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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:11:11 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:11:11 -0700 |
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diff --git a/old/orig38801-h/main.htm b/old/orig38801-h/main.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..441988f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig38801-h/main.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9840 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content="HTML-Kit Tools HTML Tidy plugin" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=us-ascii" /> +<title>The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Volume 1 (of 12) by Robert +G. Ingersoll</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + <!-- + body { text-align:justify} + P { margin:15%; + margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + .play { margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; text-align: justify; font-size: 100%; } + img {border: 0;} + blockquote {font-size: 97%; margin-left: 30%; margin-right: 20%;} + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 1%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: left; + color: gray; + } /* page numbers */ + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 10%; margin-left: 1%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; + margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 35%; margin-bottom: .75em; font-size: 110%;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 45%;} + .indent {font-style: italic; font-size: 100%; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + CENTER { padding: 10px;} + PRE { font-family: Times; font-style: italic; font-size: 100%; margin-left: 25%;} + --> +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div style="height: 8em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<a name="title" id="title"></a> +<h1>THE WORKS OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL</h1> +<h2>By Robert G. Ingersoll</h2> +<blockquote> +<p>"The Destroyer Of Weeds, Thistles And Thorns Is A Benefactor, +Whether He Soweth Grain Or Not."</p> +</blockquote> +<h3>IN TWELVE VOLUMES, VOLUME I.</h3> +<br /> +<h2>LECTURES</h2> +<br /> +<h3>1901</h3> +<h4>THE DRESDEN EDITION</h4> +<br /> +<br /> +<center>TO</center> +<center>EVA A. INGERSOLL,</center> +<center>MY WIFE,</center> +<center>A WOMAN WITHOUT SUPERSTITION,</center> +<center>THIS VOLUME</center> +<center>IS DEDICATED.</center> +<center>FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.</center> +<center>FOR THE USE OF MAN,</center> +<br /> +<center><img alt="Titlepage (64K)" src="images/Titlepage.jpg" +height="1268" width="746" /></center> +<br /> +<br /> +<center><img alt="Birthplace (64K)" src="images/Birthplace.jpg" +height="973" width="672" /></center> +<br /> +<br /> +<center><img alt="Portrait (62K)" src="images/Portrait.jpg" height= +"1095" width="666" /></center> +<br /> +<br /> +<center><img alt="Frontispiece (64K)" src="images/Frontispiece.jpg" +height="1259" width="715" /></center> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h2>Contents</h2> +<p class="toc"><a href="#linkTOC">CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0001">PUBLISHER'S PREFACE.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0002">THE GODS</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0003">HUMBOLDT.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0004">THOMAS PAINE</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0005">INDIVIDUALITY.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0006">HERETICS AND HERESIES.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0007">THE GHOSTS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0009">THE LIBERTY OF MAN, WOMAN, AND +CHILD.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0010">LIBERTY OF WOMAN.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0011">THE LIBERTY OF +CHILDREN.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#linkCONC">CONCLUSION.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0013">ABOUT FARMING IN +ILLINOIS</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0014">WHAT MUST WE DO TO BE +SAVED?</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0016">I. WHAT WE MUST DO TO BE +SAVED</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0017">II. THE GOSPEL OF +MATTHEW</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0018">III. THE GOSPEL OF +MARK</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0019">IV. THE GOSPEL OF +LUKE.</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0020">V. THE GOSPEL OF JOHN</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0021">VI. THE CATHOLICS</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0022">VII. THE EPISCOPALIANS</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0023">VIII. THE METHODISTS</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0024">IX. THE PRESBYTERIANS</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0025">X. THE EVANGELICAL +ALLIANCE.</a></p> +<p class="toc2"><a href="#link0026">XI. WHAT DO YOU +PROPOSE?</a></p> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="linkTOC"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.</h2> +<blockquote> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0002">THE GODS.</a></p> +THE GODS.<br /> +(1872.)<br /> +An Honest God is the Noblest Work of Man—Resemblance of Gods +to<br /> +their Creators—Manufacture and Characteristics of +Deities—Their<br /> +Amours—Deficient in many Departments of +Knowledge—Pleased with the<br /> +Butchery of Unbelievers—A Plentiful +Supply—Visitations—One God's<br /> +Laws of War—The Book called the Bible—Heresy of +Universalism—Faith<br /> +an unhappy mixture of Insanity and Ignorance—Fallen Gods, +or<br /> +Devils—Directions concerning Human Slavery—The first +Appearance of<br /> +the Devil—The Tree of Knowledge—Give me the Storm and +Tempest of<br /> +Thought—Gods and Devils Natural Productions—Personal +Appearance<br /> +of Deities—All Man's Ideas suggested by his +Surroundings—Phenomena<br /> +Supposed to be Produced by Intelligent Powers—Insanity and +Disease<br /> +attributed to Evil Spirits—Origin of the +Priesthood—Temptation of<br /> +Christ—Innate Ideas—Divine Interference—Special +Providence—The<br /> +Crane and the Fish—Cancer as a proof of Design—Matter +and<br /> +Force—Miracle—Passing the Hat for just one +Fact—Sir William Hamilton<br /> +on Cause and Effect—The Phenomena of Mind—Necessity and +Free Will—The<br /> +Dark Ages—The Originality of Repetition—Of what Use +have the Gods been<br /> +to Man?—Paley and Design—Make Good Health +Contagious—Periodicity of<br /> +the Universe and the Commencement of Intellectual +Freedom—Lesson of<br /> +the ineffectual attempt to rescue the Tomb of Christ from the<br /> +Mohammedans—The Cemetery of the Gods—Taking away +Crutches—Imperial<br /> +Reason<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0003">HUMBOLDT.</a></p> +HUMBOLDT.<br /> +(1869.)<br /> +The Universe is Governed by Law—The Self-made +Man—Poverty generally<br /> +an Advantage—Humboldt's Birth-place—His desire for +Travel—On what<br /> +Humboldt's Fame depends—His Companions and +Friends—Investigations<br /> +in the New World—A Picture—Subjects of his +Addresses—Victory of the<br /> +Church over Philosophy—Influence of the discovery that the +World is<br /> +governed by Law—On the term +Law—Copernicus—Astronomy—Aryabhatta—<br /> +Descartes—Condition of the World and Man when the morning of +Science<br /> +Dawned—Reasons for Honoring Humboldt—The World his +Monument<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0004">THOMAS PAINE.</a></p> +THOMAS PAINE.<br /> +(1870.)<br /> +With his Name left out the History of Liberty cannot be +Written—Paine's<br /> +Origin and Condition—His arrival in America with a Letter +of<br /> +Introduction by Franklin—Condition of the +Colonies—"Common Sense"—A<br /> +new Nation Born—Paine the Best of Political Writers—The +"Crisis"—War<br /> +not to the Interest of a trading Nation—Paine's Standing at +the Close<br /> +of the Revolution—Close of the Eighteenth Century in +France-The<br /> +"Rights of Man"—Paine Prosecuted in England—"The World +is my<br /> +Country"—Elected to the French Assembly—Votes against +the Death of<br /> +the King—Imprisoned—A look behind the Altar—The +"Age of Reason"—His<br /> +Argument against the Bible as a Revelation—Christianity of +Paine's<br /> +Day—A Blasphemy Law in Force in Maryland—The Scotch +"Kirk"—Hanging<br /> +of Thomas Aikenhead for Denying the Inspiration of the<br /> +Scriptures—"Cathedrals and Domes, and Chimes and +Chants"—Science—"He<br /> +Died in the Land his Genius Defended,"<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0005">INDIVIDUALITY.</a></p> +INDIVIDUALITY.<br /> +(1873.)<br /> +"His Soul was like a Star and Dwelt Apart"—Disobedience one +of the<br /> +Conditions of Progress.—Magellan—The Monarch and the +Hermit-Why<br /> +the Church hates a Thinker—The Argument from Grandeur +and<br /> +Prosperity-Travelers and Guide-boards—A Degrading +Saying—Theological<br /> +Education—Scotts, Henrys and McKnights—The Church the +Great<br /> +Robber—Corrupting the Reason of Children—Monotony of +Acquiescence: For<br /> +God's sake, say No—Protestant Intolerance: Luther and +Calvin—Assertion<br /> +of Individual Independence a Step toward Infidelity—Salute +to<br /> +Jupiter—The Atheistic Bug-Little Religious Liberty in +America—God in<br /> +the Constitution, Man Out—Decision of the Supreme Court of +Illinois<br /> +that an Unbeliever could not testify in any +Court—Dissimulation—Nobody<br /> +in this Bed—The Dignity of a Unit<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0006">HERETICS AND HERESIES.</a></p> +HERETICS AND HERESIES.<br /> +(1874.)<br /> +Liberty, a Word without which all other Words are Vain—The +Church, the<br /> +Bible, and Persecution—Over the wild Waves of War rose and +fell<br /> +the Banner of Jesus Christ—Highest Type of the Orthodox<br /> +Christian—Heretics' Tongues and why they should be Removed +before<br /> +Burning—The Inquisition Established—Forms of +Torture—Act of Henry<br /> +VIII for abolishing Diversity of Opinion—What a Good +Christian was<br /> +Obliged to Believe—The Church has Carried the Black +Flag—For what Men<br /> +and Women have been Burned—John Calvin's Advent into +the<br /> +World—His Infamous Acts—Michael +Servetus—Castalio—Spread of<br /> +Presbyterianism—Indictment of a Presbyterian Minister in +Illinois for<br /> +Heresy—Specifications—The Real Bible<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0007">THE GHOSTS.</a></p> +THE GHOSTS.<br /> +(1877.)<br /> +Dedication to Ebon C. Ingersoll—Preface—Mendacity of +the Religious<br /> +Press—"Materialism"—Ways of Pleasing the +Ghosts—The Idea of<br /> +Immortality not Born of any Book—Witchcraft and +Demon-ology—Witch<br /> +Trial before Sir Matthew Hale—John Wesley a Firm Believer +in<br /> +Ghosts—"Witch-spots"—Lycanthropy—Animals Tried +and Convicted—The<br /> +Governor of Minnesota and the Grasshoppers—A Papal Bull +against<br /> +Witchcraft—Victims of the Delusion—Sir William +Blackstone's<br /> +Affirmation—Trials in Belgium—Incubi and +Succubi—A Bishop<br /> +Personated by the Devil—The Doctrine that Diseases are caused +by<br /> +Ghosts—Treatment—Timothy Dwight against +Vaccination—Ghosts as<br /> +Historians—The Language of Eden—Leibnitz, Founder of +the Science<br /> +of Language—Cosmas on Astronomy—Vagaries of Kepler and +Tycho<br /> +Brahe—Discovery of Printing, Powder, and America—Thanks +to the<br /> +Inventors—The Catholic Murderer and the Meat—Let the +Ghosts Go<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0009">THE LIBERTY OF MAN, WOMAN, AND +CHILD.</a></p> +THE LIBERTY OF MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD.<br /> +(1877.)<br /> +Liberty sustains the same Relation to Mind that Space does to<br /> +Matter—The History of Man a History of Slavery—The +Infidel Our<br /> +Fathers in the good old Time—The iron Arguments that +Christians<br /> +Used—Instruments of Torture—A Vision of the +Inquisition—Models of<br /> +Man's Inventions—Weapons, Armor, Musical Instruments, +Paintings,<br /> +Books, Skulls—The Gentleman in the Dug-out—Homage to +Genius and<br /> +Intellect—Abraham Lincoln—What I mean by +Liberty—The Man who cannot<br /> +afford to Speak his Thought is a Certificate of the Meanness of +the<br /> +Community in which he Resides—Liberty of Woman—Marriage +and the<br /> +Family—Ornaments the Souvenirs of Bondage-The Story of the +Garden of<br /> +Eden—Adami and Heva—Equality of the Sexes-The word +"Boss"—The Cross<br /> +Man-The Stingy Man—Wives who are Beggars—How to Spend +Money—By<br /> +the Tomb of the Old Napoleon—The Woman you Love will never +Grow<br /> +Old—Liberty of Children—When your Child tells a +Lie—Disowning<br /> +Children—Beating your own Flesh and Blood—Make Home +Pleasant—Sunday<br /> +when I was a Boy—The Laugh of a Child—The doctrine of +Eternal<br /> +Punishment—Jonathan Edwards on the Happiness of Believing +Husbands<br /> +whose Wives are in Hell—The Liberty of Eating and +Sleeping—Water in<br /> +Fever—Soil and Climate necessary to the production of +Genius—Against<br /> +Annexing Santo Domingo—Descent of Man—Conclusion<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0013">ABOUT FARMING IN +ILLINOIS.</a></p> +ABOUT FARMING IN ILLINOIS.<br /> +(1877.)<br /> +To Plow is to Pray; to Plant is to Prophesy, and the Harvest +Answers and<br /> +Fulfills—The Old Way of Farming—Cooking an Unknown +Art-Houses, Fuel,<br /> +and Crops—The Farmer's Boy—What a Farmer should +Sell—Beautifying<br /> +the Home—Advantages of Illinois as a Farming +State—Advantages of the<br /> +Farmer over the Mechanic—Farm Life too Lonely-On Early +Rising—Sleep<br /> +the Best Doctor—Fashion—Patriotism and Boarding +Houses—The Farmer and<br /> +the Railroads—Money and Confidence—Demonetization of +Silver-Area of<br /> +Illinois—Mortgages and Interest—Kindness to Wives and +Children—How<br /> +a Beefsteak should be Cooked—Decorations and +Comfort—Let the Children<br /> +Sleep—Old Age<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0014">WHAT MUST WE DO TO BE +SAVED?</a></p> +WHAT MUST WE DO TO BE SAVED?<br /> +(1880.)<br /> +Preface—The Synoptic Gospels—Only Mark Knew of the +Necessity of<br /> +Belief—Three Christs Described—The Jewish Gentleman and +the Piece of<br /> +Bacon—Who Wrote the New Testament?—Why Christ and the +Apostles wrote<br /> +Nothing—Infinite Respect for the Man Christ—Different +Feeling for<br /> +the Theological Christ—Saved from What?—Chapter on the +Gospel of<br /> +Matthew—What this Gospel says we must do to be +Saved—Jesus and the<br /> +Children—John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards conceived of as +Dimpled<br /> +Darlings—Christ and the Man who inquired what Good Thing he +should<br /> +do that he might have Eternal Life—Nothing said about +Belief—An<br /> +Interpolation—Chapter on the Gospel of Mark—The Believe +or be Damned<br /> +Passage, and why it was written—The last Conversation of +Christ with<br /> +his Disciples—The Signs that Follow them that +Believe—Chapter on<br /> +the Gospel of Luke—Substantial Agreement with Matthew and +Mark—How<br /> +Zaccheus achieved Salvation—The two Thieves on the +Cross—Chapter<br /> +on the Gospel of John—The Doctrine of Regeneration, or the +New<br /> +Birth—Shall we Love our Enemies while God Damns +His?—Chapter on the<br /> +Catholics—Communication with Heaven through Decayed +Saints—Nuns and<br /> +Nunneries—Penitentiaries of God should be +Investigated—The<br /> +Athanasian Creed expounded—The Trinity and its +Members—Chapter on the<br /> +Episcopalians—Origin of the Episcopal Church—Apostolic +Succession<br /> +an Imported Article—Episcopal Creed like the Catholic, with +a<br /> +few Additional Absurdities—Chapter on the +Methodists—Wesley and<br /> +Whitfield—Their Quarrel about Predestination—Much +Preaching for Little<br /> +Money—Adapted to New Countries—Chapter on the +Presbyterians—John<br /> +Calvin, Murderer—Meeting between Calvin and Knox—The +Infamy of<br /> +Calvinism—Division in the Church—The Young +Presbyterian's Resignation<br /> +to the Fate of his Mother—A Frightful, Hideous, and +Hellish<br /> +Creed—Chapter on the Evangelical Alliance—Jeremy +Taylor's Opinion of<br /> +Baptists—Orthodoxy not Dead—Creed of the +Alliance—Total Depravity,<br /> +Eternal Damnation—What do You Propose?—The Gospel of +Good-fellowship,<br /> +Cheerfulness, Health, Good Living, Justice—No +Forgiveness—God's<br /> +Forgiveness Does not Pay my Debt to Smith—Gospel of Liberty, +of<br /> +Intelligence, of Humanity—One World at a Time—"Upon +that Rock I<br /> +Stand"<br /></blockquote> +<a name="link0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>PUBLISHER'S PREFACE.</h2> +<p>IN presenting to the public this edition of the late Robert G. +Ingersoll's works, it has been the aim of the publisher to make it +worthy of the author and a pleasure to his friends and admirers. No +one can be more conscious than he of the magnitude of the task +undertaken, or more keenly feel how far short it must fall of +adequate accomplishment.</p> +<p>When it is remembered that countless utterances of the author +were never caught from his eloquent lips, it is matter for +congratulation that so much has been preserved. The authorized +addresses, arguments and articles that have already appeared in +print and passed the review of the authors more or less careful +inspection, will be readily recognized as accurate and complete; +but in this latest and fullest compilation are many emanations from +his heart and brain that have never had his scrutiny, were not +revised by him, and that yet, by general judgment, should not be +lost to the world.</p> +<p>These unedited sundries consist of fragments of speeches and +incompleted articles discovered amongst the authors literary +remains and for unknown reasons left in more or less unfinished +form. It has been the publisher's ambition to gather these fugitive +pieces and place them in this edition by the side of the saved +treasures. Whether the work has been well or ill done a generous +public must decide, while the sole responsibility must rest with, +as it has been assumed by, the publisher.</p> +<p>In carrying out the design of the present edition, the publisher +gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Mr. Ingersoll's family, +who have freely placed at his disposal many papers, inscriptions, +monographs, memoranda and pages of valuable material.</p> +<p>Recognition is also here made of the kind courtesy of the press +and of publishers of magazines who have generously permitted the +publication of articles originally written for them.</p> +<p>Finally, the publisher gives his thanks to all the devoted +friends of the author who in many ways, by suggestion and unselfish +labor, have aided in getting out this work. Of these, none have +been more unremitting in service, and to none is the publisher more +indebted, than to Mr. I. Newton Baker, Mr. Ingersoll's former +private secretary, to Dr. Edgar C. Beall, and to Mr. George E. +Macdonald for the fine Tables of Contents and the very valuable +Index to this edition.</p> +<center>C. P. FARRELL.</center> +<p>New York, July, 1900.</p> +<a name="link0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE GODS</h2> +<h3>An Honest God is the Noblest Work of Man.</h3> +<p>EACH nation has created a god, and the god has always resembled +his creators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved, and he +was invariably found on the side of those in power. Each god was +intensely patriotic, and detested all nations but his own. All +these gods demanded praise, flattery, and worship. Most of them +were pleased with sacrifice, and the smell of innocent blood has +ever been considered a divine perfume. All these gods have insisted +upon having a vast number of priests, and the priests have always +insisted upon being supported by the people, and the principal +business of these priests has been to boast about their god, and to +insist that he could easily vanquish all the other gods put +together.</p> +<p>These gods have been manufactured after numberless models, and +according to the most grotesque fashions. Some have a thousand +arms, some a hundred heads, some are adorned with necklaces of +living snakes, some are armed with clubs, some with sword and +shield, some with bucklers, and some have wings as a cherub; some +were invisible, some would show themselves entire, and some would +only show their backs; some were jealous, some were foolish, some +turned themselves into men, some into swans, some into bulls, some +into doves, and some into Holy Ghosts, and made love to the +beautiful daughters of men. Some were married—all ought to +have been—and some were considered as old bachelors from all +eternity. Some had children, and the children were turned into gods +and worshiped as their fathers had been. Most of these gods were +revengeful, savage, lustful, and ignorant. As they generally +depended upon their priests for information, their ignorance can +hardly excite our astonishment.</p> +<p>These gods did not even know the shape of the worlds they had +created, but supposed them perfectly flat Some thought the day +could be lengthened by stopping the sun, that the blowing of horns +could throw down the walls of a city, and all knew so little of the +real nature of the people they had created, that they commanded the +people to love them. Some were so ignorant as to suppose that man +could believe just as he might desire, or as they might command, +and that to be governed by observation, reason, and experience was +a most foul and damning sin. None of these gods could give a true +account of the creation of this little earth. All were wofully +deficient in geology and astronomy. As a rule, they were most +miserable legislators, and as executives, they were far inferior to +the average of American presidents.</p> +<p>These deities have demanded the most abject and degrading +obedience. In order to please them, man must lay his very face in +the dust Of course, they have always been partial to the people who +created them, and have generally shown their partiality by +assisting those people to rob and destroy others, and to ravish +their wives and daughters.</p> +<p>Nothing is so pleasing to these gods as the butchery of +unbelievers. Nothing so enrages them, even now, as to have some one +deny their existence.</p> +<p>Few nations have been so poor as to have but one god. Gods were +made so easily, and the raw material cost so little, that generally +the god market was fairly glutted, and heaven crammed with these +phantoms. These gods not only attended to the skies, but were +supposed to interfere in all the affairs of men. They presided over +everybody and everything. They attended to every department. All +was supposed to be under their immediate control. Nothing was too +small—nothing too large; the falling of sparrows and the +motions of the planets were alike attended to by these industrious +and observing deities. From their starry thrones they frequently +came to the earth for the purpose of imparting information to man. +It is related of one that he came amid thunderings and lightnings +in order to tell the people that they should not cook a kid in its +mother's milk. Some left their shining abodes to tell women that +they should, or should not, have children, to inform a priest how +to cut and wear his apron, and to give directions as to the proper +manner of cleaning the intestines of a bird.</p> +<p>When the people failed to worship one of these gods, or failed +to feed and clothe his priests, (which was much the same thing,) he +generally visited them with pestilence and famine. Sometimes he +allowed some other nation to drag them into slavery—to sell +their wives and children; but generally he glutted his vengeance by +murdering their first-born. The priests always did their whole +duty, not only in predicting these calamities, but in proving, when +they did happen, that they were brought upon the people because +they had not given quite enough to them.</p> +<p>These gods differed just as the nations differed; the greatest +and most powerful had the most powerful gods, while the weaker ones +were obliged to content themselves with the very off-scourings of +the heavens. Each of these gods promised happiness here and +hereafter to all his slaves, and threatened to eternally punish all +who either disbelieved in his existence or suspected that some +other god might be his superior; but to deny the existence of all +gods was, and is, the crime of crimes. Redden your hands with human +blood; blast by slander the fair fame of the innocent; strangle the +smiling child upon its mother's knees; deceive, ruin and desert the +beautiful girl who loves and trusts you, and your case is not +hopeless. For all this, and for all these you may be forgiven. For +all this, and for all these, that bankrupt court established by the +gospel, will give you a discharge; but deny the existence of these +divine ghosts, of these gods, and the sweet and tearful face of +Mercy becomes livid with eternal hate. Heaven's golden gates are +shut, and you, with an infinite curse ringing in your ears, with +the brand of infamy upon your brow, commence your endless +wanderings in the lurid gloom of hell—an immortal +vagrant—an eternal outcast—a deathless convict.</p> +<p>One of these gods, and one who demands our love, our admiration +and our worship, and one who is worshiped, if mere heartless +ceremony is worship, gave to his chosen people for their guidance, +the following laws of war: "When thou comest nigh unto a city to +fight against it, <i>then proclaim peace unto it</i>. And it shall +be if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it +shall be that all the people that is found therein shall be +tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will +make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou +shalt besiege it.</p> +<p>"And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thy hands, +thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. But +the women and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in +the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself, +and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies which the Lord thy +God hath given thee. Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which +are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these +nations. But of the cities of these people which the Lord thy God +doth give thee for an inheritance, <i>thou shalt save alive nothing +that breatheth</i>"</p> +<p>Is it possible for man to conceive of anything more perfectly +infamous? Can you believe that such directions were given by any +being except an infinite fiend? Remember that the army receiving +these instructions was one of invasion. Peace was offered upon +condition that the people submitting should be the slaves of the +invader; but if any should have the courage to defend their homes, +to fight for the love of wife and child, then the sword was to +spare none—not even the prattling, dimpled babe.</p> +<p>And we are called upon to worship such a God; to get upon our +knees and tell him that he is good, that he is merciful, that he is +just, that he is love. We are asked to stifle every noble sentiment +of the soul, and to trample under foot all the sweet charities of +the heart. Because we refuse to stultify ourselves—refuse to +become liars—we are denounced, hated, traduced and ostracized +here, and this same god threatens to torment us in eternal fire the +moment death allows him to fiercely clutch our naked helpless +souls. Let the people hate, let the god threaten—we will +educate them, and we will despise and defy him.</p> +<p>The book, called the Bible, is filled with passages equally +horrible, unjust and atrocious. This is the book to be read in +schools in order to make our children loving, kind and gentle! This +is the book to be recognized in our Constitution as the source of +all authority and justice!</p> +<p>Strange! that no one has ever been persecuted by the church for +believing God bad, while hundreds of millions have been destroyed +for thinking him good. The orthodox church never will forgive the +Universalist for saying "God is love." It has always been +considered as one of the very highest evidences of true and +undefiled religion to insist that all men, women and children +deserve eternal damnation. It has always been heresy to say, "God +will at last save all."</p> +<p>We are asked to justify these frightful passages, these infamous +laws of war, because the Bible is the word of God. As a matter of +fact, there never was, and there never can be, an argument, even +tending to prove the inspiration of any book whatever. In the +absence of positive evidence, analogy and experience, argument is +simply impossible, and at the very best, can amount only to a +useless agitation of the air.</p> +<p>The instant we admit that a book is too sacred to be doubted, or +even reasoned about, we are mental serfs. It is infinitely absurd +to suppose that a god would address a communication to intelligent +beings, and yet make it a crime, to be punished in eternal flames, +for them to use their intelligence for the purpose of understanding +his communication. If we have the right to use our reason, we +certainly have the right to act in accordance with it, and no god +can have the right to punish us for such action.</p> +<p>The doctrine that future happiness depends upon belief is +monstrous. It is the infamy of infamies. The notion that faith in +Christ is to be rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a +dependence upon reason, observation, and experience merits +everlasting pain, is too absurd for refutation, and can be relieved +only by that unhappy mixture of insanity and ignorance, called +"faith." What man, who ever thinks, can believe that blood can +appease God? And yet, our entire system of religion is based upon +that belief. The Jews pacified Jehovah with the blood of animals, +and according to the Christian system, the blood of Jesus softened +the heart of God a little, and rendered possible the salvation of a +fortunate few. It is hard to conceive how the human mind can give +assent to such terrible ideas, or how any sane man can read the +Bible and still believe in the doctrine of inspiration.</p> +<p>Whether the Bible is true or false, is of no consequence in +comparison with the mental freedom of the race.</p> +<p>Salvation through slavery is worthless. Salvation from slavery +is inestimable.</p> +<p>As long as man believes the Bible to be infallible, that book is +his master. The civilization of this century is not the child of +faith, but of unbelief—the result of free thought.</p> +<p>All that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any +reasonable person that the Bible is simply and purely of human +invention—of barbarian invention—is to read it Read it +as you would any other book; think of it as you would of any other; +get the bandage of reverence from your eyes; drive from your heart +the phantom of fear; push from the throne of your brain the cowled +form of superstition—then read the Holy Bible, and you will +be amazed that you ever, for one moment, supposed a being of +infinite wisdom, goodness and purity, to be the author of such +ignorance and of such atrocity.</p> +<p>Our ancestors not only had their god-factories, but they made +devils as well. These devils were generally disgraced and fallen +gods. Some had headed unsuccessful revolts; some had been caught +sweetly reclining in the shadowy folds of some fleecy cloud, +kissing the wife of the god of gods. These devils generally +sympathized with man. There is in regard to them a most wonderful +fact: In nearly all the theologies, mythologies and religions, the +devils have been much more humane and merciful than the gods. No +devil ever gave one of his generals an order to kill children and +to rip open the bodies of pregnant women. Such barbarities were +always ordered by the good gods. The pestilences were sent by the +most merciful gods. The frightful famine, during which the dying +child with pallid lips sucked the withered bosom of a dead mother, +was sent by the loving gods. No devil was ever charged with such +fiendish brutality.</p> +<p>One of these gods, according to the account, drowned an entire +world, with the exception of eight persons. The old, the young, the +beautiful and the helpless were remorsely devoured by the shoreless +sea. This, the most fearful tragedy that the imagination of +ignorant priests ever conceived, was the act, not of a devil, but +of a god, so-called, whom men ignorantly worship unto this day. +What a stain such an act would leave upon the character of a devil! +One of the prophets of one of these gods, having in his power a +captured king, hewed him in pieces in the sight of all the people. +Was ever any imp of any devil guilty of such savagery?</p> +<p>One of these gods is reported to have given the following +directions concerning human slavery: "If thou buy a Hebrew servant, +six years shall he serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free +for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; +if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his +master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or +daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he +shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I +love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out free. +Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also +bring him unto the door, or unto the door-post; and his master +shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him +forever."</p> +<p>According to this, a man was given liberty upon condition that +he would desert forever his wife and children. Did any devil ever +force upon a husband, upon a father, so cruel and so heartless an +alternative? Who can worship such a god? Who can bend the knee to +such a monster? Who can pray to such a fiend?</p> +<p>All these gods threatened to torment forever the souls of their +enemies. Did any devil ever make so infamous a threat? The basest +thing recorded of the devil, is what he did concerning Job and his +family, and that was done by the express permission of one of these +gods, and to decide a little difference of opinion between their +serene highnesses as to the character of "my servant Job." The +first account we have of the devil is found in that purely +scientific book called Genesis, and is as follows: "Now the serpent +was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had +made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not +eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden? And the woman said +unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the +garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the +garden God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye +touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye +shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat +thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, +knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was +good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to +be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did +eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.... +And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to +know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take +also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever. Therefore the +Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground +from which he was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at +the east of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword, which +turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life."</p> +<p>According to this account the promise of the devil was fulfilled +to the very letter. Adam and Eve did not die, and they did become +as gods, knowing good and evil.</p> +<p>The account shows, however, that the gods dreaded education and +knowledge then just as they do now. The church still faithfully +guards the dangerous tree of knowledge, and has exerted in all ages +her utmost power to keep mankind from eating the fruit thereof. The +priests have never ceased repeating the old falsehood and the old +threat: "Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye +die." From every pulpit comes the same cry, born of the same fear: +"Lest they eat and become as gods, knowing good and evil." For this +reason, religion hates science, faith detests reason, theology is +the sworn enemy of philosophy, and the church with its flaming +sword still guards the hated tree, and like its supposed founder, +curses to the lowest depths the brave thinkers who eat and become +as gods.</p> +<p>If the account given in Genesis is really true, ought we not, +after all, to thank this serpent? He was the first schoolmaster, +the first advocate of learning, the first enemy of ignorance, the +first to whisper in human ears the sacred word liberty, the creator +of ambition, the author of modesty, of inquiry, of doubt, of +investigation, of progress and of civilization.</p> +<p>Give me the storm and tempest of thought and action, rather than +the dead calm of ignorance and faith! Banish me from Eden when you +will; but first let me eat of the fruit of the tree of +knowledge!</p> +<p>Some nations have borrowed their gods; of this number, we are +compelled to say, is our own. The Jews having ceased to exist as a +nation, and having no further use for a god, our ancestors +appropriated him and adopted their devil at the same time. This +borrowed god is still an object of some adoration, and this adopted +devil still excites the apprehensions of our people. He is still +supposed to be setting his traps and snares for the purpose of +catching our unwary souls, and is still, with reasonable success, +waging the old war against our God.</p> +<p>To me, it seems easy to account for these ideas concerning gods +and devils. They are a perfectly natural production. Man has +created them all, and under the same circumstances would create +them again. Man has not only created all these gods, but he has +created them out of the materials by which he has been surrounded. +Generally he has modeled them after himself, and has given them +hands, heads, feet, eyes, ears, and organs of speech. Each nation +made its gods and devils speak its language not only, but put in +their mouths the same mistakes in history, geography, astronomy, +and in all matters of fact, generally made by the people. No god +was ever in advance of the nation that created him. The negroes +represented their deities with black skins and curly hair. The +Mongolian gave to his a yellow complexion and dark almond-shaped +eyes. The Jews were not allowed to paint theirs, or we should have +seen Jehovah with a full beard, an oval face, and an aquiline nose. +Zeus was a perfect Greek, and Jove looked as though a member of the +Roman senate. The gods of Egypt had the patient face and placid +look of the loving people who made them. The gods of northern +countries were represented warmly clad in robes of fur; those of +the tropics were naked. The gods of India were often mounted upon +elephants; those of some islanders were great swimmers, and the +deities of the Arctic zone were passionately fond of whale's +blubber. Nearly all people have carved or painted representations +of their gods, and these representations were, by the lower +classes, generally treated as the real gods, and to these images +and idols they addressed prayers and offered sacrifice.</p> +<p>In some countries? even at this day, if the people after long +praying do not obtain their desires, they turn their images off as +impotent gods, or upbraid them in a most reproachful manner, +loading them with blows and curses. 'How now, dog of a spirit,' +they say, 'we give you lodging in a magnificent temple, we gild you +with gold, feed you with the choicest food, and offer incense to +you; yet, after all this care, you are so ungrateful as to refuse +us what we ask.'</p> +<p>Hereupon they will pull the god down and drag him through the +filth of the street. If, in the meantime, it happens that they +obtain their request, then, with a great deal of ceremony, they +wash him clean, carry him back and place him in his temple again, +where they fall down and make excuses for what they have done. 'Of +a truth,' they say, 'we were a little too hasty, and you were a +little too long in your grant. Why should you bring this beating on +yourself. But what is done cannot be undone. Let us not think of it +any more. If you will forget what is past, we will gild you over +brighter again than before.</p> +<p>Man has never been at a loss for gods. He has worshiped almost +everything, including the vilest and most disgusting beasts. He has +worshiped fire, earth, air, water, light, stars, and for hundreds +of ages prostrated himself before enormous snakes. Savage tribes +often make gods of articles they get from civilized people. The +Todas worship a cow-bell. The Kotas worship two silver plates, +which they regard as husband and wife, and another tribe +manufactured a god out of a king of hearts.</p> +<p>Man, having always been the physical superior of woman, accounts +for the fact that most of the high gods have been males. Had woman +been the physical superior, the powers supposed to be the rulers of +Nature would have been women, and instead of being represented in +the apparel of man, they would have luxuriated in trains, lownecked +dresses, laces and back-hair.</p> +<p>Nothing can be plainer than that each nation gives to its god +its peculiar characteristics, and that every individual gives to +his god his personal peculiarities.</p> +<p>Man has no ideas, and can have none, except those suggested by +his surroundings. He cannot conceive of anything utterly unlike +what he has seen or felt. He can exaggerate, diminish, combine, +separate, deform, beautify, improve, multiply and compare what he +sees, what he feels, what he hears, and all of which he takes +cognizance through the medium of the senses; but he cannot create. +Having seen exhibitions of power, he can say, omnipotent. Having +lived, he can say, immortality. Knowing something of time, he can +say, eternity. Conceiving something of intelligence, he can say, +God. Having seen exhibitions of malice, he can say, devil. A few +gleams of happiness having fallen athwart the gloom of his life, he +can say, heaven. Pain, in its numberless forms, having been +experienced, he can say, hell. Yet all these ideas have a +foundation in fact, and only a foundation. The superstructure has +been reared by exaggerating, diminishing, combining, separating, +deforming, beautifying, improving or multiplying realities, so that +the edifice or fabric is but the incongruous grouping of what man +has perceived through the medium of the senses. It is as though we +should give to a lion the wings of an eagle, the hoofs of a bison, +the tail of a horse, the pouch of a kangaroo, and the trunk of an +elephant. We have in imagination created an impossible monster. And +yet the various parts of this monster really exist So it is with +all the gods that man has made.</p> +<p>Beyond nature man cannot go even in thought—above nature +he cannot rise—below nature he cannot fall.</p> +<p>Man, in his ignorance, supposed that all phenomena were produced +by some intelligent powers, and with direct reference to him. To +preserve friendly relations with these powers was, and still is, +the object of all religions. Man knelt through fear and to implore +assistance, or through gratitude for some favor which he supposed +had been rendered. He endeavored by supplication to appease some +being who, for some reason, had, as he believed, become enraged. +The lightning and thunder terrified him. In the presence of the +volcano he sank upon his knees. The great forests filled with wild +and ferocious beasts, the monstrous serpents crawling in mysterious +depths, the boundless sea, the flaming comets, the sinister +eclipses, the awful calmness of the stars, and, more than all, the +perpetual presence of death, convinced him that he was the sport +and prey of unseen and malignant powers. The strange and frightful +diseases to which he was subject, the freezings and burnings of +fever, the contortions of epilepsy, the sudden palsies, the +darkness of night, and the wild, terrible and fantastic dreams that +filled his brain, satisfied him that he was haunted and pursued by +countless spirits of evil. For some reason he supposed that these +spirits differed in power—that they were not all alike +malevolent—that the higher controlled the lower, and that his +very existence depended upon gaining the assistance of the more +powerful. For this purpose he resorted to prayer, to flattery, to +worship and to sacrifice.</p> +<p>These ideas appear to have been almost universal in savage +man.</p> +<p>For ages all nations supposed that the sick and insane were +possessed by evil spirits. For thousands of years the practice of +medicine consisted in frightening these spirits away. Usually the +priests would make the loudest and most discordant noises possible. +They would blow horns, beat upon rude drums, clash cymbals, and in +the meantime utter the most unearthly yells. If the noise-remedy +failed, they would implore the aid of some more powerful +spirit.</p> +<p>To pacify these spirits was considered of infinite importance. +The poor barbarian, knowing that men could be softened by gifts, +gave to these spirits that which to him seemed of the most value. +With bursting heart he would offer the blood of his dearest child. +It was impossible for him to conceive of a god utterly unlike +himself, and he naturally supposed that these powers of the air +would be affected a little at the sight of so great and so deep a +sorrow. It was with the barbarian then as with the civilized +now—one class lived upon and made merchandise of the fears of +another. Certain persons took it upon themselves to appease the +gods, and to instruct the people in their duties to these unseen +powers. This was the origin of the priesthood. The priest pretended +to stand between the wrath of the gods and the helplessness of man. +He was man's attorney at the court of heaven. He carried to the +invisible world a flag of truce, a protest and a request. He came +back with a command, with authority and with power. Man fell upon +his knees before his own servant, and the priest, taking advantage +of the awe inspired by his supposed influence with the gods, made +of his fellow-man a cringing hypocrite and slave. Even Christ, the +supposed son of God, taught that persons were possessed of evil +spirits, and frequently, according to the account, gave proof of +his divine origin and mission by frightening droves of devils out +of his unfortunate countrymen. Casting out devils was his principal +employment, and the devils thus banished generally took occasion to +acknowledge him as the true Messiah; which was not only very kind +of them, but quite fortunate for him. The religious people have +always regarded the testimony of these devils as perfectly +conclusive, and the writers of the New Testament quote the words of +these imps of darkness with great satisfaction.</p> +<p>The fact that Christ could withstand the temptations of the +devil was considered as conclusive evidence that he was assisted by +some god, or at least by some being superior to man. St. Matthew +gives an account of an attempt made by the devil to tempt the +supposed son of God; and it has always excited the wonder of +Christians that the temptation was so nobly and heroically +withstood. The account to which I refer is as follows:</p> +<p>"Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be +tempted of the devil. And when the tempter came to him, he said: +'If thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made +bread.' But he answered, and said: 'It is written: man shall not +live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the +mouth of God.' Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city and +setteth him upon a pinnacle of the temple and saith unto him: 'If +thou be the son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, He +shall give his angels charge concerning thee, lest at any time thou +shalt dash thy foot against a stone,'Jesus said unto him: 'It is +written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' Again the +devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him +all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and saith unto +him: 'All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship +me.'"</p> +<p>The Christians now claim that Jesus was God. If he was God, of +course the devil knew that fact, and yet, according to this +account, the devil took 'the omnipotent God and placed him upon a +pinnacle of the temple, and endeavored to induce him to dash +himself against the earth. Failing in that, he took the creator, +owner and governor of the universe up into an exceeding high +mountain, and offered him this world—this grain of +sand—if he, the God of all the worlds, would fall down and +worship him, a poor devil, without even a tax title to one foot of +dirt! Is it possible the devil was such an idiot? Should any great +credit be given to this deity for not being caught with such chaff? +Think of it! The devil—the prince of sharpers—the king +of cunning—the master of finesse, trying to bribe God with a +grain of sand that belonged to God!</p> +<p>Is there in all the religious literature of the world anything +more grossly absurd than this?</p> +<p>These devils, according to the Bible, were of various +kinds—some could speak and hear, others were deaf and dumb. +All could not be cast out in the same way. The deaf and dumb +spirits were quite difficult to deal with. St. Mark tells of a +gentleman who brought his son to Christ. The boy, it seems, was +possessed of a dumb spirit, over which the disciples had no +control. "Jesus said unto the spirit: 'Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I +charge thee come out of him, and enter no more into him.'" +Whereupon, the deaf spirit (having heard what was said) cried out +(being dumb) and immediately vacated the premises. The ease with +which Christ controlled this deaf and dumb spirit excited the +wonder of his disciples, and they asked him privately why they +could not cast that spirit out. To whom he replied: "This kind can +come forth by nothing but prayer and fasting." Is there a Christian +in the whole world who would believe such a story if found in any +other book? The trouble is, these pious people shut up their +reason, and then open their Bible.</p> +<p>In the olden times the existence of devils was universally +admitted. The people had no doubt upon that subject, and from such +belief it followed as a matter of course, that a person, in order +to vanquish these devils, had either to be a god, or to be assisted +by one. All founders of religions have established their claims to +divine origin by controlling evil spirits and suspending the laws +of nature. Casting out devils was a certificate of divinity. A +prophet, unable to cope with the powers of darkness was regarded +with contempt The utterance of the highest and noblest sentiments, +the most blameless and holy life, commanded but little respect, +unless accompanied by power to work miracles and command +spirits.</p> +<p>This belief in good and evil powers had its origin in the fact +that man was surrounded by what he was pleased to call good and +evil phenomena. Phenomena affecting man pleasantly were ascribed to +good spirits, while those affecting him unpleasantly or +injuriously, were ascribed to evil spirits. It being admitted that +all phenomena were produced by spirits, the spirits were divided +according to the phenomena, and the phenomena were good or bad as +they affected man.</p> +<p>Good spirits were supposed to be the authors of good phenomena, +and evil spirits of the evil—so that the idea of a devil has +been as universal as the idea of a god.</p> +<p>Many writers maintain that an idea to become universal must be +true; that all universal ideas are innate, and that innate ideas +cannot be false. If the fact that an idea has been universal proves +that it is innate, and if the fact that an idea is innate proves +that it is correct, then the believers in innate ideas must admit +that the evidence of a god superior to nature, and of a devil +superior to nature, is exactly the same, and that the existence of +such a devil must be as self-evident as the existence of such a +god. The truth is, a god was inferred from good, and a devil from +bad, phenomena. And it is just as natural and logical to suppose +that a devil would cause happiness as to suppose that a god would +produce misery. Consequently, if an intelligence, infinite and +supreme, is the immediate author of all phenomena, it is difficult +to determine whether such intelligence is the friend or enemy of +man. If phenomena were all good, we might say they were all +produced by a perfectly beneficent being. If they were all bad, we +might say they were produced by a perfectly malevolent power; but, +as phenomena are, as they affect man, both good and bad, they must +be produced by different and antagonistic spirits; by one who is +sometimes actuated by kindness, and sometimes by malice; or all +must be produced of necessity, and without reference to their +consequences upon man.</p> +<p>The foolish doctrine that all phenomena can be traced to the +interference of good and evil spirits, has been, and still is, +almost universal. That most people still believe in some spirit +that can change the natural order of events, is proven by the fact +that nearly all resort to prayer. Thousands, at this very moment, +are probably imploring some supposed power to interfere in their +behalf. Some want health restored; some ask that the loved and +absent be watched over and protected, some pray for riches, some +for rain, some want diseases stayed, some vainly ask for food, some +ask for revivals, a few ask for more wisdom, and now and then one +tells the Lord to do as he may think best. Thousands ask to be +protected from the devil; some, like David, pray for revenge, and +some implore even God, not to lead them into temptation. All these +prayers rest upon, and are produced by, the idea that some power +not only can, but probably will, change the order of the universe. +This belief has been among the great majority of tribes and +nations. All sacred books are filled with the accounts of such +interferences, and our own Bible is no exception to this rule.</p> +<p>If we believe in a power superior to nature, it is perfectly +natural to suppose that such power can and will interfere in the +affairs of this world. If there is no interference, of what +practical use can such power be? The Scriptures give us the most +wonderful accounts of divine interference: Animals talk like men; +springs gurgle from dry bones; the sun and moon stop in the heavens +in order that General Joshua may have more time to murder; the +shadow on a dial goes back ten degrees to convince a petty king of +a barbarous people that he is not going to die of a boil; fire +refuses to burn; water positively declines to seek its level, but +stands up like a wall; grains of sand become lice; common +walking-sticks, to gratify a mere freak, twist themselves into +serpents, and then swallow each other by way of exercise; murmuring +streams, laughing at the attraction of gravitation, run up hill for +years, following wandering tribes from a pure love of frolic; +prophecy becomes altogether easier than history; the sons of God +become enamored of the world's girls; women are changed into salt +for the purpose of keeping a great event fresh in the minds of men; +an excellent article of brimstone is imported from heaven free of +duty; clothes refuse to wear out for forty years; birds keep +restaurants and feed wandering prophets free of expense; bears tear +children in pieces for laughing at old men without wigs; muscular +development depends upon the length of one's hair; dead people come +to life, simply to get a joke on their enemies and heirs; witches +and wizards converse freely with the souls of the departed, and God +himself becomes a stone-cutter and engraver, after having been a +tailor and dressmaker.</p> +<p>The veil between heaven and earth was always rent or lifted. The +shadows of this world, the radiance of heaven, and the glare of +hell mixed and mingled until man became uncertain as to which +country he really inhabited. Man dwelt in an unreal world. He +mistook his ideas, his dreams, for real things. His fears became +terrible and malicious monsters. He lived in the midst of furies +and fairies, nymphs and naiads, goblins and ghosts, witches and +wizards, sprites and spooks, deities and devils. The obscure and +gloomy depths were filled with claw and wing—with beak and +hoof—with leering looks and sneering mouths—with the +malice of deformity—with the cunning of hatred, and with all +the slimy forms that fear can draw and paint upon the shadowy +canvas of the dark.</p> +<p>It is enough to make one almost insane with pity to think what +man in the long night has suffered; of the tortures he has endured, +surrounded, as he supposed, by malignant powers and clutched by the +fierce phantoms of the air. No wonder that he fell upon his +trembling knees—that he built altars and reddened them even +with his own blood. No wonder that he implored ignorant priests and +impudent magicians for aid. No wonder that he crawled groveling in +the dust to the temple's door, and there, in the insanity of +despair, besought the deaf gods to hear his bitter cry of agony and +fear.</p> +<p>The savage as he emerges from a state of barbarism, gradually +loses faith in his idols of wood and stone, and in their place puts +a multitude of spirits. As he advances in knowledge, he generally +discards the petty spirits, and in their stead believes in one, +whom he supposes to be infinite and supreme. Supposing this great +spirit to be superior to nature, he offers worship or flattery in +exchange for assistance. At last, finding that he obtains no aid +from this supposed deity—: finding that every search after +the absolute must of necessity end in failure—finding that +man cannot by any possibility conceive of the +conditionless—he begins to investigate the facts by which he +is surrounded, and to depend upon himself.</p> +<p>The people are beginning to think, to reason and to investigate. +Slowly, painfully, but surely, the gods are being driven from the +earth. Only upon rare occasions are they, even by the most +religious, supposed to interfere in the affairs of men. In most +matters we are at last supposed to be free. Since the invention of +steamships and railways, so that the products of all countries can +be easily interchanged, the gods have quit the business of +producing famine. Now and then they kill a child because it is +idolized by its parents. As a rule they have given up causing +accidents on railroads, exploding boilers, and bursting kerosene +lamps. Cholera, yellow fever, and small-pox are still considered +heavenly weapons; but measles, itch and ague are now attributed to +natural causes. As a general thing, the gods have stopped drowning +children, except as a punishment for violating the Sabbath. They +still pay some attention to the affairs of kings, men of genius and +persons of great wealth; but ordinary people are left to shirk for +themselves as best they may. In wars between great nations, the +gods still interfere; but in prize fights, the best man with an +honest referee, is almost sure to win.</p> +<p>The church cannot abandon the idea of special providence. To +give up that doctrine is to give up all. The church must insist +that prayer is answered—that some power superior to nature +hears and grants the request of the sincere and humble Christian, +and that this same power in some mysterious way provides for +all.</p> +<p>A devout clergyman sought every opportunity to impress upon the +mind of his son the fact, that God takes care of all his creatures; +that the falling sparrow attracts his attention, and that his +loving kindness is over all his works. Happening, one day, to see a +crane wading in quest of food, the good man pointed out to his son +the perfect adaptation of the crane to get his living in that +manner. "See," said he, "how his legs are formed for wading! What a +long slender bill he has! Observe how nicely he folds his feet when +putting them in or drawing them out of the water! He does not cause +the slightest ripple. He is thus enabled to approach the fish +without giving them any notice of his arrival." "My son," said he, +"it is impossible to look at that bird without recognizing the +design, as well as the goodness of God, in thus providing the means +of subsistence." "Yes," replied the boy, "I think I see the +goodness of God, at least so far as the crane is concerned; but +after all, father, don't you think the arrangement a little tough +on the fish?"</p> +<p>Even the advanced religionist, although disbelieving in any +great amount of interference by the gods in this age of the world, +still thinks, that in the beginning, some god made the laws +governing the universe. He believes that in consequence of these +laws a man can lift a greater weight with, than without, a lever; +that this god so made matter, and so established the order of +things, that two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same +time; so that a body once put in motion will keep moving until it +is stopped; so that it is a greater distance around, than across a +circle; so that a perfect square has four equal sides, instead of +five or seven. He insists that it took a direct interposition of +Providence to make the whole greater than a part, and that had it +not been for this power superior to nature, twice one might have +been more than twice two, and sticks and strings might have had +only one end apiece. Like the old Scotch divine, he thanks God that +Sunday comes at the end instead of in the middle of the week, and +that death comes at the close instead of at the commencement of +life, thereby giving us time to prepare for that holy day and that +most solemn event These religious people see nothing but design +everywhere, and personal, intelligent interference in everything. +They insist that the universe has been created, and that the +adaptation of means to ends is perfectly apparent. They point us to +the sunshine, to the flowers, to the April rain, and to all there +is of beauty and of use in the world. Did it ever occur to them +that a cancer is as beautiful in its development as is the reddest +rose? That what they are pleased to call the adaptation of means to +ends, is as apparent in the cancer as in the April rain? How +beautiful the process of digestion! By what ingenious methods the +blood is poisoned so that the cancer shall have food! By what +wonderful contrivances the entire system of man is made to pay +tribute to this divine and charming cancer! See by what admirable +instrumentalities it feeds itself from the surrounding quivering, +dainty flesh! See how it gradually but surely expands and grows! By +what marvelous mechanism it is supplied with long and slender roots +that reach out to the most secret nerves of pain for sustenance and +life! What beautiful colors it presents! Seen through the +microscope it is a miracle of order and beauty. All the ingenuity +of man cannot stop its growth. Think of the amount of thought it +must have required to invent a way by which the life of one man +might be given to produce one cancer? Is it possible to look upon +it and doubt that there is design in the universe, and that the +inventor of this wonderful cancer must be infinitely powerful, +ingenious and good?</p> +<p>We are told that the universe was designed and created, and that +it is absurd to suppose that matter has existed from eternity, but +that it is perfectly self-evident that a god has.</p> +<p>If a god created the universe, then, there must have been a time +when he commenced to create. Back of that time there must have been +an eternity, during which there had existed +nothing—absolutely nothing—except this supposed god. +According to this theory, this god spent an eternity, so to speak, +in an infinite vacuum, and in perfect idleness.</p> +<p>Admitting that a god did create the universe, the question then +arises, of what did he create it? It certainly was not made of +nothing. Nothing, considered in the light of a raw material, is a +most decided failure. It follows, then, that the god must have made +the universe out of himself, he being the only existence. The +universe is material, and if it was made of god, the god must have +been material. With this very thought in his mind, Anaximander of +Miletus said: "Creation is the decomposition of the infinite."</p> +<p>It has been demonstrated that the earth would fall to the sun, +only for the fact, that it is attracted by other worlds, and those +worlds must be attracted by other worlds still beyond them, and so +on, without end. This proves the material universe to be infinite. +If an infinite universe has been made out of an infinite god, how +much of the god is left?</p> +<p>The idea of a creative deity is gradually being abandoned, and +nearly all truly scientific minds admit that matter must have +existed from eternity. It is indestructible, and the indestructible +cannot be created. It is the crowning glory of our century to have +demonstrated the indestructibility and the eternal persistence of +force. Neither matter nor force can be increased nor diminished. +Force cannot exist apart from matter. Matter exists only in +connection with force, and consequently, a force apart from matter, +and superior to nature, is a demonstrated impossibility.</p> +<p>Force, then, must have also existed from eternity, and could not +have been created. Matter in its countless forms, from dead earth +to the eyes of those we love, and force, in all its manifestations, +from simple motion to the grandest thought, deny creation and defy +control.</p> +<p>Thought is a form of force. We walk with the same force with +which we think. Man is an organism, that changes several forms of +force into thought-force. Man is a machine into which we put what +we call food, and produce what we call thought. Think of that +wonderful chemistry by which bread was changed into the divine +tragedy of Hamlet!</p> +<p>A god must not only be material, but he must be an organism, +capable of changing other forms of force into thought-force. This +is what we call eating. Therefore, if the god thinks, he must eat, +that is to say, he must of necessity have some means of supplying +the force with which to think. It is impossible to conceive of a +being who can eternally impart force to matter, and yet have no +means of supplying the force thus imparted.</p> +<p>If neither matter nor force were created, what evidence have we, +then, of the existence of a power superior to nature? The +theologian will probably reply, "We have law and order, cause and +effect, and beside all this, matter could not have put itself in +motion."</p> +<p>Suppose, for the sake of the argument, that there is no being +superior to nature, and that matter and force have existed from +eternity. Now, suppose that two atoms should come together, would +there be an effect? Yes. Suppose they came in exactly opposite +directions with equal force, they would be stopped, to say the +least. This would be an effect. If this is so, then you have +matter, force and effect without a being superior to nature. Now, +suppose that two other atoms, just like the first two, should come +together under precisely the same circumstances, would not the +effect be exactly the same? Yes. Like causes, producing like +effects, is what we mean by law and order. Then we have matter, +force, effect, law and order without a being superior to nature. +Now, we know that every effect must also be a cause, and that every +cause must be an effect. The atoms coming together did produce an +effect, and as every effect must also be a cause, the effect +produced by the collision of the atoms, must as to something else +have been a cause. Then we have matter, force, law, order, cause +and effect without a being superior to nature. Nothing is left for +the supernatural but empty space. His throne is a void, and his +boasted realm is without matter, without force, without law, +without cause, and without effect.</p> +<p>But what put all this matter in motion? If matter and force have +existed from eternity, then matter must have always been in motion. +There can be no force without motion. Force is forever active, and +there is, and there can be no cessation. If, therefore, matter and +force have existed from eternity, so has motion. In the whole +universe there is not even one atom in a state of rest.</p> +<p>A deity outside of nature exists in nothing, and is nothing. +Nature embraces with infinite arms all matter and all force. That +which is beyond her grasp is destitute of both, and can hardly be +worth the worship and adoration even of a man.</p> +<p>There is but one way to demonstrate the existence of a power +independent of and superior to nature, and that is by breaking, if +only for one moment, the continuity of cause and effect Pluck from +the endless chain of existence one little link; stop for one +instant the grand procession, and you have shown beyond all +contradiction that nature has a master. Change the fact, just for +one second, that matter attracts matter, and a god appears.</p> +<p>The rudest savage has always known this fact, and for that +reason always demanded the evidence of miracle. The founder of a +religion must be able to turn water into wine—cure with a +word the blind and lame, and raise with a simple touch the dead to +life. It was necessary for him to demonstrate to the satisfaction +of his barbarian disciple, that he was superior to nature. In times +of ignorance this was easy to do. The credulity of the savage was +almost boundless. To him the marvelous was the beautiful, the +mysterious was the sublime. Consequently, every religion has for +its foundation a miracle—that is to say, a violation of +nature—that is to say, a falsehood.</p> +<p>No one, in the world's whole history, ever attempted to +substantiate a truth by a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of +miracle. Nothing but falsehood ever attested itself by signs and +wonders. No miracle ever was performed, and no sane man ever +thought he had performed one, and until one is performed, there can +be no evidence of the existence of any power superior to and +independent of nature.</p> +<p>The church wishes us to believe. Let the church, or one of its +intellectual saints, perform a miracle, and we will believe. We are +told that nature has a superior. Let this superior, for one single +instant, control nature, and we will admit the truth of your +assertions.</p> +<p>We have heard talk enough. We have listened to all the drowsy, +idealess, vapid sermons that we wish to hear. We have read your +Bible and the works of your best minds. We have heard your prayers, +your solemn groans and your reverential amens. All these amount to +less than nothing. We want one fact. We beg at the doors of your +churches for just one little fact We pass our hats along your pews +and under your pulpits and implore you for just one fact We know +all about your mouldy wonders and your stale miracles. We want a +this year's fact. We ask only one. Give us one fact for charity. +Your miracles are too ancient. The witnesses have been dead for +nearly two thousand years. Their reputation for "truth and +veracity" in the neighborhood where they resided is wholly unknown +to us. Give us a new miracle, and substantiate it by witnesses who +still have the cheerful habit of living in this world. Do not send +us to Jericho to hear the winding horns, nor put us in the fire +with Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego. Do not compel us to navigate +the sea with Captain Jonah, nor dine with Mr. Ezekiel. There is no +sort of use in sending us fox-hunting with Samson. We have +positively lost all interest in that little speech so eloquently +delivered by Balaam's inspired donkey. It is worse than useless to +show us fishes with money in their mouths, and call our attention +to vast multitudes stuffing themselves with five crackers and two +sardines. We demand a new miracle, and we demand it now. Let the +church furnish at least one, or forever after hold her peace.</p> +<p>In the olden time, the church, by violating the order of nature, +proved the existence of her God. At that time miracles were +performed with the most astonishing ease. They became so common +that the church ordered her priests to desist. And now this same +church—the people having found some little +sense—admits, not only, that she cannot perform a miracle, +but insists that the absence of miracle—the steady, unbroken +march of cause and effect, proves the existence of a power superior +to nature. The fact is, however, that the indissoluble chain of +cause and effect proves exactly the contrary.</p> +<p>Sir William Hamilton, one of the pillars of modern theology, in +discussing this very subject, uses the following language: "The +phenomena of matter taken by themselves, so far from warranting any +inference to the existence of a god, would on the contrary ground +even an argument to his negation. The phenomena of the material +world are subjected to immutable laws; are produced and reproduced +in the same invariable succession, and manifest only the blind +force of a mechanical necessity."</p> +<p>Nature is but an endless series of efficient causes. She cannot +create, but she eternally transforms. There was no beginning, and +there can be no end.</p> +<p>The best minds, even in the religious world, admit that in +material nature there is no evidence of what they are pleased to +call a god. They find their evidence in the phenomena of +intelligence, and very innocently assert that intelligence is +above, and in fact, opposed to nature. They insist that man, at +least, is a special creation; that he has somewhere in his brain a +divine spark, a little portion of the "Great First Cause." They say +that matter cannot produce thought; but that thought can produce +matter. They tell us that man has intelligence, and therefore there +must be an intelligence greater than his. Why not say, God has +intelligence, therefore there must be an intelligence greater than +his? So far as we know, there is no intelligence apart from matter. +We cannot conceive of thought, except as produced within a +brain.</p> +<p>The science, by means of which they demonstrate the existence of +an impossible intelligence, and an incomprehensible power is +called, metaphysics or theology. The theologians admit that the +phenomena of matter tend, at least, to disprove the existence of +any power superior to nature, because in such phenomena we see +nothing but an endless chain of efficient causes—nothing but +the force of a mechanical necessity. They therefore appeal to what +they denominate the phenomena of mind to establish this superior +power.</p> +<p>The trouble is, that in the phenomena of mind we find the same +endless chain of efficient causes; the same mechanical necessity. +Every thought must have had an efficient cause. Every motive, every +desire, every fear, hope and dream must have been necessarily +produced. There is no room in the mind of man for providence or +chance. The facts and forces governing thought are as absolute as +those governing the motions of the planets. A poem is produced by +the forces of nature, and is as necessarily and naturally produced +as mountains and seas. You will seek in vain for a thought in man's +brain without its efficient cause. Every mental operation is the +necessary result of certain facts and conditions. Mental phenomena +are considered more complicated than those of matter, and +consequently more mysterious. Being more mysterious, they are +considered better evidence of the existence of a god. No one infers +a god from the simple, from the known, from what is understood, but +from the complex, from the unknown, and, incomprehensible. Our +ignorance is God; what we know is science.</p> +<p>When we abandon the doctrine that some infinite being created +matter and force, and enacted a code of laws for their government, +the idea of interference will be lost. The real priest will then +be, not the mouth-piece of some pretended deity, but the +interpreter of nature. From that moment the church ceases to exist. +The tapers will die out upon the dusty altar; the moths will eat +the fading velvet of pulpit and pew; the Bible will take its place +with the Shastras, Puranas, Vedas, Eddas, Sagas and Korans, and the +fetters of a degrading faith will fall from the minds of men.</p> +<p>"But," says the religionist, "you cannot explain everything; you +cannot understand everything; and that which you cannot explain, +that which you do not comprehend, is my God."</p> +<p>We are explaining more every day. We are understanding more +every day; consequently your God is growing smaller every day.</p> +<p>Nothing daunted, the religionist then insists that nothing can +exist without a cause, except cause, and that this uncaused cause +is God.</p> +<p>To this we again reply: Every cause must produce an effect, +because until it does produce an effect, it is not a cause. Every +effect must in its turn become a cause. Therefore, in the nature of +things, there cannot be a last cause, for the reason that a +so-called last cause would necessarily produce an effect, and that +effect must of necessity becomes a cause. The converse of these +propositions must be true. Every effect must have had a cause, and +every cause must have been an effect. Therefore there could have +been no first cause. A first cause is just as impossible as a last +effect.</p> +<p>Beyond the universe there is nothing, and within the universe +the supernatural does not and cannot exist.</p> +<p>The moment these great truths are understood and admitted, a +belief in general or special providence become impossible. From +that instant men will cease their vain efforts to please an +imaginary being, and will give their time and attention to the +affairs of this world. They will abandon the idea of attaining any +object by prayer and supplication. The element of uncertainty will, +in a great measure, be removed from the domain of the future, and +man, gathering courage from a succession of victories over the +obstructions of nature, will attain a serene grandeur unknown to +the disciples of any superstition. The plans of mankind will no +longer be interfered with by the finger of a supposed omnipotence, +and no one will believe that nations or individuals are protected +or destroyed by any deity whatever. Science, freed from the chains +of pious custom and evangelical prejudice, will, within her sphere, +be supreme. The mind will investigate without reverence, and +publish its conclusions without fear. Agassiz will no longer +hesitate to declare the Mosaic cosmogony utterly inconsistent with +the demonstrated truths of geology, and will cease pretending any +reverence for the Jewish Scriptures. The moment science succeeds in +rendering the church powerless for evil, the real thinkers will be +outspoken. The little flags of truce carried by timid philosophers +will disappear, and the cowardly parley will give place to +victory—lasting and universal.</p> +<p>If we admit that some infinite being has controlled the +destinies of persons and peoples, history becomes a most cruel and +bloody farce. Age after age, the strong have trampled upon the +weak; the crafty and heartless have ensnared and enslaved the +simple and innocent, and nowhere, in all the annals of mankind, has +any god succored the oppressed.</p> +<p>Man should cease to expect aid from on high. By this time he +should know that heaven has no ear to hear, and no hand to help. +The present is the necessary child of all the past. There has been +no chance, and there can be no interference.</p> +<p>If abuses are destroyed, man must destroy them. If slaves are +freed, man must free them. If new truths are discovered, man must +discover them. If the naked are clothed; if the hungry are fed; if +justice is done; if labor is rewarded; if superstition is driven +from the mind; if the defenceless are protected and if the right +finally triumphs, all must be the work of man. The grand victories +of the future must be won by man, and by man alone.</p> +<p>Nature, so far as we can discern, without passion and without +intention, forms, transforms, and retransforms forever. She neither +weeps nor rejoices. She produces man without purpose, and +obliterates him without regret. She knows no distinction between +the beneficial and the hurtful. Poison and nutrition, pain and joy, +life and death, smiles and tears are alike to her. She is neither +merciful nor cruel. She cannot be flattered by worship nor melted +by tears. She does not know even the attitude of prayer. She +appreciates no difference between poison in the fangs of snakes and +mercy in the hearts of men. Only through man does nature take +cognizance of the good, the true, and the beautiful; and, so far as +we know, man is the highest intelligence.</p> +<p>And yet man continues to believe that there is some power +independent of and superior to nature, and still endeavors, by +form, ceremony, supplication, hypocrisy and sacrifice, to obtain +its aid. His best energies have been wasted in the service of this +phantom. The horrors of witchcraft were all born of an ignorant +belief in the existence of a totally depraved being superior to +nature, acting in perfect independence of her laws; and all +religious superstition has had for its basis a belief in at least +two beings, one good and the other bad, both of whom could +arbitrarily change the order of the universe. The history of +religion is simply the story of man's efforts in all ages to avoid +one of these powers, and to pacify the other. Both powers have +inspired little else than abject fear. The cold, calculating sneer +of the devil, and the frown of God, were equally terrible. In any +event, man's fate was to be arbitrarily fixed forever by an unknown +power superior to all law, and to all fact. Until this belief is +thrown aside, man must consider himself the slave of phantom +masters—neither of whom promise liberty in this world nor in +the next.</p> +<p>Man must learn to rely upon himself. Reading bibles will not +protect him from the blasts of winter, but houses, fires, and +clothing will. To prevent famine, one plow is worth a million +sermons, and even patent medicines will cure more diseases than all +the prayers uttered since the beginning of the world.</p> +<p>Although many eminent men have endeavored to harmonize necessity +and free will, the existence of evil, and the infinite power and +good ness of God, they have succeeded only in producing learned and +ingenious failures. Immense efforts have been made to reconcile +ideas utterly inconsistent with the facts by which we are +surrounded, and all persons who have failed to perceive the +pretended reconciliation, have been denounced as infidels, atheists +and scoffers. The whole power of the church has been brought to +bear against philosophers and scientists in order to compel a +denial of the authority of demonstration, and to induce some Judas +to betray Reason, one of the saviors of mankind.</p> +<p>During that frightful period known as the "Dark Ages," Faith +reigned, with scarcely a rebellious subject. Her temples were +"carpeted with knees," and the wealth of nations adorned her +countless shrines. The great painters prostituted their genius to +immortalize her vagaries, while the poets enshrined them in song. +At her bidding, man covered the earth with blood. The scales of +Justice were turned with her gold, and for her use were invented +all the cunning instruments of pain. She built cathedrals for God, +and dungeons for men. She peopled the clouds with angels and the +earth with slaves. For centuries the world was retracing its +steps—going steadily back toward barbaric night! A few +infidels—a few heretics cried, "Halt!" to the great rabble of +ignorant devotion, and made it possible for the genius of the +nineteenth century to revolutionize the cruel creeds and +superstitions of mankind.</p> +<p>The thoughts of man, in order to be of any real worth, must be +free. Under the influence of fear the brain is paralyzed, and +instead of bravely solving a problem for itself, tremblingly adopts +the solution of another. As long as a majority of men will cringe +to the very earth before some petty prince or king, what must be +the infinite abjectness of their little souls in the presence of +their supposed creator and God? Under such circumstances, what can +their thoughts be worth?</p> +<p>The originality of repetition, and the mental vigor of +acquiescence, are all that we have any right to expect from the +Christian world. As long as every question is answered by the word +"God," scientific inquiry is simply impossible. As fast as +phenomena are satisfactorily explained the domain of the power, +supposed to be superior to nature must decrease, while the horizon +of the known must as constantly continue to enlarge.</p> +<p>It is no longer satisfactory to account for the fall and rise of +nations by saying, "It is the will of God." Such an explanation +puts ignorance and education upon an exact equality, and does away +with the idea of really accounting for anything whatever.</p> +<p>Will the religionist pretend that the real end of science is to +ascertain how and why God acts? Science, from such a standpoint +would consist in investigating the law of arbitrary action, and in +a grand endeavor to ascertain the rules necessarily obeyed by +infinite caprice.</p> +<p>From a philosophical point of view, science is knowledge of the +laws of life; of the conditions of happiness; of the facts by which +we are surrounded, and the relations we sustain to men and +things—by means of which, man, so to speak, subjugates nature +and bends the elemental powers to his will, making blind force the +servant of his brain.</p> +<p>A belief in special providence does away with the spirit of +investigation, and is inconsistent with personal effort. Why should +man endeavor to thwart the designs of God? Which of you, by taking +thought, can add one cubit to his stature? Under the influence of +this belief, man, basking in the sunshine of a delusion, considers +the lilies of the field and refuses to take any thought for the +morrow. Believing himself in the power of an infinite being, who +can, at any moment, dash him to the lowest hell or raise him to the +highest heaven, he necessarily abandons the idea of accomplishing +anything by his own efforts. As long as this belief was general, +the world was filled with ignorance, superstition and misery. The +energies of man were wasted in a vain effort to obtain the aid of +this power, supposed to be superior to nature. For countless ages, +even men were sacrificed upon the altar of this impossible god. To +please him, mothers have shed the blood of their own babes; martyrs +have chanted triumphant songs in the midst of flame; priests have +gorged themselves with blood; nuns have forsworn the ecstasies of +love; old men have tremblingly implored; women have sobbed and +entreated; every pain has been endured, and every horror has been +perpetrated.</p> +<p>Through the dim long years that have fled, humanity has suffered +more than can be conceived. Most of the misery has been endured by +the weak, the loving and the innocent Women have been treated like +poisonous beasts, and little children trampled upon as though they +had been vermin. Numberless altars have been reddened, even with +the blood of babes; beautiful girls have been given to slimy +serpents; whole races of men doomed to centuries of slavery, and +everywhere there has been outrage beyond the power of genius to +express. During all these years the suffering have supplicated; the +withered lips of famine have prayed; the pale victims have +implored, and Heaven has been deaf and blind.</p> +<p>Of what use have the gods been to man?</p> +<p>It is no answer to say that some god created the world, +established certain laws, and then turned his attention to other +matters, leaving his children weak, ignorant and unaided, to fight +the battle of life alone. It is no solution to declare that in +some, other world this god will render a few, or even all, his +subjects happy. What right have we to expect that a perfectly wise, +good and powerful being will ever do better than he has done, and +is doing? The world is filled with imperfections. If it was made by +an infinite being, what reason have we for saying that he will +render it nearer perfect than it now is? If the infinite "Father" +allows a majority of his children to live in ignorance and +wretchedness now, what evidence is there that he will ever improve +their condition? Will God have more power? Will he become more +merciful? Will his love for his poor creatures increase? Can the +conduct of infinite wisdom, power and love ever change? Is the +infinite capable of any improvement whatever?</p> +<p>We are informed by the clergy that this world is a kind of +school; that the evils by which we are surrounded are for the +purpose of developing our souls, and that only by suffering can men +become pure, strong, virtuous and grand.</p> +<p>Supposing this to be true, what is to become of those who die in +infancy? The little children, according to this philosophy, can +never be developed. They were so unfortunate as to escape the +ennobling influences of pain and misery, and as a consequence, are +doomed to an eternity of mental inferiority. If the clergy are +right on this question, none are so unfortunate as the happy, and +we should envy only the suffering and distressed. If evil is +necessary to the development of man, in this life, how is it +possible for the soul to improve in the perfect joy of +Paradise?</p> +<p>Since Paley found his watch, the argument of "design" has been +relied upon as unanswerable. The church teaches that this world, +and all that it contains, were created substantially as we now see +them; that the grasses, the flowers, the trees, and all animals, +including man, were special creations, and that they sustain no +necessary relation to each other. The most orthodox will admit that +some earth has been washed into the sea; that the sea has +encroached a little upon the land, and that some mountains may be a +trifle lower than in the morning of creation. The theory of gradual +development was unknown to our fathers; the idea of evolution did +not occur to them. Our fathers looked upon the then arrangement of +things as the primal arrangement. The earth appeared to them fresh +from the hands of a deity. They knew nothing of the slow evolutions +of countless years, but supposed that the almost infinite variety +of vegetable and animal forms had existed from the first.</p> +<p>Suppose that upon some island we should find a man a million +years of age, and suppose that we should find him in the possession +of a most beautiful carriage, constructed upon the most perfect +model. And suppose, further, that he should tell us that it was the +result of several hundred thousand years of labor and of thought; +that for fifty thousand years he used as flat a log as he could +find, before it occurred to him, that by splitting the log, he +could have the same surface with only half the weight; that it took +him many thousand years to invent wheels for this log; that the +wheels he first used were solid, and that fifty thousand years of +thought suggested the use of spokes and tire; that for many +centuries he used the wheels without linch-pins; that it took a +hundred thousand years more to think of using four wheels, instead +of two; that for ages he walked behind the carriage, when going +down hill, in order to hold it back, and that only by a lucky +chance he invented the tongue; would we conclude that this man, +from the very first, had been an infinitely ingenious and perfect +mechanic? Suppose we found him living in an elegant mansion, and he +should inform us that he lived in that house for five hundred +thousand years before he thought of putting on a roof, and that he +had but recently invented windows and doors; would we say that from +the beginning he had been an infinitely accomplished and scientific +architect?</p> +<p>Does not an improvement in the things created, show a +corresponding improvement in the creator?</p> +<p>Would an infinitely wise, good and powerful God, intending to +produce man, commence with the lowest possible forms of life; with +the simplest organism that can be imagined, and during immeasurable +periods of time, slowly and almost imperceptibly improve upon the +rude beginning, until man was evolved? Would countless ages thus be +wasted in the production of awkward forms, afterwards abandoned? +Can the intelligence of man discover the least wisdom in covering +the earth with crawling, creeping horrors, that live only upon the +agonies and pangs of others? Can we see the propriety of so +constructing the earth, that only an insignificant portion of its +surface is capable of producing an intelligent man? Who can +appreciate the mercy of so making the world that all animals devour +animals; so that every mouth is a slaughterhouse, and every stomach +a tomb? Is it possible to discover infinite intelligence and love +in universal and eternal carnage?</p> +<p>What would we think of a father, who should give a farm to his +children, and before giving them possession should plant upon it +thousands of deadly shrubs and vines; should stock it with +ferocious beasts, and poisonous reptiles; should take pains to put +a few swamps in the neighborhood to breed malaria; should so +arrange matters, that the ground would occasionally open and +swallow a few of his darlings, and besides all this, should +establish a few volcanoes in the immediate vicinity, that might at +any moment overwhelm his children with rivers of fire? Suppose that +this father neglected to tell his children which of the plants were +deadly; that the reptiles were poisonous; failed to say anything +about the earthquakes, and kept the volcano business a profound +secret; would we pronounce him angel or fiend?</p> +<p>And yet this is exactly what the orthodox God has done.</p> +<p>According to the theologians, God prepared this globe expressly +for the habitation of his loved children, and yet he filled the +forests with ferocious beasts; placed serpents in every path; +stuffed the world with earthquakes, and adorned its surface with +mountains of flame.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding all this, we are told that the world is perfect; +that it was created by a perfect being, and is therefore +necessarily perfect. The next moment, these same persons will tell +us that the world was cursed; covered with brambles, thistles and +thorns, and that man was doomed to disease and death, simply +because our poor, dear mother ate an apple contrary to the command +of an arbitrary God.</p> +<p>A very pious friend of mine, having heard that I had said the +world was full of imperfections, asked me if the report was true. +Upon being informed that it was, he expressed great surprise that +any one could be guilty of such presumption. He said that, in his +judgment, it was impossible to point out an imperfection. "Be kind +enough," said he, "to name even one improvement that you could +make, if you had the power." "Well," said I, "I would make good +health catching, instead of disease." The truth is, it is +impossible to harmonize all the ills, and pains, and agonies of +this world with the idea that we were created by, and are watched +over and protected by an infinitely wise, powerful and beneficent +God, who is superior to and independent of nature.</p> +<p>The clergy, however, balance all the real ills of this life with +the expected joys of the next. We are assured that all is +perfection in heaven—there the skies are +cloudless—there all is serenity and peace. Here empires may +be overthrown; dynasties may be extinguished in blood; millions of +slaves may toil 'neath the fierce rays of the sun, and the cruel +strokes of the lash; yet all is happiness in heaven. Pestilences +may strew the earth with corpses of the loved; the survivors may +bend above them in agony—yet the placid bosom of heaven is +unruffled. Children may expire vainly asking for bread; babes may +be devoured by serpents, while the gods sit smiling in the clouds. +The innocent may languish unto death in the obscurity of dungeons; +brave men and heroic women may be changed to ashes at the bigot's +stake, while heaven is filled with song and joy. Out on the wide +sea, in darkness and in storm, the shipwrecked struggle with the +cruel waves while the angels play upon their golden harps. The +streets of the world are filled with the diseased, the deformed and +the helpless; the chambers of pain are crowded with the pale forms +of the suffering, while the angels float and fly in the happy +realms of day. In heaven they are too happy to have sympathy; too +busy singing to aid the imploring and distressed. Their eyes are +blinded; their ears are stopped and their hearts are turned to +stone by the infinite selfishness of joy. The saved mariner is too +happy when he touches the shore to give a moment's thought to his +drowning brothers. With the indifference of happiness, with the +contempt of bliss, heaven barely glances at the miseries of earth. +Cities are devoured by the rushing lava; the earth opens and +thousands perish; women raise their clasped hands towards heaven, +but the gods are too happy to aid their children. The smiles of the +deities are unacquainted with the tears of men. The shouts of +heaven drown the sobs of earth.</p> +<p>Having shown how man created gods, and how he became the +trembling slave of his own creation, the questions naturally arise: +How did he free himself even a little, from these monarchs of the +sky, from these despots of the clouds, from this aristocracy of the +air? How did he, even to the extent that he has, outgrow his +ignorant, abject terror, and throw off the yoke of +superstition?</p> +<p>Probably, the first thing that tended to disabuse his mind was +the discovery of order, of regularity, of periodicity in the +universe. From this he began to suspect that everything did not +happen purely with reference to him. He noticed, that whatever he +might do, the motions of the planets were always the same; that +eclipses were periodical, and that even comets came at certain +intervals. This convinced him that eclipses and comets had nothing +to do with him, and that his conduct had nothing to do with them. +He perceived that they were not caused for his benefit or injury. +He thus learned to regard them with admiration instead of fear. He +began to suspect that famine was not sent by some enraged and +revengeful deity, but resuited often from the neglect and ignorance +of man. He learned that diseases were not produced by evil spirits. +He found that sickness was occasioned by natural causes, and could +be cured by natural means. He demonstrated, to his own satisfaction +at least, that prayer is not a medicine. He found by sad experience +that his gods were of no practical use, as they never assisted him, +except when he was perfectly able to help himself. At last, he +began to discover that his individual action had nothing whatever +to do with strange appearances in the heavens; that it was +impossible for him to be bad enough to cause a whirlwind, or good +enough to stop one. After many centuries of thought, he about half +concluded that making mouths at a priest would not necessarily +cause an earthquake. He noticed, and no doubt with considerable +astonishment, that very good men were occasionally struck by +lightning, while very bad ones escaped. He was frequently forced to +the painful conclusion (and it is the most painful to which any +human being ever was forced) that the right did not always prevail. +He noticed that the gods did not interfere in behalf of the weak +and innocent. He was now and then astonished by seeing an +unbeliever in the enjoyment of most excellent health. He finally +ascertained that there could be no possible connection between an +unusually severe winter and his failure to give a sheep to a +priest. He began to suspect that the order of the universe was not +constantly being changed to assist him because he repeated a creed. +He observed that some children would steal after having been +regularly baptized. He noticed a vast difference between religion +and justice, and that the worshipers of the same god, took delight +in cutting each other's throats. He saw that these religious +disputes filled the world with hatred and slavery. At last he had +the courage to suspect, that no god at any time interferes with the +order of events. He learned a few facts, and these facts positively +refused to harmonize with the ignorant superstitions of his +fathers. Finding his sacred books incorrect and false in some +particulars, his faith in their authenticity began to be shaken; +finding his priests ignorant upon some points, he began to lose +respect for the cloth. This was the commencement of intellectual +freedom.</p> +<p>The civilization of man has increased just to the same extent +that religious power has decreased. The intellectual advancement of +man depends upon how often he can exchange an old superstition for +a new truth. The church never enabled a human being to make even +one of these exchanges; on the contrary, all her power has been +used to prevent them. In spite, however, of the church, man found +that some of his religious conceptions were wrong. By reading his +Bible, he found that the ideas of his God were more cruel and +brutal than those of the most depraved savage. He also discovered +that this holy book was filled with ignorance, and that it must +have been written by persons wholly unacquainted with the nature of +the phenomena by which we are surrounded; and now and then, some +man had the goodness and courage to speak his honest thoughts. In +every age some thinker, some doubter, some investigator, some hater +of hypocrisy, some despiser of sham, some brave lover of the right, +has gladly, proudly and heroically braved the ignorant fury of +superstition for the sake of man and truth. These divine men were +generally torn in pieces by the worshipers of the gods. Socrates +was poisoned because he lacked reverence for some of the deities. +Christ was crucified by a religious rabble for the crime of +blasphemy. Nothing is more gratifying to a religionist than to +destroy his enemies at the command of God. Religious persecution +springs from a due admixture of love towards God and hatred towards +man.</p> +<p>The terrible religious wars that inundated the world with blood +tended at least to bring all religion into disgrace and hatred. +Thoughtful people began to question the divine origin of a religion +that made its believers hold the rights of others in absolute +contempt. A few began to compare Christianity with the religions of +heathen people, and were forced to admit that the difference was +hardly worth dying for. They also found that other nations were +even happier and more prosperous than their own. They began to +suspect that their religion, after all, was not of much real +value.</p> +<p>For three hundred years the Christian world endeavored to rescue +from the "Infidel" the empty sepulchre of Christ. For three hundred +years the armies of the cross were baffled and beaten by the +victorious hosts of an impudent impostor. This immense fact sowed +the seeds of distrust throughout all Christendom, and millions +began to lose confidence in a God who had been vanquished by +Mohammed. The people also found that commerce made friends where +religion made enemies, and that religious zeal was utterly +incompatible with peace between nations or individuals. They +discovered that those who loved the gods most were apt to love men +least; that the arrogance of universal forgiveness was amazing; +that the most malicious had the effrontery to pray for their +enemies, and that humility and tyranny were the fruit of the same +tree.</p> +<p>For ages, a deadly conflict has been waged between a few brave +men and women of thought and genius upon the one side, and the +great ignorant religious mass on the other. This is the war between +Science and Faith. The few have appealed to reason, to honor, to +law, to freedom, to the known, and to happiness here in this world. +The many have appealed to prejudice, to fear, to miracle, to +slavery, to the unknown, and to misery hereafter. The few have +said, "Think!" The many have said, "Believe!"</p> +<p>The first doubt was the womb and cradle of progress, and from +the first doubt, man has continued to advance. Men began to +investigate, and the church began to oppose. The astronomer scanned +the heavens, while the church branded his grand forehead with the +word, "Infidel;" and now, not a glittering star in all the vast +expanse bears a Christian name. In spite of all religion, the +geologist penetrated the earth, read her history in books of stone, +and found, hidden within her bosom, souvenirs of all the ages. Old +ideas perished in the retort of the chemist, and useful truths took +their places. One by one religious conceptions have been placed in +the crucible of science, and thus far, nothing but dross has been +found. A new world has been discovered by the microscope; +everywhere has been found the infinite; in every direction man has +investigated and explored and nowhere, in earth or stars, has been +found the footstep of any being superior to or independent of +nature. Nowhere has been discovered the slightest evidence of any +interference from without.</p> +<p>These are the sublime truths that enabled man to throw off the +yoke of superstition. These are the splendid facts that snatched +the sceptre of authority from the hands of priests.</p> +<p>In that vast cemetery, called the past, are most of the +religions of men, and there, too, are nearly all their gods. The +sacred temples of India were ruins long ago. Over column and +cornice; over the painted and pictured walls, cling and creep the +trailing vines. Brahma, the golden, with four heads and four arms; +Vishnu, the sombre, the punisher of the wicked, with his three +eyes, his crescent, and his necklace of skulls; Siva, the +destroyer, red with seas of blood; Kali, the goddess; Draupadi, the +white-armed, and Chrishna, the Christ, all passed away and left the +thrones of heaven desolate. Along the banks of the sacred Nile, +Isis no longer wandering weeps, searching for the dead Osiris. The +shadow of Typhons scowl falls no more upon the waves. The sun rises +as of yore, and his golden beams still smite the lips of Memnon, +but Mem-non is as voiceless as the Sphinx. The sacred fanes are +lost in desert sands; the dusty mummies are still waiting for the +resurrection promised by their priests, and the old beliefs, +wrought in curiously sculptured stone, sleep in the mystery of a +language lost and dead. Odin, the author of life and soul, Vili and +Ve, and the mighty giant Ymir, strode long ago from the icy halls +of the North; and Thor, with iron glove and glittering hammer, +dashes mountains to the earth no more. Broken are the circles and +cromlechs of the ancient Druids; fallen upon the summits of the +hills, and covered with the centuries' moss, are the sacred cairns. +The divine fires of Persia and of the Aztecs, have died out in the +ashes of the past, and there is none to rekindle, and none to feed +the holy flames. The harp of Orpheus is still; the drained cup of +Bacchus has been thrown aside; Venus lies dead in stone, and her +white bosom heaves no more with love. The streams still murmur, but +no naiads bathe; the trees still wave, but in the forest aisles no +dryads dance. The gods have flown from high Olympus. Not even the +beautiful women can lure them back, and Danæ lies unnoticed, +naked to the stars. Hushed forever are the thunders of Sinai; lost +are the voices of the prophets, and the land once flowing with milk +and honey, is but a desert waste. One by one, the myths have faded +from the clouds: one by one, the phantom host has disappeared, and +one by one, facts, truths and realities have taken their places. +The supernatural has almost gone, but the natural remains. The gods +have fled, but man is here.</p> +<p>Nations, like individuals, have their periods of youth, of +manhood and decay. Religions are the same. The same inexorable +destiny awaits them all. The gods created by the nations must +perish with their creators. They were created by men, and like men, +they must pass away. The deities of one age are the by-words of the +next The religion of our day, and country, is no more exempt from +the sneer of the future than the others have been. When India was +supreme, Brahma sat upon the world's throne. When the sceptre +passed to Egypt, Isis and Osiris received the homage of mankind. +Greece, with her fierce valor, swept to empire, and Zeus put on the +purple of authority. The earth trembled with the tread of Rome's +intrepid sons, and Jove grasped with mailed hand the thunderbolts +of heaven. Rome fell, and Christians from her territory, with the +red sword of war, carved out the ruling nations of the world, and +now Christ sits upon the old throne. Who will be his successor?</p> +<p>Day by day, religious conceptions grow less and less intense. +Day by day, the old spirit dies out of book and creed. The burning +enthusiasm, the quenchless zeal of the early church have gone, +never, never to return. The ceremonies remain, but the ancient +faith is fading out of the human heart. The worn-out arguments fail +to convince, and denunciations that once blanched the faces of a +race, excite in us only derision and disgust. As time rolls on, the +miracles grow mean and small, and the evidences our fathers thought +conclusive utterly fail to satisfy us. There is an "irrepressible +conflict" between religion and science, and they cannot peaceably +occupy the same brain nor the same world.</p> +<p>While utterly discarding all creeds, and denying the truth of +all religions, there is neither in my heart nor upon my lips a +sneer for the hopeful, loving and tender souls who believe that +from all this discord will result a perfect harmony; that every +evil will in some mysterious way become a good, and that above and +over all there is a being who, in some way, will reclaim and +glorify every one of the children of men; but for those who +heartlessly try to prove that salvation is almost impossible; that +damnation is almost certain; that the highway of the universe leads +to hell; who fill life with fear and death with horror; who curse +the cradle and mock the tomb, it is impossible to entertain other +than feelings of pity, contempt and scorn.</p> +<p>Reason, Observation and Experience—the Holy Trinity of +Science—have taught us that happiness is the only good; that +the time to be happy is now, and the way to be happy is to make +others so. This is enough for us. In this belief we are content to +live and die. If by any possibility the existence of a power +superior to, and independent of, nature shall be demonstrated, +there will then be time enough to kneel. Until then, let us stand +erect.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding the fact that infidels in all ages have battled +for the rights of man, and have at all times been the fearless +advocates of liberty and justice, we are constantly charged by the +church with tearing down without building again. The church should +by this time know that it is utterly impossible to rob men of their +opinions. The history of religious persecution fully establishes +the fact that the mind necessarily resists and defies every attempt +to control it by violence. The mind necessarily clings to old ideas +until prepared for the new. The moment we comprehend the truth, all +erroneous ideas are of necessity cast aside.</p> +<p>A surgeon once called upon a poor cripple and kindly offered to +render him any assistance in his power. The surgeon began to +discourse very learnedly upon the nature and origin of disease; of +the curative properties of certain medicines; of the advantages of +exercise, air and light, and of the various ways in which health +and strength could be restored. These remarks were so full of good +sense, and discovered so much profound thought and accurate +knowledge, that the cripple, becoming thoroughly alarmed, cried +out, "Do not, I pray you, take away my crutches. They are my only +support, and without them I should be miserable indeed!" "I am not +going," said the surgeon, "to take away your crutches. I am going +to cure you, and then you will throw the crutches away +yourself."</p> +<p>For the vagaries of the clouds the infidels propose to +substitute the realities of earth; for superstition, the splendid +demonstrations and achievements of science; and for theological +tyranny, the chainless liberty of thought.</p> +<p>We do not say that we have discovered all; that our doctrines +are the all in all of truth. We know of no end to the development +of man. We cannot unravel the infinite complications of matter and +force. The history of one monad is as unknown as that of the +universe; one drop of water is as wonderful as all the seas; one +leaf, as all the forests; and one grain of sand, as all the +stars.</p> +<p>We are not endeavoring to chain the future, but to free the +present. We are not forging fetters for our children, but we are +breaking those our fathers made for us. We are the advocates of +inquiry, of investigation and thought This of itself, is an +admission that we are not perfectly satisfied with all our +conclusions. Philosophy has not the egotism of faith. While +superstition builds walls and creates obstructions, science opens +all the highways of thought. We do not pretend to have +circumnavigated everything, and to have solved all difficulties, +but we do believe that it is better to love men than to fear gods; +that it is grander and nobler to think and investigate for yourself +than to repeat a creed. We are satisfied that there can be but +little liberty on earth while men worship a tyrant in heaven. We do +not expect to accomplish everything in our day; but we want to do +what good we can, and to render all the service possible in the +holy cause of human progress. We know that doing away with gods and +supernatural persons and powers is not an end. It is a means to an +end: the real end being the happiness of man.</p> +<p>Felling forests is not the end of agriculture. Driving pirates +from the sea is not all there is of commerce.</p> +<p>We are laying the foundations of the grand temple of the +future—not the temple of all the gods, but of all the +people—wherein, with appropriate rites, will be celebrated +the religion of Humanity. We are doing what little we can to hasten +the coming of the day when society shall cease producing +millionaires and mendicants—gorged indolence and famished +industry—truth in rags, and superstition robed and crowned. +We are looking for the time when the useful shall be the honorable; +and when Reason, throned upon the world's brain, shall be the King +of Kings, and God of Gods.</p> +<a name="link0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>HUMBOLDT.</h2> +<h3>The Universe is Governed by Law.</h3> +<p>GREAT men seem to be a part of the infinite—brothers of +the mountains and the seas.</p> +<p>Humboldt was one of these. He was one of those serene men, in +some respects like our own Franklin, whose names have all the +lustre of a star. He was one of the few, great enough to rise above +the superstition and prejudice of his time, and to know that +experience, observation, and reason are the only basis of +knowledge.</p> +<p>He became one of the greatest of men in spite of having been +born rich and noble—in spite of position. I say in spite of +these things, because wealth and position are generally the enemies +of genius, and the destroyers of talent.</p> +<p>It is often said of this or that man, that he is a self-made +man—that he was born of the poorest and humblest parents, and +that with every obstacle to overcome he became great. This is a +mistake. Poverty is generally an advantage. Most of the +intellectual giants of the world have been nursed at the sad and +loving breast of poverty. Most of those who have climbed highest on +the shining ladder of fame commenced at the lowest round. They were +reared in the straw-thatched cottages of Europe; in the log-houses +of America; in the factories of the great cities; in the midst of +toil; in the smoke and din of labor, and on the verge of want. They +were rocked by the feet of mothers whose hands, at the same time, +were busy with the needle or the wheel.</p> +<p>It is hard for the rich to resist the thousand allurements of +pleasure, and so I say, that Humboldt, in spite of having been born +to wealth and high social position, became truly and grandly +great.</p> +<p>In the antiquated and romantic castle of Tegel, by the side of +the pine forest, on the shore of the charming lake, near the +beautiful city of Berlin, the great Humboldt, one hundred years ago +to-day, was born, and there he was educated after the method +suggested by Rousseau,—Campe, the philologist and critic, and +the intellectual Kunth being his tutors. There he received the +impressions that determined his career; there the great idea that +the universe is governed by law, took possession of his mind, and +there he dedicated his life to the demonstration of this sublime +truth.</p> +<p>He came to the conclusion that the source of man's unhappiness +is his ignorance of nature.</p> +<p>After having received the most thorough education at that time +possible, and having determined to what end he would devote the +labors of his life, he turned his attention to the sciences of +geology, mining, mineralogy, botany, the distribution of plants, +the distribution of animals, and the effect of climate upon man. +All grand physical phenomena were investigated and explained. From +his youth he had felt a great desire for travel. He felt, as he +says, a violent passion for the sea, and longed to look upon nature +in her wildest and most rugged forms. He longed to give a physical +description of the universe—a grand picture of nature; to +account for all phenomena; to discover the laws governing the +world; to do away with that splendid delusion called special +providence, and to establish the fact that the universe is governed +by law.</p> +<p>To establish this truth was, and is, of infinite importance to +mankind. That fact is the death-knell of superstition; it gives +liberty to every soul, annihilates fear, and ushers in the Age of +Reason.</p> +<p>The object of this illustrious man was to comprehend the +phenomena of physical objects in their general connection, and to +represent nature as one great whole, moved and animated by internal +forces.</p> +<p>For this purpose he turned his attention to descriptive botany, +traversing distant lands and mountain ranges to ascertain with +certainty the geographical distribution of plants. He investigated +the laws regulating the differences of temperature and climate, and +the changes of the atmosphere. He studied the formation of the +earth's crust, explored the deepest mines, ascended the highest +mountains, and wandered through the craters of extinct +volcanoes.</p> +<p>He became thoroughly acquainted with chemistry, with astronomy, +with terrestrial magnetism; and as the investigation of one subject +leads to all others, for the reason that there is a mutual +dependence and a necessary connection between all facts, so +Humboldt became acquainted with all the known sciences.</p> +<p>His fame does not depend so much upon his discoveries (although +he discovered enough to make hundreds of reputations) as upon his +vast and splendid generalizations.</p> +<p>He was to science what Shakespeare was to the drama.</p> +<p>He found, so to speak, the world full of unconnected +facts—all portions of a vast system—parts of a great +machine; he discovered the connection that each bears to all; put +them together, and demonstrated beyond all contradiction that the +earth is governed by law.</p> +<p>He knew that to discover the connection of phenomena is the +primary aim of all natural investigation. He was infinitely +practical.</p> +<p>Origin and destiny were questions with which he had nothing to +do.</p> +<p>His surroundings made him what he was.</p> +<p>In accordance with a law not fully comprehended, he was a +production of his time.</p> +<p>Great men do not live alone; they are surrounded by the great; +they are the instruments used to accomplish the tendencies of their +generation; they fulfill the prophecies of their age.</p> +<p>Nearly all of the scientific men of the eighteenth century had +the same idea entertained by Humboldt, but most of them in a dim +and confused way. There was, however, a general belief among the +intelligent that the world is governed by law, and that there +really exists a connection between all facts, <i>or that all facts +are simply the different aspects of a general fact</i>, and that +the task of science is to discover this connection; to comprehend +this general fact or to announce the laws of things.</p> +<p>Germany was full of thought, and her universities swarmed with +philosophers and grand thinkers in every department of +knowledge.</p> +<p>Humboldt was the friend and companion of the greatest poets, +historians, philologists, artists, statesmen, critics, and +logicians of his time.</p> +<p>He was the companion of Schiller, who believed that man would be +regenerated through the influence of the Beautiful; of Goethe, the +grand patriarch of German literature; of Weiland, who has been +called the Voltaire of Germany; of Herder, who wrote the outlines +of a philosophical history of man; of Kotzebue, who lived in the +world of romance; of Schleiermacher, the pantheist; of Schlegel, +who gave to his countrymen the enchanted realm of Shakespeare; of +the sublime Kant, author of the first work published in Germany on +Pure Reason; of Fichte, the infinite idealist; of Schopenhauer, the +European Buddhist who followed the great Gautama to the painless +and dreamless Nirwana, and of hundreds of others, whose names are +familiar to and honored by the scientific world.</p> +<p>The German mind had been grandly roused from the long lethargy +of the dark ages of ignorance, fear, and faith. Guided by the holy +light of reason, every department of knowledge was investigated, +enriched and illustrated.</p> +<p>Humboldt breathed the atmosphere of investigation; old ideas +were abandoned; old creeds, hallowed by centuries, were thrown +aside; thought became courageous; the athlete, Reason, challenged +to mortal combat the monsters of superstition.</p> +<p>No wonder that under these influences Humboldt formed the great +purpose of presenting to the world a picture of Nature, in order +that men might, for the first time, behold the face of their +Mother.</p> +<p>Europe becoming too small for his genius, he visited the tropics +in the new world, where in the most circumscribed limits he could +find the greatest number of plants, of animals, and the greatest +diversity of climate, that he might ascertain the laws governing +the production and distribution of plants, animals and men, and the +effects of climate upon them all. He sailed along the gigantic +Amazon—the mysterious Orinoco—traversed the +Pampas—climbed the Andes until he stood upon the crags of +Chimborazo, more than eighteen thousand feet above the level of the +sea, and climbed on until blood flowed from his eyes and lips. For +nearly five years he pursued his investigations in the new world, +accompanied by the intrepid Bonpland. Nothing escaped his +attention. He was the best intellectual organ of these new +revelations of science. He was calm, reflective and eloquent; +filled with a sense of the beautiful, and the love of truth. His +collections were immense, and valuable beyond calculation to every +science. He endured innumerable hardships, braved countless dangers +in unknown and savage lands, and exhausted his fortune for the +advancement of true learning.</p> +<p>Upon his return to Europe he was hailed as the second Columbus; +as the scientific discoverer of America; as the revealer of a new +world; as the great demonstrator of the sublime truth, that the +universe is governed by law.</p> +<p>I have seen a picture of the old man, sitting upon a mountain +side—above him the eternal snow—below, the smiling +valley of the tropics, filled with vine and palm; his chin upon his +breast, his eyes deep, thoughtful and calm—his forehead +majestic—grander than the mountain upon which he +sat—crowned with the snow of his whitened hair, he looked the +intellectual autocrat of this world.</p> +<p>Not satisfied with his discoveries in America, he crossed the +steppes of Asia, the wastes of Siberia, the great Ural range, +adding to the knowledge of mankind at every step. His energy +acknowledged no obstacle, his life knew no leisure; every day was +filled with labor and with thought.</p> +<p>He was one of the apostles of science, and he served his divine +master with a self-sacrificing zeal that knew no abatement; with an +ardor that constantly increased, and with a devotion unwavering and +constant as the polar star.</p> +<p>In order that the people at large might have the benefit of his +numerous discoveries, and his vast knowledge, he delivered at +Berlin a course of lectures, consisting of sixty-one free +addresses, upon the following subjects:</p> +<p>Five, upon the nature and limits of physical geography.</p> +<p>Three, were devoted to a history of science.</p> +<p>Two, to inducements to a study of natural science.</p> +<p>Sixteen, on the heavens.</p> +<p>Five, on the form, density, latent heat, and magnetic power of +the earth, and to the polar light.</p> +<p>Four, were on the nature of the crust of the earth, on hot +springs earthquakes, and volcanoes.</p> +<p>Two, on mountains and the type of their formation.</p> +<p>Two, on the form of the earth's surface, on the connection of +continents, and the elevation of soil over ravines.</p> +<p>Three, on the sea as a globular fluid surrounding the earth.</p> +<p>Ten, on the atmosphere as an elastic fluid surrounding the +earth, and on the distribution of heat.</p> +<p>One, on the geographic distribution of organ ized matter in +general.</p> +<p>Three, on the geography of plants.</p> +<p>Three, on the geography of animals, and</p> +<p>Two, on the races of men.</p> +<p>These lectures are what is known as the Cosmos, and present a +scientific picture of the world—of infinite diversity in +unity—of ceaseless motion in the eternal grasp of law.</p> +<p>These lectures contain the result of his investigation, +observation, and experience; they furnish the connection between +phenomena; they disclose some of the changes through which the +earth has passed in the countless ages; the history of vegetation, +animals and men, the effects of climate upon individuals and +nations, the relation we sustain to other worlds, and demonstrate +that all phenomena, whether insignificant or grand, exist in +accordance with inexorable law.</p> +<p>There are some truths, however, that we never should forget: +Superstition has always been the relentless enemy of science; faith +has been a hater of demonstration; hypocrisy has been sincere only +in its dread of truth, and all religions are inconsistent with +mental freedom.</p> +<p>Since the murder of Hypatia in the fifth century, when the +polished blade of Greek philosophy was broken by the club of +ignorant Catholicism, until to-day, superstition has detested every +effort of reason.</p> +<p>It is almost impossible to conceive of the completeness of the +victory that the church achieved over philosophy. For ages science +was utterly ignored; thought was a poor slave; an ignorant priest +was master of the world; faith put out the eyes of the soul; the +reason was a trembling coward; the imagination was set on fire of +hell; every human feeling was sought to be suppressed; love was +considered infinitely sinful; pleasure was the road to eternal +fire, and God was supposed to be happy only when his children were +miserable. The world was governed by an Almighty's whim; prayers +could change the order of things, halt the grand procession of +nature, could produce rain, avert pestilence, famine and death in +all its forms. There was no idea of the certain; all depended upon +divine pleasure or displeasure rather; heaven was full of +inconsistent malevolence, and earth of ignorance. Everything was +done to appease the divine wrath; every public calamity was caused +by the sins of the people; by a failure to pay tithes, or for +having, even in secret, felt a disrespect for a priest. To the poor +multitude, the earth was a kind of enchanted forest, full of demons +ready to devour, and theological serpents lurking with infinite +power to fascinate and torture the unhappy and impotent soul. Life +to them was a dim and mysterious labyrinth, in which they wandered +weary, and lost, guided by priests as bewildered as themselves, +without knowing that at every step the Ariadne of reason offered +them the long lost clue.</p> +<p>The very heavens were full of death; the lightning was regarded +as the glittering vengeance of God, and the earth was thick with +snares for the unwary feet of man. The soul was supposed to be +crowded with the wild beasts of desire; the heart to be totally +corrupt, prompting only to crime; virtues were regarded as deadly +sins in disguise; there was a continual warfare being waged between +the Deity and the Devil, for the possession of every soul; the +latter generally being considered victorious. The flood, the +tornado, the volcano, were all evidences of the displeasure of +heaven, and the sinfulness of man. The blight that withered, the +frost that blackened, the earthquake that devoured, were the +messengers of the Creator.</p> +<p>The world was governed by Fear.</p> +<p>Against all the evils of nature, there was known only the +defence of prayer, of fasting, of credulity, and devotion. <i>Man +in his helplessness endeavored to soften the heart of God</i>. The +faces of the multitude were blanched with fear, and wet with tears; +they were the prey of hypocrites, kings and priests.</p> +<p>My heart bleeds when I contemplate the sufferings endured by the +millions now dead; of those who lived when the world appeared to be +insane; when the heavens were filled with an infinite Horror who +snatched babes with dimpled hands and rosy cheeks from the white +breasts of mothers, and dashed them into an abyss of eternal +flame.</p> +<p>Slowly, beautifully, like the coming of the dawn, came the grand +truth, that the universe is governed by law; that disease fastens +itself upon the good and upon the bad; that the tornado cannot be +stopped by counting beads; that the rushing lava pauses not for +bended knees, the lightning for clasped and uplifted hands, nor the +cruel waves of the sea for prayer; that paying tithes causes, +rather than prevents famine; that pleasure is not sin; that +happiness is the only good; that demons and gods exist only in the +imagination; that faith is a lullaby sung to put the soul to sleep; +that devotion is a bribe that fear offers to supposed power; that +offering rewards in another world for obedience in this, is simply +buying a soul on credit; that knowledge consists in ascertaining +the laws of nature, and that wisdom is the science of happiness. +Slowly, grandly, beautifully, these truths are dawning upon +mankind.</p> +<p>From Copernicus we learned that this earth is only a grain of +sand on the infinite shore of the universe; that everywhere we are +surrounded by shining worlds vastly greater than our own, all +moving and existing in accordance with law. True, the earth began +to grow small, but man began to grow great.</p> +<p>The moment the fact was, established that other worlds are +governed by law, it was only natural to conclude that our little +world was also under its dominion. The old theological method of +accounting for physical phenomena by the pleasure and displeasure +of the Deity was, by the intellectual, abandoned. They found that +disease, death, life, thought, heat, cold, the seasons, the winds, +the dreams of man, the instinct of animals,—in short, that +all physical and mental phenomena are governed by law, absolute, +eternal and inexorable.</p> +<p>Let it be understood that by the term Law is meant the same +invariable relations of succession and resemblance predicated of +all facts springing from like conditions. Law is a fact—not a +cause. It is a fact, that like conditions produce like results: +this fact is Law. When we say that the universe is governed by law, +we mean that this fact, called law, is incapable of change; that it +is, has been, and forever will be, the same inexorable, immutable +Fact, inseparable from all phenomena. Law, in this sense, was not +enacted or made. It could not have been otherwise than as it is. +That which necessarily exists has no creator.</p> +<p>Only a few years ago this earth was considered the real center +of the universe; all the stars were supposed to revolve around this +insignificant atom. The German mind, more than any other, has done +away with this piece of egotism. Purbach and Mullerus, in the +fifteenth century, contributed most to the advancement of astronomy +in their day. To the latter, the world is indebted for the +introduction of decimal fractions, which completed our arithmetical +notation, and formed the second of the three steps by which, in +modern times, the science of numbers has been so greatly improved; +and yet, both of these men believed in the most childish +absurdities, at least in enough of them, to die without their +orthodoxy having ever been suspected.</p> +<p>Next came the great Copernicus, and he stands at the head of the +heroic thinkers of his time, who had the courage and the mental +strength to break the chains of prejudice, custom, and authority, +and to establish truth on the basis of experience, observation and +reason. He removed the earth, so to speak, from the centre of the +universe, and ascribed to it a two-fold motion, and demonstrated +the true position which it occupies in the solar system.</p> +<p>At his bidding the earth began to revolve. At the command of his +genius it commenced its grand flight mid the eternal constellations +round the sun.</p> +<p>For fifty years his discoveries were disregarded. All at once, +by the exertions of Galileo, they were kindled into so grand a +conflagration as to consume the philosophy of Aristotle, to alarm +the hierarchy of Rome, and to threaten the existence of every +opinion not founded upon experience, observation, and reason.</p> +<p>The earth was no longer considered a universe, governed by the +caprices of some revengeful Deity, who had made the stars out of +what he had left after completing the world, and had stuck them in +the sky simply to adorn the night.</p> +<p>I have said this much concerning astronomy because it was the +first splendid step forward! The first sublime blow that shattered +the lance and shivered the shield of superstition; the first real +help that man received from heaven; because it was the first great +lever placed beneath the altar of a false religion; the first +revelation of the infinite to man; the first authoritative +declaration, that the universe is governed by law; the first +science that gave the lie direct to the cosmogony of barbarism, and +because it is the sublimest victory that the reason has +achieved.</p> +<p>In speaking of astronomy, I have confined myself to the +discoveries made since the revival of learning. Long ago, on the +banks of the Ganges, ages before Copernicus lived, Aryabhatta +taught that the earth is a sphere, and revolves on its own axis. +This, however, does not detract from the glory of the great German. +The discovery of the Hindu had been lost in the midnight of +Europe—in the age of faith, and Copernicus was as much a +discoverer as though Aryabhatta had never lived.</p> +<p>In this short address there is no time to speak of other +sciences, and to point out the particular evidence furnished by +each, to establish the dominion of law, nor to more than mention +the name of Descartes, the first who undertook to give an +explanation of the celestial motions, or who formed the vast and +philosophic conception of reducing all the phenomena of the +universe to the same law; of Montaigne, one of the heroes of common +sense; of Galvani, whose experiments gave the telegraph to the +world; of Voltaire, who contributed more than any other of the sons +of men to the destruction of religious intolerance; of August +Comte, whose genius erected to itself a monument that still touches +the stars; of Guttenberg, Watt, Stephenson, Arkwright, all soldiers +of science, in the grand army of the dead kings.</p> +<p>The glory of science is, that it is freeing the +soul—breaking the mental manacles—getting the brain out +of bondage—giving courage to thought—filling the world +with mercy, justice, and joy.</p> +<p>Science found agriculture plowing with a stick reaping with a +sickle—commerce at the mercy of the treacherous waves and the +inconstant winds—a world without books—without schools +man denying the authority of reason, employing his ingenuity in the +manufacture of instruments of torture, in building inquisitions and +cathedrals. It found the land filled with malicious +monks—with persecuting Protestants, and the burners of men. +It found a world full of fear; ignorance upon its knees; credulity +the greatest virtue; women treated like beasts of burden; cruelty +the only means of reformation.</p> +<p>It found the world at the mercy of disease and famine; men +trying to read their fates in the stars, and to tell their fortunes +by signs and wonders; generals thinking to conquer their enemies by +making the sign of the cross, or by telling a rosary. It found all +history full of petty and ridiculous falsehood, and the Almighty +was supposed to spend most of his time turning sticks into snakes, +drowning boys for swimming on Sunday, and killing little children +for the purpose of converting their parents. It found the earth +filled with slaves and tyrants, the people in all countries +downtrodden, half naked, half starved, without hope, and without +reason in the world.</p> +<p>Such was the condition of man when the morning of science dawned +upon his brain, and before he had heard the sublime declaration +that the universe is governed by law.</p> +<p>For the change that has taken place we are indebted solely to +science—the only lever capable of raising mankind. Abject +faith is barbarism; reason is civilization. To obey is slavish; to +act from a sense of obligation perceived by the reason, is noble. +Ignorance worships mystery; Reason explains it: the one grovels, +the other soars.</p> +<p>No wonder that fable is the enemy of knowledge. A man with a +false diamond shuns the society of lapidaries, and it is upon this +principle that superstition abhors science.</p> +<p>In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. +They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most +gigantic liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. +Under the loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder.</p> +<p>Imposture has always worn a crown.</p> +<p>The world is beginning to change because the people are +beginning to think. To think is to advance. Everywhere the great +minds are investigating the creeds and the superstitions of +men—the phenomena of nature, and the laws of things. At the +head of this great army of investigators stood Humboldt—the +serene leader of an intellectual host—a king by the suffrage +of Science, and the divine right of Genius.</p> +<p>And to-day we are not honoring some butcher called a +soldier—some wily politician called a statesman—some +robber called a king, nor some malicious metaphysician called a +saint We are honoring the grand Humboldt, whose victories were all +achieved in the arena of thought; who destroyed prejudice, +ignorance and error—not men; who shed light—not blood, +and who contributed to the knowledge, the wealth, and the happiness +of all mankind.</p> +<p>His life was pure, his aims lofty, his learning varied and +profound, and his achievements vast.</p> +<p>We honor him because he has ennobled our race, because he has +contributed as much as any man living or dead to the real +prosperity of the world. We honor him because he honored +us—because he labored for others—because he was the +most learned man of the most learned nation—because he left a +legacy of glory to every human being. For these reasons he is +honored throughout the world. Millions are doing homage to his +genius at this moment, and millions are pronouncing his name with +reverence and recounting what he accomplished.</p> +<p>We associate the name of Humboldt with oceans, continents, +mountains, and volcanoes—with the great palms—the wide +deserts—the snow-lipped craters of the Andes—with +primeval forests and European capitals—with wildernesses and +universities—with savages and savans—with the lonely +rivers of unpeopled wastes—with peaks and pampas, and +steppes, and cliffs and crags—with the progress of the +world—with every science known to man, and with every star +glittering in the immensity of space.</p> +<p>Humboldt adopted none of the soul-shrinking creeds of his day; +wasted none of his time in the stupidities, inanities and +contradictions of theological metaphysics; he did not endeavor to +harmonize the astronomy and geology of a barbarous people with the +science of the nineteenth century. Never, for one moment, did he +abandon the sublime standard of truth; he investigated, he studied, +he thought, he separated the gold from the dross in the crucible of +his grand brain. He was never found on his knees before the altar +of superstition. He stood erect by the grand tranquil column of +Reason. He was an admirer, a lover, an adorer of Nature, and at the +age of ninety, bowed by the weight of nearly a century, covered +with the insignia of honor, loved by a nation, respected by a +world, with kings for his servants, he laid his weary head upon her +bosom—upon the bosom of the universal Mother—and with +her loving arms around him, sank into that slumber called +Death.</p> +<p>History added another name to the starry scroll of the +immortals.</p> +<p>The world is his monument; upon the eternal granite of her hills +he inscribed his name, and there upon everlasting stone his genius +wrote this, the sublimest of truths:</p> +<p>"The Universe is Governed by Law!"</p> +<a name="link0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THOMAS PAINE</h2> +<h3>With His Name Left Out, the History of Liberty Cannot be +Written.</h3> +<p>TO speak the praises of the brave and thoughtful dead, is to me +a labor of gratitude and love.</p> +<p>Through all the centuries gone, the mind of man has been +beleaguered by the mailed hosts of superstition. Slowly and +painfully has advanced the army of deliverance. Hated by those they +wished to rescue, despised by those they were dying to save, these +grand soldiers, these immortal deliverers, have fought without +thanks, labored without applause, suffered without pity, and they +have died execrated and abhorred. For the good of mankind they +accepted isolation, poverty, and calumny. They gave up all, +sacrificed all, lost all but truth and self-respect.</p> +<p>One of the bravest soldiers in this army was Thomas Paine; and +for one, I feel indebted to him for the liberty we are enjoying +this day. Born among the poor, where children are burdens; in a +country where real liberty was unknown; where the privileges of +class were guarded with infinite jealousy, and the rights of the +individual trampled beneath the feet of priests and nobles; where +to advocate justice was treason; where intellectual freedom was +Infidelity, it is wonderful that the idea of true liberty ever +entered his brain. .</p> +<p>Poverty was his mother—Necessity his master.</p> +<p>He had more brains than books; more sense than education; more +courage than politeness; more strength than polish. He had no +veneration for old mistakes—no admiration for ancient lies. +He loved the truth for the truth's sake, and for man's sake. He saw +oppression on every hand; injustice everywhere; hypocrisy at the +altar, venality on the bench, tyranny on the throne; and with a +splendid courage he espoused the cause of the weak against the +strong—of the enslaved many against the titled few.</p> +<p>In England he was nothing. He belonged to the lower classes. +There was no avenue open for him. The people hugged their chains, +and the whole power of the government was ready to crush any man +who endeavored to strike a blow for the right.</p> +<p>At the age of thirty-seven, Thomas Paine left England for +America, with the high hope of being instrumental in the +establishment of a free government. In his own country he could +accomplish nothing. Those two vultures—Church and +State—were ready to tear in pieces and devour the heart of +any one who might deny their divine right to enslave the world.</p> +<p>Upon his arrival in this country, he found himself possessed of +a letter of introduction, signed by another Infidel, the +illustrious Franklin. This, and his native genius, constituted his +entire capital; and he needed no more. He found the colonies +clamoring for justice; whining about their grievances; upon their +knees at the foot of the throne, imploring that mixture of idiocy +and insanity, George the III., by the grace of God, for a +restoration of their ancient privileges. They were not endeavoring +to become free men, but were trying to soften the heart of their +master. They were perfectly willing to make brick if Pharaoh would +furnish the straw. The colonists wished for, hoped for, and prayed +for reconciliation They did not dream of independence.</p> +<p>Paine gave to the world his "Common Sense." It was the first +argument for separation, the first assault upon the British form of +government, the first blow for a republic, and it aroused our +fathers like a trumpet's blast.</p> +<p>He was the first to perceive the destiny of the New World.</p> +<p>No other pamphlet ever accomplished such wonderful results. It +was filled with argument, reason, persuasion, and unanswerable +logic. It opened a new world. It filled the present with hope and +the future with honor. Everywhere the people responded, and in a +few months the Continental Congress declared the colonies free and +independent States.</p> +<p>A new nation was born.</p> +<p>It is simple justice to say that Paine did more to cause the +Declaration of Independence than any other man. Neither should it +be forgotten that his attacks upon Great Britain were also attacks +upon monarchy; and while he convinced the people that the colonies +ought to separate from the mother country, he also proved to them +that a free government is the best that can be instituted among +men.</p> +<p>In my judgment, Thomas Paine was the best political writer that +ever lived. "What he wrote was pure nature, and his soul and his +pen ever went together." Ceremony, pageantry, and all the +paraphernalia of power, had no effect upon him. He examined into +the why and wherefore of things. He was perfectly radical in his +mode of thought. Nothing short of the bed-rock satisfied him. His +enthusiasm for what he believed to be right knew no bounds. During +all the dark scenes of the Revolution, never for one moment did he +despair. Year after year his brave words were ringing through the +land, and by the bivouac fires the weary soldiers read the +inspiring words of "Common Sense," filled with ideas sharper than +their swords, and consecrated themselves anew to the cause of +Freedom.</p> +<p>Paine was not content with having aroused the spirit of +independence, but he gave every energy of his soul to keep that +spirit alive. He was with the army. He shared its defeats, its +dangers, and its glory. When the situation became desperate, when +gloom settled upon all, he gave them the "Crisis." It was a cloud +by day and a pillar of fire by night, leading the way to freedom, +honor, and glory. He shouted to them, "These are the times that try +men's souls. The summer soldier, and the sunshine patriot, will, in +this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that +stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."</p> +<p>To those who wished to put the war off to some future day, with +a lofty and touching spirit of self-sacrifice he said: "Every +generous parent should say, 'If there must be war let it be in my +day, that my child may have peace.'" To the cry that Americans were +rebels, he replied: "He that rebels against reason is a real rebel; +but he that in defence of reason rebels against tyranny, has a +better title to 'Defender of the Faith' than George the Third."</p> +<p>Some said it was not to the interest of the colonies to be free. +Paine answered this by saying, "To know whether it be the interest +of the continent to be independent, we need ask only this simple, +easy question: 'Is it the interest of a man to be a boy all his +life?'" He found many who would listen to nothing, and to them he +said, "That to argue with a man who has renounced his reason is +like giving medicine to the dead." This sentiment ought to adorn +the walls of every orthodox church.</p> +<p>There is a world of political wisdom in this: "England lost her +liberty in a long chain of right reasoning from wrong principles"; +and there is real discrimination in saying, "The Greeks and Romans +were strongly possessed of the spirit of liberty, but not the +principles, for at the time that they were determined not to be +slaves themselves, they employed their power to enslave the rest of +mankind."</p> +<p>In his letter to the British people, in which he tried to +convince them that war was not to their interest, occurs the +following passage brimful of common sense: "War never can be the +interest of a trading nation any more than quarreling can be +profitable to a man in business. But to make war with those who +trade with us is like setting a bull-dog upon a customer at the +shop-door."</p> +<p>The writings of Paine fairly glitter with simple, compact, +logical statements, that carry conviction to the dullest and most +prejudiced. He had the happiest possible way of putting the case; +in asking questions in such a way that they answer themselves, and +in stating his premises so clearly that the deduction could not be +avoided.</p> +<p>Day and night he labored for America; month after month, year +after year, he gave himself to the Great Cause, until there was "a +government of the people and for the people," and until the banner +of the stars floated over a continent redeemed, and consecrated to +the happiness of mankind.</p> +<p>At the close of the Revolution, no one stood higher in America +than Thomas Paine. The best, the wisest, the most patriotic, were +his friends and admirers; and had he been thinking only of his own +good he might have rested from his toils and spent the remainder of +his life in comfort and in ease. He could have been what the world +is pleased to call "respectable." He could have died surrounded by +clergymen, warriors and statesmen. At his death there would have +been an imposing funeral, miles of carriages, civic societies, +salvos of artillery, a nation in mourning, and, above all, a +splendid monument covered with lies.</p> +<p>He chose rather to benefit mankind.</p> +<p>At that time the seeds sown by the great Infidels were beginning +to bear fruit in France. The people were beginning to think.</p> +<p>The Eighteenth Century was crowning its gray hairs with the +wreath of Progress.</p> +<p>On every hand Science was bearing testimony against the Church. +Voltaire had filled Europe with light; D'Holbach was giving to the +<i>élite</i> of Paris the principles contained in his +"System of Nature." The Encyclopedists had attacked superstition +with information for the masses. The foundation of things began to +be examined. A few had the courage to keep their shoes on and let +the bush burn. Miracles began to get scarce. Everywhere the people +began to inquire. America had set an example to the world. The word +Liberty was in the mouths of men, and they began to wipe the dust +from their knees.</p> +<p>The dawn of a new day had appeared.</p> +<p>Thomas Paine went to France. Into the new movement he threw all +his energies. His fame had gone before him, and he was welcomed as +a friend of the human race, and as a champion of free +government.</p> +<p>He had never relinquished his intention of pointing out to his +countrymen the defects, absurdities and abuses of the English +government For this purpose he composed and published his greatest +political work, "The Rights of Man." This work should be read by +every man and woman. It is concise, accurate, natural, convincing, +and unanswerable. It shows great thought; an intimate knowledge of +the various forms of government; deep insight into the very springs +of human action, and a courage that compels respect and admiration. +The most difficult political problems are solved in a few +sentences. The venerable arguments in favor of wrong are refuted +with a question—answered with a word. For forcible +illustration, apt comparison, accuracy and clearness of statement, +and absolute thoroughness, it has never been excelled.</p> +<p>The fears of the administration were aroused, and Paine was +prosecuted for libel and found guilty; and yet there is not a +sentiment in the entire work that will not challenge the admiration +of every civilized man. It is a magazine of political wisdom, an +arsenal of ideas, and an honor, not only to Thomas Paine, but to +human nature itself. It could have been written only by the man who +had the generosity, the exalted patriotism, the goodness to say, +"The world is my country, and to do good my religion."</p> +<p>There is in all the utterances of the world no grander, no +sublimer sentiment. There is no creed that can be compared with it +for a moment. It should be wrought in gold, adorned with jewels, +and impressed upon every human heart: "The world is my country, and +to do good my religion."</p> +<p>In 1792, Paine was elected by the department of Calais as their +representative in the National Assembly. So great was his +popularity in France that he was selected about the same time by +the people of no less than four departments.</p> +<p>Upon taking his place in the Assembly he was appointed as one of +a committee to draft a constitution for France. Had the French +people taken the advice of Thomas Paine there would have been no +"reign of terror." The streets of Paris would not have been filled +with blood The Revolution would have been the grandest success of +the world. The truth is that Paine was too conservative to suit the +leaders of the French Revolution. They, to a great extent, were +carried away by hatred, and a desire to destroy. They had suffered +so long, they had borne so much, that it was impossible for them to +be moderate in the hour of victory.</p> +<p>Besides all this, the French people had been so robbed by the +government, so degraded by the church, that they were not fit +material with which to construct a republic. Many of the leaders +longed to establish a beneficent and just government, but the +people asked for revenge.</p> +<p>Paine was filled with a real love for mankind. His philanthropy +was boundless. He wished to destroy monarchy—not the monarch. +He voted for the destruction of tyranny, and against the death of +the king. He wished to establish a government on a new basis; one +that would forget the past; one that would give privileges to none, +and protection to all.</p> +<p>In the Assembly, where nearly all were demanding the execution +of the king—where to differ from the majority was to be +suspected, and, where to be suspected was almost certain death +Thomas Paine had the courage, the goodness and the justice to vote +against death. To vote against the execution of the king was a vote +against his own life. This was the sublimity of devotion to +principle. For this he was arrested, imprisoned, and doomed to +death.</p> +<p>Search the records of the world and you will find but few +sublimer acts than that of Thomas Paine voting against the kings +death. He, the hater of despotism, the abhorrer of monarchy, the +champion of the rights of man, the republican, accepting death to +save the life of a deposed tyrant—of a throneless king. This +was the last grand act of his political life—the sublime +conclusion of his political career.</p> +<p>All his life he had been the disinterested friend of man. He had +labored—not for money, not for fame, but for the general +good. He had aspired to no office; had asked no recognition of his +services, but had ever been content to labor as a common soldier in +the army of Progress. Confining his efforts to no country, looking +upon the world as his field of action, filled with a genuine love +for the right, he found himself imprisoned by the very people he +had striven to save.</p> +<p>Had his enemies succeeded in bringing him to the block, he would +have escaped the calumnies and the hatred of the Christian world. +In this country, at least, he would have ranked with the proudest +names. On the anniversary of the Declaration his name would have +been upon the lips of all the orators, and his memory in the hearts +of all the people.</p> +<p>Thomas Paine had not finished his career.</p> +<p>He had spent his life thus far in destroying the power of kings, +and now he turned his attention to the priests. He knew that every +abuse had been embalmed in Scripture—that every outrage was +in partnership with some holy text. He knew that the throne skulked +behind the altar, and both behind a pretended revelation from God. +By this time he had found that it was of little use to free the +body and leave the mind in chains. He had explored the foundations +of despotism, and had found them infinitely rotten. He had dug +under the throne, and it occurred to him that he would take a look +behind the altar.</p> +<p>The result of his investigations was given to the world in the +"Age of Reason." From the moment of its publication he became +infamous. He was calumniated beyond measure. To slander him was to +secure the thanks of the church. All his services were instantly +forgotten, disparaged or denied. He was shunned as though he had +been a pestilence. Most of his old friends forsook him. He was +regarded as a moral plague, and at the bare mention of his name the +bloody hands of the church were raised in horror. He was denounced +as the most despicable of men.</p> +<p>Not content with following him to his grave, they pursued him +after death with redoubled fury, and recounted with infinite gusto +and satisfaction the supposed horrors of his death-bed; gloried in +the fact that he was forlorn and friendless, and gloated like +fiends over what they supposed to be the agonizing remorse of his +lonely death.</p> +<p>It is wonderful that all his services were thus forgotten. It is +amazing that one kind word did not fall from some pulpit; that some +one did not accord to him, at least—honesty. Strange, that in +the general denunciation some one did not remember his labor for +liberty, his devotion to principle, his zeal for the rights of his +fellow-men. He had, by brave and splendid effort, associated his +name with the cause of Progress. He had made it impossible to write +the history of political freedom with his name left out He was one +of the creators of light; one of the heralds of the dawn. He hated +tyranny in the name of kings, and in the name of God, with every +drop of his noble blood. He believed in liberty and justice, and in +the sacred doctrine of human equality. Under these divine banners +he fought the battle of his life. In both worlds he offered his +blood for the good of man. In the wilderness of America, in the +French Assembly, in the sombre cell waiting for death, he was the +same unflinching, unwavering friend of his race; the same undaunted +champion of universal freedom. And for this he has been hated; for +this the church has violated even his grave.</p> +<p>This is enough to make one believe that nothing is more natural +than for men to devour their benefactors. The people in all ages +have crucified and glorified. Whoever lifts his voice against +abuses, whoever arraigns the past at the bar of the present, +whoever asks the king to show his commission, or questions the +authority of the priest, will be denounced as the enemy of man and +God. In all ages reason has been regarded as the enemy of religion. +Nothing has been considered so pleasing to the Deity as a total +denial of the authority of your own mind. Self-reliance has been +thought a deadly sin; and the idea of living and dying without the +aid and consolation of superstition has always horrified the +church. By some unaccountable infatuation, belief has been and +still is considered of immense importance. All religions have been +based upon the idea that God will forever reward the true believer, +and eternally damn the man who doubts or denies. Belief is regarded +as the one essential thing. To practice justice, to love mercy, is +not enough. You must believe in some incomprehensible creed. You +must say, "Once one is three, and three times one is one." The man +who practiced every virtue, but failed to believe, was execrated. +Nothing so outrages the feelings of the church as a moral +unbeliever—nothing so horrible as a charitable Atheist.</p> +<p>When Paine was born, the world was religious, the pulpit was the +real throne, and the churches were making every effort to crush out +of the brain the idea that it had the right to think.</p> +<p>The splendid saying of Lord Bacon, that "the inquiry of truth, +which is the love-making or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, +which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the +enjoying of it, are the sovereign good of human nature," has been, +and ever will be, rejected by religionists. Intellectual liberty, +as a matter of necessity, forever destroys the idea that belief is +either praise or blame-worthy, and is wholly inconsistent with +every creed in Christendom. Paine recognized this truth. He also +saw that as long as the Bible was considered inspired, this +infamous doctrine of the virtue of belief would be believed and +preached. He examined the Scriptures for himself, and found them +filled with cruelty, absurdity and immorality.</p> +<p>He again made up his mind to sacrifice himself for the good of +his fellow-men.</p> +<p>He commenced with the assertion, "That any system of religion +that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child cannot be a +true system." What a beautiful, what a tender sentiment! No wonder +the church began to hate him. He believed in one God, and no more. +After this life he hoped for happiness. He believed that true +religion consisted in doing justice, loving mercy, in endeavoring +to make our fellow-creatures happy, and in offering to God the +fruit of the heart. He denied the inspiration of the Scriptures. +This was his crime.</p> +<p>He contended that it is a contradiction in terms to call +anything a revelation that comes to us second-hand, either verbally +or in writing. He asserted that revelation is necessarily limited +to the first communication, and that after that it is only an +account of something which another person says was a revelation to +him. We have only his word for it, as it was never made to us. This +argument never has been and probably never will be answered. He +denied the divine origin of Christ, and showed conclusively that +the pretended prophecies of the Old Testament had no reference to +him whatever; and yet he believed that Christ was a virtuous and +amiable man; that the morality he taught and practiced was of the +most benevolent and elevated character, and that it had not been +exceeded by any. Upon this point he entertained the same sentiments +now held by the Unitarians, and in fact by all the most enlightened +Christians.</p> +<p>In his time the church believed and taught that every word in +the Bible was absolutely true. Since his day it has been proven +false in its cosmogony, false in its astronomy, false in its +chronology, false in its history, and so far as the Old Testament +is concerned, false in almost everything. There are but few, if +any, scientific men who apprehend that the Bible is literally true. +Who on earth at this day would pretend to settle any scientific +question by a text from the Bible? The old belief is confined to +the ignorant and zealous. The church itself will before long be +driven to occupy the position of Thomas Paine. The best minds of +the orthodox world, to-day, are endeavoring to prove the existence +of a personal Deity. All other questions occupy a minor place. You +are no longer asked to swallow the Bible whole, whale, Jonah and +all; you are simply required to believe in God, and pay your +pew-rent. There is not now an enlightened minister in the world who +will seriously contend that Samson's strength was in his hair, or +that the necromancers of Egypt could turn water into blood, and +pieces of wood into serpents. These follies have passed away, and +the only reason that the religious world can now have for disliking +Paine is that they have been forced to adopt so many of his +opinions.</p> +<p>Paine thought the barbarities of the Old Testament inconsistent +with what he deemed the real character of God. He believed that +murder, massacre and indiscriminate slaughter had never been +commanded by the Deity. He regarded much of the Bible as childish, +unimportant and foolish The scientific world entertains the same +opinion. Paine attacked the Bible precisely in the same spirit in +which he had attacked the pretensions of kings. He used the same +weapons. All the pomp in the world could not make him cower. His +reason knew no "Holy of Holies," except the abode of Truth. The +sciences were then in their infancy. The attention of the really +learned had not been directed to an impartial examination of our +pretended revelation. It was accepted by most as a matter of +course. The church was all-powerful, and no one, unless thoroughly +imbued with the spirit of self-sacrifice, thought for a moment of +disputing the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. The infamous +doctrines that salvation depends upon belief—upon a mere +intellectual conviction—was then believed and preached. To +doubt was to secure the damnation of your soul. This absurd and +devilish doctrine shocked the common sense of Thomas Paine, and he +denounced it with the fervor of honest indignation. This doctrine, +although infinitely ridiculous, has been nearly universal, and has +been as hurtful as senseless. For the overthrow of this infamous +tenet, Paine exerted all his strength. He left few arguments to be +used by those who should come after him, and he used none that have +been refuted. The combined wisdom and genius of all mankind cannot +possibly conceive of an argument against liberty of thought. +Neither can they show why any one should be punished, either in +this world or another, for acting honestly in accordance with +reason; and yet a doctrine with every possible argument against it +has been, and still is, believed and defended by the entire +orthodox world. Can it be possible that we have been endowed with +reason simply that our souls may be caught in its toils and snares, +that we may be led by its false and delusive glare out of the +narrow path that leads to joy into the broad way of everlasting +death? Is it possible that we have been given reason simply that we +may through faith ignore its deductions, and avoid its conclusions? +Ought the sailor to throw away his compass and depend entirely upon +the fog? If reason is not to be depended upon in matters of +religion, that is to say, in respect of our duties to the Deity, +why should it be relied upon in matters respecting the rights of +our fellows? Why should we throw away the laws given to Moses by +God himself and have the audacity to make some of our own? How dare +we drown the thunders of Sinai by calling the ayes and noes in a +petty legislature? If reason can determine what is merciful, what +is just, the duties of man to man, what more do we want either in +time or eternity?</p> +<p>Down, forever down, with any religion that requires upon its +ignorant altar the sacrifice of the goddess Reason, that compels +her to abdicate forever the shining throne of the soul, strips from +her form the imperial purple, snatches from her hand the sceptre of +thought and makes her the bond-woman of a senseless faith!</p> +<p>If a man should tell you that he had the most beautiful painting +in the world, and after taking you where it was should insist upon +having your eyes shut, you would likely suspect, either that he had +no painting or that it was some pitiable daub. Should he tell you +that he was a most excellent performer on the violin, and yet +refuse to play unless your ears were stopped, you would think, to +say the least of it, that he had an odd way of convincing you of +his musical ability. But would his conduct be any more wonderful +than that of a religionist who asks that before examining his creed +you will have the kindness to throw away your reason? The first +gentleman says, "Keep your eyes shut, my picture will bear +everything but being seen;" "Keep your ears stopped, my music +objects to nothing but being heard." The last says, "Away with your +reason, my religion dreads nothing but being understood."</p> +<p>So far as I am concerned, I most cheerfully admit that most +Christians are honest, and most ministers sincere. We do not attack +them; we attack their creed. We accord to them the same rights that +we ask for ourselves. We believe that their doctrines are hurtful. +We believe that the frightful text, "He that believes shall be +saved and he that believeth not shall be damned," has covered the +earth with blood. It has filled the heart with arrogance, cruelty +and murder. It has caused the religious wars; bound hundreds of +thousands to the stake; founded inquisitions; filled dungeons; +invented instruments of torture; taught the mother to hate her +child; imprisoned the mind; filled the world with ignorance; +persecuted the lovers of wisdom; built the monasteries and +convents; made happiness a crime, investigation a sin, and +self-reliance a blasphemy. It has poisoned the springs of learning; +misdirected the energies of the world; filled all countries with +want; housed the people in hovels; fed them with famine; and but +for the efforts of a few brave Infidels it would have taken the +world back to the midnight of barbarism, and left the heavens +without a star.</p> +<p>The maligners of Paine say that he had no right to attack this +doctrine, because he was unacquainted with the dead languages; and +for this reason, it was a piece of pure impudence in him to +investigate the Scriptures.</p> +<p>Is it necessary to understand Hebrew in order to know that +cruelty is not a virtue, that murder is inconsistent with infinite +goodness, and that eternal punishment can be inflicted upon man +only by an eternal fiend? Is it really essential to conjugate the +Greek verbs before you can make up your mind as to the probability +of dead people getting out of their graves? Must one be versed in +Latin before he is entitled to express his opinion as to the +genuineness of a pretended revelation from God? Common sense +belongs exclusively to no tongue. Logic is not confined to, nor has +it been buried with, the dead languages. Paine attacked the Bible +as it is translated. If the translation is wrong, let its defenders +correct it.</p> +<p>The Christianity of Paine's day is not the Christianity of our +time. There has been a great improvement since then. One hundred +and fifty years ago the foremost preachers of our time would have +perished at the stake. A Universalist would have been torn in +pieces in England, Scotland, and America. Unitarians would have +found themselves in the stocks, pelted by the rabble with dead +cats, after which their ears would have been cut off, their tongues +bored, and their foreheads branded. Less than one hundred and fifty +years ago the following law was in force in Maryland:</p> +<p>"Be it enacted by the Right Honorable, the Lord Proprietor, by +and with the advice and consent of his Lordship's governor, and the +upper and lower houses of the Assembly, and the authority of the +same:</p> +<p>"That if any person shall hereafter, within this province, +wittingly, maliciously, and advisedly, by writing or speaking, +blaspheme or curse God, or deny our Saviour, Jesus Christ, to be +the Son of God, or shall deny the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, +and Holy Ghost, or the Godhead of any of the three persons, or the +unity of the Godhead, or shall utter any profane words concerning +the Holy Trinity, or any of the persons thereof, and shall thereof +be convict by verdict, shall, for the first offence, be bored +through the tongue, and fined twenty pounds to be levied of his +body. And for the second offence, the offender shall be stigmatized +by burning in the forehead with the letter B, and fined forty +pounds. And that for the third offence the offender shall suffer +death without the benefit of clergy."</p> +<p>The strange thing about this law is, that it has never been +repealed, and is still in force in the District of Columbia. Laws +like this were in force in most of the colonies, and in all +countries where the church had power.</p> +<p>In the Old Testament, the death penalty is attached to hundreds +of offences. It has been the same in all Christian countries. +To-day, in civilized governments, the death penalty is attached +only to murder and treason; and in some it has been entirely +abolished. What a commentary upon the divine systems of the +world!</p> +<p>In the day of Thomas Paine, the church was ignorant, bloody and +relentless. In Scotland the "Kirk" was at the summit of its power. +It was a full sister of the Spanish Inquisition. It waged war upon +human nature. It was the enemy of happiness, the hater of joy, and +the despiser of religious liberty. It taught parents to murder +their children rather than to allow them to propagate error. If the +mother held opinions of which the infamous "Kirk" disapproved, her +children were taken from her arms, her babe from her very bosom, +and she was not allowed to see them, or to write them a word. It +would not allow shipwrecked sailors to be rescued from drowning on +Sunday. It sought to annihilate pleasure, to pollute the heart by +filling it with religious cruelty and gloom, and to change mankind +into a vast horde of pious, heartless fiends. One of the most +famous Scotch divines said: "The Kirk holds that religious +toleration is not far from blasphemy." And this same Scotch Kirk +denounced, beyond measure, the man who had the moral grandeur to +say, "The world is my country, and to do good my religion." And +this same Kirk abhorred the man who said, "Any system of religion +that shocks the mind of a child cannot be a true system."</p> +<p>At that time nothing so delighted the church as the beauties of +endless torment, and listening to the weak wailings of damned +infants struggling in the slimy coils and poison-folds of the worm +that never dies.</p> +<p>About the beginning of the nineteenth century, a boy by the name +of Thomas Aikenhead, was indicted and tried at Edinburgh for having +denied the inspiration of the Scriptures, and for having, on +several occasions, when cold, wished himself in hell that he might +get warm. Notwithstanding the poor boy recanted and begged for +mercy, he was found guilty and hanged. His body was thrown in a +hole at the foot of the scaffold and covered with stones.</p> +<p>Prosecutions and executions like this were common in every +Christian country, and all of them were based upon the belief that +an intellectual conviction is a crime.</p> +<p>No wonder the church hated and traduced the author of the "Age +of Reason."</p> +<p>England was filled with Puritan gloom and Episcopal ceremony. +All religious conceptions were of the grossest nature. The ideas of +crazy fanatics and extravagant poets were taken as sober facts. +Milton had clothed Christianity in the soiled and faded finery of +the gods—had added to the story of Christ the fables of +Mythology. He gave to the Protestant Church the most outrageously +material ideas of the Deity. He turned all the angels into +soldiers—made heaven a battlefield, put Christ in uniform, +and described God as a militia general. His works were considered +by the Protestants nearly as sacred as the Bible itself, and the +imagination of the people was thoroughly polluted by the horrible +imagery, the sublime absurdity of the blind Milton.</p> +<p>Heaven and hell were realities—the judgment-day was +expected—books of account would be opened. Every man would +hear the charges against him read. God was supposed to sit on a +golden throne, surrounded by the tallest angels, with harps in +their hands and crowns on their heads. The goats would be thrust +into eternal fire on the left, while the orthodox sheep, on the +right, were to gambol on sunny slopes forever and forever.</p> +<p>The nation was profoundly ignorant, and consequently extremely +religious, so far as belief was concerned.</p> +<p>In Europe, Liberty was lying chained in the +Inquisition—her white bosom stained with blood. In the New +World the Puritans had been hanging and burning in the name of God, +and selling white Quaker children into slavery in the name of +Christ, who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me."</p> +<p>Under such conditions progress was impossible. Some one had to +lead the way. The church is, and always has been, incapable of a +forward movement. Religion always looks back. The church has +already reduced Spain to a guitar, Italy to a hand-organ, and +Ireland to exile.</p> +<p>Some one not connected with the church had to attack the monster +that was eating out the heart of the world. Some one had to +sacrifice himself for the good of all. The people were in the most +abject slavery; their manhood had been taken from them by pomp, by +pageantry and power. Progress is born of doubt and inquiry.</p> +<p>The church never doubts—never inquires. To doubt is +heresy—to inquire is to admit that you do not know—the +church does neither.</p> +<p>More than a century ago Catholisism, wrapped in robes red with +the innocent blood of millions, holding in her frantic clutch +crowns and scepters, honors and gold, the keys of heaven and hell, +trampling beneath her feet the liberties of nations, in the proud +moment of almost universal dominion, felt within her heartless +breast the deadly dagger of Voltaire. From that blow the church +never can recover. Livid with hatred she launched her eternal +anathema at the great destroyer, and ignorant Protestants have +echoed the curse of Rome.</p> +<p>In our country the church was all-powerful, and although divided +into many sects, would instantly unite to repel a common foe.</p> +<p>Paine struck the first grand blow.</p> +<p>The "Age of Reason" did more to undermine the power of the +Protestant Church than all other books then known. It furnished an +immense amount of food for thought. It was written for the average +mind, and is a straightforward, honest investigation of the Bible, +and of the Christian system.</p> +<p>Paine did not falter, from the first page to the last. He gives +you his candid thought, and candid thoughts are always +valuable.</p> +<p>The "Age of Reason" has liberalized us all. It put arguments in +the mouths of the people; it put the church on the defensive; it +enabled somebody in every village to corner the parson; it made the +world wiser, and the church better; it took power from the pulpit +and divided it among the pews.</p> +<p>Just in proportion that the human race has advanced, the church +has lost power. There is no exception to this rule.</p> +<p>No nation ever materially advanced that held strictly to the +religion of its founders.</p> +<p>No nation ever gave itself wholly to the control of the church +without losing its power, its honor, and existence.</p> +<p>Every church pretends to have found the exact truth. This is the +end of progress. Why pursue that which you have? Why investigate +when you know?</p> +<p>Every creed is a rock in running water: humanity sweeps by it. +Every creed cries to the universe, "Halt!" A creed is the ignorant +Past bullying the enlightened Present.</p> +<p>The ignorant are not satisfied with what can be demonstrated. +Science is too slow for them, and so they invent creeds. They +demand completeness. A sublime segment, a grand fragment, are of no +value to them. They demand the complete circle—the entire +structure.</p> +<p>In music they want a melody with a recurring accent at measured +periods. In religion they insist upon immediate answers to the +questions of creation and destiny. The alpha and omega of all +things must be in the alphabet of their superstition. A religion +that cannot answer every question, and guess every conundrum is, in +their estimation, worse than worthless. They desire a kind of +theological dictionary—a religious ready reckoner, together +with guide-boards at all crossings and turns. They mistake +impudence for authority, solemnity for wisdom, and bathos for +inspiration. The beginning and the end are what they demand. The +grand flight of the eagle is nothing to them. They want the nest in +which he was hatched, and especially the dry limb upon which he +roosts. Anything that can be learned is hardly worth knowing. The +present is considered of no value in itself. Happiness must not be +expected this side of the clouds, and can only be attained by +self-denial and faith; not selfdenial for the good of others, but +for the salvation of your own sweet self.</p> +<p>Paine denied the authority of bibles and creeds; this was his +crime, and for this the world shut the door in his face, and +emptied its slops upon him from the windows.</p> +<p>I challenge the world to show that Thomas Paine ever wrote one +line, one word in favor of tyranny—in favor of immorality; +one line, one word against what he believed to be for the highest +and best interest of mankind; one line, one word against justice, +charity, or liberty, and yet he has been pursued as though he had +been a fiend from hell. His memory has been execrated as though he +had murdered some Uriah for his wife; driven some Hagar into the +desert to starve with his child upon her bosom; defiled his own +daughters; ripped open with the sword the sweet bodies of loving +and innocent women; advised one brother to assassinate another; +kept a harem with seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, +or had persecuted Christians even unto strange cities.</p> +<p>The church has pursued Paine to deter others. No effort has been +in any age of the world spared to crush out opposition. The church +used painting, music and architecture, simply to degrade mankind. +But there are men that nothing can awe. There have been at all +times brave spirits that dared even the gods. Some proud head has +always been above the waves. In every age some Diogenes has +sacrificed to all the gods. True genius never cowers, and there is +always some Samson feeling for the pillars of authority.</p> +<p>Cathedrals and domes, and chimes and chants.—temples +frescoed and groined and carved, and gilded with gold—altars +and tapers, and paintings of virgin and babe—censer and +chalice—chasuble, paten and alb—organs, and anthems and +incense rising to the winged and blest—maniple, amice and +stole—crosses and crosiers, tiaras and crowns—mitres +and missals and masses—rosaries, relics and +robes—martyrs and saints, and windows stained as with the +blood of Christ—never, never for one moment awed the brave, +proud spirit of the Infidel. He knew that all the pomp and glitter +had been purchased with Liberty—that priceless jewel of the +soul. In looking at the cathedral he remembered the dungeon. The +music of the organ was not loud enough to drown the clank of +fetters. He could not forget that the taper had lighted the fagot. +He knew that the cross adorned the hilt of the sword, and so where +others worshiped, he wept and scorned.</p> +<p>The doubter, the investigator, the Infidel, have been the +saviors of liberty. This truth is beginning to be realized, and the +truly intellectual are honoring the brave thinkers of the past.</p> +<p>But the church is as unforgiving as ever, and still wonders why +any Infidel should be wicked enough to endeavor to destroy her +power.</p> +<p>I will tell the church why.</p> +<p>You have imprisoned the human mind; you have been the enemy of +liberty; you have burned us at the stake—wasted us upon slow +fires—torn our flesh with iron; you have covered us with +chains—treated us as outcasts; you have filled the world with +fear; you have taken our wives and children from our arms; you have +confiscated our property; you have denied us the right to testify +in courts of justice; you have branded us with infamy; you have +torn out our tongues; you have refused us burial. In the name of +your religion, you have robbed us of every right; and after having +inflicted upon us every evil that can be inflicted in this world, +you have fallen upon your knees, and with clasped hands implored +your God to torment us forever.</p> +<p>Can you wonder that we hate your doctrines—that we despise +your creeds—that we feel proud to know that we are beyond +your power—that we are free in spite of you—that we can +express our honest thought, and that the whole world is grandly +rising into the blessed light?</p> +<p>Can you wonder that we point with pride to the fact that +Infidelity has ever been found battling for the rights of man, for +the liberty of conscience, and for the happiness of all?</p> +<p>Can you wonder that we are proud to know that we have always +been disciples of Reason, and soldiers of Freedom; that we have +denounced tyranny and superstition, and have kept our hands +unstained with human blood?</p> +<p>We deny that religion is the end or object of this life. When it +is so considered it becomes destructive of happiness—the real +end of life. It becomes a hydra-headed monster, reaching in +terrible coils from the heavens, and thrusting its thousand fangs +into the bleeding, quivering hearts of men. It devours their +substance, builds palaces for God, (who dwells not in temples made +with hands,) and allows his children to die in huts and hovels. It +fills the earth with mourning, heaven with hatred, the present with +fear, and all the future with despair.</p> +<p>Virtue is a subordination of the passions to the intellect. It +is to act in accordance with your highest convictions. It does not +consist in believing, but in doing. This is the sublime truth that +the Infidels in all ages have uttered. They have handed the torch +from one to the other through all the years that have fled. Upon +the altar of Reason they have kept the sacred fire, and through the +long midnight of faith they fed the divine flame.</p> +<p>Infidelity is liberty; all religion is slavery. In every creed +man is the slave of God—woman is the slave of man and the +sweet children are the slaves of all.</p> +<p>We do not want creeds; we want knowledge—we want +happiness.</p> +<p>And yet we are told by the church that we have accomplished +nothing; that we are simply destroyers; that we tear down without +building again.</p> +<p>Is it nothing to free the mind? Is it nothing to civilize +mankind? Is it nothing to fill the world with light, with +discovery, with science? Is it nothing to dignify man and exalt the +intellect? Is it nothing to grope your way into the dreary prisons, +the damp and dropping dungeons, the dark and silent cells of +superstition, where the souls of men are chained to floors of +stone; to greet them like a ray of light, like the song of a bird, +the murmur of a stream; to see the dull eyes open and grow slowly +bright; to feel yourself grasped by the shrunken and unused hands, +and hear yourself thanked by a strange and hollow voice?</p> +<p>Is it nothing to conduct these souls gradually into the blessed +light of day—to let them see again the happy fields, the +sweet, green earth, and hear the everlasting music of the waves? Is +it nothing to make men wipe the dust from their swollen knees, the +tears from their blanched and furrowed cheeks? Is it a small thing +to reave the heavens of an insatiate monster and write upon the +eternal dome, glittering with stars, the grand +word—Freedom?</p> +<p>Is it a small thing to quench the flames of hell with the holy +tears of pity—to unbind the martyr from the stake—break +all the chains—put out the fires of civil war—stay the +sword of the fanatic, and tear the bloody hands of the Church from +the white throat of Science?</p> +<p>Is it a small thing to make men truly free—to destroy the +dogmas of ignorance, prejudice and power—the poisoned fables +of superstition, and drive from the beautiful face of the earth the +fiend of Fear?</p> +<p>It does seem as though the most zealous Christian must at times +entertain some doubt as to the divine origin of his religion. For +eighteen hundred years the doctrine has been preached. For more +than a thousand years the church had, to a great extent, the +control of the civilized world, and what has been the result? Are +the Christian nations patterns of charity and forbearance? On the +contrary, their principal business is to destroy each other. More +than five millions of Christians are trained, educated, and drilled +to murder their fellow-christians. Every nation is groaning under a +vast debt incurred in carrying on war against other Christians, or +defending itself from Christian assault. The world is covered with +forts to protect Christians from Christians, and every sea is +covered with iron monsters ready to blow Christian brains into +eternal froth. Millions upon millions are annually expended in the +effort to construct still more deadly and terrible engines of +death. Industry is crippled, honest toil is robbed, and even +beggary is taxed to defray the expenses of Christian warfare. There +must be some other way to reform this world. We have tried creed, +and dogma and fable, and they have failed; and they have failed in +all the nations dead.</p> +<p>The people perish for the lack of knowledge.</p> +<p>Nothing but education—scientific education—can +benefit mankind. We must find out the laws of nature and conform to +them.</p> +<p>We need free bodies and free minds,—free labor and free +thought,—chainless hands and fetterless brains. Free labor +will give us wealth. Free thought will give us truth.</p> +<p>We need men with moral courage to speak and write their real +thoughts, and to stand by their convictions, even to the very +death. We need have no fear of being too radical. The future will +verify all grand and brave predictions. Paine was splendidly in +advance of his time; but he was orthodox compared with the Infidels +of to-day.</p> +<p>Science, the great Iconoclast, has been busy since 1809, and by +the highway of Progress are the broken images of the Past.</p> +<p>On every hand the people advance. The Vicar of God has been +pushed from the throne of the Caesars, and upon the roofs of the +Eternal City falls once more the shadow of the Eagle.</p> +<p>All has been accomplished by the heroic few. The men of science +have explored heaven and earth, and with infinite patience have +furnished the facts. The brave thinkers have used them. The gloomy +caverns of superstition have been transformed into temples of +thought, and the demons of the past are the angels of to-day.</p> +<p>Science took a handful of sand, constructed a telescope, and +with it explored the starry depths of heaven. Science wrested from +the gods their thunderbolts; and now, the electric spark, freighted +with thought and love, flashes under all the waves of the sea. +Science took a tear from the cheek of unpaid labor, converted it +into steam, created a giant that turns with tireless arm, the +countless wheels of toil.</p> +<p>Thomas Paine was one of the intellectual heroes—one of the +men to whom we are indebted. His name is associated forever with +the Great Republic. As long as free government exists he will be +remembered, admired and honored.</p> +<p>He lived a long, laborious and useful life. The world is better +for his having lived. For the sake of truth he accepted hatred and +reproach for his portion. He ate the bitter bread of sorrow. His +friends were untrue to him because he was true to himself, and true +to them. He lost the respect of what is called society, but kept +his own. His life is what the world calls failure and what history +calls success.</p> +<p>If to love your fellow-men more than self is goodness, Thomas +Paine was good.</p> +<p>If to be in advance of your time—to be a pioneer in the +direction of right—is greatness, Thomas Paine was great.</p> +<p>If to avow your principles and discharge your duty in the +presence of death is heroic, Thomas Paine was a hero.</p> +<p>At the age of seventy-three, death touched his tired heart. He +died in the land his genius defended—under the flag he gave +to the skies. Slander cannot touch him now—hatred cannot +reach him more. He sleeps in the sanctuary of the tomb, beneath the +quiet of the stars.</p> +<p>A few more years—a few more brave men—a few more +rays of light, and mankind will venerate the memory of him who +said:</p> +<p>"ANY SYSTEM OF RELIGION THAT SHOCKS THE MIND OF A CHILD CANNOT +BE A TRUE SYSTEM;"</p> +<p>"The world is my Country, and to do good my Religion."</p> +<a name="link0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>INDIVIDUALITY.</h2> +<h3>"His Soul was like a Star and dwelt apart."</h3> +<p>ON every hand are the enemies of individuality and mental +freedom. Custom meets us at the cradle and leaves us only at the +tomb. Our first questions are answered by ignorance, and our last +by superstition. We are pushed and dragged by countless hands along +the beaten track, and our entire training can be summed up in the +word—suppression. Our desire to have a thing or to do a thing +is considered as conclusive evidence that we ought not to have it, +and ought not to do it. At every turn we run against cherubim and a +flaming sword guarding some entrance to the Eden of our desire. We +are allowed to investigate all subjects in which we feel no +particular interest, and to express the opinions of the majority +with the utmost freedom. We are taught that liberty of speech +should never be carried to the extent of contradicting the dead +witnesses of a popular superstition. Society offers continual +rewards for self-betrayal, and they are nearly all earned and +claimed, and some are paid.</p> +<p>We have all read accounts of Christian gentlemen remarking, when +about to be hanged, how much better it would have been for them if +they had only followed a mother's advice. But after all, how +fortunate it is for the world that the maternal advice has not +always been followed. How fortunate it is for us all that it is +somewhat unnatural for a human being to obey. Universal obedience +is universal stagnation; disobedience is one of the conditions of +progress. Select any age of the world and tell me what would have +been the effect of implicit obedience. Suppose the church had had +absolute control of the human mind at any time, would not the words +liberty and progress have been blotted from human speech? In +defiance of advice, the world has advanced.</p> +<p>Suppose the astronomers had controlled the science of astronomy; +suppose the doctors had controlled the science of medicine; suppose +kings had been left to fix the forms of government; suppose our +fathers had taken the advice of Paul, who said, "be subject to the +powers that be, because they are ordained of God;" suppose the +church could control the world to-day, we would go back to chaos +and old night. Philosophy would be branded as infamous; Science +would again press its pale and thoughtful face against the prison +bars, and round the limbs of liberty would climb the bigot's +flame.</p> +<p>It is a blessed thing that in every age some one has had +individuality enough and courage enough to stand by his own +convictions,—some one who had the grandeur to say his say. I +believe it was Magellan who said, "The church says the earth is +flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more +confidence even in a shadow than in the church." On the prow of his +ship were disobedience, defiance, scorn, and success.</p> +<p>The trouble with most people is, they bow to what is called +authority; they have a certain reverence for the old because it is +old. They think a man is better for being dead, especially if he +has been dead a long time. They think the fathers of their nation +were the greatest and best of all mankind. All these things they +implicitly believe because it is popular and patriotic, and because +they were told so when they were very small, and remember +distinctly of hearing mother read it out of a book. It is hard to +over-estimate the influence of early training in the direction of +superstition. You first teach children that a certain book is +true—that it was written by God himself—that to +question its truth is a sin, that to deny it is a crime, and that +should they die without believing that book they will be forever +damned without benefit of clergy. The consequence is, that long +before they read that book, they believe it to be true. When they +do read it their minds are wholly unfitted to investigate its +claims. They accept it as a matter of course.</p> +<p>In this way the reason is overcome, the sweet instincts of +humanity are blotted from the heart, and while reading its infamous +pages even justice throws aside her scales, shrieking for revenge, +and charity, with bloody hands, applauds a deed of murder. In this +way we are taught that the revenge of man is the justice of God; +that mercy is not the same everywhere. In this way the ideas of our +race have been subverted. In this way we have made tyrants, bigots, +and inquisitors. In this way the brain of man has become a kind of +palimpsest upon which, and over the writings of nature, +superstition has scrawled her countless lies. One great trouble is +that most teachers are dishonest. They teach as certainties those +things concerning which they entertain doubts. They do not say, "we +<i>think</i> this is so," but "we <i>know</i> this is so." They do +not appeal to the reason of the pupil, but they command his faith. +They keep all doubts to themselves; they do not explain, they +assert. All this is infamous. In this way you may make Christians, +but you cannot make men; you cannot make women. You can make +followers, but no leaders; disciples, but no Christs. You may +promise power, honor, and happiness to all those who will blindly +follow, but you cannot keep your promise.</p> +<p>A monarch said to a hermit, "Come with me and I will give you +power."</p> +<p>"I have all the power that I know how to use" replied the +hermit.</p> +<p>"Come," said the king, "I will give you wealth."</p> +<p>"I have no wants that money can supply," said the hermit.</p> +<p>"I will give you honor," said the monarch.</p> +<p>"Ah, honor cannot be given, it must be earned," was the hermit's +answer.</p> +<p>"Come," said the king, making a last appeal, "and I will give +you happiness."</p> +<p>"No," said the man of solitude, "there is no happiness without +liberty, and he who follows cannot be free."</p> +<p>"You shall have liberty too," said the king.</p> +<p>"Then I will stay where I am," said the old man.</p> +<p>And all the king's courtiers thought the hermit a fool.</p> +<p>Now and then somebody examines, and in spite of all keeps his +manhood, and has the courage to follow where his reason leads. Then +the pious get together and repeat wise saws, and exchange knowing +nods and most prophetic winks. The stupidly wise sit owl-like on +the dead limbs of the tree of knowledge, and solemnly hoot. Wealth +sneers, and fashion laughs, and respectability passes by on the +other side, and scorn points with all her skinny fingers, and all +the snakes of superstition writhe and hiss, and slander lends her +tongue, and infamy her brand, and perjury her oath, and the law its +power, and bigotry tortures, and the church kills.</p> +<p>The church hates a thinker precisely for the same reason a +robber dislikes a sheriff, or a thief despises the prosecuting +witness. Tyranny likes courtiers, flatterers, followers, fawners, +and superstition wants believers, disciples, zealots, hypocrites, +and subscribers. The church demands worship—the very thing +that man should give to no being, human or divine. To worship +another is to degrade yourself. Worship is awe and dread and vague +fear and blind hope. It is the spirit of worship that elevates the +one and degrades the many; that builds palaces for robbers, erects +monuments to crime, and forges manacles even for its own hands. The +spirit of worship is the spirit of tyranny. The worshiper always +regrets that he is not the worshiped. We should all remember that +the intellect has no knees, and that whatever the attitude of the +body may be, the brave soul is always found erect. Whoever +worships, abdicates. Whoever believes at the command of power, +tramples his own individuality beneath his feet, and voluntarily +robs himself of all that renders man superior to the brute.</p> +<p>The despotism of faith is justified upon the ground that +Christian countries are the grandest and most prosperous of the +world. At one time the same thing could have been truly said in +India, in Egypt, in Greece, in Rome, and in every other country +that has, in the history of the world, swept to empire. This +argument proves too much not only, but the assumption upon which it +is based is utterly false. Numberless circumstances and countless +conditions have produced the prosperity of the Christian world. The +truth is, we have advanced in spite of religious zeal, ignorance, +and opposition. The church has won no victories for the rights of +man. Luther labored to reform the church—Voltaire, to reform +men. Over every fortress of tyranny has waved, and still waves, the +banner of the church. Wherever brave blood has been shed, the sword +of the church has been wet. On every chain has been the sign of the +cross. The altar and throne have leaned against and supported each +other.</p> +<p>All that is good in our civilization is the result of commerce, +climate, soil, geographical position, industry, invention, +discovery, art, and science. The church has been the enemy of +progress, for the reason that it has endeavored to prevent man +thinking for himself. To prevent thought is to prevent all +advancement except in the direction of faith.</p> +<p>Who can imagine the infinite impudence of a church assuming to +think for the human race? Who can imagine the infinite impudence of +a church that pretends to be the mouthpiece of God, and in his name +threatens to inflict eternal punishment upon those who honestly +reject its claims and scorn its pretensions? By what right does a +man, or an organization of men, or a god, claim to hold a brain in +bondage? When a fact can be demonstrated, force is unnecessary; +when it cannot be demonstrated, an appeal to force is infamous. In +the presence of the unknown all have an equal right to think.</p> +<p>Over the vast plain, called life, we are all travelers, and not +one traveler is perfectly certain that he is going in the right +direction. True it is that no other plain is so well supplied with +guide-boards. At every turn and crossing you will find them, and +upon each one is written the exact direction and distance. One +great trouble is, however, that these boards are all different, and +the result is that most travelers are confused in proportion to the +number they read. Thousands of people are around each of these +signs, and each one is doing his best to convince the traveler that +his particular board is the only one upon which the least reliance +can be placed, and that if his road is taken the reward for so +doing will be infinite and eternal, while all the other roads are +said to lead to hell, and all the makers of the other guide-boards +are declared to be heretics, hypocrites and liars. "Well," says a +traveler, "you may be right in what you say, but allow me at least +to read some of the other directions and examine a little into +their claims. I wish to rely a little upon my own judgment in a +matter of so great importance." "No, sir," shouts the zealot, "that +is the very thing you are not allowed to do. You must go my way +without investigation, or you are as good as damned already." +"Well," says the traveler, "if that is so, I believe I had better +go your way." And so most of them go along, taking the word of +those who know as little as themselves. Now and then comes one who, +in spite of all threats, calmly examines the claims of all, and as +calmly rejects them all. These travelers take roads of their own, +and are denounced by all the others, as infidels and atheists.</p> +<p>Around all of these guide-boards, as far as the eye can reach, +the ground is covered with mountains of human bones, crumbling and +bleaching in the rain and sun. They are the bones of murdered men +and women—fathers, mothers and babes.</p> +<p>In my judgment, every human being should take a road of his own. +Every mind should be true to itself—should think, investigate +and conclude for itself. This is a duty alike incumbent upon pauper +and prince. Every soul should repel dictation and tyranny, no +matter from what source they come—from earth or heaven, from +men or gods. Besides, every traveler upon this vast plain should +give to every other traveler his best idea as to the road that +should be taken. Each is entitled to the honest opinion of all. And +there is but one way to get an honest opinion upon any subject +whatever. The person giving the opinion must be free from fear. The +merchant must not fear to lose his custom, the doctor his practice, +nor the preacher his pulpit There can be no advance without +liberty. Suppression of honest inquiry is retrogression, and must +end in intellectual night. The tendency of orthodox religion to-day +is toward mental slavery and barbarism. Not one of the orthodox +ministers dare preach what he thinks if he knows a majority of his +congregation think otherwise. He knows that every member of his +church stands guard over his brain with a creed, like a club, in +his hand. He knows that he is not expected to search after the +truth, but that he is employed to defend the creed. Every pulpit is +a pillory, in which stands a hired culprit, defending the justice +of his own imprisonment.</p> +<p>Is it desirable that all should be exactly alike in their +religious convictions? Is any such thing possible? Do we not know +that there are no two persons alike in the whole world? No two, +trees, no two leaves, no two anythings that are alike? Infinite +diversity is the law. Religion tries to force all minds into one +mould. Knowing that all cannot believe, the church endeavors to +make all say they believe. She longs for the unity of hypocrisy, +and detests the splendid diversity of individuality and +freedom.</p> +<p>Nearly all people stand in great horror of annihilation, and yet +to give up your individuality is to annihilate yourself. Mental +slavery is mental death, and every man who has given up his +intellectual freedom is the living coffin of his dead soul. In this +sense, every church is a cemetery and every creed an epitaph.</p> +<p>We should all remember that to be like other people is to be +unlike ourselves, and that nothing can be more detestable in +character than servile imitation. The great trouble with imitation +is, that we are apt to ape those who are in reality far below us. +After all, the poorest bargain that a human being can make, is to +give his individuality for what is called respectability.</p> +<p>There is no saying more degrading than this: "It is better to be +the tail of a lion than the head of a dog." It is a responsibility +to think and act for yourself. Most people hate responsibility; +therefore they join something and become the tail of some lion. +They say, "My party can act for me—my church can do my +thinking. It is enough for me to pay taxes and obey the lion to +which I belong, without troubling myself about the right, the +wrong, or the why or the wherefore of anything whatever." These +people are respectable. They hate reformers, and dislike +exceedingly to have their minds disturbed. They regard convictions +as very disagreeable things to have. They love forms, and enjoy, +beyond everything else, telling what a splendid tail their lion +has, and what a troublesome dog their neighbor is. Besides this +natural inclination to avoid personal responsibility, is and always +has been, the fact, that every religionist has warned men against +the presumption and wickedness of thinking for themselves. The +reason has been denounced by all Christendom as the only unsafe +guide. The church has left nothing undone to prevent man following +the logic of his brain. The plainest facts have been covered with +the mantle of mystery. The grossest absurdities have been declared +to be self-evident facts. The order of nature has been, as it were, +reversed, that the hypocritical few might govern the honest many. +The man who stood by the conclusion of his reason was denounced as +a scorner and hater of God and his holy church. From the +organization of the first church until this moment, to think your +own thoughts has been inconsistent with membership. Every member +has borne the marks of collar, and chain, and whip. No man ever +seriously attempted to reform a church without being cast out and +hunted down by the hounds of hypocrisy. The highest crime against a +creed is to change it. Reformation is treason.</p> +<p>Thousands of young men are being educated at this moment by the +various churches. What for? In order that they may be prepared to +investigate the phenomena by which we are surrounded? No! The +object, and the only object, is that they may be prepared to defend +a creed; that they may learn the arguments of their respective +churches, and repeat them in the dull ears of a thoughtless +congregation. If one, after being thus trained at the expense of +the Methodists, turns Presbyterian or Baptist, he is denounced as +an ungrateful wretch. Honest investigation is utterly impossible +within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think +the church is right you will not investigate, and if you think it +wrong, the church will investigate you. The consequence of this is, +that most of the theological literature is the result of +suppression, of fear, tyranny and hypocrisy.</p> +<p>Every orthodox writer necessarily said to himself, "If I write +that, my wife and children may want for bread. I will be covered +with shame and branded with infamy; but if I write this, I will +gain position, power, and honor. My church rewards defenders, and +burns reformers."</p> +<p>Under these conditions all your Scotts, Hen-rys, and McKnights +have written; and weighed in these scales, what are their +commentaries worth? They are not the ideas and decisions of honest +judges, but the sophisms of the paid attorneys of superstition. Who +can tell what the world has lost by this infamous system of +suppression? How many grand thinkers have died with the mailed hand +of superstition upon their lips? How many splendid ideas have +perished in the cradle of the brain, strangled in the poison-coils +of that python, the Church!</p> +<p>For thousands of years a thinker was hunted down like an escaped +convict. To him who had braved the church, every door was shut, +every knife was open. To shelter him from the wild storm, to give +him a crust when dying, to put a cup of water to his cracked and +bleeding lips; these were all crimes, not one of which the church +ever did forgive; and with the justice taught of her God, his +helpless children were exterminated as scorpions and vipers.</p> +<p>Who at the present day can imagine the courage, the devotion to +principle, the intellectual and moral grandeur it once required to +be an infidel, to brave the church, her racks, her fagots, her +dungeons, her tongues of fire,—to defy and scorn her heaven +and her hell—her devil and her God? They were the noblest +sons of earth. They were the real saviors of our race, the +destroyers of superstition and the creators of Science. They were +the real Titans who bared their grand foreheads to all the +thunderbolts of all the gods.</p> +<p>The church has been, and still is, the great robber. She has +rifled not only the pockets but the brains of the world. She is the +stone at the sepulchre of liberty; the upas tree, in whose shade +the intellect of man has withered; the Gorgon beneath whose gaze +the human heart has turned to stone. Under her influence even the +Protestant mother expects to be happy in heaven, while her brave +boy, who fell fighting for the rights of man, shall writhe in +hell.</p> +<p>It is said that some of the Indian tribes place the heads of +their children between pieces of bark until the form of the skull +is permanently changed. To us this seems a most shocking custom; +and yet, after all, is it as bad as to put the souls of our +children in the strait-jacket of a creed? to so utterly deform +their minds that they regard the God of the Bible as a being of +infinite mercy, and really consider it a virtue to believe a thing +just because it seems unreasonable? Every child in the Christian +world has uttered its wondering protest against this outrage. All +the machinery of the church is constantly employed in corrupting +the reason of children. In every possible way they are robbed of +their own thoughts and forced to accept the statements of others. +Every Sunday school has for its object the crushing out of every +germ of individuality. The poor children are taught that nothing +can be more acceptable to God than unreasoning obedience and +eyeless faith, and that to believe God did an impossible act, is +far better than to do a good one yourself. They are told that all +religions have been simply the John-the-Baptists of ours; that all +the gods of antiquity have withered and shrunken into the Jehovah +of the Jews; that all the longings and aspirations of the race are +realized in the motto of the Evangelical Alliance, "Liberty in +non-essentials", that all there is, or ever was, of religion can be +found in the apostles' creed; that there is nothing left to be +discovered; that all the thinkers are dead, and all the living +should simply be believers; that we have only to repeat the epitaph +found on the grave of wisdom; that grave-yards are the best +possible universities, and that the children must be forever beaten +with the bones of the fathers.</p> +<p>It has always seemed absurd to suppose that a god would choose +for his companions, during all eternity, the dear souls whose +highest and only ambition is to obey. He certainly would now and +then be tempted to make the same remark made by an English +gentleman to his poor guest. The gentleman had invited a man in +humble circumstances to dine with him. The man was so overcome with +the honor that to everything the gentleman said he replied "Yes." +Tired at last with the monotony of acquiescence, the gentleman +cried out, "For God's sake, my good man, say 'No,' just once, so +there will be two of us."</p> +<p>Is it possible that an infinite God created this world simply to +be the dwelling-place of slaves and serfs? simply for the purpose +of raising orthodox Christians? That he did a few miracles to +astonish them; that all the evils of life are simply his +punishments, and that he is finally going to turn heaven into a +kind of religious museum filled with Baptist barnacles, petrified +Presbyterians and Methodist mummies? I want no heaven for which I +must give my reason; no happiness in exchange for my liberty, and +no immortality that demands the surrender of my individuality. +Better rot in the windowless tomb, to which there is no door but +the red mouth of the pallid worm, than wear the jeweled collar even +of a god.</p> +<p>Religion does not, and cannot, contemplate man as free. She +accepts only the homage of the prostrate, and scorns the offerings +of those who stand erect. She cannot tolerate the liberty of +thought. The wide and sunny fields belong not to her domain. The +star-lit heights of genius and individuality are above and beyond +her appreciation and power. Her subjects cringe at her feet, +covered with the dust of obedience.</p> +<p>They are not athletes standing posed by rich life and brave +endeavor like antique statues, but shriveled deformities, studying +with furtive glance the cruel face of power.</p> +<p>No religionist seems capable of comprehending this plain truth. +There is this difference between thought and action: for our +actions we are responsible to ourselves and to those injuriously +affected; for thoughts, there can, in the nature of things, be no +responsibility to gods or men, here or hereafter. And yet the +Protestant has vied with the Catholic in denouncing freedom of +thought; and while I was taught to hate Catholicism with every drop +of my blood, it is only justice to say, that in all essential +particulars it is precisely the same as every other religion. +Luther denounced mental liberty with all the coarse and brutal +vigor of his nature; Calvin despised, from the very bottom of his +petrified heart, anything that even looked like religious +toleration, and solemnly declared that to advocate it was to +crucify Christ afresh. All the founders of all the orthodox +churches have advocated the same infamous tenet. The truth is, that +what is called religion is necessarily inconsistent with free +thought A believer is a bird in a cage, a Freethinker is an eagle +parting the clouds with tireless wing.</p> +<p>At present, owing to the inroads that have been made by liberals +and infidels, most of the churches pretend to be in favor of +religious liberty. Of these churches, we will ask this question: +How can a man, who conscientiously believes in religious liberty, +worship a God who does not? They say to us: "We will not imprison +you on account of your belief, but our God will." "We will not burn +you because you throw away the sacred Scriptures, but their author +will." "We think it an infamous crime to persecute our brethren for +opinion's sake,—but the God, whom we ignorantly worship, will +on that account, damn his own children forever."</p> +<p>Why is it that these Christians not only detest the infidels, +but cordially despise each other? Why do they refuse to worship in +the temples of each other? Why do they care so little for the +damnation of men, and so much for the baptism of children? Why will +they adorn their churches with the money of thieves and flatter +vice for the sake of subscriptions? Why will they attempt to bribe +Science to certify to the writings of God? Why do they torture the +words of the great into an acknowledgment of the truth of +Christianity? Why do they stand with hat in hand before presidents, +kings, emperors, and scientists, begging, like Lazarus, for a few +crumbs of religious comfort? Why are they so delighted to find an +allusion to Providence in the message of Lincoln? Why are they so +afraid that some one will find out that Paley wrote an essay in +favor of the Epicurean philosophy, and that Sir Isaac Newton was +once an infidel? Why are they so anxious to show that Voltaire +recanted; that Paine died palsied with fear; that the Emperor +Julian cried out "Galilean, thou hast conquered"; that Gibbon died +a Catholic; that Agassiz had a little confidence in Moses; that the +old Napoleon was once complimentary enough to say that he thought +Christ greater than himself or Cæsar; that Washington was +caught on his knees at Valley Forge; that blunt old Ethan Allen +told his child to believe the religion of her mother; that Franklin +said, "Don't unchain the tiger," and that Volney got frightened in +a storm at sea?</p> +<p>Is it because the foundation of their temple is crumbling, +because the walls are cracked, the pillars leaning, the great dome +swaying to its fall, and because Science has written over the high +altar its mene, mene, tekel, upharsin—the old words, destined +to be the epitaph of all religions?</p> +<p>Every assertion of individual independence has been a step +toward infidelity. Luther started toward Humboldt,—Wesley, +toward John Stuart Mill. To really reform the church is to destroy +it. Every new religion has a little less superstition than the old, +so that the religion of Science is but a question of time.</p> +<p>I will not say the church has been an unmitigated evil in all +respects. Its history is infamous and glorious. It has delighted in +the production of extremes. It has furnished murderers for its own +martyrs. It has sometimes fed the body, but has always starved the +soul. It has been a charitable highwayman—a profligate +beggar—a generous pirate. It has produced some angels and a +multitude of devils. It has built more prisons than asylums. It +made a hundred orphans while it cared for one. In one hand it has +carried the alms-dish and in the other a sword. It has founded +schools and endowed universities for the purpose of destroying true +learning. It filled the world with hypocrites and zealots, and upon +the cross of its own Christ it crucified the individuality of man. +It has sought to destroy the independence of the soul and put the +world upon its knees. This is its crime. The commission of this +crime was necessary to its existence. In order to compel obedience +it declared that it had the truth, and all the truth; that God had +made it the keeper of his secrets; his agent and his vicegerent. It +declared that all other religions were false and infamous. It +rendered all compromise impossible and all thought superfluous. +Thought was its enemy, obedience was its friend. Investigation was +fraught with danger; therefore investigation was suppressed. The +holy of holies was behind the curtain. All this was upon the +principle that forgers hate to have the signature examined by an +expert, and that imposture detests curiosity.</p> +<p>"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," has always been the +favorite text of the church.</p> +<p>In short, Christianity has always opposed every forward movement +of the human race. Across the highway of progress it has always +been building breastworks of Bibles, tracts, commentaries, +prayer-books, creeds, dogmas and platforms, and at every advance +the Christians have gathered together behind these heaps of rubbish +and shot the poisoned arrows of malice at the soldiers of +freedom.</p> +<p>And even the liberal Christian of to-day has his holy of holies, +and in the niche of the temple of his heart has his idol. He still +clings to a part of the old superstition, and all the pleasant +memories of the old belief linger in the horizon of his thoughts +like a sunset. We associate the memory of those we love with the +religion of our childhood. It seems almost a sacrilege to rudely +destroy the idols that our fathers worshiped, and turn their sacred +and beautiful truths into the fables of barbarism. Some throw away +the Old Testament and cling to the New, while others give up +everything except the idea that there is a personal God, and that +in some wonderful way we are the objects of his care.</p> +<p>Even this, in my opinion, as Science, the great iconoclast, +marches onward, will have to be abandoned with the rest. The great +ghost will surely share the fate of the little ones. They fled at +the first appearance of the dawn, and the other will vanish with +the perfect day. Until then the independence of man is little more +than a dream. Overshadowed by an immense personality, in the +presence of the irresponsible and the infinite, the individuality +of man is lost, and he falls prostrate in the very dust of fear. +Beneath the frown of the absolute, man stands a wretched, trembling +slave,—beneath his smile he is at best only a fortunate serf. +Governed by a being whose arbitrary will is law, chained to the +chariot of power, his destiny rests in the pleasure of the unknown. +Under these circumstances, what wretched object can he have in +lengthening out his aimless life?</p> +<p>And yet, in most minds, there is a vague fear of the +gods—a shrinking from the malice of the skies. Our fathers +were slaves, and nearly all their children are mental serfs. The +enfranchisement of the soul is a slow and painful process. +Superstition, the mother of those hideous twins, Fear and Faith, +from her throne of skulls, still rules the world, and will until +the mind of woman ceases to be the property of priests.</p> +<p>When women reason, and babes sit in the lap of philosophy, the +victory of reason over the shadowy host of darkness will be +complete.</p> +<p>In the minds of many, long after the intellect has thrown aside +as utterly fabulous the legends of the church, there still remains +a lingering suspicion, born of the mental habits contracted in +childhood, that after all there may be a grain of truth in these +mountains of theological mist, and that possibly the superstitious +side is the side of safety.</p> +<p>A gentleman, walking among the ruins of Athens, came upon a +fallen statue of Jupiter; making an exceedingly low bow he said: "O +Jupiter! I salute thee." He then added: "Should you ever sit upon +the throne of heaven again, do not, I pray you, forget that I +treated you politely when you were prostrate."</p> +<p>We have all been taught by the church that nothing is so well +calculated to excite the ire of the Deity as to express a doubt as +to his existence, and that to deny it is an unpardonable sin. +Numerous well-attested instances are referred to of atheists being +struck dead for denying the existence of God. According to these +religious people, God is infinitely above us in every respect, +infinitely merciful, and yet he cannot bear to hear a poor finite +man honestly question his existence. Knowing, as he does, that his +children are groping in darkness and struggling with doubt and +fear; knowing that he could enlighten them if he would, he still +holds the expression of a sincere doubt as to his existence, the +most infamous of crimes. According to orthodox logic, God having +furnished us with imperfect minds, has a right to demand a perfect +result.</p> +<p>Suppose Mr. Smith should overhear a couple of small bugs holding +a discussion as to the existence of Mr. Smith, and suppose one +should have the temerity to declare, upon the honor of a bug, that +he had examined the whole question to the best of his ability, +including the argument based upon design, and had come to the +conclusion that no man by the name of Smith had ever lived. Think +then of Mr. Smith flying into an ecstasy of rage, crushing the +atheist bug beneath his iron heel, while he exclaimed, "I will +teach you, blasphemous wretch, that Smith is a diabolical fact!" +What then can we think of a God who would open the artillery of +heaven upon one of his own children for simply expressing his +honest thought? And what man who really thinks can help repeating +the words of Ennius: "If there are gods they certainly pay no +attention to the affairs of man."</p> +<p>Think of the millions of men and women who have been destroyed +simply for loving and worshiping this God. Is it possible that this +God, having infinite power, saw his loving and heroic children +languishing in the darkness of dungeons; heard the clank of their +chains when they lifted their hands to him in the agony of prayer; +saw them stretched upon the bigot's rack, where death alone had +pity; saw the serpents of flame crawl hissing round their shrinking +forms—-saw all this for sixteen hundred years, and sat as +silent as a stone?</p> +<p>From such a God, why should man expect assistance? Why should he +waste his days in fruitless prayer? Why should he fall upon his +knees and implore a phantom—a phantom that is deaf, and dumb, +and blind?</p> +<p>Although we live in what is called a free government,—and +politically we are free,—there is but little religious +liberty in America. Society demands, either that you belong to some +church, or that you suppress your opinions. It is contended by many +that ours is a Christian government, founded upon the Bible, and +that all who look upon that book as false or foolish are destroying +the foundation of our country. The truth is, our government is not +founded upon the rights of gods, but upon the rights of men. Our +Constitution was framed, not to declare and uphold the deity of +Christ, but the sacredness of humanity. Ours is the first +government made by the people and for the people. It is the only +nation with which the gods have had nothing to do. And yet there +are some judges dishonest and cowardly enough to solemnly decide +that this is a Christian country, and that our free institutions +are based upon the infamous laws of Jehovah. Such judges are the +Jeffries of the church. They believe that decisions, made by +hirelings at the bidding of kings, are binding upon man forever. +They regard old law as far superior to modern justice. They are +what might be called orthodox judges. They spend their days in +finding out, not what ought to be, but what has been. With their +backs to the sunrise they worship the night. There is only one +future event with which they concern themselves, and that is their +reelection. No honest court ever did, or ever will, decide that our +Constitution is Christian. The Bible teaches that the powers that +be, are ordained of God. The Bible teaches that God is the source +of all authority, and that all kings have obtained their power from +him. Every tyrant has claimed to be the agent of the Most High. The +Inquisition was founded, not in the name of man, but in the name of +God. All the governments of Europe recognize the greatness of God, +and the littleness of the people. In all ages, hypocrites, called +priests, have put crowns upon the heads of thieves, called +kings.</p> +<p>The Declaration of Independence announces the sublime truth, +that all power comes from the people. This was a denial, and the +first denial of a nation, of the infamous dogma that God confers +the right upon one man to govern others. It was the first grand +assertion of the dignity of the human race. It declared the +governed to be the source of power, and in fact denied the +authority of any and all gods. Through the ages of +slavery—through the weary centuries of the lash and chain, +God was the acknowledged ruler of the world. To enthrone man, was +to dethrone him.</p> +<p>To Paine, Jefferson, and Franklin, are we indebted, more than to +all others, for a human government, and for a Constitution in which +no God is recognized superior to the legally expressed will of the +people.</p> +<p>They knew that to put God in the Constitution was to put man +out. They knew that the recognition of a Deity would be seized upon +by fanatics and zealots as a pretext for destroying the liberty of +thought. They knew the terrible history of the church too well to +place in her keeping, or in the keeping of her God, the sacred +rights of man. They intended that all should have the right to +worship, or not to worship; that our laws should make no +distinction on account of creed. They intended to found and frame a +government for man, and for man alone. They wished to preserve the +individuality and liberty of all; to prevent the few from governing +the many, and the many from persecuting and destroying the few.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding all this, the spirit of persecution still +lingers in our laws. In many of the States, only those who believe +in the existence of some kind of God, are under the protection of +the law.</p> +<p>The supreme court of Illinois decided, in the year of grace +1856, that an unbeliever in the existence of an intelligent First +Cause could not be allowed to testify in any court. His wife and +children might have been murdered before his very face, and yet in +the absence of other witnesses, the murderer could not have even +been indicted. The atheist was a legal outcast. To him, Justice was +not only blind, but deaf. He was liable, like other men, to support +the Government, and was forced to contribute his share towards +paying the salaries of the very judges who decided that under no +circumstances could his voice be heard in any court. This was the +law of Illinois, and so remained until the adoption of the new +Constitution. By such infamous means has the church endeavored to +chain the human mind, and protect the majesty of her God. The fact +is, we have no national religion, and no national God; but every +citizen is allowed to have a religion and a God of his own, or to +reject all religions and deny the existence of all gods. The +church, however, never has, and never will understand and +appreciate the genius of our Government.</p> +<p>Last year, in a convention of Protestant bigots, held in the +city of New York for the purpose of creating public opinion in +favor of a religious amendment to the Federal Constitution, a +reverend doctor of divinity, speaking of atheists, said: "What are +the rights of the atheist? I would tolerate him as I would tolerate +a poor lunatic. I would tolerate him as I would tolerate a +conspirator. He may live and go free, hold his lands and enjoy his +home—he may even vote; but for any higher or more advanced +citizenship, he is, as I hold, utterly disqualified." These are the +sentiments of the church to-day.</p> +<p>Give the church a place in the Constitution, let her touch once +more the sword of power, and the priceless fruit of all the ages +will turn to ashes on the lips of men.</p> +<p>In religious ideas and conceptions there has been for ages a +slow and steady development At the bottom of the ladder (speaking +of modern times) is Catholicism, and at the top is Science. The +intermediate rounds of this ladder are occupied by the various +sects, whose name is legion.</p> +<p>But whatever may be the truth upon any subject has nothing to do +with-our right to investigate that subject, and express any opinion +we may form. All that I ask, is the same right I freely accord to +all others.</p> +<p>A few years ago a Methodist clergyman took it upon himself to +give me a piece of friendly advice. "Although you may disbelieve +the Bible," said he, "you ought not to say so. That, you should +keep to yourself."</p> +<p>"Do you believe the Bible," said I.</p> +<p>He replied, "Most assuredly".</p> +<p>To which I retorted, "Your answer conveys no information to me. +You may be following your own advice. You told me to suppress my +opinions. Of course a man who will advise others to dissimulate +will not always be particular about telling the truth himself."</p> +<p>There can be nothing more utterly subversive of all that is +really valuable than the suppression of honest thought. No man, +worthy of the form he bears, will at the command of church or state +solemnly repeat a creed his reason scorns.</p> +<p>It is the duty of each and every one to maintain his +individuality. "This above all, to thine ownself be true, and it +must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to +any man." It is a magnificent thing to be the sole proprietor of +yourself. It is a terrible thing to wake up at night and say, +"There is nobody in this bed." It is humiliating to know that your +ideas are all borrowed; that you are indebted to your memory for +your principles; that your religion is simply one of your habits, +and that you would have convictions if they were only contagious. +It is mortifying to feel that you belong to a mental mob and cry +"crucify him," because the others do; that you reap what the great +and brave have sown, and that you can benefit the world only by +leaving it.</p> +<p>Surely every human being ought to attain to the dignity of the +unit. Surely it is worth something to be one, and to feel that the +census of the universe would be incomplete without counting you. +Surely there is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought, +at least, you are without a chain; that you have the right to +explore all heights and all depths; that there are no walls nor +fences, nor prohibited places, nor sacred corners in all the vast +expanse of thought; that your intellect owes no allegiance to any +being, human or divine; that you hold all in fee and upon no +condition and by no tenure whatever; that in the world of mind you +are relieved from all personal dictation, and from the ignorant +tyranny of majorities. Surely it is worth something to feel that +there are no priests, no popes, no parties, no governments, no +kings, no gods, to whom your intellect can be compelled to pay a +reluctant homage. Surely it is a joy to know that all the cruel +ingenuity of bigotry can devise no prison, no dungeon, no cell in +which for one instant to confine a thought; that ideas cannot be +dislocated by racks, nor crushed in iron boots, nor burned with +fire. Surely it is sublime to think that the brain is a castle, and +that within its curious bastions and winding halls the soul, in +spite of all worlds and all beings, is the supreme sovereign of +itself.</p> +<a name="link0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>HERETICS AND HERESIES.</h2> +<h3>Liberty, a Word without which all other Words are Vain.</h3> +<p>WHOEVER has an opinion of his own, and honestly expresses it, +will be guilty of heresy. Heresy is what the minority believe; it +is the name given by the powerful to the doctrine of the weak. This +word was born of the hatred, arrogance and cruelty of those who +love their enemies, and who, when smitten on one cheek, turn the +other. This word was born of intellectual slavery in the feudal +ages of thought It was an epithet used in the place of argument. +From the commencement of the Christian era, every art has been +exhausted and every conceivable punishment inflicted to force all +people to hold the same religious opinions. This effort was born of +the idea that a certain belief was necessary to the salvation of +the soul. Christ taught, and the church still teaches, that +unbelief is the blackest of crimes. God is supposed to hate with an +infinite and implacable hatred, every heretic upon the earth, and +the heretics who have died are supposed at this moment to be +suffering the agonies of the damned. The church persecutes the +living and her God burns the dead.</p> +<p>It is claimed that God wrote a book called the Bible, and it is +generally admitted that this book is somewhat difficult to +understand. As long as the church had all the copies of this book, +and the people were not allowed to read it, there was comparatively +little heresy in the world; but when it was printed and read, +people began honestly to differ as to its meaning. A few were +independent and brave enough to give the world their real thoughts, +and for the extermination of these men the church used all her +power. Protestants and Catholics vied with each other in the work +of enslaving the human mind. For ages they were rivals in the +infamous effort to rid the earth of honest people. They infested +every country, every city, town, hamlet and family. They appealed +to the worst passions of the human heart They sowed the seeds of +discord and hatred in every land. Brother denounced brother, wives +informed against their husbands, mothers accused their children, +dungeons were crowded with the innocent; the flesh of the good and +true rotted in the clasp of chains; the flames devoured the heroic, +and in the name of the most merciful God, his children were +exterminated with famine, sword, and fire. Over the wild waves of +battle rose and fell the banner of Jesus Christ. For sixteen +hundred years the robes of the church were red with innocent blood. +The ingenuity of Christians was exhausted in devising punishment +severe enough to be inflicted upon other Christians who honestly +and sincerely differed with them upon any point whatever.</p> +<p>Give any orthodox church the power, and to-day they would punish +heresy with whip, and chain, and fire. As long as a church deems a +certain belief essential to salvation, just so long it will kill +and burn if it has the power. Why should the church pity a man whom +her God hates? Why should she show mercy to a kind and noble +heretic whom her God will burn in eternal fire? Why should a +Christian be better than his God? It is impossible for the +imagination to conceive of a greater atrocity than has been +perpetrated by the church. Every nerve in the human body capable of +pain has been sought out and touched by the church.</p> +<p>Let it be remembered that all churches have persecuted heretics +to the extent of their power. Toleration has increased only when +and where the power of the church has diminished. From Augustine +until now the spirit of the Christians has remained the same. There +has been the same intolerance, the same undying hatred of all who +think for themselves, and the same determination to crush out of +the human brain all knowledge inconsistent with an ignorant +creed.</p> +<p>Every church pretends that it has a revelation from God, and +that this revelation must be given to the people through the +church; that the church acts through its priests, and that ordinary +mortals must be content with a revelation—not from +God—but from the church. Had the people submitted to this +preposterous claim, of course there could have been but one church, +and that church never could have advanced. It might have +retrograded, because it is not necessary to think or investigate in +order to forget. Without heresy there could have been no +progress.</p> +<p>The highest type of the orthodox Christian does not forget; +neither does he learn. He neither advances nor recedes. He is a +living fossil embedded in that rock called faith. He makes no +effort to better his condition, because all his strength is +exhausted in keeping other people from improving theirs. The +supreme desire of his heart is to force all others to adopt his +creed, and in order to accomplish this object he denounces free +thinking as a crime, and this crime he calls heresy. When he had +power, heresy was the most terrible and formidable of words. It +meant confiscation, exile, imprisonment, torture, and death.</p> +<p>In those days the cross and rack were inseparable companions. +Across the open Bible lay the sword and fagot. Not content with +burning such heretics as were alive, they even tried the dead, in +order that the church might rob their wives and children. The +property of all heretics was confiscated, and on this account they +charged the dead with being heretical—indicted, as it were, +their dust—to the end that the church might clutch the bread +of orphans. Learned divines discussed the propriety of tearing out +the tongues of heretics before they were burned, and the general +opinion was, that this ought to be done so that the heretics should +not be able, by uttering blasphemies, to shock the Christians who +were burning them. With a mixture of ferocity and Christianity, the +priests insisted that heretics ought to be burned at a slow fire, +giving as a reason that more time was given them for +repentance.</p> +<p>No wonder that Jesus Christ said, "I came not to bring peace, +but a sword."</p> +<p>Every priest regarded himself as the agent of God. He answered +all questions by authority, and to treat him with disrespect was an +insult offered to God. No one was asked to think, but all were +commanded to obey.</p> +<p>In 1208 the Inquisition was established. Seven years afterward, +the fourth council of the Lateran enjoined all kings and rulers to +swear an oath that they would exterminate heretics from their +dominions. The sword of the church was unsheathed, and the world +was at the mercy of ignorant and infuriated priests, whose eyes +feasted upon the agonies they inflicted. Acting, as they believed, +or pretended to believe, under the command of God; stimulated by +the hope of infinite reward in another world—hating heretics +with every drop of their bestial blood; savage beyond description; +merciless beyond conception,—these infamous priests, in a +kind of frenzied joy, leaped upon the helpless victims of their +rage. They crushed their bones in iron boots; tore their quivering +flesh with iron hooks and pincers; cut off their lips and eyelids; +pulled out their nails, and into the bleeding quick thrust needles; +tore out their tongues; extinguished their eyes; stretched them +upon racks; flayed them alive; crucified them with their heads +downward; exposed them to wild beasts; burned them at the stake; +mocked their cries and groans; ravished their wives; robbed their +children, and then prayed God to finish the holy work in hell.</p> +<p>Millions upon millions were sacrificed upon the altars of +bigotry. The Catholic burned the Lutheran, the Lutheran burned the +Catholic, the Episcopalian tortured the Presbyterian, the +Presbyterian tortured the Episcopalian. Every denomination killed +all it could of every other; and each Christian felt in duty bound +to exterminate every other Christian who denied the smallest +fraction of his creed.</p> +<p>In the reign of Henry VIII.—that pious and moral founder +of the apostolic Episcopal Church,—there was passed by the +parliament of England an act entitled "An act for abolishing of +diversity of opinion." And in this act was set forth what a good +Christian was obliged to believe: First, That in the sacrament was +the real body and blood of Jesus Christ.</p> +<p>Second, That the body and blood of Jesus Christ was in the +bread, and the blood and body of Jesus Christ was in the wine.</p> +<p>Third, That priests should not marry.</p> +<p>Fourth, That vows of chastity were of perpetual obligation.</p> +<p>Fifth, That private masses ought to be continued; and,</p> +<p>Sixth, That auricular confession to a priest must be +maintained.</p> +<p>This creed was made by law, in order that all men might know +just what to believe by simply reading the statute. The church +hated to see the people wearing out their brains in thinking upon +these subjects. It was thought far better that a creed should be +made by parliament, so that whatever might be lacking in evidence +might be made up in force. The punishment for denying the first +article was death by fire. For the denial of any other article, +imprisonment, and for the second offence—death.</p> +<p>Your attention is called to these six articles, established +during the reign of Henry VIII., and by the Church of England, +simply because not one of these articles is believed by that church +to-day. If the law then made by the church could be enforced now, +every Episcopalian would be burned at the stake.</p> +<p>Similar laws were passed in most Christian countries, as all +orthodox churches firmly believed that mankind could be legislated +into heaven. According to the creed of every church, slavery leads +to heaven, liberty leads to hell. It was claimed that God had +founded the church, and that to deny the authority of the church +was to be a traitor to God, and consequently an ally of the devil. +To torture and destroy one of the soldiers of Satan was a duty no +good Christian cared to neglect. Nothing can be sweeter than to +earn the gratitude of God by killing your own enemies. Such a +mingling of profit and revenge, of heaven for yourself and +damnation for those you dislike, is a temptation that your ordinary +Christian never resists.</p> +<p>According to the theologians, God, the Father of us all, wrote a +letter to his children. The children have always differed somewhat +as to the meaning of this letter. In consequence of these honest +differences, these brothers began to cut out each other's hearts. +In every land, where this letter from God has been read, the +children to whom and for whom it was written have been filled with +hatred and malice. They have imprisoned and murdered each other, +and the wives and children of each other. In the name of God every +possible crime has been committed, every conceivable outrage has +been perpetrated. Brave men, tender and loving women, beautiful +girls, and prattling babes have been exterminated in the name of +Jesus Christ. For more than fifty generations the church has +carried the black flag. Her vengeance has been measured only by her +power. During all these years of infamy no heretic has ever been +forgiven. With the heart of a fiend she has hated; with the clutch +of avarice she has grasped; with the jaws of a dragon she has +devoured; pitiless as famine, merciless as fire, with the +conscience of a serpent: such is the history of the Church of +God.</p> +<p>I do not say, and I do not believe, that Christians are as bad +as their creeds. In spite of church and dogma, there have been +millions and millions of men and women true to the loftiest and +most generous promptings of the human heart. They have been true to +their convictions, and, with a self-denial and fortitude excelled +by none, have labored and suffered for the salvation of men. Imbued +with the spirit of self-sacrifice, believing that by personal +effort they could rescue at least a few souls from the infinite +shadow of hell, they have cheerfully endured every hardship and +scorned every danger. And yet, notwithstanding all this, they +believed that honest error was a crime. They knew that the Bible so +declared, and they believed that all unbelievers would be eternally +lost. They believed that religion was of God, and all heresy of the +devil. They killed heretics in defence of their own souls and the +souls of their children. They killed them because, according to +their idea, they were the enemies of God, and because the Bible +teaches that the blood of the unbeliever is a most acceptable +sacrifice to heaven.</p> +<p>Nature never prompted a loving mother to throw her child into +the Ganges. Nature never prompted men to exterminate each other for +a difference of opinion concerning the baptism of infants. These +crimes have been produced by religions filled with all that is +illogical, cruel and hideous. These religions were produced for the +most part by ignorance, tyranny and hypocrisy. Under the impression +that the infinite ruler and creator of the universe had commanded +the destruction of heretics and infidels, the church perpetrated +all these crimes.</p> +<p>Men and women have been burned for thinking there is but one +God; that there was none; that the Holy Ghost is younger than God; +that God was somewhat older than his son; for insisting that good +works will save a man without faith; that faith will do without +good works; for declaring that a sweet babe will not be burned +eternally, because its parents failed to have its head wet by a +priest; for speaking of God as though he had a nose; for denying +that Christ was his own father; for contending that three persons, +rightly added together, make more than one; for believing in +purgatory; for denying the reality of hell; for pretending that +priests can forgive sins; for preaching that God is an essence; for +denying that witches rode through the air on sticks; for doubting +the total depravity of the human heart; for laughing at +irresistible grace, predestination and particular redemption; for +denying that good bread could be made of the body of a dead man; +for pretending that the pope was not managing this world for God, +and in the place of God; for disputing the efficacy of a vicarious +atonement; for thinking the Virgin Mary was born like other people; +for thinking that a man's rib was hardly sufficient to make a +good-sized woman; for denying that God used his finger for a pen; +for asserting that prayers are not answered, that diseases are not +sent to punish unbelief; for denying the authority of the Bible; +for having a Bible in their possession; for attending mass, and for +refusing to attend; for wearing a surplice; for carrying a cross, +and for refusing; for being a Catholic, and for being a Protestant; +for being an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, a Baptist, and for being +a Quaker. In short, every virtue has been a crime, and every crime +a virtue. The church has burned honesty and rewarded hypocrisy. And +all this, because it was commanded by a book—a book that men +had been taught implicitly to believe, long, before they knew one +word that was in it They had been taught that to doubt the truth of +this book—to examine it, even—was a crime of such +enormity that it could not be forgiven, either in this world or in +the next The Bible was the real persecutor. The Bible burned +heretics, built dungeons, founded the Inquisition, and trampled +upon all the liberties of men.</p> +<p>How long, O how long will mankind worship a book? How long will +they grovel in the dust before the ignorant legends of the barbaric +past? How long, O how long will they pursue phantoms in a darkness +deeper than death?</p> +<p>Unfortunately for the world, about the beginning of the +sixteenth century, a man by the name of Gerard Chauvin was married +to Jeanne Lefranc, and still more unfortunately for the world, the +fruit of this marriage was a son, called John Chauvin, who +afterwards became famous as John Calvin, the founder of the +Presbyterian Church.</p> +<p>This man forged five fetters for the brain. These fetters he +called points. That is to say, predestination, particular +redemption, total depravity, irresistible grace, and the +perseverance of the saints. About the neck of each follower he put +a collar bristling with these five iron points. The presence of all +these points on the collar is still the test of orthodoxy in the +church he founded. This man, when in the flush of youth, was +elected to the office of preacher in Geneva. He at once, in union +with Farel, drew up a condensed statement of the Presbyterian +doctrine, and all the citizens of Geneva, on pain of banishment, +were compelled to take an oath that they believed this statement. +Of this proceeding Calvin very innocently remarked that it produced +great satisfaction. A man named Caroli had the audacity to dispute +with Calvin. For this outrage he was banished.</p> +<p>To show you what great subjects occupied the attention of +Calvin, it is only necessary to state that he furiously discussed +the question as to whether the sacramental bread should be leavened +or unleavened. He drew up laws regulating the cut of the citizens' +clothes, and prescribing their diet, and all those whose garments +were not in the Calvin fashion were refused the sacrament. At last, +the people becoming tired of this petty theological tyranny, +banished Calvin. In a few years, however, he was recalled and +received with great enthusiasm. After this he was supreme, and the +will of Calvin became the law of Geneva.</p> +<p>Under his benign administration, James Gruet was beheaded +because he had written some profane verses. The slightest word +against Calvin or his absurd doctrines was punished as a crime.</p> +<p>In 1553 a man was tried at Vienne by the Catholic Church for +heresy. He was convicted and sentenced to death by burning. It was +apparently his good fortune to escape. Pursued by the sleuth hounds +of intolerance he fled to Geneva for protection. A dove flying from +hawks, sought safety in the nest of a vulture. This fugitive from +the cruelty of Rome asked shelter from John Calvin, who had written +a book in favor of religious toleration. Servetus had forgotten +that this book was written by Calvin when in the minority; that it +was written in weakness to be forgotten in power; that it was +produced by fear instead of principle. He did not know that Calvin +had caused his arrest at Vienne, in France, and had sent a copy of +his work, which was claimed to be blasphemous, to the archbishop. +He did not then know that the Protestant Calvin was acting as one +of the detectives of the Catholic Church, and had been instrumental +in procuring his conviction for heresy. Ignorant of all this +unspeakable infamy, he put himself in the power of this very +Calvin. The maker of the Presbyterian creed caused the fugitive +Serve-tus to be arrested for blasphemy. He was tried. Calvin was +his accuser. He was convicted and condemned to death by fire. On +the morning of the fatal day, Calvin saw him, and Servetus, the +victim, asked forgiveness of Calvin, the murderer. Servetus was +bound to the stake, and the fagots were lighted. The wind carried +the flames somewhat away from his body, so that he slowly roasted +for hours. Vainly he implored a speedy death. At last the flames +climbed round his form; through smoke and fire his murderers saw a +white heroic face. And there they watched until a man became a +charred and shriveled mass.</p> +<p>Liberty was banished from Geneva, and nothing but +Presbyterianism was left. Honor, justice, mercy, reason and charity +were all exiled, but the five points of predestination, particular +redemption, irresistible grace, total depravity, and the certain +perseverance of the saints remained instead.</p> +<p>Calvin founded a little theocracy, modeled after the Old +Testament, and succeeded in erecting the most detestable government +that ever existed, except the one from which it was copied.</p> +<p>Against all this intolerance, one man, a minister, raised his +voice. The name of this man should never be forgotten. It was +Castalio. This brave man had the goodness and the courage to +declare the innocence of honest error. He was the first of the +so-called reformers to take this noble ground. I wish I had the +genius to pay a fitting tribute to his memory. Perhaps it would be +impossible to pay him a grander compliment than to say, Castalio +was in all things the opposite of Calvin. To plead for the right of +individual judgment was considered a crime, and Castalio was driven +from Geneva by John Calvin. By him he was denounced as a child of +the devil, as a dog of Satan, as a beast from hell, and as one who, +by this horrid blasphemy of the innocence of honest error, +crucified Christ afresh, and by him he was pursued until rescued by +the hand of death.</p> +<p>Upon the name of Castalio, Calvin heaped every epithet, until +his malice was nearly satisfied and his imagination entirely +exhausted. It is impossible to conceive how human nature can become +so frightfully perverted as to pursue a fellow-man with the +malignity of a fiend, simply because he is good, just, and +generous.</p> +<p>Calvin was of a pallid, bloodless complexion, thin, sickly, +irritable, gloomy, impatient, egotistic, tyrannical, heartless, and +infamous. He was a strange compound of revengeful morality, +malicious forgiveness, ferocious charity, egotistic humility, and a +kind of hellish justice. In other words, he was as near like the +God of the Old Testament as his health permitted.</p> +<p>The best thing, however, about the Presbyterians of Geneva was, +that they denied the power of the Pope, and the best thing about +the Pope was, that he was not a Presbyterian.</p> +<p>The doctrines of Calvin spread rapidly, and were eagerly +accepted by multitudes on the continent; but Scotland, in a few +years, became the real fortress of Presbyterianism. The Scotch +succeeded in establishing the same kind of theocracy that +flourished in Geneva. The clergy took possession and control of +everybody and everything. It is impossible to exaggerate the mental +degradation, the abject superstition of the people of Scotland +during the reign of Presbyterianism. Heretics were hunted and +devoured as though they had been wild beasts. The gloomy insanity +of Presbyterianism took possession of a great majority of the +people. They regarded their ministers as the Jews did Moses and +Aaron. They believed that they were the especial agents of God, and +that whatsoever they bound in Scotland would be bound in heaven. +There was not one particle of intellectual freedom. No man was +allowed to differ with the church, or to even contradict a priest. +Had Presbyterianism maintained its ascendency, Scotland would have +been peopled by savages to-day.</p> +<p>The revengeful spirit of Calvin took possession of the Puritans, +and caused them to redden the soil of the New World with the brave +blood of honest men. Clinging to the five points of Calvin, they +too established governments in accordance with the teachings of the +Old Testament. They too attached the penalty of death to the +expression of honest thought. They too believed their church +supreme, and exerted all their power to curse this continent with a +spiritual despotism as infamous as it was absurd. They believed +with Luther that universal toleration is universal error, and +universal error is universal hell. Toleration was denounced as a +crime.</p> +<p>Fortunately for us, civilization has had a softening effect even +upon the Presbyterian Church. To the ennobling influence of the +arts and sciences the savage spirit of Calvinism has, in some +slight degree, succumbed. True, the old creed remains substantially +as it was written, but by a kind of tacit understanding it has come +to be regarded as a relic of the past. The cry of "heresy" has been +growing fainter and fainter, and, as a consequence, the ministers +of that denomination have ventured, now and then, to express doubts +as to the damnation of infants, and the doctrine of total +depravity. The fact is, the old ideas became a little monotonous to +the people. The fall of man, the scheme of redemption and +irresistible grace, began to have a familiar sound. The preachers +told the old stories while the congregations slept Some of the +ministers became tired of these stories themselves. The five points +grew dull, and they felt that nothing short of irresistible grace +could bear this endless repetition. The outside world was full of +progress, and in every direction men advanced, while this church, +anchored to a creed, idly rotted at the shore. Other denominations, +imbued some little with the spirit of investigation, were springing +up on every side, while the old Presbyterian ark rested on the +Ararat of the past, filled with the theological monsters of another +age.</p> +<p>Lured by the splendors of the outer world, tempted by the +achievements of science, longing to feel the throb and beat of the +mighty march of the human race, a few of the ministers of this +conservative denomination were compelled, by irresistible sense, to +say a few words in harmony with the splendid ideas of to-day.</p> +<p>These utterances have upon several occasions so nearly wakened +some of the members that, rubbing their eyes, they have feebly +inquired whether these grand ideas were not somewhat heretical. +These ministers found that just in the proportion that their +orthodoxy decreased, their congregations increased. Those who dealt +in the pure unadulterated article found themselves demonstrating +the five points to a less number of hearers than they had points. +Stung to madness by this bitter truth, this galling contrast, this +harassing fact, the really orthodox have raised the cry of heresy, +and expect with this cry to seal the lips of honest men. One of the +Presbyterian ministers, and one who has been enjoying the luxury of +a little honest thought, and the real rapture of expressing it, has +already been indicted, and is about to be tried by the Presbytery +of Illinois. He is charged—</p> +<p><i>First</i>. With having neglected to preach that most +comforting and consoling truth, the eternal damnation of the +soul.</p> +<p>Surely, that man must be a monster who could wish to blot this +blessed doctrine out and rob earth's wretched children of this +blissful hope!</p> +<p>Who can estimate the misery that has been caused by this most +infamous doctrine of eternal punishment? Think of the lives it has +blighted—of the tears it has caused—of the agony it has +produced. Think of the millions who have been driven to insanity by +this most terrible of dogmas. This doctrine renders God the basest +and most cruel being in the universe. Compared with him, the most +frightful deities of the most barbarous and degraded tribes are +miracles of goodness and mercy. There is nothing more degrading +than to worship such a god. Lower than this the soul can never +sink. If the doctrine of eternal damnation is true, let me share +the fate of the unconverted; let me have my portion in hell, rather +than in heaven with a god infamous enough to inflict eternal misery +upon any of the sons of men.</p> +<p><i>Second</i>. With having spoken a few kind words of Robert +Collyer and John Stuart Mill.</p> +<p>I have the honor of a slight acquaintance with Robert Collyer. I +have read with pleasure some of his exquisite productions. He has a +brain full of the dawn, the head of a philosopher, the imagination +of a poet and the sincere heart of a child.</p> +<p>Is a minister to be silenced because he speaks fairly of a noble +and candid adversary? Is it a crime to compliment a lover of +justice, an advocate of liberty; one who devotes his life to the +elevation of man, the discovery of truth, and the promulgation of +what he believes to be right?</p> +<p>Can that tongue be palsied by a presbytery that praises a +self-denying and heroic life? Is it a sin to speak a charitable +word over the grave of John Stuart Mill? Is it heretical to pay a +just and graceful tribute to departed worth? Must the true +Presbyterian violate the sanctity of the tomb, dig open the grave +and ask his God to curse the silent dust? Is Presbyterianism so +narrow that it conceives of no excellence, of no purity of +intention, of no spiritual and moral grandeur outside of its +barbaric creed? Does it still retain within its stony heart all the +malice of its founder? Is it still warming its fleshless hands at +the flames that consumed Servetus? Does it still glory in the +damnation of infants, and does it still persist in emptying the +cradle in order that perdition may be filled? Is it still starving +the soul and famishing the heart? Is it still trembling and +shivering, crouching and crawling before its ignorant Confession of +Faith?</p> +<p>Had such men as Robert Collyer and John Stuart Mill been present +at the burning of Servetus, they would have extinguished the flames +with their tears. Had the presbytery of Chicago been there, they +would have quietly turned their backs, solemnly divided their coat +tails, and warmed themselves.</p> +<p><i>Third</i>. With having spoken disparagingly of the doctrine +of predestination.</p> +<p>If there is any dogma that ought to be protected by law, +predestination is that doctrine. Surely it is a cheerful, joyous +thing, to one who is laboring, struggling, and suffering in this +weary world, to think that before he existed; before the earth was; +before a star had glittered in the heavens; before a ray of light +had left the quiver of the sun, his destiny had been irrevocably +fixed, and that for an eternity before his birth he had been doomed +to bear eternal pain.</p> +<p><i>Fourth.</i> With failing to preach the efficacy of a +"vicarious sacrifice."</p> +<p>Suppose a man had been convicted of murder, and was about to be +hanged—the governor acting as the executioner; and suppose +that just as the doomed man was about to suffer death some one in +the crowd should step forward and say, "I am willing to die in the +place of that murderer. He has a family, and I have none." And +suppose further, that the governor should reply, "Come forward, +young man, your offer is accepted. A murder has been committed and +somebody must be hung, and your death will satisfy the law just as +well as the death of the murderer." What would you then think of +the doctrine of "vicarious sacrifice"?</p> +<p>This doctrine is the consummation of two +outrages—forgiving one crime and committing another.</p> +<p><i>Fifth</i>. With having inculcated a phase of the doctrine +commonly known as "evolution," or "development".</p> +<p>The church believes and teaches the exact opposite of this +doctrine. According to the philosophy of theology, man has +continued to degenerate for six thousand years. To teach that there +is that in nature which impels to higher forms and grander ends, is +heresy, of course. The Deity will damn Spencer and his "Evolution," +Darwin and his "Origin of Species," Bastian and his "Spontaneous +Generation," Huxley and his "Protoplasm," Tyndall and his "Prayer +Gauge," and will save those, and those only, who declare that the +universe has been cursed, from the smallest atom to the grandest +star; that everything tends to evil and to that only, and that the +only perfect thing in nature is the Presbyterian Confession of +Faith.</p> +<p><i>Sixth</i>. With having intimated that the reception of +Socrates and Penelope at heaven's gate was, to say the least, a +trifle more cordial than that of Catharine II.</p> +<p>Penelope, waiting patiently and trustfully for her lord's +return, delaying her suitors, while sadly weaving and unweaving the +shroud of Laertes, is the most perfect type of wife and woman +produced by the civilization of Greece.</p> +<p>Socrates, whose life was above reproach and whose death was +beyond all praise, stands to-day, in the estimation of every +thoughtful man, at least the peer of Christ.</p> +<p>Catharine II. assassinated her husband. Stepping upon his +corpse, she mounted the throne. She was the murderess of Prince +Iwan, grand nephew of Peter the Great, who was imprisoned for +eighteen years, and who during all that time saw the sky but once. +Taken all in all, Catharine was probably one of the most +intellectual beasts that ever wore a crown.</p> +<p>Catharine, however, was the head of the Greek Church, Socrates +was a heretic and Penelope lived and died without having once heard +of "particular redemption" or of "irresistible grace."</p> +<p><i>Seventh</i>. With repudiating the idea of a "call" to the +ministry, and pretending that men were "called" to preach as they +were to the other avocations of life.</p> +<p>If this doctrine is true, God, to say the least of it, is an +exceedingly poor judge of human nature. It is more than a century +since a man of true genius has been found in an orthodox pulpit. +Every minister is heretical just to the extent that intellect is +above the average. The Lord seems to be satisfied with mediocrity; +but the people are not.</p> +<p>An old deacon, wishing to get rid of an unpopular preacher, +advised him to give up the ministry and turn his attention to +something else. The preacher replied that he could not +conscientiously desert the pulpit, as he had had a "call" to the +ministry. To which the deacon replied, "That may be so, but it's +very unfortunate for you, that when God called you to preach, he +forgot to call anybody to hear you."</p> +<p>There is nothing more stupidly egotistic than the claim of the +clergy that they are, in some divine sense set apart to the service +of the Lord; that they have been chosen, and sanctified; that there +is an infinite difference between them and persons employed in +secular affairs. They teach us that all other professions must take +care of themselves; that God allows anybody to be a doctor, a +lawyer, statesman, soldier, or artist; that the Motts and +Coopers—the Mansfields and Marshalls—the Wilberforces +and Sumners—the Angelos and Raphaels, were never honored by a +"call." They chose their professions and won their laurels without +the assistance of the Lord. All these men were left free to follow +their own inclinations, while God was busily engaged selecting and +"calling" priests, rectors, elders, ministers and exhorters.</p> +<p><i>Eighth</i>. With having doubted that God was the author of +the 109th Psalm.</p> +<p>The portion of that psalm which carries with it the clearest and +most satisfactory evidences of inspiration, and which has afforded +almost unspeakable consolation to the Presbyterian Church, is as +follows:</p> +<p>Set thou a wicked man over him; and let Satan stand at his right +hand.</p> +<p>When he shall be judged, let him be condemned; and let his +prayer become sin.</p> +<p>Let his days be few; and let another take his office.</p> +<p>Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.</p> +<p>Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg; let them +seek their bread also out of their desolate places.</p> +<p>Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the stranger +spoil his labor.</p> +<p>Let there be none to extend mercy unto him; neither let there be +any to favor his fatherless children.</p> +<p>Let his posterity be cut off: and in the generation following +let their name be blotted out.</p> +<p>But do thou for me, O God the Lord, for Thy name's sake; because +Thy mercy is good, deliver Thou me.... I will greatly praise the +Lord with my <i>mouth</i>.</p> +<p>Think of a God wicked and malicious enough to inspire this +prayer. Think of one infamous enough to answer it.</p> +<p>Had this inspired psalm been found in some temple erected for +the worship of snakes, or in the possession of some cannibal king, +written with blood upon the dried skins of babes, there would have +been a perfect harmony between its surroundings and its +sentiments.</p> +<p>No wonder that the author of this inspired psalm coldly received +Socrates and Penelope, and reserved his sweetest smiles for +Catharine the Second.</p> +<p><i>Ninth.</i> With having said that the battles in which the +Israelites engaged, with the approval and command of Jehovah, +surpassed in cruelty those of Julius Cæsar.</p> +<p>Was it Julius Cæsar who said, "And the Lord our God +delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all +his people. And we took all his cities, and utterly destroyed the +men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left +none to remain"?</p> +<p>Did Julius Cæsar send the following report to the Roman +senate? "And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a +city which we took not from them, three-score cities, all the +region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were +fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a +great many. And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon, +king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of +every city."</p> +<p>Did Cæsar take the city of Jericho "and utterly destroy +all that was in the city, both men and women, young and old"? Did +he smite "all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of +the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings, and leave none +remaining that breathed, as the Lord God had commanded"?</p> +<p>Search the records of the whole world, find out the history of +every barbarous tribe, and you can find no crime that touched a +lower depth of infamy than those the Bible's God commanded and +approved. For such a God I have no words to express my loathing and +contempt, and all the words in all the languages of man would +scarcely be sufficient. Away with such a God! Give me Jupiter +rather, with Io and Europa, or even Siva with his skulls and +snakes.</p> +<p><i>Tenth</i>. With having repudiated the doctrine of "total +depravity."</p> +<p>What a precious doctrine is that of the total depravity of the +human heart! How sweet it is to believe that the lives of all the +good and great were continual sins and perpetual crimes; that the +love a mother bears her child is, in the sight of God, a sin; that +the gratitude of the natural heart is simple meanness; that the +tears of pity are impure; that for the unconverted to live and +labor for others is an offence to heaven; that the noblest +aspirations of the soul are low and groveling in the sight of God; +that man should fall upon his knees and ask forgiveness, simply for +loving his wife and child, and that even the act of asking +forgiveness is in fact a crime!</p> +<p>Surely it is a kind of bliss to feel that every woman and child +in the wide world, with the exception of those who believe the five +points, or some other equally cruel creed, and such children as +have been baptized, ought at this very moment to be dashed down to +the lowest glowing gulf of hell.</p> +<p>Take from the Christian the history of his own +church—leave that entirely out of the question—and he +has no argument left with which to substantiate the total depravity +of man.</p> +<p><i>Eleventh</i>. With having doubted the "perseverance of the +saints."</p> +<p>I suppose the real meaning of this doctrine is, that +Presbyterians are just as sure of going to heaven as all other +folks are of going to hell. The real idea being, that it all +depends upon the will of God, and not upon the character of the +person to be damned or saved; that God has the weakness to send +Presbyterians to Paradise, and the justice to doom the rest of +mankind to eternal fire.</p> +<p>It is admitted that no unconverted brain can see the least +particle of sense in this doctrine; that it is abhorrent to all who +have not been the recipients of a "new heart;" that only the +perfectly good can justify the perfectly infamous.</p> +<p>It is contended that the saints do not persevere of their own +free will—that they are entitled to no credit for +persevering; but that God forces them to persevere, while on the +other hand, every crime is committed in accordance with the secret +will of God, who does all things for his own glory.</p> +<p>Compared with this doctrine, there is no other idea, that has +ever been believed by man, that can properly be called absurd.</p> +<p><i>Twelfth</i>. With having spoken and written somewhat lightly +of the idea of converting the heathen with doctrinal sermons.</p> +<p>Of all the failures of which we have any history or knowledge, +the missionary effort is the most conspicuous. The whole question +has been decided here, in our own country, and conclusively +settled. We have nearly exterminated the Indians, but we have +converted none. From the days of John Eliot to the execution of the +last Modoc, not one Indian has been the subject of irresistible +grace or particular redemption. The few red men who roam the +western wilderness have no thought or care concerning the five +points of Calvin. They are utterly oblivious to the great and vital +truths contained in the Thirty-nine Articles, the Saybrook +platform, and the resolutions of the Evangelical Alliance. No +Indian has ever scalped another on account of his religious belief. +This of itself shows conclusively that the missionaries have had no +effect Why should we convert the heathen of China and kill our own? +Why should we send missionaries across the seas, and soldiers over +the plains? Why should we send Bibles to the east and muskets to +the west? If it is impossible to convert Indians who have no +religion of their own; no prejudice for or against the "eternal +procession of the Holy Ghost," how can we expect to convert a +heathen who has a religion; who has plenty of gods and Bibles and +prophets and Christs, and who has a religious literature far +grander than our own? Can we hope with the story of Daniel in the +lions' den to rival the stupendous miracles of India? Is there +anything in our Bible as lofty and loving as the prayer of the +Buddhist? Compare your "Confession of Faith" with the following: +"Never will I seek nor receive private individual +salvation—never enter into final peace alone; but forever and +everywhere will I live and strive for the universal redemption of +every creature throughout all worlds. Until all are delivered, +never will I leave the world of sin, sorrow, and struggle, but will +remain where I am."</p> +<p>Think of sending an average Presbyterian to convert a man who +daily offers this tender, this infinitely generous, this +incomparable prayer. Think of reading the 109th Psalm to a heathen +who has a Bible of his own in which is found this passage: "Blessed +is that man and beloved of all the gods, who is afraid of no man, +and of whom no man is afraid."</p> +<p>Why should you read even the New Testament to a Hindu, when his +own Chrishna has said, "If a man strike thee, and in striking drop +his staff, pick it up and hand it to him again"? Why send a +Presbyterian to a Sufi, who says, "Better one moment of silent +contemplation and inward love, than seventy thousand years of +outward worship"? "Whoso would carelessly tread one worm that +crawls on earth, that heartless one is darkly alienate from God; +but he that, living, embraceth all things in his love, to live with +him God bursts all bounds above, below." Why should we endeavor to +thrust our cruel and heartless theology upon one who prays this +prayer: "O God, show pity toward the wicked; for on the good thou +hast already bestowed thy mercy by having created them +virtuous"?</p> +<p>Compare this prayer with the curses and cruelties of the Old +Testament—with the infamies commanded and approved by the +being whom we are taught to worship as a God—and with the +following tender product of Presbyterianism: "It may seem absurd to +human wisdom that God should harden, blind, and deliver up some men +to a reprobate sense; that he should first deliver them over to +evil, and then condemn them for that evil; but the believing +spiritual man sees no absurdity in all this, knowing that God would +be never a whit less good even though he should destroy all +men."</p> +<p>Of all the religions that have been produced by the egotism, the +malice, the ignorance and ambition of man, Presbyterianism is the +most hideous.</p> +<p>But what shall I say more, for the time would fail me to tell of +Sabellianism, of a "Modal Trinity," and the "Eternal Procession of +the Holy Ghost"?</p> +<p>Upon these charges, a minister is to be tried, here in Chicago; +in this city of pluck and progress—this marvel of +energy—this miracle of nerve. The cry of "heresy," here, +sounds like a wail from the Dark Ages—a shriek from the +Inquisition, or a groan from the grave of Calvin.</p> +<p>Another effort is being made to enslave a man.</p> +<p>It is claimed that every member of the church has solemnly +agreed never to outgrow the creed; that he has pledged himself to +remain an intellectual dwarf. Upon this condition the church agrees +to save his soul, and he hands over his brains to bind the bargain. +Should a fact be found inconsistent with the creed, he binds +himself to deny the fact and curse the finder. With scraps of +dogmas and crumbs of doctrine, he agrees that his soul shall be +satisfied forever. What an intellectual feast the Confession of +Faith must be! It reminds one of the dinner described by Sydney +Smith, where everything was cold except the water, and everything +sour except the vinegar.</p> +<p>Every member of a church promises to remain orthodox, that is to +say—stationary. Growth is heresy. Orthodox ideas are the +feathers that have been moulted by the eagle of progress. They are +the dead leaves under the majestic palm, while heresy is the bud +and blossom at the top.</p> +<p>Imagine a vine that grows at one end and decays at the other. +The end that grows is heresy, the end that rots is orthodox The +dead are orthodox, and your cemetery is the most perfect type of a +well regulated church. No thought, no progress, no heresy there. +Slowly and silently, side by side, the satisfied members peacefully +decay. There is only this difference—the dead do not +persecute.</p> +<p>And what does a trial for heresy mean? It means that the church +says to a heretic, "Believe as I do, or I will withdraw my support. +I will not employ you. I will pursue you until your garments are +rags; until your children cry for bread; until your cheeks are +furrowed with tears. I will hunt you to the very portals of the +tomb, and then my God will do the rest I will not imprison you. I +will not burn you. The law prevents my doing that. I helped make +the law, not however to protect you, nor to deprive me of the right +to exterminate you but in order to keep other churches from +exterminating me." A trial for heresy means that the spirit of +persecution still lingers in the church; that it still denies the +right of private judgment; that it still thinks more of creed than +truth, and that it is still determined to prevent the intellectual +growth of man. It means that churches are shambles in which are +bought and sold the souls of men. It means that the church is still +guilty of the barbarity of opposing thought with force. It means +that if it had the power, the mental horizon would be bounded by a +creed; that it would bring again the whips and chains and dungeon +keys, the rack and fagot of the past.</p> +<p>But let me tell the church it lacks the power. There have been, +and still are, too many men who own themselves—too much +thought, too much knowledge for the church to grasp again the sword +of power. The church must abdicate. For the Eglon of superstition +Science has a message from Truth.</p> +<p>The heretics have not thought and suffered and died in vain. +Every heretic has been, and is, a ray of light. Not in vain did +Voltaire, that great man, point from the foot of the Alps the +finger of scorn at every hypocrite in Europe. Not in vain were the +splendid utterances of the infidels, while beyond all price are the +discoveries of science.</p> +<p>The church has impeded, but it has not and it cannot stop the +onward march of the human race. Heresy cannot be burned, nor +imprisoned, nor starved. It laughs at presbyteries and synods, at +ecumenical councils and the impotent thunders of Sinai. Heresy is +the eternal dawn, the morning star, the glittering herald of the +day. Heresy is the last and best thought. It is the perpetual New +World, the unknown sea, toward which the brave all sail. It is the +eternal horizon of progress.</p> +<p>Heresy extends the hospitalities of the brain to a new +thought.</p> +<p>Heresy is a cradle; orthodoxy, a coffin.</p> +<p>Why should man be afraid to think, and why should he fear to +express his thoughts?</p> +<p>Is it possible that an infinite Deity is unwilling that a man +should investigate the phenomena by which he is surrounded? Is it +possible that a god delights in threatening and terrifying men? +What glory, what honor and renown a god must win on such a field! +The ocean raving at a drop; a star envious of a candle; the sun +jealous of a fire-fly.</p> +<p>Go on, presbyteries and synods, go on! Thrust the heretics out +of the church—that is to say, throw away your +brains,—put out your eyes. The infidels will thank you. They +are willing to adopt your exiles. Every deserter from your camp is +a recruit for the army of progress. Cling to the ignorant dogmas of +the past; read the 109th Psalm; gloat over the slaughter of mothers +and babes; thank God for total depravity; shower your honors upon +hypocrites, and silence every minister who is touched with that +heresy called genius.</p> +<p>Be true to your history. Turn out the astronomers, the +geologists, the naturalists, the chemists, and all the honest +scientists. With a whip of scorpions, drive them all out. We want +them all. Keep the ignorant, the superstitious, the bigoted, and +the writers of charges and specifications.</p> +<p>Keep them, and keep them all. Repeat your pious platitudes in +the drowsy ears of the faithful, and read your Bible to heretics, +as kings read some forgotten riot-act to stop and stay the waves of +revolution. You are too weak to excite anger. We forgive your +efforts as the sun forgives a cloud—as the air forgives the +breath you waste.</p> +<p>How long, O how long, will man listen to the threats of God, and +shut his eyes to the splendid possibilities of Nature? How long, O +how long will man remain the cringing slave of a false and cruel +creed?</p> +<p>By this time the whole world should know that the real Bible has +not yet been written, but is being written, and that it will never +be finished until the race begins its downward march, or ceases to +exist.</p> +<p>The real Bible is not the work of inspired men, nor prophets, +nor apostles, nor evangelists, nor of Christs. Every man who finds +a fact, adds, as it were, a word to this great book. It is not +attested by prophecy, by miracles or signs. It makes no appeal to +faith, to ignorance, to credulity or fear. It has no punishment for +unbelief, and no reward for hypocrisy. It appeals to man in the +name of demonstration. It has nothing to conceal. It has no fear of +being read, of being contradicted, of being investigated and +understood. It does not pretend to be holy, or sacred; it simply +claims to be true. It challenges the scrutiny of all, and implores +every reader to verify every line for himself. It is incapable of +being blasphemed. This book appeals to all the surroundings of man. +Each thing that exists testifies of its perfection. The earth, with +its heart of fire and crowns of snow; with its forests and plains, +its rocks and seas; with its every wave and cloud; with its every +leaf and bud and flower, confirms its every word, and the solemn +stars, shining in the infinite abysses, are the eternal witnesses +of its truth.</p> +<a name="link0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE GHOSTS.</h2> +<pre> + TO + EBON C. INGERSOLL, + MY BROTHER, + FROM WHOSE LIPS I HEARD THE FIRST APPLAUSE, + AND WITH WHOSE NAME I WISH MY OWN + ASSOCIATED UNTIL BOTH ARE FORGOTTEN, + THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED. +</pre> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> +<p>These lectures have been so maimed and mutilated by orthodox +malice; have been made to appear so halt, crutched and decrepit by +those who mistake the pleasures of calumny for the duties of +religion, that in simple justice to myself I concluded to publish +them.</p> +<p>Most of the clergy are, or seem to be, utterly incapable of +discussing anything in a fair and catholic spirit. They appeal, not +to reason, but to prejudice; not to facts, but to passages of +Scripture. They can conceive of no goodness, of no spiritual +exaltation beyond the horizon of their creed. Whoever differs with +them upon what they are pleased to call "fundamental truths," is, +in their opinion, a base and infamous man. To re-enact the +tragedies of the sixteenth century, they lack only the power. +Bigotry in all ages has been the same. Christianity simply +transferred the brutality of the Colosseum to the Inquisition. For +the murderous combat of the gladiators, the saints substituted the +<i>auto de fe</i>. What has been called religion is, after all, but +the organization of the wild beast in man. The perfumed blossom of +arrogance is heaven. Hell is the consummation of revenge.</p> +<p>The chief business of the clergy has always been to destroy the +joy of life, and multiply and magnify the terrors and tortures of +death and perdition. They have polluted the heart and paralyzed the +brain; and upon the ignorant altars of the Past and the Dead, they +have endeavored to sacrifice the Present and the Living.</p> +<p>Nothing can exceed the mendacity of the religious press. I have +had some little experience with political editors, and am forced to +say, that until I read the religious papers, I did not know what +malicious and slimy falsehoods could be constructed from ordinary +words. The ingenuity with which the real and apparent meaning can +be tortured out of language, is simply amazing. The average +religious editor is intolerant and insolent; he knows nothing of +affairs; he has the envy of failure, the malice of impotence, and +always accounts for the brave and generous actions of unbelievers, +by low, base and unworthy motives.</p> +<p>By this time, even the clergy should know that the intellect of +the nineteenth century needs no guardian. They should cease to +regard themselves as shepherds defending flocks of weak, silly and +fearful sheep from the claws and teeth of ravening wolves. By this +time they should know that the religion of the ignorant and brutal +Past no longer satisfies the heart and brain; that the miracles +have become contemptible; that the "evidences" have ceased to +convince; that the spirit of investigation cannot be stopped nor +stayed; that the church is losing her power; that the young are +holding in a kind of tender contempt the sacred follies of the old; +that the pulpit and pews no longer represent the culture and +morality of the world, and that the brand of intellectual +inferiority is upon the orthodox brain.</p> +<p>Men should be liberated from the aristocracy of the air. Every +chain of superstition should be broken. The rights of men and women +should be equal and sacred—marriage should be a perfect +partnership—children should be governed by +kindness,—every family should be a republic—every +fireside a democracy.</p> +<p>It seems almost impossible for religious people to really grasp +the idea of intellectual freedom. They seem to think that man is +responsible for his honest thoughts; that unbelief is a crime; that +investigation is sinful; that credulity is a virtue, and that +reason is a dangerous guide. They cannot divest themselves of the +idea that in the realm of thought there must be +government—authority and obedience—laws and +penalties—rewards and punishments, and that somewhere in the +universe there is a penitentiary for the soul.</p> +<p>In the republic of mind, <i>one</i> is a majority. There, all +are monarchs, and all are equals. The tyranny of a majority even is +unknown. Each one is crowned, sceptered and throned. Upon every +brow is the tiara, and around every form is the imperial purple. +Only those are good citizens who express their honest thoughts, and +those who persecute for opinion's sake, are the only traitors. +There, nothing is considered infamous except an appeal to brute +force, and nothing sacred but love, liberty, and joy. The church +contemplates this republic with a sneer. From the teeth of hatred +she draws back the lips of scorn. She is filled with the spite and +spleen born of intellectual weakness. Once she was egotistic; now +she is envious.</p> +<p>Once she wore upon her hollow breast false gems, supposing them +to be real. They have been shown to be false, but she wears them +still. She has the malice of the caught, the hatred of the +exposed.</p> +<p>We are told to investigate the Bible for ourselves, and at the +same time informed that if we come to the conclusion that it is not +the inspired word of God, we will most assuredly be damned. Under +such circumstances, if we believe this, investigation is +impossible. Whoever is held responsible for his conclusions cannot +weigh the evidence with impartial scales. Fear stands at the +balance, and gives to falsehood the weight of its trembling +hand.</p> +<p>I oppose the church because she is the enemy of liberty; because +her dogmas are infamous and cruel; because she humiliates and +degrades woman; because she teaches the doctrines of eternal +torment and the natural depravity of man; because she insists upon +the absurd, the impossible, and the senseless; because she resorts +to falsehood and slander; because she is arrogant and revengeful; +because she allows men to sin on a credit; because she discourages +self-reliance, and laughs at good works; because she believes in +vicarious virtue and vicarious vice—vicarious punishment and +vicarious reward; because she regards repentance of more importance +than restitution, and because she sacrifices the world we have to +one we know not of.</p> +<p>The free and generous, the tender and affectionate, will +understand me. Those who have escaped from the grated cells of a +creed will appreciate my motives. The sad and suffering wives, the +trembling and loving children will thank me: This is enough.</p> +<p>Robert G. Ingersoll.</p> +<p>Washington, D. C.,</p> +<p>April 13, 1878.</p> +<center>THE GHOSTS,</center> +<p>LET THEM COVER THEIR EYELESS SOCKETS WITH THEIR FLESHLESS HANDS +AND FADE FOREVER FROM THE IMAGINATION OF MEN.</p> +<p>HERE are three theories by which men account for all phenomena, +for everything that happens: First, the Supernatural; Second, the +Supernatural and Natural; Third, the Natural. Between these +theories there has been, from the dawn of civilization, a continual +conflict. In this great war, nearly all the soldiers have been in +the ranks of the supernatural. The believers in the supernatural +insist that matter is controlled and directed entirely by powers +from without; while naturalists maintain that Nature acts from +within; that Nature is not acted upon; that the universe is all +there is; that Nature with infinite arms embraces everything that +exists, and that all supposed powers beyond the limits of the +material are simply ghosts. You say, "Oh, this is materialism!" +What is matter? I take in my hand some earth:—in this dust +put seeds. Let the arrows of light from the quiver of the sun smite +upon it; let the rain fall upon it. The seeds will grow and a plant +will bud and blossom. Do you understand this? Can you explain it +better than you can the production of thought? Have you the +slightest conception of what it really is? And yet you speak of +matter as though acquainted with its origin, as though you had torn +from the clenched hands of the rocks the secrets of material +existence. Do you know what force is? Can you account for molecular +action? Are you really familiar with chemistry, and can you account +for the loves and hatreds of the atoms? Is there not something in +matter that forever eludes? After all, can you get beyond, above or +below appearances? Before you cry "materialism!" had you not better +ascertain what matter really is? Can you think even of anything +without a material basis? Is it possible to imagine the +annihilation of a single atom? Is it possible for you to conceive +of the creation of an atom? Can you have a thought that was not +suggested to you by what you call matter?</p> +<p>Our fathers denounced materialism, and accounted for all +phenomena by the caprice of gods and devils.</p> +<p>For thousands of years it was believed that ghosts, good and +bad, benevolent and malignant, weak and powerful, in some +mysterious way, produced all phenomena; that disease and health, +happiness and misery, fortune and misfortune, peace and war, life +and death, success and failure, were but arrows from the quivers of +these ghosts; that shadowy phantoms rewarded and punished mankind; +that they were pleased and displeased by the actions of men; that +they sent and withheld the snow, the light, and the rain; that they +blessed the earth with harvests or cursed it with famine; that they +fed or starved the children of men; that they crowned and uncrowned +kings; that they took sides in war; that they controlled the winds; +that they gave prosperous voyages, allowing the brave mariner to +meet his wife and child inside the harbor bar, or sent the storms, +strewing the sad shores with wrecks of ships and the bodies of +men.</p> +<p>Formerly, these ghosts were believed to be almost innumerable. +Earth, air, and water were filled with these phantom hosts. In +modern times they have greatly decreased in number, because the +second theory,—a mingling of the supernatural and +natural,—has generally been adopted. The remaining ghosts, +however, are supposed to perform the same offices as the hosts of +yore.</p> +<p>It has always been believed that these ghosts could in some way +be appeased; that they could be flattered by sacrifices, by prayer, +by fasting, by the building of temples and cathedrals, by the blood +of men and beasts, by forms and ceremonies, by chants, by kneelings +and prostrations, by flagellations and maimings, by renouncing the +joys of home, by living alone in the wide desert, by the practice +of celibacy, by inventing instruments of torture, by destroying +men, women and children, by covering the earth with dungeons, by +burning unbelievers, by putting chains upon the thoughts and +manacles upon the limbs of men, by believing things without +evidence and against evidence, by disbelieving and denying +demonstration, by despising facts, by hating reason, by denouncing +liberty, by maligning heretics, by slandering the dead, by +subscribing to senseless and cruel creeds, by discouraging +investigation, by worshiping a book, by the cultivation of +credulity, by observing certain times and days, by counting beads, +by gazing at crosses, by hiring others to repeat verses and +prayers, by burning candles and ringing bells, by enslaving each +other and putting out the eyes of the soul. All this has been done +to appease and flatter these monsters of the air.</p> +<p>In the history of our poor world, no horror has been omitted, no +infamy has been left undone by the believers in ghosts,—by +the worshipers of these fleshless phantoms. And yet these shadows +were born of cowardice and malignity. They were painted by the +pencil of fear upon the canvas of ignorance by that artist called +superstition.</p> +<p>From these ghosts, our fathers received information. They were +the schoolmasters of our ancestors. They were the scientists and +philosophers, the geologists, legislators, astronomers, physicians, +metaphysicians and historians of the past. For ages these ghosts +were supposed to be the only source of real knowledge. They +inspired men to write books, and the books were considered sacred. +If facts were found to be inconsistent with these books, so much +the worse for the facts, and especially for their discoverers. It +was then, and still is, believed that these books are the basis of +the idea of immortality; that to give up these volumes, or rather +the idea that they are inspired, is to renounce the idea of +immortality. This I deny.</p> +<p>The idea of immortality, that like a sea has ebbed and flowed in +the human heart, with its countless waves of hope and fear, beating +against the shores and rocks of time and fate, was not born of any +book, nor of any creed, nor of any religion. It was born of human +affection, and it will continue to ebb and flow beneath the mists +and clouds of doubt and darkness as long as love kisses the lips of +death. It is the rainbow—Hope shining upon the tears of +grief.</p> +<p>From the books written by the ghosts we have at last ascertained +that they knew nothing about the world in which we live. Did they +know anything about the next? Upon every point where contradiction +is possible, they have been contradicted.</p> +<p>By these ghosts, by these citizens of the air, the affairs of +government were administered; all authority to govern came from +them. The emperors, kings and potentates all had commissions from +these phantoms. Man was not considered as the source of any power +whatever. To rebel against the king was to rebel against the +ghosts, and nothing less than the blood of the offender could +appease the invisible phantom or the visible tyrant. Kneeling was +the proper position to be assumed by the multitude. The prostrate +were the good. Those who stood erect were infidels and traitors. In +the name and by the authority of the ghosts, man was enslaved, +crushed, and plundered. The many toiled wearily in the storm and +sun that the few favorites of the ghosts might live in idleness. +The many lived in huts, and caves, and dens, that the few might +dwell in palaces. The many covered themselves with rags, that the +few might robe themselves in purple and in gold. The many crept, +and cringed, and crawled, that the few might tread upon their flesh +with iron feet.</p> +<p>From the ghosts men received, not only authority, but +information of every kind. They told us the form of this earth. +They informed us that eclipses were caused by the sins of man; that +the universe was made in six days; that astronomy, and geology were +devices of wicked men, instigated by wicked ghosts; that gazing at +the sky with a telescope was a dangerous thing; that digging into +the earth was sinful curiosity; that trying to be wise above what +they had written was born of a rebellious and irreverent +spirit.</p> +<p>They told us there was no virtue like belief, and no crime like +doubt; that investigation was pure impudence, and the punishment +therefor, eternal torment. They not only told us all about this +world, but about two others; and if their statements about the +other worlds are as true as about this, no one can estimate the +value of their information.</p> +<p>For countless ages the world was governed by ghosts, and they +spared no pains to change the eagle of the human intellect into a +bat of darkness. To accomplish this infamous purpose; to drive the +love of truth from the human heart; to prevent the advancement of +mankind; to shut out from the world every ray of intellectual +light; to pollute every mind with superstition, the power of kings, +the cunning and cruelty of priests, and the wealth of nations were +exhausted.</p> +<p>During these years of persecution, ignorance, superstition and +slavery, nearly all the people, the kings, lawyers, doctors, the +learned and the unlearned, believed in that frightful production of +ignorance, fear, and faith, called witchcraft. They believed that +man was the sport and prey of devils. They really thought that the +very air was thick with these enemies of man. With few exceptions, +this hideous and infamous belief was universal. Under these +conditions, progress was almost impossible.</p> +<p>Fear paralyzes the brain. Progress is born of courage. Fear +believes—courage doubts. Fear falls upon the earth and +prays—courage stands erect and thinks. Fear +retreats—courage advances. Fear is barbarism—courage is +civilization. Fear believes in witchcraft, in devils and in ghosts. +Fear is religion—courage is science.</p> +<p>The facts, upon which this terrible belief rested, were proved +over and over again in every court of Europe. Thousands confessed +themselves guilty—admitted that they had sold themselves to +the devil. They gave the particulars of the sale; told what they +said and what the devil replied. They confessed this, when they +knew that confession was death; knew that their property would be +confiscated, and their children left to beg their bread. This is +one of the miracles of history—one of the strangest +contradictions of the human mind. Without doubt, they really +believed themselves guilty. In the first place, they believed in +witchcraft as a fact, and when charged with it, they probably +became insane. In their insanity they confessed their guilt. They +found themselves abhorred and deserted—charged with a crime +that they could not disprove. Like a man in quicksand, every effort +only sunk them deeper. Caught in this frightful web, at the mercy +of the spiders of superstition, hope fled, and nothing remained but +the insanity of confession. The whole world appeared to be +insane.</p> +<p>In the time of James the First, a man was executed for causing a +storm at sea with the intention of drowning one of the royal +family. How could he disprove it? How could he show that he did not +cause the storm? All storms were at that time generally supposed to +be caused by the devil—the prince of the power of the +air—and by those whom he assisted.</p> +<p>I implore you to remember that the believers in such impossible +things were the authors of our creeds and confessions of faith.</p> +<p>A woman was tried and convicted before Sir Matthew Hale, one of +the great judges and lawyers of England, for having caused children +to vomit crooked pins. She was also charged with having nursed +devils. The learned judge charged the intelligent jury that there +was no doubt as to the existence of witches; that it was +established by all history, and expressly taught by the Bible.</p> +<p>The woman was hanged and her body burned.</p> +<p>Sir Thomas More declared that to give up witchcraft was to throw +away the sacred Scriptures. In my judgment, he was right.</p> +<p>John Wesley was a firm believer in ghosts and witches, and +insisted upon it, years after all laws upon the subject had been +repealed in England. I beg of you to remember that John Wesley was +the founder of the Methodist Church.</p> +<p>In New England, a woman was charged with being a witch, and with +having changed herself into a fox. While in that condition she was +attacked and bitten by some dogs. A committee of three men, by +order of the court, examined this woman. They removed her clothing +and searched for "witch spots." That is to say, spots into which +needles could be thrust without giving her pain. They reported to +the court that such spots were found. She denied, however, that she +ever had changed herself into a fox. Upon the report of the +committee she was found guilty and actually executed. This was done +by our Puritan fathers, by the gentlemen who braved the dangers of +the deep for the sake of worshiping God and persecuting their +fellow-men.</p> +<p>In those days people believed in what was known as +lycanthropy—that is, that persons, with the assistance of the +devil, could assume the form of wolves. An instance is given where +a man was attacked by a wolf. He defended himself, and succeeded in +cutting off one of the animal's paws. The wolf ran away. The man +picked up the paw, put it in his pocket and carried it home. There +he found his wife with one of her hands gone. He took the paw from +his pocket. It had changed to a human hand. He charged his wife +with being a witch. She was tried. She confessed her guilt, and was +burned.</p> +<p>People were burned for causing frosts in summer—for +destroying crops with hail—for causing storms—for +making cows go dry, and even for souring beer. There was no +impossibility for which some one was not tried and convicted. The +life of no one was secure. To be charged, was to be convicted. +Every man was at the mercy of every other. This infamous belief was +so firmly seated in the minds of the people, that to express a +doubt as to its truth was to be suspected. Whoever denied the +existence of witches and devils was denounced as an infidel.</p> +<p>They believed that animals were often taken possession of by +devils, and that the killing of the animal would destroy the devil. +They absolutely tried, convicted, and executed dumb beasts.</p> +<p>At Basle, in 1470, a rooster was tried upon the charge of having +laid an egg. Rooster eggs were used only in making witch +ointment,—this everybody knew. The rooster was convicted and +with all due solemnity was burned in the public square. So a hog +and six pigs were tried for having killed and partially eaten a +child. The hog was convicted,—but the pigs, on account +probably of their extreme youth, were acquitted. As late as 1740, a +cow was tried and convicted of being possessed by a devil.</p> +<p>They used to exorcise rats, locusts, snakes and vermin. They +used to go through the alleys, streets, and fields, and warn them +to leave within a certain number of days. In case they disobeyed, +they were threatened with pains and penalties.</p> +<p>But let us be careful how we laugh at these things. Let us not +pride ourselves too much on the progress of our age. We must not +forget that some of our people are yet in the same intelligent +business. Only a little while ago, the governor of Minnesota +appointed a day of fasting and prayer, to see if some power could +not be induced to kill the grasshoppers, or send them into some +other state.</p> +<p>About the close of the fifteenth century, so great was the +excitement with regard to the existence of witchcraft that Pope +Innocent VIII. issued a bull directing the inquisitors to be +vigilant in searching out and punishing all guilty of this crime. +Forms for the trial were regularly laid down in a book or a +pamphlet called the "Malleus Maleficorum" (Hammer of Witches), +which was issued by the Roman See. Popes Alexander, Leo, and +Adrian, issued like bulls. For two hundred and fifty years the +church was busy in punishing the impossible crime of witchcraft; in +burning, hanging and torturing men, women, and children. +Protestants were as active as Catholics, and in Geneva five hundred +witches were burned at the stake in a period of three months. About +one thousand were executed in one year in the diocese of Como. At +least one hundred thousand victims suffered in Germany alone: the +last execution (in Wurtzburg) taking place as late as 1749. Witches +were burned in Switzerland as late as 1780.</p> +<p>In England the same frightful scenes were enacted. Statutes were +passed from Henry VI. to James I., defining the crime and its +punishment. The last act passed by the British parliament was when +Lord Bacon was a member of the House of Commons; and this act was +not repealed until 1736.</p> +<p>Sir William Blackstone, in his Commentaries on the Laws of +England, says: "To deny the possibility, nay, actual existence of +witchcraft and sorcery, is at once flatly to contradict the word of +God in various passages both of the Old and New Testament; and the +thing itself is a truth to which every nation in the world hath in +its turn borne testimony, either by examples seemingly well +attested, or by prohibitory laws, which at least suppose the +possibility of a commerce with evil spirits."</p> +<p>In Brown's Dictionary of the Bible, published at Edinburg, +Scotland, in 1807, it is said that: "A witch is a woman that has +dealings with Satan. That such persons are among men is abundantly +plain from Scripture, and that they ought to be put to death."</p> +<p>This work was re-published in Albany, New York, in 1816. No +wonder the clergy of that city are ignorant and bigoted even unto +this day.</p> +<p>In 1716, Mrs. Hicks and her daughter, nine years of age, were +hanged for selling their souls to the devil, and raising a storm by +pulling off their stockings and making a lather of soap.</p> +<p>In England it has been estimated that at least thirty thousand +were hanged and burned. The last victim executed in Scotland, +perished in 1722. "She was an innocent old woman, who had so little +idea of her situation as to rejoice at the sight of the fire which +was destined to consume her. She had a daughter, lame both of hands +and of feet—a circumstance attributed to the witch having +been used to transform her daughter into a pony and getting her +shod by the devil."</p> +<p>In 1692, nineteen persons were executed and one pressed to death +in Salem, Massachusetts, for the crime of witchcraft.</p> +<p>It was thought in those days that men and women made compacts +with the devil, orally and in writing. That they abjured God and +Jesus Christ, and dedicated themselves wholly to the devil. The +contracts were confirmed at a general meeting of witches and +ghosts, over which the devil himself presided; and the persons +generally signed the articles of agreement with their own blood. +These contracts were, in some instances, for a few years; in +others, for life. General assemblies of the witches were held at +least once a year, at which they appeared entirely naked, besmeared +with an ointment made from the bodies of unbaptized infants. "To +these meetings they rode from great distances on broomsticks, +pokers, goats, hogs, and dogs. Here they did homage to the prince +of hell, and offered him sacrifices of young children, and +practiced all sorts of license until the break of day."</p> +<p>"As late as 1815, Belgium was disgraced by a witch trial; and +guilt was established by the water ordeal." "In 1836, the populace +of Hela, near Dantzic, twice plunged into the sea a woman reputed +to be a sorceress; and as the miserable creature persisted in +rising to the surface, she was pronounced guilty, and beaten to +death."</p> +<p>"It was believed that the bodies of devils are not like those of +men and animals, cast in an unchangeable mould. It was thought they +were like clouds, refined and subtle matter, capable of assuming +any form and penetrating into any orifice. The horrible tortures +they endured in their place of punishment rendered them extremely +sensitive to suffering, and they continually sought a temperate and +somewhat moist warmth in order to allay their pangs. It was for +this reason they so frequently entered into men and women."</p> +<p>The devil could transport men, at his will, through the air. He +could beget children; and Martin Luther himself had come in contact +with one of these children. He recommended the mother to throw the +child into the river, in order to free their house from the +presence of a devil.</p> +<p>It was believed that the devil could transform people into any +shape he pleased.</p> +<p>Whoever denied these things was denounced as an infidel. All the +believers in witchcraft confidently appealed to the Bible. Their +mouths were filled with passages demonstrating the existence of +witches and their power Over human beings. By the Bible they proved +that innumerable evil spirits were ranging over the world +endeavoring to ruin mankind; that these spirits possessed a power +and wisdom far transcending the limits of human faculties; that +they delighted in every misfortune that could befall the world; +that their malice was superhuman. That they caused tempests was +proved by the action of the devil toward Job; by the passage in the +book of Revelation describing the four angels who held the four +winds, and to whom it was given to afflict the earth. They believed +the devil could carry persons hundreds of miles, in a few seconds, +through the air. They believed this, because they knew that Christ +had been carried by the devil in the same manner and placed on a +pinnacle of the temple. "The prophet Habakkuk had been transported +by a spirit from Judea to Babylon; and Philip, the evangelist, had +been the object of a similar miracle; and in the same way Saint +Paul had been carried in the body into the third heaven."</p> +<p>"In those pious days, they believed that <i>Incubi</i> and +<i>Succubi</i> were forever wandering among mankind, alluring, by +more than human charms, the unwary to their destruction, and laying +plots, which were too often successful, against the virtue of the +saints. Sometimes the witches kindled in the monastic priest a more +terrestrial fire. People told, with bated breath, how, under the +spell of a vindictive woman, four successive abbots in a German +monastery had been wasted away by an unholy flame."</p> +<p>An instance is given in which the devil not only assumed the +appearance of a holy man, in order to pay his addresses to a lady, +but when discovered, crept under the bed, suffered himself to be +dragged out, and was impudent enough to declare that he was the +veritable bishop. So perfectly had he assumed the form and features +of the prelate that those who knew the bishop best were +deceived.</p> +<p>One can hardly imagine the frightful state of the human mind +during these long centuries of darkness and superstition. To them, +these things were awful and frightful realities. Hovering above +them in the air, in their houses, in the bosoms of friends, in +their very bodies, in all the darkness of night, everywhere, +around, above and below, were innumerable hosts of unclean and +malignant devils.</p> +<p>From the malice of those leering and vindictive vampires of the +air, the church pretended to defend mankind. Pursued by these +phantoms, the frightened multitudes fell upon their faces and +implored the aid of robed hypocrisy and sceptered theft.</p> +<p>Take from the orthodox church of to-day the threat and fear of +hell, and it becomes an extinct volcano.</p> +<p>Take from the church the miraculous, the supernatural, the +incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, +and the absurd, and nothing but a vacuum remains.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding all the infamous things justly laid to the +charge of the church, we are told that the civilization of to-day +is the child of what we are pleased to call the superstition of the +past.</p> +<p>Religion has not civilized man—man has civilized religion. +God improves as man advances.</p> +<p>Let me call your attention to what we have received from the +followers of the ghosts. Let me give you an outline of the sciences +as taught by these philosophers of the clouds.</p> +<p>All diseases were produced, either as a punishment by the good +ghosts, or out of pure malignity by the bad ones. There were, +properly speaking, no diseases. The sick were possessed by ghosts. +The science of medicine consisted in knowing how to persuade these +ghosts to vacate the premises. For thousands of years the diseased +were treated with incantations, with hideous noises, with drums and +gongs. Everything was done to make the visit of the ghost as +unpleasant as possible, and they generally succeeded in making +things so disagreeable that if the ghost did not leave, the patient +did. These ghosts were supposed to be of different rank, power and +dignity. Now and then a man pretended to have won the favor of some +powerful ghost, and that gave him power over the little ones. Such +a man became an eminent physician.</p> +<p>It was found that certain kinds of smoke, such as that produced +by burning the liver of a fish, the dried skin of a serpent, the +eyes of a toad, or the tongue of an adder, were exceedingly +offensive to the nostrils of an ordinary ghost. With this smoke, +the sick room would be filled until the ghost vanished or the +patient died.</p> +<p>It was also believed that certain words,—the names of the +most powerful ghosts,—when properly pronounced, were very +effective weapons. It was for a long time thought that Latin words +were the best,—Latin being a dead language, and known by the +clergy. Others thought that two sticks laid across each other and +held before the wicked ghost would cause it instantly to flee in +dread away.</p> +<p>For thousands of years, the practice of medicine consisted in +driving these evil spirits out of the bodies of men.</p> +<p>In some instances, bargains and compromises were made with the +ghosts. One case is given where a multitude of devils traded a man +for a herd of swine. In this transaction the devils were the +losers, as the swine immediately drowned themselves in the sea. +This idea of disease appears to have been almost universal, and is +by no means yet extinct.</p> +<p>The contortions of the epileptic, the strange twitchings of +those afflicted with chorea, the shakings of palsy, dreams, +trances, and the numberless frightful phenomena produced by +diseases of the nerves, were all seized upon as so many proofs that +the bodies of men were filled with unclean and malignant +ghosts.</p> +<p>Whoever endeavored to account for these things by natural +causes, whoever attempted to cure diseases by natural means, was +denounced by the church as an infidel. To explain anything was a +crime. It was to the interest of the priest that all phenomena +should be accounted for by the will and power of gods and devils. +The moment it is admitted that all phenomena are within the domain +of the natural, the necessity for a priest has disappeared. +Religion breathes the air of the supernatural. Take from the mind +of man the idea of the supernatural, and religion ceases to exist. +For this, reason, the church has always despised the man who +explained the wonderful. Upon this principle, nothing was left +undone to stay the science of medicine. As long as plagues and +pestilences could be stopped by prayer, the priest was useful. The +moment the physician found a cure, the priest became an +extravagance. The moment it began to be apparent that prayer could +do nothing for the body, the priest shifted his ground and began +praying for the soul.</p> +<p>Long after the devil idea was substantially abandoned in the +practice of medicine, and when it was admitted that God had nothing +to do with ordinary coughs and colds, it was still believed that +all the frightful diseases were sent by him as punishments for the +wickedness of the people. It was thought to be a kind of blasphemy +to even try, by any natural means, to stay the ravages of +pestilence. Formerly, during the prevalence of plague and +epidemics, the arrogance of the priest was boundless. He told the +people that they had slighted the clergy, that they had refused to +pay tithes, that they had doubted some of the doctrines of the +church, and that God was now taking his revenge. The people for the +most part, believed this infamous tissue of priestcraft. They +hastened to fall upon their knees; they poured out their wealth +upon the altars of hypocrisy; they abased and debased themselves; +from their minds they banished all doubts, and made haste to crawl +in the very dust of humility.</p> +<p>The church never wanted disease to be under the control of man. +Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College, preached a sermon +against vaccination. His idea was, that if God had decreed from all +eternity that a certain man should die with the small-pox, it was a +frightful sin to avoid and annul that decree by the trick of +vaccination. Small-pox being regarded as one of the heaviest guns +in the arsenal of heaven, to spike it was the height of +presumption. Plagues and pestilences were instrumentalities in the +hands of God with which to gain the love and worship of mankind. To +find a cure for disease was to take a weapon from the church. No +one tries to cure the ague with prayer. Quinine has been found +altogether more reliable. Just as soon as a specific is found for a +disease, that disease will be left out of the list of prayer. The +number of diseases with which God from time to time afflicts +mankind, is continually decreasing. In a few years all of them will +be under the control of man, the gods will be left unarmed, and the +threats of their priests will excite only a smile.</p> +<p>The science of medicine has had but one enemy—religion. +Man was afraid to save his body for fear he might lose his +soul.</p> +<p>Is it any wonder that the people in those days believed in and +taught the infamous doctrine of eternal punishment—a doctrine +that makes God a heartless monster and man a slimy hypocrite and +slave?</p> +<p>The ghosts were historians, and their histories were the +grossest absurdities. "Tales told by idiots, full of sound and +fury, signifying nothing." In those days the histories were written +by the monks, who, as a rule, were almost as superstitious as they +were dishonest. They wrote as though they had been witnesses of +every occurrence they related. They wrote the history of every +country of importance. They told all the past and predicted all the +future with an impudence that amounted to sublimity. "They traced +the order of St. Michael, in France, to the archangel himself, and +alleged that he was the founder of a chivalric order in heaven +itself. They said that Tartars originally came from hell, and that +they were called Tartars because Tartarus was one of the names of +perdition. They declared that Scotland was so named after Scota, a +daughter of Pharaoh, who landed in Ireland, invaded Scotland, and +took it by force of arms. This statement was made in a letter +addressed to the Pope in the fourteenth century, and was alluded to +as a well-known fact. The letter was written by some of the highest +dignitaries, and by the direction of the King himself."</p> +<p>These gentlemen accounted for the red on the breasts of robins, +from the fact that these birds carried water to unbaptized infants +in hell.</p> +<p>Matthew, of Paris, an eminent historian of the fourteenth +century, gave the world the following piece of information: "It is +well known that Mohammed was once a cardinal, and became a heretic +because he failed in his effort to be elected pope;" and that +having drank to excess, he fell by the roadside, and in this +condition was killed by swine. "And for that reason, his followers +abhor pork even unto this day."</p> +<p>Another eminent historian informs us that Nero was in the habit +of vomiting frogs. When I read this, I said to myself: Some of the +croakers of the present day against Progress would be the better +for such a vomit.</p> +<p>The history of Charlemagne was written by Turpin, of Rheims. He +was a bishop. He assures us that the walls of a city fell down in +answer to prayer. That there were giants in those days who could +take fifty ordinary men under their arms and walk away with them. +"With the greatest of these, a direct descendant of Goliath, one +Orlando had a theological discussion, and that in the heat of the +debate, when the giant was overwhelmed with the argument, Orlando +rushed forward and inflicted a fatal stab."</p> +<p>The history of Britain, written by the archdeacons of Monmouth +and Oxford, was wonderfully popular. According to them, Brutus +conquered England and built the city of London. During his time, it +rained pure blood for three days. At another time, a monster came +from the sea, and, after having devoured great multitudes of +people, swallowed the king and disappeared. They tell us that King +Arthur was not born like other mortals, but was the result of a +magical contrivance; that he had great luck in killing giants; that +he killed one in France that had the cheerful habit of eating some +thirty men a day. That this giant had clothes woven of the beards +of the kings he had devoured. To cap the climax, one of the authors +of this book was promoted for having written the only reliable +history of his country.</p> +<p>In all the histories of those days there is hardly a single +truth. Facts were considered unworthy of preservation. Anything +that really happened was not of sufficient interest or importance +to be recorded. The great religious historian, Eusebius, +ingenuously remarks that in his history he carefully omitted +whatever tended to discredit the church, and that he piously +magnified all that conduced to her glory.</p> +<p>The same glorious principle was scrupulously adhered to by all +the historians of that time.</p> +<p>They wrote, and the people believed, that the tracks of +Pharoah's chariots were still visible on the sands of the Red Sea, +and that they had been miraculously preserved from the winds and +waves as perpetual witnesses of the great miracle there +performed.</p> +<p>It is safe to say that every truth in the histories of those +times is the result of accident or mistake.</p> +<p>They accounted for everything as the work of good and evil +spirits. With cause and effect they had nothing to do. Facts were +in no way related to each other. God, governed by infinite caprice, +filled the world with miracles and disconnected events. From the +quiver of his hatred came the arrows of famine, pestilence, and +death.</p> +<p>The moment that the idea is abandoned that all is natural; that +all phenomena are the necessary links in the endless chain of +being, the conception of history becomes impossible. With the +ghosts, the present is not the child of the past, nor the mother of +the future. In the domain of religion all is chance, accident, and +caprice.</p> +<p>Do not forget, I pray you, that our creeds were written by the +cotemporaries of these historians.</p> +<p>The same idea was applied to law. It was believed by our +intelligent ancestors that all law derived its sacredness and its +binding force from the fact that it had been communicated to man by +the ghosts. Of course it was not pretended that the ghosts told +everybody the law; but they told it to a few, and the few told it +to the people, and the people, as a rule, paid them exceedingly +well for their trouble. It was thousands of ages before the people +commenced making laws for themselves, and strange as it may appear, +most of these laws were vastly superior to the ghost article. +Through the web and woof of human legislation began to run and +shine and glitter the golden thread of justice.</p> +<p>During these years of darkness it was believed that rather than +see an act of injustice done; rather than see the innocent suffer; +rather than see the guilty triumph, some ghost would interfere. +This belief, as a rule, gave great satisfaction to the victorious +party, and as the other man was dead, no complaint was heard from +him.</p> +<p>This doctrine was the sanctification of brute force and chance. +They had trials by battle, by fire, by water, and by lot. Persons +were made to grasp hot iron, and if it burned them their guilt was +established. Others, with tied hands and feet, were cast into the +sea, and if they sank, the verdict of guilty was +unanimous,—if they did not sink, they were in league with +devils.</p> +<p>So in England, persons charged with crime could appeal to the +corsned. The corsned was a piece of the sacramental bread. If the +defendant could swallow this piece he went acquit. Godwin, Earl of +Kent, in the time of Edward the Confessor, appealed to the corsned. +He failed to swallow it and was choked to death.</p> +<p>The ghosts and their followers always took delight in torture, +in cruel and unusual punishments. For the infraction of most of +their laws, death was the penalty—death produced by stoning +and by fire. Sometimes, when man committed only murder, he was +allowed to flee to some city of refuge. Murder was a crime against +man. But for saying certain words, or denying certain doctrines, or +for picking up sticks on certain days, or for worshiping the wrong +ghost, or for failing to pray to the right one, or for laughing at +a priest, or for saying that wine was not blood, or that bread was +not flesh, or for failing to regard ram's horns as artillery, or +for insisting that a dry bone was scarcely sufficient to take the +place of water works, or that a raven, as a rule, made a poor +landlord:—death, produced by all the ways that the ingenuity +of hatred could devise, was the penalty.</p> +<p>Law is a growth—it is a science. Right and wrong exist in +the nature of things. Things are not right because they are +commanded, nor wrong because they are prohibited. There are real +crimes enough without creating artificial ones. All progress in +legislation has for centuries consisted in repealing the laws of +the ghosts.</p> +<p>The idea of right and wrong is born of man's capacity to enjoy +and suffer. If man could not suffer, if he could not inflict injury +upon his fellow, if he could neither feel nor inflict pain, the +idea of right and wrong never would have entered his brain. But for +this, the word conscience never would have passed the lips of +man.</p> +<p>There is one good—happiness. There is but one +sin—selfishness. All law should be for the preservation of +the one and the destruction of the other.</p> +<p>Under the regime of the ghosts, laws were not supposed to exist +in the nature of things. They were supposed to be simply the +irresponsible command of a ghost. These commands were not supposed +to rest upon reason, they were the product of arbitrary will.</p> +<p>The penalties for the violation of these laws were as cruel as +the laws were senseless and absurd. Working on the Sabbath and +murder were both punished with death. The tendency of such laws is +to blot from the human heart the sense of justice.</p> +<p>To show you how perfectly every department of knowledge, or +ignorance rather, was saturated with superstition, I will for a +moment refer to the science of language.</p> +<p>It was thought by our fathers, that Hebrew was the original +language; that it was taught to Adam in the Garden of Eden by the +Almighty, and that consequently all languages came from, and could +be traced to, the Hebrew. Every fact inconsistent with that idea +was discarded. According to the ghosts, the trouble at the tower of +Babel accounted for the fact that all people did not speak Hebrew. +The Babel business settled all questions in the science of +language.</p> +<p>After a time, so many facts were found to be inconsistent with +the Hebrew idea that it began to fall into disrepute, and other +languages began to compete for the honor of being the original.</p> +<p>Andre Kempe, in 1569, published a work on the language of +Paradise, in which he maintained that God spoke to Adam in Swedish; +that Adam answered in Danish; and that the serpent—which +appears to me quite probable—spoke to Eve in French. Erro, in +a work published at Madrid, took the ground that Basque was the +language spoken in the Garden of Eden; but in 1580 Goropius +published his celebrated work at Antwerp, in which he put the whole +matter at rest by showing, beyond all doubt, that the language +spoken in Paradise was neither more nor less than plain Holland +Dutch.</p> +<p>The real founder of the science of language was Liebnitz, a +cotemporary of Sir Isaac Newton. He discarded the idea that all +languages could be traced to one language. He maintained that +language was a natural growth. Experience teaches us that this must +be so. Words are continually dying and continually being born. +Words are naturally and necessarily produced. Words are the +garments of thought, the robes of ideas. Some are as rude as the +skins of wild beasts, and others glisten and glitter like silk and +gold. They have been born of hatred and revenge; of love and +self-sacrifice; of hope and fear, of agony and joy. These words are +born of the terror and beauty of nature. The stars have fashioned +them. In them mingle the darkness and the dawn. From everything +they have taken something. Words are the crystalizations of human +history, of all that man has enjoyed and suffered—his +victories and defeats—all that he has lost and won. Words are +the shadows of all that has been—the mirrors of all that +is.</p> +<p>The ghosts also enlightened our fathers in astronomy and +geology. According to them the earth was made out of nothing, and a +little more nothing having been taken than was used in the +construction of this world, the stars were made out of what was +left over. Cosmas, in the sixth century, taught that the stars were +impelled by angels, who either carried them on their shoulders, +rolled them in front of them, or drew them after. He also taught +that each angel that pushed a star took great pains to observe what +the other angels were doing, so that the relative distances between +the stars might always remain the same. He also gave his idea as to +the form of the world.</p> +<p>He stated that the world was a vast parallelogram; that on the +outside was a strip of land, like the frame of a common slate; that +then there was a strip of water, and in the middle a great piece of +land; that Adam and Eve lived on the outer strip; that their +descendants, with the exception of the Noah family, were drowned by +a flood on this outer strip; that the ark finally rested on the +middle piece of land where we now are. He accounted for night and +day by saying that on the outside strip of land there was a high +mountain, around which the sun and moon revolved, and that when the +sun was on the other side of the mountain, it was night; and when +on this side, it was day.</p> +<p>He also declared that the earth was flat. This he proved by many +passages from the Bible. Among other reasons for believing the +earth to be flat, he brought forward the following: We are told in +the New Testament that Christ shall come again in glory and power, +and all the world shall see him. Now, if the world is round, how +are the people on the other side going to see Christ when he comes? +That settled the question, and the church not only endorsed the +book, but declared that whoever believed less or more than stated +by Cosmas, was a heretic.</p> +<p>In those blessed days, Ignorance was a king and Science an +outcast.</p> +<p>They knew the moment this earth ceased to be the centre of the +universe, and became a mere speck in the starry heaven of +existence, that their religion would become a childish fable of the +past.</p> +<p>In the name and by the authority of the ghosts, men enslaved +their fellow-men; they trampled upon the rights of women and +children. In the name and by the authority of ghosts, they bought +and sold and destroyed each other; they filled heaven with tyrants +and earth with slaves, the present with despair and the future with +horror. In the name and by the authority of the ghosts, they +imprisoned the human mind, polluted the conscience, hardened the +heart, subverted justice, crowned robbery, sainted hypocrisy, and +extinguished for a thousand years the torch of reason.</p> +<p>I have endeavored, in some faint degree, to show you what has +happened, and what always will happen when men are governed by +superstition and fear; when they desert the sublime standard of +reason; when they take the words of others and do not investigate +for themselves.</p> +<p>Even the great men of those days were nearly as weak in this +matter as the most ignorant. Kepler, one of the greatest men of the +world, an astronomer second to none, although he plucked from the +stars the secrets of the universe, was an astrologer, and really +believed that he could predict the career of a man by finding what +star was in the ascendant at his birth. This great man breathed, so +to speak, the atmosphere of his time. He believed in the music of +the spheres, and assigned alto, bass, tenor, and treble to certain +stars.</p> +<p>Tycho Brahe, another astronomer, kept an idiot, whose +disconnected and meaningless words he carefully set down, and then +put them together in such manner as to make prophecies, and then +waited patiently to see them fulfilled. Luther believed that he had +actually seen the devil, and had discussed points of theology with +him. The human mind was in chains. Every idea almost was a monster. +Thought was deformed. Facts were looked upon as worthless. Only the +wonderful was worth preserving. Things that actually happened were +not considered worth recording;—real occurrences were too +common. Everybody expected the miraculous.</p> +<p>The ghosts were supposed to be busy; devils were thought to be +the most industrious things in the universe, and with these imps, +every occurrence of an unusual character was in some way connected. +There was no order, no serenity, no certainty in anything. +Everything depended upon ghosts and phantoms. Man was, for the most +part, at the mercy of malevolent spirits. He protected himself as +best he could with holy water and tapers and wafers and cathedrals. +He made noises and rung bells to frighten the ghosts, and he made +music to charm them. He used smoke to choke them, and incense to +please them. He wore beads and crosses. He said prayers, and hired +others to say them. He fasted when he was hungry, and feasted when +he was not. He believed everything that seemed unreasonable, just +to appease the ghosts. He humbled himself. He crawled in the dust. +He shut the doors and windows, and excluded every ray of light from +the temple of the soul. He debauched and polluted his own mind, and +toiled night and day to repair the walls of his own prison. From +the garden of his heart he plucked and trampled upon the holy +flowers of pity.</p> +<p>The priests reveled in horrible descriptions of hell. Concerning +the wrath of God, they grew eloquent. They denounced man as totally +depraved. They made reason blasphemy, and pity a crime. Nothing so +delighted them as painting the torments and sufferings of the lost. +Over the worm that never dies they grew poetic; and the second +death filled them with a kind of holy delight. According to them, +the smoke and cries ascending from hell were the perfume and music +of heaven.</p> +<p>At the risk of being tiresome, I have said what I have to show +you the productions of the human mind, when enslaved; the effects +of wide-spread ignorance—the results of fear. I want to +convince you that every form of slavery is a viper, that, sooner or +later, will strike its poison fangs into the bosoms of men.</p> +<p>The first great step towards progress, is, for man to cease to +be the slave of man; the second, to cease to be the slave of the +monsters of his own creation—of the ghosts and phantoms of +the air.</p> +<p>For ages the human race was imprisoned.</p> +<p>Through the bars and grates came a few struggling rays of light. +Against these grates and bars Science pressed its pale and +thoughtful face, wooed by the holy dawn of human advancement.</p> +<p>Men found that the real was the useful; that what a man knows is +better than what a ghost says; that an event is more valuable than +a prophecy. They found that diseases were not produced by spirits, +and could not be cured by frightening them away. They found that +death was as natural as life. They began to study the anatomy and +chemistry of the human body, and found that all was natural and +within the domain of law.</p> +<p>The conjurer and sorcerer were discarded, and the physician and +surgeon employed. They found that the earth was not flat; that the +stars were not mere specks. They found that being born under a +particular planet had nothing to do with the fortunes of men.</p> +<p>The astrologer was discharged and the astronomer took his +place.</p> +<p>They found that the earth had swept through the constellations +for millions of ages. They found that good and evil were produced +by natural causes, and not by ghosts; that man could not be good +enough or bad enough to stop or cause a rain; that diseases were +produced as naturally as grass, and were not sent as punishments +upon man for failing to believe a certain creed. They found that +man, through intelligence, could take advantage of the forces of +nature—that he could make the waves, the winds, the flames, +and the lightnings of heaven do his bidding and minister to his +wants. They found that the ghosts knew nothing of benefit to man; +that they were utterly ignorant of geology—of +astronomy—of geography;—that they knew nothing of +history;—that they were poor doctors and worse +surgeons;—that they knew nothing of law and less of justice; +that they were without brains, and utterly destitute of hearts; +that they knew nothing of the rights of men; that they were +despisers of women, the haters of progress, the enemies of science, +and the destroyers of liberty.</p> +<p>The condition of the world during the Dark Ages shows exactly +the result of enslaving the bodies and souls of men. In those days +there was no freedom. Labor was despised, and a laborer was +considered but little above a beast. Ignorance, like a vast cowl, +covered the brain of the world, and superstition ran riot with the +imagination of man. The air was filled with angels, with demons and +monsters. Credulity sat upon the throne of the soul, and Reason was +an exiled king. A man to be distinguished must be a soldier or a +monk. War and theology, that is to say, murder and hypocrisy, were +the principal employments of man. Industry was a slave, theft was +commerce; murder was war, hypocrisy was religion.</p> +<p>Every Christian country maintained that it was no robbery to +take the property of Mohammedans by force, and no murder to kill +the owners. Lord Bacon was the first man of note who maintained +that a Christian country was bound to keep its plighted faith with +an infidel nation. Reading and writing were considered dangerous +arts. Every layman who could read and write was suspected of being +a heretic. All thought was discouraged. They forged chains of +superstition for the minds, and manacles of iron for the bodies of +men. The earth was ruled by the cowl and sword,—by the mitre +and scepter,—by the altar and throne,—by Fear and +Force,—by Ignorance and Faith,—by ghouls and +ghosts.</p> +<p>In the fifteenth century the following law was in force in +England:</p> +<p>"That whosoever reads the Scriptures in the mother tongue, shall +forfeit land, cattle, life, and goods from their heirs forever, and +so be condemned for heretics to God, enemies to the crown, and most +arrant traitors to the land."</p> +<p>During the first year this law was in force thirty-nine were +hanged for its violation and their bodies burned.</p> +<p>In the sixteenth century men were burned because they failed to +kneel to a procession of monks.</p> +<p>The slightest word uttered against the superstition of the time +was punished with death.</p> +<p>Even the reformers, so-called, of those days, had no idea of +intellectual liberty—no idea even of toleration. Luther, +Knox, Calvin, believed in religious liberty only when they were in +the minority. The moment they were clothed with power they began to +exterminate with fire and sword.</p> +<p>Castalio was the first minister who advocated the liberty of the +soul. He was regarded by the reformers as a criminal, and treated +as though he had committed the crime of crimes.</p> +<p>Bodinus, a lawyer of France, about the same time, wrote a few +words in favor of the freedom of conscience, but public opinion was +overwhelmingly against him. The people were ready, anxious, and +willing, with whip, and chain, and fire, to drive from the mind of +man the heresy that he had a right to think.</p> +<p>Montaigne, a man blest with so much common sense that he was the +most uncommon man of his time, was the first to raise a voice +against torture in France. But what was the voice of one man +against the terrible cry of ignorant, infatuated, superstitious and +malevolent millions? It was the cry of a drowning man in the wild +roar of the cruel sea.</p> +<p>In spite of the efforts of the brave few the infamous war +against the freedom of the soul was waged until at least one +hundred millions of human beings—fathers, mothers, brothers, +sisters—with hopes, loves, and aspirations like ourselves, +were sacrificed upon the cruel altar of an ignorant faith. They +perished in every way by which death can be produced. Every nerve +of pain was sought out and touched by the believers in ghosts.</p> +<p>For my part I glory in the fact, that here in the New +World,—in the United States,—liberty of conscience was +first guaranteed to man, and that the Constitution of the United +States was the first great decree entered in the high court of +human equity forever divorcing church and state,—the first +injunction granted against the interference of the ghosts. This was +one of the grandest steps ever taken by the human race in the +direction of Progress.</p> +<p>You will ask what has caused this wonderful change in three +hundred years. And I answer—the inventions and discoveries of +the few;—the brave thoughts, the heroic utterances of the +few;—the acquisition of a few facts.</p> +<p>Besides, you must remember that every wrong in some way tends to +abolish itself. It is hard to make a lie stand always. A lie will +not fit a fact. It will only fit another lie made for the purpose. +The life of a lie is simply a question of time. Nothing but truth +is immortal. The nobles and kings quarreled;—the priests +began to dispute;—the ideas of government began to +change.</p> +<p>In 1441 printing was discovered. At that time the past was a +vast cemetery with hardly an epitaph. The ideas of men had mostly +perished in the brain that produced them. The lips of the human +race had been sealed. Printing gave pinions to thought. It +preserved ideas. It made it possible for man to bequeath to the +future the riches of his brain, the wealth of his soul. At first, +it was used to flood the world with the mistakes of the ancients, +but since that time it has been flooding the world with light.</p> +<p>When people read they begin to reason, and when they reason they +progress. This was another grand step in the direction of +Progress.</p> +<p>The discovery of powder, that put the peasant almost upon a par +with the prince;—that put an end to the so-called age of +chivalry;—that released a vast number of men from the +armies;—that gave pluck and nerve a chance with brute +strength.</p> +<p>The discovery of America, whose shores were trod by the restless +feet of adventure;—that brought people holding every shade of +superstition together;—that gave the world an opportunity to +compare notes, and to laugh at the follies of each other. Out of +this strange mingling of all creeds, and superstitions, and facts, +and theories, and countless opinions, came the Great Republic.</p> +<p>Every fact has pushed a superstition from the brain and a ghost +from the clouds. Every mechanic art is an educator. Every loom, +every reaper and mower, every steamboat, every locomotive, every +engine, every press, every telegraph, is a missionary of Science +and an apostle of Progress. Every mill, every furnace, every +building with its wheels and levers, in which something is made for +the convenience, for the use, and for the comfort and elevation of +man, is a church, and every school-house is a temple.</p> +<p>Education is the most radical thing in the world.</p> +<p>To teach the alphabet is to inaugurate a revolution.</p> +<p>To build a schoolhouse is to construct a fort.</p> +<p>Every library is an arsenal filled with the weapons and +ammunition of Progress, and every fact is a monitor with sides of +iron and a turret of steel.</p> +<p>I thank the inventors, the discoverers, the thinkers. I thank +Columbus and Magellan. I thank Galileo, and Copernicus, and Kepler, +and Descartes, and Newton, and Laplace. I thank Locke, and Hume, +and Bacon, and Shakespeare, and Kant, and Fichte, and Leibnitz, and +Goethe. I thank Fulton, and Watts, and Volta, and Galvani, and +Franklin, and Morse, who made lightning the messenger of man. I +thank Humboldt, the Shakespeare of science. I thank Crompton and +Arkwright, from whose brains leaped the looms and spindles that +clothe the world. I thank Luther for protesting against the abuses +of the church, and I denounce him because he was the enemy of +liberty. I thank Calvin for writing a book in favor of religious +freedom, and I abhor him because he burned Servetus. I thank Knox +for resisting Episcopal persecution, and I hate him because he +persecuted in his turn. I thank the Puritans for saying "Resistance +to tyrants is obedience to God," and yet I am compelled to say that +they were tyrants themselves. I thank Thomas Paine because he was a +believer in liberty, and because he did as much to make my country +free as any other human being. I thank Voltaire, that great man +who, for half a century, was the intellectual emperor of Europe, +and who, from his throne at the foot of the Alps, pointed the +finger of scorn at every hypocrite in Christendom. I thank Darwin, +Haeckel and Büchner, Spencer, Tyndall and Huxley, Draper, +Lecky and Buckle.</p> +<p>I thank the inventors, the discoverers, the thinkers, the +scientists, the explorers, I thank the honest millions who have +toiled.</p> +<p>I thank the brave men with brave thoughts. They are the Atlases +upon whose broad and mighty shoulders rests the grand fabric of +civilization. They are the men who have broken, and are still +breaking, the chains of Superstition. They are the Titans who +carried Olympus by assault, and who will soon stand victors upon +Sinai's crags.</p> +<p>We are beginning to learn that to exchange a mistake for the +truth—a superstition for a fact—to ascertain the +real—is to progress.</p> +<p>Happiness is the only possible good, and all that tends to the +happiness of man is right, and is of value. All that tends to +develop the bodies and minds of men; all that gives us better +houses, better clothes, better food, better pictures, grander +music, better heads, better hearts; all that renders us more +intellectual and more loving, nearer just; that makes us better +husbands and wives, better children, better citizens—all +these things combined produce what I call Progress.</p> +<p>Man advances only as he overcomes the obstructions of Nature, +and this can be done only by labor and by thought. Labor is the +foundation of all. Without labor, and without great labor, progress +is impossible. The progress of the world depends upon the men who +walk in the fresh furrows and through the rustling corn; upon those +who sow and reap; upon those whose faces are radiant with the glare +of furnace fires; upon the delvers in the mines, and the workers in +shops; upon those who give to the winter air the ringing music of +the axe; upon those who battle with the boisterous billows of the +sea; upon the inventors and discoverers; upon the brave +thinkers.</p> +<p>From the surplus produced by labor, schools and universities are +built and fostered. From this surplus the painter is paid for the +productions of the pencil; the sculptor for chiseling shapeless +rock into forms divinely beautiful, and the poet for singing the +hopes, the loves, the memories, and the aspirations of the world. +This surplus has given us the books in which we converse with the +dead and living kings of the human race. It has given us all there +is of beauty, of elegance, and of refined happiness.</p> +<p>I am aware that there is a vast difference of opinion as to what +progress really is; that many denounce the ideas of to-day as +destructive of all happiness—of all good, I know that there +are many worshipers of the past. They venerate the ancient because +it is ancient. They see no beauty in anything from which they do +not blow the dust of ages with the breath of praise. They say, no +masters like the old; no religion, no governments like the ancient; +no orators, no poets, no statesmen like those who have been dust +for two thousand years. Others love the modern simply because it is +modern.</p> +<p>We should have gratitude enough to acknowledge the obligations +we are under to the great and heroic of antiquity, and independence +enough not to believe what they said simply because they said +it.</p> +<p>With the idea that labor is the basis of progress goes the truth +that labor must be free. The laborer must be a free man.</p> +<p>The free man, working for wife and child, gets his head and +hands in partnership.</p> +<p>To do the greatest amount of work in the shortest space of time, +is the problem of free labor.</p> +<p>Slavery does the least work in the longest space of time.</p> +<p>Free labor will give us wealth. Free thought will give us +truth.</p> +<p>Slowly but surely man is freeing his imagination of these +sexless phantoms, of these cruel ghosts. Slowly but surely he is +rising above the superstitions of the past. He is learning to rely +upon himself. He is beginning to find that labor is the only prayer +that ought to be answered, and that hoping, toiling, aspiring, +suffering men and women are of more importance than all the ghosts +that ever wandered through the fenceless fields of space.</p> +<p>The believers in ghosts claim still, that they are the only wise +and virtuous people upon the earth; claim still, that there is a +difference between them and unbelievers so vast, that they will be +infinitely rewarded, and the others infinitely punished.</p> +<p>I ask you to-night, do the theories and doctrines of the +theologians satisfy the heart or brain of the nineteenth +century?</p> +<p>Have the churches the confidence of mankind?</p> +<p>Does the merchant give credit to a man because he belongs to a +church?</p> +<p>Does the banker loan money to a man because he is a Methodist or +Baptist?</p> +<p>Will a certificate of good standing in any church be taken as +collateral security for one dollar?</p> +<p>Will you take the word of a church member, or his note, or his +oath, simply because he is a church member?</p> +<p>Are the clergy, as a class, better, kinder and more generous to +their families—to their fellow-men—than doctors, +lawyers, merchants and farmers?</p> +<p>Does a belief in ghosts and unreasonable things necessarily make +people honest?</p> +<p>When a man loses confidence in Moses, must the people lose +confidence in him?</p> +<p>Does not the credit system in morals breed extravagance in +sin?</p> +<p>Why send missionaries to other lands while every penitentiary in +ours is filled with criminals?</p> +<p>Is it philosophical to say that they who do right carry a +cross?</p> +<p>Is it a source of joy to think that perdition is the destination +of nearly all of the children of men?</p> +<p>Is it worth while to quarrel about original sin—when there +is so much copy?</p> +<p>Does it pay to dispute about baptism, and the Trinity, and +predestination, and apostolic succession and the infallibility of +churches, of popes and of books? Does all this do any good?</p> +<p>Are the theologians welcomers of new truths? Are they noted for +their candor? Do they treat an opponent with common fairness? Are +they investigators? Do they pull forward, or do they hold back?</p> +<p>Is science indebted to the church for a solitary fact?</p> +<p>What church is an asylum for a persecuted truth?</p> +<p>What great reform has been inaugurated by the church?</p> +<p>Did the church abolish slavery?</p> +<p>Has the church raised its voice against war?</p> +<p>I used to think that there was in religion no real restraining +force. Upon this point my mind has changed. Religion will prevent +man from committing artificial crimes and offences.</p> +<p>A man committed murder. The evidence was so conclusive that he +confessed his guilt.</p> +<p>He was asked why he killed his fellow-man.</p> +<p>He replied: "For money."</p> +<p>"Did you get any?"</p> +<p>"Yes."</p> +<p>"How much?"</p> +<p>"Fifteen cents."</p> +<p>"What did you do with this money?"</p> +<p>"Spent it."</p> +<p>"What for?"</p> +<p>"Liquor."</p> +<p>"What else did you find upon the dead man?" "He had his dinner +in a bucket—some meat and bread."</p> +<p>"What did you do with that?"</p> +<p>"I ate the bread."</p> +<p>"What did you do with the meat?"</p> +<p>"I threw it away."</p> +<p>"Why?"</p> +<p>"It was Friday."</p> +<p>Just to the extent that man has freed himself from the dominion +of ghosts he has advanced. Just to the extent that he has freed +himself from the tyrants of his own creation he has progressed. +Just to the extent that he has investigated for himself he has lost +confidence in superstition.</p> +<p>With knowledge obedience becomes intelligent +acquiescence—it is no longer degrading. Acquiescence in the +understood—in the known—is the act of a sovereign, not +of a slave. It ennobles, it does not degrade.</p> +<p>Man has found that he must give liberty to others in order to +have it himself. He has found that a master is also a +slave;—that a tyrant is himself a serf. He has found that +governments should be founded and administered by man and for man; +that the rights of all are equal; that the powers that be are not +ordained by God; that woman is at least the equal of man; that men +existed before books; that religion is one of the phases of thought +through which the world is passing; that all creeds were made by +man; that everything is natural; that a miracle is an +impossibility; that we know nothing of origin and destiny; that +concerning the unknown we are all equally ignorant; that the pew +has the right to contradict what the pulpit asserts; that man is +responsible only to himself and those he injures, and that all have +a right to think.</p> +<p>True religion must be free. Without perfect liberty of the mind +there can be no true religion. Without liberty the brain is a +dungeon—the mind a convict. The slave may bow and cringe and +crawl, but he cannot adore—he cannot love.</p> +<p>True religion is the perfume of a free and grateful heart. True +religion is a subordination of the passions to the perceptions of +the intellect. True religion is not a theory—it is a +practice. It is not a creed—it is a life.</p> +<p>A theory that is afraid of investigation is undeserving a place +in the human mind.</p> +<p>I do not pretend to tell what all the truth is. I do not pretend +to have fathomed the abyss, nor to have floated on outstretched +wings level with the dim heights of thought. I simply plead for +freedom. I denounce the cruelties and horrors of slavery. I ask for +light and air for the souls of men. I say, take off those +chains—break those manacles—free those +limbs—release that brain! I plead for the right to +think—to reason—to investigate. I ask that the future +may be enriched with the honest thoughts of men. I implore every +human being to be a soldier in the army of progress.</p> +<p>I will not invade the rights of others. You have no right to +erect your toll-gate upon the highways of thought. You have no +right to leap from the hedges of superstition and strike down the +pioneers of the human race. You have no right to sacrifice the +liberties of man upon the altars of ghosts. Believe what you may; +preach what you desire; have all the forms and ceremonies you +please; exercise your liberty in your own way but extend to all +others the same right.</p> +<p>I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord +liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous—if they +aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because +they enslave the minds of men.</p> +<p>I attack the monsters, the phantoms of imagination that have +ruled the world. I attack slavery. I ask for room—room for +the human mind.</p> +<p>Why should we sacrifice a real world that we have, for one we +know not of? Why should we enslave ourselves? Why should we forge +fetters for our own hands? Why should we be the slaves of phantoms. +The darkness of barbarism was the womb of these shadows. In the +light of science they cannot cloud the sky forever. They have +reddened the hands of man with innocent blood. They made the cradle +a curse, and the grave a place of torment.</p> +<p>They blinded the eyes and stopped the ears of the human race. +They subverted all ideas of justice by promising infinite rewards +for finite virtues, and threatening infinite punishment for finite +offences.</p> +<p>They filled the future with heavens and with hells, with the +shining peaks of selfish joy and the lurid abysses of flame. For +ages they kept the world in ignorance and awe, in want and misery, +in fear and chains.</p> +<p>I plead for light, for air, for opportunity. I plead for +individual independence. I plead for the rights of labor and of +thought. I plead for a chainless future. Let the ghosts +go—justice remains. Let them disappear—men and women +and children are left. Let the monsters fade away—the world +is here with its hills and seas and plains, with its seasons of +smiles and frowns, its spring of leaf and bud, its summer of shade +and flower and murmuring stream; its autumn with the laden boughs, +when the withered banners of the corn are still, and gathered +fields are growing strangely wan; while death, poetic death, with +hands that color what they touch, weaves in the Autumn wood her +tapestries of gold and brown.</p> +<p>The world remains with its winters and homes and firesides, +where grow and bloom the virtues of our race. All these are left; +and music, with its sad and thrilling voice, and all there is of +art and song and hope and love and aspiration high. All these +remain. Let the ghosts go—we will worship them no more.</p> +<p>Man is greater than these phantoms. Humanity is grander than all +the creeds, than all the books. Humanity is the great sea, and +these creeds, and books, and religions, are but the waves of a day. +Humanity is the sky, and these religions and dogmas and theories +are but the mists and clouds changing continually, destined finally +to melt away.</p> +<p>That which is founded upon slavery, and fear, and ignorance, +cannot endure. In the religion of the future there will be men and +women and children, all the aspirations of the soul, and all the +tender humanities of the heart.</p> +<p>Let the ghosts go. We will worship them no more. Let them cover +their eyeless sockets with their fleshless hands and fade forever +from the imaginations of men.</p> +<a name="link0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE LIBERTY OF MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD.</h2> +<h3>Liberty sustains the same Relation to Mind that Space does to +Matter.</h3> +<p>THERE is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of +intelligence.</p> +<p>The history of man is simply the history of slavery, of +injustice and brutality, together with the means by which he has, +through the dead and desolate years, slowly and painfully advanced. +He has been the sport and prey of priest and king, the food of +superstition and cruel might. Crowned force has governed ignorance +through fear. Hypocrisy and tyranny—two vultures—have +fed upon the liberties of man. From all these there has been, and +is, but one means of escape—intellectual development. Upon +the back of industry has been the whip. Upon the brain have been +the fetters of superstition. Nothing has been left undone by the +enemies of freedom. Every art and artifice, every cruelty and +outrage has been practiced and perpetrated to destroy the rights of +man. In this great struggle every crime has been rewarded and every +virtue has been punished. Reading, writing, thinking and +investigating have all been crimes.</p> +<p>Every science has been an outcast.</p> +<p>All the altars and all the thrones united to arrest the forward +march of the human race. The king said that mankind must not work +for themselves. The priest said that mankind must not think for +themselves. One forged chains for the hands, the other for the +soul. Under this infamous <i>regime</i> the eagle of the human +intellect was for ages a slimy serpent of hypocrisy.</p> +<p>The human race was imprisoned. Through some of the prison bars +came a few struggling rays of light. Against these bars Science +pressed its pale and thoughtful face, wooed by the holy dawn of +human advancement. Bar after bar was broken away. A few grand men +escaped and devoted their lives to the liberation of their +fellows.</p> +<p>Only a few years ago there was a great awakening of the human +mind. Men began to inquire by what right a crowned robber made them +work for him? The man who asked this question was called a traitor. +Others asked by what right does a robed hypocrite rule my thought? +Such men were called infidels. The priest said, and the king said, +where is this spirit of investigation to stop? They said then and +they say now, that it is dangerous for man to be free. I deny it. +Out on the intellectual sea there is room enough for every sail. In +the intellectual air there is space enough for every wing.</p> +<p>The man who does not do his own thinking is a slave, and is a +traitor to himself and to his fellow-men.</p> +<p>Every man should stand under the blue and stars, under the +infinite flag of nature, the peer of every other man.</p> +<p>Standing in the presence of the Unknown, all have the same right +to think, and all are equally interested in the great questions of +origin and destiny. All I claim, all I plead for, is liberty of +thought and expression. That is all. I do not pretend to tell what +is absolutely true, but what I think is true. I do not pretend to +tell all the truth.</p> +<p>I do not claim that I have floated level with the heights of +thought, or that I have descended to the very depths of things. I +simply claim that what ideas I have, I have a right to express; and +that any man who denies that right to me is an intellectual thief +and robber. That is all.</p> +<p>Take those chains from the human soul. Break those fetters. If I +have no right to think, why have I a brain? If I have no such +right, have three or four men, or any number, who may get together, +and sign a creed, and build a house, and put a steeple upon it, and +a bell in it—have they the right to think? The good men, the +good women are tired of the whip and lash in the realm of thought. +They remember the chain and fagot with a shudder. They are free, +and they give liberty to others. Whoever claims any right that he +is unwilling to accord to his fellow-men is dishonest and +infamous.</p> +<p>In the good old times, our fathers had the idea that they could +make people believe to suit them. Our ancestors, in the ages that +are gone, really believed that by force you could convince a man. +You cannot change the conclusion of the brain by torture; nor by +social ostracism. But I will tell you what you can do by these, and +what you have done. You can make hypocrites by the million. You can +make a man say that he has changed his mind; but he remains of the +same opinion still. Put fetters all over him; crush his feet in +iron boots; stretch him to the last gasp upon the holy rack; burn +him, if you please, but his ashes will be of the same opinion +still.</p> +<p>Our fathers in the good old times—and the best thing I can +say about them is, that they have passed away—had an idea +that they could force men to think their way. That idea is still +prevalent in many parts, even of this country. Even in our day some +extremely religious people say, "We will not trade with that man; +we will not vote for him; we will not hire him if he is a lawyer; +we will die before we will take his medicine if he is a doctor; we +will not invite him to dinner; we will socially ostracise him; he +must come to our church; he must believe our doctrines; he must +worship our god or we will not in any way contribute to his +support."</p> +<p>In the old times of which I have spoken, they desired to make +all men think exactly alike. All the mechanical ingenuity of the +world cannot make two clocks run exactly alike, and how are you +going to make hundreds of millions of people, differing in brain +and disposition, in education and aspiration, in conditions and +surroundings, each clad in a living robe of passionate +flesh—how are you going to make them think and feel alike? If +there is an infinite god, one who made us, and wishes us to think +alike, why did he give a spoonful of brains to one, and a +magnificent intellectual development to another? Why is it that we +have all degrees of intelligence, from orthodoxy to genius, if it +was intended that all should think and feel alike?</p> +<p>I used to read in books how our fathers persecuted mankind. But +I never appreciated it. I read it, but it did not burn itself into +my soul. I did not really appreciate the infamies that have been +committed in the name of religion, until I saw the iron arguments +that Christians used. I saw the Thumbscrew—two little pieces +of iron, armed on the inner surfaces with protuberances, to prevent +their slipping; through each end a screw uniting the two pieces. +And when some man denied the efficacy of baptism, or may be said, +"I do not believe that a fish ever swallowed a man to keep him from +drowning," then they put his thumb between these pieces of iron and +in the name of love and universal forgiveness, began to screw these +pieces together. When this was done most men said, "I will recant." +Probably I should have done the same. Probably I would have said: +"Stop; I will admit anything that you wish; I will admit that there +is one god or a million, one hell or a billion; suit yourselves; +but stop."</p> +<p>But there was now and then a man who would not swerve the +breadth of a hair. There was now and then some sublime heart, +willing to die for an intellectual conviction. Had it not been for +such men, we would be savages to-night. Had it not been for a few +brave, heroic souls in every age, we would have been cannibals, +with pictures of wild beasts tattooed upon our flesh, dancing +around some dried snake fetich.</p> +<p>Let us thank every good and noble man who stood so grandly, so +proudly, in spite of opposition, of hatred and death, for what he +believed to be the truth.</p> +<p>Heroism did not excite the respect of our fathers. The man who +would not recant was not forgiven. They screwed the thumbscrews +down to the last pang, and then threw their victim into some +dungeon, where, in the throbbing silence and darkness, he might +suffer the agonies of the fabled damned. This was done in the name +of love—in the name of mercy—in the name of the +compassionate Christ.</p> +<p>I saw, too, what they called the Collar of Torture. Imagine a +circle of iron, and on the inside a hundred points almost as sharp +as needles. This argument was fastened about the throat of the +sufferer. Then he could not walk, nor sit down, nor stir without +the neck being punctured, by these points. In a little while the +throat would begin to swell, and suffocation would end the agonies +of that man. This man, it may be, had committed the crime of +saying, with tears upon his cheeks, "I do not believe that God, the +father of us all, will damn to eternal perdition any of the +children of men."</p> +<p>I saw another instrument, called the Scavenger's Daughter. Think +of a pair of shears with handles, not only where they now are, but +at the points as well, and just above the pivot that unites the +blades, a circle of iron. In the upper handles the hands would be +placed; in the lower, the feet; and through the iron ring, at the +centre, the head of the victim would be forced. In this condition, +he would be thrown prone upon the earth, and the strain upon the +muscles produced such agony that insanity would in pity end his +pain.</p> +<p>This was done by gentlemen who said: "Whosoever smiteth thee +upon one cheek turn to him the other also."</p> +<p>I saw the Rack. This was a box like the bed of a wagon, with a +windlass at each end, with levers, and ratchets to prevent +slipping; over each windlass went chains; some were fastened to the +ankles of the sufferer; others to his wrists. And then priests, +clergymen, divines, saints, began turning these windlasses, and +kept turning, until the ankles, the knees, the hips, the shoulders, +the elbows, the wrists of the victim were all dislocated, and the +sufferer was wet with the sweat of agony. And they had standing by +a physician to feel his pulse. What for? To save his life? Yes. In +mercy? No; simply that they might rack him once again.</p> +<p>This was done, remember, in the name of civilization; in the +name of law and order; in the name of mercy; in the name of +religion; in the name of the most merciful Christ.</p> +<p>Sometimes, when I read and think about these frightful things, +it seems to me that I have suffered all these horrors myself. It +seems sometimes, as though I had stood upon the shore of exile and +gazed with tearful eyes toward home and native land; as though my +nails had been torn from my hands, and into the bleeding quick +needles had been thrust; as though my feet had been crushed in iron +boots; as though I had been chained in the cell of the Inquisition +and listened with dying ears for the coming footsteps of release; +as though I had stood upon the scaffold and had seen the glittering +axe fall upon me; as though I had been upon the rack and had seen, +bending above me, the white faces of hypocrite priests; as though I +had been taken from my fireside, from my wife and children, taken +to the public square, chained; as though fagots had been piled +about me; as though the flames had climbed around my limbs and +scorched my eyes to blindness, and as though my ashes had been +scattered to the four winds, by all the countless hands of hate. +And when I so feel, I swear that while I live I will do what little +I can to preserve and to augment the liberties of man, woman, and +child.</p> +<p>It is a question of justice, of mercy, of honesty, of +intellectual development. If there is a man in the world who is not +willing to give to every human being every right he claims for +himself, he is just so much nearer a barbarian than I am. It is a +question of honesty. The man who is not willing to give to every +other the same intellectual rights he claims for himself, is +dishonest, selfish, and brutal.</p> +<p>It is a question of intellectual development. Whoever holds +another man responsible for his honest thought, has a deformed and +distorted brain. It is a question of intellectual development.</p> +<p>A little while ago I saw models of nearly everything that man +has made. I saw models of all the water craft, from the rude +dug-out in which floated a naked savage—one of our +ancestors—a naked savage, with teeth two inches in length, +with a spoonful of brains in the back of his head—I saw +models of all the water craft of the world, from that dug-out up to +a man-of-war, that carries a hundred guns and miles of +canvas—from that dug-out to the steamship that turns its +brave prow from the port of New York, with a compass like a +conscience, crossing three thousand miles of billows without +missing a throb or beat of its mighty iron heart.</p> +<p>I saw at the same time the weapons that man has made, from a +club, such as was grasped by that same savage, when he crawled from +his den in the ground and hunted a snake for his dinner; from that +club to the boomerang, to the sword, to the cross-bow, to the +blunderbuss, to the flint-lock, to the cap-lock, to the needle-gun, +up to a cannon cast by Krupp, capable of hurling a ball weighing +two thousand pounds through eighteen inches of solid steel.</p> +<p>I saw, too, the armor from the shell of a turtle, that one of +our brave ancestors lashed upon his breast when he went to fight +for his country; the skin of a porcupine, dried with the quills on, +which this same savage pulled over his orthodox head, up to the +shirts of mail, that were worn in the Middle Ages, that laughed at +the edge of the sword and defied the point of the spear; up to a +monitor clad in complete steel.</p> +<p>I saw at the same time, their musical instruments, from the +tom-tom—that is, a hoop with a couple of strings of raw hide +drawn across it—from that tom-tom, up to the instruments we +have to-day, that make the common air blossom with melody.</p> +<p>I saw, too, their paintings, from a daub of yellow mud, to the +great works which now adorn the galleries of the world. I saw also +their sculpture, from the rude god with four legs, a half dozen +arms, several noses, and two or three rows of ears, and one little, +contemptible, brainless head, up to the figures of to-day—to +the marbles that genius has clad in such a personality that it +seems almost impudent to touch them without an introduction.</p> +<p>I saw their books—books written upon skins of wild +beasts—upon shoulder-blades of sheep—books written upon +leaves, upon bark, up to the splendid volumes that enrich the +libraries of our day. When I speak of libraries, I think of the +remark of Plato: "A house that has a library in it has a soul."</p> +<p>I saw their implements of agriculture, from a crooked stick that +was attached to the horn of an ox by some twisted straw, to the +agricultural implements of this generation, that make it possible +for a man to cultivate the soil without being an ignoramus.</p> +<p>While looking upon these things I was forced to say that man +advanced only as he mingled his thought with his labor,—only +as he got into partnership with the forces of nature,—only as +he learned to take advantage of his surroundings—only as he +freed himself from the bondage of fear,—only as he depended +upon himself—only as he lost confidence in the gods.</p> +<p>I saw at the same time a row of human skulls, from the lowest +skull that has been found, the Neanderthal skull—skulls from +Central Africa, skulls from the Bushmen of Australia—skulls +from the farthest isles of the Pacific sea—up to the best +skulls of the last generation;—and I noticed that there was +the same difference between those skulls that there was between the +products of those skulls, and I said to myself, "After all, it is a +simple question of intellectual development." There was the same +difference between those skulls, the lowest and highest skulls, +that there was between the dug-out and the man-of-war and the +steamship, between the club and the Krupp gun, between the yellow +daub and the landscape, between the tom-tom and an opera by +Verdi.</p> +<p>The first and lowest skull in this row was the den in which +crawled the base and meaner instincts of mankind, and the last was +a temple in which dwelt joy, liberty, and love.</p> +<p>It is all a question of brain, of intellectual development.</p> +<p>If we are nearer free than were our fathers, it is because we +have better heads upon the average, and more brains in them.</p> +<p>Now, I ask you to be honest with me. It makes no difference to +you what I believe, nor what I wish to prove. I simply ask you to +be honest. Divest your minds, for a moment at least, of all +religious prejudice. Act, for a few moments, as though you were men +and women.</p> +<p>Suppose the king, if there was one, and the priest, if there was +one, at the time this gentleman floated in the dug-out, and charmed +his ears with the music of the tom-tom, had said: "That dug-out is +the best boat that ever can be built by man; the pattern of that +came from on high, from the great god of storm and flood, and any +man who says that he can improve it by putting a mast in it, with a +sail upon it, is an infidel, and shall be burned at the stake;" +what, in your judgment—honor bright—would have been the +effect upon the circumnavigation of the globe?</p> +<p>Suppose the king, if there was one, and the priest, if there was +one—and I presume there was a priest, because it was a very +ignorant age—suppose this king and priest had said: "That +tom-tom is the most beautiful instrument of music of which any man +can conceive; that is the kind of music they have in heaven; an +angel sitting upon the edge of a fleecy cloud, golden in the +setting sun, playing upon that tom-tom, became so enraptured, so +entranced with her own music, that in a kind of ecstasy she dropped +it—that is how we obtained it; and any man who says that it +can be improved by putting a back and front to it, and four +strings, and a bridge, and getting a bow of hair with rosin, is a +blaspheming wretch, and shall die the death,"—I ask you, what +effect would that have had upon music? If that course had been +pursued, would the human ears, in your judgment, ever have been +enriched with the divine symphonies of Beethoven?</p> +<p>Suppose the king, if there was one, and the priest, had said: +"That crooked stick is the best plow that can be invented: the +pattern of that plow was given to a pious farmer in a holy dream, +and that twisted straw is the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of all twisted +things, and any man who says he can make an improvement upon that +plow, is an atheist;" what, in your judgment, would have been the +effect upon the science of agriculture?</p> +<p>But the people said, and the king and priest said: "We want +better weapons with which to kill our fellow-Christians; we want +better plows, better music, better paintings, and whoever will give +us better weapons, and better music, better houses to live in, +better clothes, we will robe him in wealth, and crown him with +honor." Every incentive was held out to every human being to +improve these things. That is the reason the club has been changed +to a cannon, the dug-out to a steamship, the daub to a painting; +that is the reason that the piece of rough and broken stone finally +became a glorified statue.</p> +<p>You must not, however, forget that the gentleman in the dug-out, +the gentleman who was enraptured with the music of the tom-tom, and +cultivated his land with a crooked stick, had a religion of his +own. That gentlemen in the dug-out was orthodox. He was never +troubled with doubts. He lived and died settled in his mind. He +believed in hell; and he thought he would be far happier in heaven, +if he could just lean over and see certain people who expressed +doubts as to the truth of his creed, gently but everlastingly +broiled and burned.</p> +<p>It is a very sad and unhappy fact that this man has had a great +many intellectual descendants. It is also an unhappy fact in +nature, that the ignorant multiply much faster than the +intellectual. This fellow in the dug-out believed in a personal +devil. His devil had a cloven hoof, a long tail, armed with a fiery +dart; and his devil breathed brimstone. This devil was at least the +equal of God; not quite so stout but a little shrewder. And do you +know there has not been a patentable improvement made upon that +devil for six thousand years.</p> +<p>This gentleman in the dug-out believed that God was a tyrant; +that he would eternally damn the man who lived in accordance with +his highest and grandest ideal. He believed that the earth was +flat. He believed in a literal, burning, seething hell of fire and +sulphur. He had also his idea of politics; and his doctrine was, +might makes right. And it will take thousands of years before the +world will reverse this doctrine, and believingly say, "Right makes +might."</p> +<p>All I ask is the same privilege to improve upon that gentleman's +theology as upon his musical instrument; the same right to improve +upon his politics as upon his dug-out. That is all. I ask for the +human soul the same liberty in every direction. That is the only +crime I have committed. I say, let us think. Let each one express +his thought. Let us become investigators, not followers, not +cringers and crawlers. If there is in heaven an infinite being, he +never will be satisfied with the worship of cowards and hypocrites. +Honest unbelief, honest infidelity, honest atheism, will be a +perfume in heaven when pious hypocrisy, no matter how religious it +may be outwardly, will be a stench.</p> +<p>This is my doctrine: Give every other human being every right +you claim for yourself. Keep your mind open to the influences of +nature. Receive new thoughts with hospitality. Let us advance.</p> +<p>The religionist of to-day wants the ship of his soul to lie at +the wharf of orthodoxy and rot in the sun. He delights to hear the +sails of old opinions flap against the masts of old creeds. He +loves to see the joints and the sides open and gape in the sun, and +it is a kind of bliss for him to repeat again and again: "Do not +disturb my opinions. Do not unsettle my mind; I have it all made +up, and I want no infidelity. Let me go backward rather than +forward."</p> +<p>As far as I am concerned I wish to be out on the high seas. I +wish to take my chances with wind, and wave, and star. And I had +rather go down in the glory and grandeur of the storm, than to rot +in any orthodox harbor whatever.</p> +<p>After all, we are improving from age to age. The most orthodox +people in this country two hundred years ago would have been burned +for the crime of heresy. The ministers who denounce me for +expressing my thought would have been in the Inquisition +themselves. Where once burned and blazed the bivouac fires of the +army of progress, now glow the altars of the church. The +religionists of our time are occupying about the same ground +occupied by heretics and infidels of one hundred years ago. The +church has advanced in spite, as it were, of itself. It has +followed the army of progress protesting and denouncing, and had to +keep within protesting and denouncing distance. If the church had +not made great progress I could not express my thoughts.</p> +<p>Man, however, has advanced just exactly in the proportion with +which he has mingled his thought with his labor. The sailor, +without control of the wind and wave, knowing nothing or very +little of the mysterious currents and pulses of the sea, is +superstitious. So also is the agriculturist, whose prosperity +depends upon something he cannot control. But the mechanic, when a +wheel refuses to turn, never thinks of dropping on his knees and +asking the assistance of some divine power. He knows there is a +reason. He knows that something is too large or too small; that +there is something wrong with his machine; and he goes to work and +he makes it larger or smaller, here or there, until the wheel will +turn. Now, just in proportion as man gets away from being, as it +were, the slave of his surroundings, the serf of the +elements,—of the heat, the frost, the snow, and the +lightning,—just to the extent that he has gotten control of +his own destiny, just to the extent that he has triumphed over the +obstacles of nature, he has advanced physically and intellectually. +As man develops, he places a greater value upon his own rights. +Liberty becomes a grander and diviner thing. As he values his own +rights, he begins to value the rights of others. And when all men +give to all others all the rights they claim for themselves, this +world will be civilized.</p> +<p>A few years ago the people were afraid to question the king, +afraid to question the priest, afraid to investigate a creed, +afraid to deny a book, afraid to denounce a dogma, afraid to +reason, afraid to think. Before wealth they bowed to the very +earth, and in the presence of titles they became abject. All this +is slowly but surely changing. We no longer bow to men simply +because they are rich. Our fathers worshiped the golden calf. The +worst you can say of an American now is, he worships the gold of +the calf. Even the calf is beginning to see this distinction.</p> +<p>It no longer satisfies the ambition of a great man to be king or +emperor. The last Napoleon was not satisfied with being the emperor +of the French. He was not satisfied with having a circlet of gold +about his head. He wanted some evidence that he had something of +value within his head. So he wrote the life of Julius Cæsar, +that he might become a member of the French Academy. The emperors, +the kings, the popes, no longer tower above their fellows. Compare +King William with the philosopher Haeckel. The king is one of the +anointed by the most high, as they claim—one upon whose head +has been poured the divine petroleum of authority. Compare this +king with Haeckel, who towers an intellectual colossus above the +crowned mediocrity. Compare George Eliot with Queen Victoria. The +Queen is clothed in garments given her by blind fortune and +unreasoning chance, while George Eliot wears robes of glory woven +in the loom of her own genius.</p> +<p>The world is beginning to pay homage to intellect, to genius, to +heart.</p> +<p>We have advanced. We have reaped the benefit of every sublime +and heroic self-sacrifice, of every divine and brave act; and we +should endeavor to hand the torch to the next generation, having +added a little to the intensity and glory of the flame.</p> +<p>When I think of how much this world has suffered; when I think +of how long our fathers were slaves, of how they cringed and +crawled at the foot of the throne, and in the dust of the altar, of +how they abased themselves, of how abjectly they stood in the +presence of superstition robed and crowned, I am amazed.</p> +<p>This world has not been fit for a man to live in fifty years. It +was not until the year 1808 that Great Britain abolished the slave +trade. Up to that time her judges, sitting upon the bench in the +name of justice, her priests, occupying her pulpits, in the name of +universal love, owned stock in the slave ships, and luxuriated upon +the profits of piracy and murder. It was not until the same year +that the United States of America abolished the slave trade between +this and other countries, but carefully preserved it as between the +States. It was not until the 28th day of August, 1833, that Great +Britain abolished human slavery in her colonies; and it was not +until the 1st day of January, 1863, that Abraham Lincoln, sustained +by the sublime and heroic North, rendered our flag pure as the sky +in which it floats.</p> +<p>Abraham Lincoln was, in my judgment, in many respects, the +grandest man ever President of the United States. Upon his monument +these words should be written: "Here sleeps the only man in the +history of the world, who, having been clothed with almost absolute +power, never abused it, except upon the side of mercy."</p> +<p>Think how long we clung to the institution of human slavery, how +long lashes upon the naked back were a legal tender for labor +performed. Think of it. The pulpit of this country deliberately and +willingly, for a hundred years, turned the cross of Christ into a +whipping post.</p> +<p>With every drop of my blood I hate and execrate every form of +tyranny, every form of slavery. I hate dictation. I love +liberty.</p> +<p>What do I mean by liberty? By physical liberty I mean the right +to do anything which does not interfere with the happiness of +another. By intellectual liberty I mean the right to think right +and the right to think wrong. Thought is the means by which we +endeavor to arrive at truth. If we know the truth already, we need +not think. All that can be required is honesty of purpose. You ask +my opinion about anything; I examine it honestly, and when my mind +is made up, what should I tell you? Should I tell you my real +thought? What should I do? There is a book put in my hands. I am +told this is the Koran; it was written by inspiration. I read it, +and when I get through, suppose that I think in my heart and in my +brain, that it is utterly untrue, and you then ask me, what do you +think? Now, admitting that I live in Turkey, and have no chance to +get any office unless I am on the side of the Koran, what should I +say? Should I make a clean breast and say, that upon my honor I do +not believe it? What would you think then of my fellow-citizens if +they said: "That man is dangerous, he is dishonest."</p> +<p>Suppose I read the book called the Bible, and when I get through +I make up my mind that it was written by men. A minister asks me, +"Did you read the Bible?" I answer, that I did. "Do you think it +divinely inspired?" What should I reply? Should I say to myself, +"If I deny the inspiration of the Scriptures, the people will never +clothe me with power." What ought I to answer? Ought I not to say +like a man: "I have read it; I do not believe it." Should I not +give the real transcript of my mind? Or should I turn hypocrite and +pretend what I do not feel, and hate myself forever after for being +a cringing coward. For my part I would rather a man would tell me +what he honestly thinks. I would rather he would preserve his +manhood. I had a thousand times rather be a manly unbeliever than +an unmanly believer. And if there is a judgment day, a time when +all will stand before some supreme being, I believe I will stand +higher, and stand a better chance of getting my case decided in my +favor, than any man sneaking through life pretending to believe +what he does not.</p> +<p>I have made up my mind to say my say. I shall do it kindly, +distinctly; but I am going to do it. I know there are thousands of +men who substantially agree with me, but who are not in a condition +to express their thoughts. They are poor; they are in business; and +they know that should they tell their honest thought, persons will +refuse to patronize them—to trade with them; they wish to get +bread for their little children; they wish to take care of their +wives; they wish to have homes and the comforts of life. Every such +person is a certificate of the meanness of the community in which +he resides. And yet I do not blame these people for not expressing +their thought. I say to them: "Keep your ideas to yourselves; feed +and clothe the ones you love; I will do your talking for you. The +church can not touch, can not crush, can not starve, cannot stop or +stay me; I will express your thoughts."</p> +<p>As an excuse for tyranny, as a justification of slavery, the +church has taught that man is totally depraved. Of the truth of +that doctrine, the church has furnished the only evidence there is. +The truth is, we are both good and bad. The worst are capable of +some good deeds, and the best are capable of bad. The lowest can +rise, and the highest may fall. That mankind can be divided into +two great classes, sinners and saints, is an utter falsehood. In +times of great disaster, called it may be, by the despairing voices +of women, men, denounced by the church as totally depraved, rush to +death as to a festival. By such men, deeds are done so filled with +self-sacrifice and generous daring, that millions pay to them the +tribute, not only of admiration, but of tears. Above all creeds, +above all religions, after all, is that divine +thing,—Humanity; and now and then in shipwreck on the wide, +wild sea, or 'mid the rocks and breakers of some cruel shore, or +where the serpents of flame writhe and hiss, some glorious heart, +some chivalric soul does a deed that glitters like a star, and +gives the lie to all the dogmas of superstition. All these +frightful doctrines have been used to degrade and to enslave +mankind.</p> +<p>Away, forever away with the creeds and books and forms and laws +and religions that take from the soul liberty and reason. Down with +the idea that thought is dangerous! Perish the infamous doctrine +that man can have property in man. Let us resent with indignation +every effort to put a chain upon our minds. If there is no God, +certainly we should not bow and cringe and crawl. If there is a +God, there should be no slaves.</p> +<a name="link0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>LIBERTY OF WOMAN.</h2> +<p>Women have been the slaves of slaves; and in my judgment it took +millions of ages for woman to come from the condition of abject +slavery up to the institution of marriage. Let me say right here, +that I regard marriage as the holiest institution among men. +Without the fireside there is no human advancement; without the +family relation there is no life worth living. Every good +government is made up of good families. The unit of good government +is the family, and anything that tends to destroy the family is +perfectly devilish and infamous. I believe in marriage, and I hold +in utter contempt the opinions of those long-haired men and +short-haired women who denounce the institution of marriage.</p> +<p>The grandest ambition that any man can possibly have, is to so +live, and so improve himself in heart and brain, as to be worthy of +the love of some splendid woman; and the grandest ambition of any +girl is to make herself worthy of the love and adoration of some +magnificent man. That is my idea. There is no success in life +without love and marriage. You had better be the emperor of one +loving and tender heart, and she the empress of yours, than to be +king of the world. The man who has really won the love of one good +woman in this world, I do not care if he dies in the ditch a +beggar, his life has been a success.</p> +<p>I say it took millions of years to come from the condition of +abject slavery up to the condition of marriage. Ladies, the +ornaments you wear upon your persons to-night are but the souvenirs +of your mother's bondage. The chains around your necks, and the +bracelets clasped upon your white arms by the thrilled hand of +love, have been changed by the wand of civilization from iron to +shining, glittering gold.</p> +<p>But nearly every religion has accounted for all the devilment in +this world by the crime of woman. What a gallant thing that is! And +if it is true, I had rather live with the woman I love in a world +full of trouble, than to live in heaven with nobody but men.</p> +<p>I read in a book—and I will say now that I cannot give the +exact language, as my memory does not retain the words, but I can +give the substance—I read in a book that the Supreme Being +concluded to make a world and one man; that he took some nothing +and made a world and one man, and put this man in a garden. In a +little while he noticed that the man got lonesome; that he wandered +around as if he was waiting for a train. There was nothing to +interest him; no news; no papers; no politics; no policy; and, as +the devil had not yet made his appearance, there was no chance for +reconciliation; not even for civil service reform. Well, he +wandered about the garden in this condition, until finally the +Supreme Being made up his mind to make him a companion.</p> +<p>Having used up all the nothing he originally took in making the +world and one man, he had to take a part of the man to start a +woman with. So he caused a sleep to fall on this man—now +understand me, I do not say this story is true. After the sleep +fell upon this man, the Supreme Being took a rib, or as the French +would call it, a cutlet, out of this man, and from that he made a +woman. And considering the amount of raw material used, I look upon +it as the most successful job ever performed. Well, after he got +the woman done, she was brought to the man; not to see how she +liked him, but to see how he liked her. He liked her, and they +started housekeeping; and they were told of certain things they +might do and of one thing they could not do—and of course +they did it. I would have done it in fifteen minutes, and I know +it. There wouldn't have been an apple on that tree half an hour +from date, and the limbs would have been full of clubs. And then +they were turned out of the park and extra policemen were put on to +keep them from getting back.</p> +<p>Devilment commenced. The mumps, and the measles, and the +whooping-cough, and the scarlet fever started in their race for +man. They began to have the toothache, roses began to have thorns, +snakes began to have poisoned teeth, and people began to divide +about religion and politics, and the world has been full of trouble +from that day to this.</p> +<p>Nearly all of the religions of this world account for the +existence of evil by such a story as that!</p> +<p>I read in another book what appeared to be an account of the +same transaction. It was written about four thousand years before +the other. All commentators agree that the one that was written +last was the original, and that the one that was written first was +copied from the one that was written last. But I would advise you +all not to allow your creed to be disturbed by a little matter of +four or five thousand years. In this other story, Brahma made up +his mind to make the world and a man and woman. He made the world, +and he made the man and then the woman, and put them on the island +of Ceylon. According to the account it was the most beautiful +island of which man can conceive. Such birds, such songs, such +flowers and such verdure! And the branches of the trees were so +arranged that when the wind swept through them every tree was a +thousand �?olian harps.</p> +<p>Brahma, when he put them there, said: "Let them have a period of +courtship, for it is my desire and will that true love should +forever precede marriage." When I read that, it was so much more +beautiful and lofty than the other, that I said to myself, "If +either one of these stories ever turns out to be true, I hope it +will be this one."</p> +<p>Then they had their courtship, with the nightingale singing, and +the stars shining, and the flowers blooming, and they fell in love. +Imagine that courtship! No prospective fathers or mothers-in-law; +no prying and gossiping neighbors; nobody to say, "Young man, how +do you expect to support her?" Nothing of that kind. They were +married by the Supreme Brahma, and he said to them: "Remain here; +you must never leave this island." Well, after a little while the +man—and his name was Adami, and the woman's name was +Heva—said to Heva: "I believe I'll look about a little." He +went to the northern extremity of the island where there was a +little narrow neck of land connecting it with the mainland, and the +devil, who is always playing pranks with us, produced a mirage, and +when he looked over to the mainland, such hills and vales, such +dells and dales, such mountains crowned with snow, such cataracts +clad in bows of glory did he see there, that he went back and told +Heva: "The country over there is a thousand times better than this; +let us migrate." She, like every other woman that ever lived, said: +"Let well enough alone; we have all we want; let us stay here." But +he said "No, let us go;" so she followed him, and when they came to +this narrow neck of land, he took her on his back like a gentleman, +and carried her over. But the moment they got over they heard a +crash, and looking back, discovered that this narrow neck of land +had fallen into the sea. The mirage had disappeared, and there were +naught but rocks and sand; and then the Supreme Brahma cursed them +both to the lowest hell.</p> +<p>Then it was that the man spoke,—and I have liked him ever +since for it—"Curse me, but curse not her, it was not her +fault, it was mine."</p> +<p>That's the kind of man to start a world with.</p> +<p>The Supreme Brahma said: "I will save her, but not thee." And +then she spoke out of her fullness of love, out of a heart in which +there was love enough to make all her daughters rich in holy +affection, and said: "If thou wilt not spare him, spare neither me; +I do not wish to live without him; I love him." Then the Supreme +Brahma said—and I have liked him ever since I read +it—"I will spare you both and watch over you and your +children forever."</p> +<p>Honor bright, is not that the better and grander story?</p> +<p>And from that same book I want to show you what ideas some of +these miserable heathen had; the heathen we are trying to convert. +We send missionaries over yonder to convert heathen there, and we +send soldiers out on the plains to kill heathen here. If we can +convert the heathen, why not convert those nearest home? Why not +convert those we can get at? Why not convert those who have the +immense advantage of the example of the average pioneer? But to +show you the men we are trying to convert: In this book it says: +"Man is strength, woman is beauty; man is courage, woman is love. +When the one man loves the one woman and the one woman loves the +one man, the very angels leave heaven and come and sit in that +house and sing for joy."</p> +<p>They are the men we are converting. Think of it! I tell you, +when I read these things, I say that love is not of any country; +nobility does not belong exclusively to any race, and through all +the ages, there have been a few great and tender souls blossoming +in love and pity.</p> +<p>In my judgment, the woman is the equal of the man. She has all +the rights I have and one more, and that is the right to be +protected. That is my doctrine. You are married; try and make the +woman you love happy. Whoever marries simply for himself will make +a mistake; but whoever loves a woman so well that he says "I will +make her happy," makes no mistake. And so with the woman who says, +"I will make him happy." There is only one way to be happy, and +that is to make somebody else so, and you cannot be happy by going +cross lots; you have got to go the regular turnpike road.</p> +<p>If there is any man I detest, it is the man who thinks he is the +head of a family—the man who thinks he is "boss!" The fellow +in the dug-out used that word "boss;" that was one of his favorite +expressions.</p> +<p>Imagine a young man and a young woman courting, walking out in +the moonlight, and the nightingale singing a song of pain and love, +as though the thorn touched her heart—imagine them stopping +there in the moonlight and starlight and song, and saying, "Now, +here, let us settle who is 'boss!'" I tell you it is an infamous +word and an infamous feeling—I abhor a man who is "boss," who +is going to govern in his family, and when he speaks orders all the +rest to be still as some mighty idea is about to be launched from +his mouth. Do you know I dislike this man unspeakably?</p> +<p>I hate above all things a cross man. What right has he to murder +the sunshine of a day? What right has he to assassinate the joy of +life?</p> +<p>When you go home you ought to go like a ray of light—so +that it will, even in the night, bursty out of the doors and +windows and illuminate the darkness. Some men think their mighty +brains have been in a turmoil; they have been thinking about who +will be alderman from the fifth ward; they have been thinking about +politics; great and mighty questions have been engaging their +minds; they have bought calico at five cents or six, and want to +sell it for seven. Think of the intellectual strain that must have +been upon that man, and when he gets home everybody else in the +house must look out for his comfort. A woman who has only taken +care of five or six children, and one or two of them sick, has been +nursing them and singing to them, and trying to make one yard of +cloth do the work of two, she, of course, is fresh and fine and +ready to wait upon this gentleman—the head of the +family—the boss!</p> +<p>Do you know another thing? I despise a stingy man. I do not see +how it is possible for a man to die worth fifty million of dollars, +or ten million of dollars, in a city full of want, when he meets +almost every day the withered hand of beggary and the white lips of +famine. How a man can withstand all that, and hold in the clutch of +his greed twenty or thirty million of dollars, is past my +comprehension. I do not see how he can do it. I should not think he +could do it any more than he could keep a pile of lumber on the +beach, where hundreds and thousands of men were drowning in the +sea.</p> +<p>Do you know that I have known men who would trust their wives +with their hearts and their honor but not with their pocketbook; +not with a dollar. When I see a man of that kind, I always think he +knows which of these articles is the most valuable. Think of making +your wife a beggar! Think of her having to ask you every day for a +dollar, or for two dollars or fifty cents! "What did you do with +that dollar I gave you last week?" Think of having a wife that is +afraid of you! What kind of children do you expect to have with a +beggar and a coward for their mother? Oh, I tell you if you have +but a dollar in the world, and you have got to spend it, spend it +like a king; spend it as though it were a dry leaf and you the +owner of unbounded forests! That's the way to spend it! I had +rather be a beggar and spend my last dollar like a king, than be a +king and spend my money like a beggar! If it has got to go, let it +go!</p> +<p>Get the best you can for your family—try to look as well +as you can yourself. When you used to go courting, how elegantly +you looked! Ah, your eye was bright, your step was light, and you +looked like a prince. Do you know that it is insufferable egotism +in you to suppose a woman is going to love you always looking as +slovenly as you can! Think of it! Any good woman on earth will be +true to you forever when you do your level best.</p> +<p>Some people tell me, "Your doctrine about loving, and wives, and +all that, is splendid for the rich, but it won't do for the poor." +I tell you to-night there is more love in the homes of the poor +than in the palaces of the rich. The meanest hut with love in it is +a palace fit for the gods, and a palace without love is a den only +fit for wild beasts. That is my doctrine! You cannot be so poor +that you cannot help somebody. Good nature is the cheapest +commodity in the world; and love is the only thing that will pay +ten per cent, to borrower and lender both. Do not tell me that you +have got to be rich! We have a false standard of greatness in the +United States. We think here that a man must be great, that he must +be notorious; that he must be extremely wealthy, or that his name +must be upon the putrid lips of rumor. It is all a mistake. It is +not necessary to be rich or to be great, or to be powerful, to be +happy. The happy man is the successful man.</p> +<p>Happiness is the legal tender of the soul.</p> +<p>Joy is wealth.</p> +<p>A little while ago, I stood by the grave of the old +Napoleon—a magnificent tomb of gilt and gold, fit almost for +a dead deity—and gazed upon the sarcophagus of rare and +nameless marble, where rest at last the ashes of that restless man. +I leaned over the balustrade and thought about the career of the +greatest soldier of the modern world.</p> +<p>I saw him walking upon the banks of the Seine, contemplating +suicide. I saw him at Toulon—I saw him putting down the mob +in the streets of Paris—I saw him at the head of the army of +Italy—I saw him crossing the bridge of Lodi with the +tri-color in his hand—I saw him in Egypt in the shadows of +the pyramids—I saw him conquer the Alps and mingle the eagles +of France with the eagles of the crags. I saw him at +Marengo—at Ulm and Austerlitz. I saw him in Russia, where the +infantry of the snow and the cavalry of the wild blast scattered +his legions like winter's withered leaves. I saw him at Leipsic in +defeat and disaster—driven by a million bayonets back upon +Paris—clutched like a wild beast—banished to Elba. I +saw him escape and retake an empire by the force of his genius. I +saw him upon the frightful field of Waterloo, where Chance and Fate +combined to wreck the fortunes of their former king. And I saw him +at St. Helena, with his hands crossed behind him, gazing out upon +the sad and solemn sea.</p> +<p>I thought of the orphans and widows he had made—of the +tears that had been shed for his glory, and of the only woman who +ever loved him, pushed from his heart by the cold hand of ambition. +And I said I would rather have been a French peasant and worn +wooden shoes. I would rather have lived in a hut with a vine +growing over the door, and the grapes growing purple in the kisses +of the autumn sun. I would rather have been that poor peasant with +my loving wife by my side, knitting as the day died out of the +sky—with my children upon my knees and their arms about +me—I would rather have been that man and gone down to the +tongueless silence of the dreamless dust, than to have been that +imperial impersonation of force and murder, known as "Napoleon the +Great."</p> +<p>It is not necessary to be great to be happy; it is not necessary +to be rich to be just and generous and to have a heart filled with +divine affection. No matter whether you are rich or poor, treat +your wife as though she were a splendid flower, and she will fill +your life with perfume and with joy.</p> +<p>And do you know, it is a splendid thing to think that the woman +you really love will never grow old to you. Through the wrinkles of +time, through the mask of years, if you really love her, you will +always see the face you loved and won. And a woman who really loves +a man does not see that he grows old; he is not decrepit to her; he +does not tremble; he is not old; she always sees the same gallant +gentleman who won her hand and heart. I like to think of it in that +way; I like to think that love is eternal. And to love in that way +and then go down the hill of life together, and as you go down, +hear, perhaps, the laughter of grandchildren, while the birds of +joy and love sing once more in the leafless branches of the tree of +age.</p> +<p>I believe in the fireside. I believe in the democracy of home. I +believe in the republicanism of the family. I believe in liberty, +equality and love.</p> +<a name="link0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE LIBERTY OF CHILDREN.</h2> +<p>If women have been slaves, what shall I say of children; of the +little children in alleys and sub-cellars; the little children who +turn pale when they hear their fathers' footsteps; little children +who run away when they only hear their names called by the lips of +a mother; little children—the children of poverty, the +children of crime, the children of brutality, wherever they +are—flotsam and jetsam upon the wild, mad sea of +life—my heart goes out to them, one and all.</p> +<p>I tell you the children have the same rights that we have, and +we ought to treat them as though they were human beings. They +should be reared with love, with kindness, with tenderness, and not +with brutality. That is my idea of children.</p> +<p>When your little child tells a lie, do not rush at him as though +the world were about to go into bankruptcy. Be honest with him. A +tyrant father will have liars for his children; do you know +that?</p> +<p>A lie is born of tyranny upon the one hand and weakness upon the +other, and when you rush at a poor little boy with a club in your +hand, of course he lies.</p> +<p>I thank thee, Mother Nature, that thou hast put ingenuity enough +in the brain of a child, when attacked by a brutal parent, to throw +up a little breastwork in the shape of a lie.</p> +<p>When one of your children tells a lie, be honest with him; tell +him that you have told hundreds of them yourself. Tell him it is +not the best way; that you have tried it. Tell him as the man did +in Maine when his boy left home: "John, honesty is the best policy; +I have tried both." Be honest with him. Suppose a man as much +larger than you as you are larger than a child five years old, +should come at you with a liberty pole in his hand, and in a voice +of thunder shout, "Who broke that plate?" There is not a solitary +one of you who would not swear you never saw it, or that it was +cracked when you got it. Why not be honest with these children? +Just imagine a man who deals in stocks whipping his boy for putting +false rumors afloat! Think of a lawyer beating his own flesh and +blood for evading the truth when he makes half of his own living +that way! Think of a minister punishing his child for not telling +all he thinks! Just think of it!</p> +<p>When your child commits a wrong, take it in your arms; let it +feel your heart beat against its heart; let the child know that you +really and truly and sincerely love it. Yet some Christians, good +Christians, when a child commits a fault, drive it from the door +and say: "Never do you darken this house again." Think of that! And +then these same people will get down on their knees and ask God to +take care of the child they have driven from home. I will never ask +God to take care of my children unless I am doing my level best in +that same direction.</p> +<p>But I will tell you what I say to my children: "Go where you +will; commit what crime you may; fall to what depth of degradation +you may; you can never commit any crime that will shut my door, my +arms, or my heart to you. As long as I live you shall have one +sincere friend."</p> +<p>Do you know that I have seen some people who acted as though +they thought that when the Savior said "Suffer little children to +come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven," he had a +raw-hide under his mande, and made that remark simply to get the +children within striking distance?</p> +<p>I do not believe in the government of the lash, if any one of +you ever expects to whip your children again, I want you to have a +photograph taken of yourself when you are in the act, with your +face red with vulgar anger, and the face of the little child, with +eyes swimming in tears and the little chin dimpled with fear, like +a piece of water struck by a sudden cold wind. Have the picture +taken. If that little child should die, I cannot think of a sweeter +way to spend an autumn afternoon than to go out to the cemetery, +when the maples are clad in tender gold, and little scarlet runners +are coming, like poems of regret, from the sad heart of the +earth—and sit down upon the grave and look at that +photograph, and think of the flesh now dust that you beat. I tell +you it is wrong; it is no way to raise children! Make your home +happy. Be honest with them. Divide fairly with them in +everything.</p> +<p>Give them a little liberty and love, and you can not drive them +out of your house. They will want to stay there. Make home +pleasant. Let them play any game they wish. Do not be so foolish as +to say: "You may roll balls on the ground, but you must not roll +them on a green cloth. You may knock them with a mallet, but you +must not push them with a cue. You may play with little pieces of +paper which have 'authors' written on them, but you must not have +'cards.'" Think of it! "You may go to a minstrel show where people +blacken themselves and imitate humanity below them, but you must +not go to a theatre and see the characters created by immortal +genius put upon the stage." Why? Well, I can't think of any reason +in the world except "minstrel" is a word of two syllables, and +"theatre" has three.</p> +<p>Let children have some daylight at home if you want to keep them +there, and do not commence at the cradle and shout "Don't!" +"Don't!" "Stop!" That is nearly all that is said to a child from +the cradle until he is twenty-one years old, and when he comes of +age other people begin saying "Don't!" And the church says "Don't!" +and the party he belongs to says "Don't!"</p> +<p>I despise that way of going through this world. Let us have +liberty—just a little. Call me infidel, call me atheist, call +me what you will, I intend so to treat my children, that they can +come to my grave and truthfully say: "He who sleeps here never gave +us a moment of pain. From his lips, now dust, never came to us an +unkind word."</p> +<p>People justify all kinds of tyranny toward children upon the +ground that they are totally depraved. At the bottom of ages of +cruelty lies this infamous doctrine of total depravity. Religion +contemplates a child as a living crime—heir to an infinite +curse—doomed to eternal fire.</p> +<p>In the olden time, they thought some days were too good for a +child to enjoy himself. When I was a boy Sunday was considered +altogether too holy to be happy in. Sunday used to commence then +when the sun went down on Saturday night. We commenced at that time +for the purpose of getting a good ready, and when the sun fell +below the horizon on Saturday evening, there was a darkness fell +upon the house ten thousand times deeper than that of night. Nobody +said a pleasant word; nobody laughed; nobody smiled; the child that +looked the sickest was regarded as the most pious. That night you +could not even crack hickory nuts. If you were caught chewing gum +it was only another evidence of the total depravity of the human +heart. It was an exceedingly solemn night.</p> +<p>Dyspepsia was in the very air you breathed. Everybody looked sad +and mournful. I have noticed all my life that many people think +they have religion when they are troubled with dyspepsia. If there +could be found an absolute specific for that disease, it would be +the hardest blow the church has ever received.</p> +<p>On Sunday morning the solemnity had simply increased. Then we +went to church. The minister was in a pulpit about twenty feet +high, with a little sounding-board above him, and he commenced at +"firstly" and went on and on and on to about "twenty-thirdly." Then +he made a few remarks by way of application; and then took a +general view of the subject, and in about two hours reached the +last chapter in Revelation.</p> +<p>In those days, no matter how cold the weather was, there was no +fire in the church. It was thought to be a kind of sin to be +comfortable while you were thanking God. The first church that ever +had a stove in it in New England, divided on that account. So the +first church in which they sang by note, was torn in fragments.</p> +<p>After the sermon we had an intermission. Then came the catechism +with the chief end of man. We went through with that. We sat in a +row with our feet coming in about six inches of the floor. The +minister asked us if we knew that we all deserved to go to hell, +and we all answered "Yes." Then we were asked if we would be +willing to go to hell if it was God's will, and every little liar +shouted "Yes." Then the same sermon was preached once more, +commencing at the other end and going back. After that, we started +for home, sad and solemn—overpowered with the wisdom +displayed in the scheme of the atonement. When we got home, if we +had been good boys, and the weather was warm, sometimes they would +take us out to the graveyard to cheer us up a little. It did cheer +me. When I looked at the sunken tombs and the leaning stones, and +read the half-effaced inscriptions through the moss of silence and +forgetfulness, it was a great comfort. The reflection came to my +mind that the observance of the Sabbath could not last always. +Sometimes they would sing that beautiful hymn in which occurs these +cheerful lines:</p> +<pre> + "Where congregations ne'er break up, + And Sabbaths never end." +</pre> +<p>These lines, I think, prejudiced me a little against even +heaven. Then we had good books that we read on Sundays by way of +keeping us happy and contented. There were Milners' "History of the +Waldenses," Baxter's "Call to the Unconverted," Yahn's "Archaeology +of the Jews," and Jenkyns' "On the Atonement." I used to read +Jenkyns' "On the Atonement." I have often thought that an atonement +would have to be exceedingly broad in its provisions to cover the +case of a man who would write a book like that for a boy.</p> +<p>But at last the Sunday wore away, and the moment the sun went +down we were free. Between three and four o'clock we would go out +to see how the sun was coming on. Sometimes it seemed to me that it +was stopping from pure meanness. But finally it went down. It had +to. And when the last rim of light sank below the horizon, off +would go our caps, and we would give three cheers for liberty once +more.</p> +<p>Sabbaths used to be prisons. Every Sunday was a Bastile. Every +Christian was a kind of turnkey, and every child was a +prisoner,—a convict. In that dungeon, a smile was a +crime.</p> +<p>It was thought wrong for a child to laugh upon this holy day. +Think of that!</p> +<p>A little child would go out into the garden, and there would be +a tree laden with blossoms, and the little fellow would lean +against it, and there would be a bird on one of the boughs, singing +and swinging, and thinking about four little speckled eggs, warmed +by the breast of its mate,—singing and swinging, and the +music in happy waves rippling out of its tiny throat, and the +flowers blossoming, the air filled with perfume and the great white +clouds floating in the sky, and the little boy would lean up +against that tree and think about hell and the worm that never +dies.</p> +<p>I have heard them preach, when I sat in the pew and my feet did +not touch the floor, about the final home of the unconverted. In +order to impress upon the children the length of time they would +probably stay if they settled in that country, the preacher would +frequently give us the following illustration: "Suppose that once +in a billion years a bird should come from some far-distant planet, +and carry off in its little bill a grain of sand, a time would +finally come when the last atom composing this earth would be +carried away; and when this last atom was taken, it would not even +be sun up in hell." Think of such an infamous doctrine being taught +to children!</p> +<p>The laugh of a child will make the holiest day-more sacred +still. Strike, with hand of fire, O weird musician, thy harp strung +with Apollo's golden hair; fill the vast cathedral aisles with +symphonies sweet and dim, deft toucher of the organ keys; blow, +bugler, blow, until thy silver notes do touch and kiss the moonlit +waves, and charm the lovers wandering 'mid the vine-clad hills. But +know, your sweetest strains are discords all, compared with +childhood's happy laugh—the laugh that fills the eyes with +light and every heart with joy. O rippling river of laughter, thou +art the blessed boundary line between the beasts and men; and every +wayward wave of thine doth drown some fretful fiend of care. O +Laughter, rose-lipped daughter of Joy, there are dimples enough in +thy cheeks to catch and hold and glorify all the tears of +grief.</p> +<p>And yet the minds of children have been polluted by this +infamous doctrine of eternal punishment. I denounce it to-day as a +doctrine, the infamy of which no language is sufficient to +express.</p> +<p>Where did that doctrine of eternal punishment for men and women +and children come from? It came from the low and beastly skull of +that wretch in the dug-out. Where did he get it? It was a souvenir +from the animals. The doctrine of eternal punishment was born in +the glittering eyes of snakes—snakes that hung in fearful +coils watching for their prey. It was born of the howl and bark and +growl of wild beasts. It was born of the grin of hyenas and of the +depraved chatter of unclean baboons. I despise it with every drop +of my blood. Tell me there is a God in the serene heavens that will +damn his children for the expression of an honest belief! More men +have died in their sins, judged by your orthodox creeds, than there +are leaves on all the forests in the wide world ten thousand times +over. Tell me these men are in hell; that these men are in torment; +that these children are in eternal pain, and that they are to be +punished forever and forever! I denounce this doctrine as the most +infamous of lies.</p> +<p>When the great ship containing the hopes and aspirations of the +world, when the great ship freighted with mankind goes down in the +night of death, chaos and disaster, I am willing to go down with +the ship. I will not be guilty of the ineffable meanness of +paddling away in some orthodox canoe. I will go down with the ship, +with those who love me, and with those whom I have loved. If there +is a God who will damn his children forever, I would rather go to +hell than to go to heaven and keep the society of such an infamous +tyrant. I make my choice now. I despise that doctrine. It has +covered the cheeks of this world with tears. It has polluted the +hearts of children, and poisoned the imaginations of men. It has +been a constant pain, a perpetual terror to every good man and +woman and child. It has filled the good with horror and with fear; +but it has had no effect upon the infamous and base. It has wrung +the hearts of the tender; it has furrowed the cheeks of the good. +This doctrine never should be preached again. What right have you, +sir, Mr. clergyman, you, minister of the gospel, to stand at the +portals of the tomb, at the vestibule of eternity, and fill the +future with horror and with fear? I do not believe this doctrine: +neither do you. If you did, you could not sleep one moment. Any man +who believes it, and has within his breast a decent, throbbing +heart, will go insane. A man who believes that doctrine and does +not go insane has the heart of a snake and the conscience of a +hyena.</p> +<p>Jonathan Edwards, the dear old soul, who, if his doctrine is +true, is now in heaven rubbing his holy hands with glee, as he +hears the cries of the damned, preached this doctrine; and he said: +"Can the believing husband in heaven be happy with his unbelieving +wife in hell? Can the believing father in heaven be happy with his +unbelieving children in hell? Can the loving wife in heaven be +happy with her unbelieving husband in hell?" And he replies: "I +tell you, yea. Such will be their sense of justice, that it will +increase rather than diminish their bliss." There is no wild beast +in the jungles of Africa whose reputation would not be tarnished by +the expression of such a doctrine.</p> +<p>These doctrines have been taught in the name of religion, in the +name of universal forgiveness, in the name of infinite love and +charity. Do not, I pray you, soil the minds of your children with +this dogma. Let them read for themselves; let them think for +themselves.</p> +<p>Do not treat your children like orthodox posts to be set in a +row. Treat them like trees that need light and sun and air. Be fair +and honest with them; give them a chance. Recollect that their +rights are equal to yours. Do not have it in your mind that you +must govern them; that they must obey. Throw away forever the idea +of master and slave.</p> +<p>In old times they used to make the children go to bed when they +were not sleepy, and get up when they were sleepy. I say let them +go to bed when they are sleepy, and get up when they are not +sleepy.</p> +<p>But you say, this doctrine will do for the rich but not for the +poor. Well, if the poor have to waken their children early in the +morning it is as easy to wake them with a kiss as with a blow. Give +your children freedom; let them preserve their individuality. Let +your children eat what they desire, and commence at the end of a +dinner they like. That is their business and not yours. They know +what they wish to eat. If they are given their liberty from the +first, they know what they want better than any doctor in the world +can prescribe. Do you know that all the improvement that has ever +been made in the practice of medicine has been made by the +recklessness of patients and not by the doctors? For thousands and +thousands of years the doctors would not let a man suffering from +fever have a drop of water. Water they looked upon as poison. But +every now and then some man got reckless and said, "I had rather +die than not to slake my thirst." Then he would drink two or three +quarts of water and get well. And when the doctor was told of what +the patient had done, he expressed great surprise that he was still +alive, and complimented his constitution upon being able to bear +such a frightful strain. The reckless men, however, kept on +drinking the water, and persisted in getting well. And finally the +doctors said: "In a fever, water is the very best thing you can +take." So, I have more confidence in the voice of nature about such +things than I have in the conclusions of the medical schools.</p> +<p>Let your children have freedom and they will fall into your +ways; they will do substantially as you do; but if you try to make +them, there is some magnificent, splendid thing in the human heart +that refuses to be driven. And do you know that it is the luckiest +thing that ever happened for this world, that people are that way. +What would have become of the people five hundred years ago if they +had followed strictly the advice of the doctors? They would have +all been dead. What would the people have been, if at any age of +the world they had followed implicitly the direction of the church? +They would have all been idiots. It is a splendid thing that there +is always some grand man who will not mind, and who will think for +himself.</p> +<p>I believe in allowing the children to think for themselves. I +believe in the democracy of the family. If in this world there is +anything splendid, it is a home where all are equals.</p> +<p>You will remember that only a few years ago parents would tell +their children to "let their victuals stop their mouths." They used +to eat as though it were a religious ceremony—a very solemn +thing. Life should not be treated as a solemn matter. I like to see +the children at table, and hear each one telling of the wonderful +things he has seen and heard. I like to hear the clatter of knives +and forks and spoons mingling with their happy voices. I had rather +hear it than any opera that was ever put upon the boards. Let the +children have liberty. Be honest and fair with them; be just; be +tender, and they will make you rich in love and joy.</p> +<p>Men are oaks, women are vines, children are flowers.</p> +<p>The human race has been guilty of almost countless crimes; but I +have some excuse for mankind. This world, after all, is not very +well adapted to raising good people. In the first place, nearly all +of it is water. It is much better adapted to fish culture than to +the production of folks. Of that portion which is land not +one-eighth has suitable soil and climate to produce great men and +women. You cannot raise men and women of genius, without the proper +soil and climate, any more than you can raise corn and wheat upon +the ice fields of the Arctic sea. You must have the necessary +conditions and surroundings. Man is a product; you must have the +soil and food. The obstacles presented by nature must not be so +great that man cannot, by reasonable industry and courage, overcome +them. There is upon this world only a narrow belt of land, circling +zigzag the globe, upon which you can produce men and women of +talent. In the Southern Hemisphere the real climate that man needs +falls mostly upon the sea, and the result is, that the southern +half of our world has never produced a man or woman of great +genius. In the far north there is no genius—it is too cold. +In the far south there is no genius—it is too warm. There +must be winter, and there must be summer. In a country where man +needs no coverlet but a cloud, revolution is his normal condition. +Winter is the mother of industry and prudence. Above all, it is the +mother of the family relation. Winter holds in its icy arms the +husband and wife and the sweet children. If upon this earth we ever +have a glimpse of heaven, it is when we pass a home in winter, at +night, and through the windows, the curtains drawn aside, we see +the family about the pleasant hearth; the old lady knitting; the +cat playing with the yarn; the children wishing they had as many +dolls or dollars or knives or somethings, as there are sparks going +out to join the roaring blast; the father reading and smoking, and +the clouds rising like incense from the altar of domestic joy. I +never passed such a house without feeling that I had received a +benediction.</p> +<p>Civilization, liberty, justice, charity, intellectual +advancement, are all flowers that blossom in the drifted snow.</p> +<p>I do not know that I can better illustrate the great truth that +only part of the world is adapted to the production of great men +and women than by calling your attention to the difference between +vegetation in valleys and upon mountains. In the valley you find +the oak and elm tossing their branches defiantly to the storm, and +as you advance up the mountain side the hemlock, the pine, the +birch, the spruce, the fir, and finally you come to little dwarfed +trees, that look like other trees seen through a telescope +reversed—every limb twisted as though in pain—getting a +scanty subsistence from the miserly crevices of the rocks. You go +on and on, until at last the highest crag is freckled with a kind +of moss, and vegetation ends. You might as well try to raise oaks +and elms where the mosses grow, as to raise great men and great +women where their surroundings are unfavorable. You must have the +proper climate and soil.</p> +<p>A few years ago we were talking about the annexation of Santo +Domingo to this country. I was in Washington at the time. I was +opposed to it I was told that it was a most delicious climate; that +the soil produced everything. But I said: "We do not want it; it is +not the right kind of country in which to raise American citizens. +Such a climate would debauch us. You might go there with five +thousand Congregational preachers, five thousand ruling elders, +five thousand professors in colleges, five thousand of the solid +men of Boston and their wives; settle them all in Santo Domingo, +and you will see the second generation riding upon a mule, +bareback, no shoes, a grapevine bridle, hair sticking out at the +top of their sombreros, with a rooster under each arm, going to a +cock fight on Sunday." Such is the influence of climate.</p> +<p>Science, however, is gradually widening the area within which +men of genius can be produced. We are conquering the north with +houses, clothing, food and fuel. We are in many ways overcoming the +heat of the south. If we attend to this world instead of another, +we may in time cover the land with men and women of genius.</p> +<p>I have still another excuse. I believe that man came up from the +lower animals. I do not say this as a fact. I simply say I believe +it to be a fact. Upon that question I stand about eight to seven, +which, for all practical purposes, is very near a certainty. When I +first heard of that doctrine I did not like it. My heart was filled +with sympathy for those people who have nothing to be proud of +except ancestors. I thought, how terrible this will be upon the +nobility of the Old World. Think of their being forced to trace +their ancestry back to the duke Orang Outang, or to the princess +Chimpanzee. After thinking it all over, I came to the conclusion +that I liked that doctrine. I became convinced in spite of myself. +I read about rudimentary bones and muscles. I was told that +everybody had rudimentary muscles extending from the ear into the +cheek. I asked "What are they?" I was told: "They are the remains +of muscles; that they became rudimentary from lack of use; they +went into bankruptcy. They are the muscles with which your +ancestors used to flap their ears." I do not now so much wonder +that we once had them as that we have outgrown them.</p> +<p>After all I had rather belong to a race that started from the +skull-less vertebrates in the dim Laurentian seas, vertebrates +wiggling without knowing why they wiggled, swimming without knowing +where they were going, but that in some way began to develop, and +began to get a little higher and a little higher in the scale of +existence; that came up by degrees through millions of ages through +all the animal world, through all that crawls and swims and floats +and climbs and walks, and finally produced the gentleman in the +dug-out; and then from this man, getting a little grander, and each +one below calling every one above him a heretic, calling every one +who had made a little advance an infidel or an atheist—for in +the history of this world the man who is ahead has always been +called a heretic—I would rather come from a race that started +from that skull-less vertebrate, and came up and up and up and +finally produced Shakespeare, the man who found the human intellect +dwelling in a hut, touched it with the wand of his genius and it +became a palace domed and pinnacled; Shakespeare, who harvested all +the fields of dramatic thought, and from whose day to this, there +have been only gleaners of straw and chaff—I would rather +belong to that race that commenced a skull-less vertebrate and +produced Shakespeare, a race that has before it an infinite future, +with the angel of progress leaning from the far horizon, beckoning +men forward, upward and onward forever—I had rather belong to +such a race, commencing there, producing this, and with that hope, +than to have sprung from a perfect pair upon which the Lord has +lost money every moment from that day to this.</p> +<a name="linkCONC"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>CONCLUSION.</h2> +<p>I have given you my honest thought. Surely investigation is +better than unthinking faith. Surely reason is a better guide than +fear. This world should be controlled by the living, not by the +dead. The grave is not a throne, and a corpse is not a king. Man +should not try to live on ashes.</p> +<p>The theologians dead, knew no more than the theologians now +living. More than this cannot be said. About this world little is +known,—about another world, nothing.</p> +<p>Our fathers were intellectual serfs, and their fathers were +slaves. The makers of our creeds were ignorant and brutal. Every +dogma that we have, has upon it the mark of whip, the rust of +chain, and the ashes of fagot.</p> +<p>Our fathers reasoned with instruments of torture. They believed +in the logic of fire and sword. They hated reason. They despised +thought. They abhorred liberty.</p> +<p>Superstition is the child of slavery. Free thought will give us +truth. When all have the right to think and to express their +thoughts, every brain will give to all the best it has. The world +will then be filled with intellectual wealth.</p> +<p>As long as men and women are afraid of the church, as long as a +minister inspires fear, as long as people reverence a thing simply +because they do not understand it, as long as it is respectable to +lose your self-respect, as long as the church has power, as long as +mankind worship a book, just so long will the world be filled with +intellectual paupers and vagrants, covered with the soiled and +faded rags of superstition.</p> +<p>As long as woman regards the Bible as the charter of her rights, +she will be the slave of man. The Bible was not written by a woman. +Within its lids there is nothing but humiliation and shame for her. +She is regarded as the property of man. She is made to ask +forgiveness for becoming a mother. She is as much below her +husband, as her husband is below Christ. She is not allowed to +speak. The gospel is too pure to be spoken by her polluted lips. +Woman should learn in silence.</p> +<p>In the Bible will be found no description of a civilized home. +The free mother surrounded by free and loving children, adored by a +free man, her husband, was unknown to the inspired writers of the +Bible. They did not believe in the democracy of home—in the +republicanism of the fireside.</p> +<p>These inspired gentlemen knew nothing of the rights of children. +They were the advocates of brute force—the disciples of the +lash. They knew nothing of human rights. Their doctrines have +brutalized the homes of millions, and filled the eyes of infancy +with tears.</p> +<p>Let us free ourselves from the tyranny of a book, from the +slavery of dead ignorance, from the aristocracy of the air.</p> +<p>There has never been upon the earth a generation of free men and +women. It is not yet time to write a creed. Wait until the chains +are broken—until dungeons are not regarded as temples. Wait +until solemnity is not mistaken for wisdom—until mental +cowardice ceases to be known as reverence. Wait until the living +are considered the equals of the dead—until the cradle takes +precedence of the coffin. Wait until what we know can be spoken +without regard to what others may believe. Wait until teachers take +the place of preachers—until followers become investigators. +Wait until the world is free before you write a creed.</p> +<p>In this creed there will be but one word—Liberty.</p> +<p>Oh Liberty, float not forever in the far horizon—remain +not forever in the dream of the enthusiast, the philanthropist and +poet, but come and make thy home among the children of men!</p> +<p>I know not what discoveries, what inventions, what thoughts may +leap from the brain of the world. I know not what garments of glory +may be woven by the years to come. I cannot dream of the victories +to be won upon the fields of thought; but I do know, that coming +from the infinite sea of the future, there will never touch this +"bank and shoal of time" a richer gift, a rarer blessing than +liberty for man, for woman, and for child.</p> +<a name="link0013"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>ABOUT FARMING IN ILLINOIS</h2> +<p>To Plow is to Pray—to Plant is to Prophesy, and the +Harvest Answers and Fulfills.</p> +<p>I AM not an old and experienced farmer, nor a tiller of the +soil, nor one of the hard-handed sons of labor. I imagine, however, +that I know something about cultivating the soil, and getting +happiness out of the ground.</p> +<p>I know enough to know that agriculture is the basis of all +wealth, prosperity and luxury. I know that in a country where the +tillers of the fields are free, everybody is free and ought to be +prosperous. Happy is that country where those who cultivate the +land own it. Patriotism is born in the woods and fields—by +lakes and streams—by crags and plains.</p> +<p>The old way of farming was a great mistake. Everything was done +the wrong way. It was all work and waste, weariness and want. They +used to fence a hundred and sixty acres of land with a couple of +dogs. Everything was left to the protection of the blessed trinity +of chance, accident and mistake.</p> +<p>When I was a farmer they used to haul wheat two hundred miles in +wagons and sell it for thirty-five cents a bushel. They would bring +home about three hundred feet of lumber, two bunches of shingles, a +barrel of salt, and a cook-stove that never would draw and never +did bake.</p> +<p>In those blessed days the people lived on corn and bacon. +Cooking was an unknown art. Eating was a necessity, not a pleasure. +It was hard work for the cook to keep on good terms even with +hunger.</p> +<p>We had poor houses. The rain held the roofs in perfect contempt, +and the snow drifted joyfully on the floors and beds. They had no +barns. The horses were kept in rail pens surrounded with straw. +Long before spring the sides would be eaten away and nothing but +roofs would be left. Food is fuel. When the cattle were exposed to +all the blasts of winter, it took all the corn and oats that could +be stuffed into them to prevent actual starvation.</p> +<p>In those times most farmers thought the best place for the +pig-pen was immediately in front of the house. There is nothing +like sociability.</p> +<p>Women were supposed to know the art of making fires without +fuel. The wood pile consisted, as a general thing, of one log upon +which an axe or two had been worn out in vain. There was nothing to +kindle a fire with. Pickets were pulled from the garden fence, +clap-boards taken from the house, and every stray plank was seized +upon for kindling. Everything was done in the hardest way. +Everything about the farm was disagreeable. Nothing was kept in +order. Nothing was preserved. The wagons stood in the sun and rain, +and the plows rusted in the fields. There was no leisure, no +feeling that the work was done. It was all labor and weariness and +vexation of spirit. The crops were destroyed by wandering herds, or +they were put in too late, or too early, or they were blown down, +or caught by the frost, or devoured by bugs, or stung by flies, or +eaten by worms, or carried away by birds, or dug up by gophers, or +washed away by floods, or dried up by the sun, or rotted in the +stack, or heated in the crib, or they all run to vines, or tops, or +straw, or smut, or cobs. And when in spite of all these accidents +that lie in wait between, the plow and the reaper, they did succeed +in raising a good crop and a high price was offered, then the roads +would be impassable. And when the roads got good, then the prices +went down. Everything worked together for evil.</p> +<p>Nearly every farmer's boy took an oath that he never would +cultivate the soil. The moment they arrived at the age of +twenty-one they left the desolate and dreary farms and rushed to +the towns and cities. They wanted to be bookkeepers, doctors, +merchants, railroad men, insurance agents, lawyers, even preachers, +anything to avoid the drudgery of the farm. Nearly every boy +acquainted with the three R's—reading, writing, and +arithmetic—imagined that he had altogether more education +than ought to be wasted in raising potatoes and corn. They made +haste to get into some other business. Those who stayed upon the +farm envied those who went away.</p> +<p>A few years ago the times were prosperous, and the young men +went to the cities to enjoy the fortunes that were waiting for +them. They wanted to engage in something that promised quick +returns. They built railways, established banks and insurance +companies. They speculated in stocks in Wall Street, and gambled in +grain at Chicago. They became rich. They lived in palaces. They +rode in carriages. They pitied their poor brothers on the farms, +and the poor brothers envied them.</p> +<p>But time has brought its revenge. The farmers have seen the +railroad president a bankrupt, and the road in the hands of a +receiver. They have seen the bank president abscond, and the +insurance company a wrecked and ruined fraud. The only solvent +people, as a class, the only independent people, are the tillers of +the soil.</p> +<p>Farming must be made more attractive. The comforts of the town +must be added to the beauty of the fields. The sociability of the +city must be rendered possible in the country.</p> +<p>Farming has been made repulsive. The farmers have been +unsociable and their homes have been lonely. They have been +wasteful and careless. They have not been proud of their +business.</p> +<p>In the first place, farming ought to be reasonably profitable. +The farmers have not attended to their own interests. They have +been robbed and plundered in a hundred ways.</p> +<p>No farmer can afford to raise corn and oats and hay to sell. He +should sell horses, not oats; sheep, cattle and pork, not corn. He +should make every profit possible out of what he produces. So long +as the farmers of Illinois ship their corn and oats, so long they +will be poor,—just so long will their farms be mortgaged to +the insurance companies and banks of the East,—just so long +will they do the work and others reap the benefit,—just so +long will they be poor, and the money lenders grow rich,—just +so long will cunning avarice grasp and hold the net profits of +honest toil. When the farmers of the West ship beef and pork +instead of grain,—when we manufacture here,—when we +cease paying tribute to others, ours will be the most prosperous +country in the world.</p> +<p>Another thing—It is just as cheap to raise a good as a +poor breed of cattle. Scrubs will eat just as much as +thoroughbreds. If you are not able to buy Durhams and Alderneys, +you can raise the corn breed. By "corn breed" I mean the cattle +that have, for several generations, had enough to eat, and have +been treated with kindness. Every farmer who will treat his cattle +kindly, and feed them all they want, will, in a few years, have +blooded stock on his farm. All blooded stock has been produced in +this way. You can raise good cattle just as you can raise good +people. If you wish to raise a good boy you must give him plenty to +eat, and treat him with kindness. In this way, and in this way +only, can good cattle or good people be produced.</p> +<p>Another thing—You must beautify your homes.</p> +<p>When I was a farmer it was not fashionable to set out trees, nor +to plant vines.</p> +<p>When you visited the farm you were not welcomed by flowers, and +greeted by trees loaded with fruit. Yellow dogs came bounding over +the tumbled fence like wild beasts. There is no sense—there +is no profit in such a life. It is not living. The farmers ought to +beautify their homes. There should be trees and grass and flowers +and running vines. Everything should be kept in order—gates +should be on their hinges, and about all there should be the +pleasant air of thrift. In every house there should be a bath-room. +The bath is a civilizer, a refiner, a beautifier. When you come +from the fields tired, covered with dust, nothing is so refreshing. +Above all things, keep clean. It is not necessary to be a pig in +order to raise one. In the cool of the evening, after a day in the +field, put on clean clothes, take a seat under the trees, 'mid the +perfume of flowers, surrounded by your family, and you will know +what it is to enjoy life like a gentleman.</p> +<p>In no part of the globe will farming pay better than in +Illinois. You are in the best portion of the earth. From the +Atlantic to the Pacific, there is no such country as yours. The +East is hard and stony; the soil is stingy. The far West is a +desert parched and barren, dreary and desolate as perdition would +be with the fires out. It is better to dig wheat and corn from the +soil than gold. Only a few days ago, I was where they wrench the +precious metals from the miserly clutch of the rocks. When I saw +the mountains, treeless, shrub-less, flowerless, without even a +spire of grass, it seemed to me that gold had the same effect upon +the country that holds it, as upon the man who lives and labors +only for that. It affects the land as it does the man. It leaves +the heart barren without a flower of kindness—without a +blossom of pity.</p> +<p>The farmer in Illinois has the best soil—the greatest +return for the least labor—more leisure—more time for +enjoyment than any other farmer in the world. His hard work ceases +with autumn. He has the long winters in which to become acquainted +with his family—with his neighbors—in which to read and +keep abreast with the advanced thought of his day. He has the time +and means for self-culture. He has more time than the mechanic, the +merchant or the professional man. If the farmer is not well +informed it is his own fault. Books are cheap, and every farmer can +have enough to give him the outline of every science, and an idea +of all that has been accomplished by man.</p> +<p>In many respects the farmer has the advantage of the mechanic. +In our time we have plenty of mechanics but no tradesmen. In the +sub-division of labor we have a thousand men working upon different +parts of the same thing, each taught in one particular branch, and +in only one. We have, say, in a shoe factory, hundreds of men, but +not one shoemaker. It takes them all, assisted by a great number of +machines, to make a shoe. Each does a particular part, and not one +of them knows the entire trade. The result is that the moment the +factory shuts down these men are out of employment. Out of +employment means out of bread—out of bread means famine and +horror. The mechanic of to-day has but little independence. His +prosperity often depends upon the good will of one man. He is +liable to be discharged for a look, for a word. He lays by but +little for his declining years. He is, at the best, the slave of +capital.</p> +<p>It is a thousand times better to be a whole farmer than part of +a mechanic. It is better to till the ground and work for yourself +than to be hired by corporations. Every man should endeavor to +belong to himself.</p> +<p>About seven hundred years ago, Khayyam, a Persian, said: "Why +should a man who possesses a piece of bread securing life for two +days, and who has a cup of water—why should such a man be +commanded by another, and why should such a man serve another?"</p> +<p>Young men should not be satisfied with a salary. Do not mortgage +the possibilities of your future. Have the courage to take life as +it comes, feast or famine. Think of hunting a gold mine for a +dollar a day, and think of finding one for another man. How would +you feel then?</p> +<p>We are lacking in true courage, when, for fear of the future, we +take the crusts and scraps and niggardly salaries of the present. I +had a thousand times rather have a farm and be independent, than to +be President of the United States without independence, filled with +doubt and trembling, feeling of the popular pulse, resorting to art +and artifice, enquiring about the wind of opinion, and succeeding +at last in losing my self-respect without gaining the respect of +others.</p> +<p>Man needs more manliness, more real independence. We must take +care of ourselves. This we can do by labor, and in this way we can +preserve our independence. We should try and choose that business +or profession the pursuit of which will give us the most happiness. +Happiness is wealth. We can be happy without being +rich—without holding office—without being famous. I am +not sure that we can be happy with wealth, with office, or with +fame.</p> +<p>There is a quiet about the life of a farmer, and the hope of a +serene old age, that no other business or profession can promise. A +professional man is doomed sometime to feel that his powers are +waning. He is doomed to see younger and stronger men pass him in +the race of life. He looks forward to an old age of intellectual +mediocrity. He will be last where once he was the first. But the +farmer goes, as it were, into partnership with nature—he +lives with trees and flowers—he breathes the sweet air of the +fields. There is no constant and frightful strain upon his mind. +His nights are filled with sleep and rest. He watches his flocks +and herds as they feed upon the green and sunny slopes. He hears +the pleasant rain falling upon the waving corn, and the trees he +planted in youth rustle above him as he plants others for the +children yet to be.</p> +<p>Our country is filled with the idle and unemployed, and the +great question asking for an answer is: What shall be done with +these men? What shall these men do? To this there is but one +answer: They must cultivate the soil. Farming must be rendered more +attractive. Those who work the land must have an honest pride in +their business. They must educate their children to cultivate the +soil. They must make farming easier, so that their children will +not hate it—so that they will not hate it themselves. The +boys must not be taught that tilling the ground is a curse and +almost a disgrace. They must not suppose that education is thrown +away upon them unless they become ministers, merchants, lawyers, +doctors, or statesmen. It must be understood that education can be +used to advantage on a farm. We must get rid of the idea that a +little learning unfits one for work. There is no real conflict +between Latin and labor. There are hundreds of graduates of Yale +and Harvard and other colleges, who are agents of sewing machines, +solicitors for insurance, clerks, copyists, in short, performing a +hundred varieties of menial service. They seem willing to do +anything that is not regarded as work—anything that can be +done in a town, in the house, in an office, but they avoid farming +as they would a leprosy. Nearly every young man educated in this +way is simply ruined. Such an education ought to be called +ignorance. It is a thousand times better to have common sense +without education, than education without the sense. Boys and girls +should be educated to help themselves. They should be taught that +it is disgraceful to be idle, and dishonorable to be useless.</p> +<p>I say again, if you want more men and women on the farms, +something must be done to make farm life pleasant. One great +difficulty is that the farm is lonely. People write about the +pleasures of solitude, but they are found only in books. He who +lives long alone becomes insane. A hermit is a madman. Without +friends and wife and child, there is nothing left worth living for. +The unsocial are the enemies of joy. They are filled with egotism +and envy, with vanity and hatred. People who live much alone become +narrow and suspicious. They are apt to be the property of one idea. +They begin to think there is no use in anything. They look upon the +happiness of others as a kind of folly. They hate joyous folks, +because, way down in their hearts, they envy them.</p> +<p>In our country, farm-life is too lonely. The farms are large, +and neighbors are too far apart. In these days, when the roads are +filled with "tramps," the wives and children need protection. When +the farmer leaves home and goes to some distant field to work, a +shadow of fear is upon his heart all day, and a like shadow rests +upon all at home.</p> +<p>In the early settlement of our country the pioneer was forced to +take his family, his axe, his dog and his gun, and go into the far +wild forest, and build his cabin miles and miles from any neighbor. +He saw the smoke from his hearth go up alone in all the wide and +lonely sky.</p> +<p>But this necessity has passed away, and now, instead of living +so far apart upon the lonely farms, you should live in villages. +With the improved machinery which you have—with your generous +soil—with your markets and means of transportation, you can +now afford to live together.</p> +<p>It is not necessary in this age of the world for the farmer to +rise in the middle of the night and begin his work. This getting up +so early in the morning is a relic of barbarism. It has made +hundreds and thousands of young men curse the business. There is no +need of getting up at three or four o'clock in the winter morning. +The farmer who persists in doing it and persists in dragging his +wife and children from their beds ought to be visited by a +missionary. It is time enough to rise after the sun has set the +example. For what purpose do you get up? To feed the cattle? Why +not feed them more the night before? It is a waste of life. In the +old times they used to get up about three o'clock in the morning, +and go to work long before the sun had risen with "healing upon his +wings," and as a just punishment they all had the ague; and they +ought to have it now. The man who cannot get a living upon Illinois +soil without rising before daylight ought to starve. Eight hours a +day is enough for any farmer to work except in harvest time. When +you rise at four and work till dark what is life worth? Of what use +are all the improvements in farming? Of what use is all the +improved machinery unless it tends to give the farmer a little more +leisure? What is harvesting now, compared with what it was in the +old time? Think of the days of reaping, of cradling, of raking and +binding and mowing. Think of threshing with the flail and winnowing +with the wind. And now think of the reapers and mowers, the binders +and threshing machines, the plows and cultivators, upon which the +farmer rides protected from the sun. If, with all these advantages, +you cannot get a living without rising in the middle of the night, +go into some other business. You should not rob your families of +sleep. Sleep is the best medicine in the world. It is the best +doctor upon the earth. There is no such thing as health without +plenty of sleep. Sleep until you are thoroughly rested and +restored. When you work, work; and when you get through take a +good, long, and refreshing rest.</p> +<p>You should live in villages, so that you can have the benefits +of social life. You can have a reading-room—you can take the +best papers and magazines—you can have plenty of books, and +each one can have the benefit of them all. Some of the young men +and women can cultivate music. You can have social +gatherings—you can learn from each other—you can +discuss all topics of interest, and in this way you can make +farming a delightful business. You must keep up with the age. The +way to make farming respectable is for farmers to become really +intelligent. They must live intelligent and happy lives. They must +know something of books and something of what is going on in the +world. They must not be satisfied with knowing something of the +affairs of a neighborhood and nothing about the rest of the earth. +The business must be made attractive, and it never can be until the +farmer has prosperity, intelligence and leisure.</p> +<p>Another thing—I am a believer in fashion. It is the duty +of every woman to make herself as beautiful and attractive as she +possibly can.</p> +<p>"Handsome is as handsome does," but she is much handsomer if +well dressed. Every man should look his very best. I am a believer +in good clothes. The time never ought to come in this country when +you can tell a farmer's wife or daughter simply by the garments she +wears. I say to every girl and woman, no matter what the material +of your dress may be, no matter how cheap and coarse it is, cut it +and make it in the fashion. I believe in jewelry. Some people look +upon it as barbaric, but in my judgment, wearing jewelry is the +first evidence the barbarian gives of a wish to be civilized. To +adorn ourselves seems to be a part of our nature, and this desire +seems to be everywhere and in everything. I have sometimes thought +that the desire for beauty covers the earth with flowers. It is +this desire that paints the wings of moths, tints the chamber of +the shell, and gives the bird its plumage and its song. Oh +daughters and wives, if you would be loved, adorn +yourselves—if you would be adored, be beautiful!</p> +<p>There is another fault common with the farmers of our +country—they want too much land. You cannot, at present, when +taxes are high, afford to own land that you do not cultivate. Sell +it and let others make farms and homes. In this way what you keep +will be enhanced in value. Farmers ought to own the land they +cultivate, and cultivate what they own. Renters can hardly be +called farmers. There can be no such thing in the highest sense as +a home unless you own it. There must be an incentive to plant +trees, to beautify the grounds, to preserve and improve. It +elevates a man to own a home. It gives a certain independence, a +force of character that is obtained in no other way. A man without +a home feels like a passenger. There is in such a man a little of +the vagrant. Homes make patriots. He who has sat by his own +fireside with wife and children will defend it. When he hears the +word country pronounced, he thinks of his home.</p> +<p>Few men have been patriotic enough to shoulder a musket in +defence of a boarding house.</p> +<p>The prosperity and glory of our country depend upon the number +of our people who are the owners of homes. Around the fireside +cluster the private and the public virtues of our race. Raise your +sons to be independent through labor—to pursue some business +for themselves and upon their own account—to be +self-reliant—to act upon their own responsibility, and to +take the consequences like men. Teach them above all things to be +good, true and tender husbands—winners of love and builders +of homes.</p> +<p>A great many farmers seem to think that they are the only +laborers in the world. This is a very foolish thing. Farmers cannot +get along without the mechanic. You are not independent of the man +of genius. Your prosperity depends upon the inventor. The world +advances by the assistance of all laborers; and all labor is under +obligations to the inventions of genius. The inventor does as much +for agriculture as he who tills the soil. All laboring men should +be brothers. You are in partnership with the mechanics who make +your reapers, your mowers and your plows; and you should take into +your granges all the men who make their living by honest labor. The +laboring people should unite and should protect themselves against +all idlers. You can divide mankind into two classes: the laborers +and the idlers, the supporters and the supported, the honest and +the dishonest. Every man is dishonest who lives upon the unpaid +labor of others, no matter if he occupies a throne. All laborers +should be brothers. The laborers should have equal rights before +the world and before the law. And I want every farmer to consider +every man who labors either with hand or brain as his brother. +Until genius and labor formed a partnership there was no such thing +as prosperity among men. Every reaper and mower, every agricultural +implement, has elevated the work of the farmer, and his vocation +grows grander with every invention. In the olden time the +agriculturist was ignorant; he knew nothing of machinery, he was +the slave of superstition. He was always trying to appease some +imaginary power by fasting and prayer. He supposed that some being +actuated by malice, sent the untimely frost, or swept away with the +wild wind his rude abode. To him the seasons were mysteries. The +thunder told him of an enraged god—the barren fields of the +vengeance of heaven. The tiller of the soil lived in perpetual and +abject fear. He knew nothing of mechanics, nothing of order, +nothing of law, nothing of cause and effect. He was a superstitious +savage. He invented prayers instead of plows, creeds instead of +reapers and mowers. He was unable to devote all his time to the +gods, and so he hired others to assist him, and for their influence +with the gentlemen supposed to control the weather, he gave +one-tenth of all he could produce.</p> +<p>The farmer has been elevated through science and he should not +forget the debt he owes to the mechanic, to the inventor, to the +thinker. He should remember that all laborers belong to the same +grand family—that they are the real kings and queens, the +only true nobility.</p> +<p>Another idea entertained by most farmers is that they are in +some mysterious way oppressed by every other kind of +business—that they are devoured by monopolies, especially by +railroads.</p> +<p>Of course, the railroads are indebted to the farmers for their +prosperity, and the farmers are indebted to the railroads. Without +them Illinois would be almost worthless.</p> +<p>A few years ago you endeavored to regulate the charges of +railroad companies. The principal complaint you had was that they +charged too much for the transportation of corn and other cereals +to the East. You should remember that all freights are paid by the +consumer; and that it made little difference to you what the +railroad charged for transportation to the East, as that +transportation had to be paid by the consumers of the grain. You +were really interested in transportation from the East to the West +and in local freights. The result is that while you have put down +through freights you have not succeeded so well in local freights. +The exact opposite should be the policy of Illinois. Put down local +freights; put them down, if you can, to the lowest possible figure, +and let through rates take care of themselves. If all the corn +raised in Illinois could be transported to New York absolutely +free, it would enhance but little the price that you would receive. +What we want is the lowest possible local rate. Instead of this you +have simply succeeded in helping the East at the expense of the +West. The railroads are your friends. They are your partners. They +can prosper only where the country through which they run prospers. +All intelligent railroad men know this. They know that present +robbery is future bankruptcy. They know that the interest of the +farmer and of the railroad is the same. We must have railroads. +What can we do without them?</p> +<p>When we had no railroads, we drew, as I said before, our grain +two hundred miles to market.</p> +<p>In those days the farmers did not stop at hotels. They slept +under their wagons—took with them their food—fried +their own bacon, made their coffee, and ate their meals in the snow +and rain. Those were the days when they received ten cents a bushel +for corn—when they sold four bushels of potatoes for a +quarter—thirty-three dozen eggs for a dollar, and a hundred +pounds of pork for a dollar and a half.</p> +<p>What has made the difference?</p> +<p>The railroads came to your door and they brought with them the +markets of the world. They brought New York and Liverpool and +London into Illinois, and the State has been clothed with +prosperity as with a mantle. It is the interest of the farmer to +protect every great interest in the State. You should feel proud +that Illinois has more railroads than any other State in this +Union. Her main tracks and side tracks would furnish iron enough to +belt the globe. In Illinois there are ten thousand miles of +railways. In these iron highways more than three hundred million +dollars have been invested—a sum equal to ten times the +original cost of all the land in the State. To make war upon the +railroads is a short-sighted and suicidal policy. They should be +treated fairly and should be taxed by the same standard that farms +are taxed, and in no other way. If we wish to prosper we must act +together, and we must see to it that every form of labor is +protected.</p> +<p>There has been a long period of depression in all business. The +farmers have suffered least of all. Your land is just as rich and +productive as ever. Prices have been reasonable. The towns and +cities have suffered. Stocks and bonds have shrunk from par to +worthless paper. Princes have become paupers, and bankers, +merchants and millionaires have passed into the oblivion of +bankruptcy. The period of depression is slowly passing away, and we +are entering upon better times.</p> +<p>A great many people say that a scarcity of money is our only +difficulty. In my opinion we have money enough, but we lack +confidence in each other and in the future.</p> +<p>There has been so much dishonesty, there have been so many +failures, that the people are afraid to trust anybody. There is +plenty of money, but there seems to be a scarcity of business. If +you were to go to the owner of a ferry, and, upon seeing his boat +lying high and dry on the shore, should say, "There is a +superabundance of ferryboat," he would probably reply, "No, but +there is a scarcity of water." So with us there is not a scarcity +of money, but there is a scarcity of business. And this scarcity +springs from lack of confidence in one another. So many presidents +of savings banks, even those belonging to the Young Men's Christian +Association, run off with the funds; so many railroad and insurance +companies are in the hands of receivers; there is so much +bankruptcy on every hand, that all capital is held in the nervous +clutch of fear. Slowly, but surely we are coming back to honest +methods in business. Confidence will return, and then enterprise +will unlock the safe and money will again circulate as of yore; the +dollars will leave their hiding places and every one will be +seeking investment.</p> +<p>For my part, I do not ask any interference on the part of the +Government except to undo the wrong it has done. I do not ask that +money be made out of nothing. I do not ask for the prosperity born +of paper. But I do ask for the remonetization of silver. Silver was +demonetized by fraud. It was an imposition upon every solvent man; +a fraud upon every honest debtor in the United States. It +assassinated labor. It was done in the interest of avarice and +greed, and should be undone by honest men.</p> +<p>The farmers should vote only for such men as are able and +willing to guard and advance the interests of labor. We should know +better than to vote for men who will deliberately put a tariff of +three dollars a thousand upon Canada lumber, when every farmer in +Illinois is a purchaser of lumber. People who live upon the +prairies ought to vote for cheap lumber. We should protect +ourselves. We ought to have intelligence enough to know what we +want and how to get it. The real laboring men of this country can +succeed if they are united. By laboring men, I do not mean only the +farmers. I mean all who contribute in some way to the general +welfare. They should forget prejudices and party names, and +remember only the best interests of the people. Let us see if we +cannot, in Illinois, protect every department of industry. Let us +see if all property cannot be protected alike and taxed alike, +whether owned by individuals or corporations.</p> +<p>Where industry creates and justice protects, prosperity +dwells.</p> +<p>Let me tell you something more about Illinois. We have fifty-six +thousand square miles of land—nearly thirty-six million +acres. Upon these plains we can raise enough to feed and clothe +twenty million people. Beneath these prairies were hidden millions +of ages ago, by that old miser, the sun, thirty-six thousand square +miles of coal. The aggregate thickness of these veins is at least +fifteen feet. Think of a column of coal one mile square and one +hundred miles high! All this came from the sun. What a sunbeam such +a column would be! Think of the engines and machines this coal will +run and turn and whirl! Think of all this force, willed and left to +us by the dead morning of the world! Think of the firesides of the +future around which will sit the fathers, mothers and children of +the years to be! Think of the sweet and happy faces, the loving and +tender eyes that will glow and gleam in the sacred light of all +these flames!</p> +<p>We have the best country in the world, and Illinois is the best +State in that country. Is there any reason that our farmers should +not be prosperous and happy men? They have every advantage, and +within their reach are all the comforts and conveniences of +life.</p> +<p>Do not get the land fever and think you must buy all that joins +you. Get out of debt as soon as you possibly can. A mortgage casts +a shadow on the sunniest field. There is no business under the sun +that can pay ten per cent.</p> +<p>Ainsworth R. Spofford gives the following facts about interest: +"One dollar loaned for one hundred years at six per cent., with the +interest collected annually and added to the principal, will amount +to three hundred and forty dollars. At eight per cent, it amounts +to two thousand two hundred and three dollars. At three per cent, +it amounts only to nineteen dollars and twenty-five cents. At ten +per cent, it is thirteen thousand eight hundred and nine dollars, +or about seven hundred times as much. At twelve per cent, it +amounts to eighty-four thousand and seventy-five dollars, or more +than four thousand times as much. At eighteen per cent, it amounts +to fifteen million one hundred and forty-five thousand and seven +dollars. At twenty-four per cent, (which we sometimes hear talked +of) it reaches the enormous sum of two billion five hundred and +fifty-one million seven hundred and ninety-nine thousand four +hundred and four dollars."</p> +<p>One dollar at compound interest, at twenty-four per cent., for +one hundred years, would produce a sum equal to our national +debt.</p> +<p>Interest eats night and day, and the more it eats the hungrier +it grows. The farmer in debt, lying awake at night, can, if he +listens, hear it gnaw. If he owes nothing, he can hear his corn +grow. Get out of debt as soon as you possibly can. You have +supported idle avarice and lazy economy long enough.</p> +<p>Above all let every farmer treat his wife and children with +infinite kindness. Give your sons and daughters every advantage +within your power. In the air of kindness they will grow about you +like flowers. They will fill your homes with sunshine and all your +years with joy. Do not try to rule by force. A blow from a parent +leaves a scar on the soul. I should feel ashamed to die surrounded +by children I had whipped. Think of feeling upon your dying lips +the kiss of a child you had struck.</p> +<p>See to it that your wife has every convenience. Make her life +worth living. Never allow her to become a servant. Wives, weary and +worn, mothers, wrinkled and bent before their time, fill homes with +grief and shame. If you are not able to hire help for your wives, +help them yourselves. See that they have the best utensils to work +with.</p> +<p>Women cannot create things by magic. Have plenty of wood and +coal—good cellars and plenty in them. Have cisterns, so that +you can have plenty of rain water for washing. Do not rely on a +barrel and a board. When the rain comes the board will be lost or +the hoops will be off the barrel.</p> +<p>Farmers should live like princes. Eat the best things you raise +and sell the rest. Have good things to cook and good things to cook +with. Of all people in our country, you should live the best. Throw +your miserable little stoves out of the window. Get ranges, and +have them so built that your wife need not burn her face off to get +you a breakfast. Do not make her cook in a kitchen hot as the +orthodox perdition. The beef, not the cook, should be roasted. It +is just as easy to have things convenient and right as to have them +any other way.</p> +<p>Cooking is one of the fine arts. Give your wives and daughters +things to cook, and things to cook with, and they will soon become +most excellent cooks. Good cooking is the basis of civilization. +The man whose arteries and veins are filled with rich blood made of +good and well cooked food, has pluck, courage, endurance and and +noble impulses. The inventor of a good soup did more for his race +than the maker of any creed. The doctrines of total depravity and +endless punishment were born of bad cooking and dyspepsia. Remember +that your wife should have the things to cook with.</p> +<p>In the good old days there would be eleven children in the +family and only one skillet. Everything was broken or cracked or +loaned or lost.</p> +<p>There ought to be a law making it a crime, punishable by +imprisonment, to fry beefsteak. Broil it; it is just as easy, and +when broiled it is delicious. Fried beefsteak is not fit for a wild +beast. You can broil even on a stove. Shut the front +damper—open the back one—then take off a griddle. There +will then be a draft downwards through this opening. Put on your +steak, using a wire broiler, and not a particle of smoke will touch +it, for the reason that the smoke goes down. If you try to broil it +with the front damper open, the smoke will rise. For broiling, +coal, even soft coal, makes a better fire than wood.</p> +<p>There is no reason why farmers should not have fresh meat all +the year round. There is certainly no sense in stuffing yourself +full of salt meat every morning, and making a well or a cistern of +your stomach for the rest of the day. Every farmer should have an +ice house. Upon or near every farm is some stream from which plenty +of ice can be obtained, and the long summer days made delightful. +Dr. Draper, one of the world's greatest scientists, says that ice +water is healthy, and that it has done away with many of the low +forms of fever in the great cities. Ice has become one of the +necessaries of civilized life, and without it there is very little +comfort.</p> +<p>Make your homes pleasant. Have your houses warm and comfortable +for the winter. Do not build a story-and-a-half house. The half +story is simply an oven in which, during the summer, you will bake +every night, and feel in the morning as though only the rind of +yourself was left.</p> +<p>Decorate your rooms, even if you do so with cheap engravings. +The cheapest are far better than none. Have books—have +papers, and read them. You have more leisure than the dwellers in +cities. Beautify your grounds with plants and flowers and vines. +Have good gardens. Remember that everything of beauty tends to the +elevation of man. Every little morning-glory whose purple bosom is +thrilled with the amorous kisses of the sun, tends to put a blossom +in your heart. Do not judge of the value of everything by the +market reports. Every flower about a house certifies to the +refinement of somebody. Every vine climbing and blossoming, tells +of love and joy.</p> +<p>Make your houses comfortable. Do not huddle together in a little +room around a red-hot stove, with every window fastened down. Do +not live in this poisoned atmosphere, and then, when one of your +children dies, put a piece in the papers commencing with, "Whereas, +it has pleased divine Providence to remove from our midst—." +Have plenty of air, and plenty of warmth. Comfort is health. Do not +imagine anything is unhealthy simply because it is pleasant. That +is an old and foolish idea.</p> +<p>Let your children sleep. Do not drag them from their beds in the +darkness of night. Do not compel them to associate all that is +tiresome, irksome and dreadful with cultivating the soil. In this +way you bring farming into hatred and disrepute. Treat your +children with infinite kindness—treat them as equals. There +is no happiness in a home not filled with love. Where the husband +hates his wife—where the wife hates the husband; where +children hate their parents and each other—there is a hell +upon earth.</p> +<p>There is no reason why farmers should not be the kindest and +most cultivated of men. There is nothing in plowing the fields to +make men cross, cruel and crabbed. To look upon the sunny slopes +covered with daisies does not tend to make men unjust. Whoever +labors for the happiness of those he loves, elevates himself, no +matter whether he works in the dark and dreary shops, or in the +perfumed fields. To work for others is, in reality, the only way in +which a man can work for himself. Selfishness is ignorance. +Speculators cannot make unless somebody loses. In the realm of +speculation, every success has at least one victim. The harvest +reaped by the farmer benefits all and injures none. For him to +succeed, it is not necessary that some one should fail. The same is +true of all producers—of all laborers.</p> +<p>I can imagine no condition that carries with it such a promise +of joy as that of the farmer in the early winter. He has his cellar +filled—he has made every preparation for the days of snow and +storm—he looks forward to three months of ease and rest; to +three months of fireside-content; three months with wife and +children; three months of long, delightful evenings; three months +of home; three months of solid comfort.</p> +<p>When the life of the farmer is such as I have described, the +cities and towns will not be filled with want—the streets +will not be crowded with wrecked rogues, broken bankers, and +bankrupt speculators. The fields will be tilled, and country +villages, almost hidden by trees and vines and flowers, filled with +industrious and happy people, will nestle in every vale and gleam +like gems on every plain.</p> +<p>The idea must be done away with that there is something +intellectually degrading in cultivating the soil. Nothing can be +nobler than to be useful. Idleness should not be respectable.</p> +<p>If farmers will cultivate well, and without waste; if they will +so build that their houses will be warm in winter and cool in +summer; if they will plant trees and beautify their homes; if they +will occupy their leisure in reading, in thinking, in improving +their minds and in devising ways and means to make their business +profitable and pleasant; if they will live nearer together and +cultivate sociability; if they will come together often; if they +will have reading rooms and cultivate music; if they will have +bath-rooms, ice-houses and good gardens; if their wives can have an +easy time; if their sons and daughters can have an opportunity to +keep in line with the thoughts and discoveries of the world; if the +nights can be taken for sleep and the evenings for enjoyment, +everybody will be in love with the fields. Happiness should be the +object of life, and if life on the farm can be made really happy, +the children will grow up in love with the meadows, the streams, +the woods and the old home. Around the farm will cling and cluster +the happy memories of the delighful years.</p> +<p>Remember, I pray you, that you are in partnership with all +labor—that you should join hands with all the sons and +daughters of toil, and that all who work belong to the same noble +family.</p> +<p>For my part, I envy the man who has lived on the same broad +acres from his boyhood, who cultivates the fields where in youth he +played, and lives where his father lived and died.</p> +<p>I can imagine no sweeter way to end one's life</p> +<a name="link0014"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>WHAT MUST WE DO TO BE SAVED?</h2> +<a name="linkPREF"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> +<p>If what is known as the Christian Religion is true, nothing can +be more wonderful than the fact that Matthew, Mark and Luke say +nothing about "salvation by faith;" that they do not even hint at +the doctrine of the atonement, and are as silent as empty tombs as +to the necessity of believing anything to secure happiness in this +world or another.</p> +<p>For a good many years it has been claimed that the writers of +these gospels knew something about the teachings of Christ, and +had, at least, a general knowledge of the conditions of salvation. +It now seems to be substantiated that the early Christians did not +place implicit confidence in the gospels, and did not hesitate to +make such changes and additions as they thought proper. Such +changes and additions are about the only passages in the New +Testament that the Evangelical Churches now consider sacred. That +portion of the last chapter of Mark, in which unbelievers are so +cheerfully and promptly damned, has been shown to be an +interpolation, and it is asserted that in the revised edition of +the New Testament, soon to be issued, the infamous passages will +not appear. With these expunged, there is not one word in Matthew, +Mark, or Luke, even tending to show that belief in Christ has, or +can have, any effect upon the destiny of the soul.</p> +<p>The four gospels are the four corner-stones upon which rests the +fabric of orthodox Christianity. Three of these stones have +crumbled, and the fourth is not likely to outlast this generation. +The gospel of John cannot alone uphold the infinite absurdity of +vicarious virtue and vice, and it cannot, without the aid of +"interpolation," sustain the illogical and immoral dogma of +salvation by faith. These frightful doctrines must be abandoned; +the miraculous must be given up, the wonderful stories must be +expunged, and from the creed of noble deeds the forgeries of +superstition must be blotted out. From the temple of Morality and +Truth—from the great windows towards the sun—the +parasitic and poisonous vines of faith and fable must be torn.</p> +<p>The church will be compelled at last to rest its case, not upon +the wonders Christ is said to have performed, but upon the system +of morality he taught. All the miracles, including the resurrection +and ascension, are, when compared with portions of the "Sermon on +the Mount," but dust and darkness.</p> +<p>The careful reader of the New Testament will find three Christs +described:—One who wished to preserve Judaism—one who +wished to reform it, and one who built a system of his own. The +apostles and their disciples, utterly unable to comprehend a +religion that did away with sacrifices, churches, priests, and +creeds, constructed a Christianity for themselves, so that the +orthodox churches of to-day rest—first, upon what Christ +endeavored to destroy—second, upon what he never said, and, +third, upon a misunderstanding of what he did say.</p> +<p>If a certain belief is necessary to insure the salvation of the +soul, the church ought to explain, and without any unnecessary +delay, why such an infinitely important fact was utterly ignored by +Matthew, Mark and Luke. There are only two explanations possible. +Either belief is unnecessary, or the writers of these three gospels +did not understand the Christian system. The "sacredness" of the +subject cannot longer hide the absurdity of the "scheme of +salvation," nor the failure of Matthew, Mark and Luke to mention, +what is now claimed to have been, the entire mission of Christ. The +church must take from the New Testament the supernatural'; the idea +that an intellectual conviction can subject an honest man to +eternal pain—the awful doctrine that the innocent can justly +suffer for the guilty, and allow the remainder to be discussed, +denied or believed without punishment and without reward. No one +will object to the preaching of kindness, honesty and justice. To +preach less is a crime, and to practice more is impossible.</p> +<p>There is one thing that ought to be again impressed upon the +average theologian, and that is the utter futility of trying to +answer arguments with personal abuse. It should be understood once +for all that these questions are in no sense personal. If it should +turn out that all the professed Christians in the world are sinless +saints, the question of how Matthew, Mark, and Luke, came to say +nothing about the atonement and the scheme of salvation by faith, +would still be asked. And if it should then be shown that all the +doubters, deists, and atheists, are vile and vicious wretches, the +question still would wait for a reply.</p> +<p>The origin of all religions, creeds, and sacred books, is +substantially the same, and the history of one, is, in the main, +the history of all. Thus far these religions have been the mistaken +explanations of our surroundings. The appearances of nature have +imposed upon the ignorance and fear of man. But back of all honest +creeds was, and is, the desire to know, to understand, and to +explain, and that desire will, as I most fervently hope and +earnestly believe, be gratified at last by the discovery of the +truth. Until then, let us bear with the theories, hopes, dreams, +mistakes, and honest thoughts of all.</p> +<p>Robert G. Ingersoll.</p> +<p>Washington, D. C.,</p> +<p>October, 1880.</p> +<center>WHAT MUST WE DO TO BE SAVED?</center> +<p>"THE NUREMBERG MAN WAS OPERATED BY A COMBINATION OF PIPES AND +LEVERS, AND THOUGH HE COULD BREATHE AND DIGEST PERFECTLY, AND EVEN +REASON AS WELL AS MOST THEOLOGIANS, WAS MADE OF NOTHING BUT WOOD +AND LEATHER."</p> +<p>THE whole world has been filled with fear.</p> +<p>Ignorance has been the refuge of the soul. For thousands of +years the intellectual ocean was ravaged by the buccaneers of +reason. Pious souls clung to the shore and looked at the +lighthouse. The seas were filled with monsters and the islands with +sirens. The people were driven in the middle of a narrow road while +priests went before, beating the hedges on either side to frighten +the robbers from their lairs. The poor followers seeing no robbers, +thanked their brave leaders with all their hearts.</p> +<a name="link0016"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>I. WHAT WE MUST DO TO BE SAVED</h2> +<p>Huddled in folds they listened with wide eyes while the +shepherds told of ravening wolves. With great gladness they +exchanged their fleeces for security. Shorn and shivering, they had +the happiness of seeing their protectors comfortable and warm.</p> +<p>Through all the years, those who plowed divided with those who +prayed. Wicked industry supported pious idleness, the hut gave to +the cathedral, and frightened poverty gave even its rags to buy a +robe for hypocrisy.</p> +<p>Fear is the dungeon of the mind, and superstition is a dagger +with which hypocrisy assassinates the soul. Courage is liberty. I +am in favor of absolute freedom of thought. In the realm of mind +every one is monarch; every one is robed, sceptered, and crowned, +and every one wears the purple of authority. I belong to the +republic of intellectual liberty, and only those are good citizens +of that republic who depend upon reason and upon persuasion, and +only those are traitors who resort to brute force.</p> +<p>Now, I beg of you all to forget just for a few moments that you +are Methodists or Baptists or Catholics or Presbyterians, and let +us for an hour or two remember only that we are men and women. And +allow me to say "man" and "woman" are the highest titles that can +be bestowed upon humanity.</p> +<p>Let us, if possible, banish all fear from the mind. Do not +imagine that there is some being in the infinite expanse who is not +willing that every man and woman should think for himself and +herself. Do not imagine that there is any being who would give to +his children the holy torch of reason, and then damn them for +following that sacred light. Let us have courage.</p> +<p>Priests have invented a crime called "blasphemy," and behind +that crime hypocrisy has crouched for thousands of years. There is +but one blasphemy, and that is injustice. There is but one worship, +and that is justice!</p> +<p>You need not fear the anger of a god that you cannot injure. +Rather fear to injure your fellow-men. Do not be afraid of a crime +you can not commit. Rather be afraid of the one that you may +commit. The reason that you cannot injure God is that the Infinite +is conditionless. You cannot increase or diminish the happiness of +any being without changing that being's condition. If God is +conditionless, you can neither injure nor benefit him.</p> +<p>There was a Jewish gentleman went into a restaurant to get his +dinner, and the devil of temptation whispered in his ear: "Eat some +bacon." He knew if there was anything in the universe calculated to +excite the wrath of an infinite being, who made every shining star, +it was to see a gentleman eating bacon. He knew it, and he knew the +infinite being was looking, that he was the eternal eavesdropper of +the universe. But his appetite got the better of his conscience, as +it often has with us all, and he ate that bacon. He knew it was +wrong, and his conscience felt the blood of shame in its cheek. +When he went into that restaurant the weather was delightful, the +sky was as blue as June, and when he came out the sky was covered +with angry clouds, the lightning leaping from one to the other, and +the earth shaking beneath the voice of the thunder. He went back +into that restaurant with a face as white as milk, and he said to +one of the keepers:</p> +<p>"My God, did you ever hear such a fuss about a little piece of +bacon?"</p> +<p>As long as we harbor such opinions of infinity; as long as we +imagine the heavens to be filled with such tyranny, just so long +the sons of men will be cringing, intellectual cowards. Let us +think, and let us honestly express our thought.</p> +<p>Do not imagine for a moment that I think people who disagree +with me are bad people. I admit, and I cheerfully admit, that a +very large proportion of mankind, and a very large majority, a vast +number are reasonably honest. I believe that most Christians +believe what they teach; that most ministers are endeavoring to +make this world better. I do not pretend to be better than they +are. It is an intellectual question. It is a question, first, of +intellectual liberty, and after that, a question to be settled at +the bar of human reason. I do not pretend to be better than they +are. Probably I am a good deal worse than many of them, but that is +not the question. The question is: Bad as I am, have I the right to +think? And I think I have for two reasons: First, I cannot help it. +And secondly, I like it. The whole question is right at a point. If +I have not a right to express my thoughts, who has?</p> +<p>"Oh," they say, "we will allow you to think, we will not burn +you."</p> +<p>"All right; why won't you burn me?"</p> +<p>"Because we think a decent man will allow others to think and to +express his thought."</p> +<p>"Then the reason you do not persecute me for my thought is that +you believe it would be infamous in you?"</p> +<p>"Yes."</p> +<p>"And yet you worship a God who will, as you declare, punish me +forever?"</p> +<p>Surely an infinite God ought to be as just as man. Surely no God +can have the right to punish his children for being honest. He +should not reward hypocrisy with heaven, and punish candor with +eternal pain.</p> +<p>The next question then is: Can I commit a sin against God by +thinking? If God did not intend I should think, why did he give me +a thinker? For one, I am convinced, not only that I have the right +to think, but that it is my duty to express my honest thoughts. +Whatever the gods may say we must be true to ourselves.</p> +<p>We have got what they call the Christian system of religion, and +thousands of people wonder how I can be wicked enough to attack +that system.</p> +<p>There are many good things about it, and I shall never attack +anything that I believe to be good! I shall never fear to attack +anything I honestly believe to be wrong! We have what they call the +Christian religion, and I find, just in proportion that nations +have been religious, just in the proportion they have clung to the +religion of their founders, they have gone back to barbarism. I +find that Spain, Portugal, Italy, are the three worst nations in +Europe. I find that the nation nearest infidel is the most +prosperous—France.</p> +<p>And so I say there can be no danger in the exercise of absolute +intellectual freedom. I find among ourselves the men who think are +at least as good as those who do not.</p> +<p>We have, I say, a Christian system, and that system is founded +upon what they are pleased to call the "New Testament." Who wrote +the New Testament? I do not know. Who does know? Nobody. We have +found many manuscripts containing portions of the New Testament. +Some of these manuscripts leave out five or six books—many of +them. Others more; others less. No two of these manuscripts agree. +Nobody knows who wrote these manuscripts. They are all written in +Greek. The disciples of Christ, so far as we know, knew only +Hebrew. Nobody ever saw so far as we know, one of the original +Hebrew manuscripts.</p> +<p>Nobody ever saw anybody who had seen anybody who had heard of +anybody that had ever seen anybody that had ever seen one of the +original Hebrew manuscripts. No doubt the clergy of your city have +told you these facts thousands of times, and they will be obliged +to me for having repeated them once more. These manuscripts are +written in what are called capital Greek letters. They are called +Uncial manuscripts, and the New Testament was not divided into +chapters and verses, even, until the year of grace 1551. In the +original the manuscripts and gospels are signed by nobody. The +epistles are addressed to nobody; and they are signed by the same +person. All the addresses, all the pretended ear-marks showing to +whom they were written, and by whom they were written, are simply +interpolations, and everybody who has studied the subject knows +it.</p> +<p>It is further admitted that even these manuscripts have not been +properly translated, and they have a syndicate now making a new +translation; and I suppose that I can not tell whether I really +believe the New Testament or not until I see that new +translation.</p> +<p>You must remember, also, one other thing. Christ never wrote a +solitary word of the New Testament—not one word. There is an +account that he once stooped and wrote something in the sand, but +that has not been preserved. He never told anybody to write a word. +He never said: "Matthew, remember this. Mark, do not forget to put +that down. Luke, be sure that in your gospel you have this. John, +do not forget it." Not one word. And it has always seemed to me +that a being coming from another world, with a message of infinite +importance to mankind, should at least have verified that message +by his own signature. Is it not wonderful that not one word was +written by Christ? Is it not strange that he gave no orders to have +his words preserved—words upon which hung the salvation of a +world?</p> +<p>Why was nothing written? I will tell you. In my judgment they +expected the end of the world in a few days. That generation was +not to pass away until the heavens should be rolled up as a scroll, +and until the earth should melt with fervent heat. That was their +belief. They believed that the world was to be destroyed, and that +there was to be another coming, and that the saints were then to +govern the earth. And they even went so far among the apostles, as +we frequently do now before election, as to divide out the offices +in advance. This Testament, as it now is, was not written for +hundreds of years after the apostles were dust. Many of the +pretended facts lived in the open mouth of credulity. They were in +the wastebaskets of forgetfulness. They depended upon the +inaccuracy of legend, and for centuries these doctrines and stories +were blown about by the inconstant winds. And when reduced to +writing, some gentleman would write by the side of the passage his +idea of it, and the next copyist would put that in as a part of the +text. And, when it was mostly written, and the church got into +trouble, and wanted a passage to help it out, one was interpolated +to order. So that now it is among the easiest things in the world +to pick out at least one hundred interpolations in the Testament. +And I will pick some of them out before I get through.</p> +<p>And let me say here, once for all, that for the man Christ I +have infinite respect. Let me say, once for all, that the place +where man has died for man is holy ground. And let me say, once for +all, that to that great and serene man I gladly pay, I gladly pay, +the tribute of my admiration and my tears. He was a reformer in his +day. He was an infidel in his time. He was regarded as a +blasphemer, and his life was destroyed by hypocrites, who have, in +all ages, done what they could to trample freedom and manhood out +of the human mind. Had I lived at that time I would have been his +friend, and should he come again he will not find a better friend +than I will be.</p> +<p>That is for the man. For the theological creation I have a +different feeling. If he was, in fact, God, he knew there was no +such thing as death. He knew that what we called death was but the +eternal opening of the golden gates of everlasting joy; and it took +no heroism to face a death that was eternal life.</p> +<p>But when a man, when a poor boy sixteen years of age, goes upon +the field of battle to keep his flag in heaven, not knowing but +that death ends all; not knowing but that when the shadows creep +over him, the darkness will be eternal, there is heroism. For the +man who, in the darkness, said: "My God, why hast thou forsaken +me?"—for that man I have nothing but respect, admiration, and +love. Back of the theological shreds, rags, and patches, hiding the +real Christ, I see a genuine man.</p> +<p>A while ago I made up my mind to find out what was necessary for +me to do in order to be saved. If I have got a soul, I want it +saved. I do not wish to lose anything that is of value.</p> +<p>For thousands of years the world has been asking that +question:</p> +<p>"What must we do to be saved?"</p> +<p>Saved from poverty? No. Saved from crime? No. Tyranny? No. But +"What must we do to be saved from the eternal wrath of the God who +made us all?"</p> +<p>If God made us, he will not destroy us. Infinite wisdom never +made a poor investment. Upon all the works of an infinite God, a +dividend must finally be declared. Why should God make failures? +Why should he waste material? Why should he not correct his +mistakes, instead of damning them? The pulpit has cast a shadow +over even the cradle. The doctrine of endless punishment has +covered the cheeks of this world with tears. I despise it, and I +defy it.</p> +<p>I made up my mind, I say, to see what I had to do in order to +save my soul according to the Testament, and thereupon I read it. I +read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and found that the +church had been deceiving me. I found that the clergy did not +understand their own book; that they had been building upon +passages that had been interpolated; upon passages that were +entirely untrue, and I will tell you why I think so.</p> +<a name="link0017"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>II. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW</h2> +<p>ACCORDING to the church, the first gospel was written by +Matthew. As a matter of fact he never wrote a word of +it—never saw it, never heard of it and probably never will. +But for the purposes of this lecture I admit that he wrote years; +that he was his constant companion; that he shared his sorrows and +his triumphs; that he heard his words by the lonely lakes, the +barren hills, in synagogue and street, and that he knew his heart +and became acquainted with his thoughts and aims.</p> +<p>Now let us see what Matthew says we must do in order to be +saved. And I take it that, if this is true, Matthew is as good +authority as any minister in the world.</p> +<p>I will admit that he was with Christ for three years.</p> +<p>The first thing I find upon the subject of salvation is in the +fifth chapter of Matthew, and is embraced in what is commonly known +as the Sermon on the Mount. It is as follows:</p> +<p>"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of +heaven." Good!</p> +<p>"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Good! +Whether they belonged to any church or not; whether they believed +the Bible or not?</p> +<p>"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." +Good!</p> +<p>"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed +are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. +Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for +theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Good!</p> +<p>In the same sermon he says: "Think not that I am come to destroy +the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." +And then he makes use of this remarkable language, almost as +applicable to-day as it was then: "For I say unto you that except +your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes +and Pharisees ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of +heaven." Good!</p> +<p>In the sixth chapter I find the following, and it comes directly +after the prayer known as the Lord's prayer:</p> +<p>"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father +will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, +neither will your father forgive your trespasses."</p> +<p>I accept the condition. There is an offer; I accept it. If you +will forgive men that trespass against you, God will forgive your +trespasses against him. I accept the terms, and I never will ask +any God to treat me better than I treat my fellow-men. There is a +square promise. There is a contract. If you will forgive others God +will forgive you. And it does not say you must believe in the Old +Testament, or be baptized, or join the church, or keep Sunday; that +you must count beads, or pray, or become a nun, or a priest; that +you must preach sermons or hear them, build churches or fill them. +Not one word is said about eating or fasting, denying or believing. +It simply says, if you forgive others God will forgive you; and it +must of necessity be true. No god could afford to damn a forgiving +man. Suppose God should damn to everlasting fire a man so great and +good, that he, looking from the abyss of hell, would forgive +God,—how would a god feel then?</p> +<p>Now let me make myself plain upon one subject, perfectly plain. +For instance, I hate Presbyterianism, but I know hundreds of +splendid Presbyterians. Understand me. I hate Methodism, and yet I +know hundreds of splendid Methodists. I hate Catholicism, and like +Catholics. I hate insanity but not the insane.</p> +<p>I do not war against men. I do not war against persons. I war +against certain doctrines that I believe to be wrong. But I give to +every other human being every right that I claim for myself.</p> +<p>The next thing that I find is in the seventh chapter and the +second verse: "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; +and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." +Good! That suits me!</p> +<p>And in the twelfth chapter of Matthew: "For whosoever shall do +the will of my Father that is in heaven, the same is my brother and +sister and mother. For the son of man shall come in the glory of +his father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man +according.... To the church he belongs to? No. To the manner in +which he was baptized? No. According to his creed? No. Then he +shall reward every man according to his works." Good! I subscribe +to that doctrine.</p> +<p>And in the eighteenth chapter: "And Jesus called a little child +to him and stood him in the midst; and said, 'Verily I say unto +you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall +not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'" I do not wonder that in his +day, surrounded by scribes and Pharisees, he turned lovingly to +little children.</p> +<p>And yet, see what children the little children of God have been. +What an interesting dimpled darling John Calvin was. Think of that +prattling babe, Jonathan Edwards! Think of the infants that founded +the Inquisition, that invented instruments of torture to tear human +flesh. They were the ones who had become as little children. They +were the children of faith.</p> +<p>So I find in the nineteenth chapter: "And behold, one came and +said unto him: 'Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may +have eternal life?' And he said unto him, 'Why callest thou me +good? There is none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt +enter into life, keep the commandments.' He saith unto him, +'which?'"</p> +<p>Now, there is a fair issue. Here is a child of God asking God +what is necessary for him to do in order to inherit eternal life. +And God said to him: Keep the commandments. And the child said to +the Almighty: "Which?" Now, if there ever has been an opportunity +given to the Almighty to furnish a man of an inquiring mind with +the necessary information upon that subject, here was the +opportunity. "He said unto him, which? And Jesus said: Thou shalt +do no murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; +thou shalt not bear false witness; honor thy father and mother; and +thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."</p> +<p>He did not say to him: "You must believe in me—that I am +the only begotten son of the living God." He did not say: "You must +be born again." He did not say: "You must believe the Bible." He +did not say: "You must remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." +He simply said: "Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit +adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. +Honor thy father and thy mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor +as thyself." And thereupon the young man, who I think was mistaken, +said unto him: "All these things have I kept from my youth up."</p> +<p>What right has the church to add conditions of salvation? Why +should we suppose that Christ failed to tell the young man all that +was necessary for him to do? Is it possible that he left out some +important thing simply to mislead? Will some minister tell us why +he thinks that Christ kept back the "scheme"?</p> +<p>Now comes an interpolation.</p> +<p>In the old times when the church got a little scarce of money, +they always put in a passage praising poverty. So they had this +young man ask: "What lack I yet? And Jesus said unto him: If thou +wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, +and thou shalt have treasure in heaven."</p> +<p>The church has always been willing to swap off treasures in +heaven for cash down. And when the next verse was written the +church must have been nearly bankrupt. "And again I say unto you, +it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for +a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Did you ever know a +wealthy disciple to unload on account of that verse?</p> +<p>And then comes another verse, which I believe is an +interpolation: "And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or +brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, +or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and +shall inherit everlasting life."</p> +<p>Christ never said it. Never. "Whosoever shall forsake father and +mother."</p> +<p>Why, he said to this man that asked him, "What shall I do to +inherit eternal life?" among other things, he said: "Honor thy +father and thy mother." And we turn over the page and he says +again: "If you will desert your father and mother you shall have +everlasting life." It will not do. If you will desert your wife and +your little children, or your lands—the idea of putting a +house and lot on equality with wife and children! Think of that! I +do not accept the terms. I will never desert the one I love for the +promise of any god.</p> +<p>It is far more important to love your wife than to love God, and +I will tell you why. You cannot help him, but you can help her. You +can fill her life with the perfume of perpetual joy. It is far more +important that you love your children than that you love Jesus +Christ. And why? If he is God you cannot help him, but you can +plant a little flower of happiness in every footstep of the child, +from the cradle until you die in that child's arms. Let me tell you +to-day it is far more important to build a home than to erect a +church. The holiest temple beneath the stars is a home that love +has built. And the holiest altar in all the wide world is the +fireside around which gather father and mother and the sweet +babes.</p> +<p>There was a time when people believed the infamy commanded in +this frightful passage. There was a time when they did desert +fathers and mothers and wives and children. St. Augustine says to +the devotee: Fly to the desert, and though your wife put her arms +around your neck, tear her hands away; she is a temptation of the +devil. Though your father and mother throw their bodies athwart +your threshold, step over them; and though your children pursue, +and with weeping' eyes beseech you to return, listen not. It is the +temptation of the evil one. Fly to the desert and save your soul. +Think of such a soul being worth saving. While I live I propose to +stand by the ones I love.</p> +<p>There is another condition of salvation. I find it in the +twenty-fifth chapter: "Then shall the King say unto them on his +right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom +prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an +hungered and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I +was a stranger and ye took me in; naked and ye clothed me; I was +sick and ye visited me; I was in prison and ye came unto me." +Good!</p> +<p>I tell you to-night that God will not punish with eternal thirst +the man who has put the cup of cold water to the lips of his +neighbor. God will not leave in the eternal nakedness of pain the +man who has clothed his fellow-men.</p> +<p>For instance, here is a shipwreck, and here is some brave sailor +who stands aside and allows a woman whom he never saw before to +take his place in the boat, and he stands there, grand and serene +as the wide sea, and he goes down. Do you tell me that there is any +God who will push the lifeboat from the shore of eternal life, when +that man wishes to step in? Do you tell me that God can be +unpitying to the pitiful, that he can be unforgiving to the +forgiving? I deny it; and from the aspersions of the pulpit I seek +to rescue the reputation of the Deity.</p> +<p>Now, I have read you substantially everything in Matthew on the +subject of salvation. That is all there is. Not one word about +believing anything. It is the gospel of deed, the gospel of +charity, the gospel of self-denial; and if only that gospel had +been preached, persecution never would have shed one drop of blood. +Not one.</p> +<p>According to the testimony Matthew was well acquainted with +Christ. According to the testimony, he had been with him, and his +companion for years, and if it was necessary to believe anything in +order to get to heaven, Matthew should have told us. But he forgot +it, or he did not believe it, or he never heard of it. You can take +your choice.</p> +<p>In Matthew, we find that heaven is promised, first, to the poor +in spirit. Second, to the merciful. Third, to the pure in heart. +Fourth, to the peacemakers. Fifth, to those who are persecuted for +righteousness' sake. Sixth, to those who keep and teach the +commandments. Seventh, to those who forgive men that trespass +against them. Eighth, that we will be judged as we judge others. +Ninth, that they who receive prophets and righteous men shall +receive a prophet's reward. Tenth, to those who do the will of God. +Eleventh, that every man shall be rewarded according to his works. +Twelfth, to those who become as little children. Thirteenth, to +those who forgive the trespasses of others. Fourteenth, to the +perfect: they who sell all that they have and give to the poor. +Fifteenth, to them who forsake houses, and brethren, and sisters, +and father, and mother, and wife, and children, and lands for the +sake of Christ's name. Sixteenth, to those who feed the hungry, +give drink to the thirsty, shelter to the stranger, clothes to the +naked, comfort to the sick, and who visit the prisoner.</p> +<p>Nothing else is said with regard to salvation in the gospel +according to St. Matthew. Not one word about believing the Old +Testament to have been inspired; not one word about being baptized +or joining a church; not one word about believing in any miracle; +not even a hint that it was necessary to believe that Christ was +the son of God, or that he did any wonderful or miraculous things, +or that he was born of a virgin, or that his coming had been +foretold by the Jewish prophets. Not one word about believing in +the Trinity, or in foreordination or predestination. Matthew had +not understood from Christ that any such things were necessary to +ensure the salvation of the soul.</p> +<p>According to the testimony, Matthew had been in the company of +Christ, some say three years and some say one, but at least he had +been with him long enough to find out some of his ideas upon this +great subject. And yet Matthew never got the impression that it was +necessary to believe something in order to get to heaven. He +supposed that if a man forgave others God would forgive him; he +believed that God would show mercy to the merciful; that he would +not allow those who fed the hungry to starve; that he would not put +in the flames of hell those who had given cold water to the +thirsty; that he would not cast into the eternal dungeon of his +wrath those who had visited the imprisoned; and that he would not +damn men who forgave others.</p> +<p>Matthew had it in his mind that God would treat us very much as +we treated other people; and that in the next world he would treat +with kindness those who had been loving and gentle in their lives. +It may be the apostle was mistaken; but evidently that was his +opinion.</p> +<a name="link0018"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>III. THE GOSPEL OF MARK</h2> +<p>ET us now see what Mark thought it necessary for a man to do to +save his soul. In the fourth chapter, after Jesus had given to the +multitude by the sea the parable of the sower, his disciples, when +they were again alone, asked him the meaning of the parable. Jesus +replied:</p> +<p>"Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: +but unto them that are without, all these things are done in +parables:</p> +<p>"That seeing, they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they +may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be +converted, and their sins should be forgiven them."</p> +<p>It is a little hard to understand why he should have preached to +people that he did not intend should know his meaning. Neither is +it quite clear why he objected to their being converted. This, I +suppose, is one of the mysteries that we should simply believe +without endeavoring to comprehend.</p> +<p>With the above exception, and one other that I will mention +hereafter, Mark substantially agrees with Matthew, and says that +God will be merciful to the merciful, that he will be kind to the +kind, that he will pity the pitying, and love the loving. Mark +upholds the religion of Matthew until we come to the fifteenth and +sixteenth verses of the sixteenth chapter, and then I strike an +interpolation put in by hypocrisy, put in by priests who longed to +grasp with bloody hands the sceptre of universal power. Let me read +it to you. It is the most infamous passage in the Bible. Christ +never said it. No sensible man ever said it.</p> +<p>"And He said unto them" (that is, unto his disciples), "go ye +into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that +believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not +shall be damned."</p> +<p>That passage was written so that fear would give alms to +hypocrisy. Now, I propose to prove to you that this is an +interpolation. How will I do it? In the first place, not one word +is said about belief, in Matthew. In the next place, not one word +about belief, in Mark, until I come to that verse, and where is +that said to have been spoken? According to Mark, it is a part of +the last conversation of Jesus Christ,—just before, according +to the account, he ascended bodily before their eyes. If there ever +was any important thing happened in this world that was it. If +there is any conversation that people would be apt to recollect, it +would be the last conversation with a god before he rose visibly +through the air and seated himself upon the throne of the infinite. +We have in this Testament five accounts of the last conversation +happening between Jesus Christ and his apostles. Matthew gives it, +and yet Matthew does not state that in that conversation Christ +said: "Whoso believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and whoso +believeth not shall be damned." And if he did say those words they +were the most important that ever fell from lips. Matthew did not +hear it, or did not believe it, or forgot it.</p> +<p>Then I turn to Luke, and he gives an account of this same last +conversation, and not one word does he say upon that subject. Luke +does not pretend that Christ said that whoso believeth not shall be +damned. Luke certainly did not hear it. May be he forgot it. +Perhaps he did not think that it was worth recording. Now, it is +the most important thing, if Christ said it, that he ever said.</p> +<p>Then I turn to John, and he gives an account of the last +conversation, but not one solitary word on the subject of belief or +unbelief. Not one solitary word on the subject of damnation. Not +one. John might not have been listening.</p> +<p>Then I turn to the first chapter of the Acts, and there I find +an account of the last conversation; and in that conversation there +is not one word upon this subject. This is a demonstration that the +passage in Mark is an interpolation. What other reason have I got? +There is not one particle of sense in it. Why? No man can control +his belief. You hear evidence for and against, and the integrity of +the soul stands at the scales and tells which side rises and which +side falls. You can not believe as you wish. You must believe as +you must. And he might as well have said: "Go into the world and +preach the gospel, and whosoever has red hair shall be saved, and +whosoever hath not shall be damned."</p> +<p>I have another reason. I am much obliged to the gentleman who +interpolated these passages. I am much obliged to him that he put +in some more—two more. Now hear:</p> +<p>"And these signs shall follow them that believe." Good!</p> +<p>"In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with +new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any +deadly thing it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the +sick and they shall recover."</p> +<p>Bring on your believer! Let him cast out a devil. I do not ask +for a large one. Just a little one for a cent. Let him take up +serpents. "And if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt +them." Let me mix up a dose for the believer, and if it does not +hurt him I will join a church. "Oh! but," they say, "those things +only lasted through the Apostolic age." Let us see. "Go into all +the world and preach the gospel, and whosoever believes and is +baptized shall be saved, and these signs shall follow them that +believe."</p> +<p>How long? I think at least until they had gone into all the +world. Certainly those signs should follow until all the world had +been visited. And yet if that declaration was in the mouth of +Christ, he then knew that one-half of the world was unknown, and +that he would be dead fourteen hundred and fifty-nine years before +his disciples would know that there was another continent. And yet +he said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel," and he knew +then that it would be fourteen hundred and fifty-nine years before +anybody could go. Well, if it was worth while to have signs follow +believers in the Old World, surely it was worth while to have signs +follow believers in the New. And the very reason that signs should +follow would be to convince the unbeliever, and there are as many +unbelievers now as ever, and the signs are as necessary to-day as +they ever were. I would like a few myself.</p> +<p>This frightful declaration, "He that believeth and is baptized +shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned," has +filled the world with agony and crime. Every letter of this passage +has been sword and fagot; every word has been dungeon and chain. +That passage made the sword of persecution drip with innocent blood +through centuries of agony and crime. That passage made the horizon +of a thousand years lurid with the fagot's flames. That passage +contradicts the Sermon on the Mount; travesties the Lord's prayer; +turns the splendid religion of deed and duty into the superstition +of creed and cruelty. I deny it. It is infamous! Christ never said +it!</p> +<a name="link0019"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>IV. THE GOSPEL OF LUKE.</h2> +<p>IT is sufficient to say that Luke agrees substantially with +Matthew and Mark.</p> +<p>"Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." +Good!</p> +<p>"Judge not and ye shall not be judged: condemn not and ye shall +not be condemned: forgive and ye shall be forgiven." Good!</p> +<p>"Give and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed +down, and shaken together, and running over." Good! I like it.</p> +<p>"For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be +measured to you again."</p> +<p>He agrees substantially with Mark; he agrees substantially with +Matthew; and I come at last to the nineteenth chapter.</p> +<p>"And Zaccheus stood and said unto the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, the +half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything +from any man by false accusation, I restore him four fold.' And +Jesus said unto him, 'this day is salvation come to this +house.'"</p> +<p>That is good doctrine. He did not ask Zaccheus what he believed. +He did not ask him, "Do you believe in the Bible? Do you believe in +the five points? Have you ever been baptized—sprinkled? Or +immersed?" "Half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have +taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him four +fold." "And Christ said, this day is salvation come to this house." +Good!</p> +<p>I read also in Luke that Christ when upon the cross forgave his +murderers, and that is considered the shining gem in the crown of +his mercy. He forgave his murderers. He forgave the men who drove +the nails in his hands, in his feet, that plunged a spear in his +side; the soldier that in the hour of death offered him in mockery +the bitterness to drink. He forgave them all freely, and yet, +although he would forgive them, he will in the nineteenth century, +as we are told by the orthodox church, damn to eternal fire a noble +man for the expression of his honest thoughts. That will not do. I +find, too, in Luke, an account of two thieves that were crucified +at the same time. The other gospels speak of them. One says they +both railed upon him. Another says nothing about it. In Luke we are +told that one railed upon him, but one of the thieves looked and +pitied Christ, and Christ said to that thief:</p> +<p>"To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Why did he say that? +Because the thief pitied him. God can not afford to trample beneath +the feet of his infinite wrath the smallest blossom of pity that +ever shed its perfume in the human heart!</p> +<p>Who was this thief? To what church did he belong? I do not know. +The fact that he was a thief throws no light on that question. Who +was he? What did he believe? I do not know. Did he believe in the +Old Testament? In the miracles? I do not know. Did he believe that +Christ was God? I do not know. Why then was the promise made to him +that he should meet Christ in Paradise? Simply because he pitied +suffering innocence upon the cross.</p> +<p>God can not afford to damn any man who is capable of pitying +anybody.</p> +<a name="link0020"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>V. THE GOSPEL OF JOHN</h2> +<h3>AND now we come to John, and that is where the trouble +commences.</h3> +<p>The other gospels teach that God will be merciful to the +merciful, forgiving to the forgiving, kind to the kind, loving to +the loving, just to the just, merciful to the good.</p> +<p>Now we come to John, and here is another doctrine. And allow me +to say that John was not written until long after the others. John +was mostly written by the church.</p> +<p>"Jesus answered and said unto him: Verily, verily, I say unto +thee, Except a man be born again he can not see the kingdom of +God."</p> +<p>Why did he not tell Matthew that? Why did he not tell Luke that? +Why did he not tell Mark that? They never heard of it, or forgot +it, or they did not believe it.</p> +<p>"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not +enter into the kingdom of God." Why?</p> +<p>"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is +born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye +must be born again." "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and +that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," and he might have +added, that which is born of water is water.</p> +<p>"Marvel not that I said unto thee, 'ye must be born again.'" And +then the reason is given, and I admit I did not understand it +myself until I read the reason, and when you hear the reason, you +will understand it as well as I do; and here it is: "The wind +bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but +canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth." So, I find +in the book of John the idea of the Real Presence.</p> +<p>"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so +must the Son of man be lifted up; That whosoever believeth in him +should not perish, but have eternal life."</p> +<p>"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, +that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have +everlasting life.</p> +<p>"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, +but that the world through him might be saved.</p> +<p>"He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that +believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in +the name of the only begotten Son of God."</p> +<p>"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that +believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God +abideth on him." "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth +my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, +and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto +life.</p> +<p>"Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, +when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that +hear shall live."</p> +<p>"And shall come forth; they that have done good unto the +resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the +resurrection of damnation."-"And this is the will of him that sent +me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may +have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last +day."</p> +<p>"No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, +draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day."</p> +<p>"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath +everlasting life.</p> +<p>"I am that bread of life.</p> +<p>"Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.</p> +<p>"This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may +eat thereof, and not die.</p> +<p>"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man +eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I will +give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."</p> +<p>"Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, +except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye +have no life in you.</p> +<p>"Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; +and I will raise him up at the last day.</p> +<p>"For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.</p> +<p>"He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, +and I in him.</p> +<p>"As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so +he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.</p> +<p>"This is that bread which came down from heaven; not as your +fathers did eat manna, and are dead; he that eateth of this bread +shall live forever."</p> +<p>"And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come +unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."</p> +<p>"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he +that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.</p> +<p>"And whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die."</p> +<p>"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his +life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal."</p> +<p>So I find in the book of John, that in order to be saved we must +not only believe in Jesus Christ, but we must eat the flesh and we +must drink the blood of Jesus Christ. If that gospel is true, the +Catholic Church is right. But it is not true. I can not believe it, +and yet for all that, it may be true. But I do not believe it. +Neither do I believe there is any god in the universe who will damn +a man simply for expressing his belief.</p> +<p>"Why," they say to me, "suppose all this should turn out to be +true, and you should come to the day of judgment and find all these +things to be true. What would you do then?" I would walk up like a +man, and say, "I was mistaken."</p> +<p>"And suppose God was about to pass judgment upon you, what would +you say?" I would say to him, "Do unto others as you would that +others should do unto you." Why not?</p> +<p>I am told that I must render good for evil. I am told that if +smitten on one cheek I must turn the other. I am told that I must +overcome evil with good. I am told that I must love my enemies; and +will it do for this God who tells me to love my enemies to damn +his? No, it will not do. It will not do.</p> +<p>In the book of John all these doctrines of +regeneration—that it is necessary to believe in the Lord +Jesus Christ; that salvation depends upon belief—in this book +of John all these doctrines find their warrant; nowhere else.</p> +<p>Read Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and then read John, and you will +agree with me that the three first gospels teach that if we are +kind and forgiving to our fellows, God will be kind and forgiving +to us. In John we are told that another man can be good for us, or +bad for us, and that the only way to get to heaven is to believe +something that we know is not so.</p> +<p>All these passages about believing in Christ, drinking his blood +and eating his flesh, are afterthoughts. They were written by the +theologians, and in a few years they will be considered unworthy of +the lips of Christ.</p> +<a name="link0021"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>VI. THE CATHOLICS</h2> +<p>NOW, upon these gospels that I have read the churches rest; and +out of these things, mistakes and interpolations, they have made +their creeds. And the first church to make a creed, so far as I +know, was the Catholic. It was the first church that had any power. +That is the church that has preserved all these miracles for us. +That is the church that preserved the manuscripts for us. That is +the church whose word we have to take. That church is the first +witness that Protestantism brought to the bar of history to prove +miracles that took place eighteen hundred years ago; and while the +witness is there Protestantism takes pains to say: "You cannot +believe one word that witness says, <i>now</i>."</p> +<p>That church is the only one that keeps up a constant +communication with heaven through the instrumentality of a large +number of decayed saints. That church has an agent of God on earth, +has a person who stands in the place of deity; and that church is +infallible. That church has persecuted to the exact extent of her +power—and always will. In Spain that church stands erect, and +is arrogant. In the United States that church crawls; but the +object in both countries is the same—and that is the +destruction of intellectual liberty. That church teaches us that we +can make God happy by being miserable ourselves; that a nun is +holier in the sight of God than a loving mother with her child in +her thrilled and thrilling arms; that a priest is better than a +father; that celibacy is better than that passion of love that has +made everything of beauty in this world. That church tells the girl +of sixteen or eighteen years of age, with eyes like dew and light; +that girl with the red of health in the white of her beautiful +cheeks—tells that girl, "Put on the veil, woven of death and +night, kneel upon stones, and you will please God."</p> +<p>I tell you that, by law, no girl should be allowed to take the +veil and renounce the joys and beauties of this life.</p> +<p>I am opposed to allowing these spider-like priests to weave webs +to catch the loving maidens of the world. There ought to be a law +appointing commissioners to visit such places twice a year and +release every person who expresses a desire to be released. I do +not believe in keeping the penitentiaries of God. No doubt they are +honest about it. That is not the question. These ignorant +superstitions fill millions of lives with weariness and pain, with +agony and tears.</p> +<p>This church, after a few centuries of thought, made a creed, and +that creed is the foundation of the orthodox religion. Let me read +it to you:</p> +<p>"Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that +he hold the Catholic faith; which faith except every one do keep +entire and inviolate, without doubt, he shall everlastingly +perish." Now the faith is this: "That we worship one God in trinity +and trinity in unity."</p> +<p>Of course you understand how that is done, and there is no need +of my explaining it. "Neither confounding the persons nor dividing +the substance." You see what a predicament that would leave the +deity in if you divided the substance.</p> +<p>"For one is the person of the Father, another of the Son, and +another of the Holy Ghost; but the Godhead of the Father, and of +the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one"—you know what I +mean by Godhead. "In glory equal, and in majesty coëternal. +Such as the Father is, such is the Son, such is the Holy Ghost. The +Father is uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Ghost uncreated. +The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, the Holy +Ghost incomprehensible." And that is the reason we know so much +about the thing. "The Father is eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy +Ghost eternal, and yet there are not three eternals, only one +eternal, as also there are not three uncreated, nor three +incomprehensibles, only one uncreated, one incomprehensible."</p> +<p>"In like manner, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the +Holy Ghost almighty. Yet there are not three almighties, only one +Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son God, the Holy Ghost God, +and yet not three Gods; and so, likewise, the Father is Lord, the +Son is Lord, the Holy Ghost is Lord, yet there are not three Lords, +for as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge every +person by himself to be God and Lord, so we are all forbidden by +the Catholic religion to say there are three Gods, or three Lords. +The Father is made of no one; not created or begotten. The Son is +from the Father alone, not made, not created, but begotten. The +Holy Ghost is from the Father and the Son, not made nor begotten, +but proceeding."</p> +<p>You know what proceeding is.</p> +<p>"So there is one Father, not three Fathers." Why should there be +three fathers, and only one Son? "One Son, and not three Sons; one +Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts; and in this Trinity there is +nothing before or afterward, nothing greater or less, but the whole +three persons are coëternal with one another and coëqual, +so that in all things the unity is to be worshiped in Trinity, and +the Trinity is to be worshiped in unity. Those who will be saved +must thus think of the Trinity. Furthermore, it is necessary to +everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation +of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the right of this thing is this: That +we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, +is both God and man. He is God of the substance of his Father +begotten before the world was."</p> +<p>That was a good while before his mother lived. "And he is man of +the substance of his mother, born in this world, perfect God and +perfect man, and the rational soul in human flesh, subsisting equal +to the Father according to his Godhead, but less than the Father +according to his manhood, who being both God and man is not two but +one, one not by conversion of God into flesh, but by the taking of +the manhood into God." You see that is a great deal easier than the +other way would be.</p> +<p>"One altogether, not by a confusion of substance but by unity of +person, for as the rational soul and the flesh is one man, so God +and man is one Christ, who suffered for our salvation, descended +into hell, rose again the third day from the dead, ascended into +heaven, and he sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father +Almighty, and He shall come to judge the living and the dead." In +order to be saved it is necessary to believe this. What a blessing +that we do not have to understand it. And in order to compel the +human intellect to get upon its knees before that infinite +absurdity, thousands and millions have suffered agonies; thousands +and thousands have perished in dungeons and in fire; and if all the +bones of all the victims of the Catholic Church could be gathered +together, a monument higher than all the pyramids would rise, in +the presence of which the eyes even of priests would be wet with +tears.</p> +<p>That church covered Europe with cathedrals and dungeons, and +robbed men of the jewel of the soul. That church had ignorance upon +its knees. That church went in partnership with the tyrants of the +throne, and between those two vultures, the altar and the throne, +the heart of man was devoured.</p> +<p>Of course I have met, and cheerfully admit that there are +thousands of good Catholics; but Catholicism is contrary to human +liberty. Catholicism bases salvation upon belief. Catholicism +teaches man to trample his reason under foot. And for that reason +it is wrong.</p> +<p>Thousands of volumes could not contain the crimes of the +Catholic Church. They could not contain even the names of her +victims. With sword and fire, with rack and chain, with dungeon and +whip she endeavored to convert the world. In weakness a +beggar—in power a highwayman,—alms dish or +dagger—tramp or tyrant.</p> +<a name="link0022"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>VII. THE EPISCOPALIANS</h2> +<p>THE next church I wish to speak of is the Episcopalian. That was +founded by Henry VIII., now in heaven. He cast off Queen Catherine +and Catholicism together, and he accepted Episcopalianism and Annie +Boleyn at the same time. That church, if it had a few more +ceremonies, would be Catholic. If it had a few less, nothing. We +have an Episcopalian Church in this country, and it has all the +imperfections of a poor relation. It is always boasting of its rich +relative. In England the creed is made by law, the same as we pass +statutes here. And when a gentleman dies in England, in order to +determine whether he shall be saved or not, it is necessary for the +power of heaven to read the acts of Parliament. It becomes a +question of law, and sometimes a man is damned on a very nice +point. Lost on demurrer.</p> +<p>A few years ago, a gentleman by the name of Seabury, Samuel +Seabury, was sent over to England to get some apostolic succession. +We had not a drop in the house. It was necessary for the bishops of +the English Church to put their hands upon his head. They refused. +There was no act of Parliament justifying it. He had then to go to +the Scotch bishops; and, had the Scotch bishops refused, we never +would have had any apostolic succession in the New World, and God +would have been driven out of half the earth, and the true church +never could have been founded upon this continent. But the Scotch +bishops put their hands on his head, and now we have an unbroken +succession of heads and hands from St. Paul to the last bishop.</p> +<p>In this country the Episcopalians have done some good, and I +want to thank that church. Having on an average less religion than +the others—on an average you have done more good to mankind. +You preserved some of the humanities. You did not hate music; you +did not absolutely despise painting, and you did not altogether +abhor architecture, and you finally admitted that it was no worse +to keep time with your feet than with your hands. And some went so +far as to say that people could play cards, and that God would +overlook it, or would look the other way. For all these things +accept my thanks.</p> +<p>When I was a boy, the other churches looked upon dancing as +probably the mysterious sin against the Holy Ghost; and they used +to teach that when four boys got in a hay-mow, playing seven-up, +that the eternal God stood whetting the sword of his eternal wrath +waiting to strike them down to the lowest hell. That church has +done some good.</p> +<p>The Episcopal creed is substantially like the Catholic, +containing a few additional absurdities. The Episcopalians teach +that it is easier to get forgiveness for sin after you have been +baptized. They seem to think that the moment you are baptized you +become a member of the firm, and as such are entitled to wickedness +at cost. This church is utterly unsuited to a free people. Its +government is tyrannical, supercilious and absurd. Bishops talk as +though they were responsible for the souls in their charge. They +wear vests that button on one side. Nothing is so essential to the +clergy of this denomination as a good voice. The Episcopalians have +persecuted just to the extent of their power. Their treatment of +the Irish has been a crime—a crime lasting for three hundred +years. That church persecuted the Puritans of England and the +Presbyterians of Scotland. In England the altar is the mistress of +the throne, and this mistress has always looked at honest wives +with scorn.</p> +<a name="link0023"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>VIII. THE METHODISTS</h2> +<p>ABOUT a hundred and fifty years ago, two men, John Wesley and +George Whitfield, said, If everybody is going to hell, somebody +ought to mention it. The Episcopal clergy said: Keep still; do not +tear your gown. Wesley and Whitfield said: This frightful truth +ought to be proclaimed from the housetop of every opportunity, from +the highway of every occasion. They were good, honest men. They +believed their doctrine. And they said: If there is a hell, and a +Niagara of souls pouring over an eternal precipice of ignorance, +somebody ought to say something. They were right; somebody ought, +if such a thing is true. Wesley was a believer in the Bible. He +believed in the actual presence of the Almighty.</p> +<p>God used to do miracles for him; used to put off a rain several +days to give his meeting a chance; used to cure his horse of +lameness; used to cure Mr. Wesley's headaches.</p> +<p>And Mr. Wesley also believed in the actual existence of the +devil. He believed that devils had possession of people. He talked +to the devil when he was in folks, and the devil told him that he +was going to leave; and that he was going into another person. That +he would be there at a certain time; and Wesley went to that other +person, and there the devil was, prompt to the minute. He regarded +every conversion as warfare between God and this devil for the +possession of that human soul, and that in the warfare God had +gained the victory. Honest, no doubt. Mr. Wesley did not believe in +human liberty. Honest, no doubt. Was opposed to the liberty of the +colonies. Honestly so. Mr. Wesley preached a sermon entitled: "The +Cause and Cure of Earthquakes," in which he took the ground that +earthquakes were caused by sin; and the only way to stop them was +to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. No doubt an honest man.</p> +<p>Wesley and Whitfield fell out on the question of predestination. +Wesley insisted that God invited everybody to the feast. Whitfield +said he did not invite those he knew would not come. Wesley said he +did. Whitfield said: Well, he did not put plates for them, anyway. +Wesley said he did. So that, when they were in hell he could show +them that there was a seat left for them. The church that they +founded is still active. And probably no church in the world has +done so much preaching for as little money as the Methodists. +Whitfield believed in slavery, and advocated the slave-trade. And +it was of Whitfield that Whittier made the two lines:</p> +<pre> + "He bade the slave ships speed from coast to coast, + Fanned by the wings of the Holy Ghost." +</pre> +<p>We have lately had a meeting of the Methodists, and I find by +their statistics that they believe that they have converted 130,000 +folks in a year. That, in order to do this, they have 26,000 +preachers, 226,000 Sunday school scholars, and about $100,000,000 +invested in church property. I find, in looking over the history of +the world, that there are 40,000,000 or 50,000,000 of people born a +year, and if they are saved at the rate of 130,000 a year, about +how long will it take that doctrine to save this world? Good, +honest people; but they are mistaken.</p> +<p>In old times they were very simple. Churches used to be like +barns. They used to have them divided—men on that side, and +women on this. A little barbarous. We have advanced since then, and +we now find as a fact, demonstrated by experience, that a man +sitting by the woman he loves can thank God as heartily as though +sitting between two men that he has never been introduced to.</p> +<p>There is another thing the Methodists should remember, and that +is that the Episcopalians were the greatest enemies they ever had. +And they should remember that the Freethinkers have always treated +them kindly and well.</p> +<p>There is one thing about the Methodist Church in the North that +I like. But I find that it is not Methodism that does that. I find +that the Methodist Church in the South is as much opposed to +liberty as the Methodist Church North is in favor of liberty. So it +is not Methodism that is in favor of liberty or slavery. They +differ a little in their creed from the rest. They do not believe +that God does everything. They believe that he does his part, and +that you must do the rest, and that getting to heaven is a +partnership business. The Methodist Church is adapted to new +countries—its ministers are generally uncultured, and with +them zeal takes the place of knowledge. They convert people with +noise. In the silence that follows most of the converts +backslide.</p> +<p>In a little while a struggle will commence between the few who +are growing and the orthodox many. The few will be driven out, and +the church will be governed by those who believe without +understanding.</p> +<a name="link0024"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>IX. THE PRESBYTERIANS</h2> +<p>THE next church is the Presbyterian, and in my judgment the +worst of all, as far as creed is concerned. This church was founded +by John Calvin, a murderer!</p> +<p>John Calvin, having power in Geneva, inaugurated human torture. +Voltaire abolished torture in France. The man who abolished +torture, if the Christian religion be true, God is now torturing in +hell, and the man who inaugurated torture, is now a glorified angel +in heaven. It will not do.</p> +<p>John Knox started this doctrine in Scotland, and there is this +peculiarity about Presbyterianism—it grows best where the +soil is poorest. I read the other day an account of a meeting +between John Knox and John Calvin. Imagine a dialogue between a +pestilence and a famine! Imagine a conversation between a block and +an ax! As I read their conversation it seemed to me as though John +Knox and John Calvin were made for each other; that they fitted +each other like the upper and lower jaws of a wild beast. They +believed happiness was a crime; they looked upon laughter as +blasphemy; and they did all they could to destroy every human +feeling, and to fill the mind with the infinite gloom of +predestination and eternal death. They taught the doctrine that God +had a right to damn us because he made us. That is just the reason +that he has not a right to damn us. There is some dust. Unconscious +dust! What right has God to change that unconscious dust into a +human being, when he knows that human being will sin; when he knows +that human being will suffer eternal agony? Why not leave him in +the unconscious dust? What right has an infinite God to add to the +sum of human agony? Suppose I knew that I could change that piece +of furniture into a living, sentient human being, and I knew that +that being would suffer untold agony forever. If I did it, I would +be a fiend. I would leave that being in the unconscious dust.</p> +<p>And yet we are told that we must believe such a doctrine or we +are to be eternally damned! It will not do.</p> +<p>In 1839 there was a division in this church, and they had a +lawsuit to see which was the church of God. And they tried it by a +judge and jury, and the jury decided that the new school was the +church of God, and then they got a new trial, and the next jury +decided that the old school was the church of God, and that settled +it. That church teaches that infinite innocence was sacrificed for +me! I do not want it! I do not wish to go to heaven unless I can +settle by the books, and go there because I ought to go there. I +have said, and I say again, I do not wish to be a charity angel. I +have no ambition to become a winged pauper of the skies.</p> +<p>The other day a young gentleman, a Presbyterian who had just +been converted, came to me and he gave me a tract, and he told me +he was perfectly happy. Said I, "Do you think a great many people +are going to hell?" "Oh, yes." "And you are perfectly happy?" Well, +he did not know as he was, quite. "Would not you be happier if they +were all going to heaven?" "Oh, yes." "Well, then, you are not +perfectly happy?" No, he did not think he was. "When you get to +heaven, then you will be perfectly happy?" "Oh, yes." "Now, when we +are only going to hell, you are not quite happy; but when we are in +hell, and you in heaven, then you will be perfectly happy? You will +not be as decent when you get to be an angel as you are now, will +you?" "Well," he said, "that was not exactly it." Said I, "Suppose +your mother were in hell, would you be happy in heaven then?" +"Well," he says, "I suppose God would know the best place for +mother." And I thought to myself, then, if I was a woman, I would +like to have five or six boys like that.</p> +<p>It will not do. Heaven is where those are we love, and those who +love us. And I wish to go to no world unless I can be accompanied +by those who love me here. Talk about the consolations of this +infamous doctrine. The consolations of a doctrine that makes a +father say, "I can be happy with my daughter in hell;" that makes a +mother say, "I can be happy with my generous, brave boy in hell;" +that makes a boy say, "I can enjoy the glory of heaven with the +woman who bore me, the woman <i>who would have died for me</i>, in +eternal agony." And they call that tidings of great joy.</p> +<p>No church has done more to fill the world with gloom than the +Presbyterian. Its creed is frightful, hideous, and hellish. The +Presbyterian god is the monster of monsters. He is an eternal +executioner, jailer and turnkey. He will enjoy forever the shrieks +of the lost,—the wails of the damned. Hell is the festival of +the Presbyterian god.</p> +<a name="link0025"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>X. THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.</h2> +<p>I HAVE not time to speak of the Baptists,—that Jeremy +Taylor said were as much to be rooted out as anything that is the +greatest pest and nuisance on the earth. He hated the Baptists +because they represented, in some little degree, the liberty of +thought. Nor have I time to speak of the Quakers, the best of all, +and abused by all.</p> +<p>I cannot forget that John Fox, in the year of grace 1640, was +put in the pillory and whipped from town to town, scarred, put in a +dungeon, beaten, trampled upon, and what for? Simply because he +preached the doctrine: "Thou shalt not resist evil with evil." +"Thou shalt love thy enemies."</p> +<p>Think of what the church must have been that day to scar the +flesh of that loving man! Just think of it! I say I have not time +to speak of all these sects—the varieties of Presbyterians +and Campbellites. There are hundreds and hundreds of these sects, +all founded upon this creed that I read, differing simply in +degree.</p> +<p>Ah! but they say to me: You are fighting something that is dead. +Nobody believes this now. The preachers do not believe what they +preach in the pulpit. The people in the pews do not believe what +they hear preached. And they say to me: You are fighting something +that is dead. This is all a form, we do not believe a solitary +creed in the world. We sign them and swear that we believe them, +but we do not. And none of us do. And all the ministers, they say +in private, admit that they do not believe it, not quite. I do not +know whether this is so or not. I take it that they believe what +they preach. I take it that when they meet and solemnly agree to a +creed, they are honest and really believe in that creed. But let us +see if I am waging a war against the ideas of the dead. Let us see +if I am simply storming a cemetery.</p> +<p>The Evangelical Alliance, made up of all orthodox denominations +of the world, met only a few years ago, and here is their creed: +They believe in the divine inspiration, authority and sufficiency +of the holy Scriptures; the right and duty of private judgment in +the interpretation of the holy Scriptures, but if you interpret +wrong you are damned. They believe in the unity of the godhead and +the Trinity of the persons therein. They believe in the utter +depravity of human nature. There can be no more infamous doctrine +than that. They look upon a little child as a lump of depravity. I +look upon it as a bud of humanity, that will, in the air and light +of love and joy, blossom into rich and glorious life.</p> +<p>Total depravity of human nature! Here is a woman whose husband +has been lost at sea; the news comes that he has been drowned by +the ever-hungry waves, and she waits. There is something in her +heart that tells her he is alive. And she waits. And years +afterward as she looks down toward the little gate she sees him; he +has been given back by the sea, and she rushes to his arms, and +covers his face with kisses and with tears. And if that infamous +doctrine is true every tear is a crime, and every kiss a blasphemy. +It will not do. According to that doctrine, if a man steals and +repents, and takes back the property, the repentance and the taking +back of the property are two other crimes. It is an infamy. What +else do they believe? "The justification of a sinner by faith +alone," without works—just faith. Believing something that +you do not understand. Of course God can not afford to reward a man +for believing anything that is reasonable. God rewards only for +believing something that is unreasonable. If you believe something +that is improbable and unreasonable, you are a Christian; but if +you believe something that you know is not so, then,—you are +a saint.</p> +<p>They believe in the eternal blessedness of the righteous, and in +the eternal punishment of the wicked.</p> +<p>Tidings of great joy! They are so good that they will not +associate with Universalists. They will not associate with +Unitarians; they will not associate with scientists; they will only +associate with those who believe that God so loved the world that +he made up his mind to damn the most of us.</p> +<p>The Evangelical Alliance reiterates the absurdities of the Dark +Ages—repeats the five points of Calvin—replenishes the +fires of hell—certifies to the mistakes and miracles of the +Bible—maligns the human race, and kneels to a god who +accepted the agony of the innocent as an atonement for the +guilty.</p> +<a name="link0026"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>XI. WHAT DO YOU PROPOSE?</h2> +<p>THEN they say to me: "What do you propose? You have torn this +down, what do you propose to give us in place of it?"</p> +<p>I have not torn the good down. I have only endeavored to trample +out the ignorant, cruel fires of hell. I do not tear away the +passage: "God will be merciful to the merciful." I do not destroy +the promise; "If you will forgive others, God will forgive you." I +would not for anything blot out the faintest star that shines in +the horizon of human despair, nor in the sky of human hope; but I +will do what I can to get that infinite shadow out of the heart of +man.</p> +<p>"What do you propose in place of this?"</p> +<p>Well, in the first place, I propose good fellowship—good +friends all around. No matter what we believe, shake hands and let +it go. That is your opinion; this is mine: let us be friends. +Science makes friends; religion, superstition, makes enemies. They +say: Belief is important. I say: No, actions are important. Judge +by deed, not by creed. Good fellowship—good +friends—sincere men and women—mutual forbearance, born +of mutual respect. We have had too many of these solemn people. +Whenever I see an exceedingly solemn man, I know he is an +exceedingly stupid man. No man of any humor ever founded a +religion—never. Humor sees both sides. While reason is the +holy light, humor carries the lantern, and the man with a keen +sense of humor is preserved from the solemn stupidities of +superstition. I like a man who has got good feeling for everybody; +good fellowship. One man said to another:</p> +<p>"Will you take a glass of wine?"</p> +<p>"I do not drink."</p> +<p>"Will you smoke a cigar?"</p> +<p>"I do not smoke."</p> +<p>"Maybe you will chew something?"</p> +<p>"I do not chew."</p> +<p>"Let us eat some hay."</p> +<p>"I tell you I do not eat hay."</p> +<p>"Well, then, good-by, for you are no company for man or +beast."</p> +<p>I believe in the gospel of Cheerfulness, the gospel of Good +Nature; the gospel of Good Health. Let us pay some attention to our +bodies. Take care of our bodies, and our souls will take care of +themselves. Good health! And I believe the time will come when the +public thought will be so great and grand that it will be looked +upon as infamous to perpetuate disease. I believe the time will +come when man will not fill the future with consumption and +insanity. I believe the time will come when we will study +ourselves, and understand the laws of health and then we will say: +We are under obligation to put the flags of health in the cheeks of +our children. Even if I got to heaven, and had a harp, I would hate +to look back upon my children and grandchildren, and see them +diseased, deformed, crazed—all suffering the penalties of +crimes I had committed.</p> +<p>I believe in the gospel of Good Living. You can not make any god +happy by fasting. Let us have good food, and let us have it well +cooked—and it is a thousand times better to know how to cook +than it is to understand any theology in the world.</p> +<p>I believe in the gospel of good clothes; I believe in the gospel +of good houses; in the gospel of water and soap. I believe in the +gospel of intelligence; in the gospel of education. The +school-house is my cathedral. The universe is my Bible. I believe +in that gospel of justice, that we must reap what we sow.</p> +<p>I do not believe in forgiveness as it is preached by the church. +We do not need the forgiveness of God, but of each other and of +ourselves. If I rob Mr. Smith and God forgives me, how does that +help Smith? If I, by slander, cover some poor girl with the leprosy +of some imputed crime, and she withers away like a blighted flower +and afterward I get the forgiveness of God, how does that help her? +If there is another world, we have got to settle with the people we +have wronged in this. No bankrupt court there. Every cent must be +paid.</p> +<p>The Christians say, that among the ancient Jews, if you +committed a crime you had to kill a sheep. Now they say "charge +it." "Put it on the slate." It will not do. For every crime you +commit you must answer to yourself and to the one you injure. And +if you have ever clothed another with woe, as with a garment of +pain, you will never be quite as happy as though you had not done +that thing. No forgiveness by the gods. Eternal, inexorable, +everlasting justice, so far as Nature is concerned. You must reap +the result of your acts. Even when forgiven by the one you have +injured, it is not as though the injury had not been done. That is +what I believe in. And if it goes hard with me, I will stand it, +and I will cling to my logic, and I will bear it like a man.</p> +<p>And I believe, too, in the gospel of Liberty, in giving to +others what we claim for ourselves. I believe there is room +everywhere for thought, and the more liberty you give away, the +more you will have. In liberty extravagance is economy. Let us be +just. Let us be generous to each other.</p> +<p>I believe in the gospel of Intelligence. That is the only lever +capable of raising mankind. Intelligence must be the savior of this +world. Humanity is the grand religion, and no God can put a man in +hell in another world, who has made a little heaven in this. God +cannot make a man miserable if that man has made somebody else +happy. God cannot hate anybody who is capable of loving anybody. +Humanity—that word embraces all there is.</p> +<p>So I believe in this great gospel of Humanity.</p> +<p>"Ah! but," they say, "it will not do. You must believe." I say, +No. My gospel of health will bring life. My gospel of intelligence, +my gospel of good living, my gospel of good-fellowship will cover +the world with happy homes. My doctrine will put carpets upon your +floors, pictures upon your walls. My doctrine will put books upon +your shelves, ideas in your minds. My doctrine will rid the world +of the abnormal monsters born of ignorance and superstition. My +doctrine will give us health, wealth and happiness. That is what I +want. That is what I believe in. Give us intelligence. In a little +while a man will find that he can not steal without robbing +himself. He will find that he cannot murder without assassinating +his own joy. He will find that every crime is a mistake. He will +find that only that man carries the cross who does wrong, and that +upon the man who does right the cross turns to wings that will bear +him upward forever. He will find that even intelligent self-love +embraces within its mighty arms all the human race.</p> +<p>"Oh," but they say to me, "you take away immortality." I do not. +If we are immortal it is a fact in nature, and we are not indebted +to priests for it, nor to bibles for it, and it cannot be destroyed +by unbelief.</p> +<p>As long as we love we will hope to live, and when the one dies +that we love we will say: "Oh, that we could meet again," and +whether we do or not it will not be the work of theology. It will +be a fact in nature. I would not for my life destroy one star of +human hope, but I want it so that when a poor woman rocks the +cradle and sings a lullaby to the dimpled darling, she will not be +compelled to believe that ninety-nine chances in a hundred she is +raising kindling wood for hell.</p> +<p>One world at a time is my doctrine.</p> +<p>It is said in this Testament, "Sufficient unto the day is the +evil thereof;" and I say: Sufficient unto each world is the evil +thereof.</p> +<p>And suppose after all that death does end all. Next to eternal +joy, next to being forever with those we love and those who have +loved us, next to that, is to be wrapt in the dreamless drapery of +eternal peace. Next to eternal life is eternal sleep. Upon the +shadowy shore of death the sea of trouble casts no wave. Eyes that +have been curtained by the everlasting dark, will never know again +the burning touch of tears. Lips touched by eternal silence will +never speak again the broken words of grief. Hearts of dust do not +break. The dead do not weep. Within the tomb no veiled and weeping +sorrow sits, and in the ray-less gloom is crouched no shuddering +fear.</p> +<p>I had rather think of those I have loved, and lost, as having +returned to earth, as having become a part of the elemental wealth +of the world—I would rather think of them as unconscious +dust, I would rather dream of them as gurgling in the streams, +floating in the clouds, bursting in the foam of light upon the +shores of worlds, I would rather think of them as the lost visions +of a forgotten night, than to have even the faintest fear that +their naked souls have been clutched by an orthodox god. I will +leave my dead where nature leaves them. Whatever flower of hope +springs up in my heart I will cherish, I will give it breath of +sighs and rain of tears. But I can not believe that there is any +being in this universe who has created a human soul for eternal +pain. I would rather that every god would destroy himself; I would +rather that we all should go to eternal chaos, to black and +starless night, than that just one soul should suffer eternal +agony.</p> +<p>I have made up my mind that if there is a God, he will be +merciful to the merciful.</p> +<p>Upon that rock I stand.—</p> +<p>That he will not torture the forgiving.—</p> +<p>Upon that rock I stand.—</p> +<p>That every man should be true to himself, and that there is no +world, no star, in which honesty is a crime.</p> +<p>Upon that rock I stand.</p> +<p>The honest man, the good woman, the happy child, have nothing to +fear, either in this world or the world to come.</p> +<p>Upon that rock I stand.</p> +<div style="height: 6em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<br /> +<table summary="" border="3" cellpadding="4"> +<tbody> +<tr> +<td><big><big><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38813/38813-h/38813-h.htm"> +TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR ALL 12 EBOOKS IN THIS SET</a></big></big></td> +<td></td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<br /> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +</body> +</html> |