of the\nUniverse.\n\nIn 1610, on the night of January 7th, Galileo demonstrated the truth of\nthe Copernican system, and in 1632, published his work on \"The System of\nthe World.\"\n\nWhat did the church do?\n\nGalileo was arrested, imprisoned, forced to fall upon his knees, put his\nhand on the Bible, and recant. For ten years he was kept in prison--for\nten years until released by the pity of death. Then the church--men\nfilled with the Holy Ghost--denied his body burial in consecrated\nground. It was feared that his dust might corrupt the bodies of those\nwho had persecuted him.\n\nIn 1609, Kepler published his book \"Motions of the Planet Mars.\"\nHe, too, knew of the attraction of gravitation and that it acted in\nproportion to mass and distance. Kepler announced his Three Laws. He\nfound and mathematically expressed the relation of distance, mass, and\nmotion. Nothing greater has been accomplished by the human mind.\n\nAstronomy became a science and Christianity a superstition.\n\nThen came Newton, Herscheland Laplace. The astronomy of Joshua and\nElijah faded from the minds of intelligent men, and Jehovah became an\nignorant tribal god.\n\nMen began to see that the operations of Nature were not subject to\ninterference. That eclipses were not caused by the wrath of God--that\ncomets had nothing to do with the destruction of empires or the death\nof kings, that the stars wheeled in their orbits without regard to the\nactions of men. In the sacred East the dawn appeared.\n\nWhat have the wordly done?\n\nA few years ago a few men became wicked enough to use their senses. They\nbegan to look and listen. They began to really see and then they began\nto reason. They forgot heaven and hell long enough to take some interest\nin this world. They began to examine soils and rocks. They noticed what\nhad been done by rivers and seas. They found out something about the\ncrust of the earth. They found that most of the rocks had been deposited\nand stratified in the water--rocks 70,000 feet in thickness. They found\nthat the coal was once vegetable matter. They made the best calculations\nthey could of the time required to make the coal, and concluded that it\nmust have taken at least six or seven millions of years. They examined\nthe chalk cliffs, found that they were composed of the microscopic\nshells of minute organisms, that is to say, the dust of these shells.\nThis dust settled over areas as large as Europe and in some places the\nchalk is a mile in depth. This must have required many millions of\nyears.\n\nLyell, the highest authority on the subject, says that it must have\nrequired, to cause the changes that we know, at least two hundred\nmillion years. Think of these vast deposits caused by the slow falling\nof infinitesimal atoms of impalpable dust through the silent depths of\nancient seas! Think of the microscopical forms of life, constructing\ntheir minute houses of lime, giving life to others, leaving their\nmansions beneath the waves, and so through countless generations\nbuilding the foundations of continents and islands.\n\nGo back of all life that we now know--back of all the flying lizards,\nthe armored monsters, the hissing serpents, the winged and fanged\nhorrors--back to the Laurentian rocks--to the eozoon, the first of\nliving things that we have found--back of all mountains, seas and\nrivers--back to the first incrustation of the molten world--back of wave\nof fire and robe of flame--back to the time when all the substance of\nthe earth blazed in the glowing sun with all the stars that wheel about\nthe central fire.\n\nThink of the days and nights that lie between!--think of the centuries,\nthe withered leaves of time, that strew the desert of the past!\n\nNature does not hurry. Time cannot be wasted--cannot be lost. The\nfuture remains eternal and all the past is as though it had not been--as\nthough it were to be. The infinite knows neither loss nor gain.\n\nWe know something of the history of the world--something of the human\nrace; and we know that man has lived and struggled through want and war,\nthrough pestilence and famine, through ignorance and crime, through fear\nand hope, on the old earth for millions and millions of years.\n\nAt last we know that infallible popes, and countless priests and\nclergymen, who had been \"called,\" filled with the Holy Ghost, and\npresidents of colleges, kings, emperors and executives of nations had\nmistaken the blundering guesses of ignorant savages for the wisdom of an\ninfinite God.\n\nAt last we know that the story of creation, of the beginning of things,\nas told in the \"sacred book,\" is not only untrue, but utterly absurd and\nidiotic. Now we know that the inspired writers did not know and that the\nGod who inspired them did not know.\n\nWe are no longer misled by myths and legends. We rely upon facts. The\nworld is our witness and the stars testify for us.\n\nWhat have the worldly done?\n\nThey have investigated the religions of the world--have read the sacred\nbooks, the prophecies, the commandments, the rules of conduct. They have\nstudied the symbols, the ceremonies, the prayers and sacrifices. And\nthey have shown that all religions are substantially the same--produced\nby the same causes--that all rest on a misconception of the facts in\nnature--that all are founded on ignorance and fear, on mistake and\nmystery.\n\nThey have found that Christianity is like the rest--that it was not a\nrevelation, but a natural growth--that its gods and devils, its heavens\nand hells, were borrowed--that its ceremonies and sacraments were\nsouvenirs of other religions--that no part of it came from heaven, but\nthat it was all made by savage man. They found that Jehovah was a tribal\ngod and that his ancestors had lived on the banks of the Euphrates, the\nTigris, the Ganges and the Nile, and these ancestors were traced back to\nstill more savage forms.\n\nThey found that all the sacred books were filled with inspired mistake\nand sacred absurdity.\n\nBut, say the Christians, we have the only inspired book. We have the\nOld Testament and the New. Where did you get the Old Testament? From the\nJews?--Yes.\n\nLet me tell you about it.\n\nAfter the Jews returned from Babylon, about 400 years before Christ,\nEzra commenced making the Bible. You will find an account of this in the\nBible.\n\nWe know that Genesis was written after the Captivity--because it was\nfrom the Babylonians that the Jews got the story of the creation--of\nAdam and Eve, of the Garden--of the serpent, and the tree of life--of\nthe flood--and from them they learned about the Sabbath.\n\nYou find nothing about that holy day in Judges, Joshua, Samuel, Kings\nor Chronicles--nothing in Job, the Psalms, in Esther, Solomon's Song\nor Ecclesiastes. Only in books written by Ezra after the return from\nBabylon.\n\nWhen Ezra finished the inspired book, he placed it in the temple. It was\nwritten on the skins of beasts, and, so far as we know, there was but\none.\n\nWhat became of this Bible?\n\nJerusalem was taken by Titus about 70 years after Christ. The temple was\ndestroyed and, at the request of Josephus, the Holy Bible was sent to\nVespasian the Emperor, at Rome.\n\nAnd this Holy Bible has never been seen or heard of since. So much for\nthat.\n\nThen there was a copy, or rather a translation, called the Septuagint.\n\nHow was that made?\n\nIt is said that Ptolemy Soter and his son Ptolemy Philadelphus obtained\na translation of the Jewish Bible. This translation was made by seventy\npersons.\n\nAt that time the Jewish Bible did not contain Daniel, Ecclesiastes, but\nfew of the Psalms and only a part of Isaiah.\n\nWhat became of this translation known as the Septuagint?\n\nIt was burned in the Bruchium Library forty-seven years before Christ.\n\nThen there was another so-called copy of part of the Bible, known as the\nSamaritan Roll of the Pentateuch.\n\nBut this is not considered of any value.\n\nHave we a true copy of the Bible that was in the temple at\nJerusalem--the one sent to Vespasian?\n\nNobody knows.\n\nHave we a true copy of the Septuagint?\n\nNobody knows.\n\nWhat is the oldest manuscript of the Bible we have in Hebrew?\n\nThe oldest manuscript we have in Hebrew was written in the 10th century\nafter Christ. The oldest pretended copy we have of the Septuagint\nwritten in Greek was made in the 5th century after Christ.\n\nIf the Bible was divinely inspired, if it was the actual word of God, we\nhave no authenticated copy. The original has been lost and we are left\nin the darkness of Nature.\n\nIt is impossible for us to show that our Bible is correct. We have no\nstandard. Many of the books in our Bible contradict each other. Many\nchapters appear to be incomplete and parts of different books are\nwritten in the same words, showing that both could not have been\noriginal. The 19th and 20th chapters of 2nd Kings and the 37th and\n38th chapters of Isaiah are exactly the same. So is the 36th chapter of\nIsaiah from the 2nd verse the same as the 18th chapter of 2nd Kings from\nthe 2nd verse.\n\nSo, it is perfectly apparent that there could have been no possible\npropriety in inspiring the writers of Kings and the writers of\nChronicles. The books are substantially the same, differing in a\nfew mistakes--in a few falsehoods. The same is true of Leviticus and\nNumbers. The books do not agree either in facts or philosophy. They\ndiffer as the men differed who wrote them.\n\nWhat have the worldly done?\n\nThey have investigated the phenomena of nature. They have invented ways\nto use the forces of the world, the weight of falling water--of moving\nair. They have changed water to steam, invented engines--the tireless\ngiants that work for man. They have made lightning a messenger and\nslave. They invented movable type, taught us the art of printing and\nmade it possible to save and transmit the intellectual wealth of the\nworld. They connected continents with cables, cities and towns with\nthe telegraph--brought the world into one family--made intelligence\nindependent of distance. They taught us how to build homes, to obtain\nfood, to weave cloth. They covered the seas with iron ships and the\nland with roads and steeds of steel. They gave us the tools of all the\ntrades--the implements of labor. They chiseled statues, painted pictures\nand \"witched the world\" with form and color. They have found the cause\nof and the cure for many maladies that afflict the flesh and minds of\nmen. They have given us the instruments of music and the great composers\nand performers have changed the common air to tones and harmonies that\nintoxicate, exalt and purify the soul.\n\nThey have rescued us from the prisons of fear, and snatched our souls\nfrom the fangs and claws of superstition's loathsome, crawling, flying\nbeasts. They have given us the liberty to think and the courage to\nexpress our thoughts. They have changed the frightened, the enslaved,\nthe kneeling, the prostrate into men and women--clothed them in their\nright minds and made them truly free. They have uncrowned the phantoms,\nwrested the scepters from the ghosts and given this world to the\nchildren of men. They have driven from the heart the fiends of fear and\nextinguished the flames of hell.\n\nThey have read a few leaves of the great volume--deciphered some of the\nrecords written on stone by the tireless hands of time in the dim past.\nThey have told us something of what has been done by wind and wave, by\nfire and frost, by life and death, the ceaseless workers, the pauseless\nforces of the world.\n\nThey have enlarged the horizon of the known, changed the glittering\nspecks that shine above us to wheeling worlds, and filled all space with\ncountless suns.\n\nThey have found the qualities of substances, the nature of things--how\nto analyze, separate and combine, and have enabled us to use the good\nand avoid the hurtful.\n\nThey have given us mathematics in the higher forms, by means of which we\nmeasure the astronomical spaces, the distances to stars, the velocity at\nwhich the heavenly bodies move, their density and weight, and by which\nthe mariner navigates the waste and trackless seas. They have given us\nall we have of knowledge, of literature and art. They have made life\nworth living. They have filled the world with conveniences, comforts and\nluxuries.\n\nAll this has been done by the worldly--by those, who were not \"called\"\nor \"set apart\" or filled with the Holy Ghost or had the slightest claim\nto \"apostolic succession.\" The men who accomplished these things were\nnot \"inspired.\" They had no revelation--no supernatural aid. They were\nnot clad in sacred vestments, and tiaras were not upon their brows. They\nwere not even ordained. They used their senses, observed and recorded\nfacts. They had confidence in reason. They were patient searchers for\nthe truth. They turned their attention to the affairs of this\nworld. They were not saints. They were sensible men. They worked for\nthemselves, for wife and child and for the benefit of all.\n\nTo these men we are indebted for all we are, for all we know, for all\nwe have. They were the creators of civilization--the founders of free\nstates--the saviors of liberty--the destroyers of superstition and the\ngreat captains in the army of progress.\n\n\nIV.\n\nWHOM shall we thank? Standing here at the close of the 19th\ncentury--amid the trophies of thought--the triumphs of genius--here\nunder the flag of the Great Republic--knowing something of the history\nof man--here on this day that has been set apart for thanksgiving, I\nmost reverently thank the good men, the good women of the past, I thank\nthe kind fathers, the loving mothers of the savage days. I thank the\nfather who spoke the first gentle word, the mother who first smiled upon\nher babe. I thank the first true friend. I thank the savages who hunted\nand fished that they and their babes might live. I thank those who\ncultivated the ground and changed the forests into farms--those who\nbuilt rude homes and watched the faces of their happy children in the\nglow of fireside flames--those who domesticated horses, cattle and\nsheep--those who invented wheels and looms and taught us to spin and\nweave--those who by cultivation changed wild grasses into wheat and\ncorn, changed bitter things to fruit, and worthless weeds to flowers,\nthat sowed within our souls the seeds of art. I thank the poets of the\ndawn--the tellers of legends--the makers of myths--the singers of joy\nand grief, of hope and love. I thank the artists who chiseled forms\nin stone and wrought with light and shade the face of man. I thank the\nphilosophers, the thinkers, who taught us how to use our minds in\nthe great search for truth. I thank the astronomers who explored\nthe heavens, told us the secrets of the stars, the glories of the\nconstellations--the geologists who found the story of the world in\nfossil forms, in memoranda kept in ancient rocks, in lines written by\nwaves, by frost and fire--the anatomists who sought in muscle, nerve and\nbone for all the mysteries of life--the chemists who unraveled Nature's\nwork that they might learn her art--the physicians who have laid\nthe hand of science on the brow of pain, the hand whose magic touch\nrestores--the surgeons who have defeated Nature's self and forced her to\npreserve the lives of those she labored to destroy.\n\nI thank the discoverers of chloroform and ether, the two angels who give\nto their beloved sleep, and wrap the throbbing brain in the soft robes\nof dreams. I thank the great inventors--those who gave us movable type\nand the press, by means of which great thoughts and all discovered facts\nare made immortal--the inventors of engines, of the great ships, of the\nrailways, the cables and telegraphs. I thank the great mechanics, the\nworkers in iron and steel, in wood and stone. I thank the inventors and\nmakers of the numberless things of use and luxury.\n\nI thank the industrious men, the loving mothers, the useful women. They\nare the benefactors of our race.\n\nThe inventor of pins did a thousand times more good than all the popes\nand cardinals, the bishops and priests--than all the clergymen and\nparsons, exhorters and theologians that ever lived.\n\nThe inventor of matches did more for the comfort and convenience\nof mankind than all the founders of religions and the makers of all\ncreeds--than all malicious monks and selfish saints.\n\nI thank the honest men and women who have expressed their sincere\nthoughts, who have been true to themselves and have preserved the\nveracity of their souls.\n\nI thank the thinkers of Greece and Rome, Zeno and Epicurus, Cicero and\nLucretius. I thank Bruno, the bravest, and Spinoza, the subtlest of men.\n\nI thank Voltaire, whose thought lighted a flame in the brain of man,\nunlocked the doors of superstition's cells and gave liberty to\nmany millions of his fellow-men. Voltaire--a name that sheds light.\nVoltaire--a star that superstition's darkness cannot quench.\n\nI thank the great poets--the dramatists. I thank Homer and Aeschylus,\nand I thank Shakespeare above them all. I thank Burns for the\nheart-throbs he changed into songs, for his lyrics of flame. I thank\nShelley for his Skylark, Keats for his Grecian Urn and Byron for his\nPrisoner of Chillon. I thank the great novelists. I thank the great\nsculptors. I thank the unknown man who moulded and chiseled the Venus de\nMilo. I thank the great painters. I thank Rembrandt and Corot. I thank\nall who have adorned, enriched and ennobled life--all who have created\nthe great, the noble, the heroic and artistic ideals.\n\nI thank the statesmen who have preserved the rights of man. I thank\nPaine whose genius sowed the seeds of independence in the hearts of '76.\nI thank Jefferson whose mighty words for liberty have made the circuit\nof the globe. I thank the founders, the defenders, the saviors of the\nRepublic. I thank Ericsson, the greatest mechanic of his century, for\nthe monitor. I thank Lincoln for the Proclamation. I thank Grant for his\nvictories and the vast host that fought for the right,--for the freedom\nof man. I thank them all--the living and the dead.\n\nI thank the great scientists--those who have reached the foundation,\nthe bed-rock--who have built upon facts--the great scientists, in whose\npresence theologians look silly and feel malicious.\n\nThe scientists never persecuted, never imprisoned their fellow-men. They\nforged no chains, built no dungeons, erected no scaffolds--tore no flesh\nwith red hot pincers--dislocated no joints on racks--crushed no bones\nin iron boots--extinguished no eyes--tore out no tongues and lighted\nno fagots. They did not pretend to be inspired--did not claim to\nbe prophets or saints or to have been born again. They were only\nintelligent and honest men. They did not appeal to force or fear. They\ndid not regard men as slaves to be ruled by torture, by lash and chain,\nnor as children to be cheated with illusions, rocked in the cradle of an\nidiot creed and soothed by a lullaby of lies.\n\nThey did not wound--they healed. They did not kill--they lengthened\nlife. They did not enslave--they broke the chains and made men free.\nThey sowed the seeds of knowledge, and many millions have reaped, are\nreaping, and will reap the harvest of joy.\n\nI thank Humboldt and Helmholtz and Haeckel and Buechner. I thank Lamarck\nand Darwin--Darwin who revolutionized the thought of the intellectual\nworld. I thank Huxley and Spencer. I thank the scientists one and all.\n\nI thank the heroes, the destroyers of prejudice and fear--the dethroners\nof savage gods--the extinguishers of hate's eternal fire--the heroes,\nthe breakers of chains--the founders of free states--the makers of just\nlaws--the heroes who fought and fell on countless fields--the heroes\nwhose dungeons became shrines--the heroes whose blood made scaffolds\nsacred--the heroes, the apostles of reason, the disciples of truth, the\nsoldiers of freedom--the heroes who held high the holy torch and filled\nthe world with light.\n\nWith all my heart I thank them all.\n\n\n\n\nA LAY SERMON.\n\n     * Delivered before the Congress of the American Secular\n     Union, at Chickering Hall, New York, Nov. 14, 1885.\n\n\nLADIES AND GENTLEMEN: In the greatest tragedy that has ever been written\nby man--in the fourth scene of the third act--is the best prayer that\nI have ever read; and when I say \"the greatest tragedy,\" everybody\nfamiliar with Shakespeare will know that I refer to \"King Lear.\" After\nhe has been on the heath, touched with insanity, coming suddenly to the\nplace of shelter, he says:\n\n     \"I'll pray, and then I'll sleep.\"\n\nAnd this prayer is my text:\n\n     \"Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are,\n     That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,\n     How shall your unhoused heads, your unfed sides,\n     Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you\n     From seasons such as these?\n\n     Oh, I have ta'en\n     Too little care of this.\n     Take physic, pomp;\n     Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,\n     That thou may'st shake the superflux to them,\n     And show the heavens more just.\"\n\nThat is one of the noblest prayers that ever fell from human lips. If\nnobody has too much, everybody will have enough!\n\nI propose to say a few words upon subjects that are near to us all, and\nin which every human being ought to be interested--and if he is not, it\nmay be that his wife will be, it may be that his orphans will be; and I\nwould like to see this world, at last, so that a man could die and\nnot feel that he left his wife and children a prey to the greed, the\navarice, or the cruelties of mankind. There is something wrong in a\ngovernment where they who do the most have the least. There is something\nwrong, when honesty wears a rag, and rascality a robe; when the loving,\nthe tender, eat a crust, while the infamous sit at banquets. I cannot do\nmuch, but I can at least sympathize with those who suffer. There is one\nthing that we should remember at the start, and if I can only teach you\nthat, to-night--unless you know it already--I shall consider the few\nwords I may have to say a wonderful success.\n\nI want you to remember that everybody is as he _must_ be. I want you to\nget out of your minds the old nonsense of \"free moral agency;\" and then\nyou will have charity for the whole human race. When you know that they\nare not responsible for their dispositions, any more than for their\nheight; not responsible for their acts, any more than for their dreams;\nwhen you finally understand the philosophy that everything exists as\nthe result of an efficient cause, and that the lightest fancy that ever\nfluttered its painted wings in the horizon of hope was as necessarily\nproduced as the planet that in its orbit wheels about the sun--when\nyou understand this, I believe you will have charity for all\nmankind--including even yourself.\n\nWealth is not a crime; poverty is not a virtue--although the virtuous\nhave generally been poor. There is only one good, and that is human\nhappiness; and he only is a wise man who makes himself and others happy.\n\nI have heard all my life about self-denial. There never was anything\nmore idiotic than that. No man who does right practices self-denial. To\ndo right is the bud and blossom and fruit of wisdom. To do right should\nalways be dictated by the highest possible selfishness and the most\nperfect generosity. No man practices self-denial unless he does wrong.\nTo inflict an injury upon yourself is an act of self-denial. He who\ndenies justice to another denies it to himself. To plant seeds that will\nforever bear the fruit of joy, is not an act of self-denial. So this\nidea of doing good to others only for their sake is absurd. You want to\ndo it, not simply for their sake, but for your own; because a perfectly\ncivilized man can never be perfectly happy while there is one unhappy\nbeing in this universe.\n\nLet us take another step. The barbaric world was to be rewarded in some\nother world for acting sensibly in this. They were promised rewards in\nanother world, if they would only have self-denial enough to be virtuous\nin this. If they would forego the pleasures of larceny and murder; if\nthey would forego the thrill and bliss of meanness here, they would be\nrewarded hereafter for that self-denial. I have exactly the opposite\nidea. Do right, not to deny yourself, but because you love yourself and\nbecause you love others. Be generous, because it is better for you. Be\njust, because any other course is the suicide of the soul. Whoever does\nwrong plagues himself, and when he reaps that harvest, he will find that\nhe was not practicing self-denial when he did right.\n\nIf you want to be happy yourself, if you are truly civilized, you want\nothers to be happy. Every man ought, to the extent of his ability,\nto increase the happiness of mankind, for the reason that that will\nincrease his own. No one can be really prosperous unless those with whom\nhe lives share the sunshine and the joy.\n\nThe first thing a man wants to know and be sure of is when he has got\nenough. Most people imagine that the rich are in heaven, but, as a rule,\nit is only a gilded hell. There is not a man in the city of New York\nwith genius enough, with brains enough, to own five millions of dollars.\nWhy? The money will own him. He becomes the key to a safe. That money\nwill get him up at daylight; that money will separate him from his\nfriends; that money will fill his heart with fear; that money will rob\nhis days of sunshine and his nights of pleasant dreams. He cannot own\nit. He becomes the property of that money. And he goes right on making\nmore. What for? He does not know. It becomes a kind of insanity. No one\nis happier in a palace than in a cabin. I love to see a log house. It is\nassociated in my mind always with pure, unalloyed happiness. It is the\nonly house in the world that looks as though it had no mortgage on it.\nIt looks as if you could spend there long, tranquil autumn days; the\nair filled with serenity; no trouble, no thoughts about notes, about\ninterest--nothing of the kind; just breathing free air, watching the\nhollyhocks, listening to the birds and to the music of the spring that\ncomes like a poem from the earth.\n\nIt is an insanity to get more than you want. Imagine a man in this city,\nan intelligent man, say with two or three millions of coats, eight\nor ten millions of hats, vast warehouses full of shoes, billions\nof neckties, and imagine that man getting up at four o'clock in the\nmorning, in the rain and snow and sleet, working like a dog all day\nto get another necktie! Is not that exactly what the man of twenty or\nthirty millions, or of five millions, does to-day? Wearing his life\nout that somebody may say, \"How rich he is!\" What can he do with the\nsurplus? Nothing. Can he eat it? No. Make friends? No. Purchase flattery\nand lies? Yes. Make all his poor relations hate him? Yes. And then, what\nworry! Annoyed, nervous, tormented, until his poor little brain becomes\ninflamed, and you see in the morning paper, \"Died of apoplexy.\" This\nman finally began to worry for fear he would not have enough neckties to\nlast him through.\n\nSo we ought to teach our children that great wealth is a curse. Great\nwealth is the mother of crime. On the other hand are the abject poor.\nAnd let me ask, to-night: Is the world forever to remain as it was when\nLear made his prayer? Is it ever to remain as it is now? I hope not.\nAre there always to be millions whose lips are white with famine? Is the\nwithered palm to be always extended, imploring from the stony heart\nof respectable charity, alms? Must every man who sits down to a decent\ndinner always think of the starving? Must every one sitting by the\nfireside think of some poor mother, with a child strained to her breast,\nshivering in the storm? I hope not. Are the rich always to be divided\nfrom the poor,--not only in fact, but in feeling? And that division\nis growing more and more every day The gulf between Lazarus and Dives\nwidens year by year, only their positions are changed--Lazarus is in\nhell, and he thinks Dives is in the bosom of Abraham.\n\nAnd there is one thing that helps to widen this gulf. In nearly every\ncity of the United States you will find the fashionable part, and the\npoor part. The poor know nothing of the fashionable part, except the\noutside splendor; and as they go by the palaces, that poison plant\ncalled envy, springs and grows in their poor hearts. The rich know\nnothing of the poor, except the squalor and rags and wretchedness, and\nwhat they read in the police records, and they say, \"Thank God, we are\nnot like those people!\" Their hearts are filled with scorn and contempt,\nand the hearts of the others with envy and hatred. There must be some\nway devised for the rich and poor to get acquainted. The poor do not\nknow how many well-dressed people sympathize with them, and the rich do\nnot know how many noble hearts beat beneath the rags. If we can ever\nget the loving poor acquainted with the sympathizing rich, this question\nwill be nearly solved.\n\nIn a hundred other ways they are divided. If anything should\nbring mankind together it ought to be a common belief. In Catholic\ncountries, that does have a softening influence upon the rich and upon\nthe poor. They believe the same. So in Mohammedan countries they can\nkneel in the same mosque, and pray to the same God. But how is it with\nus? The church is not free. There is no welcome in the velvet for the\nvelveteen. Poverty does not feel at home there, and the consequence\nis, the rich and poor are kept apart, even by their religion. I am not\nsaying anything against religion. I am not on that question; but I would\nthink more of any religion, provided that even for one day in the week,\nor for one hour in the year, it allowed wealth to clasp the hand\nof poverty and to have, for one moment even, the thrill of genuine\nfriendship.\n\nIn the olden times, in barbaric life, it was a simple' thing to get a\nliving. A little hunting, a little fishing, pulling a little fruit, and\ndigging for roots--all simple; and they were nearly all on an equality,\nand comparatively there were fewer failures. Living has at last\nbecome complex. All the avenues are filled with men struggling for the\naccomplishment of the same thing:\n\n     \"For emulation hath a thousand sons\n     That one by one pursue: if you give way,\n     Or hedge aside from the direct forthright,\n     Like to an entered tide, they all rush by,\n     And leave you hindmost;--\n     Or, like a gallant horse, fallen in first rank,\n     Lie there for pavement to the abject rear.\"\n\nThe struggle is so hard. And just exactly as we have risen in the scale\nof being, the per cent, of failures has increased. It is so that all\nmen are not capable of getting a living. They have not cunning enough,\nintellect enough, muscle enough--they are not strong enough. They are\ntoo generous, or they are too negligent; and then some people seem to\nhave what is called \"bad luck\"--that is to say, when anything falls,\nthey are under it; when anything bad happens, it happens to them.\n\nAnd now there is another trouble. Just as life becomes complex and as\neveryone is trying to accomplish certain objects, all the ingenuity of\nthe brain is at work to get there by a shorter way, and, in consequence,\nthis has become an age of invention. Myriads of machines have been\ninvented--every one of them to save labor. If these machines helped the\nlaborer, what a blessing they would be!\n\nBut the laborer does not own the machine; the machine owns him. That is\nthe trouble. In the olden time, when I was a boy, even, you know how it\nwas in the little towns. There was a shoemaker--two of them--a tailor\nor two, a blacksmith, a wheelwright. I remember just how the shops used\nto look. I used to go to the blacksmith shop at night, get up on the\nforge, and hear them talk about turning horse-shoes. Many a night have\nI seen the sparks fly and heard the stories that were told. There was a\ngreat deal of human nature in those days! Everybody was known. If times\ngot hard, the poor little shoemakers made a living mending, half-soling,\nstraightening up the heels. The same with the blacksmith; the same with\nthe tailor. They could get credit--they did not have to pay till the\nnext January, and if they could not pay then, they took another year,\nand they were happy enough. Now one man is not a shoemaker. There is a\ngreat building--several hundred thousand dollars' worth of machinery,\nthree or four thousand people--not a single mechanic in the whole\nbuilding. One sews on straps, another greases the machines, cuts out\nsoles, waxes threads. And what is the result? When the machines stop,\nthree thousand men are out of employment. Credit goes. Then come want\nand famine, and if they happen to have a little child die, it would\ntake them years to save enough of their earnings to pay the expense\nof putting away that little sacred piece of flesh. And yet, by this\nmachinery we can produce enough to flood the world. By the inventions\nin agricultural machinery the United States can feed all the mouths upon\nthe earth. There is not a thing that man uses that can not instantly be\nover-produced to such an extent as to become almost worthless; and\nyet, with all this production, with all this power to create, there are\nmillions and millions in abject want. Granaries bursting, and famine\nlooking into the doors of the poor! Millions of everything, and yet\nmillions wanting everything and having substantially nothing!\n\nNow, there is something wrong there. We have got into that contest\nbetween machines-and men, and if extravagance does not keep pace with\ningenuity, it is going to be the most terrible question that man has\never settled. I tell you, to-night, that these things are worth thinking\nabout. Nothing that touches the future of our race, nothing that touches\nthe happiness of ourselves or our children, should be beneath our\nnotice. We should think of these things--must think of them--and we\nshould endeavor to see that justice is finally done between man and man.\n\nMy sympathies are with the poor. My sympathies are with the workingmen\nof the United States. Understand me distinctly. I am not an Anarchist.\nAnarchy is the reaction from tyranny. I am not a Socialist. I am not\na Communist. I am an Individualist. I do not believe in tyranny of\ngovernment, but I do believe in justice as between man and man.\n\nWhat is the remedy? Or, what can we think of--for do not imagine that I\nthink I know. It is an immense, an almost infinite, question, and all\nwe can do is to guess. You have heard a great deal lately upon the land\nsubject. Let me say a word or two upon that. In the first place I do not\nwant to take, and I would not take, an inch of land from any human being\nthat belonged to him. If we ever take it, we must pay for it--condemn\nit and take it--do not rob anybody. Whenever any man advocates justice,\nand robbery as the means, I suspect him.\n\nNo man should be allowed to own any land that he does not use. Everybody\nknows that--I do not care whether he has thousands or millions. I have\nowned a great deal of land, but I know just as well as I know I am\nliving that I should not be allowed to have it unless I use it. And why?\nDon't you know that if people could bottle the air, they would? Don't\nyou know that there would be an American Air-bottling Association? And\ndon't you know that they would allow thousands and millions to die for\nwant of breath, if they could not pay for air? I am not blaming anybody.\nI am just telling how it is. Now, the land belongs to the children of\nNature. Nature invites into this world every babe that is born. And\nwhat would you think of me, for instance, to-night, if I had invited\nyou here--nobody had charged you anything, but you had been invited--and\nwhen you got here you had found one man pretending to occupy a hundred\nseats, another fifty, and another seventy-five, and thereupon you were\ncompelled to stand up--what would you think of the invitation? It seems\nto me that every child of Nature is entitled to his share of the land,\nand that he should not be compelled to beg the privilege to work the\nsoil, of a babe that happened to be born before him. And why do I say\nthis? Because it is not to our interest to have a few landlords and\nmillions of tenants.\n\nThe tenement house is the enemy of modesty, the enemy of virtue, the\nenemy of patriotism.\n\nHome is where the virtues grow. I would like to see the law so that\nevery home, to a small amount, should be free not only from sale for\ndebts, but should be absolutely free from taxation, so that every man\ncould have a home. Then we will have a nation of patriots.\n\nNow, suppose that every man were to have all the land he is able to buy.\nThe Vanderbilts could buy to-day all the land that is in farms in the\nState of Ohio--every foot of it. Would it be for the best interest of\nthat State to have a few landlords and four or five millions of serfs?\nSo, I am in favor of a law finally to be carried out--not by robbery,\nbut by compensation, under the right, as the lawyers call it, of eminent\ndomain--so that no person would be allowed to own more land than he\nuses. I am not blaming these rich men for being rich. I pity the most of\nthem. I had rather be poor, with a little sympathy in my heart, than\nto be rich as all the mines of earth and not have that little flower of\npity in my breast. I do not see how a man can have hundreds of millions\nand pass every day people that have not enough to eat. I do not\nunderstand it. I might be just the same way myself. There is something\nin money that dries up the sources of affection, and the probability is,\nit is this: the moment a man gets money, so many men are trying to get\nit away from him that in a little while he regards the whole human race\nas his enemy, and he generally thinks that they could be rich, too,\nif they would only attend to business as he has. Understand, I am not\nblaming these people. There is a good deal of human nature in us all.\nYou remember the story of the man who made a speech at a Socialist\nmeeting, and closed it by saying, \"Thank God, I am no monopolist,\" but\nas he sank to his seat said, \"But I wish to the Lord I was!\" We must\nremember that these rich men are naturally produced. Do not blame them.\nBlame the system!\n\nCertain privileges have been granted to the few by the Government,\nostensibly for the benefit of the many; and whenever that grant is not\nfor the good of the many, it should be taken from the few--not by force,\nnot by robbery, but by estimating fairly the value of that property, and\npaying to them its value; because everything should be done according to\nlaw and order.\n\nWhat remedy, then, is there? First, the great weapon in this country is\nthe ballot. Each voter is a sovereign. There the poorest is the equal\nof the richest. His vote will count just as many as though the hand\nthat cast it controlled millions. The poor are in the majority in this\ncountry. If there is any law that oppresses them, it is their fault.\nThey have followed the fife and drum of some party. They have been\nmisled by others. No man should go an inch with a party--no matter if\nthat party is half the world and has in it the greatest intellects of\nthe earth--unless that party is going his way. No honest man should\never turn round to join anything. If it overtakes him, good. If he has\nto hurry up a little to get to it, good. But do not go with anything\nthat is not going your way; no matter whether they call it Republican,\nor Democrat, or Progressive Democracy--do not go with it unless it goes\nyour way.\n\nThe ballot is the power. The law should settle many of these questions\nbetween capital and labor. But I expect the greatest good to come from\ncivilization, from the growth of a sense of justice; for I tell you\nto-night, a civilized man will never want anything for less than it is\nworth--a civilized man, when he sells a thing, will never want more than\nit is worth--a really and truly civilized man, would rather be cheated\nthan to cheat. And yet, in the United States, good as we are, nearly\neverybody wants to get everything for a little less than it is worth,\nand the man that sells it to him wants to get a little more than it is\nworth? and this breeds rascality on both sides. That ought to be done\naway with. There is one step toward it that we will take: we will\nfinally say that human flesh, human labor, shall not depend entirely on\n\"supply and demand.\" That is infinitely cruel. Every man should give to\nanother according to his ability to give--and enough that he may make\nhis living and lay something by for the winter of old age.\n\nGo to England. Civilized country they call it. It is not. It never was.\nI am afraid it never will be. Go to London, the greatest city of this\nworld, where there is the most wealth--the greatest glittering piles of\ngold. And yet, one out of every six in that city dies in a hospital,\na workhouse or a prison. Is that the best that we are ever to know? Is\nthat the last word that civilization has to say? Look at the women in\nthis town sewing for a living, making cloaks for less than forty-five\ncents, that sell for $45! Right here--here, amid all the palaces,\namid the thousands of millions of property--here! Is that all that\ncivilization can do? Must a poor woman support herself, or her child, or\nher children, by that kind of labor, and with such pay--and do we call\nourselves civilized?\n\nDid you ever read that wonderful poem about the sewing woman? Let me\ntell you the last verse:\n\n     \"Winds that have sainted her, tell ye the story\n     Of the young life by the needle that bled,\n     Making a bridge over death's soundless waters\n     Out of a swaying, and soul-cutting thread--\n     Over it going, all the world knowing\n     That thousands have trod it, foot-bleeding, before:\n     God protect all of us! God pity all of us,\n     Should she look back from the opposite shore!\"\n\nI cannot call this civilization. There must be something nearer a fairer\ndivision in this world.\n\nYou can never get it by strikes. Never. The first strike that is a great\nsuccess will be the last, because the people who believe in law and\norder will put the strikers down. The strike is no remedy. Boycotting is\nno remedy. Brute force is no remedy. These questions have to be settled\nby reason, by candor, by intelligence, by kindness; and nothing is\npermanently settled in this world that has not for its corner-stone\njustice, and is not protected by the profound conviction of the human\nmind.\n\nThis is no country for Anarchy, no country for Communism, no country for\nthe Socialist. Why? Because the political power is equally divided. What\nother reason? Speech is free. What other? The press is untrammeled. And\nthat is all that the right should ever ask--a free press, free speech,\nand the protection of person. That is enough. That is all I ask. In a\ncountry like Russia, where every mouth is a bastile and every tongue a\nconvict, there may be some excuse. Where the noblest and the best are\ndriven to Siberia, there may be a reason for the Nihilist. In a country\nwhere no man is allowed to petition for redress, there is a reason,\nbut not here. This--say what you will against it--this is the best\nGovernment ever founded by the human race! Say what you will of parties,\nsay what you will of dishonesty, the holiest flag that ever kissed the\nair is ours!\n\nOnly a few years ago morally we were a low people--before we abolished\nslavery--but now, when there is no chain except that of custom, when\nevery man has an opportunity, this is the grandest Government of\nthe earth. There is hardly a man in the United States to-day, of any\nimportance, whose voice anybody cares to hear, who was not nursed at the\nloving breast of poverty. Look at the children of the rich. My God, what\na punishment for being rich! So, whatever happens, let every man say\nthat this Government, and this form of government, shall stand.\n\n\"But,\" say some, \"these workingmen are dangerous.\" I deny it. We are\nall in their power. They run all the cars. Our lives are in their hands\nalmost every day. They are working in all our homes. They do the labor\nof this world. We are all at their mercy, and yet they do not commit\nmore crimes, according to number, than the rich. Remember that. I am not\nafraid of them. Neither am I afraid of the monopolists, because, under\nour institutions, when they become hurtful to the general good, the\npeople will stand it just to a certain point, and then comes the\nend--not in anger, not in hate, but from a love of liberty and justice.\n\nNow, we have in this country another class. We call them \"criminals.\"\nLet me take another step:\n\n     \"'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,\n     But to support him after.\"\n\nRecollect what I said in the first place--that every man is as he must\nbe. Every crime is a necessary product. The seeds were all sown,\nthe land thoroughly plowed, the crop well attended to, and carefully\nharvested. Every crime is born of necessity. If you want less crime,\nyou must change the conditions. Poverty makes crime. Want, rags, crusts,\nfailure, misfortune--all these awake the wild beast in man, and finally\nhe takes, and takes contrary to law, and becomes a criminal. And what\ndo you do with him? You punish him. Why not punish a man for having the\nconsumption? The time will come when you will see that that is just\nas logical. What do you do with the criminal? You send him to the\npenitentiary. Is he made better? Worse. The first thing you do is to try\nto trample out his manhood, by putting an indignity upon him. You mark\nhim. You put him in stripes. At night you put him in darkness. His\nfeeling for revenge grows. You make a wild beast of him, and he comes\nout of that place branded in body and soul, and then you won't let him\nreform if he wants to. You put on airs above him, because he has been in\nthe penitentiary. The next time you look with scorn upon a convict, let\nme beg of you to do one thing. Maybe you are not as bad as I am, but do\none thing: think of all the crimes you have wanted to commit; think of\nall the crimes you would have committed if you had had the opportunity;\nthink of all the temptations to which you would have yielded had nobody\nbeen looking; and then put your hand on your heart and say whether you\ncan justly look with contempt even upon a convict.\n\nNone but the noblest should inflict punishment, even on the basest.\n\nSociety has no right to punish any man in revenge--no right to punish\nany man except for two objects--one, the prevention of crime; the other,\nthe reformation of the criminal. How can you reform him? Kindness is the\nsunshine in which virtue grows. Let it be understood by these men that\nthere is no revenge; let it be understood, too, that they can reform.\nOnly a little while ago I read of a case of a young man who had been in\na penitentiary and came out. He kept it a secret, and went to work for\na farmer. He got in love with the daughter, and wanted to marry her. He\nhad nobility enough to tell the truth--he told the father that he had\nbeen in the penitentiary. The father said, \"You cannot have my daughter,\nbecause it would stain her life.\" The young man said, \"Yes, it would\nstain her life, therefore I will not marry her.\" He went out. In a few\nmoments afterward they heard the report of a pistol, and he was dead.\nHe left just a little note saying: \"I am through. There is no need of\nmy living longer, when I stain with my life the one I love.\" And yet we\ncall our society civilized. There is a mistake.\n\nI want that question thought of. I want all my fellow-citizens to think\nof it. I want you to do what you can to do away with all cruelty. There\nare, of course, some cases that have to be treated with what might be\ncalled almost cruelty; but if there is the smallest seed of good in any\nhuman heart, let kindness fall upon it until it grows, and in that way\nI know, and so do you, that the world will get better and better day by\nday.\n\nLet us, above all things, get acquainted with each other. Let every man\nteach his son, teach his daughter, that labor is honorable. Let us say\nto our children: It is your business to see that you never become a\nburden on others. Your first duty is to take care of yourselves, and if\nthere is a surplus, with that surplus help your fellow-man. You owe it\nto yourself above all things not to be a burden upon others. Teach\nyour son that it is his duty not only, but his highest joy, to become a\nhome-builder, a home-owner. Teach your children that the fireside is\nthe happiest place in this world. Teach them that whoever is an idler,\nwhoever lives upon the labor of others, whether he is a pirate or a\nking, is a dishonorable person. Teach them that no civilized man wants\nanything for nothing, or for less than it is worth; that he wants to go\nthrough this world paying his way as he goes, and if he gets a little\nahead, an extra joy, it should be divided with another, if that other is\ndoing something for himself. Help others help themselves.\n\nAnd let us teach that great wealth is not great happiness; that money\nwill not purchase love; it never did and never can purchase respect; it\nnever did and never can purchase the highest happiness. I believe with\nRobert Burns:\n\n     \"If happiness have not her seat\n     And center in the breast,\n     We may be wise, or rich, or great,\n     But never can be blest.\"\n\nWe must teach this, and let our fellow-citizens know that we give them\nevery right that we claim for ourselves. We must discuss these questions\nand have charity--and we will have it whenever we have the philosophy\nthat all men are as they must be, and that intelligence and kindness are\nthe only levers capable of raising mankind.\n\nThen there is another thing. Let each one be true to himself. No matter\nwhat his class, no matter what his circumstances, let him tell his\nthought. Don't let his class bribe him. Don't let him talk like a\nbanker because he is a banker. Don't let him talk like the rest of the\nmerchants because he is a merchant. Let him be true to the human race\ninstead of to his little business--be true to the ideal in his heart and\nbrain, instead of to his little present and apparent selfishness--let\nhim have a larger and more intelligent selfishness--a generous\nphilosophy, that includes not only others but himself.\n\nSo far as I am concerned, I have made up my mind that no organization,\nsecular or religious, shall be my master. I have made up my mind that no\nnecessity of bread, or roof, or raiment shall ever put a padlock on my\nlips. I have made up my mind that no hope of preferment, no honor, no\nwealth, shall ever make me for one moment swerve from what I really\nbelieve, no matter whether it is to my immediate interest, as one would\nthink, or not. And while I live, I am going to do what little I can\nto help my fellow-men who have not been as fortunate as I have been. I\nshall talk on their side, I shall vote on their side, and do what little\nI can to convince men that happiness does not lie in the direction\nof great wealth, but in the direction of achievement for the good of\nthemselves and for the good of their fellow-men. I shall do what little\nI can to hasten the day when this earth shall be covered with homes, and\nwhen by countless firesides shall sit the happy and the loving families\nof the world.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH.\n\n\nI. THE OLD TESTAMENT.\n\nONE of the foundation stones of our faith is the Old Testament. If\nthat book is not true, if its authors were unaided men, if it contains\nblunders and falsehoods, then that stone crumbles to dust.\n\nThe geologists demonstrated that the author of Genesis was mistaken as\nto the age of the world, and that the story of the universe having been\ncreated in six days, about six thousand years ago could not be true.\n\nThe theologians then took the ground that the \"days\" spoken of in\nGenesis were periods of time, epochs, six \"long whiles,\" and that the\nwork of creation might have been commenced millions of years ago.\n\nThe change of days into epochs was considered by the believers of the\nBible as a great triumph over the hosts of infidelity. The fact that\nJehovah had ordered the Jews to keep the Sabbath, giving as a reason\nthat he had made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, did\nnot interfere with the acceptance of the \"epoch\" theory.\n\nBut there is still another question. How long has man been upon the\nearth?\n\nAccording to the Bible, Adam was certainly the first man, and in his\ncase the epoch theory cannot change the account. The Bible gives the\nage at which Adam died, and gives the generations to the flood--then to\nAbraham and so on, and shows that from the creation of Adam to the birth\nof Christ it was about four thousand and four years.\n\nAccording to the sacred Scriptures man has been on this earth five\nthousand eight hundred and ninety-nine years and no more.\n\nIs this true?\n\nGeologists have divided a few years of the worlds history into periods,\nreaching from the azoic rocks to the soil of our time. With most of\nthese periods they associate certain forms of life, so that it is known\nthat the lowest forms of life belonged with the earliest periods, and\nthe higher with the more recent. It is also known that certain forms of\nlife existed in Europe many ages ago, and that many thousands of years\nago these forms disappeared.\n\nFor instance, it is well established that at one time there lived in\nEurope, and in the British Islands some of the most gigantic mammals,\nthe mammoth, the woolly-haired rhinoceros, the Irish elk, elephants and\nother forms that have in those countries become extinct. Geologists say\nthat many thousands of years have passed since these animals ceased to\ninhabit those countries.\n\nIt was during the Drift Period that these forms of life existed in\nEurope and England, and that must have been hundreds of thousands of\nyears ago.\n\nIn caves, once inhabited by men, have been found implements of flint and\nthe bones of these extinct animals. With the flint tools man had split\nthe bones of these beasts that he might secure the marrow for food.\n\nMany such caves and hundreds of such tools, and of such bones have been\nfound. And we now know that in the Drift Period man was the companion of\nthese extinct monsters.\n\nIt is therefore certain that many, many thousands of years before Adam\nlived, men, women and children inhabited the earth.\n\nIt is certain that the account in the Bible of the creation of the first\nman is a mistake. It is certain that the inspired writers knew nothing\nabout the origin of man.\n\nLet me give you another fact:\n\nThe Egyptians were astronomers. A few years ago representations of the\nstars were found on the walls of an old temple, and it was discovered\nby calculating backward that the stars did occupy the exact positions as\nrepresented about seven hundred and fifty years before Christ. Afterward\nanother representation of the stars was found, and by calculating in\nthe same way, it was found that the stars did occupy the exact positions\nrepresented about three thousand eight hundred years before Christ.\n\nAccording to the Bible the first man was created four thousand and four\nyears before Christ If this is true then Egypt was founded, its language\nformed, its arts cultivated, its astronomical discoveries made and\nrecorded about two hundred years after the creation of the first man.\n\nIn other words, Adam was two or three hundred years old when the\nEgyptian astronomers made these representations.\n\nNothing can be more absurd.\n\nAgain I say that the writers of the Bible were mistaken.\n\nHow do I know?\n\nAccording to that same Bible there was a flood some fifteen or sixteen\nhundred years after Adam was created that destroyed the entire human\nrace with the exception of eight persons, and according to the Bible\nthe Egyptians descended from one of the sons of Noah. How then did\nthe Egyptians represent the stars in the position they occupied twelve\nhundred years before the flood?\n\nNo one pretends that Egypt existed as a nation before the flood. Yet\nthe astronomical representations found, must have been made more than a\nthousand years before the world was drowned.\n\nThere is another mistake in the Bible.\n\nAccording to that book the sun was made after the earth was created.\n\nIs this true?\n\nDid the earth exist before the sun?\n\nThe men of science are believers in the exact opposite. They believe\nthat the earth is a child of the sun--that the earth, as well as the\nother planets belonging to our constellation, came from the sun.\n\nThe writers of the Bible were mistaken.\n\nThere is another point:\n\nAccording to the Bible, Jehovah made the world in six days, and the work\ndone each day is described. What did Jehovah do on the second day?\n\nThis is the record:\n\n\"And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and\nlet it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and\ndivided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which\nwere above the firmament. And it was so, and God called the firmament\nheaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.\"\n\nThe writer of this believed in a solid firmament--the floor of Jehovah's\nhouse. He believed that the waters had been divided, and that the\nrain came from above the firmament. He did not understand the fact\nof evaporation--did not know that the rain came from the water on the\nearth.\n\nNow we know that there is no firmament, and we know that the waters are\nnot divided by a firmament. Consequently we know that, according to the\nBible, Jehovah did nothing on the second day. He must have rested on\nTuesday. This being so, we ought to have two Sundays a week.\n\nCan we rely on the historical parts of the Bible?\n\nSeventy souls went down into Egypt, and in two hundred and fifteen years\nincreased to three millions. They could not have doubled more than four\ntimes a century. Say nine times in two hundred and fifteen years.\n\nThis makes thirty-five thousand eight hundred and forty, (35,840.)\ninstead of three millions.\n\nCan we believe the accounts of the battles?\n\nTake one instance:\n\nJereboam had an army of eight hundred thousand men, Abijah of four\nhundred thousand. They fought. The Lord was on Abijah's side, and he\nkilled five hundred thousand of Jereboam's men.\n\nAll these soldiers were Jews--all lived in Palestine, a poor miserable\nlittle country about one-quarter as large as the State of New York. Yet\none million two hundred thousand soldiers were put in the field. This\nrequired a population in the country of ten or twelve millions. Of\ncourse this is absurd. Palestine in its palmiest days could not have\nsupported two millions of people.\n\nThe soil is poor.\n\nIf the Bible is inspired, is it true?\n\nWe are told by this inspired book of the gold and silver collected\nby King David for the temple--the temple afterward completed by the\nvirtuous Solomon.\n\nAccording to the blessed Bible, David collected about two thousand\nmillion dollars in silver, and five thousand million dollars in gold,\nmaking a total of seven thousand million dollars.\n\nIs this true?\n\nThere is in the bank of France at the present time (1895) nearly six\nhundred million dollars, and so far as we know, it is the greatest\namount that was ever gathered together. All the gold now known, coined\nand in bullion, does not amount to much more than the sum collected by\nDavid.\n\nSeven thousand millions. Where did David get this gold? The Jews had\nno commerce. They owned no ships. They had no great factories, they\nproduced nothing for other countries. There were no gold or silver mines\nin Palestine. Where then was this gold, this silver found? I will\ntell you: In the imagination of a writer who had more patriotism than\nintelligence, and who wrote, not for the sake of truth, but for the\nglory of the Jews.\n\nIs it possible that David collected nearly eight thousand tons of\ngold--that he by economy got together about sixty thousand tons of\nsilver, making a total of gold and silver of sixty-eight thousand tons?\n\nThe average freight car carries about fifteen tons--David's gold and\nsilver would load about four thousand five hundred and thirty-three\ncars, making a train about thirty-two miles in length. And all this for\nthe temple at Jerusalem, a building ninety feet long and forty-five feet\nhigh and thirty wide, to which was attached a porch thirty feet wide,\nninety feet long and one hundred and eighty feet high.\n\nProbably the architect was inspired.\n\nIs there a sensible man in the world who believes that David collected\nseven thousand million dollars worth of gold or silver?\n\nThere is hardly five thousand million dollars of gold now used as\nmoney in the whole world. Think of the millions taken from the mines of\nCalifornia, Australia and Africa during the present century and yet the\ntotal scarcely exceeds the amount collected by King David more than\na thousand years before the birth of Christ. Evidently the inspired\nhistorian made a mistake.\n\nIt required a little imagination and a few ciphers to change seven\nmillion dollars or seven hundred thousand dollars into seven thousand\nmillion dollars. Drop four ciphers and the story becomes fairly\nreasonable.\n\nThe Old Testament must be thrown aside. It is no longer a foundation. It\nhas crumbled.\n\n\nII. THE NEW TESTAMENT\n\nBUT we have the New Testament, the sequel of the Old, in which\nChristians find the fulfillment of prophecies made by inspired Jews.\n\nThe New Testament vouches for the truth, the inspiration, of the Old,\nand if the old is false, the New cannot be true.\n\nIn the New Testament we find all that we know about the life and\nteachings of Jesus Christ.\n\nIt is claimed that the writers were divinely inspired, and that all they\nwrote is true.\n\nLet us see if these writers agree.\n\nCertainly there should be no difference about the birth of Christ.\nFrom the Christian's point of view, nothing could have been of greater\nimportance than that event.\n\nMatthew says: \"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the\ndays of Herod the King, behold there came wise men from the east to\nJerusalem.\n\n\"Saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews? for we have seen his\nstar in the east and are come to worship him.\"\n\nMatthew does not tell us who these wise men were, from what country they\ncame, to what race they belonged. He did not even know their names.\n\nWe are also informed that when Herod heard these things he was troubled\nand all Jerusalem with him; that he gathered the chief priests and asked\nof them where Christ should be born and they told him that he was to be\nborn in Bethlehem.\n\nThen Herod called the wise men and asked them when the star appeared,\nand told them to go to Bethlehem and report to him.\n\nWhen they left Herod, the star again appeared and went before them until\nit stood over the place where the child was.\n\nWhen they came to the child they worshiped him,--gave him gifts, and\nbeing warned by God in a dream, they went back to their own country\nwithout calling on Herod.\n\nThen the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to\ntake Mary and the child into Egypt for fear of Herod.\n\nSo Joseph took Mary and the child to Egypt and remained there until the\ndeath of Herod.\n\nThen Herod, finding that he was mocked by the wise men, \"sent forth\nand slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the coasts\nthereof from two years old and under.\"\n\nAfter the death of Herod an angel again appeared in a dream to Joseph\nand told him to take mother and child and go back to Palestine.\n\nSo he went back and dwelt in Nazareth.\n\nIs this story true? Must we believe in the star and the wise men? Who\nwere these wise men? From what country did they come? What interest had\nthey in the birth of the King of the Jews? What became of them and their\nstar?\n\nOf course I know that the Holy Catholic Church has in her keeping the\nthree skulls that belonged to these wise men, but I do not know where\nthe church obtained these relics, nor exactly how their genuineness has\nbeen established.\n\nMust we believe that Herod murdered the babes of Bethlehem?\n\nIs it not wonderful that the enemies of Herod did not charge him with\nthis horror? Is it not marvelous that Mark and Luke and John forgot to\nmention this most heartless of massacres?\n\nLuke also gives an account of the birth of Christ. He says that there\nwent out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be\ntaxed; that this was when Cyrenius was governor of Syria; that in\naccordance with this decree, Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be\ntaxed; that at that place Christ was born and laid in a manger. He also\nsays that shepherds, in the neighborhood, were told of the birth by\nan angel, with whom was a multitude of the heavenly host; that these\nshepherds visited Mary and the child, and told others what they had seen\nand heard.\n\nHe tells us that after eight days the child was named, Jesus; that forty\ndays after his birth he was taken by Joseph and Mary to Jerusalem,\nand that after they had performed all things according to the law they\nreturned to Nazareth. Luke also says that the child grew and waxed\nstrong in spirit, and that his parents went every year to Jerusalem.\n\nDo the accounts in Matthew and Luke agree? Can both accounts be true?\n\nLuke never heard of the star, and Matthew knew nothing of the heavenly\nhost. Luke never heard of the wise men, nor Matthew of the shepherds.\nLuke knew nothing of the hatred of Herod, the murder of the babes or\nthe flight into Egypt. According to Matthew, Joseph, warned by an angel,\ntook Mary and the child and fled into Egypt. According to Luke they all\nwent to Jerusalem, and from there back to Nazareth.\n\nBoth of these accounts cannot be true. Will some Christian scholar tell\nus which to believe?\n\nWhen was Christ born?\n\nLuke says that it took place when Cyrenius was governor. Here is another\nmistake. Cyrenius was not appointed governor until after the death of\nHerod, and the taxing could not have taken place until ten years after\nthe alleged birth of Christ.\n\nAccording to Luke, Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, and for the\npurpose of getting them to Bethlehem, so that the child could be born\nin the right place, the taxing under Cyrenius was used, but the writer,\nbeing \"inspired\" made a mistake of about ten years as to the time of the\ntaxing and of the birth.\n\nMatthew says nothing about the date of the birth, except that he was\nborn when Herod was king. It is now known that Herod had been dead ten\nyears before the taxing under Cyrenius. So, if Luke tells the truth,\nJoseph, being warned by an angel, fled from the hatred of Herod ten\nyears after Herod was dead. If Matthew and Luke are both right Christ\nwas taken to Egypt ten years before he was born, and Herod killed the\nbabes ten years after he was dead.\n\nWill some Christian scholar have the goodness to harmonize these\n\"inspired\" accounts?\n\nThere is another thing.\n\nMatthew and Luke both try to show that Christ was of the blood of David,\nthat he was a descendant of that virtuous king.\n\nAs both of these writers were inspired and as both received their\ninformation from God, they ought to agree.\n\nAccording to Matthew there was between David and Jesus twenty-seven\ngenerations, and he gives all the names.\n\nAccording to Luke there were between David and Jesus forty-two\ngenerations, and he gives all the names.\n\nIn these genealogies--both inspired--there is a difference between David\nand Jesus, a difference of some fourteen or fifteen generations.\n\nBesides, the names of all the ancestors are different, with two\nexceptions.\n\nMatthew says that Joseph's father was Jacob. Luke says that Heli was\nJoseph's father.\n\nBoth of these genealogies cannot be true, and the probability is that\nboth are false.\n\nThere is not in all the pulpits ingenuity enough to harmonize these\nignorant and stupid contradictions.\n\nThere are many curious mistakes in the words attributed to Christ.\n\nWe are told in Matthew, chapter xxiii, verse 35, that Christ said:\n\n\"That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth\nfrom the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of\nBarachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.\"\n\nIt is certain that these words were not spoken by Christ. He could not\nby any possibility have known that the blood of Zacharias had been shed.\nAs a matter of fact, Zacharias was killed by the Jews, during the seige\nof Jerusalem by Titus, and this seige took place seventy-one years after\nthe birth of Christ, thirty-eight years after he was dead.\n\nThere is still another mistake.\n\nZacharias was not the son of Barachias--no such\n\nZacharias was killed. The Zacharias that was slain was the son of\nBaruch.\n\nBut we must not expect the \"inspired\" to be accurate.\n\nMatthew says that at the time of the crucifixion--\"the graves were\nopened and that many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out\nof their graves _after_ his resurrection, and went into the holy city\nand appeared unto many.\"\n\nAccording to this the graves were opened at the time of the crucifixion,\nbut the dead did not arise and come out until after the resurrection of\nChrist.\n\nThey were polite enough to sit in their open graves and wait for Christ\nto rise first.\n\nTo whom did these saints appear? What became of them? Did they slip back\ninto their graves and commit suicide?\n\nIs it not wonderful that Mark, Luke and John never heard of these\nsaints?\n\nWhat kind of saints were they? Certainly they were not Christian saints.\n\nSo, the inspired writers do not agree in regard to Judas.\n\nCertainly the inspired writers ought to have known what happened to\nJudas, the betrayer. Matthew being duly \"inspired\" says that when Judas\nsaw that Jesus had been condemned, he repented and took back the money\nto the chief priests and elders, saying that he had sinned in betraying\nthe innocent blood. They said to him: \"What is that to us? See thou to\nthat.\" Then Judas threw down the pieces of silver and went and hanged\nhimself.\n\nThe chief priests then took the pieces of silver and bought the potter's\nfield to bury strangers in, and it is called the field of blood.\n\nWe are told in Acts of the apostles that Peter stood up in the midst of\nthe disciples and said: \"Now this man, (Judas) purchased a field with\nthe reward of iniquity--and falling headlong he burst asunder and all\nhis bowels gushed out--that field is called the field of blood.\"\n\nMatthew says Judas repented and gave back the money.\n\nPeter says that he bought a field with the money.\n\nMatthew says that Judas hanged himself. Peter says that he fell down and\nburst asunder. Which of these accounts is true?\n\nBesides, it is hard to see why Christians hate, loathe and despise\nJudas. According to their scheme of salvation, it was absolutely\nnecessary that Christ should be killed--necessary that he should be\nbetrayed, and had it not been for Judas, all the world, including\nChrist's mother, and the part of Christ that was human, would have gone\nto hell.\n\nYet, according to the New Testament, Christ did not know that one of his\ndisciples was to betray him.\n\nJesus, when on his way to Jerusalem, for the last time, said, speaking\nto the twelve disciples, Judas being present, that they, the disciples\nshould thereafter sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of\nIsrael.\n\nYet, more than a year before this journey, John says that Christ said,\nspeaking to the twelve disciples: \"Have not I chosen you twelve, and one\nof you is a devil.\" And John adds: \"He spake of Judas Iscariot, for it\nwas he that should betray him.\"\n\nWhy did Christ a year afterward, tell Judas that he should sit on a\nthrone and judge one of the tribes of Israel?\n\nThere is still another trouble.\n\nPaul says that Jesus after his resurrection appeared to the twelve\ndisciples. According to Paul, Jesus appeared to Judas with the rest.\n\nCertainly Paul had not heard the story of the betrayal.\n\nWhy did Christ select Judas as one of his disciples, knowing that he\nwould betray him? Did he desire to be betrayed? Was it his intention to\nbe put to death?\n\nWhy did he fail to defend himself before Pilate?\n\nAccording to the accounts, Pilate wanted to save him. Did Christ wish to\nbe convicted?\n\nThe Christians are compelled to say that Christ intended to be\nsacrificed--that he selected Judas with that end in view, and that he\nrefused to defend himself because he desired to be crucified. All this\nis in accordance with the horrible idea that without the shedding of\nblood there is no remission of sin.\n\n\nIII. JEHOVAH.\n\nGOD the Father.\n\nThe Jehovah of the Old Testament is the God of the Christians.\n\nHe it was who created the Universe, who made all substance, all force,\nall life, from nothing. He it is who has governed and still governs the\nworld. He has established and destroyed empires and kingdoms, despotisms\nand republics. He has enslaved and liberated the sons of men. He has\ncaused the sun to rise on the good and on the evil, and his rain to fall\non the just and the unjust.\n\nThis shows his goodness.\n\nHe has caused his volcanoes to devour the good and the bad, his cyclones\nto wreck and rend the generous and the cruel, his floods to drown the\nloving and the hateful, his lightning to kill the virtuous and the\nvicious, his famines to starve the innocent and criminal and his plagues\nto destroy the wise and good, the ignorant and wicked. He has allowed\nhis enemies to imprison, to torture and to kill his friends. He has\npermitted blasphemers to flay his worshipers alive, to dislocate their\njoints upon racks, and to burn them at the stake. He has allowed men to\nenslave their brothers and to sell babes from the breasts of mothers.\n\nThis shows his impartiality.\n\nThe pious negro who commenced his prayer: \"O thou great and unscrupulous\nGod,\" was nearer right than he knew.\n\nMinisters ask: Is it possible for God to forgive man?\n\nAnd when I think of what has been suffered--of the centuries of agony\nand tears, I ask: Is it possible for man to forgive God?\n\nHow do Christians prove the existence of their God? Is it possible to\nthink of an infinite being? Does the word God correspond with any image\nin the mind? Does the word God stand for what we know or for what we do\nnot know?\n\nIs not this unthinkable God a guess, an inference?\n\nCan we think of a being without form, without body, without parts,\nwithout passions? Why should we speak of a being without body as of the\nmasculine gender?\n\nWhy should the Bible speak of this God as a man?--of his walking in the\ngarden in the cool of the evening--of his talking, hearing and smelling?\nIf he has no passions why is he spoken of as jealous, revengeful, angry,\npleased and loving?\n\nIn the Bible God is spoken of as a person in the form of man, journeying\nfrom place to place, as having a home and occupying a throne. These\nideas have been abandoned, and now the Christian's God is the infinite,\nthe incomprehensible, the formless, bodiless and passionless.\n\nOf the existence of such a being there can be, in the nature of things,\nno evidence.\n\nConfronted with the universe, with fields of space sown thick with\nstars, with all there is of life, the wise man, being asked the origin\nand destiny of all, replies: \"I do not know. These questions are beyond\nthe powers of my mind.\" The wise man is thoughtful and modest. He clings\nto facts. Beyond his intellectual horizon he does not pretend to see.\nHe does not mistake hope for evidence or desire for demonstration. He is\nhonest. He neither deceives himself nor others.\n\nThe theologian arrives at the unthinkable, the inconceivable, and\nhe calls this God. The scientist arrives at the unthinkable, the\ninconceivable, and calls it the Unknown.\n\nThe theologian insists that his inconceivable governs the world, that\nit, or he, or they, can be influenced by prayers and ceremonies, that\nit, or he, or they, punishes and rewards, that it, or he, or they, has\npriests and temples.\n\nThe scientist insist that the Unknown is not changed so far as he knows\nby prayers of people or priests. He admits that he does not know whether\nthe Unknown is good or bad--whether he, or it, wants or whether he, or\nit, is worthy of worship. He does not say that the Unknown is God, that\nit created substance and force, life and thought. He simply says that of\nthe Unknown he knows nothing.\n\nWhy should Christians insist that a God of infinite wisdom, goodness and\npower governs the world?\n\nWhy did he allow millions of his children to be enslaved? Why did\nhe allow millions of mothers to be robbed of their babes? Why has he\nallowed injustice to triumph? Why has he permitted the innocent to be\nimprisoned and the good to be burned? Why has he withheld his rain\nand starved millions of the children of men? Why has he allowed the\nvolcanoes to destroy, the earthquakes to devour, and the tempest to\nwreck and rend?\n\n\nIV. THE TRINITY\n\nTHE New Testament informs us that Christ was the son of Joseph and the\nson of God, and that Mary was his mother.\n\nHow is it established that Christ was the son of God?\n\nIt is said that Joseph was told so in a dream by an angel.\n\nBut Joseph wrote nothing on that subject--said nothing so far as we\nknow. Mary wrote nothing, said nothing. The angel that appeared to\nJoseph or that informed Joseph said nothing to anybody else. Neither has\nthe Holy Ghost, the supposed father, ever said or written one word.\nWe have received no information from the parties who could have known\nanything on the subject. We get all our facts from those who could not\nhave known.\n\nHow is it possible to prove that the Holy Ghost was the father of\nChrist?\n\nWho knows that such a being as the Holy Ghost ever existed?\n\nHow was it possible for Mary to know anything about the Holy Ghost?\n\nHow could Joseph know that he had been visited by an angel in a dream?\n\nCould he know that the visitor was an angel? It all occurred in a dream\nand poor Joseph was asleep. What is the testimony of one who was asleep\nworth?\n\nAll the evidence we have is that somebody who wrote part of the New\nTestament says that the Holy Ghost was the father of Christ, and that\nsomebody who wrote another part of the New Testament says that Joseph\nwas the father of Christ.\n\nMatthew and Luke give the genealogy and both show that Christ was the\nson of Joseph.\n\nThe \"Incarnation\" has to be believed without evidence. There is no way\nin which it can be established. It is beyond the reach and realm of\nreason. It defies observation and is independent of experience.\n\nIt is claimed not only that Christ was the Son of God, but that he was,\nand is, God.\n\nWas he God before he was born? Was the body of Mary the dwelling place\nof God?\n\nWhat evidence have we that Christ was God?\n\nSomebody has said that Christ claimed that God was his father and that\nhe and his father were one. We do not know who this somebody was and do\nnot know from whom he received his information.\n\nSomebody who was \"inspired\" has said that Christ was of the blood of\nDavid through his father Joseph.\n\nThis is all the evidence we have.\n\nCan we believe that God, the creator of the Universe, learned the trade\nof a carpenter in Palestine, that he gathered a few disciples about\nhim, and after teaching for about three years, suffered himself to be\ncrucified by a few ignorant and pious Jews?\n\nChrist, according to the faith, is the second person in the Trinity, the\nFather being the first and the Holy Ghost the third. Each of these three\npersons is God. Christ is his own father and his own son. The Holy Ghost\nis neither father nor son, but both. The son was begotten by the father,\nbut existed before he was begotten--just the same before as after.\nChrist is just as old as his father, and the father is just as young as\nhis son. The Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and Son, but was equal\nto the Father and Son before he proceeded, that is to say, before he\nexisted, but he is of the same age of the other two.\n\nSo, it is declared that the Father is God, and the Son God and the Holy\nGhost God, and that these three Gods make one God.\n\nAccording to the celestial multiplication table, once one is three, and\nthree times one is one, and according to heavenly subtraction if we take\ntwo from three, three are left. The addition is equally peculiar, if\nwe add two to one we have but one. Each one is equal to himself and the\nother two. Nothing ever was, nothing ever can be more perfectly idiotic\nand absurd than the dogma of the Trinity.\n\nHow is it possible to prove the existence of the Trinity?\n\nIs it possible for a human being, who has been born but once, to\ncomprehend, or to imagine the existence of three beings, each of whom is\nequal to the three?\n\nThink of one of these beings as the father of one, and think of that one\nas half human and all God, and think of the third as having proceeded\nfrom the other two, and then think of all three as one. Think that after\nthe father begot the son, the father was still alone, and after the\nHoly Ghost proceeded from the father and the son, the father was still\nalone--because there never was and never will be but one God.\n\nAt this point, absurdity having reached its limit, nothing more can be\nsaid except: \"Let us pray.\"\n\n\nV. THE THEOLOGICAL CHRIST\n\nIN the New Testament we find the teachings and sayings of Christ. If\nwe say that the book is inspired, then we must admit that Christ really\nsaid all the things attributed to him by the various writers. If the\nbook is inspired we must accept it all. We have no right to reject the\ncontradictory and absurd and accept the reasonable and good. We must\ntake it all just as it is.\n\nMy own observation has led me to believe that men are generally\nconsistent in their theories and inconsistent in their lives.\n\nSo, I think that Christ in his utterances was true to his theory, to his\nphilosophy.\n\nIf I find in the Testament sayings of a contradictory character, I\nconclude that some of those sayings were never uttered by him. The\nsayings that are, in my judgment, in accordance with what I believe to\nhave been his philosophy, I accept, and the others I throw away.\n\nThere are some of his sayings which show him to have been a devout Jew,\nothers that he wished to destroy Judaism, others showing that he held\nall people except the Jews in contempt and that he wished to save no\nothers, others showing that he wished to convert the world, still others\nshowing that he was forgiving, self-denying and loving, others that he\nwas revengeful and malicious, others, that he was an ascetic, holding\nall human ties in utter contempt.\n\nThe following passages show that Christ was a devout Jew.\n\n\"Swear not, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth\nfor it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem for it is his holy city.\"\n\n\"Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets, I am\nnot come to destroy, but to fulfill.\" \"For after all these things,\n(clothing, food and drink) do the Gentiles seek.\"\n\nSo, when he cured a leper, he said: \"Go thy way, show thyself unto the\npriest and offer the gift that Moses commanded.\"\n\nJesus sent his disciples forth saying: \"Go not into the way of the\nGentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go\nrather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\"\n\nA woman came out of Canaan and cried to Jesus: \"Have mercy on me, my\ndaughter is sorely vexed with a devil\"--but he would not answer. Then\nthe disciples asked him to send her away, and he said: \"I am not sent\nbut unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\"\n\nThen the woman worshiped him and said: \"Lord help me.\" But he answered\nand said: \"It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it unto\ndogs.\" Yet for her faith he cured her child.\n\nSo, when the young man asked him what he must do to be saved, he said:\n\"Keep the commandments.\"\n\nChrist said: \"The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, all\ntherefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do.\"\n\n\"And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the\nlaw to fail.\"\n\nChrist went into the temple and cast out them that sold and bought\nthere, and said: \"It is written, my house is the house of prayer: but ye\nhave made it a den of thieves.\"\n\n\"We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews.\"\n\nCertainly all these passages were written by persons who regarded Christ\nas the Messiah.\n\nMany of the sayings attributed to Christ show that he was an ascetic,\nthat he cared nothing for kindred, nothing for father and mother,\nnothing for brothers or sisters, and nothing for the pleasures of life.\n\nChrist said to a man: \"Follow me.\" The man said: \"Suffer me first to go\nand bury my father.\" Christ answered: \"Let the dead bury their dead.\"\nAnother said: \"I will follow thee, but first let me go bid them farewell\nwhich are at home.\"\n\nJesus said: \"No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back\nis fit for the kingdom of God. If thine right eye offend thee pluck it\nout. If thy right hand offend thee cut it off.\"\n\nOne said unto him: \"Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without,\ndesiring to speak with thee.\" And he answered: \"Who is my mother,\nand who are my brethren?\" Then he stretched forth his hand toward his\ndisciples and said: \"Behold my mother and my brethren.\"\n\n\"And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren or sisters, or\nfather or mother, or wife or children, or lands for my name's sake shall\nreceive an hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life.\"\n\n\"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and\nhe that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.\"\n\nChrist it seems had a philosophy.\n\nHe believed that God was a loving father, that he would take care of his\nchildren, that they need do nothing except to rely implicitly on God.\n\n\"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.\"\n\n\"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate\nyou and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.\"\n\n\"Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall\ndrink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.... For your heavenly\nFather knoweth that ye have need of all these things.\"\n\n\"Ask and it shall be given you. Whatsoever ye would that men should do\nto you, do ye even so to them. If ye forgive men their trespasses your\nheavenly Father will also forgive you. The very hairs of your head are\nall numbered.\"\n\nChrist seemed to rely absolutely on the protection of God until the\ndarkness of death gathered about him, and then he cried: \"My God! my\nGod! why hast thou forsaken me?\"\n\nWhile there are many passages in the New Testament showing Christ to\nhave been forgiving and tender, there are many others, showing that he\nwas exactly the opposite.\n\nWhat must have been the spirit of one who said: \"I am come to send fire\non the earth? Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell\nyou, nay, but rather division. For from henceforth there shall be five\nin one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The\nfather shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father,\nthe mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother,\nthe mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law\nagainst her mother-in-law.\"\n\n\"If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother, and wife, and\nchildren and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot\nbe my disciple.\"\n\n\"But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them,\nbring hither and slay them before me.\"\n\nThis passage built dungeons and lighted fagots.\n\n\"Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his\nangels.\"\n\n\"I came not to bring peace but a sword.\"\n\nAll these sayings could not have been uttered by the same person. They\nare inconsistent with each other. Love does not speak the words of\nhatred. The real philanthropist does not despise all nations but his\nown. The teacher of universal forgiveness cannot believe in eternal\ntorture.\n\nFrom the interpolations, legends, accretions, mistakes and falsehoods\nin the New Testament is it possible to free the actual man? Clad in mist\nand myth, hidden by the draperies of gods, deformed, indistinct as\nfaces in clouds, is it possible to find and recognize the features, the\nnatural face of the actual Christ?\n\nFor many centuries our fathers closed their eyes to the contradictions\nand inconsistencies of the Testament and in spite of their reason\nharmonized the interpolations and mistakes.\n\nThis is no longer possible. The contradictions are too many, too\nglaring. There are contradictions of fact not only, but of philosophy,\nof theory.\n\nThe accounts of the trial, the crucifixion, and ascension of Christ do\nnot agree. They are full of mistakes and contradictions.\n\nAccording to one account Christ ascended the day of, or the day after\nhis resurrection. According to another he remained forty days after\nrising from the dead. According to one account, he was seen after his\nresurrection only by a few women and his disciples. According to another\nhe was seen by the women, by his disciples on several occasions and by\nhundreds of others.\n\nAccording to Matthew, Luke and Mark, Christ remained for the most part\nin the country, seldom going to Jerusalem. According to John he remained\nmostly in Jerusalem, going occasionally into the country, and then\ngenerally to avoid his enemies.\n\nAccording to Matthew, Mark and Luke, Christ taught that if you would\nforgive others God would forgive you. According to John, Christ said\nthat the only way to get to heaven was to believe on him and be born\nagain.\n\nThese contradictions are gross and palpable and demonstrate that the\nNew Testament is not inspired, and that many of its statements must be\nfalse.\n\nIf we wish to save the character of Christ, many of the passages must be\nthrown away.\n\nWe must discard the miracles or admit that he was insane or an impostor.\nWe must discard the passages that breathe the spirit of hatred and\nrevenge, or admit that he was malevolent.\n\nIf Matthew was mistaken about the genealogy of Christ, about the wise\nmen, the star, the flight into Egypt and the massacre of the babes by\nHerod,--then he may have been mistaken in many passages that he put in\nthe mouth of Christ.\n\nThe same may be said in regard to Mark, Luke and John.\n\nThe church must admit that the writers of the New Testament were\nuninspired men--that they made many mistakes, that they accepted\nimpossible legends as historical facts, that they were ignorant and\nsuperstitious, that they put malevolent, stupid, insane and unworthy\nwords in the mouth of Christ, described him as the worker of impossible\nmiracles and in many ways stained and belittled his character.\n\nThe best that can be said about Christ is that nearly nineteen centuries\nago he was born in the land of Palestine in a country without wealth,\nwithout commerce, in the midst of a people who knew nothing of the\ngreater world--a people enslaved, crushed by the mighty power of Rome.\nThat this babe, this child of poverty and want grew to manhood without\neducation, knowing nothing of art, or science, and at about the age of\nthirty began wandering about the hills and hamlets of his native land,\ndiscussing with priests, talking with the poor and sorrowful, writing\nnothing, but leaving his words in the memory or forgetfulness of those\nto whom he spoke.\n\nThat he attacked the religion of his time because it was cruel. That\nthis excited the hatred of those in power, and that Christ was arrested,\ntried and crucified.\n\nFor many centuries this great Peasant of Palestine has been worshiped as\nGod.\n\nMillions and millions have given their lives to his service. The wealth\nof the world was lavished on his shrines. His name carried consolation\nto the diseased and dying. His name dispelled the darkness of death, and\nfilled the dungeon with light. His name gave courage to the martyr,\nand in the midst of fire, with shriveling lips the sufferer uttered\nit again, and again. The outcasts, the deserted, the fallen, felt that\nChrist was their friend, felt that he knew their sorrows and pitied\ntheir sufferings.\n\nThe poor mother, holding her dead babe in her arms, lovingly whispered\nhis name. His gospel has been carried by millions to all parts of the\nglobe, and his story has been told by the self-denying and faithful to\ncountless thousands of the sons of men. In his name have been preached\ncharity,--forgiveness and love.\n\nHe it was, who according to the faith, brought immortality to light, and\nmany millions have entered the valley of the shadow with their hands in\nhis.\n\nAll this is true, and if it were all, how beautiful, how touching, how\nglorious it would be. But it is not all. There is another side.\n\nIn his name millions and millions of men and women have been imprisoned,\ntortured and killed. In his name millions and millions have been\nenslaved. In his name the thinkers, the investigators, have been branded\nas criminals, and his followers have shed the blood of the wisest and\nbest. In his name the progress of many nations was stayed for a thousand\nyears. In his gospel was found the dogma of eternal pain, and his words\nadded an infinite horror to death. His gospel filled the world with\nhatred and revenge; made intellectual honesty a crime; made happiness\nhere the road to hell, denounced love as base and bestial, canonized\ncredulity, crowned bigotry and destroyed the liberty of man.\n\nIt would have been far better had the New Testament never been\nwritten--far better had the theological Christ never lived. Had the\nwriters of the Testament been regarded as uninspired, had Christ been\nthought of only as a man, had the good been accepted and the absurd, the\nimpossible, and the revengeful thrown away, mankind would have escaped\nthe wars, the tortures, the scaffolds, the dungeons, the agony and\ntears, the crimes and sorrows of a thousand years.\n\n\nVI. THE \"SCHEME\"\n\nWE have also the scheme of redemption.\n\nAccording to this \"scheme,\" by the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden\nof Eden, human nature became evil, corrupt and depraved. It became\nimpossible for human beings to keep, in all things, the law of God.\nIn spite of this, God allowed the people to live and multiply for some\nfifteen hundred years, and then on account of their wickedness drowned\nthem all with the exception of eight persons.\n\nThe nature of these eight persons was evil, corrupt and depraved, and\nin the nature of things their children would be cursed with the same\nnature. Yet God gave them another trial, knowing exactly what the result\nwould be. A few of these wretches he selected and made them objects of\nhis love and care, the rest of the world he gave to indifference and\nneglect. To civilize the people he had chosen, he assisted them in\nconquering and killing their neighbors, and gave them the assistance of\npriests and inspired prophets. For their preservation and punishment\nhe wrought countless miracles, gave them many laws and a great deal of\nadvice. He taught them to sacrifice oxen, sheep, and doves, to the end\nthat their sins might be forgiven. The idea was inculcated that there\nwas a certain relation between the sin and the sacrifice,--the greater\nthe sin, the greater the sacrifice. He also taught the savagery that\nwithout the shedding of blood there was no remission of sin.\n\nIn spite of all his efforts, the people grew gradually worse. They would\nnot, they could not keep his laws.\n\nA sacrifice had to be made for the sins of the people. The sins were\ntoo great to be washed out by the blood of animals or men. It became\nnecessary for. God himself to be sacrificed. All mankind were under the\ncurse of the law. Either all the world must be lost or God must die.\n\nIn only one way could the guilty be justified, and that was by the\ndeath, the sacrifice of the innocent. And the innocent being sacrificed\nmust be great enough to atone for the world; There was but one such\nbeing--God.\n\nThereupon God took upon himself flesh, was born into the world--was\nknown as Christ--was murdered, sacrificed by the Jews, and became an\natonement for the sins of the human race.\n\nThis is the scheme of Redemption,--the atonement.\n\nIt is impossible to conceive of anything more utterly absurd.\n\nA man steals, and then sacrifices a dove, or gives a lamb to a priest.\nHis crime remains the same. He need not kill something. Let him give\nback the thing stolen, and in future live an honest life.\n\nA man slanders his neighbor and then kills an ox. What has that to do\nwith the slander. Let him take back his slander, make all the reparation\nthat he can, and let the ox alone.\n\nThere is no sense in sacrifice, never was and never will be.\n\nMake restitution, reparation, undo the wrong and you need shed no blood.\n\nA good law, one springing from the nature of things, cannot demand, and\ncannot accept, and cannot be satisfied with the punishment, or the\nagony of the innocent. A god could not accept his own sufferings in\njustification of the guilty.--This is a complete subversion of all ideas\nof justice and morality. A god could not make a law for man, then suffer\nin the place of the man who had violated it, and say that the law had\nbeen carried out, and the penalty duly enforced. A man has committed\nmurder, has been tried, convicted and condemned to death. Another man\ngoes to the governor and says that he is willing to die in place of the\nmurderer. The governor says: \"All right, I accept your offer, a murder\nhas been committed, somebody must be hung and your death will satisfy\nthe law.\"\n\nBut that is not the law. The law says, not that somebody shall be\nhanged, but that the murderer shall suffer death.\n\nEven if the governor should die in the place of the criminal, it would\nbe no better. There would be two murders instead of one, two innocent\nmen killed, one by the first murderer and one by the State, and the real\nmurderer free.\n\nThis, Christians call, \"satisfying the law.\"\n\n\nVII. BELIEF.\n\nWE are told that all who believe in this scheme of redemption and have\nfaith in the redeemer will be rewarded with eternal joy. Some think that\nmen can be saved by faith without works, and some think that faith and\nworks are both essential, but all agree that without faith there is no\nsalvation. If you repent and believe on Jesus Christ, then his goodness\nwill be imputed to you and the penalty of the law, so far as you are\nconcerned, will be satisfied by the sufferings of Christ.\n\nYou may repent and reform, you may make restitution, you may practice\nall the virtues, but without this belief in Christ, the gates of heaven\nwill be shut against you forever.\n\nWhere is this heaven? The Christians do not know.\n\nDoes the Christian go there at death, or must he wait for the general\nresurrection?\n\nThey do not know.\n\nThe Testament teaches that the bodies of the dead are to be raised?\nWhere are their souls in the meantime? They do not know.\n\nCan the dead be raised? The atoms composing their bodies enter into new\ncombinations, into new forms, into wheat and corn, into the flesh of\nanimals and into the bodies of other men. Where one man dies, and some\nof his atoms pass into the body of another man and he dies, to whom will\nthese atoms belong in the day of resurrection?\n\nIf Christianity were only stupid and unscientific, if its God was\nignorant and kind, if it promised eternal joy to believers and if the\nbelievers practiced the forgiveness they teach, for one I should let the\nfaith alone.\n\nBut there is another side to Christianity. It is not only stupid, but\nmalicious. It is not only unscientific, but it is heartless. Its god\nis not only ignorant, but infinitely cruel. It not only promises the\nfaithful an eternal reward, but declares that nearly all of the children\nof men, imprisoned in the dungeons of God will suffer eternal pain. This\nis the savagery of Christianity. This is why I hate its unthinkable God,\nits impossible Christ, its inspired lies, and its selfish, heartless\nheaven.\n\nChristians believe in infinite torture, in eternal pain.\n\nEternal Pain!\n\nAll the meanness of which the heart of man is capable is in that one\nword--Hell.\n\nThat word is a den, a cave, in which crawl the slimy reptiles of\nrevenge.\n\nThat word certifies to the savagery of primitive man.\n\nThat word is the depth, the dungeon, the abyss, from which civilized man\nhas emerged.\n\nThat word is the disgrace, the shame, the infamy, of our revealed\nreligion.\n\nThat word fills all the future with the shrieks of the damned.\n\nThat word brutalizes the New Testament, changes the Sermon on the\nMount to hypocrisy and cant, and pollutes and hardens the very heart of\nChrist.\n\nThat word adds an infinite horror to death, and makes the cradle as\nterrible as the coffin.\n\nThat word is the assassin of joy, the mocking murderer of hope. That\nword extinguishes the light of life and wraps the world in gloom. That\nword drives reason from his throne, and gives the crown to madness.\n\nThat word drove pity from the hearts of men, stained countless swords\nwith blood, lighted fagots, forged chains, built dungeons, erected\nscaffolds, and filled the world with poverty and pain.\n\nThat word is a coiled serpent in the mother's breast, that lifts its\nfanged head and hisses in her ear:--\"Your child will be the fuel of\neternal fire.\"\n\nThat word blots from the firmament the star of hope and leaves the\nheavens black.\n\nThat word makes the Christian's God an eternal torturer, an everlasting\ninquisitor--an infinite wild beast.\n\nThis is the Christian prophecy of the eternal future:\n\nNo hope in hell.\n\nNo pity in heaven.\n\nNo mercy in the heart of God.\n\n\nVIII. CONCLUSION\n\nTHE Old Testament is absurd, ignorant and cruel,--the New Testament is\na mingling of the false and true--it is good and bad.\n\nThe Jehovah of the Jews is an impossible monster. The Trinity absurd and\nidiotic, Christ is a myth or a man.\n\nThe fall of man is contradicted by every fact concerning human history\nthat we know. The scheme of redemption--through the atonement--is\nimmoral and senseless. Hell was imagined by revenge, and the orthodox\nheaven is the selfish dream of heartless serfs and slaves. The\nfoundations of the faith have crumbled and faded away. They were\nmiracles, mistakes, and myths, ignorant and untrue, absurd, impossible,\nimmoral, unnatural, cruel, childish, savage. Beneath the gaze of the\nscientist they vanished, confronted by facts they disappeared. The\northodox religion of our day has no foundation in truth. Beneath the\nsuperstructure can be found no fact.\n\nSome may ask, \"Are you trying to take our religion away?\"\n\nI answer, No--superstition is not religion. Belief without evidence is\nnot religion. Faith without facts is not religion.\n\nTo love justice, to long for the right, to love mercy, to pity\nthe suffering, to assist the weak, to forget wrongs and remember\nbenefits--to love the truth, to be sincere, to utter honest words, to\nlove liberty, to wage relentless war against slavery in all its forms,\nto love wife and child and friend, to make a happy home, to love the\nbeautiful in art, in nature, to cultivate the mind, to be familiar with\nthe mighty thoughts that genius has expressed, the noble deeds of all\nthe world, to cultivate courage and cheerfulness, to make others happy,\nto fill life with the splendor of generous acts, the warmth of loving\nwords, to discard error, to destroy prejudice, to receive new truths\nwith gladness, to cultivate hope, to see the calm beyond the storm, the\ndawn beyond the night, to do the best that can be done and then to be\nresigned this is the religion of reason, the creed of science. This\nsatisfies the brain and heart.\n\nBut, says the prejudiced priest, the malicious minister, \"You take away\na future life.\"\n\nI am not trying to destroy another world, but I am endeavoring to\nprevent the theologians from destroying this.\n\nIf we are immortal it is a fact in nature, and that fact does not depend\non bibles, or Christs, or priests or creeds.\n\nThe hope of another life was in the heart, long before the \"sacred\nbooks\" were written, and will remain there long after all the \"sacred\nbooks\" are known to be the work of savage and superstitious men. Hope is\nthe consolation of the world.\n\nThe wanderers hope for home.--Hope builds the house and plants the\nflowers and fills the air with song.\n\nThe sick and suffering hope for health.--Hope gives them health and\npaints the roses in their cheeks.\n\nThe lonely, the forsaken, hope for love.--Hope brings the lover to their\narms. They feel the kisses on their eager lips.\n\nThe poor in tenements and huts, in spite of rags and hunger hope for\nwealth.--Hope fills their thin and trembling hands with gold.\n\nThe dying hopes that death is but another birth, and Love leans above\nthe pallid face and whispers, \"We shall meet again.\"\n\nHope is the consolation of the world.\n\nLet us hope, if there be a God that he is wise and good.\n\nLet us hope that if there be another life it will bring peace and joy to\nall the children of men.\n\nAnd let us hope that this poor earth on which we live, may be a perfect\nworld--a world without a crime--without a tear.\n\n\n\n\nSUPERSTITION.\n\n\nI. WHAT IS SUPERSTITION?\n\nTo believe in spite of evidence or without evidence. To account for one\nmystery by another.\n\nTo believe that the world is governed by chance or caprice.\n\nTo disregard the true relation between cause and effect.\n\nTo put thought, intention and design back of nature.\n\nTo believe that mind created and controls matter. To believe in force\napart from substance, or in substance apart from force.\n\nTo believe in miracles, spells and charms, in dreams and prophecies.\n\nTo believe in the supernatural.\n\nThe foundation of superstition is ignorance, the superstructure is faith\nand the dome is a vain hope.\n\nSuperstition is the child of ignorance and the mother of misery.\n\nIn nearly every brain is found some cloud of superstition.\n\nA woman drops a cloth with which she is washing dishes, and she\nexclaims: \"That means company.\"\n\nMost people will admit that there is no possible connection between\ndropping the cloth and the coming of visitors. The falling cloth could\nnot have put the visit desire in the minds of people not present, and\nhow could the cloth produce the desire to visit the particular person\nwho dropped it? There is no possible connection between the dropping of\nthe cloth and the anticipated effects.\n\nA man catches a glimpse of the new moon over his left shoulder, and he\nsays: \"This is bad luck.\"\n\nTo see the moon over the right or left shoulder, or not to see it, could\nnot by any possibility affect the moon, neither could it change the\neffect or influence of the moon on any earthly thing. Certainly the\nleft-shoulder glance could in no way affect the nature of things. All\nthe facts in nature would remain the same as though the glance had been\nover the right shoulder. We see no connection between the left-shoulder\nglance and any possible evil effects upon the one who saw the moon in\nthis way.\n\nA girl counts the leaves of a flower, and she says: \"One, he comes; two,\nhe tarries; three, he courts; four, he marries; five, he goes away.\"\n\nOf course the flower did not grow, and the number of its leaves was not\ndetermined with reference to the courtship or marriage of this girl,\nneither could there have been any intelligence that guided her hand\nwhen she selected that particular flower. So, count' ing the seeds in an\napple cannot in any way determine whether the future of an individual is\nto be happy or miserable.\n\nThousands of persons believe in lucky and unlucky days, numbers, signs\nand jewels.\n\nMany people regard Friday as an unlucky day--as a bad day to commence a\njourney, to marry, to make any investment. The only reason given is that\nFriday is an unlucky day.\n\nStarting across the sea on Friday could have no possible effect upon the\nwinds, or waves, or tides, any more than starting on any other day, and\nthe only possible reason for thinking Friday unlucky is the assertion\nthat it is so.\n\nSo it is thought by many that it is dangerous for thirteen people to\ndine together. Now, if thirteen is a dangerous number, twenty-six ought\nto be twice as dangerous, and fifty-two four times as terrible.\n\nIt is said that one of the thirteen will die in a year. Now, there is no\npossible relation between the number and the digestion of each, between\nthe number and the individual diseases. If fourteen dine together there\nis greater probability, if we take into account only the number, of a\ndeath within the year, than there would be if only thirteen were at the\ntable.\n\nOverturning the salt is very unlucky, but spilling the vinegar makes no\ndifference.\n\nWhy salt should be revengeful and vinegar forgiving has never been told.\n\nIf the first person who enters a theatre is crosseyed, the audience will\nbe small and the \"run\" a failure.\n\nHow the peculiarity of the eyes of the first one who enters, changes the\nintention of a community, or how the intentions of a community cause\nthe cross-eyed man to go early, has never been satisfactorily explained.\nBetween this so-called cause and the so-called effect there is, so far\nas we can see, no possible relation.\n\nTo wear an opal is bad luck, but rubies bring health. How these stones\naffect the future, how they destroy causes and defeat effects, no one\npretends to know.\n\nSo, there are thousands of lucky and unlucky tilings, warnings, omens\nand prophecies, but all sensible, sane and reasoning human beings know\nthat every one is an absurd and idiotic superstition.\n\nLet us take another step:\n\nFor many centuries it was believed that eclipses of the sun and moon\nwere prophetic of pestilence or famine, and that comets foretold the\ndeath of kings, or the destruction of nations, the coming of war or\nplague. All strange appearances in the heavens--the Northern Lights,\ncircles about the moon, sun dogs, falling stars--filled our intelligent\nancestors with terror. They fell upon their knees--did their best with\nsacrifice and prayer to avoid the threatened disaster. Their faces were\nashen with fear as they closed their eyes and cried to the heavens for\nhelp. The clergy, who were as familiar with God then as the orthodox\npreachers are now, knew exactly the meaning of eclipses and sun dogs and\nNorthern Lights; knew that God's patience was nearly exhausted; that he\nwas then whetting the sword of his wrath, and that the people could\nsave themselves only by obeying the priests, by counting their beads and\ndoubling their subscriptions.\n\nEarthquakes and cyclones filled the coffers of the church. In the midst\nof disasters the miser, with trembling hands, opened his purse. In the\ngloom of eclipses thieves and robbers divided their booty with God, and\npoor, honest, ignorant girls, remembering that they had forgotten to say\na prayer, gave their little earnings to soften the heart of God.\n\nNow we know that all these signs and wonders in the heavens have nothing\nto do with the fate of kings, nations or individuals; that they had no\nmore reference to human beings than to colonies of ants, hives of bees\nor the eggs of insects. We now know that the signs and eclipses, the\ncomets, and the falling stars, would have been just the same if not a\nhuman being had been upon the earth. We know now that eclipses come at\ncertain times and that their coming can be exactly foretold.\n\nA little while ago the belief was general that there were certain\nhealing virtues in inanimate things, in the bones of holy men and women,\nin the rags that had been tom from the foul clothing of still fouler\nsaints, in hairs from martyrs, in bits of wood and rusty nails from\nthe true cross, in the teeth and finger nails of pious men, and in a\nthousand other sacred things.\n\nThe diseased were cured by kissing a box in which was kept some bone, or\nrag, or bit of wood, some holy hairs, provided the kiss was preceded or\nfollowed by a gift--a something for the church.\n\nIn some mysterious way the virtue in the bone, or rag, or piece of wood,\ncrept or flowed from the box, took possession of the sick who had the\nnecessary faith, and in the name of God drove out the devils who were\nthe real disease.\n\nThis belief in the efficacy of bones or rags and holy hair was born\nof another belief--the belief that all diseases were produced by evil\nspirits. The insane were supposed to be possessed by devils. Epilepsy\nand hysteria were produced by the imps of Satan. In short, every human\naffliction was the work of the malicious emissaries of the god of hell.\nThis belief was almost universal, and even in our time the sacred bones\nare believed in by millions of people.\n\nBut to-day no intelligent man believes in the existence of devils--no\nintelligent man believes that evil spirits cause disease--consequently,\nno intelligent person believes that holy bones or rags, sacred hairs or\npieces of wood, can drive disease out, or in any way bring back to the\npallid cheek the rose of health.\n\nIntelligent people now know that the bone of a saint has in it no\ngreater virtue than the bone of any animal. That a rag from a wandering\nbeggar is just as good as one from a saint, and that the hair of a horse\nwill cure disease just as quickly and surely as the hair of a martyr.\nWe now know that all the sacred relics are religious rubbish; that those\nwho use them are for the most part dishonest, and that those who rely on\nthem are almost idiotic.\n\nThis belief in amulets and charms, in ghosts and devils, is\nsuperstition, pure and simple.\n\nOur ancestors did not regard these relics as medicine, having a curative\npower, but the idea was that evil spirits stood in dread of holy\nthings--that they fled from the bone of a saint, that they feared a\npiece of the true cross, and that when holy water was sprinkled on a man\nthey immediately left the premises. So, these devils hated and dreaded\nthe sound of holy bells, the light of sacred tapers, and, above all, the\never-blessed cross.\n\nIn those days the priests were fishers for money, and they used these\nrelics for bait.\n\n\nII.\n\nLet us take another step:\n\nThis belief in the Devil and evil spirits laid the foundation for\nanother belief: Witchcraft.\n\nIt was believed that the devil had certain things to give in exchange\nfor a soul. The old man, bowed and broken, could get back his youth--the\nrounded form, the brown hair, the leaping heart of life's morning--if he\nwould sign and seal away his soul. So, it was thought that the malicious\ncould by charm and spell obtain revenge, that the poor could be\nenriched, and that the ambitious could rise to place and power. All the\ngood things of this life were at the disposal of the Devil. For those\nwho resisted the temptations of the Evil One, rewards were waiting in\nanother world, but the Devil rewarded here in this life. No one has\nimagination enough to paint the agonies that were endured by reason\nof this belief in witchcraft. Think of the families destroyed, of\nthe fathers and mothers cast in prison, tortured and burned, of the\nfiresides darkened, of the children murdered, of the old, the poor and\nhelpless that were stretched on racks mangled and flayed!\n\nThink of the days when superstition and fear were in every house, in\nevery mind, when accusation was conviction, when assertion of innocence\nwas regarded as a confession of guilt, and when Christendom was insane!\n\nNow we know that all of these horrors were the result of superstition.\nNow we know that ignorance was the mother of all the agonies endured.\nNow we know that witches never lived, that human beings never bargained\nwith any devil, and that our pious savage ancestors were mistaken.\n\nLet us take another step:\n\nOur fathers believed in miracles, in signs and wonders, eclipses and\ncomets, in the virtues of bones, and in the powers attributed to evil\nspirits. All these belonged to the miraculous. The world was\nsupposed to be full of magic; the spirits were sleight-of-hand\nperformers--necromancers. There were no natural causes behind events. A\ndevil wished, and it happened. One who had sold his soul to Satan made\na few motions, uttered some strange words, and the event was present.\nNatural causes were not believed in. Delusion and illusion, the\nmonstrous and miraculous, ruled the world. The foundation was\ngone--reason had abdicated. Credulity gave tongues and wings to lies,\nwhile the dumb and limping facts were left behind--were disregarded and\nremained untold.\n\n\nWHAT IS A MIRACLE?\n\nAn act performed by a master of nature without reference to the facts in\nnature. This is the only honest definition of a miracle.\n\nIf a man could make a perfect circle, the diameter of which was exactly\none-half the circumference, that would be a miracle in geometry. If a\nman could make twice four, nine, that would be a miracle in mathematics.\nIf a man could make a stone, falling in the air, pass through a space of\nten feet the first second, twenty-five feet the second second, and five\nfeet the third second, that would be a miracle in physics. If a man\ncould put together hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen and produce pure gold,\nthat would be a miracle in chemistry. If a minister were to prove his\ncreed, that would be a theological miracle. If Congress by law would\nmake fifty cents worth of silver worth a dollar, that would be a\nfinancial miracle. To make a square triangle would be a most wonderful\nmiracle. To cause a mirror to reflect the faces of persons who stand\nbehind it, instead of those who stand in front, would be a miracle. To\nmake echo answer a question would be a miracle. In other words, to do\nanything contrary to or without regard to the facts in nature is to\nperform a miracle.\n\nNow we are convinced of what is called the \"uniformity of nature.\" We\nbelieve that all things act and are acted upon in accordance with\ntheir nature; that under like conditions the results will always be\nsubstantially the same; that like ever has and ever will produce like.\nWe now believe that events have natural parents and that none die\nchildless.\n\nMiracles are not simply impossible, but they are unthinkable by any man\ncapable of thinking.\n\nNow an intelligent man cannot believe that a miracle ever was, or ever\nwill be, performed.\n\nIgnorance is the soil in which belief in miracles grows.\n\n\nIII.\n\nLet us take another step:\n\nWhile our ancestors filled the darkness with evil spirits, enemies of\nmankind, they also believed in the existence of good spirits. These good\nspirits sustained the same relation to God that the evil ones did to the\nDevil. These good spirits protected the faithful from the temptations\nand snares of the Evil One. They took care of those who carried amulets\nand charms, of those who repeated prayers and counted beads, of those\nwho fasted and performed ceremonies. These good spirits would turn aside\nthe sword and arrow from the breast of the faithful. They made poison\nharmless, they protected the credulous, and in a thousand ways defended\nand rescued the true believer. They drove doubts from the minds of the\npious, sowed the seeds of credulity and faith, saved saints from the\nwiles of women, painted the glories of heaven for those who fasted\nand prayed, made it possible for the really good to dispense with the\npleasures of sense and to hate the Devil.\n\nThese angels watched over infants who had been baptized, over persons\nwho had made holy vows, over priests and nuns and wandering beggars who\nbelieved.\n\nThese spirits were of various kinds: Some had once been men or women,\nsome had never lived in this world, and some had been angels from\nthe commencement. Nobody pretended to know exactly what they were, or\nexactly how they looked, or in what way they went from place to place,\nor how they affected or controlled the minds of men.\n\nIt was believed that the king of all these evil spirits was the Devil,\nand that the king of all the good spirits was God. It was also believed\nthat God was in fact the king of all, and that the Devil himself was one\nof the children of this God. This God and this Devil were at war, each\ntrying to secure the souls of men. God offered the rewards of eternal\njoy and threatened eternal pain. The Devil baited his traps with present\npleasure, with the gratification of the senses, with the ecstasies of\nlove, and laughed at the joys of heaven and the pangs of hell. With\nmalicious hand he sowed the seeds of doubt--induced men to investigate,\nto reason, to call for evidence, to rely upon themselves; planted in\ntheir hearts the love of liberty, assisted them to break their chains,\nto escape from their prisons and besought them to think. In this way he\ncorrupted the children of men.\n\nOur fathers believed that they could by prayer, by sacrifice, by\nfasting, by performing certain ceremonies, gain the assistance of this\nGod and of these good spirits. They were not quite logical. They did\nnot believe that the Devil was the author of all evil. They thought that\nflood and famine, plague and cyclone, earthquake and war, were sometimes\nsent by God as punishment for unbelief. They fell upon their knees and\nwith white lips, prayed the good God to stay his hand. They humbled\nthemselves, confessed their sins, and filled the heavens with their vows\nand cries. With priests and prayers they tried to stay the plague. They\nkissed the relics, fell at shrines, besought the Virgin and the saints,\nbut the prayers all died in the heartless air, and the plague swept on\nto its natural end. Our poor fathers knew nothing of any science. Back\nof all events they put spirits, good or bad, angels or demons, gods or\ndevils. To them nothing had what we call a natural cause. Everything was\nthe work of spirits. All was done by the supernatural, and everything\nwas done by evil spirits that they could do to ruin, punish, mislead and\ndamn the children of men. This world was a field of battle, and here the\nhosts of heaven and hell waged war.\n\n\nIV.\n\nNow no man in whose brain the torch of reason bums, no man who\ninvestigates, who really thinks, who is capable of weighing evidence,\nbelieves in signs, in lucky or unlucky days, in lucky or unlucky\nnumbers. He knows that Fridays and Thursdays are alike; that thirteen\nis no more deadly than twelve. He knows that opals affect the wearer the\nsame as rubies, diamonds or common glass. He knows that the matrimonial\nchances of a maiden are not increased or decreased by the number of\nleaves of a flower or seeds in an apple. He knows that a glance at the\nmoon over the left shoulder is as healthful and lucky as one over\nthe right. He does not care whether the first comer to a theatre is\ncrosseyed or hump-backed, bow-legged, or as well-proportioned as Apollo.\nHe knows that a strange cat could be denied asylum without bringing any\nmisfortune to the family. He knows that an owl does not hoot in the full\nof the moon because a distinguished man is about to die. He knows that\ncomets and eclipses would come if all the folks were dead. He is not\nfrightened by sun dogs, or the Morning of the North when the glittering\nlances pierce the shield of night.\n\nHe knows that all these things occur without the slightest reference to\nthe human race. He feels certain that floods would destroy and cyclones\nrend and earthquakes devour; that the stars would shine; that day and\nnight would still pursue each other around the world; that flowers would\ngive their perfume to the air, and light would paint the seven-hued arch\nupon the dusky bosom of the cloud if every human being was unconscious\ndust.\n\nA man of thought and sense does not believe in the existence of the\nDevil. He feels certain that imps, goblins, demons and evil spirits\nexist only in the imagination of the ignorant and frightened. He knows\nhow these malevolent myths were made. He knows the part they have played\nin all religions. He knows that for many centuries a belief in these\ndevils, these evil spirits, was substantially universal. He knows that\nthe priest believed as firmly as the peasant. In those days the best\neducated and the most ignorant were equal dupes. Kings and courtiers,\nladies and clowns, soldiers and artists, slaves and convicts, believed\nas firmly in the Devil as they did in God.\n\nBack of this belief there is no evidence, and there never has been.\nThis belief did not rest on any fact. It was supported by mistakes,\nexaggerations and lies. The mistakes were natural, the exaggerations\nwere mostly unconscious and the lies were generally honest. Back of\nthese mistakes, these exaggerations, these lies, was the love of\nthe marvelous. Wonder listened with greedy ears, with wide eyes, and\nignorance with open mouth.\n\nThe man of sense knows the history of this belief, and he knows, also,\nthat for many centuries its truth was established by the Holy Bible. He\nknows that the Old Testament is filled with allusions to the Devil,\nto evil spirits, and that the New Testament is the same. He knows that\nChrist himself was a believer in the Devil, in evil spirits, and that\nhis principal business was casting out devils from the bodies of men and\nwomen. He knows that Christ himself, according to the New Testament, was\nnot only tempted by the Devil, but was carried by his Satanic Highness\nto the top of the temple. If the New Testament is the inspired word of\nGod, then I admit that these devils, these imps, do actually exist and\nthat they do take possession of human beings.\n\nTo deny the existence of these evil spirits, to deny the existence\nof the Devil, is to deny the truth of the New Testament. To deny the\nexistence of these imps of darkness is to contradict the words of Jesus\nChrist. If these devils do not exist, if they do not cause disease,\nif they do not tempt and mislead their victims, then Christ was an\nignorant, superstitious man, insane, an impostor, or the New Testament\nis not a true record of what he said and what he pretended to do. If we\ngive up the belief in devils, we must give up the inspiration of the Old\nand New Testament. We must give up the divinity of Christ. To deny\nthe existence of evil spirits is to utterly destroy the foundation of\nChristianity. There is no half-way ground. Compromise is impossible. If\nall the accounts in the New Testament of casting out devils are false,\nwhat part of the Blessed Book is true?\n\nAs a matter of fact, the success of the Devil in the Garden of Eden made\nthe coming of Christ a necessity, laid the foundation for the atonement,\ncrucified the Savior and gave us the Trinity.\n\nIf the Devil does not exist, the Christian creeds all crumble, and the\nsuperstructure known as \"Christianity,\" built by the fathers, by popes,\nby priests and theologians--built with mistakes and falsehoods, with\nmiracles and wonders, with blood and flame, with lies and legends\nborrowed from the savage world, becomes a shapeless ruin.\n\nIf we give up the belief in devils and evil spirits, we are compelled\nto say that a witch never lived. No sensible human being now believes in\nwitchcraft. We know that it was a delusion. We now know that thousands\nand thousands of innocent men, women and children were tortured and\nburned for having been found guilty of an impossible crime, and we also\nknow, if our minds have not been deformed by faith, that all the books\nin which the existence of witches is taught were written by ignorant\nand superstitious men. We also know that the Old Testament asserted\nthe existence of witches. According to that Holy Book, Jehovah was a\nbeliever in witchcraft, and said to his chosen people: \"Thou shalt not\nsuffer a witch to live.\"\n\nThis one commandment--this simple line--demonstrates that Jehovah\nwas not only not God, but that he was a poor, ignorant, superstitious\nsavage. This one line proves beyond all possible doubt that the Old\nTestament was written by men, by barbarians.\n\nJohn Wesley was right when he said that to give up a belief in\nwitchcraft was to give up the Bible.\n\nGive up the Devil, and what can you do with the Book of Job? How will\nyou account for the lying spirits that Jehovah sent to mislead Ahab?\n\nMinisters who admit that witchcraft is a superstition will read the\nstory of the Witch of Endor--will read it in a solemn, reverential\nvoice--with a theological voice--and will have the impudence to say that\nthey believe it.\n\nIt would be delightful to know that angels hover in the air; that they\nguard the innocent, protect the good; that they bend over the cradles\nand give health and happy dreams to pallid babes; that they fill\ndungeons with the light of their presence and give hope to the\nimprisoned; that they follow the fallen, the erring, the outcasts, the\nfriendless, and win them back to virtue, love and joy. But we have no\nmore evidence of the existence of good spirits than of bad. The angels\nthat visited Abraham and the mother of Samson are as unreal as the\nghosts and goblins of the Middle Ages. The angel that stopped the\ndonkey of Balaam, the one who walked in the furnace flames with Meshech,\nShadrack and Abed-nego, the one who slew the Assyrians and the one who\nin a dream removed the suspicions of Joseph, were all created by the\nimagination of the credulous, by the lovers of the marvelous, and\nthey have been handed down from dotage to infancy, from ignorance to\nignorance, through all the years. Except in Catholic countries, no\nwinged citizen of the celestial realm has visited the world for hundreds\nof years. Only those who are blind to facts can see these beautiful\ncreatures, and only those who reach conclusions without the assistance\nof evidence can believe in their existence. It is told that the great\nAngelo, in decorating a church, painted some angels wearing sandals. A\ncardinal looking at the picture said to the artist: \"Whoever saw angels\nwith sandals?\" Angelo answered with another question: \"Whoever saw an\nangel barefooted?\"\n\nThe existence of angels has never been established. Of course, we know\nthat millions and millions have believed in seraphim and cherubim; have\nbelieved that the angel Gabriel contended with the Devil for the body\nof Moses; that angels shut the mouths of the lions for the protection\nof Daniel; that angels ministered unto Christ, and that countless angels\nwill accompany the Savior when he comes to take possession of the world.\nAnd we know that all these millions believe through blind, unreasoning\nfaith, holding all evidence and all facts in theological contempt.\n\nBut the angels come no more. They bring no balm to any wounded heart.\nLong ago they folded their pinions and faded from the earth and air.\nThese winged guardians no longer protect the innocent; no longer cheer\nthe suffering; no longer whisper words of comfort to the helpless. They\nhave become dreams--vanished visions.\n\n\nV.\n\nIn the dear old religious days the earth was flat--a little dishing, if\nanything--and just above it was Jehovah's house, and just below it was\nwhere the Devil lived. God and his angels inhabited the third story, the\nDevil and his imps the basement, and the human race the second floor.\n\nThen they knew where heaven was. They could almost hear the harps and\nhallelujahs. They knew where hell was, and they could almost hear the\ngroans and smell the sulphurous fumes. They regarded the volcanoes\nas chimneys. They were perfectly acquainted with the celestial, the\nterrestrial and the infernal. They were quite familiar with the\nNew Jerusalem, with its golden streets and gates of pearl. Then the\ntranslation of Enoch seemed reasonable enough, and no one doubted\nthat before the flood the sons of God came down and made love to the\ndaughters of men. The theologians thought that the builders of Babel\nwould have succeeded if God had not come down and caused them to forget\nthe meaning of words.\n\nIn those blessed days the priests knew all about heaven and hell.\nThey knew that God governed the world by hope and fear, by promise and\nthreat, by reward and punishment. The reward was to be eternal and so\nwas the punishment. It was not God's plan to develop the human brain, so\nthat man would perceive and comprehend the right and avoid the wrong.\nHe taught ignorance nothing but obedience, and for obedience he offered\neternal joy. He loved the submissive--the kneelers and crawlers. He\nhated the doubters, the investigators, the thinkers, the philosophers.\nFor them he created the eternal prison where he could feed forever the\nhunger of his hate. He loved the credulous--those who believed without\nevidence--and for them he prepared a home in the realm of fadeless\nlight. He delighted in the company of the questionless.\n\nBut where is this heaven, and where is this hell? We now know that\nheaven is not just above the clouds and that hell is not just below\nthe earth. The telescope has done away with the ancient heaven, and\nthe revolving world has quenched the flames of the ancient hell. These\ntheological countries, these imagined worlds, have disappeared. No one\nknows, and no one pretends to know, where heaven is; and no one knows,\nand no one pretends to know, the locality of hell. Now the theologians\nsay that hell and heaven are not places, but states of mind--conditions.\n\nThe belief in gods and devils has been substantially universal. Back of\nthe good, man placed a god; back of the evil, a devil; back of health,\nsunshine and harvest was a good deity; back of disease, misfortune and\ndeath he placed a malicious fiend.\n\nIs there any evidence that gods and devils exist? The evidence of the\nexistence of a god and of a devil is substantially the same. Both of\nthese deities are inferences; each one is a perhaps. They have not been\nseen--they are invisible--and they have not ventured within the horizon\nof the senses. The old lady who said there must be a devil, else how\ncould they make pictures that looked exactly like him, reasoned like a\ntrained theologian--like a doctor of divinity.\n\nNow no intelligent man believes in the existence of a devil--no longer\nfears the leering fiend. Most people who think have given up a personal\nGod, a creative deity. They now talk about the \"Unknown,\" the \"Infinite\nEnergy,\" but they put Jehovah with Jupiter. They regard them both as\nbroken dolls from the nursery of the past.\n\nThe men or women who ask for evidence--who desire to know the\ntruth--care nothing for signs; nothing for what are called wonders;\nnothing for lucky or unlucky jewels, days or numbers; nothing for charms\nor amulets; nothing for comets or eclipses, and have no belief in good\nor evil spirits, in gods or devils. They place no reliance on general\nor special providence--on any power that rescues, protects and saves the\ngood or punishes the vile and vicious. They do not believe that in the\nwhole history of mankind a prayer has been answered. They think that all\nthe sacrifices have been wasted, and that all the incense has ascended\nin vain. They do not believe that the world was created and prepared\nfor man any more than it was created and prepared for insects. They do\nnot think it probable that whales were invented to supply the Eskimo\nwith blubber, or that flames were created to attract and destroy moths.\nOn every hand there seems to be evidence of design--design for the\naccomplishment of good, design for the accomplishment of evil. On every\nside are the benevolent and malicious--something toiling to preserve,\nsomething laboring to destroy. Everything surrounded by friends and\nenemies--by the love that protects, by the hate that kills. Design is as\napparent in decay, as in growth; in failure, as in success; in grief, as\nin joy. Nature with one hand building, with one hand tearing down, armed\nwith sword and shield--slaying and protecting, and protecting but to\nslay. All life journeying toward death, and all death hastening back to\nlife. Everywhere waste and economy, care and negligence.\n\nWe watch the flow and ebb of life and death--the great drama that\nforever holds the stage, where players act their parts and disappear;\nthe great drama in which all must act--ignorant and learned, idiotic and\ninsane--without rehearsal and without the slightest knowledge of a part,\nor of any plot or purpose in the play. The scene shifts; some actors\ndisappear and others come, and again the scene shifts; mystery\neverywhere. We try to explain, and the explanation of one fact\ncontradicts another. Behind each veil removed, another. All things equal\nin wonder. One drop of water as wonderful as all the seas; one grain\nof sand as all the world; one moth with painted wings as all the things\nthat live; one egg from which warmth, in darkness, woos to life an\norganized and breathing form--a form with sinews, bones and nerves, with\nblood and brain, with instincts, passions, thoughts and wants--as all\nthe stars that wheel in space.\n\nThe smallest seed that, wrapped in soil, has dreams of April rains and\ndays of June, withholds its secret from the wisest men. The wisdom of\nthe world cannot explain one blade of grass, the faintest motion of\nthe smallest leaf. And yet theologians, popes, priests, parsons, who\nspeechless stand before the wonder of the smallest thing that is, know\nall about the origin of worlds, know when the beginning was, when the\nend will be, know all about the God who with a wish created all, know\nwhat his plan and purpose was, the means he uses and the end he seeks.\nTo them all mysteries have been revealed, except the mystery of things\nthat touch the senses of a living man.\n\nBut honest men do not pretend to know; they are candid and sincere; they\nlove the truth; they admit their ignorance, and they say, \"We do not\nknow.\"\n\nAfter all, why should we worship our ignorance, why should we kneel to\nthe Unknown, why should we prostrate ourselves before a guess?\n\nIf God exists, how do we know that he is good, that he cares for us? The\nChristians say that their God has existed from eternity; that he forever\nhas been, and forever will be, infinite, wise and good. Could this God\nhave avoided being God? Could he have avoided being good? Was he wise\nand good without his wish or will?\n\nBeing from eternity, he was not produced. He was back of all cause. What\nhe is, he was, and will be, unchanged, unchangeable. He had nothing to\ndo with the making or developing of his character.\n\nNothing to do with the development of his mind. What he was, he is. He\nhas made no progress. What he is, he will be, there can be no change.\nWhy then, I ask, should we praise him? He could not have been different\nfrom what he was and is. Why should we pray to him? He cannot change.\n\nAnd yet Christians implore their God not to do wrong.\n\nThe meanest thing charged against the Devil is that he leads the\nchildren of men into temptation, and yet, in the Lord's Prayer, God is\ninsultingly asked not to imitate the king of fiends.\n\n     \"Lead us not into temptation.\"\n\nWhy should God demand praise? He is as lie was. He has never learned\nanything; has never practiced any self-denial; was never tempted, never\ntouched by fear or hope, and never had a want. Why should he demand our\npraise?\n\nDoes anyone know that this God exists; that he ever heard or answered\nany prayer? Is it known that he governs the world; that he interferes\nin the affairs of men; that he protects the good or punishes the wicked?\nCan evidence of this be found in the history of mankind? If God governs\nthe world, why should we credit him for the good and not charge him with\nthe evil? To justify this God we must say that good is good and\nthat evil is also good. If all is done by this God we should make no\ndistinction between his actions--between the actions of the infinitely\nwise, powerful and good. If we thank him for sunshine and harvest\nwe should also thank him for plague and famine. If we thank him for\nliberty, the slave should raise his chained hands in worship and thank\nGod that he toils unpaid with the lash upon his naked back. If we thank\nhim for victory we should thank him for defeat.\n\nOnly a few days ago our President, by proclamation, thanked God for\ngiving us the victory at Santiago. He did not thank him for sending the\nyellow fever. To be consistent the President should have thanked him\nequally for both.\n\nThe truth is that good and evil spirits--gods and devils--are beyond the\nrealm of experience; beyond the horizon of our senses; beyond the limits\nof our thoughts; beyond imagination's utmost flight.\n\nMan should think; he should use all his senses; he should examine; he\nshould reason. The man who cannot think is less than man; the man who\nwill not think is traitor to himself; the man who fears to think is\nsuperstition's slave.\n\n\nVI.\n\nWhat harm does superstition do? What harm in believing in fables, in\nlegends?\n\nTo believe in signs and wonders, in amulets, charms and miracles, in\ngods and devils, in heavens and hells, makes the brain an insane\nward, the world a madhouse, takes all certainty from the mind, makes\nexperience a snare, destroys the kinship of effect and cause--the unity\nof nature--and makes man a trembling serf and slave. With this belief a\nknowledge of nature sheds no light upon the path to be pursued.\nNature becomes a puppet of the unseen powers. The fairy, called the\nsupernatural, touches with her wand a fact, it disappears. Causes are\nbarren of effects, and effects are independent of all natural causes.\nCaprice is king. The foundation is gone. The great dome rests on\nair. There is no constancy in qualities, relations or results. Reason\nabdicates and superstition wears her crown.\n\nThe heart hardens and the brain softens.\n\nThe energies of man are wasted in a vain effort to secure the protection\nof the supernatural. Credulity, ceremony, worship, sacrifice and prayer\ntake the place of honest work, of investigation, of intellectual effort,\nof observation, of experience. Progress becomes impossible.\n\nSuperstition is, always lias been, and forever will be, the enemy of\nliberty.\n\nSuperstition created all the gods and angels, all the devils and ghosts,\nall the witches, demons and goblins, gave us all the augurs, soothsayers\nand prophets, filled the heavens with signs and wonders, broke the chain\nof cause and effect, and wrote the history of man in miracles and lies.\nSuperstition made all the popes, cardinals, bishops and priests, all\nthe monks and nuns, the begging friars and the filthy saints, all the\npreachers and exhorters, all the \"called\" and \"set apart.\" Superstition\nmade men fall upon their knees before beasts and stones, caused them to\nworship snakes and trees and insane phantoms of the air, beguiled them\nof their gold and toil, and made them shed their children's blood\nand give their babes to flames. Superstition built the cathedrals and\ntemples, all the altars, mosques and churches, filled the world with\namulets and charms, with images and idols, with sacred bones and holy\nhairs, with martyrs' blood and rags, with bits, of wood that frighten\ndevils from the breasts of men. Superstition invented and used the\ninstruments of torture, flayed men and women alive, loaded millions,\nwith chains and destroyed hundreds of thousands with fire. Superstition\nmistook insanity for inspiration and the ravings of maniacs for\nprophesy, for the wisdom of God. Superstition imprisoned the virtuous,\ntortured the thoughtful, killed the heroic, put chains on the body,\nmanacles on the brain, and utterly destroyed the liberty of speech.\nSuperstition gave us all the prayers and ceremonies; taught all\nthe kneelings, genuflections and prostrations; taught men to hate\nthemselves, to despise pleasure, to scar their flesh, to grovel in the\ndust, to desert their wives and children, to shun their fellow-men, and\nto spend their lives in useless pain and prayer. Superstition taught\nthat human love is degrading, low and vile; taught that monks are purer\nthan fathers, that nuns are holier than mothers, that faith is superior\nto fact, that credulity leads to heaven, that doubt is the road to hell,\nthat belief is better than knowledge, and that to ask for evidence is to\ninsult God. Superstition is, always has been, and forever will be, the\nfoe of progress, the enemy of education and the assassin of freedom.\nIt sacrifices the known to the unknown, the present to the future, this\nactual world to the shadowy next. It has given us a selfish heaven, and\na hell of infinite revenge; it has filled the world with hatred, war\nand crime, with the malice of meekness and the arrogance of humility.\nSuperstition is the only enemy of science in all the world.\n\nNations, races, have been destroyed by this monster. For nearly two\nthousand years the infallible agent of God has lived in Italy. That\ncountry has been covered with nunneries, monasteries, cathedrals\nand temples--filled with all varieties of priests and holy men. For\ncenturies Italy was enriched with the gold of the faithful. All roads\nled to Rome, and these roads were filled with pilgrims bearing gifts,\nand yet Italy, in spite of all the prayers, steadily pursued the\ndownward path, died and was buried, and would at this moment be in\nher grave had it not been for Cavour, Mazzini and Garibaldi. For her\npoverty, her misery, she is indebted to the holy Catholic Church, to the\ninfallible agents of God. For the life she has she is indebted to the\nenemies of superstition. A few years ago Italy was great enough to\nbuild a monument to Giordano Bruno--Bruno, the victim of the \"Triumphant\nBeast;\"--Bruno, the sublimest of her sons.\n\nSpain was at one time owner of half the earth, and held within her\ngreedy hands the gold and silver of the world. At that time all nations\nwere in the darkness of superstition. At that time the world was\ngoverned by priests. Spain clung to her creed. Some nations began to\nthink, but Spain continued to believe. In some countries, priests lost\npower, but not in Spain. The power behind her throne was the cowled\nmonk. In some countries men began to interest themselves in science, but\nnot in Spain. Spain told her beads and continued to pray to the Virgin.\nSpain was busy-saving her soul. In her zeal she destroyed herself. She\nrelied on the supernatural; not on knowledge, but superstition. Her\nprayers were never answered. The saints were dead. They could not help,\nand the Blessed Virgin did not hear. Some countries were in the dawn of\na new day, but Spain gladly remained in the night. With fire and sword\nshe exterminated the men who thought. Her greatest festival was the\n_Auto da Fe_. Other nations grew great while Spain grew small. Day by\nday her power waned, but her faith increased. One by one her colonies\nwere lost, but she kept her creed. She gave her gold to superstition,\nher brain to priests, but she faithfully counted her beads. Only a few\ndays ago, relying on her God and his priests, on charms and amulets, on\nholy water and pieces of the true cross, she waged war against the great\nRepublic. Bishops blessed her armies and sprinkled holy water on\nher ships, and yet her armies were defeated and captured, lier ships\nbattered, beached and burned, and in her helplessness she sued for\npeace. But she has her creed; her superstition is not lost. Poor Spain,\nwrecked by faith, the victim of religion!\n\nPortugal, slowly dying, growing poorer every day, still clings to the\nfaith. Her prayers are never answered, but she makes them still. Austria\nis nearly gone, a victim of superstition. Germany is traveling toward\nthe night. God placed her Kaiser on the throne. The people must obey.\nPhilosophers and scientists fall upon, their knees and become the\npuppets of the divinely crowned.\n\n\nVII.\n\nThe believers in the supernatural, in a power superior to nature, in\nGod, have what they call \"inspired books.\" These books contain the\nabsolute truth. They must be believed. He who denies them will be\npunished with eternal pain. These books are not addressed to human\nreason. They are above reason. They care nothing for what a man calls\n\"facts.\" Facts that do not agree with these books are mistakes. These\nbooks are independent of human experience, of human reason.\n\nOur inspired books constitute what we call the \"Bible.\" The man who\nreads this inspired book, looking for contradictions, mistakes and\ninterpolations, imperils the salvation of his soul. While he reads he\nhas no right to think, no right to reason. To believe is his only duty.\n\nMillions of men have wasted their lives in the study of this book--in\ntrying to harmonize contradictions and to explain the obscure and\nseemingly absurd. In doing this they have justified nearly every crime\nand every cruelty. In its follies they have found the profoundest\nwisdom. Hundreds of creeds have been constructed from its inspired\npassages.\n\nProbably no two of its readers have agreed as to its meaning. Thousands\nhave studied Hebrew and Greek that they might read the Old and New\nTestament in the languages in which they were written. The more they\nstudied, the more they differed. By the same book they proved that\nnearly everybody is to be lost, and that all are to be saved; that\nslavery is a divine institution, and that all men should be free; that\npolygamy is right, and that no man should have more than one wife; that\nthe powers that be are ordained of God, and that the people have a right\nto overturn and destroy the powers that be; that all the actions of men\nwere predestined--preordained from eternity, and yet that man is free;\nthat all the heathen will be lost; that all the heathen will be saved;\nthat all men who live according to the light of nature will be damned\nfor their pains; that you must be baptized by sprinkling; that you must\nbe baptized by immersion; that there is no salvation without baptism;\nthat baptism is useless; that you must believe in the Trinity; that it\nis sufficient to believe in God; that you must believe that a Hebrew\npeasant was God; that at the same time he was half man, that he was of\nthe blood of David through his supposed father Joseph, who was not his\nfather, and that it is not necessary to believe that Christ was God;\nthat you must believe that the Holy Ghost proceeded; that it makes no\ndifference whether you do or not; that you must keep the Sabbath holy;\nthat Christ taught nothing of the kind; that Christ established a\nchurch; that he established no church; that the dead are to be raised;\nthat there is to be no resurrection; that Christ is coming again; that\nhe has made his last visit; that Christ went to hell and preached to the\nspirits in prison; that he did nothing of the kind; that all the Jews\nare going to perdition; that they are all going to heaven; that all the\nmiracles described in the Bible were performed; that some of them were\nnot, because they are foolish, childish and idiotic; that all the Bible\nis inspired; that some of the books are not inspired; that there is to\nbe a general judgment, when the sheep and goats are to be divided; that\nthere never will be any general judgment; that the sacramental bread and\nwine are changed into the flesh and blood of God and the Trinity; that\nthey are not changed; that God has no flesh or blood; that there is a\nplace called \"purgatory;\" that there is no such place; that unbaptized\ninfants will be lost; that they will be saved; that we must believe the\nApostles' Creed; that the apostles made no creed; that the Holy Ghost\nwas the father of Christ; that Joseph was his father; that the Holy\nGhost had the form of a dove; that there is no Holy Ghost; that heretics\nshould be killed; that you must not resist evil; that you should murder\nunbelievers; that you must love your enemies; that you should take no\nthought for the morrow, but should be diligent in business; that you\nshould lend to all who ask, and that One who does not provide for his\nown household is worse than an infidel.\n\nIn defence of all these creeds, all these contradictions, thousands\nof volumes have been written, millions of sermons have been preached,\ncountless swords reddened with blood, and thousands and thousands of\nnights made lurid with the faggot's flames.\n\nHundreds and hundreds of commentators have obscured and darkened the\nmeaning of the plainest texts, spiritualized dates, names, numbers and\neven genealogies. They have degraded the poetic, changed parables to\nhistory, and imagery to stupid and impossible facts. They have wrestled\nwith rhapsody and prophecy, with visions and dreams, with illusions and\ndelusions, with myths and miracles, with the blunders of ignorance, the\nravings of insanity and the ecstasy of hysterics. Millions of priests\nand preachers have added to the mysteries of the inspired book by\nexplanation, by showing the wisdom of foolishness, the foolishness of\nwisdom, the mercy of cruelty and the probability of the impossible.\n\nThe theologians made the Bible a master and the people its slaves. With\nthis book they destroyed intellectual veracity, the natural manliness\nof man. With this book they banished pity from the heart, subverted all\nideas of justice and fairness, imprisoned the soul in the dungeon of\nfear and made honest doubt a crime.\n\nThink of what the world has suffered from fear. Think of the millions\nwho were driven to insanity. Think of the fearful nights--nights filled\nwith phantoms, with flying, crawling monsters, with hissing serpents\nthat slowly uncoiled, with vague and formless horrors, with burning and\nmalicious eyes.\n\nThink of the fear of death, of infinite wrath, of everlasting revenge\nin the prisons of fire, of an eternity, of thirst, of endless regret, of\nthe sobs and sighs, the shrieks and groans of eternal pain!\n\nThink of the hearts hardened, of the hearts broken, of the cruelties\ninflicted, of the agonies endured, of the lives darkened.\n\nThe inspired Bible has been and is the greatest curse of Christendom,\nand will so remain as long as it is held to be inspired.\n\n\nVIII.\n\nOur God was made by men, sculptured by savages who did the best they\ncould. They made our God somewhat like themselves, and gave to him their\npassions, their ideas of right and wrong.\n\nAs man advanced he slowly changed his God--took a little ferocity from\nhis heart, and put the light of kindness in his eyes. As man progressed\nhe obtained a wider view, extended the intellectual horizon, and again\nhe changed his God, making him as nearly perfect as he could, and\nyet this God was patterned after those who made him. As man became\ncivilized, as he became merciful, he began to love justice, and as his\nmind expanded his ideal became purer, nobler, and so his God became more\nmerciful, more loving.\n\nIn our day Jehovah has been outgrown. He is no longer the perfect. Now\ntheologians talk, not about Jehovah, but about a God of love, call him\nthe Eternal Father and the perpetual friend and providence of man. But,\nwhile they talk about this God of love, cyclones wreck and rend, the\nearthquake devours, the flood destroys, the red bolt leaping from the\ncloud still crashes the life out of men, and plague and fever still are\ntireless reapers in the harvest fields of death.\n\nThey tell us now that all is good; that evil is but blessing\nin disguise, that pain makes strong and virtuous men--makes\ncharacter--while pleasure enfeebles and degrades. If this be so, the\nsouls in hell should grow to greatness, while those in heaven should\nshrink and shrivel.\n\nBut we know that good is good. We know that good is not evil, and that\nevil is not good. We know that light is not darkness, and that darkness\nis not light. But we do not feel that good and evil were planned and\ncaused by a supernatural God. We regard them both as necessities. We\nneither thank nor curse. We know that some evil can be avoided and that\nthe good can be increased. We know that this can be done by increasing\nknowledge, by developing the brain.\n\nAs Christians have changed their God, so they have accordingly changed\ntheir Bible. The impossible and absurd, the cruel and the infamous, have\nbeen mostly thrown aside, and thousands are now engaged in trying to\nsave the inspired word. Of course, the orthodox still cling to every\nword, and still insist that every line is true. They are literalists.\n\nTo them the Bible means exactly what it says.\n\nThey want no explanation. They care nothing for commentators.\nContradictions cannot disturb their faith. They deny that any\ncontradictions exist. They loyally stand by the sacred text, and they\ngive it the narrowest possible interpretation. They are like the janitor\nof an apartment house who refused to rent a flat to a gentleman because\nhe said he had children. \"But,\" said the gentleman, \"my children are\nboth married and live in Iowa.\" \"That makes no difference,\" said the\njanitor, \"I am not allowed to rent a flat to any man who has children.\"\n\nAll the orthodox churches are obstructions on the highway of progress.\nEvery orthodox creed is a chain, a dungeon. Every believer in the\n\"inspired book\" is a slave who drives reason from her throne, and in her\nstead crowns fear.\n\nReason is the light, the sun, of the brain. It is the compass of the\nmind, the ever-constant Northern Star, the mountain peak that lifts\nitself above all clouds.\n\n\nIX.\n\nThere were centuries of darkness when religion had control of\nChristendom. Superstition was almost universal. Not one in twenty\nthousand could read or write. During these centuries the people lived\nwith their back to the sunrise, and pursued their way toward the dens of\nignorance and faith. There was no progress, no invention, no discovery.\nOn every hand cruelty and worship, persecution and prayer. The priests\nwere the enemies of thought, of investigation. They were the shepherds,\nand the people were their sheep and it was their business to guard\nthe flock from the wolves of thought and doubt. This world was of\nno importance compared with the next. This life was to be spent in\npreparing for the life to come. The gold and labor of men were wasted in\nbuilding cathedrals and in supporting the pious and the useless. During\nthese Dark Ages of Christianity, as I said before, nothing was invented,\nnothing was discovered, calculated to increase the well-being of men.\nThe energies of Christendom were wasted in the vain effort to obtain\nassistance from the supernatural.\n\nFor centuries the business of Christians was to wrest from the followers\nof Mohammed the empty sepulcher of Christ. Upon the altar of this folly\nmillions of lives were sacrificed, and yet the soldiers of the impostor\nwere victorious, and the wretches who carried the banner of Christ were\nscattered like leaves before the storm.\n\nThere was, I believe, one invention during these ages. It is said that,\nin the thirteenth century, Roger Bacon, a Franciscan monk, invented\ngunpowder, but this invention was without a fellow. Yet we cannot give\nChristianity the credit, because Bacon was an infidel, and was great\nenough to say that in all things reason must be the standard. He was\npersecuted and imprisoned, as most sensible men were in those blessed\ndays. The church was triumphant. The sceptre and mitre were in her\nhands, and yet her success was the result of force and fraud, and it\ncarried within itself the seeds of its defeat. The church attempted the\nimpossible. It endeavored to make the world of one belief; to force all\nminds to a common form, and utterly destroy the individuality of man.\nTo accomplish this it employed every art and artifice that cunning could\nsuggest It inflicted every cruelty by every means that malice could\ninvent.\n\nBut, in spite of all, a few men began to think.\n\nThey became interested in the affairs of this world--in the great\npanorama of nature. They began to seek for causes, for the explanations\nof phenomena. They were not satisfied with the assertions of the church.\nThese thinkers withdrew their gaze from the skies and looked at their\nown surroundings. They were unspiritual enough to desire comfort here.\nThey became sensible and secular, worldly and wise.\n\nWhat was the result? They began to invent, to discover, to find the\nrelation between facts, the conditions of happiness and the means that\nwould increase the well-being of their fellow-men.\n\nMovable types were invented, paper was borrowed from the Moors, books\nappeared, and it became possible to save the intellectual wealth so that\neach generation could hand it to the next. History began to take the\nplace of legend and rumor. The telescope was invented. The orbits of the\nstars were traced, and men became citizens of the universe. The steam\nengine was constructed, and now steam, the great slave, does the work\nof hundreds of millions of men. The Black Art, the impossible, was\nabandoned, and chemistry, the useful, took its place. Astrology became\nastronomy. Kepler discovered the three great laws, one of the greatest\ntriumphs of human genius, and our constellation became a poem, a\nsymphony. Newton gave us the mathematical expression of the attraction\nof gravitation. Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood. He gave\nus the fact, and Draper gave us the reason. Steamships conquered the\nseas and railways covered the land. Houses and streets were lighted with\ngas. Through the invention of matches fire became the companion of\nman. The art of photography became known; the sun became an artist.\nTelegraphs and cables were invented. The lightning became a carrier of\nthought, and the nations became neighbors. Anaesthetics were discovered\nand pain was lost in sleep. Surgery became a science. The telephone was\ninvented--the telephone that carries and deposits in listening ears the\nwaves of words. The phonograph, that catches and retains in marks and\ndots and gives again the echoes of our speech.\n\nThen came electric light that fills the night with day, and all the\nwonderful machines that use the subtle force--the same force that leaps\nfrom the summer cloud to ravage and destroy.\n\nThe Spectrum Analysis that tells us of the substance of the sun; the\nRoentgen rays that change the opaque to the transparent. The\ngreat thinkers demonstrated the indestructibility of force and\nmatter--demonstrated that the indestructible could not have been\ncreated. The geologist, in rocks and deposits and mountains and\ncontinents, read a little of the story of the world--of its changes, of\nthe glacial epoch--the story of vegetable and animal life.\n\nThe biologists, through the fossil forms of life, established the\nantiquity of man and demonstrated the worthlessness of Holy Writ. Then\ncame evolution, the survival of the fittest and natural selection.\nThousands of mysteries were explained and science wrested the sceptre\nfrom superstition. The cell theory was advanced, and embryology was\nstudied; the microscope discovered germs of disease and taught us how\nto stay the plague. These great theories and discoveries, together with\ncountless inventions, are the children of intellectual liberty.\n\n\nX.\n\nAfter all we know but little. In the darkness of life there are a few\ngleams of light. Possibly the dropping of a dishcloth prophesies the\ncoming of company, but we have no evidence. Possibly it is dangerous for\nthirteen to dine together, but we have no evidence. Possibly a maiden's\nmatrimonial chances are determined by the number of seeds in an apple,\nor by the number of leaves on a flower, but we have no evidence.\nPossibly certain stones give good luck to the wearer, while the wearing\nof others brings loss and death. Possibly a glimpse of the new moon over\nthe left shoulder brings misfortune. Possibly there are curative virtues\nin old bones, in sacred rags and holy hairs, in images and bits of wood,\nin rusty nails and dried blood, but the trouble is we have no evidence.\nPossibly comets, eclipses and shooting stars foretell the death of\nkings, the destruction of nations or the coming of plague. Possibly\ndevils take possession of the bodies and minds of men. Possibly witches,\nwith the Devil's help, control the winds, breed storms on sea and land,\nfill summer's lap with frosts and snow, and work with charm and spell\nagainst the public weal, but of this we have no evidence. It may be that\nall the miracles described in the Old and New Testament were performed;\nthat the pallid flesh of the dead felt once more the thrill of life;\nthat the corpse arose and felt upon his smiling lips the kiss of wife\nand child. Possibly water was turned into wine, loaves and fishes\nincreased, and possibly devils were expelled from men and women;\npossibly fishes were found with money in their mouths; possibly clay\nand spittle brought back the light to sightless eyes, and possibly words\ncured disease and made the leper clean, but of this we have no evidence.\n\nPossibly iron floated, rivers divided, waters burst from dry bones,\nbirds carried food to prophets and angels flourished drawn swords, but\nof this we have no evidence.\n\nPossibly Jehovah employed lying spirits to deceive a king, and all the\nwonders of the savage world may have happened, but the trouble is there\nis no proof.\n\nSo there may be a Devil, almost infinite in cunning and power, and he\nmay have a countless number of imps whose only business is to sow the\nseeds of evil and to vex, mislead, capture and imprison in eternal\nflames the souls of men. All this, so far as we know, is possible. All\nwe know is that we have no evidence except the assertions of ignorant\npriests.\n\nPossibly there is a place called \"hell,\" where all the devils live--a\nhell whose flames are waiting for, all the men who think and have the\ncourage to express their thoughts, for all who fail to credit priests\nand sacred books, for all who walk the path that reason lights, for all\nthe good and brave who lack credulity and faith--but of this, I am happy\nto say, there is no proof.\n\nAnd so there may be a place called \"heaven,\" the home of God, where\nangels float and fly and play on harps and hear with joy the groans and\nshrieks of the lost in hell, but of this there is no evidence.\n\nIt all rests on dreams and visions of the insane.\n\nThere may be a power superior to nature, a power that governs and\ndirects all things, but the existence of this power has not been\nestablished.\n\nIn the presence of the mysteries of life and thought, of force and\nsubstance, of growth and decay, of birth and death, of joy and pain,\nof the sufferings of the good, the triumphs of wrong, the intelligent\nhonest man is compelled to say: \"I do not know.\"\n\nBut we do know how gods and devils, heavens and hells, have been made.\nWe know the history of inspired books--the origin of religions. We know\nhow the seeds of superstition were planted and what made them grow. We\nknow that all superstitions, all creeds, all follies and mistakes,\nall crimes and cruelties, all virtues, vices, hopes and fears, all\ndiscoveries and inventions, have been naturally produced. By the light\nof reason we divide the useful from the hurtful, the false from the\ntrue.\n\nWe know the past--the paths that man has traveled--his mistakes, his\ntriumphs. We know a few facts, a few fragments, and the imagination,\nthe artist of the mind, with these facts, these fragments, rebuilds the\npast, and on the canvas of the future deftly paints the things to be.\n\nWe believe in the natural, in the unbroken and unbreakable succession of\ncauses and effects. We deny the existence of the supernatural. We do not\nbelieve in any God who can be pleased with incense, with kneeling, with\nbell-ringing, psalm-singing, bead-counting, fasting or prayer--in any\nGod who can be flattered by words of faith or fear.\n\nWe believe in the natural. We have no fear of devils, ghosts or hells.\nWe believe that Mahatmas, astral bodies, materializations of spirits,\ncrystal gazing, seeing the future, telepathy, mind reading and Christian\nScience are only cunning frauds, the genuineness of which is established\nby the testimony of incompetent, honest witnesses. We believe that\nCunning plates fraud with the gold of honesty, and veneers vice with\nvirtue.\n\nWe know that millions are seeking the impossible--trying to secure\nthe aid of the supernatural--to solve the problem of life--to guess the\nriddle of destiny, and to pluck from the future its secret. We know that\nall their efforts are in vain.\n\nWe believe in the natural. We believe in home and fireside--in wife\nand child and friend--in the realities of this world. We have faith\nin facts--in knowledge--in the development of the brain. We throw away\nsuperstition and welcome science. We banish the phantoms, the mistakes\nand lies and cling to the truth. We do not enthrone the unknown and\ncrown our ignorance. We do not stand with our backs to the sun and\nmistake our shadow for God.\n\nWe do not create a master and thankfully wear his chains. We do not\nenslave ourselves. We want no leaders--no followers. Our desire is that\nevery human being shall be true to himself, to his ideal, unbribed by\npromises, careless of threats. We want no tyrant on the earth or in the\nair.\n\nWe know that superstition has given us delusions and illusions, dreams\nand visions, ceremonies and cruelties, faith and fanaticism, beggars\nand bigots, persecutions and prayers, theology and torture, piety and\npoverty, saints and slaves, miracles and mummeries, disease and death.\n\nWe know that science has given us all we have of value. Science is\nthe only civilizer. It has freed the slave, clothed the naked, fed the\nhungry, lengthened life, given us homes and hearths, pictures and books,\nships and railways, telegraphs and cables, engines that tirelessly turn\nthe countless wheels, and it has destroyed the monsters, the phantoms,\nthe winged horrors that filled the savage brain.\n\nScience is the real redeemer. It will put honesty above hypocrisy;\nmental veracity above all belief. It will teach the religion of\nusefulness. It will destroy bigotry in all its forms. It will put\nthoughtful doubt above thoughtless faith. It will give us philosophers,\nthinkers and savants, instead of priests, theologians and saints. It\nwill abolish poverty and crime, and greater, grander, nobler than all\nelse, it will make the whole world free.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEVIL.\n\n\nIF THE DEVIL SHOULD DIE WOULD GOD MAKE ANOTHER?\n\nA little while ago I delivered a lecture on \"Superstition,\" in which,\namong other things, I said that the Christian world could not deny the\nexistence of the Devil; that the Devil was really the keystone of the\narch, and that to take him away was to destroy the entire system.\n\nA great many clergymen answered or criticised this statement. Some of\nthese ministers avowed their belief in the existence of his Satanic\nMajesty, while others actually denied his existence; but some, without\nstating their own position, said that others believed, not in the\nexistence of a personal devil, but in the personification of evil, and\nthat all references to the Devil in the Scriptures could be explained\non the hypothesis that the Devil thus alluded to was simply a\npersonification of evil.\n\nWhen I read these answers I thought of this line from Heine: \"Christ\nrode on an ass, but now asses ride on Christ.\"\n\nNow, the questions are, first, whether the Devil does really exist;\nsecond, whether the sacred Scriptures teach the existence of the Devil\nand of unclean spirits, and third, whether this belief in devils is a\nnecessary part of what is known as \"orthodox Christianity.\"\n\nNow, where did the idea that a Devil exists come from? How was it\nproduced?\n\nFear is an artist--a sculptor--a painter. All tribes and nations, having\nsuffered, having been the sport and prey of natural phenomena, having\nbeen struck by lightning, poisoned by weeds, overwhelmed by volcanoes,\ndestroyed by earthquakes, believed in the existence of a Devil, who was\nthe king--the ruler--of innumerable smaller devils, and all these devils\nhave been from time immemorial regarded as the enemies of men.\n\nAlong the banks of the Ganges wandered the Asuras, the most powerful\nof evil spirits. Their business was to war against the Devas--that is\nto say, the gods--and at the same time against human beings. There,\ntoo, were the ogres, the Jakshas and many others who killed and devoured\nhuman beings.\n\nThe Persians turned this around, and with them the Asuras were good and\nthe Devas bad. Ormuzd was the good--the god--Ahriman the evil--the devil\n--and between the god and the devil was waged a perpetual war. Some of\nthe Persians thought that the evil would finally triumph, but others\ninsisted that the good would be the victor.\n\nIn Egypt the devil was Set--or, as usually called, Typhon--and the good\ngod was Osiris. Set and his legions fought against Osiris and against\nthe human race.\n\nAmong the Greeks, the Titans were the enemies of the gods. Ate was the\nspirit that tempted, and such was her power that at one time she tempted\nand misled the god of gods, even Zeus himself.\n\nThese ideas about gods and devils often changed, because in the days of\nSocrates a demon was not a devil, but a guardian angel.\n\nWe obtain our Devil from the Jews, and they got him from Babylon.\nThe Jews cultivated the science of Demonology, and at one time it was\nbelieved that there were nine kinds of demons: Beelzebub, prince of the\nfalse gods of the other nations; the Pythian Apollo, prince of liars;\nBelial, prince of mischief-makers; Asmodeus, prince of revengeful\ndevils; Satan, prince of witches and magicians; Meresin, prince of\naerial devils, who caused thunderstorms and plagues; Abaddon, who caused\nwars, tumults and combustions; Diabolus, who drives to despair, and\nMammon, prince of the tempters.\n\nIt was believed that demons and sorcerers frequently came together and\nheld what were called \"Sabbats;\" that is to say, orgies. It was also\nknown that sorcerers and witches had marks on their bodies that had been\nimprinted by the Devil.\n\nOf course these devils were all made by the people, and in these devils\nwe find the prejudices of their makers. The Europeans always represent\ntheir devils as black, while the Africans believed that theirs were\nwhite.\n\nSo, it was believed that people by the aid of the Devil could assume any\nshape that they wished. Witches and wizards were changed into wolves,\ndogs, cats and serpents. This change to animal form was exceedingly\ncommon.\n\nWithin two years, between 1598 and 1600, in one district of France, the\ndistrict of Jura, more than six hundred men and women were tried and\nconvicted before one judge of having changed themselves into wolves, and\nall were put to death.\n\nThis is only one instance. There are thousands.\n\nThere is no time to give the history of this belief in devils. It\nhas been universal. The consequences have been terrible beyond the\nimagination. Millions and millions of men, women and children, of\nfathers and mothers, have been sacrificed upon the altar of this\nignorant and idiotic belief.\n\nOf course, the Christians of to-day do not believe that the devils of\nthe Hindus, Egyptians, Persians or Babylonians existed. They think that\nthose nations created their own devils, precisely the same as they\ndid their own gods. But the Christians of to-day admit that for many\ncenturies Christians did believe in the existence of countless devils;\nthat the Fathers of the church believed as sincerely in the Devil and\nhis demons as in God and his angels; that they were just as sure about\nhell as heaven.\n\nI admit that people did the best they could to account for what they\nsaw, for what they experienced. I admit that the devils as well as the\ngods were naturally produced--the effect of nature upon the human brain.\nThe cause of phenomena filled our ancestors not only with wonder, but\nwith terror. The miraculous, the supernatural, was not only believed in,\nbut was always expected.\n\nA man walking in the woods at night--just a glimmering of the\nmoon--everything uncertain and shadowy--sees a monstrous form. One arm\nis raised. His blood grows cold, his hair lifts. In the gloom he sees\nthe eyes of an ogre--eyes that flame with malice. He feels that the\nsomething is approaching. He turns, and with a cry of horror takes to\nhis heels. He is afraid to look back. Spent, out of breath, shaking\nwith fear, he reaches his hut and falls at the door. When he regains\nconsciousness, he tells his story and, of course, the children believe.\nWhen they become men and women they tell father's story of having seen\nthe Devil to their children, and so the children and grandchildren\nnot only believe, but think they know, that their father--their\ngrandfather--actually saw a devil.\n\nAn old woman sitting by the fire at night--a storm raging without--hears\nthe mournful sough of the wind. To her it becomes a voice. Her\nimagination is touched, and the voice seems to utter words. Out of these\nwords she constructs a message or a warning from the unseen world. If\nthe words are good, she has heard an angel; if they are threatening and\nmalicious, she has heard a devil. She tells this to her children and\nthey believe. They say that mother's religion is good enough for them.\nA girl suffering from hysteria falls into a trance--has visions of the\ninfernal world. The priest sprinkles holy water on her pallid face,\nsaying: \"She hath a devil.\" A man utters a terrible cry; falls to the\nground; foam and blood issue from his mouth; his limbs are convulsed.\nThe spectators say: \"This is the Devil's work.\"\n\nThrough all the ages people have mistaken dreams and visions of fear for\nrealities. To them the insane were inspired; epileptics were possessed\nby devils; apoplexy was the work of an unclean spirit. For many\ncenturies people believed that they had actually seen the malicious\nphantoms of the night, and so thorough was this belief--so vivid--that\nthey made pictures of them. They knew how they looked. They drew and\nchiseled their hoofs, their horns--all their malicious deformities.\n\nNow, I admit that all these monsters were naturally produced. The people\nbelieved that hell was their native land; that the Devil was a king, and\nthat lie and his imps waged war against the children of men. Curiously\nenough some of these devils were made out of degraded gods, and,\nnaturally enough, many devils were made out of the gods of other\nnations. So that frequently the gods of one people were the devils of\nanother.\n\nIn nature there are opposing forces. Some of the forces work for what\nman calls good; some for what he calls evil. Back of these forces our\nancestors put will, intelligence and design. They could not believe that\nthe good and evil came from the same being. So back of the good they put\nGod; back of the evil, the Devil.\n\n\nII. THE ATLAS OF CHRISTIANITY IS THE DEVIL.\n\nThe religion known as \"Christianity\" was invented by God himself to\nrepair in part the wreck and ruin that had resulted from the Devil's\nwork.\n\nTake the Devil from the scheme of salvation--from the atonement--from\nthe dogma of eternal pain--and the foundation is gone.\n\nThe Devil is the keystone of the arch.\n\nHe inflicted the wounds that Christ came to heal. He corrupted the human\nrace.\n\nThe question now is: Does the Old Testament teach the existence of the\nDevil?\n\nIf the Old Testament teaches anything, it does teach the existence of\nthe Devil, of Satan, of the Serpent, of the enemy of God and man, the\ndeceiver of men and women.\n\nThose who believe the Scriptures are compelled to say that this Devil\nwas created by God, and that God knew when he created him just what he\nwould do--the exact measure of his success; knew that he would be a\nsuccessful rival; knew that he would deceive and corrupt the children of\nmen; knew that, by reason of this Devil, countless millions of human\nbeings would suffer eternal torment in the prison of pain. And this God\nalso knew when he created the Devil, that he, God, would be compelled to\nleave his throne, to be bom a babe in Palestine, and to suffer a cruel\ndeath. All this he knew when he created the Devil. Why did he create\nhim?\n\nIt is no answer to say that this Devil was once an angel of light and\nfell from his high estate because he was free. God knew what he would do\nwith his freedom when he made him and gave him liberty of action, and\nas a matter of fact must have made him with the intention that he should\nrebel; that he should fall; that he should become a devil; that he\nshould tempt and corrupt the father and mother of the human race;\nthat he should make hell a necessity, and that, in consequence of his\ncreation, countless millions of the children of men would suffer eternal\npain. Why did he create him?\n\nAdmit that God is infinitely wise. Has he ingenuity enough to frame an\nexcuse for the creation of the Devil?\n\nDoes the Old Testament teach the existence of a real, living Devil?\n\nThe first account of this being is found in Genesis, and in that account\nhe is called the \"Serpent.\" He is declared to have been more subtle than\nany beast of the field. According to the account, this Serpent had a\nconversation with Eve, the first woman. We are not told in what language\nthey conversed, or how they understood each other, as this was the first\ntime they had met. Where did Eve get her language? Where did the Serpent\nget his? Of course, such questions are impudent, but at the same time\nthey are natural.\n\nThe result of this conversation was that Eve ate the forbidden fruit and\ninduced Adam to do the same. This is what is called the \"Fall,\" and for\nthis they were expelled from the Garden of Eden.\n\nOn account of this, God cursed the earth with weeds and thorns and\nbrambles, cursed man with toil, made woman a slave, and cursed maternity\nwith pain and sorrow.\n\nHow men--good men--can worship this God; how women--good women--can love\nthis Jehovah, is beyond my imagination.\n\nIn addition to the other curses the Serpent was cursed--condemned to\ncrawl on his belly and to eat dust. We do not know by what means, before\nthat time, he moved from place to place--whether he walked or flew;\nneither do we know on what food he lived; all we know is that after that\ntime he crawled and lived on dust. Jehovah told him that this he should\ndo all the days of his life. It would seem from this that the Serpent\nwas not at that time immortal--that there was somewhere in the future a\nmilepost at which the life of this Serpent stopped. Whether he is living\nyet or not, I am not certain.\n\nIt will not do to say that this is allegory, or a poem, because this\nproves too much. If the Serpent did not in fact exist, how do we know\nthat Adam and Eve existed? Is all that is said about God allegory, and\npoetic, or mythical? Is the whole account, after all, an ignorant dream?\n\nNeither will it do to say that the Devil--the Serpent--was a\npersonification of evil. Do personifications of evil talk? Can a\npersonification of evil crawl on its belly? Can a personification of\nevil eat dust? If we say that the Devil was a personification of\nevil, are we not at the same time compelled to say that Jehovah was a\npersonification of good; that the Garden of Eden was the personification\nof a place, and that the whole story is a personification of something\nthat did not happen? Maybe that Adam and Eve were not driven out of the\nGarden; they may have suffered only the personification of exile. And\nmaybe the cherubim placed at the gate of Eden, with flaming swords, were\nonly personifications of policemen.\n\nThere is no escape. If the Old Testament is true, the Devil does exist,\nand it is impossible to explain him away without at the same time\nexplaining God away.\n\nSo there are many references to devils, and spirits of divination and of\nevil which I have not the time to call attention to; but, in the Book of\nJob, Satan, the Devil has a conversation with God. It is this Devil that\nbrings the sorrows and losses on the upright man. It is this Devil that\nraises the storm that wrecks the homes of Job's children. It is this\nDevil that kills the children of Job. Take this Devil from that book,\nand all meaning, plot and purpose fade away.\n\nIs it possible to say that the Devil in Job was only a personification\nof evil?\n\nIn Chronicles we are told that Satan provoked David to number Israel.\nFor this act of David, caused by the Devil, God did not smite the Devil,\ndid not punish David, but he killed 70,000 poor innocent Jews who had\ndone nothing but stand up and be counted.\n\nWas this Devil who tempted David a personification of evil, or was\nJehovah a personification of the devilish?\n\nIn Zachariah we are told that Joshua stood before the angel of the Lord,\nand that Satan stood at his right hand to resist him, and that the Lord\nrebuked Satan.\n\nIf words convey any meaning, the Old Testament teaches the existence of\nthe Devil.\n\nAll the passages about witches and those having familiar spirits were\nborn of a belief in the Devil.\n\nWhen a man who loved Jehovah wanted revenge on his enemy he fell on his\nholy knees, and from a heart full of religion he cried: \"Let Satan stand\nat his right hand.\"\n\n\nIII. TAKE THE DEVIL FROM THE DRAMA OF CHRISTIANITY AND THE PLOT IS GONE.\n\nThe next question is: Does the New Testament teach the existence of the\nDevil?\n\nAs a matter of fact, the New Testament is far more explicit than the\nOld. The Jews, believing that Jehovah was God, had very little business\nfor a devil. Jehovah was wicked enough and malicious enough to take the\nDevil's place.\n\nThe first reference in the New Testament to the Devil is in the fourth\nchapter of Matthew. We are told that Jesus was led by the Spirit into\nthe wilderness to be tempted of the Devil.\n\nIt seems that he was not led by the Devil into the wilderness, but by\nthe Spirit; that the Spirit and the Devil were acting together in a kind\nof pious conspiracy.\n\nIn the wilderness Jesus fasted forty days, and then the Devil asked him\nto turn stones into bread. The Devil also took him to Jerusalem and set\nhim on a pinnacle of the temple, and tried to induce him to leap to the\nearth. The Devil also took him to the top of a mountain and showed him\nall the kingdoms of the world and offered them all to him in exchange\nfor his worship. Jesus refused. The Devil went away and angels came and\nministered to Christ.\n\nNow, the question is: Did the author of this account believe in the\nexistence of the Devil, or did he regard this Devil as a personification\nof evil, and did he intend that his account should be understood as an\nallegory, or as a poem, or as a myth.\n\nWas Jesus tempted? If he was tempted, who tempted him? Did anybody offer\nhim the kingdoms of the world?\n\nDid the writer of the account try to convey to the reader the thought\nthat Christ was tempted by the Devil?\n\nIf Christ was not tempted by the Devil, then the temptation was bom in\nhis own heart. If that be true, can it be said that he was divine? If\nthese adders, these vipers, were coiled in his bosom, was he the son of\nGod? Was he pure?\n\nIn the same chapter we are told that Christ healed \"those which were\npossessed of devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had\nthe palsy.\" From this it is evident that a distinction was made between\nthose possessed with devils and those whose minds were affected and\nthose who were afflicted with diseases.\n\nIn the eighth chapter we are told that people brought unto Christ many\nthat were possessed with devils, and that he cast out the spirits\nwith his word. Now, can we say that these people were possessed with\npersonifications of evil, and that these personifications of evil were\ncast out? Are these personifications entities? Have they form and shape?\nDo they occupy space?\n\nThen comes the story of the two men possessed with devils who came from\nthe tombs, and were exceeding fierce. It is said that when they saw\nJesus they cried out: \"What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of\nGod? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?\"\n\nIf these were simply personifications of evil, how did they know that\nJesus was the Son of God, and how can a personification of evil be\ntormented?\n\nWe are told that at the same time, a good way off, many swine were\nfeeding, and that the devils besought Christ, saying: \"If thou cast\nus out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.\" And he said unto\nthem: \"Go.\"\n\nIs it possible that personifications of evil would desire to enter the\nbodies of swine, and is it possible that it was necessary for them\nto have the consent of Christ before they could enter the swine? The\nquestion naturally arises: How did they enter into the body of the man?\nDid they do that without Christ's consent, and is it a fact that Christ\nprotects swine and neglects human beings? Can personifications have\ndesires?\n\nIn the ninth chapter of Matthew there was a dumb man brought to Jesus,\npossessed with a devil. Jesus cast out the devil and the dumb man spake.\n\nDid a personification of evil prevent the dumb man from talking? Did it\nin some way paralyze his organs of speech? Could it have done this had\nit only been a personification of evil?\n\nIn the tenth chapter Jesus gives his twelve disciples power to cast\nout unclean spirits. What were unclean spirits supposed to be? Did they\nreally exist? Were they shadows, impersonations, allegories?\n\nWhen Jesus sent his disciples forth on the great mission to convert the\nworld, among other things he told them to heal the sick, to raise the\ndead and to cast out devils. Here a distinction is made between the sick\nand those who were possessed by evil spirits.\n\nNow, what did Christ mean by devils?\n\nIn the twelfth chapter we are told of a very remarkable case. There was\nbrought unto Jesus one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb, and\nJesus healed him. The blind and dumb both spake and saw. Thereupon the\nPharisees said: \"This fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub,\nthe prince of devils.\"\n\nJesus answered by saying: \"Every kingdom divided against itself is\nbrought to desolation. If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against\nhimself.\"\n\nWhy did not Christ tell the Pharisees that he did not cast\nout devils--only personifications of evil; and that with these\npersonifications Beelzebub had nothing to do?\n\nAnother question: Did the Pharisees believe in the existence of devils,\nor had they the personification idea?\n\nAt the same time Christ said: \"If I cast out devils by the Spirit of\nGod, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.\"\n\nIf he meant anything by these words he certainly intended to convey\nthe idea that what he did demonstrated the superiority of God over the\nDevil.\n\nDid Christ believe in the existence of the Devil?\n\nIn the fifteenth chapter is the account of the woman of Canaan who cried\nunto Jesus, saying: \"Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My\ndaughter is sorely vexed with a devil.\" On account of her faith Christ\nmade the daughter whole.\n\nIn the sixteenth chapter a man brought his son to Jesus. The boy was\na lunatic, sore vexed, oftentimes falling in the fire and water. The\ndisciples had tried to cure him and had failed. Jesus rebuked the devil,\nand the devil departed out of him and the boy was cured. Was the devil\nin this case a personification of evil?\n\nThe disciples then asked Jesus why they could not cast that devil out.\nJesus told them that it was because of their unbelief, and then added:\n\"Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.\" From this\nit would seem that some personifications were easier to expel than\nothers.\n\nThe first chapter of Mark throws a little light on the story of the\ntemptation of Christ. Matthew tells us that Jesus was led up of the\nSpirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. In Mark we are\ntold who this Spirit was:\n\n\"And straightway coming up out of the water he saw the heavens opened,\nand the Spirit like a dove descending upon him.\n\n\"And there came a voice from heaven, saying: 'Thou art my beloved Son,\nin whom I am well pleased.'\n\n\"And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.\"\n\nWhy the Holy Ghost should hand Christ over to the tender mercies of\nthe Devil is not explained. And it is all the more wonderful when we\nremember that the Holy Ghost was the third person in the Trinity and\nChrist the second, and that this Holy Ghost was, in fact, God, and that\nChrist also was, in fact, God, so that God led God into the wilderness\nto be tempted of the Devil.\n\nWe are told that Christ was in the wilderness forty days tempted of\nSatan, and was with the wild beasts, and that the angels ministered unto\nhim.\n\nWere these angels real angels, or were they personifications of good, of\ncomfort?\n\nSo we see that the same Spirit that came out of heaven, the same Spirit\nthat said \"This is my beloved son,\" drove Christ into the wilderness to\nbe tempted of Satan.\n\nWas this Devil a real being? Was this Spirit who claimed to be the\nfather of Christ a real being, or was he a personification? Are the\nheavens a real place? Are they a personification? Did the wild beasts\nlive and did the angels minister unto Christ? In other words, is the\nstory true, or is it poetry, or metaphor, or mistake, or falsehood?\n\nIt might be asked: Why did God wish to be tempted by the Devil? Was God\nambitious to obtain a victory over Satan? Was Satan foolish enough\nto think that he could mislead God, and is it possible that the Devil\noffered to give the world as a bribe to its creator and owner, knowing\nat the same time that Christ was the creator and owner, and also knowing\nthat he (Christ) knew that he (the Devil) knew that he (Christ) was the\ncreator and owner?\n\nIs not the whole story absurdly idiotic? The Devil knew that Christ was\nGod, and knew that Christ knew that the tempter was the Devil.\n\nIt may be asked how I know that the Devil knew that Christ was God. My\nanswer is found in the same chapter. There is an account of what a devil\nsaid to Christ:\n\n\"Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?\nArt thou come to destroy us? I know thee. Thou art the holy one of God.\"\nCertainly, if the little devils knew this, the Devil himself must have\nhad like information. Jesus rebuked this devil and said to him: \"Hold\nthy peace, and come out of him.\" And when the unclean spirit had torn\nhim and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.\n\nSo we are told that Jesus cast out many devils, and suffered not the\ndevils to speak because they knew him. So it is said in the third\nchapter that \"unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him\nand cried, saying, 'Thou art the son of God.'\"\n\nIn the fifth chapter is an account of casting out the devils that\nwent into the swine, and we are told that \"all the devils besought him\nsaying, 'Send us into the swine.' And Jesus gave them leave.\"\n\nAgain I ask: Was it necessary for the devils to get the permission of\nChrist before they could enter swine? Again I ask: By whose permission\ndid they enter into the man?\n\nCould personifications of evil enter a herd of swine, or could\npersonifications of evil make a bargain with Christ?\n\nIn the sixth chapter we are told that the disciples \"cast out many\ndevils and anointed with oil many that were sick.\" Here again the\ndistinction is made between those possessed by devils and those\nafflicted by disease. It will not do to say that the devils were\ndiseases or personifications.\n\nIn the seventh chapter a Greek woman whose daughter was possessed by a\ndevil besought Christ to cast this devil out. At last Christ said: \"The\ndevil is gone out of thy daughter.\"\n\nIn the ninth chapter one of the multitude said unto Christ: \"I have\nbrought unto thee my son which hath a dumb spirit. I spoke unto thy\ndisciples that they should cast him out, and they could not.\"\n\nSo they brought this boy before Christ, and when the boy saw him, the\nspirit tare him, and he fell on the ground and \"wallowed, foaming.\"\n\nChrist asked the father: \"How long is it ago since this came unto him?\"\nAnd he answered: \"Of a child, and ofttimes it hath cast him into the\nfire and into the waters to destroy him.\"\n\nThen Christ said: \"Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of\nhim, and enter no more into him.\"\n\n\"And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him; and he\nwas as one dead; insomuch that many said, 'He is dead.'\"\n\nThen the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast them out, and\nJesus said: \"This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and\nfasting.\"\n\nIs there any doubt about the belief of the man who wrote this account?\nIs there any allegory, or poetry, or myth in this story? The devil, in\nthis case, was not an ordinary, every-day devil. He was dumb and deaf;\nit was no use to order him out, because he could not hear. The only way\nwas to pray and fast.\n\nIs there such a thing as a dumb and deaf devil? If so, the devils must\nbe organized. They must have ears and organs of speech, and they must\nbe dumb because there is something the matter with the apparatus of\nspeaking, and they must be deaf because something is the matter with\ntheir ears. It would seem from this that they are not simply spiritual\nbeings, but organized on a physical basis. Now, we know that the ears do\nnot hear. It is the brain that hears. So these devils must have brains;\nthat is to say, they must have been what we call \"organized beings.\"\n\nNow, it is hardly possible that personifications of evil are dumb or\ndeaf. That is to say, that they have physical imperfections.\n\nIn the same chapter John tells Christ that he saw one casting out devils\nin Christ's name who did not follow with them, and Jesus said: \"Forbid\nhim not.\"\n\nBy this he seemed to admit that some one, not a follower of his, was\ncasting out devils in his name, and he was willing that he should go on,\nbecause, as he said: \"For there is no man which shall do a miracle in my\nname that can lightly speak evil of me.\" In the fourth chapter of Luke\nthe story of the temptation of Christ by the Devil is again told with a\nfew additions. All the writers, having been inspired, did not remember\nexactly the same things.\n\nLuke tells us that the Devil said unto Christ, having shown him all the\nkingdoms of the world in a moment of time: \"All this power will I\ngive thee and the glory of them, for that is delivered unto me, and\nto whomsoever I will I give it. If thou wilt worship me, all shall be\nthine.\"\n\nWe are also told that when the Devil had ended all the temptation he\ndeparted from him for a season. The date of his return is not given.\n\nIn the same chapter we are told that a man in the synagogue had a\n\"spirit of an unclean devil.\" This devil recognized Jesus and admitted\nthat he was the Holy One of God.\n\nAs a matter of fact, the apostles seemed to have relied upon the\nevidence of devils to substantiate the divinity of their Lord.\n\nJesus said to this devil: \"Hold thy peace and come out of him.\" And the\ndevil, after throwing the man down, came out.\n\nIn the forty-first verse of the same chapter it is said: \"And devils\nalso came out of many, crying out and saying, 'Thou art Christ, the Son\nof God.'\"\n\nIt is also said that Christ rebuked them and suffered them not to speak,\nfor they knew that he was Christ.\n\nNow, it will not do to say that these devils were diseases, because\ndiseases could not talk, and diseases would not recognize Christ as the\nSon of God. After all, epilepsy is not a theologian. I admit that lunacy\ncomes nearer.\n\nIn the eighth chapter is told again the story of the devils and the\nswine. In this account, Jesus asked the devil his name, and the devil\nreplied \"Legion.\" In the ninth chapter is told the story of the devil\nthat the disciples could not cast out, but was cast out by Christ, and\nin the thirteenth chapter it is said that the Pharisees came to Jesus,\ntelling him to go away, because Herod would kill him, and Jesus said\nunto these Pharisees; \"Go ye, and tell that fox, behold, I cast out\ndevils.\"\n\nWhat did he mean by this? Did he mean that he cured diseases? No.\nBecause in the same sentence he says, \"And I do cures to-day,\" making a\ndistinction between devils and diseases.\n\nIn the twenty-second chapter an account of the betrayal of Christ by\nJudas is given in these words:\n\n\"Then entered Satan into Judas Iscariot, being of the number of the\ntwelve.\"\n\n\"And he went his way and communed with the chief priests and captains\nhow he might betray him unto them.\n\n\"And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.\"\n\nAccording to Christ the little devils knew that he was the Son of God.\nCertainly, then, Satan, king of all the fiends, knew that Christ was\ndivine. And he not only knew that, but he knew all about the scheme of\nsalvation. He knew that Christ wished to make an atonement of blood by\nthe sacrifice of himself.\n\nAccording to Christian theologians, the Devil has always done his utmost\nto gain possession of the souls of men. At the time he entered into\nJudas, persuading him to betray Christ, he knew that if Christ was\nbetrayed he would be crucified, and that he would make an atonement for\nall believers, and that, as a result, he, the Devil, would lose all the\nsouls that Christ gained.\n\nWhat interest had the Devil in defeating himself? If he could have\nprevented the betrayal, then Christ would not have been crucified. No\natonement would have been made, and the whole world would have gone to\nhell. The success of the Devil would have been complete. But, according\nto this story, the Devil outwitted himself.\n\nHow thankful we should be to his Satanic Majesty. He opened for us the\ngates of Paradise and made it possible for us to obtain eternal life.\nWithout Satan, without Judas, not a single human being could have become\nan angel of light. All would have been wingless devils in the prison\nof flame. In Jerusalem, to the extent of his power, Satan repaired the\nwreck and ruin he had wrought in the Garden of Eden.\n\nCertainly the writers of the New Testament believed in the existence of\nthe Devil.\n\nIn the eighth chapter it is said that out of Mary Magdalene were cast\nseven devils. To me Mary Magdalene is the most beautiful character in\nthe New Testament. She is the one true disciple. In the darkness of\nthe crucifixion she lingered near. She was the first at the sepulcher.\nDefeat, disaster, disgrace, could not conquer her love. And yet,\naccording to the account, when she met the risen Christ, he said: \"Touch\nme not.\" This was the reward of her infinite devotion.\n\nIn the Gospel of John we are told that John the Baptist said that he saw\nthe Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and that it abode upon\nChrist. But in the Gospel of John nothing is said about the Spirit\ndriving Christ into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Possibly\nJohn never heard of that, or forgot it, or did not believe it. But in\nthe thirteenth chapter I find this:\n\n\"And supper being ended, the Devil having now put into the heart of\nJudas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him.\"...\n\nIn John there are no accounts of the casting out of devils by Christ or\nhis apostles. On that subject there is no word. Possibly John had his\ndoubts.\n\nIn the fifth chapter of Acts we are told that the people brought the\nsick and those which were vexed with unclean spirits to the apostles,\nand the apostles healed them. Here again there is made a clear\ndistinction between the sick and those possessed by devils. And in the\neighth chapter we are told that \"unclean spirits, crying with a loud\nvoice, came out of them.\"\n\nIn the thirteen chapter Paul calls Elymas the child of the Devil, and in\nthe sixteenth chapter an account is given of \"a damsel possessed with a\nspirit of divination, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.\"\n\nPaul and Silas, it would seem, cast out this spirit, and by reason of\nthat suffered great persecution.\n\nIn the nineteenth chapter certain vagabond Jews pronounced over those\nwho had evil spirits the name of Jesus, and the evil spirits answered:\n\"Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?\"\n\n\"And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them so that they\nfled naked and wounded.\"\n\nPaul, writing to the Corinthians, in the eighth chapter says; \"I would\nnot that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup\nof the Lord and the cup of devils. Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's\ntable and the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?\"\n\nIn the eleventh chapter he says that long hair is the glory of woman,\nbut that she ought to keep her head covered because of the angels.\n\nIn those intellectual days people believed in what were called the\nIncubi and the Succubi. The Incubi were male angels and the Succubi\nwere female angels, and according to the belief of that time nothing so\nattracted the Incubi as the beautiful hair of women, and for this reason\nPaul said that women should keep their heads covered. Paul calls the\nDevil the \"prince of the power of the air.\"\n\nSo in Jude we are told \"that Michael, the archangel, when contending\nwith the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring\nagainst him a railing accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke thee.'\" Was\nthis devil with whom Michael contended a personification of evil, or a\npoem, or a myth?\n\nIn First Peter we are told to be sober, vigilant, \"because your\nadversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he\nmay devour.\"\n\nAre people devoured by personifications or myths? Has an allegory an\nappetite, or is a poem a cannibal?\n\nSo in Ephesians we are warned not to give place to the Devil, and in the\nsame book we are told: \"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be\nable to stand against the wiles of the Devil.\"\n\nAnd in Hebrews it is said that \"him that had the power of death--that\nis, the Devil;\" showing that the Devil has the power of death.\n\nAnd in James it is said that if we resist the Devil he will flee from\nus; and in First John we are told that he that committeth sin is of the\nDevil, for the reason that the Devil sinneth from the beginning; and we\nare also told that \"for this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that\nhe may destroy the works of the Devil.\"\n\nNo Devil--no Christ.\n\nIn Revelation, the insanest of all books, I find the following: \"And\nthere was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the\ndragon, and the dragon fought and his angels.\n\n\"And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.\n\n\"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil,\nand Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the\nearth, and his angels were cast out with him.\n\n\"Therefore, rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the\ninhabiters of the earth and of the sea; for the devil is come down unto\nyou, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short\ntime.\"\n\nFrom this it would appear that the Devil once lived in heaven, raised\na rebellion, was defeated and cast out, and the inspired writer\ncongratulates the angels that they are rid of him and commiserates us\nthat we have him.\n\nIn the twentieth chapter of Revelation is the following:\n\n\"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the\nbottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.\n\n\"And he laid Hold on the dragon--that old serpent, which is the Devil\nand Satan--and bound him a thousand years.\n\n\"And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal\nupon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand\nyears should be fulfilled; and after he must be loosed a little season.\"\n\nIt is hard to understand how one could be confined in a pit without a\nbottom, and how a chain of iron could hold one in eternal fire, or what\nuse there would be to lock a bottomless pit; but these are questions\nprobably suggested by the Devil.\n\nWe are further told that \"when the thousand years are expired Satan\nshall be loosed out of his prison.\"\n\n\"And the Devil was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the\nbeast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night\nforever.\"\n\nIn the light of the passages that I have read we can clearly see what\nthe writers of the New Testament believed. About this there can be\nno honest difference. If the gospels teach the existence of God--of\nChrist--they teach the existence of the Devil. If the Devil does\nnot exist--if little devils do not enter the bodies of men--the New\nTestament may be inspired, but it is not true.\n\nThe early Christians proved that Christ was divine because he cast out\ndevils. The evidence they offered was more absurd than the statement\nthey sought to prove. They were like the old man who said that he saw\na grindstone floating down the river. Some one said that a grindstone\nwould not float. \"Ah,\" said the old man, \"but the one I saw had an iron\ncrank in it.\"\n\nOf course, I do not blame the authors of the gospels. They lived in' a\nsuperstitious age, at a time when Rumor was the historian, when Gossip\ncorrected the \"proof,\" and when everything was believed except the\nfacts.\n\nThe apostles, like their fellows, believed in miracles and magic.\nCredulity was regarded as a virtue.\n\nThe Rev. Mr. Parkhurst denounces the apostles as worthless cravens.\nCertainly I do not agree with him. I think that they were good men. I do\nnot believe that any one of them ever tried to reform Jerusalem on the\nParkhurst plan. I admit that they honestly believed in devils--that they\nwere credulous and superstitious.\n\nThere is one story in the New Testament that illustrates my meaning.\n\nIn the fifth chapter of John is the following:\n\n\"Now, there is at Jerusalem, by the sheep market, a pool, which is\ncalled in the Hebrew tongue 'Bethesda,' having five porches.\n\n\"In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk--of blind, halt,\nwithered--waiting for the moving of the water.\n\n\"For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled\nthe water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped\nin was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.\n\n\"And a certain man was there which had an infirmity thirty and eight\nyears.\n\n\"When Jesus saw him he and knew that he had been now a long time in that\ncase, he saith unto him: 'Wilt thou be made whole??'\n\n\"The impotent man answered him: 'Sir, I have no man when the water is\ntroubled to put me into the pool; but while I am coming another steppeth\ndown before me.'\n\n\"Jesus saith unto him: 'Rise, take up thy bed and walk.'\n\n\"And immediately the man was made whole and took up his bed and walked.\"\n\nDoes any sensible human being now believe this story? Was the water of\nBethesda troubled by an angel? Where did the angel come from? Where do\nangels live? Did the angel put medicine in the water--just enough to\ncure one? Did he put in different medicines for different diseases, or\ndid he have a medicine, like those that are patented now, that cured all\ndiseases just the same?\n\nWas the water troubled by an angel? Possibly, what apostles and\ntheologians call an angel a scientist knows as carbonic acid gas.\n\nJohn does not say that the people thought the water was troubled by an\nangel, but he states it as a fact. And he tells us, also, as a fact,\nthat the first invalid that got in the water after it had been troubled\nwas cured of what disease he had.\n\nWhat is the evidence of John worth?\n\nAgain I say that if the Devil does not exist the gospels are not\ninspired. If devils do not exist Christ was either honestly mistaken,\ninsane or an impostor.\n\nIf devils do not exist the fall of man is a mistake and the atonement an\nabsurdity. If devils do not exist hell becomes only a dream of revenge.\n\nBeneath the structure called \"Christianity\" are four corner-stones--the\nFather, Son, Holy Ghost and Devil.\n\n\nIV. THE EVIDENCE OF THE CHURCH.\n\nThe Devil, was Forced to Father the Failures of God.\n\nAll the fathers of the church believed in devils. All the saints won\ntheir crowns by overcoming devils. All the popes and cardinals, bishops\nand priests, believed in devils. Most of their time was occupied in\nfighting devils. The whole Catholic world, from the lowest layman to the\nhighest priest, believed in devils. They proved the existence of devils\nby the New Testament. They knew that these devils were citizens of hell.\nThey knew that Satan was their king. They knew that hell was made for\nthe Devil and his angels.\n\nThe founders of all the Protestant churches--the makers of all the\northodox creeds--all the leading Protestant theologians, from Luther to\nthe president of Princeton College--were, and are, firm believers in\nthe Devil. All the great commentators believed in the Devil as firmly as\nthey did in God.\n\nUnder the \"Scheme of Salvation\" the Devil was a necessity. Somebody had\nto be responsible for the thorns and thistles, for the cruelties and\ncrimes. Somebody had to father the mistakes of God. The Devil was the\nscapegoat of Jehovah.\n\nFor hundreds of years, good, honest, zealous Christians contended\nagainst the Devil. They fought him day and night, and the thought that\nthey had beaten him gave to their dying lips the smile of victory.\n\nFor centuries the church taught that the natural man was totally\ndepraved; that he was by nature a child of the Devil, and that new-born\nbabes were tenanted by unclean spirits.\n\nAs late as the middle of the sixteenth century, every infant that was\nbaptized was, by that ceremony, freed from a devil. When the holy water\nwas applied the priest said: \"I command thee, thou unclean spirit, in\nthe name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that thou\ncome out and depart from this infant, whom our Lord Jesus Christ has\nvouchsafed to call to his holy baptism, to be made a member of his body,\nand of his holy congregation.\"\n\nAt that time the fathers--the theologians, the commentators--agreed that\nunbaptized children, including those that were born dead, went to hell.\n\nAnd these same fathers--theologians and commentators--said: \"God is\nlove.\"\n\nThese babes were pure as Pity's tears, innocent as their mother's\nloving smiles, and yet the makers of our creeds believed and taught\nthat leering, unclean fiends inhabited their dimpled flesh. O, the\nunsearchable riches of Christianity!\n\nFor many centuries the church filled the world with devils--with\nmalicious spirits that caused storm and tempest, disease, accident and\ndeath--that filled the night with visions of despair; with prophecies\nthat drove the dreamers mad. These devils assumed a thousand\nforms--countless disguises in their efforts to capture souls and destroy\nthe church. They deceived sometimes the wisest and the best; made\npriests forget their vows. They melted virtue's snow in passion's fire,\nand in cunning ways entrapped and smirched the innocent and good. These\ndevils gave witches and wizards their supernatural powers, and told them\nthe secrets of the future.\n\nMillions of men and women were destroyed because they had sold\nthemselves to the Devil.\n\nAt that time Christians really believed the New Testament. They knew\nit was the inspired word of God, and so believing, so knowing--as they\nthought--they became insane.\n\nNo man has genius enough to describe the agonies that have been\ninflicted on innocent men and women because of this absurd belief. How\nit darkened the mind, hardened the heart, and poisoned life! It made the\nUniverse a madhouse presided over by an insane God.\n\nThink! Why would a merciful God allow his children to be the victims\nof devils? Why would a decent God allow his worshipers to believe in\ndevils, and by reason of that belief to persecute, torture and burn\ntheir fellow-men?\n\nChristians did not ask these questions. They believed the Bible; they\nhad confidence in the words of Christ.\n\n\nV. PERSONIFICATIONS OF EVIL.\n\nThe Orthodox Ostrich Thrusts His Head into the Sand.\n\nMany of the clergy are now ashamed to say that they believe in devils.\nThe belief has become ignorant and vulgar. They are ashamed of the lake\nof fire and brimstone. It is too savage.\n\nAt the same time they do not wish to give up the inspiration of the\nBible. They give new meanings to the inspired words. Now they say that\ndevils were only personifications of evil. If the devils were only\npersonifications of evil, what were the angels? Was the angel who told\nJoseph who the father of Christ was, a personification? Was the Holy\nGhost only the personification of a father? Was the angel who told\nJoseph that Herod was dead a personification of news?\n\nWere the angels who rolled away the stone and sat clothed in shining\ngarments in the empty sepulcher of Christ a couple of personifications?\nWere all the angels described in the Old Testament imaginary\nshadows--bodiless personifications? If the angels of the Bible are real\nangels, the devils are real devils.\n\nLet us be honest with ourselves and each other and give to the Bible its\nnatural, obvious meaning. Let us admit that the writers believed what\nthey wrote. If we believe that they were mistaken, let us have the\nhonesty and courage to say so. Certainly we have no right to change or\navoid their meaning, or to dishonestly correct their mistakes. Timid\npreachers sully their own souls when they change what the writers of the\nBible believed to be facts to allegories, parables, poems and myths.\n\nIt is impossible for any man who believes in the inspiration of the\nBible to explain away the Devil.\n\nIf the Bible is true the Devil exists. There is no escape from this.\n\nIf the Devil does not exist the Bible is not true. There is no escape\nfrom this.\n\nI admit that the Devil of the Bible is an impossible contradiction; an\nimpossible being.\n\nThis Devil is the enemy of God and God is his. Now, why should this\nDevil, in another world, torment sinners, who are his friends, to please\nGod, his enemy?\n\nIf the Devil is a personification, so is hell and the lake of fire and\nbrimstone. All these horrors fade into allegories; into ignorant lies.\n\nAny clergyman who can read the Bible and then say that devils are\npersonifications of evil is himself a personification of stupidity or\nhypocrisy.\n\n\nVI.\n\nDoes any intelligent man now, whose brain has not been deformed by\nsuperstition, believe in the existence of the Devil? What evidence have\nwe that he exists? Where does this Devil live? What does he do for a\nlivelihood? What does he eat? If he does not eat, he cannot think. He\ncannot think without the expenditure of force. He cannot create force;\nhe must borrow it--that is to say, he must eat. How does lie move from\nplace to place? Does he walk or does he fly, or has he invented some\nmachine? What object has he in life? What idea of success? This Devil,\naccording to the Bible, knows that he is to be defeated; knows that\nthe end is absolute and eternal failure; knows that every step he takes\nleads to the infinite catastrophe. Why does he act as he does?\n\nOur fathers thought that everything in this world came from some\nother realm; that all ideas of right and wrong came from above; that\nconscience dropped from the clouds; that the darkness was filled with\nimps from perdition, and the day with angels from heaven; that souls had\nbeen breathed into man by Jehovah.\n\nWhat there is in this world that lives and breathes was produced here.\nLife was not imported. Mind is not an exotic. Of this planet man is a\nnative. This world is his mother. The maker did not descend from the\nheavens. The maker was and is here. Matter and force in their countless\nforms, affinities and repulsions produced the living, breathing world.\n\nHow can we account for devils? Is it possible that they creep into the\nbodies of men and swine? Do they stay in the stomach or brain, in the\nheart or liver?\n\nAre these devils immortal or do they multiply and die? Were they all\ncreated at the same time or did they spring from a single pair? If they\nare subject to death what becomes of them after death? Do they go to\nsome other world, are they annihilated, or can they get to heaven by\nbelieving on Christ?\n\nIn the brain of science the devils have never lived. There you will find\nno goblins, ghosts, wraiths or imps--no witches, spooks or sorcerers.\nThere the supernatural does not exist. No man of sense in the whole\nworld believes in devils any more than he does in mermaids,\nvampires, gorgons, hydras, naiads, dryads, nymphs, fairies or the\nanthropophagi--any more than he does in the Fountain of Youth, the\nPhilosopher's Stone, Perpetual Motion or Fiat Money.\n\nThere is the same difference between religion and science that there\nis between a madhouse and a university--between a fortune teller and\na mathematician--between emotion and philosophy--between guess and\ndemonstration.\n\nThe devils have gone, and with them they have taken the miracles of\nChrist. They have carried away our Lord. They have taken away the\ninspiration of the Bible, and we are left in the darkness of nature\nwithout the consolation of hell.\n\nBut let me ask the clergy a few questions:\n\nHow did your Devil, who was at one time an angel of light, come to\nsin? There was no other devil to tempt him. He was in perfectly good\nsociety--in the company of God--of the Trinity. All of his associates\nwere perfect. How did he fall? He knew that God was infinite, and yet\nhe waged war against him and induced about a third of the angels to\nvolunteer. He knew that he could not succeed; knew that he would be\ndefeated and cast out; knew that he was fighting for failure.\n\nWhy was God so unpopular? Why were the angels so bad?\n\nAccording to the Christians, these angels were spirits. They had never\nbeen corrupted by flesh--by the passion of love. Why were they so\nwicked?\n\nWhy did God create those angels, knowing that they would rebel? Why\ndid he deliberately sow the seeds of discord in heaven, knowing that he\nwould cast them into the lake of eternal fire--knowing that for them he\nwould create the eternal prison, whose dungeons would echo forever the\nsobs and shrieks of endless pain?\n\nHow foolish is infinite wisdom!\n\nHow malicious is mercy!\n\nHow revengeful is boundless love!\n\nAgain, I say that no sensible man in all the world believes in devils.\n\nWhy does God allow these devils to enjoy themselves at the expense of\nhis ignorant children? Why does he allow them to leave their prison?\nDoes he give them furloughs or tickets-of-leave?\n\nDoes he want his children misled and corrupted so that he can have the\npleasure of damning their souls?\n\n\nVII. THE MAN OF STRAW.\n\nSome of the preachers who have answered me say that I am fighting a man\nof straw.\n\nI am fighting the supernatural--the dogma of inspiration--the belief in\ndevils--the atonement, salvation by faith--the forgiveness of sins and\nthe savagery of eternal pain. I am fighting the absurd,-the monstrous,\nthe cruel.\n\nThe ministers pretend that they have advanced--that they do not believe\nthe things that I attack. In this they are not honest.\n\nWho is the \"man of straw\"?\n\nThe man of straw is their master. In every orthodox pulpit stands this\nman of straw--stands beside the preacher--stands with a club, called a\n\"creed,\" in his upraised hand. The shadow of this club falls athwart the\nopen Bible--falls upon the preacher's brain, darkens the light of his\nreason and compels him to betray himself.\n\nThe man of straw rules every sectarian school and college--every\northodox church. He is the censor who passes on every sermon. Now and\nthen some minister puts a little sense in his discourse--tries to take\na forward step. Down comes the club, and the man of straw demands an\nexplanation--a retraction. If the minister takes it back--good. If he\ndoes not, he is brought to book. The man of straw put the plaster of\nsilence on the lips of Prof. Briggs, and he was forced to leave the\nchurch or remain dumb.\n\nThe man of straw closed the mouth of Prof. Smith, and he has not opened\nit since.\n\nThe man of straw would not allow the Presbyterian creed to be changed.\n\nThe man of straw took Father McGlynn by the collar, forced him to his\nknees, made him take back his words and ask forgiveness for having been\nabused.\n\nThe man of straw pitched Prof. Swing out of the pulpit and drove the\nRev. Mr. Thomas from the Methodist Church.\n\nLet me tell the orthodox ministers that they are trying to cover their\nretreat.\n\nYou have given up the geology and astronomy of the Bible. You have\nadmitted that its history is untrue. You are retreating still. You are\ngiving up the dogma of inspiration; you have your doubts about the flood\nand Babel; you have given up the witches and wizards; you are beginning\nto throw away the miraculous; you have killed the little devils, and in\na little while you will murder the Devil himself.\n\nIn a few years you will take the Bible for what it is worth. The good\nand true will be treasured in the heart; the foolish, the infamous, will\nbe thrown away.\n\nThe man of straw will then be dead.\n\nOf course, the real old petrified, orthodox Christian will cling to the\nDevil. He expects to have all of his sins charged to the Devil, and at\nthe same time he will be credited with all the virtues of Christ. Upon\nthis showing on the books, upon this balance, he will be entitled to\nhis halo and harp. What a glorious, what an equitable, transaction! The\nsorcerer Superstition changes debt to credit. He waves his wand, and he\nwho deserves the tortures of hell receives an eternal reward.\n\nBut if a man lacks faith the scheme is exactly reversed. While in one\ncase a soul is rewarded for the virtues of another, in the other case a\nsoul is damned for the sins of another. This is justice when it blossoms\nin mercy.\n\nBeyond this idiocy cannot go.\n\n\nVIII. KEEP THE DEVILS OUT OF CHILDREN.\n\nWilliam Kingdon Clifford, one of the greatest men of this century, said:\n\"If there is one lesson that history forces upon us in every page, it is\nthis: Keep your children away from the priest, or he will make them the\nenemies of mankind.\"\n\nIn every orthodox Sunday school children are taught to believe in\ndevils. Every little brain becomes a menagerie, filled with wild beasts\nfrom hell. The imagination is polluted with the deformed, the monstrous\nand malicious. To fill the minds of children with leering fiends--with\nmocking devils--is one of the meanest and basest of crimes. In these\npious prisons--these divine dungeons--these Protestant and Catholic\ninquisitions--children are tortured with these cruel lies. Here they\nare taught that to really think is wicked; that to express your honest\nthought is blasphemy; and that to live a free and joyous life, depending\non fact instead of faith, is the sin against the Holy Ghost.\n\nChildren thus taught--thus corrupted and deformed--become the enemies\nof investigation--of progress. They are no longer true to themselves.\nThey have lost the veracity of the soul. In the language of Prof.\nClifford, \"they are the enemies of the human race.\"\n\nSo I say to all fathers and mothers, keep your children away from\npriests; away from orthodox Sunday schools; away from the slaves of\nsuperstition.\n\nThey will teach them to believe in the Devil; in hell; in the prison\nof God; in the eternal dungeon, where the souls of men are to suffer\nforever. These frightful things are a part of Christianity. Take these\nlies from the creed and the whole scheme falls into shapeless ruin. This\ndogma of hell is the infinite of savagery--the dream of insane revenge.\nIt makes God a wild beast--an infinite hyena. It makes Christ as\nmerciless as the fangs of a viper. Save poor children from the pollution\nof this horror. Protect them from this infinite lie.\n\n\nIX. CONCLUSION.\n\nI admit that there are many good and beautiful passages in the Old\nand New Testament; that from the lips of Christ dropped many pearls of\nkindness--of love. Every verse that is true and tender I treasure in my\nheart. Every thought, behind which is the tear of pity, I appreciate and\nlove. But I cannot accept it all. Many utterances attributed to Christ\nshock my brain and heart. They are absurd and cruel.\n\nTake from the New Testament the infinite savagery, the shoreless\nmalevolence of eternal pain, the absurdity of salvation by faith, the\nignorant belief in the existence of devils, the immorality and cruelty\nof the atonement, the doctrine of non-resistance that denies to virtue\nthe right of self-defence, and how glorious it would be to know that the\nremainder is true! Compared with this knowledge, how everything else in\nnature would shrink and shrivel! What ecstasy it would be to know that\nGod exists; that he is our father and that he loves and cares for the\nchildren of men! To know that all the paths that human beings travel,\nturn and wind as they may, lead to the gates of stainless peace! How the\nheart would thrill and throb to know that Christ was the conqueror\nof Death; that at his grave the all-devouring monster was baffled and\nbeaten forever; that from that moment the tomb became the door that\nopens on eternal life! To know this would change all sorrow into\ngladness. Poverty, failure, disaster, defeat, power, place and wealth\nwould become meaningless sounds. To take your babe upon your knee and\nsay: \"Mine and mine forever!\" What joy! To clasp the woman you love in\nyour arms and to know that she is yours and forever--yours though suns\ndarken and constellations vanish! This is enough: To know that the loved\nand dead are not lost; that they still live and love and wait for you.\nTo know that Christ dispelled the darkness of death and filled the grave\nwith eternal light. To know this would be all that the heart could bear.\nBeyond this joy cannot go. Beyond this there is no place for hope.\n\nHow beautiful, how enchanting, Death would be! How we would long to see\nhis fleshless skull! What rays of glory would stream from his sightless\nsockets, and how the heart would long for the touch of his stilling\nhand! The shroud would become a robe of glory, the funeral procession a\nharvest home, and the grave would mark the end of sorrow, the beginning\nof eternal joy.\n\nAnd yet it were better far that all this should be false than that all\nof the New Testament should be true.\n\nIt is far better to have no heaven than to have heaven and hell; better\nto have no God than God and Devil; better to rest iii eternal sleep than\nto be an angel and know that the ones you love are suffering eternal\npain; better to live a free and loving life--a life that ends forever at\nthe grave--than to be an immortal slave.\n\nThe master cannot be great enough to make slavery sweet. I have no\nambition to become a winged servant, a winged slave. Better eternal\nsleep. But they say, \"If you give up these superstitions, what have you\nleft?\"\n\nLet me now give you the declaration of a creed.\n\n\nDECLARATION OF THE FREE\n\n     We have no falsehoods to defend--\n     We want the facts;\n     Our force, our thought, we do not spend\n     In vain attacks.\n     And we will never meanly try\n     To save some fair and pleasing lie.\n\n     The simple truth is what we ask,\n     Not the ideal;\n     We've set ourselves the noble task\n     To find the real.\n     If all there is is naught but dross,\n     We want to know and bear our loss.\n\n     We will not willingly be fooled,\n     By fables nursed;\n     Our hearts, by earnest thought, are schooled\n     To bear the worst;\n     And we can stand erect and dare\n     All things, all facts that really are.\n\n     We have no God to serve or fear,\n     No hell to shun,\n     No devil with malicious leer.\n     When life is done\n     An endless sleep may close our eyes,\n     A sleep with neither dreams nor sighs.\n\n     We have no master on the land--\n     No king in air--\n     Without a manacle we stand,\n     Without a prayer,\n     Without a fear of coming night,\n     We seek the truth, we love the light.\n\n     We do not bow before a guess,\n     A vague unknown;\n     A senseless force we do not bless\n     In solemn tone.\n     When evil comes we do not curse,\n     Or thank because it is no worse.\n\n     When cyclones rend--when lightning blights,\n     'Tis naught but fate;\n     There is no God of wrath who smites\n     In heartless hate.\n     Behind the things that injure man\n     There is no purpose, thought, or plan.\n\n     We waste no time in useless dread,\n     In trembling fear;\n     The present lives, the past is dead,\n     And we are here,\n     All welcome guests at life's great feast--\n     We need no help from ghost or priest.\n\n     Our life is joyous, jocund, free--\n     Not one a slave\n     Who bends in fear the trembling knee,\n     And seeks to save\n     A coward soul from future pain;\n     Not one will cringe or crawl for gain.\n\n     The jeweled cup of love we drain,\n     And friendship's wine\n     Now swiftly flows in every vein\n     With warmth divine.\n     And so we love and hope and dream\n     That in death's sky there is a gleam.\n\n     We walk according to our light,\n     Pursue the path\n     That leads to honor's stainless height,\n     Careless of wrath\n     Or curse of God, or priestly spite,\n     Longing to know and do the right.\n\n     We love our fellow-man, our kind,\n     Wife, child, and friend.\n     To phantoms we are deaf and blind,\n     But we extend\n     The helping hand to the distressed;\n     By lifting others we are blessed.\n\n     Love's sacred flame within the heart\n     And friendship's glow;\n     While all the miracles of art\n     Their wealth bestow\n     Upon the thrilled and joyous brain,\n     And present raptures banish pain.\n\n     We love no phantoms of the skies,\n     But living flesh,\n     With passion's soft and soulful eyes,\n     Lips warm and fresh,\n     And cheeks with health's red flag unfurled,\n     The breathing angels of this world.\n\n     The hands that help are better far\n     Than lips that pray.\n     Love is the ever gleaming star\n     That leads the way,\n     That shines, not on vague worlds of bliss,\n     But on a paradise in this.\n\n     We do not pray, or weep, or wail;\n     We have no dread,\n     No fear to pass beyond the veil\n     That hides the dead.\n     And yet we question, dream, and guess,\n     But knowledge we do not possess.\n\n     We ask, yet nothing seems to know;\n     We cry in vain.\n     There is no \"master of the show\"\n     Who will explain,\n     Or from the future tear the mask;\n     And yet we dream, and still we ask\n\n     Is there beyond the silent night\n     An endless day?\n     Is death a door that leads to light?\n     We cannot say.\n     The tongueless secret locked in fate\n     We do not know.--\n\n     We hope and wait.\n\n\n\n\nPROGRESS.\n\n     * This is the first lecture ever delivered by Mr. Ingersoll.\n     The stars indicate the words missing in the manuscript. It\n     was delivered in Pekin, 111., in 1860, and again in\n     Bloomington, 111., in 1804.\n\n\nIT is admitted by all that happiness is the only good, happiness in its\nhighest and grandest sense and the most * * springs * * of * * refined *\n* generous * *\n\nConscience * * tends * * indirectly * * truly we * * physically * * to\ndevelop the wonderful powers of the mind is progress.\n\nIt is impossible for men to become educated and refined without leisure\nand there can be no leisure without wealth and all wealth is produced by\nlabor, nothing else. Nothing can * * the hands * * and * * fabrics *\n* service of civil * * and crumbles * * of all, and yet even in free\nAmerica labor is not honored as it deserves.\n\nWe should remember that the prosperity of the world depends upon the men\nwho walk in the fresh furrows and through the rustling corn, upon those\nwhose faces are radiant with the glare of furnaces, upon the delvers in\ndark mines, the workers in shops, upon those who give to the wintry air\nthe ringing music of the axe, and upon those who wrestle with the wild\nwaves of the raging sea.\n\nAnd it is from the surplus produced by labor that schools are built,\nthat colleges and universities are founded and endowed. From this\nsurplus the painter is paid for the immortal productions of the pencil.\nThis pays the sculptor for chiseling the shapeless rock into forms of\nbeauty almost divine, and the poet for singing the hopes, the loves and\naspirations of the world.\n\nThis surplus has erected all the palaces and temples, all the galleries\nof art, has given to us all the books in which we converse, as it were,\nwith the dead kings of the human race, and has supplied us with all\nthere is of elegance, of beauty and of refined happiness in the world.\n\nI am aware that the subject chosen by me is almost infinite and that in\nits broadest sense it is absolutely beyond the present comprehension of\nman.\n\nI am also aware that there are many opinions as to what progress really\nis, that what one calls progress, another denominates barbarism; that\nmany have a wonderful veneration for all that is ancient, merely because\nit is ancient, and they see no beauty in anything from which they do not\nhave to blow the dust of ages with the breath of praise.\n\nThey say, no masters like the old, no governments like the ancient, no\norators, no poets, no statesmen like those who have been dust for two\nthousand years. Others despise antiquity and admire only the modern,\nmerely because it is modern. They find so much to condemn in the past,\nthat they condemn all. I hope, however, that I have gratitude enough\nto acknowledge the obligations I am under to the great and heroic minds\nof antiquity, and that I have manliness and independence enough not\nto believe what they said merely because they said it, and that I have\nmoral courage enough to advocate ideas, however modern they may be, if I\nbelieve that they are right. Truth is neither young nor old, is neither\nancient nor modern, but is the same for all times and places and should\nbe sought for with ceaseless activity, eagerly acknowledged, loved more\nthan life, and abandoned--never. In accordance with the idea that labor\nis the basis of all prosperity and happiness, is another idea or truth,\nand that is, that labor in order to make the laborer and the world at\nlarge happy, must be free. That the laborer must be a free man, the\nthinker must be free. I do not intend in what I may say upon this\nsubject to carry you back to the remotest antiquity,--back to Asia, the\ncradle of the world, where we could stand in the ashes and ruins of a\ncivilization so old that history has not recorded even its decay. It\nwill answer my present purpose to commence with the Middle Ages. In\nthose times there was no freedom of either mind or body in Europe. Labor\nwas despised, and a laborer was considered as scarcely above the beasts.\nIgnorance like a mantle covered the world, and superstition ran riot\nwith the human imagination. The air was filled with angels, demons\nand monsters. Everything assumed the air of the miraculous. Credulity\noccupied the throne of reason and faith put out the eyes of the soul. A\nman to be distinguished had either to be a soldier or a monk. He could\ntake his choice between killing and lying. You must remember that in\nthose days nations carried on war as an end, not as a means. War and\ntheology were the business of mankind. No man could win more than a bare\nexistence by industry, much less fame and glory. Comparatively speaking,\nthere was no commerce. Nations instead of buying and selling from and\nto each other, took what they wanted by brute force. And every Christian\ncountry maintained that it was no robbery to take the property of\nMohammedans, and no murder to kill the owners with or without just cause\nof quarrel. Lord Bacon was the first man of note who maintained that a\nChristian country was bound to keep its plighted faith with an Infidel\none. In those days reading and writing were considered very dangerous\narts, and any layman who had acquired the art of reading was suspected\nof being a heretic or a wizard.\n\nIt is almost impossible for us to conceive of the ignorance, the\ncruelty, the superstition and the mental blindness of that period. In\nreading the history of those dark and bloody years, I am amazed at the\nwickedness, the folly and presumption of mankind. And yet, the solution\nof the whole matter is, they despised liberty; they hated freedom of\nmind and of body. They forged chains of superstition for the one and of\niron for the other. They were ruled by that terrible trinity, the cowl,\nthe sword and chain.\n\nYou cannot form a correct opinion of those ages without reading the\nstandard authors, so to speak, of that time, the laws then in force,\nand by ascertaining the habits and customs of the people, their mode\nof administering the laws, and the ideas that were commonly received\nas correct. No one believed that honest error could be innocent; no one\ndreamed of such a thing as religious freedom. In the fifteenth century\nthe following law was in force in England: \"That whatsoever they were\nthat should read the Scriptures in the mother tongue, they should\nforfeit land, cattle, body, life, and goods from their heirs forever,\nand so be condemned for heretics to God, enemies to the crown, and most\narrant traitors to the land.\" The next year after this law was in force,\nin one day thirty-nine were hanged for its violation and their bodies\nafterward burned.\n\nLaws equally unjust, bloody and cruel were in force in all parts of\nEurope. In the sixteenth century a man was burned in France because\nhe refused to kneel to a procession of dirty monks. I could enumerate\nthousands of instances of the most horrid cruelty perpetrated upon men,\nwomen and even little children, for no other reason in the world than\nfor a difference of opinion upon a subject that neither party knew\nanything about. But you are all, no doubt, perfectly familiar with the\nhistory of religious persecution.\n\nThere is one thing, however, that is strange indeed, and that is that\nthe reformers of those days, the men who rose against the horrid tyranny\nof the times, the moment they attained power, persecuted with a zeal and\nbitterness never excelled. Luther, one of the grand men of the world,\ncast in the heroic mould, although he gave utterance to the following\nsublime sentiment: \"Every one has the right to read for himself that he\nmay prepare himself to live and to die,\" still had no idea of what we\ncall religious freedom. He considered universal toleration an error,\nso did Melancthon, and Erasmus, and yet, strange as it may appear, they\nwere exercising the very right they denied to others, and maintaining\ntheir right with a courage and energy absolutely sublime.\n\nJohn Knox was only in favor of religious freedom when he was in the\nminority, and Baxter entertained the same sentiment. Castalio, a\nprofessor at Geneva, in Switzerland, was the first clergyman in Europe\nwho declared the innocence of honest error, and who proclaimed himself\nin favor of universal toleration. The name of this man should never be\nforgotten. He had the goodness, the courage, although surrounded with\nprisons and inquisitions, and in the midst of millions of fierce bigots,\nto declare the innocence of honest error, and that every man had a right\nto worship the good God in his own way.\n\nFor the utterance of this sublime sentiment his professorship was taken\nfrom him, he was driven from Geneva by John Calvin and his adherents,\nalthough he had belonged to their sect.\n\nHe was denounced as a child of the Devil, a dog of Satan, as a murderer\nof souls, as a corrupter of the faith, and as one who by his doctrines\ncrucified the Savior afresh. Not content with merely driving him from\nhis home, they pursued him absolutely to the grave, with a malignity\nthat increased rather than diminished. You must not think that Calvin\nwas alone in this; on the contrary he was fully sustained by public\nopinion, and would have been sustained even though he had procured the\nburning of the noble Castalio at the stake. I cite this instance not\nmerely for the purpose of casting odium upon Calvin, but to show you\nwhat public opinion was at that time, when such things were ordinary\ntransactions. Bodi-nus, a lawyer in France, about the same time\nadvocated something like religious liberty, but public opinion was\noverwhelmingly against him and the people were at all times ready with\ntorch and brand, chain, and fagot to get the abominable heresy out of\nthe human mind, that a man had a right to think for himself. And yet\nLuther, Calvin, Knox and Baxter, in spite, as it were, of themselves,\nconferred a great and lasting benefit upon mankind; for what they did\nwas at least in favor of individual judgment, and one successful stand\nagainst the church produced others, all of which tended to establish\nuniversal toleration. In those times you will remember that failing to\nconvert a man or woman by the ordinary means, they resorted to every\nengine of torture that the ingenuity of bigotry could devise; they\ncrushed their feet in what they called iron boots; they roasted them\nupon slow fires; they plucked out their nails, and then into the\nbleeding quick thrust needles; and all this to convince them of the\ntruth. I suppose that we should love our neighbor as ourselves.\n\nMontaigne was the first man who raised his voice against torture in\nFrance; a man blessed with so much common sense, that he was the most\nuncommon man of the age in which he lived. But what was one voice\nagainst the terrible cry of ignorant millions?--a drowning man in the\nwild roar of the infinite sea. It is impossible to read the history of\nthe long and seemingly hopeless war waged for religious freedom,\nwithout being filled with horror and disgust. Millions of men, women and\nchildren, at least one hundred millions of human beings with hopes and\nloves and aspirations like ourselves, have been sacrificed upon the\naltar of bigotry. They have perished at the stake, in prisons, by famine\nand by sword; they have died wandering, homeless, in deserts, groping\nin caves, until their blood cried from the earth for vengeance. But the\nprinciple, gathering strength from their weakness, nourished by blood\nand flame, rendered holier still by their sufferings--grander by their\nheroism, and immortal by their death, triumphed at last, and is now\nacknowledged by the whole civilized world. Enormous as the cost has been\nthe principle is worth a thousand times as much. There must be freedom\nin religion, for without freedom there can be no real religion. And as\nfor myself I glory in the fact that upon American soil that principle\nwas first firmly established, and that the Constitution of the United\nStates was the first of any great nation in which religious toleration\nwas made one of the fundamental laws of the land. And it is not only\nthe law of our country but the law is sustained by an enlightened public\nopinion. Without liberty there is no religion--no worship. What light\nis to the eyes--what air is to the lungs--what love is to the heart,\nliberty is to the soul of man. Without liberty, the brain is a dungeon,\nwhere the chained thoughts die with their pinions pressed against the\nhingeless doors.\n\n\nWITCHCRAFT\n\nTHE next fact to which I call your attention is, that during the Middle\nAges the people, the whole people, the learned and the ignorant, the\nmasters and the slaves, the clergy, the lawyers, doctors and statesmen,\nall believed in witchcraft--in the evil eye, and that the devil entered\ninto people, into animals and even into insects to accomplish his dark\ndesigns. And all the people believed it their solemn duty to thwart the\ndevil by all means in their power, and they accordingly set themselves\nat work hanging and burning everybody suspected of being in league with\nthe Enemy of mankind. If you grant their premises, you justify their\nactions. If these persons had actually entered into partnership with the\ndevil for the purpose of injuring their neighbors, the people would have\nbeen justified in exterminating them all. And the crime of witchcraft\nwas proven over and over again in court after court in every town of\nEurope. Thousands of people who were charged with being in league with\nthe devil confessed the crime, gave all the particulars of the bargain,\ntold just what the devil said and what they replied, and exactly how the\nbargain was consummated, admitted in the presence of death, on the very\nedge of the grave, when they knew that the confession would confiscate\nall their property and leave their children homeless wanderers, and\nrender their own names infamous after death.\n\nWe can account for a man suffering death for what he believes to be\nright. He knows that he has the sympathy of all the truly good, and he\nhopes that his name will be gratefully remembered in the far future, and\nabove all, he hopes to win the approval of a just God. But the man who\nconfessed himself guilty of being a wizard, knew that his memory would\nbe execrated and expected that his soul would be eternally lost. What\nmotive could then have induced so many to confess? Strange as it is, I\nbelieve that they actually believed themselves guilty. They considered\ntheir case hopeless; they confessed and died without a prayer. These\nthings are enough to make one think that sometimes the world becomes\ninsane and that the earth is a vast asylum without a keeper. I repeat\nthat I am convinced that the people that confessed themselves guilty\nbelieved that they were so. In the first place, they believed in\nwitchcraft and that people often were possessed of Satan, and when they\nwere accused the fright and consternation produced by the accusation, in\nconnection with their belief, often produced insanity or something\nakin to it, and the poor creatures charged with a crime that it was\nimpossible to disprove, deserted and abhorred by their friends, left\nalone with their superstitions and fears, driven to despair, looked upon\ndeath as a blessed relief from a torture that you and I cannot at this\nday understand. People were charged with the most impossible crimes.\nIn the time of James the First, a man was burned in Scotland for having\nproduced a storm at sea for the purpose of drowning one of the royal\nfamily. A woman was tried before Sir Matthew Hale, one of the most\nlearned and celebrated lawyers of England, for having caused children to\nvomit-crooked pins. She was also charged with nursing demons. Of course\nshe was found guilty, and the learned Judge charged the jury that there\nwas no doubt as to the existence of witches, that all history, sacred\nand profane, and that the experience of every country proved it beyond\nany manner of doubt. And the woman was either hanged or burned for a\ncrime for which it was impossible for her to be guilty. In those times\nthey also believed in Lycanthropy--that is, that persons of whom the\ndevil had taken possession could assume the appearance of wolves.\n\nOne instance is related where a man was attacked by what appeared to\nbe a wolf. He defended himself and succeeded in cutting off one of the\nwolf's paws, whereupon the wolf ran and the man picked up the paw and\nputting it in his pocket went home. When he took the paw out of his\npocket it had changed to a human hand, and his wife sat in the house\nwith one of her hands gone and the stump of her arm bleeding. He\ndenounced his wife as a witch, she confessed the crime and was burned\nat the stake. People were burned for causing frosts in the summer, for\ndestroying crops with hail, for causing cows to become dry, and even for\nsouring beer. The life of no one was secure, malicious enemies had only\nto charge one with witchcraft, prove a few odd sayings and queer actions\nto secure the death of their victim. And this belief in witchcraft was\nso intense that to express a doubt upon the subject was to be suspected\nand probably executed. Believing that animals were also taken possession\nof by evil spirits and also believing that if they killed an animal\ncontaining one of the evil spirits that they caused the death of the\nspirit, they absolutely tried animals, convicted and executed them. At\nBasle, in 1474, a rooster was tried, charged with having laid an egg,\nand as rooster eggs were used only in making witch ointment it was a\nserious charge, and everyone of course admitted that the devil must have\nbeen the cause, as roosters could not very well lay eggs without some\nhelp. And the egg having been produced in court, the rooster was duly\nconvicted and he together with his miraculous egg were publicly and with\nall due solemnity burned in the public square. So a hog and six pigs\nwere tried for having killed, and partially eaten a child, the hog was\nconvicted and executed, but the pigs were acquitted on the ground of\ntheir extreme youth. Asiate as 1740 a cow was absolutely tried on a\ncharge of being possessed of the devil. Our forefathers used to rid\nthemselves of rats, leeches, locusts and vermin by pronouncing what they\ncalled a public exorcism.\n\nOn some occasions animals were received as witnesses in judicial\nproceedings.\n\nThe law was in some of the countries of Europe, that if a man's house\nwas broken into between sunset and sunrise and the owner killed the\nintruder, it should be considered justifiable homicide.\n\nBut it was also considered that it was just possible that a man living\nalone might entice another to his house in the night-time, kill him and\nthen pretend that his victim was a robber. In order to prevent this,\nit was enacted that when a person was killed by a man living alone and\nunder such circumstances, the solitary householder should not be held\ninnocent unless he produced in court some animal, a dog or a cat, that\nhad been an inmate of the house and had witnessed the death of the\nperson killed. The prisoner was then compelled in the presence of such\nanimal to make a solemn declaration of his innocence, and if the animal\nfailed to contradict him, he was declared guiltless,--the law taking it\nfor granted that the Deity would cause a miraculous manifestation by a\ndumb animal, rather than allow a murderer to escape. It was the law\nin England that any one convicted of a crime, could appeal to what was\ncalled corsned or morsel of execration. This was a piece of cheese or\nbread of about an ounce in weight, which was first consecrated with a\nform of exorcism desiring that the Almighty, if the man were guilty,\nwould cause convulsions and paleness, and that it might stick in his\nthroat, but that it might if the man were innocent, turn to health and\nnourishment. Godwin, the Earl of Kent, during the reign of Edward\nthe Confessor, appealed to the corsned, which sticking in his throat,\nproduced death. There were also trials by water and by fire. Persons\nwere made to handle red hot iron, and if it burned them their guilt was\nestablished; so their hands and feet were tied, and they were thrown\ninto the water, and if they sank they were pronounced guilty and allowed\nto drown. I give these instances to show you what has happened, and what\nalways will happen, in countries where ignorance prevails, and people\nabandon the great standard of reason. And also to show to you that\nscarcely any man, however great, can free himself of the superstitions\nof his time. Kepler, one of the greatest men of the world, and an\nastronomer second to none, although he plucked from the stars the\nsecrets of the universe, was an astrologer and thought he could predict\nthe career of any man by finding what star was in the ascendant at his\nbirth. This infinitely foolish stuff was religiously believed by\nhim, merely because he had been raised in an atmosphere of boundless\ncredulity. Tycho Brahe, another astronomer who has been, and is called\nthe prince of astronomers--not only believed in astrology, but actually\nkept an idiot in his service, whose disconnected and meaningless words\nhe carefully wrote down and then put them together in such a manner as\nto make prophecies, and then he patiently and confidently awaited their\nfulfillment.\n\nLuther believed that he had actually seen the devil not only, but that\nhe had had discussions with him upon points of theology. On one occasion\ngetting excited, he threw an inkstand at his majesty's head, and the ink\nstain is still to be seen on the wall where the stand was broken.\nThe devil I believe, was untouched, he probably having an inkling of\nLuther's intention, made a successful dodge.\n\nIn the time of Charles the Fifth, Emperor of Germany, Stoefflerer, a\nnoted mathematician and astronomer, a man of great learning, made an\nastronomical calculation according to the great science of astrology\nand ascertained that the world was to be visited by another deluge. This\nprediction was absolutely believed by the leading men of the empire not\nonly, but of all Europe. The commissioner general of the army of Charles\nthe Fifth recommended that a survey be made of the country by competent\nmen in order to find out the highest land. But as it was uncertain how\nhigh the water would rise this idea was abandoned.\n\nThousands of people left their homes in low lands, by the rivers and\nnear the sea and sought the more elevated ground. Immense suffering was\nproduced. People in some instances abandoned the aged, the sick and the\ninfirm to the tender mercies of the expected flood, so anxious were they\nto reach some place of security.\n\nAt Toulouse, in France, the people actually built an ark and stocked it\nwith provisions, and it was not till long after the day upon which the\nflood was to have come, had passed, that the people recovered from their\nfright and returned to their homes. About the same time it was currently\nreported and believed that a child had been born in Silesia with\na golden tooth. The people were again filled with wonder and\nconsternation. They were satisfied that some great evil was coming upon\nmankind. At last it was solved by some chapter in Daniel wherein is\npredicted somebody with a golden head. Such stories would never have\ngained credence only for the reason that the supernatural was expected.\nAnything in the ordinary course of nature was not worth telling. The\nhuman mind was in chains; it had been deformed by slavery. Reason was a\ntrembling coward, and every production of the mind was deformed, every\nidea was a monster. Almost every law was unjust. Their religion was\nnothing more or less than monsters worshiping an imaginary monster.\nScience could not, properly speaking, exist. Their histories were the\ngrossest and most palpable falsehoods, and they filled all Europe with\nthe most shocking absurdities. The histories were all written by the\nmonks and bishops, all of whom were intensely superstitious, and equally\ndishonest. Everything they did was a pious fraud. They wrote as if\nthey had been eye-witnesses of every occurrence that they related. They\nentertained, and consequently expressed, no doubt as to any particular,\nand in case of any difficulty they always had a few miracles ready just\nsuited for the occasion, and the people never for an instant doubted the\nabsolute truth of every statement that they made. They wrote the history\nof every country of any importance. They related all the past and\npresent, and predicted nearly all the future, with an ignorant impudence\nactually sublime. They traced the order of St. Michael in France back\nto the Archangel himself, and alleged that he was the founder of a\nchivalric order in heaven itself. They also said that the Tartars\noriginally came from hell, and that they were called Tartars because\nTartarus was one of the names of perdition. They declared that Scotland\nwas so called after Scota, a daughter of Pharaoh, who landed in Ireland\nand afterward invaded Scotland and took it by force of arms. This\nstatement was made in a letter addressed to the Pope in the 14th century\nand was alluded to as a well-known fact. The letter was written by some\nof the highest dignitaries of the church and by direction of the king\nhimself. Matthew, of Paris, an eminent historian of the 13th century,\ngave the world the following piece of valuable information: \"It is\nwell known that Mohammed originally was a Cardinal and became a heretic\nbecause he failed in his design of being elected Pope.\"\n\nThe same gentleman informs us that Mohammed having drank to excess fell\ndrunk by the roadside, and in that condition was killed by pigs. And\nthis is the reason, says he, that his followers abhor pork even unto\nthis day. Another historian of about the same period, tells us that one\nof the popes cut off his hand because it had been kissed by an improper\nperson, and that the hand was still in the Lateran at Rome, where it had\nbeen miraculously preserved from corruption for over five hundred years.\nAfter that occurrence, says he, the Pope's toe was substituted, which\naccounts for this practice. He also has the goodness to inform his\nreaders that Nero was in the habit of vomiting frogs. Some of the\ncroakers of the present day against progress would, I think, be the\nbetter of such a vomit. The history of Charlemagne was written by Turpin\nthe Archbishop of Rheims, and received the formal approbation of the\nPope. In this it is asserted that the walls of a city fell down in\nanswer to prayer; that Charlemagne was opposed by a giant called\nFenacute who was a descendant of the ancient Goliath; that forty men\nwere sent to attack this giant, and that he took them under his arms\nand quietly carried them away. At last Orlando engaged him singly; not\nmeeting with the success that he anticipated, he changed his tactics and\ncommenced a theological discussion; warming with his subject he pressed\nforward and suddenly stabbed his opponent, inflicting a mortal wound.\nAfter the death of the giant, Charlemagne easily conquered the whole\ncountry and divided it among his sons.\n\nThe history of the Britons, written by the Archdeacons of Monmouth and\nOxford, was immensely popular. According to their account, Brutus, a\nRoman, conquered England, built London, called the country Britain after\nhimself. During his time it rained blood for three days. At another\ntime a monster came from the sea, and after having devoured a great many\ncommon people, finally swallowed the king himself. They say that King\nArthur was not born like ordinary mortals, but was formed by a magical\ncontrivance made by a wizard. That he was particularly lucky in killing\ngiants, that he killed one in France who used to eat several people\nevery day, and that this giant was clothed with garments made entirely\nof the beards of kings that he had killed and eaten. To cap the climax,\none of the authors of this book was promoted for having written an\nauthentic history of his country. Another writer of the 15th century\nsays that after Ignatius was dead they found impressed upon his heart\nthe Greek word Theos. In all historical compositions there was an\nincredible want of common honesty. The great historian Eusebius\ningenuously remarks that in his history he omitted whatever tended to\ndiscredit the church and magnified whatever conduced to her glory.\nThe same glorious principle was adhered to by most, if not all, of\nthe writers of those days. They wrote and the people believed that the\ntracks of Pharaoh's chariot wheels, were still impressed upon the sands\nof the Red Sea and could not be obliterated either by the winds or\nwaves.\n\nThe next subject to which I call your attention is the wonderful\nprogress in the mechanical arts. Animals use the weapons nature has\nfurnished, and those only--the beak, the claw, the tusk, the teeth.\nThe barbarian uses a club, a stone. As man advances he makes tools with\nwhich to fashion his weapons; he discovers the best material to be used\nin their construction. The next thing was to find some power to assist\nhim--that is to say, the weight of falling water, or the force of the\nwind. He then creates a force, so to speak, by changing water to steam,\nand with that he impels machines that can do almost everything but\nthink. You will observe that the ingenuity of man is first exercised in\nthe construction of weapons. There were splendid Damascus blades when\nplowing was done with a crooked stick. There were complete suits of\narmor on backs that had never felt a shirt. The world was full of\ninventions to destroy life before there were any to prolong it or make\nit endurable. Murder was always a science--medicine is not one yet.\nScalping was known and practiced long before Barret discovered the Hair\nRegenerator. The destroyers have always been honored. The useful have\nalways been despised. In ancient times agriculture was known only to\nslaves. The low, the ignorant, the contemptible, cultivated the soil. To\nwork was to be nobody. Mechanics were only one degree above the farmer.\nIn short, labor was disgraceful. Idleness was the badge of gentle blood.\nThe fields being poorly cultivated produced but little at the best. Only\na few kinds of crops were raised. The result was frequent famine and\nconstant suffering. One country could not be supplied from another as\nnow; the roads were always horrible, and besides all this, every country\nwas at war with nearly every other. This state of things lasted until a\nfew years ago.\n\nLet me show you the condition of England at the beginning of the\neighteenth century. At that time London was the most populous capital\nin Europe, yet it was dirty, ill built, without any sanitary provisions\nwhatever. The deaths were one in 23 each year. Now in a much more\ncrowded population they are not one in forty. Much of the country was\nthen heath and swamp. Almost within sight of London there was a tract,\ntwenty-five miles round, almost in a state of nature; there were\nbut three houses upon it. In the rainy season the roads were almost\nimpassable. Through gullies filled with mud, carriages were dragged by\noxen. Between places of great importance the roads were little\nknown, and a principal mode of transport was by pack horses, of which\npassengers took advantage by stowing themselves away between the packs.\nThe usual charge for freight was 30 cents per ton a mile. After a while,\nwhat they were pleased to call flying coaches were established. They\ncould move from thirty to fifty miles a day. Many persons thought the\nrisk so great that it was tempting Providence to get into one of them.\nThe mail bag was carried on horseback at five miles an hour. A penny\npost had been established in the city, but many long-headed men, who\nknew what they were saying, denounced it as a popish contrivance. Only a\nfew years before, Parliament had resolved that all pictures in the royal\ncollection which contained representations of Jesus or the Virgin Mary\nshould be burned. Greek statues were handed over to Puritan stone masons\nto be made decent. Lewis Meggleton had given himself out as the last and\nthe greatest of the prophets, having power to save or damn. He had also\ndiscovered that God was only six feet high and the sun four miles off.\nThere were people in England as savage as our Indians. The women, half\nnaked, would chant some wild measure, while the men would brandish their\ndirks and dance. There were thirty-four counties without a printer.\nSocial discipline was wretched. The master flogged his apprentice, the\npedagogue his scholar, the husband his wife; and I am ashamed to say\nthat whipping has not been abolished in our schools. It is a relic of\nbarbarism and should not be tolerated one moment. It is brutal, low and\ncontemptible. The teacher that administers such punishment is no more\nto blame than the parents that allow it. Every gentleman and lady\nshould use his or her influence to do away with this vile and infamous\npractice. In those days public punishments were all brutal. Men and\nwomen were put in the pillory and then pelted with brick-bats, rotten\neggs and dead cats, by the rabble. The whipping-post was then an\ninstitution in England as it is now in the enlightened State of\nDelaware. Criminals were drawn and quartered; others were disemboweled\nand hung and their bodies suspended in chains to rot in the air. The\nhouses of the people in the country were huts, thatched with straw.\nAnybody who could get fresh meat once a week was considered rich.\nChildren six years old had to labor. In London the houses were of wood\nor plaster, the streets filthy beyond expression, even muddier than\nBloomington is now. After nightfall a passenger went about at his peril,\nfor chamber windows were opened and slop pails unceremoniously emptied.\nThere were no lamps in the streets, but plenty of highwaymen and\nrobbers.\n\nThe morals of the people corresponded, as they generally do, to their\nphysical condition. It is said that the clergy did what they could to\nmake the people pious, but they could not accomplish much. You cannot\nconvert a man when he is hungry. He will not accept better doctrines\nuntil he gets better clothes, and he won't have more faith till he gets\nmore food. Besides this, the clergy were a little below par, so much so\nthat Queen Elizabeth issued an order that no clergyman should presume\nto marry a servant girl without the consent of her master or mistress.\nDuring the same time the condition of France and indeed of all Europe\nwas even worse than England. What has changed the condition of Great\nBritain? More than any and everything else, the inventions of her\nmechanics. The old moral method was and always will be a failure. If\nyou wish to better the condition of a people morally, better them\nphysically. About the close of the 18th Century, Watt, Arkwright,\nHargreave, Crompton, Cartwright, invented the steam engine, the spring\nframe, the jenny, the mule, the power loom, the carding machine and a\nhundred other minor inventions, and put it in the power of England to\nmonopolize the markets of the world. Her machinery soon became equal\nto 30,000,000 of men. In a few years the population was doubled and\nthe wealth quadrupled; and England became the first nation of the world\nthrough her inventors, her merchants, her mechanics, and in spite of\nher statesmen, her priests and her nobles. England began to spin for\nthe world, cotton began to be universally worn, clean shirts began to\nbe seen. The most cunning spinners of India could make a thread over\n100 miles long from one pound of cotton. The machines of England have\nproduced one over 1000 miles in length from the same quantity. In a\nshort time Stephenson invented the locomotive. Railroads began to be\nbuilt. Fulton gave to the world the steamboat, and commerce became\nindependent of the winds. There are already railroads enough in\nthe United States to make a double track around the world. Man has\nlengthened his arms. He reaches to every country and takes what he\nwants; the world is before him; he helps himself. There can be no more\nfamine. If there is no food in this country, the boat and the car will\nbring it from another.\n\nWe can have the luxuries of every climate. A majority of the people now\nlive better than the king used to do. Poor Solomon with his thousand\nwives, and no carpets, his great temple, and no gas light! A thousand\nwomen, and not a pin in the house; no stoves, no cooking range, no\nbaking powder, no potatoes--think of it! Breakfast without potatoes!\nPlenty of wisdom and old saws--but no green corn; never heard of\nsuccotash in his whole life. No clean clothes, no music, if you except a\njew's-harp, no ice water, no skates, no carriages, because there was not\na decent road in all his dominions. Plenty of theology but no tobacco,\nno books, no pictures, not a picture in all Palestine, not a piece of\nstatuary, not a plough that would scour. No tea, no coffee; he never\nheard of any place of amusement, never was at a theatre, or a circus.\n\"Seven up\" was then unknown to the world. He couldn't even play\nbilliards, with all his knowledge, never had an idea of woman's rights,\nor universal suffrage; never went to school a day in his life, and cared\nno more about the will of the people than Andy Johnson.\n\nThe inventors have helped more than any other class to make the world\nwhat it is; the workers and the thinkers, the poor and the grand; labor\nand learning, industry and intelligence; Watt and Descartes, Fulton\nand Montaigne, Stephenson and Kepler, Crompton and Comte, Franklin and\nVoltaire, Morse and Buckle, Draper and Spencer, and hundreds more that I\ncould mention. The inventors, the workers, the thinkers, the mechanics,\nthe surgeons, the philosophers--these are the Atlases upon whose\nshoulders rests the great fabric of modern civilization.\n\n\nLANGUAGE.\n\nIN order to show you that the most abject superstition pervaded every\ndepartment of human knowledge, or of ignorance rather, allow me to give\nyou a few of their ideas upon language. It was universally believed that\nall languages could be traced back to the Hebrew; that the Hebrew was\nthe original language, and every fact inconsistent with that idea was\ndiscarded. In consequence of this belief all efforts to investigate the\nscience of language were utterly fruitless. After a time, the Hebrew\nidea falling into disrepute, other languages claimed the honor of being\nthe original ones.\n\nAndre Kempe published a work in 1569, 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 quite probable)\nspoke to Eve in French. Erro, in a book published at Madrid, took the\nground that Basque was the language spoken in the Garden of Eden. But in\n1580, Goropius published his celebrated work at Antwerp, in which he put\nthe whole matter at rest by proving that the language spoken in Paradise\nwas nothing more or less than plain Holland Dutch. The real founder of\nthe present science of language was a German, Leibnitz--a contemporary\nof Sir Isaac Newton. He discarded the idea that all language could be\ntraced to an original one. That language was, so to speak, a natural\ngrowth. Actual experience teaches us that this must be true. The ancient\nsages of Egypt had a vocabulary, according to Bunsen, of only about six\nhundred and eighty-five words, exclusive of proper names. The English\nlanguage has at least one hundred thousand.\n\n\nGEOGRAPHY.\n\nIN the 6th century a monk by the name of Cosmas wrote a kind of orthodox\ngeography and astronomy combined. He pretended that it was all in\naccordance with the Bible. According to him, the world was composed,\nfirst, of a flat piece of land and circular; this piece of land was\nentirely surrounded by water which was the ocean, and beyond the strip\nof water was another circle of land; this outside circle was the land\ninhabited by the old world before the flood; Noah crossed the strip of\nwater and landed on the central piece where we now are; on the outside\nland was a high mountain around which the sun and moon revolved; when\nthe sun was behind the mountain it was night, and when on the side next\nus it was day. He also taught that on the outer edge of the outside\ncircle of land the firmament or sky was fastened, that it was made of\nsome solid material and turned over the world like an immense kettle.\nAnd it was declared at that time that anyone who believed either more or\nless on that subject than that book contained was a heretic and deserved\nto be exterminated from the face of the earth. This was authority until\nthe discovery of America by Columbus. Cosmas said the earth was flat; if\nit was round how could men on the other side at the day of judgment see\nthe coming of the Lord? At the risk of being tiresome, I have said\nwhat I have, to show you the productions of the mind when enslaved--the\nconsequences of abandoning judgment and reason--the effects of wide\nspread ignorance and universal bigotry.\n\nI want to convince you that every wrong is a viper that will sooner or\nlater strike with poisoned fangs the bosom that nourishes it. You will\nask what has produced this wonderful change in only three hundred\nyears. You will remember that in those days it was said that all\nghosts vanished at the dawn of day; that the sprites, the spooks,\nthe hobgoblins and all the monsters of the imagination fled from the\napproaching sun. In 1441, printing was invented. In the next century it\nbecame a power, and it has been flooding the world with light from that\ntime to this. The Press has been the true Prometheus.\n\nIt has been, so to speak, the trumpet blown by the Gabriel of Progress,\nuntil, from the graves of ignorance and superstition, the people have\nleaped to grand and glorious life, spurning with swift feet the dust of\nan infamous past.\n\nWhen people read, they reason, when they reason they progress. You must\nnot think that the enemies of progress allowed books to be published\nor read when they had the power to prevent it. The whole power of the\nchurch, of the government, was arrayed upon the side of ignorance.\nPeople found in the possession of books were often executed. Printing,\nreading and writing were crimes. Anathemas were hurled from the Vatican\nagainst all who dared to publish a word in favor of liberty or the\nsacred rights of man. The Inquisition was founded on purpose to crush\nout every noble aspiration of the heart. It was a war of darkness\nagainst light, of slavery against liberty, of superstition against\nreason. I shall not attempt to recount the horrors and tortures of the\nInquisition. Suffice it to say that they were equal to the most terrible\nand vivid pictures even of Hell, and the Inquisitors were even more\nhorrid fiends than even a real Perdition could boast. But in spite of\npriests, in spite of kings, in spite of mitres, in spite of crowns, in\nspite of Cardinals and Popes, books were published and books were read.\nBeam after beam of light penetrated the darkness. Star after star arose\nin the firmament of ignorance. The morning of Freedom began to dawn.\nDriven to madness by the prospect of ultimate defeat, the enemies of\nlight persecuted with redoubled fury.\n\nPeople were burned for saying that the earth was round, for saying that\nthe sun was the center of a system. A woman was executed because she\nendeavored to allay the pains of a fever by singing. The very name of\nPhilosopher became a title of proscription, and the slightest offences\nwere punished by death. About the beginning of the sixteenth century\nLuther and Jerome, of Prague, inaugurated the great Reformation in\nGermany, Ziska was at work in Hungary, Zwinglius in Switzerland. The\ngrand work went forward in Denmark, in Sweden and in England. All this\nwas accomplished as early as 1534. They unmasked the corruption and\nwithstood the tyranny of the church.\n\nWith a zeal amounting to enthusiasm, with a courage that was heroic,\nwith an energy that never flagged, a determination that brooked no\nopposition, with a firmness that defied torture and death, this sublime\nband of reformers sprang to the attack. Stronghold after stronghold\nwas carried, and in a few short but terrible years, the banner of the\nReformation waved in triumph over the bloody ensign of Saint Peter. The\nsoul roused from the slumbers of a thousand years began to think. When\nslaves begin to reason, slavery begins to die. The invention of powder\nhad released millions from the army, and left them to prosecute the arts\nof peace. Industry began to be remunerative and respectable.\n\nScience began to unfold the wings that will finally fill the heavens.\nDescartes announced to the world the sublime truth that the Universe is\ngoverned by law.\n\nCommerce began to unfold her wings. People of different countries began\nto get acquainted. Christians found that Mohammedan gold was not the\nless valuable on account of the doctrines of its owners. Telescopes\nbegan to be pointed toward the stars. The Universe was getting immense.\nThe Earth was growing small. It was discovered that a man could be\nhealthy without being a Catholic. Innumerable agencies were at work\ndispelling darkness and creating light. The supernatural began to be\nabandoned, and mankind endeavored to account for all physical phenomena\nby physical laws. The light of reason was irradiating the world, and\nfrom that light, as from the approach of the sun, the ghosts and spectres\nof superstition wrapped their sheets around their attenuated bodies and\nvanished into thin air. Other inventions rapidly followed. The wonderful\npower of steam was made known to the world by Watts and by Fulton.\nNeptune was frightened from the sea. The locomotive was given to mankind\nby Stephenson; the telegraph by Franklin and Morse. The rush of\nthe ship, the scream of the locomotive, and the electric flash have\nfrightened the monsters of ignorance from the world, and have left\nnothing above us but the heaven's eternal blue, filled with glittering\nplanets wheeling through immensity in accordance with _Law_. True\nreligion is a subordination of the passions and interests to the\nperceptions of the intellect. But when religion was considered the\nend of life instead of a means of happiness, it overshadowed all other\ninterests and became the destroyer of mankind. It became a hydra-headed\nmonster--a serpent reaching in terrible coils from the heavens and\nthrusting its thousand fangs into the bleeding, quivering hearts of men.\n\n\nSLAVERY.\n\nI HAVE endeavored thus far to show you some of the results produced by\nenslaving the human mind. I now call your attention to another terrible\nphase of this subject; the enslavement of the body. Slavery is a very\nancient institution, yes, about as ancient as robbery, theft and murder,\nand is based upon them all.\n\nSpringing from the same fountain, that a man is not the owner of his\nsoul, is the doctrine that he is not the owner of his body. The two are\nalways found together, supported by precisely the same arguments, and\nattended by the same infamous acts of cruelty. From the earliest\ntime, slavery has existed in all countries, and among all people until\nrecently. Pufendorf said that slavery was originally established by\ncontract. Voltaire replied, \"Show me the original contract, and if it is\nsigned by the party that was to be a slave I will believe you.\" You\nwill bear in mind that the slavery of which I am now speaking is white\nslavery.\n\nGreeks enslaved one another as well as those captured in war. Coriolanus\nscrupled not to make slaves of his own countrymen captured in civil war.\n\nJulius Caesar sold to the highest bidder at onetime fifty-three thousand\nprisoners of war all of whom were white. Hannibal exposed to sale thirty\nthousand captives at one time, all of whom were Roman citizens. In Rome,\nmen were sold into bondage in order to pay their debts. In Germany, men\noften hazarded their freedom on the throwing of dice. The Barbary States\nheld white Christians in slavery in this, the 19th century. There were\nwhite slaves in England as late as 1574. There were white slaves in\nScotland until the end of the 18th century.\n\nThese Scotch slaves were colliers and salters. They were treated as real\nestate and passed with a deed to the mines in which they worked.\n\nIt was also the law that no collier could work in any mine except the\none to which he belonged. It was also the law that their children could\nfollow no other occupation than that of their fathers. This slavery\nabsolutely existed in Scotland until the beginning of the glorious 19th\ncentury.\n\nSome of the Roman nobles were the owners of as many as twenty thousand\nslaves.\n\nThe common people of France were in slavery for fourteen hundred years.\nThey were transferred with land, and women were often seen assisting\ncattle to pull the plough, and yet people have the impudence to say that\nblack slavery is right, because the blacks have always been slaves in\ntheir own country. I answer, so have the whites until very recently. In\nthe good old days when might was right and when kings and popes stood\nby the people, and protected the people, and talked about \"holy oil and\ndivine right,\" the world was filled with slaves. The traveler standing\namid the ruins of ancient cities and empires, seeing on every side the\nfallen pillar and the prostrate wall, asks why did these cities fall,\nwhy did these empires crumble? And the Ghost of the Past, the wisdom of\nages, answers: These temples, these palaces, these cities, the ruins of\nwhich you stand upon were built by tyranny and injustice. The hands that\nbuilt them were unpaid. The backs that bore the burdens also bore the\nmarks of the lash. They were built by slaves to satisfy the vanity and\nambition of thieves and robbers. For these reasons they are dust.\n\nTheir civilization was a lie. Their laws merely regulated robbery and\nestablished theft. They bought and sold the bodies and souls of men, and\nthe mournful winds of desolation, sighing amid their crumbling ruins,\nis a voice of prophetic warning to those who would repeat the infamous\nexperiment. From the ruins of Babylon, of Carthage, of Athens, of\nPalmyra, of Thebes, of Rome, and across the great desert, over that sad\nand solemn sea of sand, from the land of the pyramids, over the fallen\nSphinx and from the lips of Memnon the same voice, the same warning and\nuttering the great truth, that no nation founded upon slavery, either of\nbody or mind, can stand.\n\nAnd yet, to-day, there are thousands upon thousands endeavoring to build\nthe temples and cities and to administer our Government upon the old\nplan. They are makers of brick without straw. They are bowing themselves\nbeneath hods of untempered mortar. They are the babbling builders of\nanother Babel, a Babel of mud upon a foundation of sand.\n\nNothwithstanding the experience of antiquity as to the terrible effects\nof slavery, bondage was the rule, and liberty the exception, during the\nMiddle Ages not only, but for ages afterward.\n\nThe same causes that led to the liberation of mind also liberated the\nbody. Free the mind, allow men to write and publish and read, and one by\none the shackles will drop, broken, in the dust. This truth was always\nknown, and for that reason slaves have never been allowed to read. It\nhas always been a crime to teach a slave. The intelligent prefer death\nto slavery. Education is the most radical abolitionist in the world. To\nteach the alphabet is to inaugurate revolution. To build a schoolhouse\nis to construct a fort. Every library is an arsenal, and every truth is\na monitor, iron-clad and steel-plated.\n\nDo not think that white slavery was abolished without a struggle. The\nmen who opposed white slavery were ridiculed, were persecuted, driven\nfrom their homes, mobbed, hanged, tortured and burned. They were\ndenounced as having only one idea, by men who had none. They were called\nfanatics by men who were so insane as to suppose that the laws of a\npetty prince were greater than those of the Universe. Crime made faces\nat virtue, and honesty was an outcast beggar. In short, I cannot better\ndescribe to you the manner in which the friends of slavery acted at that\ntime, than by saying that they acted precisely as they used to do in\nthe United States. White slavery, established by kidnapping and piracy,\nsustained by torture and infinite cruelty, was defended to the very\nlast.\n\nLet me now call your attention to one of the most immediate causes of\nthe abolition of white slavery in Europe. There were during the Middle\nAges three great classes of people: the common people, the clergy and\nthe nobility. All these people could, however, be divided into two\nclasses, namely, the robbed and the robbers. The feudal lords were\njealous of the king, the king afraid of the lords, the clergy always\nsiding with the stronger party. The common people had only to do the\nwork, the fighting, and to pay the taxes, as by the law the property of\nthe nobles was exempt from taxation. The consequence was, in every war\nbetween the nobles and the king, each party endeavored by conciliation\nto get the peasants upon their side. When the clergy were on the side\nof the king they created dissension between the people and the nobles by\ntelling them that the nobles were tyrants. When they were on the side of\nthe nobles they told the people that the king was a tyrant. At last the\npeople believed both, and the old adage was verified, that when thieves\nfall out honest men get their dues.\n\nBy virtue of the civil and religious wars of Europe, slavery was\nabolished, and the French Revolution, one of the grandest pages in all\nhistory, was, so to speak, the exterminator of white slavery. In that\nterrible period the people who had borne the yoke for fourteen hundred\nyears, rising from the dust, casting their shackles from them, fiercely\navenged their wrongs. A mob of twenty millions driven to desperation,\nin the sublimity of despair, in the sacred name of Liberty cried for\nvengeance. They reddened the earth with the blood of their masters.\nThey trampled beneath their feet the great army of human vermin that had\nlived upon their labor. They filled the air with the ruins of temples\nand thrones, and with bloody hands tore in pieces the altar upon which\ntheir rights had been offered by an impious church. They scorned the\nsuperstitions of the past not only, but they scorned the past; for\nthe past to them was only wrong, imposition and outrage. The French\nRevolution was the inauguration of a new era. The lava of freedom long\nburied beneath a mountain of wrong and injustice at last burst forth,\noverwhelming the Pompeii and Herculaneum of priestcraft and tyranny. As\nsoon as white slavery began to decay in Europe, and while the condition\nof the white slaves was improving about the middle of the 16th century\nin 1541, Alonzo Gonzales, of Portugal, pointed out to his countrymen a\nnew field of operations, a new market for human flesh, and in a short\ntime the African slave-trade with all its unspeakable horrors was\ninaugurated.\n\nThis trade has been the great crime of modern times. It is almost\nimpossible to conceive that nations who professed to be Christian,\nor even in any degree civilized, should have engaged in this infamous\ntraffic. Yet nearly all of the nations of Europe engaged in the\nslave-trade, legalized it, protected it, fostered the practice, and vied\nwith each other in acts, the bare recital of which is enough to make the\nheart stand still.\n\nIt has been calculated that for years, at least 400,000 Africans were\neither killed or enslaved annually. They crammed their ships so full\nof these unfortunate wretches, that, as a general thing, about ten per\ncent, died of suffocation on the voyage. They were treated like wild\nbeasts. In times of danger they were thrown into the sea. Remember that\nthis horrible traffic commenced in the middle of the 16th century, was\ncarried on by nations pretending to Christian civilization, and when\ndo you think it was abolished by some of the principal countries? In\nEngland, Wilberforce and Clarkson dedicated their lives to the abolition\nof the slave-trade. They were hated and despised. They persevered for\ntwenty years, and it was not until the 25th of March, 1808, that\nEngland pronounced the infamous traffic in human flesh illegal, and the\nrejoicing in England was redoubled on receiving the news that the United\nStates had done the same thing. After a time, those engaged in the\nslave-trade were declared pirates.\n\nOn the 28th day of August, 1833, England abolished slavery throughout\nthe British Colonies, thus giving liberty to nearly one million slaves.\n\nThe United States was then the greatest slave-holding power in the\ncivilized world.\n\nWe are all acquainted with the history of slavery in this country. We\nknow that it corrupted our people, that it has drenched our land in\nfraternal blood, that it has clad our country in mourning for the loss\nof 300,000 of her bravest sons; that it carried us back to the darkest\nages of the world, that it led us to the very brink of destruction,\nforced us to the shattered gates of eternal ruin, death and\nannihilation. But Liberty rising above party prejudice, Freedom lifting\nitself above all other considerations,\n\n     \"As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,\n     Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,--\n     Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,\n     Eternal sunshine settles on its head.\"\n\nAnd on the 1st day of January, 1863, the grandest New Year that ever\ndawned upon this continent, in accordance with the will of the heroic\nNorth, by the sublime act of one whose name will be sacred through all\nthe coming years, the justice so long delayed was accomplished, and four\nmillions of slaves became chainless.\n\n\nLIBERTY TRIUMPHED.\n\nLIBERTY, that most sacred word, without which all other words are vain,\nwithout which, life is worse than death, and men are beasts! I never see\nthe word Liberty without seeing a halo of glory around it. It is a word\nworthy of the lips of a God. Can you realize the fact that only a\nfew years ago, the most shocking system of slavery--the most\nbarbarous--existed in our country, and that you and I were bound by\nthe laws of the United States to stand between a human being and his\nliberty? That we were absolutely compelled by law to hand back that\nhuman being to the lash and chain? That by our laws children were\nsold from the arms of mothers, wives sold from their husbands? That we\nexecuted our laws with the assistance of bloodhounds, owned and trained\nby human bloodhounds fiercer still, and that all this was not only\nupheld by politicians, but by the pretended ministers of Christ?\nThat the pulpit was in partnership with the auction block--that the\nbloodhound's bark was only an echo from many of the churches? And that\nthis was all done under the sacred name of Liberty, by a republican\ngovernment that was founded upon the sublime declaration that all men\nare equal? This all seems to me like a horrible dream, a nightmare\nof terror, a hellish impossibility. And yet, with cheeks glowing and\nburning with shame, before the bar of history, we are forced to plead\nguilty to this terrible charge. We made a whip-ping-post of the cross\nof Christ. It is true that in a great degree we have atoned for this\nnational crime. Our bravest and our best have been sacrificed. We have\nborne the bloody burden of war. The good and the true have been with us,\nand the women of the North have won glory imperishable. They robbed war\nof half its terrors. Not content with binding the wreath of victory upon\nthe leader's brow, they bandaged the soldiers' wounds, they nerved the\nliving, comforted the dying, and smiled upon the great victory through\ntheir tears.\n\nThey have consoled the hero's widow and are educating his orphans. They\nhave erected a monument to enlightened charity to which time can add\nonly grandeur. There is much, however, to be accomplished still. Slavery\nhas been abolished, but Progress requires more. We are called upon to\nmake this a free government in the broadest sense, to give liberty to\nall. Standing in the presence of all history, knowing the experience\nof mankind, knowing that the earth is covered with countless wrecks of\ncruel failures; appealed to by the great army of martyrs and heroes who\nhave gone before; by the sacred dust filling innumerable graves; by the\nmemory of our own noble dead; by all the suffering of the past; by all\nthe hopes for the future; by all the glorious dead and the countless\nmillions yet to be, I pray, I beseech, I implore the American people\nto lay the foundation of the Government upon the principles of eternal\njustice. I pray, I beseech, I implore them to take for the corner-stone,\nUniversal Human Liberty--the stone which has been heretofore rejected\nby all the builders of nations. The Government will then stand, and the\nswelling dome of the temple will touch the stars.\n\n\nCONCLUSION\n\nI HAVE thus endeavored to show you some of the effects of slavery, and\nto prove to you that a step in order to be in the direction of progress\nmust be in the direction of freedom; that slavery either of body or mind\nis barbarism and is practiced and defended only by infamous tyrants or\ntheir dupes. I have endeavored to point out some of the causes of\nthe abolition of slavery, both of body and mind. There is one truth,\nhowever, that you must not forget, and that is, that every evil tends\nto correct and abolish itself. I believe, however, that the diffusion\nof knowledge, more than everything else combined, has ameliorated the\ncondition of mankind. When there was no freedom of speech and no press,\nthen every idea perished in the brain that gave it birth. One man could\nnot profit by the thought of another. The experience of the past was\nin a great degree unknown. And this state of things produced the same\neffect in the mental world, that confining all the water to the springs\nwould in the physical. Confine the water to the springs, the rivulets\nwould cease to murmur, the rivers to flow, and the ocean itself would\nbecome a desert of sand. But with the invention of printing, ideas began\nto circulate, born of the busy brain of the million--little rivulets of\nfacts running into rivers of information, and they all flowing into the\ngreat ocean of human knowledge.\n\nThis exchange of ideas, this comparison of thought, has given to each\ngeneration the advantage of all the past. This, more than all else, has\nenabled man to improve his condition. It is by this that from the log\nor piece of bark on which a naked savage floated, we have by successive\nimprovements created a man-of-war carrying a hundred guns and miles\nof canvas. By these means we have changed a handful of sand into a\ntelescope. In the hands of science a drop of water has become a giant,\nturning with swift and tireless arm the countless wheels. The sun has\nbecome an artist painting with shining beams the very thoughts within\nour eyes. The elements have been taught to do our bidding, and the\nelectric spark, freighted with human thought and love, defies distance,\nand devours time as it sweeps under all the waves of the sea.\n\nThese are some of the results of free thought and free labor. I have\nbarely alluded to a few--where is improvement to stop? Science is only\nin its infancy. It has accomplished all this and is in its cradle still.\n\nWe are standing on the shore of an infinite ocean whose countless waves,\nfreighted with blessings, are welcoming our adventurous feet. Progress\nhas been written on every soul. The human race is advancing.\n\nForward, oh sublime army of progress, forward until law is justice,\nforward until ignorance is unknown, forward while there is a spiritual\nor temporal throne, forward until superstition is a forgotten dream,\nforward until the world is free, forward until human reason, clothed in\nthe purple of authority, is king of kings.\n\n\n\n\nWHAT IS RELIGION?\n\n     * This was Col. Ingersoll's last public address, delivered\n     before the American Free Religious Association, in the\n     Hollis Street Theatre, Boston, June 2, 1899.\n\nIT is asserted that an infinite God created all things, governs all\nthings, and that the creature should be obedient and thankful to the\ncreator; that the creator demands certain things, and that the person\nwho complies with these demands is religious. This kind of religion has\nbeen substantially universal.\n\nFor many centuries and by many peoples it was believed that this God\ndemanded sacrifices; that he was pleased when parents shed the blood of\ntheir babes. Afterward it was supposed that he was satisfied with the\nblood of oxen, lambs and doves, and that in exchange for or on account\nof these sacrifices, this God gave rain, sunshine and harvest. It\nwas also believed that if the sacrifices were not made, this God sent\npestilence, famine, flood and earthquake.\n\nThe last phase of this belief in sacrifice was, according to the\nChristian doctrine, that God accepted the blood of his son, and that\nafter his son had been murdered, he, God, was satisfied, and wanted no\nmore blood.\n\nDuring all these years and by all these peoples it was believed that\nthis God heard and answered prayer, that he forgave sins and saved the\nsouls of true believers. This, in a general way, is the definition of\nreligion.\n\nNow, the questions are, Whether religion was founded on any known\nfact? Whether such a being as God exists? Whether he was the creator of\nyourself and myself? Whether any prayer was ever answered? Whether any\nsacrifice of babe or ox secured the favor of this unseen God?\n\n_First_.--Did an infinite God create the children of men?\n\nWhy did he create the intellectually inferior?\n\nWhy did he create the deformed and helpless?\n\nWhy did he create the criminal, the idiotic, the insane?\n\nCan infinite wisdom and power make any excuse for the creation of\nfailures?\n\nAre the failures under obligation to their creator?\n\n_Second_.--Is an infinite God the governor of this world?\n\nIs he responsible for all the chiefs, kings, emperors, and queens?\n\nIs he responsible for all the wars that have been waged, for all the\ninnocent blood that has been shed?\n\nIs he responsible for the centuries of slavery, for the backs that have\nbeen scarred with the lash, for the babes that have been sold from\nthe breasts of mothers, for the families that have been separated and\ndestroyed?\n\nIs this God responsible for religious persecution, for the Inquisition,\nfor the thumb-screw and rack, and for all the instruments of torture?\n\nDid this God allow the cruel and vile to destroy the brave and virtuous?\nDid he allow tyrants to shed the blood of patriots?\n\nDid he allow his enemies to torture and burn his friends?\n\nWhat is such a God worth?\n\nWould a decent man, having the power to prevent it, allow his enemies to\ntorture and burn his friends?\n\nCan we conceive of a devil base enough to prefer his enemies to his\nfriends?\n\nIf a good and infinitely powerful God governs this world, how can we\naccount for cyclones, earthquakes, pestilence and famine?\n\nHow can we account for cancers, for microbes, for diphtheria and the\nthousand diseases that prey on infancy?\n\nHow can we account for the wild beasts that devour human beings, for the\nfanged serpents whose bite is death?\n\nHow can we account for a world where life feeds on life?\n\nWere beak and claw, tooth and fang, invented and produced by infinite\nmercy?\n\nDid infinite goodness fashion the wings of the eagles so that their\nfleeing prey could be overtaken?\n\nDid infinite goodness create the beasts of prey with the intention that\nthey should devour the weak and helpless?\n\nDid infinite goodness create the countless worthless living things that\nbreed within and feed upon the flesh of higher forms?\n\nDid infinite wisdom intentionally produce the microscopic beasts that\nfeed upon the optic nerve?\n\nThink of blinding a man to satisfy the appetite of a microbe!\n\nThink of life feeding on life! Think of the victims! Think of the\nNiagara of blood pouring over the precipice of cruelty!\n\nIn view of these facts, what, after all, is religion?\n\nIt is fear.\n\nFear builds the altar and offers the sacrifice.\n\nFear erects the cathedral and bows the head of man in worship.\n\nFear bends the knees and utters the prayer.\n\nFear pretends to love.\n\nReligion teaches the slave-virtues--obedience, humility, self-denial,\nforgiveness, non-resistance.\n\nLips, religious and fearful, tremblingly repeat this passage: \"Though he\nslay me, yet will I trust him.\" This is the abyss of degradation.\n\nReligion does not teach self-reliance, independence, manliness, courage,\nself-defence. Religion makes God a master and man his serf. The master\ncannot be great enough to make slavery sweet.\n\n\nII.\n\nIF this God exists, how do we know that he is-I good? How can we prove\nthat he is merciful, that he cares for the children of men? If this\nGod exists, he has on many occasions seen millions of his poor children\nplowing the fields, sowing and planting the grain, and when he saw them\nhe knew that they depended on the expected crop for life, and yet this\ngood God, this merciful being, withheld the rain. He caused the sun to\nrise, to steal all moisture from the land, but gave no rain. He saw the\nseeds that man had planted wither and perish, but he sent no rain. He\nsaw the people look with sad eyes upon the barren earth, and he sent no\nrain. He saw them slowly devour the little that they had, and saw them\nwhen the days of hunger came--saw them slowly waste away, saw their\nhungry, sunken eyes, heard their prayers, saw them devour the miserable\nanimals that they had, saw fathers and mothers, insane with hunger,\nkill and eat their shriveled babes, and yet the heaven above them was\nas brass and the earth beneath as iron, and he sent no rain. Can we say\nthat in the heart of this God there blossomed the flower of pity? Can\nwe say that he cared for the children of men? Can we say that his mercy\nendureth forever?\n\nDo we prove that this God is good because he sends the cyclone that\nwrecks villages and covers the fields with the mangled bodies of\nfathers, mothers and babes? Do we prove his goodness by showing that he\nhas opened the earth and swallowed thousands of his helpless children,\nor that with the volcanoes he has overwhelmed them with rivers of fire?\nCan we infer the goodness of God from the facts we know?\n\nIf these calamities did not happen, would we suspect that God cared\nnothing for human beings? If there were no famine, no pestilence, no\ncyclone, no earthquake, would we think that God is not good?\n\nAccording to the theologians, God did not make all men alike. He made\nraces differing in intelligence, stature and color. Was there goodness,\nwas there wisdom in this?\n\nOught the superior races to thank God that they are not the inferior? If\nwe say yes, then I ask another question: Should the inferior races thank\nGod that they are not superior, or should they thank God that they are\nnot beasts?\n\nWhen God made these different races he knew that the superior would\nenslave the inferior, knew that the inferior would be conquered, and\nfinally destroyed.\n\nIf God did this, and knew the blood that would be shed, the agonies that\nwould be endured, saw the countless fields covered with the corpses of\nthe slain, saw all the bleeding backs of slaves, all the broken hearts\nof mothers bereft of babes, if he saw and knew all this, can we conceive\nof a more malicious fiend?\n\nWhy, then, should we say that God is good?\n\nThe dungeons against whose dripping walls the brave and generous have\nsighed their souls away, the scaffolds stained and glorified with noble\nblood, the hopeless slaves with scarred and bleeding backs, the writhing\nmartyrs clothed in flame, the virtuous stretched on racks, their joints\nand muscles torn apart, the flayed and bleeding bodies of the just, the\nextinguished eyes of those who sought for truth, the countless patriots\nwho fought and died in vain, the burdened, beaten, weeping wives,\nthe shriveled faces of neglected babes, the murdered millions of the\nvanished years, the victims of the winds and waves, of flood and flame,\nof imprisoned forces in the earth, of lightning's stroke, of lava's\nmolten stream, of famine, plague and lingering pain, the mouths that\ndrip with blood, the fangs that poison, the beaks that wound and tear,\nthe triumphs of the base, the rule and sway of wrong, the crowns that\ncruelty has worn and the robed hypocrites, with clasped and bloody\nhands, who thanked their God--a phantom fiend--that liberty had been\nbanished from the world, these souvenirs of the dreadful past, these\nhorrors that still exist, these frightful facts deny that any God exists\nwho has the will and power to guard and bless the human race.\n\n\nIII. THE POWER THAT WORKS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.\n\nMOST people cling to the supernatural. If they give up one God, they\nimagine another. Having outgrown Jehovah, they talk about the power that\nworks for righteousness.\n\nWhat is this power?\n\nMan advances, and necessarily advances through experience. A man wishing\nto go to a certain place comes to where the road divides. He takes the\nleft hand, believing it to be the right road, and travels until he finds\nthat it is the wrong one. He retraces his steps and takes the right hand\nroad and reaches the place desired. The next time he goes to the same\nplace, he does not take the left hand road. He has tried that road, and\nknows that it is the wrong road. He takes the right road, and thereupon\nthese theologians say, \"There is a power that works for righteousness.\"\n\nA child, charmed by the beauty of the flame, grasps it with its dimpled\nhand. The hand is burned, and after that the child keeps its hand out of\nthe fire. The power that works for righteousness has taught the child a\nlesson.\n\nThe accumulated experience of the world is a power and force that works\nfor righteousness. This force is not conscious, not intelligent. It has\nno will, no purpose. It is a result.\n\nSo thousands have endeavored to establish the existence of God by the\nfact that we have what is called the moral sense; that is to say, a\nconscience.\n\nIt is insisted by these theologians, and by many of the so-called\nphilosophers, that this moral sense, this sense of duty, of obligation,\nwas imported, and that conscience is an exotic. Taking the ground that\nit was not produced here, was not produced by man, they then imagine a\nGod from whom it came.\n\nMan is a social being. We live together in families, tribes and nations.\n\nThe members of a family, of a tribe, of a nation, who increase the\nhappiness of the family, of the tribe or of the nation, are considered\ngood members. They are praised, admired and respected. They are regarded\nas good; that is to say, as moral.\n\nThe members who add to the misery of the family, the tribe or the\nnation, are considered bad members.\n\nThey are blamed, despised, punished. They are regarded as immoral.\n\nThe family, the tribe, the nation, creates a standard of conduct, of\nmorality. There is nothing supernatural in this.\n\nThe greatest of human beings has said, \"Conscience is born of love.\"\n\nThe sense of obligation, of duty, was naturally produced.\n\nAmong savages, the immediate consequences of actions are taken into\nconsideration. As people advance, the remote consequences are perceived.\nThe standard of conduct becomes higher. The imagination is cultivated.\nA man puts himself in the place of another. The sense of duty becomes\nstronger, more imperative. Man judges himself.\n\nHe loves, and love is the commencement, the foundation of the highest\nvirtues. He injures one that he loves. Then comes regret, repentance,\nsorrow, conscience. In all this there is nothing supernatural.\n\nMan has deceived himself. Nature is a mirror in which man sees his own\nimage, and all supernatural religions rest on the pretence that the\nimage, which appears to be behind this mirror, has been caught.\n\nAll the metaphysicians of the spiritual type, from Plato to Swedenborg,\nhave manufactured their facts, and all founders of religion have done\nthe same.\n\nSuppose that an infinite God exists, what can we do for him? Being\ninfinite, he is conditionless; being conditionless, he cannot be\nbenefited or injured. He cannot want. He has.\n\nThink of the egotism of a man who believes that an infinite being wants\nhis praise!\n\n\nIV.\n\nWHAT has our religion done? Of course, it is admitted by Christians that\nall other religions are false, and consequently we need examine only our\nown.\n\nHas Christianity done good? Has it made men nobler, more merciful,\nnearer honest? When the church had control, were men made better and\nhappier?\n\nWhat has been the effect of Christianity in Italy, in Spain, in\nPortugal, in Ireland?\n\nWhat has religion done for Hungary or Austria? What was the effect of\nChristianity in Switzerland, in Holland, in Scotland, in England, in\nAmerica? Let us be honest. Could these countries have been worse without\nreligion? Could they have been worse had they had any other religion\nthan Christianity?\n\nWould Torquemada have been worse had he been a follower of Zoroaster?\nWould Calvin have been more bloodthirsty if he had believed in the\nreligion of the South Sea Islanders? Would the Dutch have been more\nidiotic if they had denied the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and worshiped\nthe blessed trinity of sausage, beer and cheese? Would John Knox\nhave been any worse had he deserted Christ and become a follower of\nConfucius?\n\nTake our own dear, merciful Puritan Fathers? What did Christianity do\nfor them? They hated pleasure. On the door of life they hung the crape\nof death. They muffled all the bells of gladness. They made cradles\nby putting rockers on coffins. In the Puritan year there were twelve\nDecembers. They tried to do away with infancy and youth, with prattle of\nbabes and the song of the morning.\n\nThe religion of the Puritan was an unadulterated curse. The Puritan\nbelieved the Bible to be the word of God, and this belief has always\nmade those who held it cruel and wretched. Would the Puritan have been\nworse if he had adopted the religion of the North American Indians?\n\nLet me refer to just one fact showing the influence of a belief in the\nBible on human beings.\n\n\"On the day of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth she was presented with\na Geneva Bible by an old man representing Time, with Truth standing\nby his side as a child. The Queen received the Bible, kissed it, and\npledged herself to diligently read therein. In the dedication of this\nblessed Bible the Queen was piously exhorted to put all Papists to the\nsword.\"\n\nIn this incident we see the real spirit of Protestant lovers of the\nBible. In other words, it was just as fiendish, just as infamous as the\nCatholic spirit.\n\nHas the Bible made the people of Georgia kind and merciful? Would the\nlynchers be more ferocious if they worshiped gods of wood and stone?\n\n\nVII. HOW CAN MANKIND BE REFORMED WITHOUT RELIGION?\n\nRELIGION has been tried, and in all countries, in all times, has failed.\n\nReligion has never made man merciful.\n\nRemember the Inquisition.\n\nWhat effect did religion have on slavery?\n\nWhat effect upon Libby, Saulsbury and Andersonville?\n\nReligion has always been the enemy of science, of investigation and\nthought.\n\nReligion has never made man free.\n\nIt has never made man moral, temperate, industrious and honest.\n\nAre Christians more temperate, nearer virtuous, nearer honest than\nsavages?\n\nAmong savages do we not find that their vices and cruelties are the\nfruits of their superstitions?\n\nTo those who believe in the Uniformity of Nature, religion is\nimpossible.\n\nCan we affect the nature and qualities of substance by prayer? Can we\nhasten or delay the tides by worship? Can we change winds by sacrifice?\nWill kneelings give us wealth? Can we cure disease by supplication? Can\nwe add to our knowledge by ceremony? Can we receive virtue or honor as\nalms?\n\nAre not the facts in the mental world just as stubborn--just as\nnecessarily produced--as the facts in the material world? Is not what we\ncall mind just as natural as what we call body?\n\nReligion rests on the idea that Nature has a master and that this master\nwill listen to prayer; that this master punishes and rewards; that he\nloves praise and flattery and hates the brave and free.\n\nHas man obtained any help from heaven?\n\n\nVI.\n\nIF we have a theory, we must have facts for the foundation. We must\nhave corner-stones. We must not build on guesses, fancies, analogies\nor inferences. The structure must have a basement. If we build, we must\nbegin at the bottom.\n\nI have a theory and I have four corner-stones.\n\nThe first stone is that matter--substance--cannot be destroyed, cannot\nbe annihilated.\n\nThe second stone is that force cannot be destroyed, cannot be\nannihilated.\n\nThe third stone is that matter and force cannot exist apart--no matter\nwithout force--no force without matter.\n\nThe fourth stone is that that which cannot be destroyed could not have\nbeen created; that the indestructible is the uncreatable.\n\nIf these corner-stones are facts, it follows as a necessity that matter\nand force are from and to eternity; that they can neither be increased\nnor diminished.\n\nIt follows that nothing has been or can be created; that there never has\nbeen or can be a creator.\n\nIt follows that there could not have been any intelligence, any design\nback of matter and force.\n\nThere is no intelligence without force. There is no force without\nmatter. Consequently there could not by any possibility have been any\nintelligence, any force, back of matter.\n\nIt therefore follows that the supernatural does not and cannot exist. If\nthese four corner-stones are facts, Nature has no master. If matter and\nforce are from and to eternity, it follows as a necessity that no God\nexists; that no God created or governs the universe; that no God exists\nwho answers prayer; no God who succors the oppressed; no God who pities\nthe sufferings of innocence; no God who cares for the slaves with\nscarred flesh, the mothers robbed of their babes; no God who rescues\nthe tortured, and no God that saves a martyr from the flames. In other\nwords, it proves that man has never received any help from heaven;\nthat all sacrifices have been in vain, and that all prayers have died\nunanswered in the heedless air. I do not pretend to know. I say what I\nthink.\n\nIf matter and force have existed from eternity, it then follows that all\nthat has been possible has happened, all that is possible is happening,\nand all that will be possible will happen.\n\nIn the universe there is no chance, no caprice. Every event has parents.\n\nThat which has not happened, could not. The present is the necessary\nproduct of all the past, the necessary cause of all the future.\n\nIn the infinite chain there is, and there can be, no broken, no missing\nlink. The form and motion of every star, the climate of every world,\nall forms of vegetable and animal life, all instinct, intelligence\nand conscience, all assertions and denials, all vices and virtues, all\nthoughts and dreams, all hopes and fears, are necessities. Not one\nof the countless things and relations in the universe could have been\ndifferent.\n\n\nVII.\n\nIF matter and force are from eternity, then we can say that man had no\nintelligent creator--that man was not a special creation.\n\nWe now know, if we know anything, that Jehovah, the divine potter, did\nnot mix and mould clay into the forms of men and women, and then breathe\nthe breath of life into these forms.\n\nWe now know that our first parents were not foreigners. We know that\nthey were natives of this world, produced here, and that their life did\nnot come from the breath of any god. We now know, if we know anything,\nthat the universe is natural, and that men and women have been naturally\nproduced. We now know our ancestors, our pedigree. We have the family\ntree.\n\nWe have all the links of the chain, twenty-six links inclusive from\nmoner to man.\n\nWe did not get our information from inspired books. We have fossil facts\nand living forms.\n\nFrom the simplest creatures, from blind sensation, from organism from\none vague want, to a single cell with a nucleus, to a hollow ball filled\nwith fluid, to a cup with double walls, to a flat worm, to a something\nthat begins to breathe, to an organism that has a spinal chord, to\na link between the invertebrate to the vertebrate, to one that has a\ncranium--a house for a brain--to one with fins, still onward to one with\nfore and hinder fins, to the reptile mammalia, to the marsupials, to\nthe lemures, dwellers in trees, to the simiae, to the pithecanthropi, and\nlastly, to man.\n\nWe know the paths that life has traveled. We know the footsteps of\nadvance. They have been traced. The last link has been found. For this\nwe are indebted, more than to all others, to the greatest of biologists,\nErnst Haeckel.\n\nWe now believe that the universe is natural and we deny the existence of\nthe supernatural.\n\n\nVIII. Reform.\n\nFOR thousands of years men and women have been trying to reform the\nworld. They have created gods and devils, heavens and hells; they have\nwritten sacred books, performed miracles, built cathedrals and dungeons;\nthey have crowned and uncrowned kings and queens; they have tortured and\nimprisoned, flayed alive and burned; they have preached and prayed; they\nhave tried promises and threats; they have coaxed and persuaded; they\nhave preached and taught, and in countless ways have endeavored to make\npeople honest, temperate, industrious and virtuous; they have built\nhospitals and asylums, universities and schools, and seem to have done\ntheir very best to make mankind better and happier, and yet they have\nnot succeeded.\n\nWhy have the reformers failed? I will tell them why.\n\nIgnorance, poverty and vice are populating the world. The gutter is a\nnursery. People unable even to support themselves fill the tenements,\nthe huts and hovels with children. They depend on the Lord, on luck and\ncharity. They are not intelligent enough to think about consequences\nor to feel responsibility. At the same time they do not want children,\nbecause a child is a curse, a curse to them and to itself. The babe is\nnot welcome, because it is a burden. These unwelcome children fill\nthe jails and prisons, the asylums and hospitals, and they crowd\nthe scaffolds. A few are rescued by chance or charity, but the great\nmajority are failures, They become vicious, ferocious. They live by\nfraud and violence, and bequeath their vices to their children.\n\nAgainst this inundation of vice the forces of reform are helpless, and\ncharity itself becomes an unconscious promoter of crime.\n\nFailure seems to be the trademark of Nature. Why? Nature has no design,\nno intelligence. Nature produces without purpose, sustains without\nintention and destroys without thought. Man has a little intelligence,\nand he should use it. Intelligence is the only lever capable of raising\nmankind.\n\nThe real question is, can we prevent the ignorant, the poor, the\nvicious, from filling the world with their children?\n\nCan we prevent this Missouri of ignorance and vice from emptying into\nthe Mississippi of civilization?\n\nMust the world forever remain the victim of ignorant passion? Can the\nworld be civilized to that degree that consequences will be taken into\nconsideration by all?\n\nWhy should men and women have children that they cannot take care\nof, children that are burdens and curses? Why? Because they have more\npassion than intelligence, more passion than conscience, more passion\nthan reason.\n\nYou cannot reform these people with tracts and talk. You cannot reform\nthese people with preach and creed. Passion is, and always has been,\ndeaf. These weapons of reform are substantially useless. Criminals,\ntramps, beggars and failures are increasing every day. The prisons,\njails, poorhouses and asylums are crowded. Religion is helpless. Law can\npunish, but it can neither reform criminals nor prevent crime. The tide\nof vice is rising. The war that is now being waged against the forces of\nevil is as hopeless as the battle of the fireflies against the darkness\nof night.\n\nThere is but one hope. Ignorance, poverty and vice must stop populating\nthe world. This cannot be done by moral suasion. This cannot be done by\ntalk or example. This cannot be done by religion or by law, by priest or\nby hangman. This cannot be done by force, physical or moral.\n\nTo accomplish this there is but one way. Science must make woman the\nowner, the mistress of herself. Science, the only possible savior of\nmankind, must put it in the power of woman to decide for herself whether\nshe will or will not become a mother.\n\nThis is the solution of the whole question. This frees woman. The babes\nthat are then born will be welcome. They will be clasped with glad hands\nto happy breasts. They will fill homes with light and joy.\n\nMen and women who believe that slaves are purer, truer, than the free,\nwho believe that fear is a safer guide than knowledge, that only those\nare really good who obey the commands of others, and that ignorance is\nthe soil in which the perfect, perfumed flower of virtue grows, will\nwith protesting hands hide their shocked faces.\n\nMen and women who think that light is the enemy of virtue, that purity\ndwells in darkness, that it is dangerous for human beings to know\nthemselves and the facts in Nature that affect their well being, will be\nhorrified at the thought of making intelligence the master of passion.\n\nBut I look forward to the time when men and women by reason of their\nknowledge of consequences, of the morality born of intelligence, will\nrefuse to perpetuate disease and pain, will refuse to fill the world\nwith failures.\n\nWhen that time comes the prison walls will fall, the dungeons will be\nflooded with light, and the shadow of the scaffold will cease to curse\nthe earth. Poverty and crime will be childless. The withered hands of\nwant will not be stretched for alms. They will be dust. The whole world\nwill be intelligent, virtuous and free.\n\n\nIX.\n\nRELIGION can never reform mankind because religion is slavery.\n\nIt is far better to be free, to leave the forts and barricades of fear,\nto stand erect and face the future with a smile.\n\nIt is far better to give yourself sometimes to negligence, to drift with\nwave and tide, with the blind force of the world, to think and dream,\nto forget the chains and limitations of the breathing life, to forget\npurpose and object, to lounge in the picture gallery of the brain,\nto feel once more the clasps and kisses of the past, to bring life's\nmorning back, to see again the forms and faces of the dead, to paint\nfair pictures for the coming years, to forget all Gods, their promises\nand threats, to feel within your veins life's joyous stream and hear the\nmartial music, the rhythmic beating of your fearless heart.\n\nAnd then to rouse yourself to do all useful things, to reach with\nthought and deed the ideal in your brain, to give your fancies wing,\nthat they, like chemist bees, may find art's nectar in the weeds of\ncommon things, to look with trained and steady eyes for facts, to find\nthe subtle threads that join the distant with the now, to increase\nknowledge, to take burdens from the weak, to develop the brain, to\ndefend the right, to make a palace for the soul.\n\nThis is real religion. This is real worship.","title":"The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 04 (of 12): Dresden Edition\u2014Lectures","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":93070}