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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38812-8.txt b/38812-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ea6b6f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/38812-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12113 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 12 +(of 12), by Robert G. Ingersoll + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 12 (of 12) + Dresden Edition--Miscellany + +Author: Robert G. Ingersoll + +Release Date: February 9, 2012 [EBook #38812] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF INGERSOLL *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + + + +THE WORKS OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL + +By Robert G. Ingersoll + +"MY CREED IS THIS: HAPPINESS IS THE ONLY GOOD. THE PLACE TO BE HAPPY IS +HERE. THE TIME TO BE HAPPY IS NOW. THE WAY TO BE HAPPY IS TO HELP MAKE +OTHERS SO." + +IN TWELVE VOLUMES, VOLUME XII. + +MISCELLANY + +1900 + + +Dresden Edition + + + + +PROF. VAN BUREN DENSLOW'S "MODERN THINKERS." + + +IF others who read this book get as much information as I did from the +advance sheets, they will feel repaid a hundred times. It is perfectly +delightful to take advantage of the conscientious labors of those who go +through and through volume after volume, divide with infinite patience +the gold from the dross, and present us with the pure and shining coin. +Such men may be likened to bees who save us numberless journeys by +giving us the fruit of their own. + +While this book will greatly add to the information of all who read it, +it may not increase the happiness of some to find that Swedenborg was +really insane. But when they remember that he was raised by a bishop, +and disappointed in love, they will cease to wonder at his mental +condition. Certainly an admixture of theology and "dis-prized love" +is often sufficient to compel reason to abdicate the throne of the +mightiest soul. + +The trouble with Swedenborg was that he changed realities into dreams, +and then out of the dreams made facts upon which he built, and with +which he constructed his system. + +He regarded all realities as shadows cast by ideas. To him the material +was the unreal, and things were definitions of the ideas of God. He +seemed to think that he had made a discovery when he found that ideas +were back of words, and that language had a subjective as well as an +objective origin; that is that the interior meaning had been clothed +upon. Of course, a man capable of drawing the conclusion that natural +reason cannot harmonize with spiritual truth because in a dream, he had +seen a beetle that could not use its feet, is capable of any absurdity +of which the imagination can conceive. The fact is, that Swedenborg +believed the Bible. That was his misfortune. His mind had been +overpowered by the bishop, but the woman had not utterly destroyed his +heart. He was shocked by the liberal interpretation of the Scriptures, +and sought to avoid the difficulty by giving new meanings consistent +with the decency and goodness of God. He pointed out a way to preserve +the old Bible with a new interpretation. In this way Infidelity could +be avoided; and, in his day, that was almost a necessity. Had Swedenborg +taken the ground that the Bible was not inspired, the ears of the +world would have been stopped. His readers believed in the dogma of +inspiration, and asked, not how to destroy the Scriptures, but for some +way in which they might be preserved. He and his followers unconsciously +rendered immense service to the cause of intellectual enfranchisement +by their efforts to show the necessity of giving new meanings to the +barbarous laws, and cruel orders of Jehovah. For this purpose they +attacked with great fury the literal text, taking the ground that if the +old interpretation was right, the Bible was the work of savage men. They +heightened in every way the absurdities, cruelties and contradictions of +the Scriptures for the purpose of showing that a new interpretation must +be found, and that the way pointed out by Swedenborg was the only one by +which the Bible could be saved. + +Great men are, after all the instrumentalities of their time. The heart +of the civilized world was beginning to revolt at the cruelties ascribed +to God, and was seeking for some interpretation of the Bible that kind +and loving people could accept. The method of interpretation found by +Swedenborg was suitable for all. Each was permitted to construct his own +"science of correspondence" and gather such fruits as he might prefer. +In this way the ravings of revenge can instantly be changed to mercy's +melting tones, and murder's dagger to a smile of love. In this way and +in no other, can we explain the numberless mistakes and crimes ascribed +to God. Thousands of most excellent people, afraid to throw away the +idea of inspiration, hailed with joy a discovery that allowed them to +write a Bible for themselves. + +But, whether Swedenborg was right or not, every man who reads a book, +necessarily gets from that book all that he is capable of receiving. +Every man who walks in the forest, or gathers a flower, or looks at a +picture, or stands by the sea, gets all the intellectual wealth he is +capable of receiving. What the forest, the flower, the picture or the +sea is to him, depends upon his mind, and upon the stage of development +he has reached. So that after all, the Bible must be a different book to +each person who reads it, as the revelations of nature depend upon the +individual to whom they are revealed, or by whom they are discovered. +And the extent of the revelation or discovery depends absolutely upon +the intellectual and moral development of the person to whom, or by +whom, the revelation or discovery is made. So that the Bible cannot be +the same to any two people, but each one must necessarily interpret it +for himself. Now, the moment the doctrine is established that we can +give to this book such meanings as are consistent with our highest +ideals; that we can treat the old words as purses or old stockings +in which to put our gold, then, each one will, in effect, make a new +inspired Bible for himself, and throw the old away. If his mind is +narrow, if he has been raised by ignorance and nursed by fear, he +will believe in the literal truth of what he reads. If he has a little +courage he will doubt, and the doubt will with new interpretations +modify the literal text; but if his soul is free he will with scorn +reject it all. + +Swedenborg did one thing for which I feel almost grateful. He gave an +account of having met John Calvin in hell. Nothing connected with the +supernatural could be more perfectly natural than this. The only thing +detracting from the value of this report is, that if there is a hell, we +know without visiting the place that John Calvin must be there. + +All honest founders of religions have been the dreamers of dreams, the +sport of insanity, the prey of visions, the deceivers of others and of +themselves. All will admit that Swedenborg was a man of great intellect, +of vast acquirements and of honest intentions; and I think it equally +clear that upon one subject, at least, his mind was touched, shattered +and shaken. + +Misled by analogies, imposed upon by the bishop, deceived by the woman, +borne to other worlds upon the wings of dreams, living in the twilight +of reason and the dawn of insanity, he regarded every fact as a patched +and ragged garment with a lining of the costliest silk, and insisted +that the wrong side, even of the silk, was far more beautiful than the +right. + +Herbert Spencer is almost the opposite of Swedenborg. He relies upon +evidence, upon demonstration, upon experience, and occupies himself with +one world at a time. He perceives that there is a mental horizon that +we cannot pierce, and that beyond that is the unknown--possibly the +unknowable. He endeavors to examine only that which is capable of being +examined, and considers the theological method as not only useless, +but hurtful. After all, God is but a guess, throned and established by +arrogance and assertion. Turning his attention to those things that +have in some way affected the condition of mankind, Spencer leaves the +unknowable to priests and to the believers in the "moral government" of +the world. He sees only natural causes and natural results, and seeks to +induce man to give up gazing into void and empty space, that he may give +his entire attention to the world in which he lives. He sees that right +and wrong do not depend upon the arbitrary will of even an infinite +being, but upon the nature of things; that they are relations, not +entities, and that they cannot exist, so far as we know, apart from +human experience. + +It may be that men will finally see that selfishness and self-sacrifice +are both mistakes; that the first devours itself; that the second is +not demanded by the good, and that the bad are unworthy of it. It may be +that our race has never been, and never will be, deserving of a martyr. +Sometime we may see that justice is the highest possible form of mercy +and love, and that all should not only be allowed, but compelled to reap +exactly what they sow; that industry should not support idleness, and +that they who waste the spring and summer and autumn of their lives +should bear the winter when it comes. The fortunate should assist +the victims of accident; the strong should defend the weak, and the +intellectual should lead, with loving hands, the mental poor; but +Justice should remove the bandage from her eyes long enough to +distinguish between the vicious and the unfortunate. + +Mr. Spencer is wise enough to declare that "acts are called good or bad +according as they are well or ill adjusted to ends;" and he might have +added, that ends are good or bad according as they affect the happiness +of mankind. + +It would be hard to over-estimate the influence of this great man. From +an immense intellectual elevation he has surveyed the world of thought. +He has rendered absurd the idea of special providence, born of the +egotism of savagery. He has shown that the "will of God" is not a rule +for human conduct; that morality is not a cold and heartless tyrant; +that by the destruction of the individual will, a higher life cannot +be reached, and that after all, an intelligent love of self extends the +hand of help and kindness to all the human race. + +But had it not been for such men as Thomas Paine, Herbert Spencer could +not have existed for a century to come. Some one had to lead the way, +to raise the standard of revolt, and draw the sword of war. Thomas Paine +was a natural revolutionist. He was opposed to every government existing +in his day. Next to establishing a wise and just republic based upon +the equal rights of man, the best thing that can be done is to destroy a +monarchy. + +Paine had a sense of justice, and had imagination enough to put himself +in the place of the oppressed. He had, also, what in these pages is so +felicitously expressed, "a haughty intellectual pride, and a willingness +to pit his individual thought against the clamor of a world." + +I cannot believe that he wrote the letters of "Junius," although the two +critiques combined in this volume, entitled "Paine" and "Junius," make +by far the best argument upon that subject I have ever read. First, +Paine could have had no personal hatred against the men so bitterly +assailed by Junius. Second, He knew, at that time, but little of English +politicians, and certainly had never associated with men occupying the +highest positions, and could not have been personally acquainted with +the leading statesmen of England. Third., He was not an unjust man. He +was neither a coward, a calumniator, nor a sneak. All these delightful +qualities must have lovingly united in the character of Junius. Fourth, +Paine could have had no reason for keeping the secret after coming to +America. + +I have always believed that Junius, after having written his letters, +accepted office from the very men he had maligned, and at last became +a pensioner of the victims of his slander. "Had he as many mouths as +Hydra, such a course must have closed them all." Certainly the author +must have kept the secret to prevent the loss of his reputation. + +It cannot be denied that the style of Junius is much like that of Paine. +Should it be established that Paine wrote the letters of Junius, it +would not, in my judgment, add to his reputation as a writer. Regarded +as literary efforts they cannot be compared with "Common Sense," "The +Crisis," or "The Rights of Man." + +The claim that Paine was the real author of the Declaration of +Independence is much better founded. I am inclined to think that he +actually wrote it; but whether this is true or not, every idea contained +in it had been written by him long before. It is now claimed that the +original document is in Paine's handwriting. It certainly is not in +Jefferson's. Certain it is, that Jefferson could not have written +anything so manly, so striking, so comprehensive, so clear, so +convincing, and so faultless in rhetoric and rhythm as the Declaration +of Independence. + +Paine was the first man to write these words, "The United States of +America." He was the first great champion of absolute separation +from England. He was the first to urge the adoption of a Federal +Constitution; and, more clearly than any other man of his time, he +perceived the future greatness of this country. + +He has been blamed for his attack on Washington. The truth is, he was +in prison in France. He had committed the crime of voting, against the +execution of the king It was the grandest act of his life, but at that +time to be merciful was criminal. Paine; being an American citizen, +asked Washington, then President, to say a word to Robespierre in +his behalf. Washington remained silent. In the calmness of power, the +serenity, of fortune, Washington the President, read the request of +Paine, the prisoner, and with the complacency of assured fame, consigned +to the wastebasket of forgetfulness the patriot's cry for help. + + "Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, + Wherein he puts alms for oblivion, + A great-sized monster of ingratitudes. + Those scraps are good deeds past, which are devour'd + As fast as they are made, forgot as soon + As done." + +In this controversy, my sympathies are with the prisoner. + +Paine did more to free the mind, to destroy the power of ministers and +priests in the New World, than any other man. In order to answer his +arguments, the churches found it necessary to attack his character. +There was a general resort to falsehood. In trying to destroy the +reputation of Paine, the churches have demoralized themselves. Nearly +every minister has been a willing witness against the truth. Upon the +grave of Thomas Paine, the churches of America have sacrificed their +honor. The influence of the Hero author increases every day, and there +are more copies of the "Age of Reason" sold in the United States, than +of any work written in defence of the Christian religion. Hypocrisy, +with its forked tongue, its envious and malignant heart, lies coiled +upon the memory of Paine, ready to fasten its poisonous fangs in the +reputation of any man who dares defend the great and generous dead. + +Leaving the dust and glory of revolutions, let us spend a moment of +quiet with Adam Smith. I was glad to find that a man's ideas upon the +subject of protection and free trade depend almost entirely upon the +country in which he lives, or the business in which he happens to +be engaged, and that, after all, each man regards the universe as a +circumference of which he is the center. It gratified me to learn that +even Adam Smith was no exception to this rule, and that he regarded +all "protection as a hurtful and ignorant interference," except when +exercised for the good of Great Britain. Owing to the fact that his +nationality quarreled with his philosophy, he succeeded in writing +a book that is quoted with equal satisfaction by both parties. The +protectionists rely upon the exceptions he made for England, and the +free traders upon the doctrines laid down for other countries. + +He seems to have reasoned upon the question of money precisely as we +have, of late years, in the United States; and he has argued both sides +equally well. Poverty asks for inflation. Wealth is conservative, and +always says there is money enough. + +Upon the question of money, this volume contains the best thing I have +ever read: "The only mode of procuring the service of others, on any +large scale, in the absence of money, is by force, which is slavery. +Money, by constituting a medium in which the smallest services can be +paid for, substitutes wages for the lash, and renders the liberty of +the individual consistent with the maintenance and support of society." +There is more philosophy in that one paragraph than Adam Smith expresses +in his whole work. It may truthfully be said, that without money, +liberty is impossible. No one, whatever his views may be, can read the +article on Adam Smith without profit and delight. + +The discussion of the money question is in every respect admirable, and +is as candid as able. The world will sooner or later learn that there is +nothing miraculous in finance; that money is a real and tangible thing, +a product of labor, serving not merely as a medium of exchange but as +a basis of credit as well; that it cannot be created by an act of the +Legislature; that dreams cannot be coined, and that only labor, in some +form, can put, upon the hand of want, Alladin's magic ring. + +Adam Smith wrote upon the wealth of nations, while Charles Fourier +labored for the happiness of mankind. In this country, few seem +to understand communism. While here, it may be regarded as vicious +idleness, armed with the assassin's knife and the incendiary's torch, in +Europe, it is a different thing. There, it is a reaction from Feudalism. +Nobility is communism in its worst possible form. Nothing can be worse +than for idleness to eat the bread of industry. Communism in Europe +is not the "stand and deliver" of the robber, but the protest of the +robbed. Centuries ago, kings and priests, that is to say, thieves and +hypocrites, divided Europe among themselves. Under this arrangement, the +few were masters and the many slaves. Nearly every government in the +Old World rests upon simple brute force. It is hard for the many to +understand why the few should own the soil. Neither can they clearly +see why they should give their brain and blood to those who steal their +birthright and their bread. It has occurred to them that they who do the +most should not receive the least, and that, after all, an industrious +peasant is of far more value to the world than a vain and idle king. + +The Communists of France, blinded as they were, made the Republic +possible. Had they joined with their countrymen, the invaders would have +been repelled, and some Napoleon would still have occupied the throne. +Socialism perceives that Germany has been enslaved by victory, while +France found liberty in defeat. In Russia the Nihilists prefer chaos to +the government of the bayonet, Siberia and the knout, and these intrepid +men have kept upon the coast of despotism one beacon fire of hope. + +As a matter of fact, every society is a species of communism--a kind +of co-operation in which selfishness, in spite of itself, benefits the +community. Every industrious man adds to the wealth, not only of his +nation, but to that of the world. Every inventor increases human power, +and every sculptor, painter and poet adds to the value of human life. +Fourier, touched by the sufferings of the poor as well as by the barren +joys of hoarded wealth, and discovering the vast advantages of combined +effort, and the immense economy of co-operation, sought to find some way +for men to help themselves by helping each other. He endeavored to do +away with monopoly and competition, and to ascertain some method by +which the sensuous, the moral, and the intellectual passions of man +could be gratified. + +For my part I can place no confidence in any system that does away, or +tends to do away, with the institution of marriage. I can conceive of no +civilization of which the family must not be the unit. + +Societies cannot be made; they must grow. Philosophers may predict, but +they cannot create. They may point out as many ways as they please; but +after all, humanity will travel in paths of its own. + +Fourier sustained about the same relation to this world that Swedenborg +did to the other. There must be something wrong about the brain of one +who solemnly asserts that, "the elephant, the ox and the diamond, were +created by the sun; the horse, the lily and the ruby, by Saturn; the +cow, the jonquil and the topaz by Jupiter; and the dog, the violet and +the opal stones by the earth itself." + +And yet, forgetting these aberrations of the mind, this lunacy of a +great and loving soul, for one, I hold in tender-est regard the memory +of Charles Fourier, one of the best and noblest of our race. + +While Fourier was in his cradle, Jeremy Bentham, who read history when +three years old, played on the violin at five, "and at fifteen detected +the fallacies of Blackstone," was demonstrating that the good was the +useful; that a thing was right because it paid in the highest and best +sense; that utility was the basis of morals; that without allowing +interest to be paid upon money commerce could not exist; and that +the object of all human governments should be to secure the greatest +happiness of the greatest number. He read Hume and Helvetius, threw away +the Thirty-nine Articles, and endeavored to impress upon the English +Law the fact that its ancestor was a feudal savage. He held the past in +contempt, hated Westminster and despised Oxford. He combated the +idea that governments were originally founded on contract. Locke and +Blackstone talked as though men originally lived apart, and formed +societies by agreement. These writers probably imagined that at one time +the trees were separated like telegraph poles, and finally came together +and made groves by agreement. I believe that it was Pufendorf who said +that slavery was originally founded on contract. To which Voltaire +replied:--"If my lord Pufendorf will produce the original contract +_signed by the party who was to be the slave_, I will admit the truth of +his statement." + +A contract back of society is a myth manufactured by those in power to +serve as a title to place, and to impress the multitude with the +idea that they are, in some mysterious way, bound, fettered, and even +benefited by its terms. + +The glory of Bentham is, that he gave the true basis of morals, and +furnished statesmen with the star and compass of this sentence:--"The +greatest happiness of the greatest number." + +Most scientists have deferred to the theologians. They have admitted +that some questions could not, at present, be solved. These admissions +have been thankfully received by the clergy, who have always begged for +some curtain to be left, behind which their God could still exist. Men +calling themselves "scientific" have tried to harmonize the "apparent" +discrepancies between the Bible and the _other_ works of Jehovah. In +this way they have made reputations. They were at once quoted by +the ministers as wonderful examples of piety and learning. These men +discounted the future that they might enjoy the ignorant praise of the +present. Agassiz preferred the applause of Boston, while he lived, to +the reverence of a world after he was dead. Small men appear great only +when they agree with the multitude. + +The last Scientific Congress in America was opened with prayer. Think +of a science that depends upon the efficacy of words addressed to the +Unknown and Unknowable! + +In our country, most of the so-called scientists are professors in +sectarian colleges, in which Moses is considered a geologist, and +Joshua an astronomer. For the most part their salaries depend upon +the ingenuity with which they can explain away facts and dodge +demonstration. + +The situation is about the same in England. When Mr. Huxley saw fit to +attack the Mosaic account of the creation, he did not deem it advisable +to say plainly what he meant. He attacked the account of creation as +given by Milton, although he knew that the Mosaic and Miltonic were +substantially the same. Science has acted like a guest without a wedding +garment, and has continually apologized for existing. In the presence +of arrogant absurdity, overawed by the patronizing airs of a successful +charlatan, it has played the role of a "poor relation," and accepted, +while sitting below the salt, insults as honors. + +There can be no more pitiable sight than a scientist in the employ of +superstition dishonoring himself without assisting his master. But there +are a multitude of brave and tender men who give their honest thoughts, +who are true to nature, who give the facts and let consequences shirk +for themselves, who know the value and meaning of a truth, and who have +bravely tried the creeds by scientific tests. + +Among the bravest, side by side with the greatest of the world, in +Germany, the land of science, stands Ernst Haeckel, who may be said +to have not only demonstrated the theories of Darwin, but the Monistic +conception of the world. Rejecting all the puerile ideas of a personal +Creator, he has had the courage to adopt the noble words of Bruno:--"A +spirit exists in all things, and no body is so small but it contains a +part of the divine substance within itself, by which it is animated." He +has endeavored--and I think with complete success--to show that there is +not, and never was, and never can be the _Creator_ of anything. There +is no more a personal Creator than there is a personal destroyer. Matter +and force must have existed from eternity, all generation must have been +spontaneous, and the simplest organisms must have been the ancestors of +the most perfect and complex. + +Haeckel is one of the bitterest enemies of the church, and is, +therefore, one of the bravest friends of man. + +Catholicism was, at one time, the friend of education--of an education +sufficient to make a Catholic out of a barbarian. Protestantism was also +in favor of education--of an education sufficient to make a Protestant +out of a Catholic. But now, it having been demonstrated that real +education will make Freethinkers, Catholics and Protestants both are the +enemies of true learning. + +In all countries where human beings are held in bondage, it is a crime +to teach a slave to read and write. Masters know that education is an +abolitionist, and theologians know that science is the deadly foe of +every creed in Christendom. + +In the age of Faith, a personal god stood at the head of every +department of ignorance, and was supposed to be the King of kings, the +rewarder and punisher of individuals, and the governor of nations. + +The worshipers of this god have always regarded the men in love with +simple facts, as Atheists in disguise. And it must be admitted that +nothing is more Atheistic than a fact. Pure science is necessarily +godless, It is incapable of worship. It investigates, and cannot afford +to shut its eyes even long enough to pray. There was a time when those +who disputed the divine right of kings were denounced as blasphemous; +but the time came when liberty demanded that a personal god should be +retired from politics. In our country this was substantially done in +1776, when our fathers declared that all power to govern came from +the consent of the governed. The cloud-theory was abandoned, and one +government has been established for the benefit of mankind. Our fathers +did not keep God out of the Constitution from principle, but from +jealousy. Each church, in colonial times, preferred to live in single +blessedness rather than see some rival wedded to the state. Mutual +hatred planted our tree of religious liberty. A constitution without a +god has at last given us a nation without a slave. + +A personal god sustains the same relation to religion as to politics. +The Deity is a master, and man a serf; and this relation is inconsistent +with true progress. The Universe ought to be a pure democracy--an +infinite republic without a tyrant and without a chain. + +Auguste Comte endeavored to put humanity in the place of Jehovah, and no +conceivable change can be more desirable than this. This great man did +not, like some of his followers, put a mysterious something called law +in the place of God, which is simply giving the old master a new name. +Law is this side of phenomena, not the other. It is not the cause, +neither is it the result of phenomena. The fact of succession and +resemblance, that is to say, the same thing happening under the same +conditions, is all we mean by law. No one can conceive of a law +existing apart from matter, or controlling matter, any more than he can +understand the eternal procession of the Holy Ghost, or motion apart +from substance. We are beginning to see that law does not, and cannot +exist as an entity, but that it is only a conception of the mind to +express the fact that the same entities, under the same conditions, +produce the same results. Law does not produce the entities, the +conditions, or the results, or even the sameness of the results. +Neither does it affect the relations of entities, nor the result of such +relations, but it stands simply for the fact that the same causes, under +the same conditions, eternally have produced and eternally will produce +the same results. + +The metaphysicians are always giving us explanations of phenomena which +are as difficult to understand as the phenomena they seek to explain; +and the believers in God establish their dogmas by miracles, and then +substantiate the miracles by assertion. + +The Designer of the teleologist, the First Cause of the religious +philosopher, the Vital Force of the biologist, and the law of the +half-orthodox scientist, are all the shadowy children of ignorance and +fear. + +The Universe is all there is. It is both subject and object; +contemplator and contemplated; creator and created; destroyer and +destroyed; preserver and preserved; and within itself are all causes, +modes, motions and effects. + +Unable in some things to rise above the superstitions of his day, +Comte adopted not only the machinery, but some of the prejudices, of +Catholicism. He made the mistake of Luther. He tried to reform the +Church of Rome. Destruction is the only reformation of which that church +is capable. Every religion is based upon a misconception, not only of +the cause of phenomena, but of the real object of life; that is to say, +upon falsehood; and the moment the truth is known and understood, these +religions must fall. In the field of thought, they are briers, thorns, +and noxious weeds; on the shores of intellectual discovery, they are +sirens, and in the forests that the brave thinkers are now penetrating, +they are the wild beasts, fanged and monstrous. + +You cannot reform these weeds. Sirens cannot be changed into good +citizens; and such wild beasts, even when tamed, are of no possible use. +Destruction is the only remedy. Reformation is a hospital where the new +philosophy exhausts its strength nursing the old religion. + +There was, in the brain of the great Frenchman, the dawn of that happy +day in which humanity will be the only religion, good the only god, +happiness the only object, restitution the only atonement, mistake the +only sin, and affection, guided by intelligence, the only savior of +mankind. This dawn enriched his poverty, illuminated the darkness of +his life, peopled his loneliness with the happy millions yet to be, and +filled his eyes with proud and tender tears. + +A few years ago I asked the superintendent of Pere La Chaise if he knew +where I could find the tomb of Auguste Comte. He had never heard even +the name of the author of the "Positive Philosophy." I asked him if +he had ever heard of Napoleon Bonaparte. In a half-insulted tone, +he replied, "Of course I have, why do you ask me such a question?" +"Simply," was my answer, "that I might have the opportunity of saying, +that when everything connected with Napoleon, except his crimes, shall +have been forgotten, Auguste Comte will be lovingly remembered as a +benefactor of the human race." + +The Jewish God must be dethroned! A personal Deity must go back to +the darkness of barbarism from whence he came. The theologians must +abdicate, and popes, priests, and clergymen, labeled as "extinct +species," must occupy the mental museums of the future. + +In my judgment, this book, filled with original thought, will hasten the +coming of that blessed time. + +Washington, D. C., Nov. 29,1879. + + + + +PREFACE TO DR. EDGAR C. BEALL'S "THE BRAIN AND THE BIBLE." + + +THIS book, written by a brave and honest man, is filled with brave and +honest thoughts. The arguments it presents can not be answered by all +the theologians in the world. The author is convinced that the universe +is natural, that man is naturally produced, and that there is a +necessary relation between character and brain. He sees, and clearly +sees, that the theological explanation of phenomena is only a plausible +absurdity, and, at best, as great a mystery as it tries to solve. I +thank the man who breaks, or tries to break, the chains of custom, +creed, and church, and gives in plain, courageous words, the product of +his brain. + +It is almost impossible to investigate any subject without somewhere +touching the religious prejudices of ourselves or others. Most people +judge of the truth of a proposition by the consequences upon some +preconceived opinion. Certain things they take as truths, and with this +little standard in their minds, they measure all other theories. If +the new facts do not agree with the standard, they are instantly thrown +away, because it is much easier to dispose of the new facts than to +reconstruct an entire philosophy. + +A few years ago, when men began to say that character could be +determined by the form, quantity, and quality of the brain, the +religious world rushed to the conclusion that this fact might destroy +what they were pleased to call the free moral agency of man. They +admitted that all things in the physical world were links in the +infinite chain of causes and effects, and that not one atom of the +material universe could, by any possibility, be entirely exempt from +the action of every other. They insisted that, if the motions of the +spirit--the thoughts, dreams, and conclusions of the brain, were as +necessarily produced as stones and stars, virtue became necessity, and +morality the result of forces capable of mathematical calculation. +In other words, they insisted that, while there were causes for all +material phenomena, a something called the Will sat enthroned above +all law, and dominated the phenomena of the intellectual world. They +insisted that man was free; that he controlled his brain; that he was +responsible for thought as well as action; that the intellectual world +of each man was a universe in which his will was king. They were +afraid that phrenology might, in some way, interfere with the scheme of +salvation, or prevent the eternal torment of some erring soul. + +It is insisted that man is free, and is responsible, because he knows +right from wrong. But the compass does not navigate the ship; neither +does it, in any way, of itself, determine the direction that is taken. +When winds and waves are too powerful, the compass is of no importance. +The pilot may read it correctly, and may know the direction the ship +ought to take, but the compass is not a force. So men, blown by the +tempests of passion, may have the intellectual conviction that +they should go another way; but, of what use, of what force, is the +conviction? + +Thousands of persons have gathered curious statistics for the purpose of +showing that man is absolutely dominated by his surroundings. By these +statistics is discovered what is called "the law of average." They show +that there are about so many suicides in London every year, so many +letters misdirected at Paris, so many men uniting themselves In marriage +with women older than themselves in Belgium, so many burglaries to one +murder in France, or so many persons driven insane by religion in the +United States. It is asserted that these facts conclusively show +that man is acted upon; that behind each thought, each dream, is the +efficient cause, and that the doctrine of moral responsibility has been +destroyed by statistics. + +But, does the fact that about so many crimes are committed on the +average, in a given population, or that so many any things are done, +prove that there is no freedom in human action? + +Suppose a population of ten thousand persons; and suppose, further, that +they are free, and that they have the usual wants of mankind. Is it not +reasonable to say that they would act in some way? They certainly would +take measures to obtain food, clothing, and shelter. If these people +differed in intellect, in surroundings, in temperament, in strength, it +is reasonable to suppose that all would not be equally successful. Under +such circumstances, may we not safely infer that, in a little while, if +the statistics were properly taken, a law of average would appear? In +other words, free people would act; and, being different in mind, body, +and circumstances, would not all act exactly alike. All would not be +alike acted upon. The deviations from what might be thought wise, or +right, would sustain such a relation to time and numbers that they could +be expressed by a law of average. + +If this is true, the law of average does not establish necessity. + +But, in my supposed case, the people, after all, are not free. They have +wants. They are under the necessity of feeding, clothing, and sheltering +themselves. To the extent of their actual wants, they are not free. +Every limitation is a master. Every finite being is a prisoner, and no +man has ever yet looked above or beyond the prison walls. + +Our highest conception of liberty is to be free from the dictation of +fellow prisoners. + +To the extent that we have wants, we are not free. To the extent that we +do not have wants, we do not act. + +If we are responsible for our thoughts, we ought not only to know how +they are formed, but we ought to form them. If we are the masters of our +own minds, we ought to be able to tell what we are going to think at any +future time. Evidently, the food of thought--its very warp and woof--is +furnished through the medium of the senses. If we open our eyes, we +cannot help seeing. If we do not stop our ears, we cannot help hearing. +If anything touches us, we feel it. The heart beats in spite of us. +The lungs supply themselves with air without our knowledge. The blood +pursues its old accustomed rounds, and all our senses act without our +leave. As the heart beats, so the brain thinks. The will is not its +king. As the blood flows, as the lungs expand, as the eyes see, as the +ears hear, as the flesh is sensitive to touch, so the brain thinks. + +I had a dream, in which I debated a question with a friend. I thought +to myself: "This is a dream, and yet I can not tell what my opponent is +going to say. Yet, if it is a dream, I am doing the thinking for both +sides, and therefore ought to know in advance what my friend will urge." +But, in a dream, there is some one who seems to talk to us. Our own +brain tells us news, and presents an unexpected thought. Is it not +possible that each brain is a field where all the senses sow the seeds +of thought? Some of these fields are mostly barren, poor, and hard, +producing only worthless weeds; and some grow sturdy oaks and stately +palms; and some are like the tropic world, where plants and trees and +vines seem royal children of the soil and sun. + +Nothing seems more certain than that the capacity of a human being +depends, other things being equal, upon the amount, form, and quality +of his brain. We also know that health, disposition, temperament, +occupation, food, surroundings, ancestors, quality, form, and texture +of the brain, determine what we call character. Man is, collectively and +individually, what his surroundings have made him. Nations differ from +each other as greatly as individuals in the same nation. Nations depend +upon soil, climate, geographical position, and countless other facts. +Shakespeare would have been impossible without the climate of England. +There is a direct relation between Hamlet and the Gulf Stream. Dr. +Draper has shown that the great desert of Sahara made negroes possible +in Africa. If the Caribbean Sea had been a desert, negroes might have +been produced in America. + +Are the effects of climate upon man necessary effects? Is it possible +for man to escape them? Is he responsible for what he does as a +consequence of his surroundings? Is the mind dependent upon causes? +Does it act without cause? Is every thought a necessity? Can man choose +without reference to any quality in the thing chosen? + +No one will blame Mr. Brown or Mr. Jones for not writing like +Shakespeare. Should they be blamed for not acting like Christ? We say +that a great painter has genius. Is it not possible that a certain +genius is required to be what is called "good"? All men cannot be +great. All men cannot be successful. Can all men be kind? Can all men be +honest? + +It may be that a crime appears terrible in proportion as we realize +its consequences. If this is true, morality may depend largely upon the +imagination. Man cannot have imagination at will; that, certainly, is +a natural product. And yet, a man's action may depend largely upon the +want of imagination. One man may feel that he really wishes to kill +another. He may make preparations to commit the deed; and yet, his +imagination may present such pictures of horror and despair; he may so +vividly see the widow clasping the mangled corpse; he may so plainly +hear the cries and sobs of orphans, while the clods fall upon the +coffin, that his hand is stayed. Another, lacking imagination, thirsting +only for revenge, seeing nothing beyond the accomplishment of the deed, +buries, with blind-and thoughtless hate, the dagger in his victim's +heart. + +Morality, for the most part, is the verdict of the majority. +This verdict depends upon the intelligence of the people; and the +intelligence depends upon the amount, form, and quality of the average +brain. + +If the mind depends upon certain organs for the expression of its +thought, does it have thought independently of those organs? Is there +any mind without brain? Does the mind think apart from the brain, and +then express its thought through the instrumentality of the brain? +Theologians tell us that insanity is not a disease of the soul, but of +the brain; that the soul is perfectly untouched; but that the instrument +with which, and through which, it manifests itself, is impaired. The +fact, however, seems to be, that the mind, the something that is the +man, is unconscious of the fact that anything is out of order in the +brain. Insane people insist that they are sane. + +If we should find a locomotive off the track, and the engineer using the +proper appliances to put it back, we would say that the machine is +out of order, but the engineer is not. But, if we found the locomotive +upside down, with wheels in air, and the engineer insisting that it +was on the track, and never running better, we would then conclude +that something was wrong, not only with the locomotive, but with the +engineer. + +We are told in medical books of a girl, who, at about the age of nine +years, was attacked with some cerebral disease. When she recovered, she +had forgotten all she ever knew, and had to relearn the alphabet, and +the names of her parents and kindred. In this abnormal state, she was +not a good girl; in the normal state, she was. After having lived in the +second state for several years, she went back to the first; and all she +had learned in the second state was forgotten, and all she had learned +in the first was remembered. + +I believe she changed once more, and died in the abnormal state. In +which of these states was she responsible? Were her thoughts and +actions as free in one as in the other? It may be contended that, in her +diseased state, the mind or soul could not correctly express itself. If +this is so, it follows that, as no one is perfectly healthy, and as +no one has a perfect brain, it is impossible that the soul should ever +correctly express itself. Is the soul responsible for the defects of the +brain? Is it not altogether more rational to say, that what we call mind +depends upon the brain, and that the child--mind, inherits the defects +of its parent--brain? + +Are certain physical conditions necessary to the production of what +we call virtuous actions? Is it possible for anything to be produced +without what we call cause, and, if the cause was sufficient, was it not +necessarily produced? Do not most people mistake for freedom the right +to examine their own chains? If morality depends upon conditions, should +it not be the task of the great and good to discover such conditions? +May it not be possible so to understand the brain that we can stop +producing criminals? + +It may be insisted that there is something produced by the brain besides +thought--a something that takes cognizance of thoughts--a something +that weighs, compares, reflects and pronounces judgment. This something +cannot find the origin of itself. Does it exist independently of the +brain? Is it merely a looker-on? If it is a product of the brain, then +its power, perception, and judgment depend upon the quantity, form, and +quality of the brain. + +Man, including all his attributes, must have been necessarily produced, +and the product was the child of conditions. + +Most reformers have infinite confidence in creeds, resolutions, and +laws. They think of the common people as raw material, out of which +they propose to construct institutions and governments, like mechanical +contrivances, where each person will stand for a cog, rope, wheel, +pulley, bolt, or fuel, and the reformers will be the managers and +directors. They forget that these cogs and wheels have opinions of their +own; that they fall out with other cogs, and refuse to turn with other +wheels; that the pulleys and ropes have ideas peculiar to themselves, +and delight in mutiny and revolution. These reformers have theories that +can only be realized when other people have none. + +Some time, it will be found that people can be changed only by changing +their surroundings. It is alleged that, at least ninety-five per cent. +of the criminals transported from England to Australia and other penal +colonies, became good and useful citizens in a new world. Free from +former associates and associations, from the necessities of a hard, +cruel, and competitive civilization, they became, for the most part, +honest people. This immense fact throws more light upon social questions +than all the theories of the world. All people are not able to support +themselves. They lack intelligence, industry, cunning--in short, +capacity. They are continually falling by the way. In the midst of +plenty, they are hungry. Larceny is born of want and opportunity. In +passion's storm, the will is wrecked upon the reefs and rocks of crime. + +The complex, tangled web of thought and dream, of perception and memory, +of imagination and judgment, of wish and will and want--the woven wonder +of a life--has never yet been raveled back to simple threads. + +Shall we not become charitable and just, when we know that every act is +but condition's fruit; that Nature, with her countless hands, scatters +the seeds of tears and crimes--of every virtue and of every joy; that +all the base and vile are victims of the Blind, and that the good and +great have, in the lottery of life, by chance or fate, drawn heart and +brain? + +Washington, December 21, 1881. + + + + +PREFACE TO "MEN, WOMEN AND GODS." + + +NOTHING gives me more pleasure, nothing gives greater promise for the +future, than the fact that woman is achieving intellectual and physical +liberty. + +It is refreshing to know that here, in our country, there are thousands +of women who think, and express their thoughts--who are thoroughly +free and thoroughly conscientious--who have neither been narrowed nor +corrupted by a heartless creed--who do not worship a being in heaven +whom they would shudderingly loathe on earth--women who do not stand +before the altar of a cruel faith, with downcast eyes of timid +acquiescence, and pay to impudent authority the tribute of a thoughtless +yes. They are no longer satisfied with being told. They examine for +themselves. They have ceased to be the prisoners of society--the +satisfied serfs of husbands, or the echoes of priests. They demand the +rights that naturally belong to intelligent human beings. If wives, they +wish to be the equals of husbands. If mothers, they wish to rear their +children in the atmosphere of love, liberty and philosophy. They believe +that woman can discharge all her duties without the aid of superstition, +and preserve all that is true, pure, and tender, without sacrificing in +the temple of absurdity the convictions of the soul. + +Woman is not the intellectual inferior of man. She has lacked, not mind, +but opportunity. In the long night of barbarism, physical strength and +the cruelty to use it, were the badges of superiority. Muscle was more +than mind. In the ignorant age of Faith, the loving nature of woman was +abused. Her conscience was rendered morbid and diseased. It might almost +be said that she was betrayed by her own virtues. At best she secured, +not opportunity, but flattery--the preface to degradation. She was +deprived of liberty, and without that, nothing is worth the having. She +was taught to obey without question, and to believe without thought. +There were universities for men before the alphabet had been taught to +women. At the intellectual feast, there were no places for wives and +mothers. Even now they sit at the second table and eat the crusts and +crumbs. The schools for women, at the present time, are just far enough +behind those for men, to fall heirs to the discarded; on the same +principle that when a doctrine becomes too absurd for the pulpit, it is +given to the Sunday-school. + +The ages of muscle and miracle--of fists and faith--are passing away. +Minerva occupies at last a higher niche than Hercules. Now a word +is stronger than a blow. At last we see women who depend upon +themselves--who stand, self poised, the shocks of this sad world, +without leaning for support against a church--who do not go to the +literature of barbarism for consolation, or use the falsehoods and +mistakes of the past for the foundation of their hope--women brave +enough and tender enough to meet and bear the facts and fortunes of this +world. + +The men who declare that woman is the intellectual inferior of man, do +not, and cannot, by offering themselves in evidence, substantiate their +declaration. + +Yet, I must admit that there are thousands of wives who still have +faith in the saving power of superstition--who still insist on attending +church while husbands prefer the shores, the woods, or the fields. In +this way, families are divided. Parents grow apart, and unconsciously +the pearl of greatest price is thrown away. The wife ceases to be +the intellectual companion of the husband. She reads _The Christian +Register_, sermons in the Monday papers, and a little gossip about +folks and fashions, while he studies the works of Darwin, Haeckel, and +Humboldt. Their sympathies become estranged. They are no longer mental +friends. The husband smiles at the follies of the wife, and she weeps +for the supposed sins of the husband. Such wives should read this book. +They should not be satisfied to remain forever in the cradle of thought, +amused with the toys of superstition. + +The parasite of woman is the priest. + +It must also be admitted that there are thousands of men who believe +that superstition is good for women and children--who regard falsehood +as the fortress of virtue, and feel indebted to ignorance for the purity +of daughters and the fidelity of wives. These men think of priests +as detectives in disguise, and regard God as a policeman who prevents +elopements. Their opinions about religion are as correct as their +estimate of woman. + +The church furnishes but little food for the mind. People of +intelligence are growing tired of the platitudes of the pulpit--the +iterations of the itinerants. The average sermon is "as tedious as a +twice told tale vexing the ears of a drowsy man." + +One Sunday a gentleman, who is a great inventor, called at my house. +Only a few words had passed between us, when he arose, saying that he +must go as it was time for church. Wondering that a man of his mental +wealth could enjoy the intellectual poverty of the pulpit, I asked for +an explanation, and he gave me the following: "You know that I am an +inventor. Well, the moment my mind becomes absorbed in some difficult +problem, I am afraid that something may happen to distract my attention. +Now, I know that I can sit in church for an hour without the slightest +danger of having the current of my thought disturbed." + +Most women cling to the Bible because they have been taught that to give +up that book is to give up all hope of another life--of ever meeting +again the loved and lost. They have also been taught that the Bible is +their friend, their defender, and the real civilizer of man. + +Now, if they will only read this book--these three lectures, without +fear, and then read the Bible, they will see that the truth or falsity +of the dogma of inspiration has nothing to do with the question of +immortality. Certainly the Old Testament does not teach us that there is +another life, and upon that question even the New is obscure and vague. +The hunger of the heart finds only a few small and scattered crumbs. +There is nothing definite, solid, and satisfying. United with the idea +of immortality we find the absurdity of the resurrection. A prophecy +that depends for its fulfillment upon an impossibility, cannot satisfy +the brain or heart. + +There are but few who do not long for a dawn beyond the night. And +this longing is born of and nourished by the heart. Love wrapped in +shadow--bending with tear-filled eyes above its dead, convulsively +clasps the outstretched hand of hope. + +I had the pleasure of introducing Miss Gardener to her first audience, +and in that introduction said a few words that I will repeat. + +"We do not know, we cannot say, whether death is a wall or a door; the +beginning or end of a day; the spreading of pinions to soar, or the +folding forever of wings; the rise or the set of a sun, or an endless +life that brings the rapture of love to every one. + +"Under the seven-hued arch of hope let the dead sleep." + +They will also discover, as they read the "Sacred Volume," that it is +not the friend of woman. They will find that the writers of that book, +for the most part, speak of woman as a poor beast of burden, a serf, a +drudge, a kind of necessary evil--as mere property. Surely, a book that +upholds polygamy is not the friend of wife and mother. + +Even Christ did not place woman on an equality with man. He said not +one word about the sacredness of home, the duties of the husband to the +wife--nothing calculated to lighten the hearts of those who bear the +saddest burdens of this life. + +They will also find that the Bible has not civilized mankind. A book +that establishes and defends slavery and wanton war is not calculated to +soften the hearts of those who believe implicitly that it is the work of +God. A book that not only permits, but commands, religious persecution, +has not, in my judgment, developed the affectional nature of man. +Its influence has been bad and bad only. It has filled the world with +bitterness, revenge and crime, and retarded in countless ways the +progress of our race. + +The writer of this volume has read the Bible with open eyes. The mist +of sentimentality has not clouded her vision. She has had the courage +to tell the result of her investigations. She has been quick to discover +contradictions. She appreciates the humorous side of the stupidly +solemn. Her heart protests against the cruel, and her brain rejects the +childish, the unnatural and absurd. There is no misunderstanding between +her head and heart. She says what she thinks, and feels what she says. + +No human being can answer her arguments. There is no answer. All the +priests in the world cannot explain away her objections. There is no +explanation. They should remain dumb, unless they can show that the +impossible is the probable--that slavery is better than freedom--that +polygamy is the friend of woman--that the innocent can justly suffer for +the guilty, and that to persecute for opinion's sake is an act of love +and worship. + +Wives who cease to learn--who simply forget and believe--will fill the +evening of their lives with barren sighs and bitter tears. + +The mind should outlast youth. If when beauty fades, Thought, the deft +and unseen sculptor, hath not left his subtle lines upon the face, +then all is lost. No charm is left. The light is out. There is no flame +within to glorify the wrinkled clay. + +Hoffman House, New York, July, 22, 1885. + + + + +PREFACE TO "FOR HER DAILY BREAD." + + +I HAVE read, this story, this fragment of a life mingled with fragments +of other lives, and have been pleased, interested, and instructed. It +is filled with the pathos of truth, and has in it the humor that +accompanies actual experience. It has but little to do with the world +of imagination; certain feelings are not attributed to persons born +of fancy, but it is the history of a heart and brain interested in the +common things of life. There are no kings, no lords, no titled ladies, +but there are real people, the people of the shop and street whom every +reader knows, and there are lines intense and beautiful, and scenes +that touch the heart. You will find no theories of government, no hazy +outlines of reform, nothing but facts and folks, as they have been, as +they are, and probably will be for many centuries to come. + +If you read this book you will be convinced that men and women are good +or bad, charitable or heartless, by reason of something within, and not +by virtue of any name they bear, or any trade or profession they follow, +or of any creed they may accept. You will also find that men sometimes +are honest and mean; that women may be very virtuous and very cruel; +that good, generous and sympathetic men are often disreputable, and that +some exceedingly worthy citizens are extremely mean and uncomfortable +neighbors. + +It takes a great deal of genius and a good deal of selfdenial to be +very bad or to be very good. Few people understand the amount of energy, +industry, and self-denial it requires to be consistently vicious. People +who have a pride in being good and fail, and those who have a pride in +being bad and fail, in order to make their records consistent generally +rely upon hypocrisy. The people that live and hope and fear in this +book, are much like the people who live and hope and fear in the actual +world. The professor is much like the professor in the ordinary college. +You will find the conscientious, half-paid teacher, the hopeful poor, +the anxious rich, the true lover, the stingy philanthropist, who cares +for people only in the aggregate,--the individual atom being too small +to attract his notice or to enlist his heart; the sympathetic man who +loves himself, and gives, not for the sake of the beggar, but for +the sake of getting rid of the beggar, and you will also find the man +generous to a fault--with the money of others. And the reader will find +these people described naturally, truthfully and without exaggeration, +and he will feel certain that all these people have really lived. + +The reader of this story will get some idea as to what is encountered +by a girl in an honest effort to gain her daily bread. He will find how +steep, how devious and how difficult is the path she treads. + +There are so few occupations open to woman, so few things in which she +can hope for independence, that to be thrown upon her own resources +is almost equivalent to being cast away. Besides, she is an object of +continual suspicion, watched not only by men but by women. If she does +anything that other women are not doing, she is at once suspected, +her reputation is touched, and other women, for fear of being stained +themselves, withdraw not only the hand of help, but the smile of +recognition. A young woman cannot defend herself without telling the +charge that has been made against her. This, of itself, gives a kind of +currency to slander. To speak of the suspicion that has crawled across +her path, is to plant the seeds of doubt in other minds; to even deny +it, admits that it exists. To be suspected, that is enough. There is no +way of destroying this suspicion. There is no court in which suspicions +are tried; no juries that can render verdicts of not guilty. Most women +are driven at last to the needle, and this does not allow them to live; +it simply keeps them from dying. + +It is hard to appreciate the dangers and difficulties that lie in wait +for woman. Even in this Christian country of ours, no girl is safe in +the streets of any city after the sun has gone down. After all, the sun +is the only god that has ever protected woman. In the darkness she has +been the prey of the wild beast in man. + +Nearly all charitable people, so-called, imagine that nothing is easier +than to obtain work. They really feel that anybody, no matter what his +circumstances may be, can get work enough to do if he is only willing to +do the work. They cannot understand why any healthy human being should +lack food or clothes. Meeting the unfortunate and the wretched in the +streets of the great city, they ask them in a kind of wondering way, why +they do not go to the West, why they do not cultivate the soil, and why +they are so foolish, stupid, and reckless as to remain in the town. It +would be just as sensible to ask a beggar why he does not start a bank +or a line of steamships, as to ask him why he does not cultivate the +soil, or why he does not go to the West. The man has no money to pay his +fare, and if his fare were paid he would be, when he landed in the +West, in precisely the same condition as he was when he left the East. +Societies and institutions and individuals supply the immediate wants +of the hungry and the ragged, but they afford only the relief of the +moment. + +Articles by the thousand have been written for the purpose of showing +that women should become servants in houses, and the writers of these +articles are filled with astonishment that any girl should hesitate to +enter domestic service. They tell us that nearly every family needs a +good cook, a good chambermaid, a good sweeper of floors and washer of +dishes, a good stout girl to carry the baby and draw the wagon, and +these good people express the greatest astonishment that all girls +are not anxious to become domestics. They tell them that they will be +supplied with good food, that they will have comfortable beds and warm +clothing, and they ask, "What more do you want?" These people have +not, however, solved the problem. If girls, as a rule, keep away from +kitchens and chambers, if they hate to be controlled by other women, +there must be a reason. When we see a young woman prefer a clerkship in +a store,--a business which keeps her upon her feet all day, and sends +her to her lonely room, filled with weariness and despair, and when we +see other girls who are willing to sew for a few cents a day rather than +become the maid of "my lady," there must be some reason, and this reason +must be deemed sufficient by the persons who are actuated by it. What is +it? + +Every human being imagines that the future has something in store for +him. It is natural to build these castles in Spain. It is natural for +a girl to dream of being loved by the noble, by the superb, and it is +natural for the young man to dream of success, of a home, of a good, a +beautiful and loving wife. These dreams are the solace of poverty; they +keep back the tears in the eyes of the young and the hungry. To engage +in any labor that degrades, in any work that leaves a stain, in any +business the mention of which is liable to redden the cheek, seems to be +a destruction of the foundation of hope, a destruction of the future; it +seems to be a crucifixion of his or her better self. It assassinates the +ideal. + +It may be said that labor is noble, that work is a kind of religion, and +whoever says this tells the truth, But after all, what has the truth +to do with this question? What is the opinion of society?--What is the +result? It cures no wound to say that it was wrongfully inflicted. +The opinion of sensible people is one way, the action of society is +inconsistent with that opinion. Domestic servants are treated as +though their employment was and is a degradation. Bankers, merchants, +professional men, ministers of the gospel, do not want their sons +to become the husbands of chambermaids and cooks. Small hands are +beautiful; they do not tell of labor. + +I have given one reason; there is another. The work of a domestic is +never done. She is liable to be called at any moment, day or night. She +has no time that she can call her own. A woman who works by the piece +can take a little rest; if she is a clerk she has certain hours of labor +and the rest of the day is her own. + +And there is still another reason that I almost hate to give, and that +is this: As a rule, woman is exacting with woman. As a rule, woman does +not treat woman as well as man treats man, or as well as man treats +woman. There are many other reasons, but I have given enough. + +For many years, women have been seeking employment other than that of +domestic service. They have so hated this occupation, that they have +sought in every possible direction for other ways to win their bread. +At last hundreds of employments are open to them, and, as a consequence, +domestic servants are those who can get nothing else to do. + +In the olden time, servants sat at the table with the family; they were +treated something like human beings, harshly enough to be sure, but +in many cases almost as equals. Now the kitchen is far away from the +parlor. It is another world, occupied by individuals of a different +race. There is no bond of sympathy--no common ground. This is especially +true in a Republic. In the Old World, people occupying menial places +account for their positions by calling attention to the laws--to the +hereditary nobility and the universal spirit of caste. Here, there are +no such excuses. All are supposed to have equal opportunities, and those +who are compelled to labor for their daily bread, in avocations that +require only bodily strength, are regarded as failures. It is this fact +that stabs like a knife. And yet in the conclusion drawn, there is but +little truth. Some of the noblest and best pass their lives in daily +drudgery and unremunerative toil--while many of the mean, vicious and +stupid reach place and power. + +This story is filled with sympathy for the destitute, for the +struggling, and tends to keep the star of hope above the horizon of the +unfortunate. After all, we know but little of the world, and have but a +faint conception of the burdens that are borne, and of the courage and +heroism displayed by the unregarded poor. Let the rich read these pages; +they will have a kinder feeling toward those who toil; let the workers +read them, and they will think better of themselves. + + + + +PREFACE TO "AGNOSTICISM AND OTHER ESSAYS." + + +I. + +EDGAR FAWCETT--a great poet, a metaphysician and logician--has been for +years engaged in exploring that strange world wherein are supposed to +be the springs of human action. He has sought for something back of +motives, reasons, fancies, passions, prejudices, and the countless tides +and tendencies that constitute the life of man. + +He has found some of the limitations of mind, and knows that beginning +at that luminous centre called consciousness, a few short steps bring +us to the prison wall where vision fails and all light dies. Beyond this +wall the eternal darkness broods. This gloom is "the other world" of the +supernaturalist. With him, real vision begins where the sight fails. He +reverses the order of nature. Facts become illusions, and illusions the +only realities. He believes that the cause of the image, the reality, is +behind the mirror. + +A few centuries ago the priests said to their followers: The other world +is above you; it is just beyond where you see. Afterward, the astronomer +with his telescope looked, and asked the priests: Where is the world +of which you speak? And the priests replied: It has receded--it is just +beyond where you see. + +As long as there is "a beyond," there is room for the priests' world. +Theology is the geography of this beyond. + +Between the Christian and the Agnostic there is the difference of +assertion and question--between "There is a God" and "Is there a +God?" The Agnostic has the arrogance to admit his ignorance, while the +Christian from the depths of humility impudently insists that he knows. + +Mr. Fawcett has shown that at the root of religion lies the coiled +serpent of fear, and that ceremony, prayer, and worship are ways and +means to gain the assistance or soften the heart of a supposed deity. + +He also shows that as man advances in knowledge he loses confidence in +the watchfulness of Providence and in the efficacy of prayer. + + +II. + +SCIENCE. + +The savage is certain of those things that cannot be known. He is +acquainted with origin and destiny, and knows everything except that +which is useful. The civilized man, having outgrown the ignorance, the +arrogance, and the provincialism of savagery, abandons the vain search +for final causes, for the nature and origin of things. + +In nearly every department of science man is allowed to investigate, and +the discovery of a new fact is welcomed, unless it threatens some creed. + +Of course there can be no advance in a religion established by infinite +wisdom. The only progress possible is in the comprehension of this +religion. + +For many generations, what is known under a vast number of disguises +and behind many masks as the Christian religion, has been propagated +and preserved by the sword and bayonet--that is to say, by force. The +credulity of man has been bribed and his reason punished. Those who +believed without the slightest question, and whose faith held evidence +in contempt, were saints; those who investigated were dangerous, and +those who denied were destroyed. + +Every attack upon this religion has been made in the shadow of human and +divine hatred--in defiance of earth and heaven. At one time Christendom +was beneath the ignorant feet of one man, and those who denied his +infallibility were heretics and Atheists. At last, a protest was +uttered. The right of conscience was proclaimed, to the extent of making +a choice between the infallible man and the infallible book. Those +who rejected the man and accepted the book became in their turn +as merciless, as tyrannical and heartless, as the followers of the +infallible man. The Protestants insisted that an infinitely wise and +good God would not allow criminals and wretches to act as his infallible +agents. + +Afterward, a few protested against the infallibility of the book, using +the same arguments against the book that had formerly been used against +the pope. They said that an infinitely wise and good God could not be +the author of a cruel and ignorant book. But those who protested against +the book fell into substantially the same error that had been fallen +into by those who had protested against the man. While they denounced +the book, and insisted that an infinitely wise and good being could not +have been its author, they took the ground that an infinitely wise and +good being was the creator and governor of the world. + +Then was used against them the same argument that had been used by the +Protestants against the pope and by the Deists against the Protestants. +Attention was called to the fact that Nature is as cruel as any pope or +any book--that it is just as easy to account for the destruction of the +Canaanites consistently with the goodness of Jehovah as to account for +pestilence, earthquake, and flood consistently with the goodness of the +God of Nature. + +The Protestant and Deist both used arguments against the Catholic that +could in turn be used with equal force against themselves. So that there +is no question among intelligent people as to the infallibility of the +pope, as to the inspiration of the book, or as to the existence of the +Christian's God--for the conclusion has been reached that the human mind +is incapable of deciding as to the origin and destiny of the universe. + +For many generations the mind of man has been traveling in a circle. It +accepted without question the dogma of a First Cause--of the existence +of a Creator--of an Infinite Mind back of matter, and sought in many +ways to define its ignorance in this behalf. The most sincere worshipers +have declared that this being is incomprehensible,--that he is "without +body, parts, or passions"--that he is infinitely beyond their grasp, and +at the same time have insisted that it was necessary for man not only +to believe in the existence of this being, but to love him with all his +heart. + +Christianity having always been in partnership with the state,--having +controlled kings and nobles, judges and legislators--having been +in partnership with armies and with every form of organized +destruction,--it was dangerous to discuss the foundation of its +authority. To speak lightly of any dogma was a crime punishable by +death. Every absurdity has been bastioned and barricaded by the power of +the state. It has been protected by fist, by club, by sword and cannon. + +For many years Christianity succeeded in substantially closing the +mouths of its enemies, and lived and flourished only where investigation +and discussion were prevented by hypocrisy and bigotry. The church still +talks about "evidence," about "reason," about "freedom of conscience" +and the "liberty of speech," and yet denounces those who ask for +evidence, who appeal to reason, and who honestly express their thoughts. + +To-day we know that the miracles of Christianity are as puerile and +false as those ascribed to the medicine-men of Central Africa or the +Fiji Islanders, and that the "sacred Scriptures" have the same claim to +inspiration that the Koran has, or the Book of Mormon--no less, no more. +These questions have been settled and laid aside by free and intelligent +people. They have ceased to excite interest; and the man who now really +believes in the truth of the Old Testament is regarded with a smile-- +looked upon as an aged child--still satisfied with the lullabys and toys +of the cradle. + + +III. + +MORALITY. + +It is contended that without religion--that is to say, without +Christianity--all ideas of morality must of necessity perish, and that +spirituality and reverence will be lost. + +What is morality? + +Is it to obey without question, or is it to act in accordance with +perceived obligation? Is it something with which intelligence has +nothing to do? Must the ignorant child carry out the command of the wise +father--the rude peasant rush to death at the request of the prince? + +Is it impossible for morality to exist where the brain and heart are +in partnership? Is there no foundation for morality except punishment +threatened or reward promised by a superior to an inferior? If this be +true, how can the superior be virtuous? Cannot the reward and the threat +be in the nature of things? Can they not rest in consequences perceived +by the intellect? How can the existence or non-existence of a deity +change my obligation to keep my hands out of the fire? + +The results of all actions are equally certain, but not equally known, +not equally perceived. If all men knew with perfect certainty that to +steal from another was to rob themselves, larceny would cease. It +cannot be said too often that actions are good or bad in the light of +consequences, and that a clear perception of consequences would control +actions. That which increases the sum of human happiness is moral; and +that which diminishes the sum of human happiness is immoral. Blind, +unreasoning obedience is the enemy of morality. Slavery is not the +friend of virtue. Actions are neither right nor wrong by virtue of what +men or gods can say--the right or wrong lives in results--in the nature +of things, growing out of relations violated or caused. + +Accountability lives in the nature of consequences--in their absolute +certainty--in the fact that they cannot be placated, avoided, or bribed. + +The relations of human life are too complicated to be accurately and +clearly understood, and, as a consequence, rules of action vary from age +to age. The ideas of right and wrong change with the experience of +the race, and this change is wrought by the gradual ascertaining of +consequences--of results. For this reason the religion of one age fails +to meet the standard of another, precisely as the laws that satisfied +our ancestors are repealed by us; so that, in spite of all efforts, +religion itself is subject to gradual and perpetual change. + +The miraculous is no longer the basis of morals. Man is a sentient +being--he suffers and enjoys. In order to be happy he must preserve the +conditions of well-being--must live in accordance with certain facts by +which he is surrounded. If he violates these conditions the result is +unhappiness, failure, disease, misery. + +Man must have food, roof, raiment, fireside, friends--that is to say, +prosperity; and this he must earn--this he must deserve. He is no +longer satisfied with being a slave, even of the Infinite. He wishes to +perceive for himself, to understand, to investigate, to experiment; and +he has at last the courage to bear the consequences that he brings upon +himself. He has also found that those who are the most religious are not +always the kindest, and that those who have been and are the worshipers +of God enslave their fellow-men. He has found that there is no necessary +connection between religion and morality. + +Morality needs no supernatural assistance--needs neither miracle nor +pretence. It has nothing to do with awe, reverence, credulity, or blind, +unreasoning faith. Morality is the highway perceived by the soul, the +direct road, leading to success, honor, and happiness. + +The best thing to do under the circumstances is moral. + +The highest possible standard is human. We put ourselves in the places +of others. We are made happy by the kindness of others, and we feel that +a fair exchange of good actions is the wisest and best commerce. We know +that others can make us miserable by acts of hatred and injustice, +and we shrink from inflicting the pain upon others that we have felt +ourselves; this is the foundation of conscience. + +If man could not suffer, the words right and wrong could never have been +spoken. + +The Agnostic, the Infidel, clearly perceives the true basis of morals, +and, so perceiving, he knows that the religious man, the superstitious +man, caring more for God than for his fellows, will sacrifice his +fellows, either at the supposed command of his God, or to win his +approbation. He also knows that the religionist has no basis for morals +except these supposed commands. The basis of morality with him lies not +in the nature of things, but in the caprice of some deity. He seems to +think that, had it not been for the Ten Commandments, larceny and murder +might have been virtues. + + +IV. + +SPIRITUALITY. + +What is it to be spiritual? + +Is this fine quality of the mind destroyed by the development of the +brain? As the domain wrested by science from ignorance increases--as +island after island and continent after continent are discovered--as +star after star and constellation after constellation in the +intellectual world burst upon the midnight of ignorance, does the +spirituality of the mind grow less and less? Like morality, is it only +found in the company of ignorance and superstition? Is the spiritual man +honest, kind, candid?--or dishonest, cruel and hypocritical? Does he +say what he thinks? Is he guided by reason? Is he the friend of the +right?--the champion of the truth? Must this splendid quality called +spirituality be retained through the loss of candor? Can we not +truthfully say that absolute candor is the beginning of wisdom? + +To recognize the finer harmonies of conduct--to live to the ideal--to +separate the incidental, the evanescent, from the perpetual--to be +enchanted with the perfect melody of truth--open to the influences of +the artistic, the beautiful, the heroic--to shed kindness as the sun +sheds light--to recognize the good in others, and to include the world +in the idea of self--this is to be spiritual. + +There is nothing spiritual in the worship of the unknown and unknowable, +in the self-denial of a slave at the command of a master whom he fears. +Fastings, prayings, mutilations, kneelings, and mortifications are +either the results of, or result in, insanity. + +This is the spirituality of Bedlam, and is of no kindred with the soul +that finds its greatest joy in the discharge of obligation perceived. + + +V. + +REVERENCE. + +What is reverence? + +It is the feeling produced when we stand in the presence of our ideal, +or of that which most nearly approaches it--that which is produced by +what we consider the highest degree of excellence. + +The highest is reverenced, praised, and admired without qualification. + +Each man reverences according to his nature, his experience, his +intellectual development. He may reverence' Nero or Marcus Aurelius, +Jehovah or Buddha, the author of Leviticus or Shakespeare. Thousands of +men reverence John Calvin, Torquemada, and the Puritan fathers; and some +have greater respect for Jonathan Edwards than for Captain Kidd. + +A vast number of people have great reverence for anything that is +covered by mould, or moss, or mildew. They bow low before rot and rust, +and adore the worthless things that have been saved by the negligence of +oblivion. + +They are enchanted with the dull and fading daubs of the old masters, +and hold in contempt those miracles of art, the paintings of to-day. + +They worship the ancient, the shadowy, the mysterious, the wonderful. +They doubt the value of anything that they understand. + +The creed of Christendom is the enemy of morality. It teaches that the +innocent can justly suffer for the guilty, that consequences can be +avoided by repentance, and that in the world of mind the great fact +known as cause and effect does not apply. + +It is the enemy of spirituality, because it teaches that credulity is of +more value than conduct, and because it pours contempt upon human love +by raising far above it the adoration of a phantom. + +It is the enemy of reverence. It makes ignorance the foundation of +virtue. It belittles the useful, and cheapens the noblest of! the +virtues. It teaches man to live on mental alms, and glorifies the +intellectual pauper. It holds candor in contempt, and is the malignant +foe of mental manhood. + + +VI. + +EXISTENCE OF GOD. + +Mr. Fawcett has shown conclusively that it is no easier to establish the +existence of an infinitely wise and good being by the existence of what +we call "good" than to establish the existence of an infinitely bad +being by what we call "bad." + +Nothing can be surer than that the history of this world furnishes no +foundation on which to base an inference that it has been governed by +infinite wisdom and goodness. So terrible has been the condition of +man, that religionists in all ages have endeavored to excuse God by +accounting for the evils of the world by the wickedness of men. And the +fathers of the Christian Church were forced to take the ground that this +world had been filled with briers and thorns, with deadly serpents +and with poisonous weeds, with disease and crime and earthquake and +pestilence and storm, by the curse of God. + +The probability is that no God has cursed, and that no God will bless, +this earth. Man suffers and enjoys according to conditions. The sun +shines without love, and the lightning blasts without hate. Man is the +Providence of man. + +Nature gives to our eyes all they can see, to our ears all they can +hear, and to the mind what it can comprehend. The human race reaps the +fruit of every victory won on the fields of intellectual or physical +conflict. We have no right to expect something for nothing. Man will +reap no harvest the seeds of which he has not sown. + +The race must be guided by intelligence, must be free to investigate, +and must have the courage and the candor not only to state what is +known, but to cheerfully admit the limitations of the mind. + +No intelligent, honest man can read what Mr. Fawcett has written and +then say that he knows the origin and destiny of things--that he knows +whether an infinite Being exists or not, and that he knows whether the +soul of man is or is not immortal. + +In the land of--------, the geography of which is not certainly known, +there was for many years a great dispute among the inhabitants as to +which road led to the city of Miragia, the capital of their country, and +known to be the most delightful city on the earth. For fifty generations +the discussion as to which road led to the city had been carried on with +the greatest bitterness, until finally the people were divided into a +great number of parties, each party claiming that the road leading +to the city had been miraculously made known to the founder of that +particular sect. The various parties spent most of their time putting up +guide-boards on these roads and tearing down the guide-boards of others. +Hundreds of thousands had been killed, prisons were filled, and the +fields had been ravaged by the hosts of war. + +One day, a wise man, a patriot, wishing to bring peace to his country, +met the leaders of the various sects and asked them whether it was +absolutely certain that the city of Miragia existed. He called their +attention to the facts that no resident of that city had ever visited +them and that none of their fellow-men who had started for the capital +had ever returned, and modestly asked whether it would not be better +to satisfy themselves beyond a doubt that there was such a city, adding +that the location of the city would determine which of all the roads was +the right one. + +The leaders heard these words with amazement. They denounced the speaker +as a wretch without morality, spirituality, or reverence, and thereupon +he was torn in pieces. + + + + +PREFACE TO "FAITH OR FACT." + + +I LIKE to know the thoughts, theories and conclusions of an honest, +intelligent man; candor is always charming, and it is a delight to feel +that you have become acquainted with a sincere soul. + +I have read this book with great pleasure, not only because I know, and +greatly esteem the author, not only because he is my unwavering friend, +but because it is full of good sense, of accurate statement, of sound +logic, of exalted thoughts happily expressed, and for the further reason +that it is against tyranny, superstition, bigotry, and every form of +injustice, and in favor of every virtue. + +Henry M. Taber, the author, has for many years taken great interest +in religious questions. He was raised in an orthodox atmosphere, was +acquainted with many eminent clergymen from whom he endeavored to +find out what Christianity is--and the facts and evidence relied on to +establish the truth of the creeds. He found that the clergy of even the +same denomination did not agree--that some of them preached one way +and talked another, and that many of them seemed to regard the creed as +something to be accepted whether it was believed or not. He found that +each one gave his own construction to the dogmas that seemed heartless +or unreasonable. While some insisted that the Bible was absolutely true +and the creed without error, others admitted that there were mistakes in +the sacred volume and that the creed ought to be revised. Finding these +differences among the ministers, the shepherds, and also finding that +no one pretended to have any evidence except faith, or any facts but +assertions, he concluded to investigate the claims of Christianity for +himself. + +For half a century he has watched the ebb and flow of public opinion, +the growth of science, the crumbling of creeds--the decay of the +theological spirit, the waning influence of the orthodox pulpit, the +loss of confidence in special providence and the efficacy of prayer. + +He has lived to see the church on the defensive--to hear faith asking +for facts--and to see the shot and shell of science batter into +shapelessness the fortresses of superstition. He has lived to see +Infidels, blasphemers and Agnostics the leaders of the intellectual +world. In his time the supernaturalists have lost the sceptre and have +taken their places in the abject rear. + +Fifty years ago the orthodox Christians believed their creeds. To them +the Bible was an actual revelation from God. Every word was true. +Moses and Joshua were regarded as philosophers and scientists. All the +miracles and impossibilities recorded in the Bible were accepted as +facts. Credulity was the greatest of virtues. Everything, except the +reasonable, was believed, and it was considered wickedly presumptuous +to doubt anything except facts. The reasonable things in the Bible could +safely be doubted, but to deny the miracles was like the sin against +the Holy Ghost. In those days the preachers were at the helm. They spoke +with authority. They knew the origin and destiny of the soul. They were +on familiar terms with the Trinity--the three-headed God. They knew the +narrow path that led to heaven and the great highway along which the +multitude were traveling to the Prison of Pain. + +While these reverend gentlemen were busy trying to prevent the +development of the brain and to convince the people that the good in +this life were miserable, that virtue wore a crown of thorns and carried +a cross, while the wicked and ungodly walked in the sunshine of joy, +yet that after death the wicked would be eternally tortured and the +good eternally rewarded. According to the pious philosophy the good +God punished virtue, and rewarded vice, in this world--and in the next, +rewarded virtue and punished vice. These divine truths filled their +hearts with holy peace--with pious resignation. It would be difficult +to determine which gave them the greater joy--the hope of heaven for +themselves, or the certainty of hell for their enemies. For the grace of +God they were fairly thankful, but for his "justice" their gratitude +was boundless. From the heights of heaven they expected to witness the +eternal tragedy in hell. + +While these good divines, these doctors of divinity, were busy +misinterpreting the Scriptures, denying facts and describing the glories +and agonies of eternity, a good many other people were trying to find +out something about this world. They were busy with retort and crucible, +searching the heavens with the telescope, examining rocks and craters, +reefs and islands, studying plant and animal life, inventing ways to +use the forces of nature for the benefit of man, and in every direction +searching for the truth. They were not trying to destroy religion or to +injure the clergy. Many of them were members of churches and believed +the creeds. The facts they found were honestly given to the world. Of +course all facts are the enemies of superstition. The clergy, acting +according to the instinct of self-preservation, denounced these "facts" +as dangerous and the persons who found and published them, as Infidels +and scoffers. + +Theology was arrogant and bold. Science was timid. For some time +the churches seemed to have the best of the controversy. Many of the +scientists surrendered and did their best to belittle the facts and +patch up a cowardly compromise between Nature and Revelation--that is, +between the true and the false. + +Day by day more facts were found that could not be reconciled with the +Scriptures, or the creeds. Neither was it possible to annihilate facts +by denial. The man who believed the Bible could not accept the facts, +and the man who believed the facts could not accept the Bible. At +first, the Bible was the standard, and all facts inconsistent with that +standard were denied. But in a little while science became the standard, +and the passages in the Bible contrary to the standard had to be +explained or given up. Great efforts were made to harmonize the mistakes +in the Bible with the demonstrations of science. It was difficult to be +ingenious enough to defend them both. The pious professors twisted and +turned but found it hard to reconcile the creation of Adam with the slow +development of man from lower forms. They were greatly troubled about +the age of the universe. It seemed incredible that until about six +thousand years ago there was nothing in existence but God--and nothing. +And yet they tried to save the Bible by giving new meanings to the +inspired texts, and casting a little suspicion on the facts. + +This course has mostly been abandoned, although a few survivals, like +Mr. Gladstone, still insist there is no conflict between Revelation and +Science. But these champions of Holy Writ succeed only in causing the +laughter of the intelligent and the amazement of the honest. The more +intelligent theologians confessed that the inspired writers could not +be implicitly believed. As they personally know nothing of astronomy or +geology and were forced to rely entirely on inspiration, it is wonderful +that more mistakes were not made. So it was claimed that Jehovah cared +nothing about science, and allowed the blunders and mistakes of the +ignorant people concerning everything except religion, to appear in his +supernatural book as inspired truths. + +The Bible, they said, was written to teach religion in its highest and +purest form--to make mankind fit to associate with God and his angels. +True, polygamy was tolerated and slavery established, yet Jehovah +believed in neither, but on account of the wickedness of the Jews was in +favor of both. + +At the same time quite a number of real scholars were investigating +other religions, and in a little while they were enabled to show that +these religions had been manufactured by men--that their Christs and +apostles were myths and that all their sacred books were false and +foolish. This pleased the Christians. They knew that theirs was the only +true religion and that their Bible was the only inspired book. + +The fact that there is nothing original in Christianity, that all the +dogmas, ceremonies and festivals had been borrowed, together with some +mouldy miracles used as witnesses, weakened the faith of some and sowed +the seeds of doubt in many minds. But the pious petrifactions, the +fossils of faith, still clung to their book and creed. While they were +quick to see the absurdities in other sacred books, they were either +unconsciously blind or maliciously shut their eyes to the same +absurdities in the Bible. They knew that Mohammed was an impostor, +because the citizens of Mecca, who knew him, said he was, and they knew +that Christ was not an impostor, because the people of Jerusalem who +knew him, said he was. The same fact was made to do double duty. When +they attacked other religions it was a sword and when their religion was +attacked it became a shield. + +The men who had investigated other religions turned their attention to +Christianity. They read our Bible as they had read other sacred books. +They were not blinded by faith or paralyzed by fear, and they found that +the same arguments they had used against other religions destroyed our +own. + +But the real old-fashioned orthodox ministers denounced the +investigators as Infidels and denied every fact that was inconsistent +with the creed. They wanted to protect the young and feeble minded. They +were anxious about the souls of the "thoughtless." + +Some ministers changed their views just a little, not enough to be +driven from their pulpits--but just enough to keep sensible people +from thinking them idiotic. These preachers talked about the "higher +criticism" and contended that it was not necessary to believe every word +in the Bible, that some of the miracles might be given up and some of +the books discarded. But the stupid doctors of divinity had the Bible +and the creeds on their side and the machinery of the churches was in +their control. They brought some of the offending clergymen to the bar, +and had them tried for heresy, made some recant and closed the mouths +of others. Still, it was not easy to put the heretics down. The +congregations of ministers found guilty, often followed the shepherds. +Heresy grew popular, the liberal preachers had good audiences, while the +orthodox addressed a few bonnets, bibs and benches. + +For many years the pulpit has been losing influence and the sacred +calling no longer offers a career to young men of talent and ambition. + +When people believed in "special providence," they also believed that +preachers had great influence with God. They were regarded as celestial +lobbyists and they were respected and feared because of their supposed +power. + +Now no one who has the capacity to think, believes in special +providence. Of course there are some pious imbeciles who think that +pestilence and famine, cyclone and earthquake, flood and fire are the +weapons of God, the tools of his trade, and that with these weapons, +these tools, he kills and starves, rends and devours, drowns and burns +countless thousands of the human race. + +If God governs this world, if he builds and destroys, if back of every +event is his will, then he is neither good nor wise, He is ignorant and +malicious. + +A few days ago, in Paris, men and women had gathered together in the +name of Charity. The building in which they, were assembled took fire +and many of these men and women perished in the flames. + +A French priest called this horror an act of God. + +Is it not strange that Christians speak of their God as an assassin? + +How can they love and worship this monster who murders, his children? + +Intelligence seems to be leaving the orthodox church. The great divines +are growing smaller, weaker, day by day. Since the death of Henry Ward +Beecher no man of genius has stood in the orthodox pulpit. The ministers +of intelligence are found in the liberal churches where they are allowed +to express their thoughts and preserve their manhood. Some of these +preachers keep their faces toward the East and sincerely welcome the +light, while their orthodox brethren stand with their backs to the +sunrise and worship the sunset of the day before. + +During these years of change, of decay and growth, the author of this +book looked and listened, became familiar with the questions raised, the +arguments offered and the results obtained. For his work a better man +could not have been found. He has no prejudice, no hatred. He is by +nature candid, conservative, kind and just. He does not attack persons. +He knows the difference between exchanging epithets and thoughts. He +gives the facts as they appear to him and draws the logical conclusions. +He charges and proves that Christianity has not always been the friend +of morality, of civil liberty, of wives and mothers, of free though and +honest speech. He shows that intolerance is its nature, that it always +has, and always will persecute to the extent of its power, and that +Christianity will always despise the doubter. + +Yet we know that doubt must inhabit every finite mind. We know that +doubt is as natural as hope, and that man is no more responsible for his +doubts than for the beating of his heart. Every human being who knows +the nature of evidence, the limitations of the mind, must have "doubts" +about gods and devils, about heavens and hells, and must know that there +is not the slightest evidence tending to show that gods and devils ever +existed. + +God is a guess. + +An undesigned designer, an uncaused cause, is as incomprehensible to the +human mind as a circle without a diameter. + +The dogma of the Trinity multiplies the difficulty by three. + +Theologians do not, and cannot believe that the authority to govern +comes from the consent of the governed. They regard God as the monarch, +and themselves as his agents. They always have been the enemies of +liberty. + +They claim to have a revelation from their God, a revelation that is the +rightful master of reason. As long as they believe this, they must be +the enemies of mental freedom. They do not ask man to think, but command +him to obey. + +If the claims of the theologians are admitted, the church becomes the +ruler of the world, and to support and obey priests will be the business +of mankind. All these theologians claim to have a revelation from their +God, and yet they cannot agree as to what the revelation reveals. The +other day, looking from my window at the bay of New York, I saw many +vessels going in many directions, and yet all were moved by the same +wind. The direction in which they were going did not depend on the +direction of the breeze, but on the set of the sails. In this way the +same Bible furnishes creeds for all the Christian sects. But what would +we say if the captains of the boats I saw, should each swear that his +boat was the only one that moved in the same direction the wind was +blowing? + +I agree with Mr. Taber that all religions are founded on mistakes, +misconceptions and falsehoods, and that superstition is the warp and +woof of every creed. + +This book will do great good. It will furnish arguments and facts +against the supernatural and absurd. It will drive phantoms from the +brain, fear from the heart, and many who read these pages will be +emancipated, enlightened and ennobled. + +Christianity, with its ignorant and jealous God--its loving and +revengeful Christ--its childish legends--its grotesque miracles--its +"fall of man"--its atonement--its salvation by faith--its heaven for +stupidity and its hell for genius, does not and cannot satisfy the free +brain and the good heart. + + + + +THE GRANT BANQUET. + +Chicago, November 13, 1879. + + +TWELFTH TOAST. + + * The meteoric display predicted to take place last Thursday + night did not occur, but there did occur on that evening a + display of oratorical brilliancy at Chicago seldom if ever + surpassed. The speeches at the banquet of the Army of the + Tennessee, taken together, constitute one of the most + remarkable collections of extemporaneous eloquence on + record. The principal speakers of the evening were Gen. U. + S. Grant, Gen. John A. Logan Col. Win, F. Vilas, Gen. + Stewart L. Woodford, General Pope, Col. R. G. Ingersoll, + Gen. J. H. Wilson, and "Mark Twain." In an oratorical + tournament General Grant is, of course, better as a listener + than as a talker; he is a man of deeds rather than of words. + The same might be said of General Sherman, though, as + presiding officer and toast-master of the occasion, his + impromptu remarks were always pertinent and keen. His advice + to speakers not to talk longer than they could hold their + audience, and to the auditors not to drag out their applause + or to drawl out their laughter, would serve as a good + standing rule for all similar occasions Colonel Ingersoll + responded to the twelfth toast, "The Volunteer Soldiers of + the Union Army, whose Valor and Patriotism saved to the + world a Government of the People, by the People, and for the + people." + + Colonel Ingersoll's position was a difficult one. His + reputation as the first orator in America caused the + distinguished audience to expect a wonderful display of + oratory from him. He proved fully equal to the occasion and + delivered a speech of wonderful eloquence, brilliancy and + power. To say it was one of the best he ever delivered is + equivalent to saying it was one of the best ever delivered + by any man, for few greater orators have ever lived than + Colonel Ingersoll. The speech is both an oration and a poem. + It bristles with ideas and sparkles with epigrammatic + expressions. It is full of thoughts that breathe and words + that burn. The closing sentences read like blank verse. It + is wonderful oratory, marvelous eloquence. Colonel + Ingersoll fully sustained his reputation as the finest + orator In America. + + Editorial from The Journal Indianapolis, Ind., November + 17,1879. + + The Inter-Ocean remarked yesterday that the gathering and + exercises at the Palmer House banquet on Thursday evening + constituted one of the most remarkable occasions known in + the history of this country. This was not alone because of + the distinguished men who lent their presence to the scone; + they were indeed illustrious; but they only formed a part of + the grand picture that must endure while the memory of our + great conflict survives. To the eminent men assembled may be + traced the signal success of the affair, for they gave + inspiration to the minds and the tongues of others; but it + was the fruit of that inspiration that rolled like a glad + surprise across the banqueting sky, and made the 13th of + November renowned in the calendar of days... When Robert G. + Ingersoll rose after the speech of General Pope, to respond + to the toast, "The Volunteer Soldiers," a large part of the + audience rose with him, and the cheering was long and loud. + Colonel Ingersoll may fairly be regarded as the foremost + orator of America, and there was the keenest interest to + hear him after all the brilliant speeches that had preceded; + and this interest was not unnmixed with a fear that he would + not be able to successfully strive against both his own + great reputation and the fresh competitors who had leaped + suddenly into the oratorical arena like mighty gladiators + and astonished the audience by their unexpected eloquence. + But Ingersoll had not proceeded far when the old fire broke + out, and flashing metaphor, bold denunciation, and all the + rich imagery and poetical beauty which mark his great + efforts stood revealed before the delighted listeners: Long + before the last word was uttered, all doubt as to the + ability of the great orator to sustain himself had departed, + and rising to their feet, the audience cheered till the hall + rang with shouts. Like Henry, "The forest-born Demosthenes, + whose thunder shook the Philip of the seas," Ingersoll still + held the crown within his grasp. + + Editorial from The Inter-Ocean, Chicago, November 15, 1879. + + +The Volunteer Soldiers of the Union Army, whose Valor and Patriotism +saved to the world "a Government of the People, by the People, and for +the People." + +WHEN the savagery of the lash, the barbarism of the chain, and the +insanity of secession confronted the civilization of our country, the +question "Will the great Republic defend itself?" trembled on the lips +of every lover of mankind. + +The North, filled with intelligence and wealth--children of +liberty--marshaled her hosts and asked only for a leader. From civil +life a man, silent, thoughtful, poised and calm, stepped forth, and +with the lips of victory voiced the Nation's first and last demand: +"Unconditional and immediate surrender." From that 'moment' the end was +known. That utterance was the first real declaration of real war, and, +in accordance with the dramatic unities of mighty events, the great +soldier who made it, received the final sword of the Rebellion. + +The soldiers of the Republic were not seekers after vulgar glory. They +were not animated by the hope of plunder or the love of conquest. They +fought to preserve the homestead of liberty and that their children +might have peace. They were the defenders of humanity, the destroyers +of prejudice, the breakers of chains, and in the name of the future +they slew the monster of their time. They finished what the soldiers of +the Revolution commenced. They re-lighted the torch that fell from their +august hands and filled the world again with light. They blotted +from the statute-book laws that had been passed by hypocrites at +the instigation of robbers, and tore with indignant hands from the +Constitution that infamous clause that made men the catchers of their +fellow-men. They made it possible for judges to be just, for statesmen +to be humane, and for politicians to be honest. They broke the shackles +from the limbs of slaves, from the souls of masters, and from the +Northern brain. They kept our country on the map of the world, and our +flag in heaven. They rolled the stone from the sepulchre of progress, +and found therein two angels clad in shining garments--Nationality and +Liberty. + +The soldiers were the saviors of the Nation; they were the liberators of +men. In writing the Proclamation of Emancipation, Lincoln, greatest +of our mighty dead, whose memory is as gentle as the summer air when +reapers, sing amid the gathered sheaves, copied with the pen what Grant +and his brave comrades wrote with swords. + +Grander than the Greek, nobler than the Roman, the soldiers of the +Republic, with patriotism as shoreless as the air, battled for the +rights of others, for the nobility of labor; fought that mothers might +own their babes, that arrogant idleness should not scar the back of +patient toil, and that our country should not be a many-headed monster +made of warring States, but a Nation, sovereign, great, and free. + +Blood was water, money was leaves, and life, was only common air until +one flag floated over a Republic without a master and without a slave. + +And then was asked the question: "Will a free, people tax themselves to +pay a Nation's debt?" + +The soldiers went home to their waiting wives, to their glad children, +and to the girls they loved--they went back-to the fields, the shops, +and mines. They had not been demoralized. They had been ennobled. +They were as honest in peace as they had been brave in war. Mocking at +poverty, laughing at reverses, they made a friend of toil. They said: +"We saved the Nation's life, and what is life without honor?" They +worked and wrought with all of labor's royal sons that every pledge +the Nation gave might be redeemed. And their great leader, having put a +shining band of friendship--a girdle of clasped and happy hands--around +the globe, comes home and finds that every promise made in war has now +the ring and gleam of gold. + +There is another question still:--Will all the wounds of war be healed? +I answer, Yes. The Southern people must submit,--not to the dictation of +the North, but to the Nation's will and to the verdict of mankind. They +were wrong, and the time will come when they will say that they are +victors who have been vanquished by the right. Freedom conquered them, +and freedom will cultivate their fields, educate their children, weave +for them the robes of wealth, execute their laws, and fill their land +with happy homes. + +The soldiers of the Union saved the South as well as the North. They +made us a Nation. Their victory made us free and rendered tyranny in +every other land as insecure as snow upon volcanoes' lips. + +And now let us drink to the volunteers--to those who sleep in unknown, +sunken graves, whose names are only in the hearts of those they loved +and left--of those who only hear in happy dreams the footsteps of +return. Let us drink to those who died where lipless famine mocked at +want; to all the maimed whose scars give modesty a tongue; to all who +dared and gave to chance the care and keeping of their lives; to all the +living and to all the dead,--to Sherman, to Sheridan, and to Grant, the +laureled soldier of the world, and last, to Lincoln, whose loving life, +like a bow of peace, spans and arches all the clouds of war. + + + + +THIRTEEN CLUB DINNER. + + * Response of Col. R. G. Ingersoll to the sentiment "The + Superstitions of Public Men," at the regular monthly dinner + of the Thirteen Club. Monday evening, December 18, 1886. + +New York, December 13, 1886, + + +THE SUPERSTITIONS OF PUBLIC MEN, + +MR. CHIEF RULER-AND GENTLEMEN: I suppose that the superstition most +prevalent with public men, is the idea that they are of great importance +to the public. As a matter of fact, public men,--that is to say, men in +office,--reflect the average intelligence of the people, and no more. +A public man, to be successful, must not assert anything unless it is +exceedingly popular. And he need not deny anything unless everybody is +against it. Usually he has to be like the center of the earth,--draw all +things his way, without weighing anything himself. + +One of the difficulties, or rather, one of the objections, to a +government republican in form, is this: Everybody imagines that he is +everybody's: master. And the result has been to make most of our public +men exceedingly conservative in the expression of their real opinions. +A man, wishing to be elected to an office, generally agrees with 'most +everybody he meets. If he meets a Prohibitionist, he says: "Of course I +am a temperance man. I am opposed to all excesses; my dear friend, +and no one knows better than myself the evils that have been caused by +intemperance." The next man happens to keep a saloon, and happens to +be quite influential in that part of the district, and the candidate +immediately says to him:--"The idea that these Prohibitionists can take +away the personal liberty of the citizen is simply monstrous!" In a +moment after, he is greeted by a Methodist, and he hastens to say, that +while he does not belong to that church himself, his wife does; that he +would gladly be a member, but does not feel that he is good enough. He +tells a Presbyterian that his grandfather was of that faith, and that he +was a most excellent man, and laments from the bottom of his heart that +he himself is not within that fold. A few moments after, on meeting a +skeptic, he declares, with the greatest fervor, that reason is the only +guide, and that he looks forward to the time when superstition will be +dethroned. In other words, the greatest superstition now entertained by +public men is, that hypocrisy is the royal road to success. + +Of course, there are many other superstitions, and one is, that the +Democratic party has not outlived its usefulness. Another is, that the +Republican party should have power for what it has done, instead of what +it proposes to do. + +In my judgment, these statesmen are mistaken. The people of the United +States, after all, admire intellectual honesty and have respect for +moral courage. The time has come for the old ideas and superstitions in +politics to be thrown away--not in phrase, not in pretence, but in fact; +and the time has come when a man can safely rely on the intelligence and +courage of the American people. + +The most significant fact in this world to-day, is, that in nearly every +village under the American flag the school-house is larger than the +church. People are beginning to have a little confidence in intelligence +and in facts. Every public man and every private man, who is actuated +in his life by a belief in something that no one can prove,--that no one +can demonstrate,--is, to that extent, a superstitious man. + +It may be that I go further than most of you, because if I have any +superstition, it is a superstition against superstition. It seems to +me that the first things for every man, whether in or out of office, to +believe in,--the first things to rely on, are demonstrated facts. +These are the corner stones,--these are the columns that nothing can +move,--these are the stars that no darkness can hide,--these are the +true and only foundations of belief. + +Beyond the truths that have been demonstrated is the horizon of the +Probable, and in the world of the Probable every man has the right to +guess for himself. Beyond the region of the Probable is the Possible, +and beyond the Possible is the Impossible, and beyond the Impossible are +the religions of this world. My idea is this: Any man who acts in +view of the Improbable or of the Impossible--that is to say of the +Supernatural--is a superstitious man. Any man who believes that he can +add to the happiness of the Infinite, by depriving himself of innocent +pleasure, is superstitious. Any man who imagines that he can make some +God happy, by making himself miserable, is superstitious. Any one who +thinks he can gain happiness in another world, by raising hell with his +fellow-men in this, is simply superstitious. Any man who believes in a +Being of infinite wisdom and goodness, and yet belives that that +Being has peopled a world with failures, is superstitious. Any man who +believes that an infinitely wise and good God would take pains to make +a man, intending at the time that the man should be eternally damned, is +absurdly superstitious. In other words, he who believes that there is, +or that there can be, any other religious duty than to increase the +happiness of mankind, in this world, now and here, is superstitious. + +I have known a great many private men who were not men of genius. I +have known some men of genius about whom it was kept private, and I have +known many public men, and my wonder increased the better I knew them, +that they occupied positions of trust and honor. + +But, after all, it is the people's fault. They who demand hypocrisy +must be satisfied with mediocrity... Our public men will be better and +greater, and less superstitious, when the people become greater and +better and less superstitious. There is an old story, that we have all +heard, about Senator Nesmith. He was elected a Senator from Oregon. When +he had been in Washington a little while, one of the other Senators said +to him: "How did you feel when you found yourself sitting here in the +United States Senate?" He replied: "For the first two months, I just +sat and wondered how a damned fool like me ever, broke into the Senate. +Since that, I have done nothing but wonder how the other fools got +here." + +To-day the need of our civilization is public men who have the courage +to speak as they think. We need a man for President who will not +publicly thank God for earthquakes. We need somebody with the courage to +say that all that happens in nature happens without design, and without +reference to man; somebody who will say that the men and women killed +are not murdered by supernatural beings, and that everything that +happens in nature, happens without malice and without mercy. We want +somebody who will have courage enough not to charge, an infinitely good +and wise Being with all the cruelties and agonies and sufferings of this +world. We want such men in public places,--men who will appeal to the +reason of their fellows, to the highest intelligence of the people; men +who will have courage enough, in this the nineteenth century, to agree +with the conclusions of science. We want some man who will not +pretend to believe, and who does not in fact believe, the stories that +Superstition has told to Credulity. + +The most important thing in this world is the destruction of +superstition. Superstition interferes with the happiness of mankind. +Superstition is a terrible serpent, reaching in frightful coils from +heaven to earth and thrusting its poisoned fangs into the hearts of men. +While I live, I am going to do what little I can for the destruction of +this monster. Whatever may happen in another world--and I will take my +chances there,--I am opposed to superstition in this. And if, when I +reach that other world, it needs reforming, I shall do what little I can +there for the destruction of the false. + +Let me tell you one thing more, and I am done. The only way to have +brave, honest, intelligent, conscientious public men, men without +superstition, is to do what we can to make the average citizen brave, +conscientious and intelligent. If you wish to see courage in the +presidential chair, conscience upon the bench, intelligence of the +highest order in Congress; if you expect public men to be great enough +to reflect honor upon the Republic, private citizens must have the +courage and the intelligence to elect, and to sustain, such men. I have +said, and I say it again, that never while I live will I vote for any +man to be President of the United States, no matter if he does belong +to my party, who has not won his spurs on some field of intellectual +conflict. We have had enough mediocrity, enough policy, enough +superstition, enough prejudice, enough provincialism, and the time has +come for the American citizen to say: "Hereafter I will be represented +by men who are worthy, not only of the great Republic, but of the +Nineteenth Century." + + + + +ROBSON AND CRANE DINNER. + +New York, November 21, 1887. + + * The theatre party and supper given by Charles P. Palmer, + brother of Courtlandt Palmer, on Monday evening were + unusually attractive in many ways. Mr Palmer has recently + returned from Europe, and took this opportunity to gather + around him his old club associates and friends, and to show + his admiration of the acting of Messrs. Robson and Crane. + The appearance of Mr. Palmer's fifty guests in the theatre + excited much interest in all parts of the house. It is not + often that theatre-goers have the opportunity of seeing in a + single row, Channcey M. Depew, Gen. William T. Sherman, Gen. + Horace Porter and Robert G. Ingersoll, with Leonard Jerome + and his brother Lawrence, Murat Halstead and other well- + known men in close proximity + + The supper table at Delmonico's was decorated with a lavish + profusion of flowers rarely approached even at that famous + restaurant. + + Mr. Palmer was a charming host, full of humor, jollity and + attention to every guest. He opened the speaking with a few + apt words. Then Stuart Rodson made some witty remarks, and + called upon William H. Crane, whose well-rounded speech was + heartily applauded General Sherman, Chauncey M. Depew, + General Porter, Lawrence Jerome and Colonel Ingersoll were + all in their best moods, and the sallies of wit and the + abundance of genuine humor in their informal addresses kept + their hearers in almost continuous laughter. Lawrence Jerome + was in especially fine form. He sang songs, told stories and + said: "Depew and Ingersoll know so much that intelligence + has become a drag in the market, and it's no use to tell you + what a good speech I would have made." J. Seaver Page made + an uncommonly witty and effective speech. Murat Halstead + related some reminiscences of his last European tour and of + his experiences in London with Lawrence and Leonard Jerome, + which were received with shouts of laughter. Altogether the + supper was one to be long remembered by all present.--The + Tribune, New York, November 23, 1887; + + +TOAST: COMEDY AND TRAGEDY. + +I BELIEVE in the medicine of mirth, and in what I might call the +longevity of laughter. Every man who has caused real, true, honest +mirth, has been a benefactor of the human race. In a world like this, +where there is so much trouble--a world gotten up on such a poor +plan--where sometimes one is almost inclined to think that the Deity, if +there be one, played a practical joke--to find, I say, in such a world, +something that for the moment allows laughter to triumph over sorrow, +is a great piece of good fortune. I like the stage, not only because +General Sherman likes it--and I do not think I was ever at the theatre +in my life but I saw him--I not only like it because General Washington +liked it, but because the greatest man that ever touched this grain of +sand and tear we call the world, wrote for the stage, and poured out +a very Mississippi of philosophy and pathos and humor, and everything +calculated to raise and ennoble mankind. + +I like to see the stage honored, because actors are the ministers, the +apostles, of the greatest man who ever lived, and because they put +flesh upon and blood and passion within the greatest characters that +the greatest man drew. This is the reason I like the stage. It makes us +human. A rascal never gained applause on the stage. A hypocrite never +commanded admiration, not even when he was acting a clergyman--except +for the naturalness of the acting. No one has ever yet seen any play +in which, in his heart, he did not applaud honesty, heroism, sincerity, +fidelity, courage, and self-denial. Never. No man ever heard a great +play who did not get up a better, wiser, and more humane man; and no man +ever went to the theatre and heard Robson and Crane, who did not go home +better-natured, and treat his family that night a little better than on +a night when he had not heard these actors. + +I enjoy the stage; I always did enjoy it. I love the humanity of it. I +hate solemnity; it is the brother of stupidity--always. You never knew a +solemn man who was not stupid, and you never will. There never was a +man of true genius who had not the simplicity of a child, and over whose +lips had not rippled the river of laughter--never, and there never will +be. I like, I say, the stage for its wit and for its humor. I do not +like sarcasm; I do not like mean humor. There is as much difference +between humor and malicious wit as there is between a bee's honey and +a bee's sting, and the reason I like Robson and Crane is that they have +the honey without the sting. + +Another thing that makes me glad is, that I live in an age and +generation and day that has sense enough to appreciate the stage; sense +enough to appreciate music; sense enough to appreciate everything +that lightens the burdens of this life. Only a few years ago our dear +ancestors looked upon the theatre as the vestibule of hell; and every +actor was going "the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire." In those +good old days, our fathers, for the sake of relaxation, talked about +death and graves and epitaphs and worms and shrouds and dust and hell. +In those days, too, they despised music, cared nothing for art; and +yet I have lived long enough to hear the world--that is, the civilized +world--say that Shakespeare wrote the greatest book that man has ever +read. I have lived long enough to see men like Beethoven and Wagner put +side by side with the world's greatest men--great in imagination--and we +must remember that imagination makes the great difference between men. +I have lived long enough to see actors placed with the grandest and +noblest, side by side with the greatest benefactors of the human race. + +There is one thing in which I cannot quite agree with what has been +said. I like tragedy, because tragedy is only the other side of the +shield and I like both sides. I love to spend an evening on the twilight +boundary line between tears and smiles. There is nothing that pleases me +better than some scene, some act, where the smile catches the tears +in the eyes; where the eyes are almost surprised by the smile, and the +smile touched and softened by the tears. I like that. And the greatest +comedians and the greatest tragedians have that power; and, in +conclusion, let me say, that it gives me more than pleasure to +acknowledge the debt of gratitude I owe, not only to the stage, but to +the actors whose health we drink to-night. + + + + +THE POLICE CAPTAINS' DINNER. + +New York, January 24, 1888. + + +TOAST: DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF THE PRESS. + +ONLY a little while ago, the nations of the world were ignorant and +provincial. Between these nations there were the walls and barriers of +language, of prejudice, of custom, of race and of religion. Each +little nation had the only perfect form of government--the only genuine +religion--all others being adulterations or counterfeits. + +These nations met only as enemies. They had nothing to exchange but +blows--nothing to give and take but wounds. + +Movable type was invented, and "civilization was thrust into the brain +of Europe on the point of a Moorish lance." The Moors gave to our +ancestors paper, and nearly all valuable inventions that were made for a +thousand years. + +In a little while, books began to be printed--the nations began to +exchange thoughts instead of blows. The classics were translated. These +were read, and those who read them began to imitate them--began to write +themselves; and in this way there was produced in each nation a local +literature. There came to be an exchange of facts, of theories, of +ideas. + +For many years this was accomplished by books, but after a time the +newspaper was invented, and the exchange increased. + +Before this, every peasant thought his king the greatest being in the +world. He compared this king--his splendor, his palace--with the +peasant neighbor, with his rags and with his hut. All his thoughts were +provincial, all his knowledge confined to his own neighborhood--the +great world was to him an unknown land. + +Long after papers were published, the circulation was small, the means +of intercommunication slow, painful, few and costly. + +The same was true in our own country, and here, too, was in a great +degree, the provincialism of the Old World. + +Finally, the means of intercommunication increased, and they became +plentiful and cheap. + +Then the peasant found that he must compare his king with the kings +of other nations--the statesmen of his country with the statesmen of +others--and these comparisons were not always favorable to the men of +his own country. + +This enlarged his knowledge and his vision, and the tendency of this was +to make him a citizen of the world. + +Here in our own country, a little while ago, the citizen of each State +regarded his State as the best of all. To love that State more than all +others, was considered the highest evidence of patriotism. + +The Press finally informed him of the condition of other States. He +found that other States were superior to his in many ways--in climate, +in production, in men, in invention, in commerce and in influence. +Slowly he transferred the love of State, the prejudice of locality--what +I call mud patriotism--to the Nation, and he became an American in the +best and highest sense. + +This, then, is one of the greatest things to be accomplished by +the Press in America--namely, the unification of the country--the +destruction of provincialism, and the creation of a patriotism broad as +the territory covered by our flag. + +The same ideas, the same events, the same news, are carried to millions +of homes every day. The result of this is to fix the attention of +all upon the same things, the same thoughts and theories, the same +facts--and the result is to get the best judgment of a nation. + +This is a great and splendid object, but not the greatest. + +In Europe the same thing is taking place. The nations are becoming +acquainted with each other. The old prejudices are dying out. The people +cf each nation are beginning to find that they are not the enemies of +any other. They are also beginning to suspect that where they have no +cause of quarrel, they should neither be called upon to fight, nor to +pay the expenses of war. + +Another thing: The kings and statesmen no longer act as they +formerly did. Once they were responsible only to their poor and +wretched-subjects, whose obedience they compelled at the point of the +bayonet. Now a king knows, and his minister knows, that they must give +account for what they do to the civilized world. They know that kings +and rulers must be tried before the great bar of public opinion--a +public opinion that has been formed by the facts given to them in the +Press of the world. They do not wish to be condemned at that great bar. +They seek not only not to be condemned--not only to be acquitted--but +they seek to be crowned. They seek the applause, not simply of their own +nation, but of the civilized world. + +There was for uncounted centuries a conflict between civilization and +barbarism. Barbarism was almost universal, civilization local. The torch +of progress was then held by feeble hands, and barbarism extinguished it +in the blood of its founders. But civilizations arose, and kept rising, +one after another, until now the great Republic holds and is able to +hold that torch against a hostile world. + +By its invention, by its weapons of war, by its intelligence, +civilization became capable of protecting itself, and there came a time +when in the struggle between civilization and barbarism the world passed +midnight. + +Then came another struggle,--the struggle between the people and their +rulers. + +Most peoples sacrificed their liberty through gratitude to some great +soldier who rescued them from the arms of the barbarian. But there came +a time when the people said: "We have a right to govern ourselves." And +that conflict has been waged for centuries. + +And I say, protected and corroborated by the flag of the greatest of all +Republics, that in that conflict the world has passed midnight. + +Despotisms were softened by parliaments, by congresses--but at last the +world is beginning to say: "The right to govern rests upon the consent +of the governed. The power comes from the people--not from kings. It +belongs to man, and should be exercised by man." + +In this conflict we have passed midnight. The world is destined to be +republican. Those who obey the laws will make the laws. + +Our country--the United States--the great Republic--owns the fairest +portion of half the world. We have now sixty millions of free people. +Look upon the map of our country. Look upon the great valley of the +Mississippi--stretching from the Alleghenies to the Rockies. See the +great basin drained by that mighty river. There you will see a territory +large enough to feed and clothe and educate five hundred millions of +human beings. + +This country is destined to remain as one. The Mississippi River is +Nature's protest against secession and against division. + +We call that nation civilized when its subjects submit their differences +of opinion, in accordance with the forms of law, to fellow-citizens who +are disinterested and who accept the decision as final. + +The nations, however, sustain no such relation to each other. Each +nation concludes for itself. Each nation defines its rights and its +obligations; and nations will not be civilized in respect of their +relations to each other, until there shall have been established a +National Court to decide differences between nations, to the judgment of +which all shall bow. + +It is for the Press--the Press that photographs the human activities +of every day--the Press that gives the news of the world to each +individual--to bend its mighty energies to the unification and the +civilization of mankind; to the destruction of provincialism, of +prejudice--to the extirpation of ignorance and to the creation of a +great and splendid patriotism that embraces the human race. + +The Press presents the daily thoughts of men. It marks the progress +of each hour, and renders a relapse into ignorance and barbarism +impossible. No catastrophe can be great enough, no ruin wide-spread +enough, to engulf or blot out the wisdom of the world. + +Feeling that it is called to this high destiny, the Press should appeal +only to the highest and to the noblest in the human heart. + +It should not be the bat of suspicion, a raven, hoarse with croaking +disaster, a chattering jay of gossip, or a vampire fattening on the +reputations of men. + +It should remain the eagle, rising and soaring high in the cloudless +blue, above all mean and sordid things, and grasping only the bolts and +arrows of justice. + +Let the Press have the courage always to defend the right, always +to defend the people--and let it always have the power to clutch and +strangle any combination of men, however intellectual or cunning or +rich, that feeds and fattens on the flesh and blood of honest men. + +In a little while, under our flag there will be five hundred millions +of people. The great Republic will then dictate to the world--that is to +say, it will succor the oppressed--it will see that justice is done--it +will say to the great nations that wish to trample upon the weak: "You +must not--you shall not--strike." It will be obeyed. + +All I ask is--all I hope is--that the Press will always be worthy of the +great Republic. + + + + +GENERAL GRANT'S BIRTHDAY DINNER + +New York, April 27, 1888. + + + * The tribute at Delmonico's last night was to the man + Grant as a supreme type of the confidence of the American + Republic in its own strength and destiny. Soldiers over + whose lost cause the wheels of a thousand cannons rolled, + and whose doctrines were ground to dust under the heels of + conquering legions, poured out their souls at the feet of + the great commander. Magnanimity, mercy, faith--these were + the themes of every orator. Christian and Infidel, blue and + gray, Republican and Democrat talked of Grant almost as men + have come to talk of Washington. + + And, alas! In the midst of it all, with its soft glow of + lights, its sweet breath of flowers, its throb of music and + bewildering radiance of banners, there was a vacant chair. + Upon it hung a wreath of green, tied with a knot of white + ribbon. Soldier and statesman and orator walked past that + chair and seemed to reverence it. It was the seat intended + for the trumpet tongued advocate of Grant in war, Grant in + victory, Grant in peace, Grant in adversity--the seat of + Roscoe Conkling. A little later and a clergyman jostled into + the vacant chair and brushed the green circlet to the floor. + + Gray and grim old General Sherman presided. About the nine + round, flower heaped tables were grouped the long list of + distinguisned men from every walk or life and from every + section of the country. + + Among the speakers was Ex-Minister Edwards Pierrepont who + was one of Grant's cabinet and who made a long speech, part + of which was devoted to explaining the court etiquette of + dukes and earls and ministers in England, and how an ex- + President of the United States ranks in Europe when an + American Minister helps him out. The rest of the speech + seemed to be an attempt to get up a presidential boom for + the Prince of Wales. + + When Mr. Pierrepont sat down, General Sherman explained that + Col. Robert Ingersoll did not want to speak, but a group of + gentlemen lifted the orator up and carried him forward by + main force.--New York Herald, April 28,1888. + + +TOAST: GENERAL GRANT + +GEN. SHERMAN and Gentlemen: I firmly believe that any nation great +enough to produce and appreciate a great and splendid man is great +enough to keep his memory green. No man admires more than I do men who +have struggled and fought for what they believed to be right. I admire +General Grant, as well as every soldier who fought in the ranks of the +Union,--not simply because they were fighters, not simply because they +were willing to march to the mouth of the guns, but because they fought +for the greatest cause that can be expressed in human language--the +liberty of man. And to-night while General Mahone was speaking, I could +not but think that the North was just as responsible for the war as the +South. The South upheld and maintained what is known as human slavery, +and the North did the same; and do you know, I have always found in my +heart a greater excuse for the man who held the slave, and lived on his +labor, and profited by the rascality, than I did for a Northern man that +went into partnership with him with a distinct understanding that he was +to have none of the profits and half of the disgrace. So I say, that, +in a larger sense--that is, when we view the question from a philosophic +height--the North was as responsible as the South; and when I remember +that in this very city, _in this very city_, men were mobbed simply for +advocating the abolition of slavery, I cannot find it in my heart to lay +a greater blame upon the South than upon the North. If this had been a +war of conquest, a war simply for national aggrandizement, then I should +not place General Grant side by side with or in advance of the greatest +commanders of the world. But when I remember that every blow was to +break a chain, when I remember that the white man was to be civilized +at the same time the black man was made free, when I remember that this +country was to be made absolutely free, and the flag left without a +stain, then I say that the great General who commanded the greatest army +ever marshaled in the defence of human rights, stands at the head of the +commanders of this world. + +There is one other idea,--and it was touched upon and beautifully +illustrated by Mr. Depew. I do not believe that a more merciful general +than Grant ever drew his sword. All greatness is merciful. All greatness +longs to forgive. All true grandeur and nobility is capable of shedding +the divine tear of pity. + +Let me say one more word in that direction. The man in the wrong +defeated, and who sees the justice of his defeat, is a victor; and in +this view--and I say it understanding my words fully--the South was as +victorious as the North. + +No man, in my judgment, is more willing to do justice to all parts +of this country than I; but, after all, I have a little sentiment--a +little. I admire great and splendid deeds, the dramatic effect of great +victories; but even more than that I admire that "touch of nature which +makes the whole world kin." I know the names of Grant's victories. I +know that they shine like stars in the heaven of his fame. I know them +all. But there is one thing in the history of that great soldier that +touched me nearer and more deeply than any victory he ever won, and that +is this: When about to die, he insisted that his dust should be laid in +no spot where his wife, when she sleeps in death, could not lie by his +side. That tribute to the great and splendid institution that rises +above all others, the institution of the family, touched me even more +than the glories won upon the fields of war. + +And now let me say, General Sherman, as the years go by, in America, as +long as her people are great, as long as her people are free, as long +as they admire patriotism and courage, as long as they admire deeds of +self-denial, as long as they can remember the sacred blood shed for +the good of the whole nation, the birthday of General Grant will be +celebrated. And allow me to say, gentlemen, that there is another with +us to-night whose birthday will be celebrated. Americans of the future, +when they read the history of General Sherman, will feel the throb and +thrill that all men feel in the presence of the patriotic and heroic. + +One word more--when General Grant went to England, when he sat down +at the table with the Ministers of her Britannic Majesty, he conferred +honor upon them. There is one change I wish to see in the diplomatic +service--and I want the example to be set by the great Republic--I want +precedence given here in Washington to the representatives of Republics. +Let us have some backbone ourselves. Let the representatives of +Republics come first and the ambassadors of despots come in next day. In +other words, let America be proud of American institutions, proud of a +Government by the people. We at last have a history, we at last are a +civilized people, and on the pages of our annals are found as glorious +names as have been written in any language. + + + + +LOTOS CLUB DINNER, TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY. + +New York, March 22, 1890. + +YOU have talked so much of old age and gray hairs and thin locks, +so much about the past, that I feel sad. Now, I want to destroy the +impression that baldness is a sign of age. The very youngest people I +ever saw were bald. + +Sometimes I think, and especially when I am at a meeting where they +have what they call reminiscences, that a world with death in it is a +mistake. What would you think of a man who built a railroad, knowing +that every passenger was to be killed--knowing that there was no escape? +What would you think of the cheerfulness of the passengers if every one +knew that at some station, the name of which had not been called out, +there was a hearse waiting for him; backed up there, horses fighting +flies, driver whistling, waiting for you? Is it not wonderful that the +passengers on that train really enjoy themselves? Is it not magnificent +that every one of them, under perpetual sentence of death, after all, +can dimple their cheeks with laughter; that we, every one doomed to +become dust, can yet meet around this table as full of joy as spring is +full of life, as full of hope as the heavens are full of stars? + +I tell you we have got a good deal of pluck. + +And yet, after all, what would this world be without death? It may be +from the fact that we are all victims, from the fact that we are all +bound by common fate; it may be that friendship and love are born of +that fact; but Whatever the fact is, I am perfectly satisfied that +the highest possible philosophy is to enjoy to-day, not regretting +yesterday, and not fearing to-morrow. So, let us suck this orange of +life dry, so that when death does come, we can politely say to him, "You +are welcome to the peelings. What little there was we have enjoyed." + +But there is one splendid thing about the play called Life. Suppose that +when you die, that is the end. The last thing that you will know is +that you are alive, and the last thing that will happen to you is the +curtain, not falling, but the curtain rising on another thought, so +that as far as your consciousness is concerned you will and must live +forever. No man can remember when he commenced, and no man can remember +when he ends. As far as we are concerned we live both eternities, +the one past and the one to come, and it is a delight to me to feel +satisfied, and to feel in my own heart, that I can never be certain that +I have seen the faces I love for the last time. + +When I am at such a gathering as this, I almost wish I had had the +making of the world. What a world I would have made! In that world +unhappiness would have been the only sin; melancholy the only crime; +joy the only virtue. And whether there is another world, nobody knows. +Nobody can affirm it; nobody can deny it. Nobody can collect tolls from +me, claiming that he owns a turnpike, and nobody can certainly say that +the crooked path that I follow, beside which many roses are growing, +does not lead to that place. He doesn't know. But if there is such a +place, I hope that all good fellows will be welcome. + + + + +MANHATTAN ATHLETIC CLUB DINNER. + +New York, December 27, 1890. + + +TOAST: ATHLETICS AMONG THE ANCIENTS. + +THE first record of public games is found in the twentythird Book of the +Iliad. These games were performed at the funeral of Patroclus, and there +were: + +First. A chariot race, and the first prize was: + +"A woman fair, well skilled in household care." + +Second. There was a pugilistic encounter, and the first prize, +appropriately enough, was a mule. + +It gave me great pleasure to find that Homer did not hold in high esteem +the victor. I have reached this conclusion, because the poet put these +words in the mouth of Eppius, the great boxer winding up with the +following refined declaration concerning his opponent: + +"I mean to pound his flesh and smash his bones." + +After the battle, the defeated was helped from the field. He spit +forth clotted gore. His head rolled from side to side, until he fell +unconscious. + +Third, wrestling; fourth, foot-race; fifth, fencing; sixth, throwing the +iron mass or bar; seventh, archery, and last, throwing the javelin. + +All of these games were in honor of Patroclus. This is the same +Patroclus who, according to Shakespeare, addressed Achilles in these +words: + + "In the battle-field I claim no special praise; + 'Tis not for man in all things to excel--" + + "Rouse yourself, and the weak wanton Cupid + Shall from your neck unloose his amorous fold, + And, like a dew-drop from the lion's mane, + Be shook to air." + +These games were all born of the instinct of self-defence. The chariot +was used in war. Man should know the use of his hands, to the end that +he may repel assault. He should know the use of the sword, to the end +that he may strike down his enemy. He should be skillful with the arrow, +to the same end. If overpowered, he seeks safety in flight--he should +therefore know how to run. So, too, he could preserve himself by the +skillful throwing of the javelin, and in the close encounter a knowledge +of wrestling might save his life. + +Man has always been a fighting animal, and the art of self-defence is +nearly as important now as ever--and will be, until man rises to that +supreme height from which he will be able to see that no one can commit +a crime against another without injuring himself. + +The Greeks knew that the body bears a certain relation to the soul--that +the better the body--other things being equal--the greater the +mind. They also knew that the body could be developed, and that such +development would give or add to the health, the courage, the endurance, +the self-confidence, the independence and the morality of the human +race. They knew, too, that health was the foundation, the corner-stone, +of happiness. + +They knew that human beings should know something about themselves, +something of the capacities of body and mind, to the end that they might +ascertain the relation between conduct and happiness, between temperance +and health. + +It is needless to say that the Greeks were the most intellectual of all +races, and that they were in love with beauty, with proportion, with the +splendor of the body and of mind; and so great was their admiration +for the harmoniously developed, that Sophocles had the honor of walking +naked at the head of a great procession. + +The Greeks, through their love of physical and mental development, gave +us the statues--the most precious of all inanimate things--of far more +worth than all the diamonds and rubies and pearls that ever glittered in +crowns and tiaras, on altars or thrones, or, flashing, rose and fell on +woman's billowed breast. In these marbles we find the highest types of +life, of superb endeavor and supreme repose. In looking at them we feel +that blood flows, that hearts throb and souls aspire. These miracles of +art are the richest legacies the ancient world has left our race. + +The nations in love with life, have games. To them existence is +exultation. They are fond of nature. They, seek the woods and streams. +They love the winds and waves of the sea. They enjoy the poem of the +day, the drama of the year. + +Our Puritan fathers were oppressed with a sense of infinite +responsibility. They were disconsolate and sad, and no more thought +of sport, except the flogging of; Quakers, than shipwrecked wretches +huddled on a raft would turn their attention to amateur theatricals. + +For many centuries the body was regarded as a decaying; casket, in +which had been placed the gem called the soul, and the nearer rotten the +casket the more brilliant the jewel. + +In those blessed days, the diseased were sainted and insanity born +of fasting and self-denial and abuse of the body, was looked upon as +evidence of inspiration. Cleanliness was not next to godliness--it +was the opposite; and in those days, what was known as "the odor of +sanctity" had a substantial foundation. Diseased bodies produced all +kinds of mental maladies. There is a direct relation between sickness +and superstition. Everybody knows that Calvinism was the child of +indigestion. + +Spooks and phantoms hover about the undeveloped and diseased, as +vultures sail above the dead. + +Our ancestors had the idea that they ought to be spiritual, and that +good health was inconsistent with the highest forms of piety. This +heresy crept into the minds even of secular writers, and the novelists +described their heroines as weak and languishing, pale as lilies, and in +the place of health's brave flag they put the hectic flush. + +Weakness was interesting, and fainting captured the hearts of all. +Nothing was so attractive as a society belle with a drug-store +attachment. + +People became ashamed of labor, and consequently, of the evidences +of labor. They avoided "sun-burnt mirth"--were proud of pallor, and +regarded small, white hands as proof that they had noble blood within +their veins. It was a joy to be too weak to work, too languishing to +labor. + +The tide has turned. People are becoming sensible enough to desire +health, to admire physical development, symmetry of form, and we now +know that a race with little feet and hands has passed the climax and is +traveling toward the eternal night. + +When the central force is strong, men and women are full of life to +the finger tips. When the fires burn low, they begin to shrivel at the +extremities--the hands and feet grow small, and the mental flame wavers +and wanes. + +To be self-respecting we must be self-supporting. + +Nobility is a question of character, not of birth. + +Honor cannot be received as alms--it must be earned. + +It is the brow that makes the wreath of glory green. + +All exercise should be for the sake of development--that is to say, for +the sake of health, and for the sake of the mind--all to the end that +the person may become better, greater, more useful. The gymnast or the +athelete should seek for health as the student should seek for truth; +but when athletics degenerate into mere personal contests, they become +dangerous, because the contestants lose sight of health, as in the +excitement of debate the students prefer personal victory to the +ascertainment of truth. + +There is another thing to be avoided by all athletic clubs, and that is, +anything that tends to brutalize, destroy or dull the finer feelings. +Nothing is more disgusting, more disgraceful, than pugilism--nothing +more demoralizing than an exhibition of strength united with ferocity, +and where the very body developed by exercise is mutilated and +disfigured. + +Sports that can by no possibility give pleasure, except to the +unfeeling, the hardened and the really brainless, should be avoided. +No gentleman should countenance rabbit-coursing, fighting of dogs, the +shooting of pigeons, simply as an exhibition of skill. + +All these things are calculated to demoralize and brutalize not only +the actors, but the lookers on. Such sports are savage, fit only to be +participated in and enjoyed by the cannibals of Central Africa or the +anthropoid apes. + +Find what a man enjoys--what he laughs at--what he calls diversion--and +you know what he is. Think of a man calling himself civilized, who is in +raptures at a bull fight--who smiles when he sees the hounds pursue and +catch and tear in pieces the timid hare, and who roars with laughter +when he watches the pugilists pound each other's faces, closing each +other's eyes, breaking jaws and smashing noses. Such men are beneath +the animals they torture--on a level with the pugilists they applaud. +Gentlemen should hold such sports in unspeakable contempt. No man finds +pleasure in inflicting pain. + +In every public school there should be a gymnasium. + +It is useless to cram minds and deform bodies. Hands should be educated +as well as heads. All should be taught the sports and games that require +mind, muscle, nerve and judgment. + +Even those who labor should take exercise, to the end that the whole +body may be developed. Those who work at one employment become deformed. +Proportion is lost. But where harmony is preserved by the proper +exercise, even old age is beautiful. + +To the well developed, to the strong, life seems rich, obstacles small, +and success easy. They laugh at cold and storm. Whatever the season may +be their hearts are filled with summer. + +Millions go from the cradle to the coffin without knowing what it is +to live. They simply succeed in postponing death. Without appetites, +without passions, without struggle, they slowly rot in a waveless pool. +They never know the glory of success, the rapture of the fight. + +To become effeminate is to invite misery. In the most delicate bodies +may be found the most degraded souls. It was the Duchess Josiane whose +pampered flesh became so sensitive that she thought of hell as a place +where people were compelled to sleep between coarse sheets. + +We need the open air--we need the experience of heat and cold. We need +not only the rewards and caresses, but the discipline of our mother +Nature. Life is not all sunshine, neither is it all storm, but man +should be enabled to enjoy the one and to withstand the other. + +I believe in the religion of the body--of physical development--in +devotional exercise--in the beatitudes of cheerfulness, good health, +good food, good clothes, comradeship, generosity, and above all, in +happiness. I believe in salvation here and now. Salvation from deformity +and disease--from weakness and pain--from ennui and insanity. I believe +in heaven here and now--the heaven of health and good digestion--of +strength and long life--of usefulness and joy. I believe in the builders +and defenders of homes. + +The gentlemen whom we honor to-night have done a great work. To their +energy we are indebted for the nearest perfect, for the grandest +athletic clubhouse in the world. Let these clubs multiply. Let the +example be followed, until our country is filled with physical and +intellectual athletes--superb fathers, perfect mothers, and every child +an heir to health and joy. + + + + +THE LIEDERKRANZ CLUB, SEIDL-STANTON BANQUET. + +New York, April 2, 1891 + + +TOAST: MUSIC, NOBLEST OF THE ARTS. + +IT is probable that I was selected to speak about music, because, not +knowing one note from another, I have no prejudice on the subject. + +All I can say is, that I know what I like, and, to tell the truth, I +like every kind, enjoy it all, from the hand organ to the orchestra. + +Knowing nothing of the science of music, I am not always looking for +defects, or listening for discords. As the young robin cheerfully +swallows whatever comes, I hear with gladness all that is played. + +Music has been, I suppose, a gradual growth, subject to the law +of evolution; as nearly everything, with the possible exception of +theology, has been and is under this law. + +Music may be divided into three kinds: First, the music of simple time, +without any particular emphasis--and this may be called the music of +the heels; second, music in which time is varied, in which there is +the eager haste and the delicious delay, that is, the fast and slow, in +accordance with our feelings, with our emotions--and this may be +called the music of the heart; third, the music that includes time and +emphasis, the hastening and the delay, and something in addition, that +produces not only states of feeling, but states of thought. This may be +called the music of the head,--the music of the brain. + +Music expresses feeling and thought, without language. It was below and +before speech, and it is above and beyond all words. Beneath the waves +is the sea--above the clouds is the sky. + +Before man found a name for any thought, or thing, he had hopes and +fears and passions, and these were rudely expressed in tones. + +Of one thing, however, I am certain, and that is, that Music was born of +Love. Had there never been any human affection, there never could have +been uttered a strain of music. Possibly some mother, looking in the +eyes of her babe, gave the first melody to the enraptured air. + +Language is not subtle enough, tender enough, to express all that we +feel; and when language fails, the highest and deepest longings are +translated into music. Music is the sunshine--the climate--of the soul, +and it floods the heart with a perfect June. + +I am also satisfied that the greatest music is the most marvelous +mingling of Love and Death. Love is the greatest of all passions, and +Death is its shadow. Death gets all its terror from Love, and Love +gets its intensity, its radiance, its glory and its rapture, from the +darkness of Death. Love is a flower that grows on the edge of the grave. + +The old music, for the most part, expresses emotion, or feeling-, +through time and emphasis, and what is known as melody. Most of the +old operas consist of a few melodies connected by unmeaning recitative. +There should be no unmeaning music. It is as though a writer should +suddenly leave his subject and write a paragraph consisting of nothing +but a repetition of one word like "the," "the," "the," or "if," "if." +"if," varying the repetition of these words, but without meaning,--and +then resume the subject of his article. + +I am not saying that great music was not produced before Wagner, but +I am simply endeavoring to show-the steps that have been taken. It was +necessary that all the music should have been written, in order that the +greatest might be produced. The same is true of the drama, Thousands +and thousands prepared the way for the supreme dramatist, as millions +prepared the way for the supreme composer. + +When I read Shakespeare, I am astonished that he has expressed so much +with common words, to which he gives new meaning; and so when I hear +Wagner, I exclaim: Is it possible that all this is done with common air? + +In Wagner's music there is a touch of chaos that suggests the infinite. +The melodies seem strange and changing forms, like summer clouds, and +weird harmonies come like sounds from the sea brought by fitful winds, +and others moan like waves on desolate shores, and mingled with these, +are shouts of joy, with sighs and sobs and ripples of laughter, and the +wondrous voices of eternal love. + +Wagner is the Shakespeare of Music. + +The funeral march for Siegfried is the funeral music for all the dead; +Should all the gods die, this music would be perfectly appropriate. It +is elemental, universal, eternal. + +The love-music in Tristan and Isolde is, like Romeo and Juliet, an +expression of the human heart for all time. So the love-duet in The +Flying Dutchman has in it the consecration, the infinite self-denial, +of love. The whole heart is given; every note has wings, and rises and +poises like an eagle in the heaven of sound. + +When I listen to the music of Wagner, I see pictures, forms, glimpses of +the perfect, the swell of a hip, the wave of a breast, the glance of +an eye. I am in the midst of great galleries. Before me are passing, +the endless panoramas. I see vast landscapes with valleys of verdure +and vine, with soaring crags, snow-crowned. I am on the wide seas, where +countless billows burst into the white caps of joy. I am in the depths +of caverns roofed with mighty crags, while through some rent I see the +eternal stars. In a moment the music, becomes a river of melody, flowing +through some wondrous land; suddenly it falls in strange chasms, and the +mighty cataract is changed to seven-hued foam. . + +Great music is always sad, because it tells us of the perfect; and such +is the difference between what we are and that which music suggests, +that even in the vase of joy we find some tears. + +The music of Wagner has color, and when I hear the violins, the morning +seems to slowly come. A horn puts a star above the horizon. The night, +in the purple hum of the bass, wanders away like some enormous bee +across wide fields of dead clover. The light grows whiter as the +violins increase. Colors come from other instruments, and then the full +orchestra floods the world with day. + +Wagner seems not only to have given us new tones, new combinations, but +the moment the orchestra begins to play his music, all the instruments +are transfigured. They seem to utter the sounds that they have been +longing to utter. The horns run riot; the drums and cymbals join in +the general joy; the old bass viols are alive with passion; the 'cellos +throb with love; the violins are seized with a divine fury, and the +notes rush out as eager for the air as pardoned prisoners for the roads +and fields. + +The music of Wagner is filled with landscapes. There are some strains, +like midnight, thick with constellations, and there are harmonies like +islands in the far seas, and others like palms on the desert's edge. His +music satisfies the heart and brain. It is not only for memory; not only +for the present, but for prophecy. + +Wagner was a sculptor, a painter, in sound. When he died, the greatest +fountain of melody that ever enchanted the world, ceased. His music will +instruct and refine forever. + +All that I know about the operas of Wagner I have learned from Anton +Seidl. I believe that he is the noblest, tenderest and the most artistic +interpreter of the great composer that has ever lived. + + + + +THE FRANK B. CARPENTER DINNER. + +New York, December 1, 1891 + + * There was a notable gathering of leading artists, authors, + scientists, journalists, lawyer, clergymen and other + professional men at Sherry's last evening. The occasion was + a dinner tendered to Mr. F. B. Carpenter, the famous + portrait and portrait group artist, by his immediate friends + to celebrate the completion of his new historical painting, + entitled "International Arbitration," which is to be sent to + Queen Victoria next week as the gift of a wealthy American + lady. No such tribute has ever been paid before to an artist + of-this country. Let us hope that the extraordinary + attention thus paid to Mr. Carpenter will give our "English + cousins" some idea of how he is prized and his work indorsed + at home. The dinner to Mr. Carpenter was a great success-- + most enjoyable in every way. The table was laid in the form + ol a horse shoe with a train of smilax, and sweet flowers + extending the entire length of the table, amid pots of + chrysanthemums and roses. Ex-Minister Andrew D White + presided in the absence of John Russell + + Young..........Mr. White said: "During the entire course of + these proceedings we have been endeavoring to find a + representative of the great Fourth Estate who would present + its claims in relation to arbitration on this occasion. + There are present men whose names are household words in + connection with the press throughout this land. There is + certainly one distinguished as orator: there is another + distinguished as a scholar. But they prefer to be silent. We + will therefore consider that the toast of 'The Press in + Connection with War and Peace' has been duly honored + although it has not been responded to, and now there is one + subject which I think you will consider as coming strangely + at this late hour. It is a renewal of the subject with which + we began, and I am to ask to speak to it a man who is + admired and feared throughout the country. At one moment he + smashes the most cherished convictions of the country, and + at another he raises our highest aspirations for the future + of humanity. + + "It happened several years ago that I was crossing the + Atlantic, and when I had sufficiently recovered from + seasickness to sit out on the deck I came across Colonel + Ingersoll, and of all subjects of discussion you can imagine + we fell upon the subject of art, and we went at it hot and + heavy. So I said to him to-night that I had a rod in pickle + for him and that he was not to know anything about it until + it was displayed. + + "I now call upon him to talk to us about art, and if he + talks now as he talked on the deck of the steamer I do not + know whether it would clear the room, but it would make a + sensation in this State and country. I have great pleasure + in announcing Colonel Ingersoll, to speak on the subject of + art--or on any other subject, for no matter upon what he + speaks his words are always welcome." + + New York Press, December 2, 1891. + + +TOAST: ART. + +I PRESUME I take about as much interest in what that picture represents +as anybody else. I believe that it has been said this evening that the +world will never be civilized so long as differences between nations +are settled by gun or cannon or sword. Barbarians still settle their +personal differences with clubs or arms, and finally, when they agree +to submit their differences to their peers, to a court, we call them +civilized. Now, nations sustain the same relations to each other that +barbarians sustain; that is, they settle their differences by force; +each nation being the judge of the righteousness of its cause, and its +judgment depending entirely--or for the most part--on its strength; and +the strongest nation is the nearest right. Now, until nations submit +their differences to an international court--a court with the power to +carry its judgment into effect by having the armies and navies of all +the rest of the world pledged to support it--the world will not be +civilized. Our differences will not be settled by arbitration until more +of the great nations set the example, and until that is done, I am in +favor of the United States being armed. Until that is done it will give +me joy to know that another magnificent man-of-war has been launched +upon our waters. And I will tell you why. Look again at that picture. +There is another face; it is not painted there, and yet without it +that picture would not have been painted, and that is the face of U. +S. Grant. The olive branch, to be of any force, to be of any beneficent +power, must be offered by the mailed hand. It must be offered by a +nation which has back of the olive branch the force. It cannot be +offered by weakness, because then it will excite only ridicule. The +powerful, the imperial, must offer that branch. Then it will be accepted +in the true spirit; otherwise not. So, until the world is a little more +civilized I am in favor of the largest guns that can be made and the +best navy that floats. I do not want any navy unless we have the best, +because if you have a poor one you will simply make a present of it to +the enemy as soon as war opens. We should be ready to defend ourselves +against the world. Not that I think there is going to be any war, but +because I think that is the best way to prevent it. Until the whole +world shall have entered into the same spirit as the artist when he +painted that picture, until that spirit becomes general we have got to +be prepared for war. And we cannot depend upon war suasion. If a fleet +of men-of-war should sail into our harbor, talk would not be of any +good; we must be ready to answer them in their own way. + +I suppose I have been selected to speak on art because I can speak on +that subject without prejudice, knowing nothing about it. I have on this +subject no hobbies, no pet theories, and consequently will give you not +what I know, but what I think. I am an Agnostic in many things, and the +way I understand art is this: In the first place we are all invisible +to each other. There is something called soul; something that thinks and +hopes and loves. It is never seen. It occupies a world that we call the +brain, and is forever, so far as we know, invisible. Each soul lives in +a world of its own, and it endeavors to communicate with another soul +living in a world of its own, each invisible to the other, and it does +this in a variety of ways. That is the noblest art which expresses the +noblest thought, that gives to another the noblest emotions that this +unseen soul has. In order to do this we have to seize upon the seen, the +visible. In other words, nature is a vast dictionary that we use simply +to convey from one invisible world to another what happens in our +invisible world. The man that lives in the greatest world and succeeds +in letting other worlds know what happens in his world, is the greatest +artist. + +I believe that all arts have the same father and the same mother, and no +matter whether you express what happens in these unseen worlds in mere +words--because nearly all pictures have been made with words--or whether +you express it in marble, or form and color in what we call painting, it +is to carry on that commerce between these invisible worlds, and he is +the greatest artist who expresses the tenderest, noblest thoughts to +the unseen worlds about him. So that all art consists in this commerce, +every soul being an artist and every brain that is worth talking about +being an art gallery, and there is no gallery in this world, not in the +Vatican or the Louvre or any other place, comparable with the gallery +in every great brain. The millions of pictures that are in every +brain to-night; the landscapes, the faces, the groups, the millions of +millions of millions of things that are now living here in every brain, +all unseen, all invisible forever! Yet we communicate with each other by +showing each other these pictures, these studies, and by inviting others +into our galleries and showing them what we have, and the greatest +artist is he who has the most pictures to show to other artists. + +I love anything in art that suggests the tender, the beautiful. What is +beauty? Of course there is no absolute beauty. All beauty is relative. +Probably the most beautiful thing to a frog is the speckled belly of +another frog, or to a snake the markings of another snake. So there +is no such thing as absolute beauty. But what I call beauty is what +suggests to me the highest and the tenderest thought; something that +answers to something in my world. So every work of art has to be born in +some brain, and it must be made by the unseen artist we call the soul. +Now, if a man simply copies what he sees, he is nothing but a copyist. +That does not require genius. That requires industry and the habit of +observation. But it is not genius; it is not art. Those little daubs and +shreds and patches we get by copying, are pieces of iron that need to be +put into the flame of genius to be molten and then cast in noble forms; +otherwise there is no genius. + +The great picture should have, not only the technical part of art, which +is neither moral nor immoral, but in addition some great thought, some +great event. It should contain not only a history but a prophecy. There +should be in it soul, feeling, thought I love those little pictures of +the home, of the fireside, of the old lady, boiling the kettle, the +vine running over the cottage door, scenes suggesting to me happiness, +contentment. I think more of them than of the great war pieces, and I +hope I shall have a few years in some such scenes, during which I shall +not care what time it is, what day of the week or month it is. Just that +feeling of content when it is enough to live, to breathe, to have the +blue sky above you and to hear the music of the water. All art that +gives us that content, that delight, enriches this world and makes life +better and holier. + +That, in a general kind of way, as I said before, is my idea of art, and +I hope that the artists of America--and they ought to be as good here as +in any place on earth--will grow day by day and year by year independent +of all other art in the world, and be true to the American or republican +spirit always. As to this picture, it is representative, it is American. +There is one word Mr. Daniel Dougherty said to which I would like to +refer. I have never said very much in my life in defence of England, at +the same time I have never blamed England for being against us during +our war, and I will tell you why. We had been a nation of hypocrites. We +pretended to be in favor of liberty and yet we had four or five millions +of our people enslaved. That was a very awkward position. We had +bloodhounds to hunt human beings and the apostles setting them on; and +while this was going on these poor wretches sought and found liberty +on British soil. Now, why not be honest about it? We were rather a +contemptible people, though Mr. Dougherty thinks the English were wholly +at fault. But England abolished the slave-trade in 1803; she abolished +slavery in her colonies in 1833. We were lagging behind. That is all +there is about it. No matter why, we put ourselves in the position of +pretending to be a free people while we had millions of slaves, and it +was only natural that England should dislike it. + +I think the chairman said that there had been no great historic picture +of the signing of the Constitution. There never should be, never! It was +fit, it was proper, to have a picture of the signing of the Declaration +of Independence. That was an honest document. Our people wanted to give +a good reason for fighting Great Britain, and in order to do that they +had to dig down to the bed-rock of human rights, and then they said all +men are created equal. But just as soon as we got our independence +we made a Constitution that gave the lie to the Declaration of +Independence, and that is why the signing of the Constitution never +ought to be painted. We put in that Constitution a clause that the +slave-trade should not be interfered with for years, and another clause +that this entire Government was pledged to hand back to slavery any poor +woman with a child at her breast, seeking freedom by flight. It was a +very poor document. A little while ago they celebrated the one hundredth +anniversary of that business and talked about the Constitution being +such a wonderful thing; yet what was in that Constitution brought on the +most terrible civil war ever known, and during that war they said: "Give +us the Constitution as it is and the Union as it was." And I said then: +"Curse the Constitution as it is and the Union as it was. Don't talk +to me about fighting for a Constitution that has brought on a war like +this; let us make a new one." No, I am in favor of a painting that +would celebrate the adoption of the amendment to the Constitution that +declares that there shall be no more slavery on this soil. + +I believe that we are getting a little more free every day--a little +more sensible all the time. A few years ago a woman in Germany made a +speech, in which she asked: "Why should the German mother in pain and +agony give birth to a child and rear that child through industry and +poverty, and teach him that when he arrives at the age of twenty-one it +will be his duty to kill the child of the French mother? And why should +the French mother teach her son, that it will be his duty sometime to +kill the child of the German mother?" There is more sense in that than +in all the diplomacy I ever read, and I think the time is coming when +that question will be asked by every mother--Why should she raise a +child to kill the child of another mother? + +The time is coming when we will do away with all this. Man has been +taught that he ought to fight for the country where he was born; no +matter about that country being wrong, whether it supported him or not, +whether it enslaved him and trampled on every right he had, still it was +his duty to march up in support of that country. The time will come when +the man will make up his mind himself whether the country is worth +while fighting for, and he is the greatest patriot who seeks to make +his country worth fighting for, and not he who says, I am for it anyhow, +whether it is right or not. These patriots will be the force Mr. George +was speaking about. If war between this country and Great Britain were +declared, and there were men in both countries sufficient to take a +right view of it, that would be the end of war. The thing would be +settled by arbitration--settled by some court--and no one would dream of +rushing to the field of battle. So, that is my hope for the world; more +policy, more good, solid, sound sense and less mud patriotism. + +I think that this country is going to grow. I think it will take in Mr. +Wiman's country. I do not mean that we are going to take any country. +I mean that they are going to come to us. I do not believe in conquest. +Canada will come just as soon as it is to her interest to come, and I +think she will come or be a great country to herself. I do not believe +in those people, intelligent as they are, sending three thousand miles +for information they have at home. I do not believe in their being +governed by anybody except themselves. So if they come we shall be glad +to have them, if they don't want to come I don't want them. + +Yes, we are growing. I don't know how many millions of people we have +now, probably over sixty-two if they all get counted; and they are still +coming. I expect to live to see one hundred millions here. I know some +say that we are getting too many foreigners, but I say the more that +come the better. We have got to have somebody to take the places of the +sons of our rich people. So I say let them come. There is plenty of land +here, everywhere. I say to the people of every country, come; do your +work here, and we will protect you against other countries. We will give +you all the work to supply yourselves and your neighbors. + +Then if we have differences with another country we shall have a strong +navy, big ships, big guns, magnificent men and plenty of them, and if we +put out the hand of fellowship and friendship they will know there is +no foolishness about it. They will know we are not asking any favor. We +will just say: We want peace, and we tell you over the glistening leaves +of this olive branch that if you don't compromise we will mop the earth +with you. + +That is the sort of arbitration I believe in, and it is the only sort, +in my judgment, that will be effectual for all time. And I hope that we +may still grow, and grow more and more artistic, and more and more +in favor of peace, and I pray that we may finally arrive at being +absolutely worthy of having presented that picture, with all that it +implies, to the most warlike nation in the world--to the nation that +first sends the gospel and then the musket immediately after, and says: +You have got to be civilized, and the only evidence of civilization that +you can give is to buy our goods and to buy them now, and to pay for +them. I wish us to be worthy of the picture presented to such a nation, +and my prayer is that America may be worthy to have sent such a token +in such a spirit, and my second prayer is that England may be worthy +to receive it and to keep it, and that she may receive it in the same +spirit that it is sent. + +I am glad that it is to be sent by a woman. The gentleman who spoke to +the toast, "Woman as a Peacemaker," seemed to believe that woman brought +all the sorrows that ever happened, not only of war, but troubles of +every kind. I want to say to him that I would rather live with the woman +I love in a world of war, in a world full of troubles and sorrows, +than to live in heaven with nobody but men. I believe that woman is a +peacemaker, and so I am glad that a woman presents this token to another +woman; and woman is a far higher title than queen, in my judgment; far +higher. There are no higher titles than woman, mother, wife, sister, and +when they come to calling them countesses and duchesses and queens, that +is all rot. That adds nothing to that unseen artist who inhabits the +world called the brain. That unseen artist is great by nature and cannot +be made greater by the addition of titles. And so one woman gives to +another woman the picture that prophesies war is finally to cease, +and the civilized nations of the world will henceforth arbitrate their +differences and no longer strew the plains with corpses of brethren. +That is the supreme lesson that is taught by this picture, and I +congratulate Mr. Carpenter that his name is associated with it and +also with the "Proclamation of Emancipation." In the latter work he has +associated his name with that of Lincoln, which is the greatest name +in history, and the gentlest memory in this world. Mr. Carpenter has +associated his name with that and with this and with that of General +Grant, for I say that this picture would never have been possible had +there not been behind it Grant; if there had not been behind it the +victorious armies of the North and the great armies of the South, that +would have united instantly to repel any foreign foe. + + + + +UNITARIAN CLUB DINNER. + +New York, January 15,1892. + + +TOAST: THE IDEAL. + +MR. PRESIDENT, Ladies and Gentlemen: In the first place, I wish to +tender my thanks to this club for having generosity and sense enough to +invite me to speak this evening. It is probably the best thing the club +has ever done. You have shown that you are not afraid of a man simply +because he does not happen to agree entirely with you, although in a +very general way it may be said that I come within one of you. + +So I think, not only that you have honored me--that, I most cheerfully +and gratefully admit--but, upon my word, I think that you have honored +yourselves. And imagine the distance the religious world has traveled +in the last few years to make a thing of this kind possible! You know--I +presume every one of you knows--that I have no religion--not enough to +last a minute--none whatever--that is, in the ordinary sense of that +word. And yet you have become so nearly civilized that you are willing +to hear what I have to say; and I have become so nearly civilized that I +am willing to say what I think. + +And, in the second place, let me say that I have great respect for +the Unitarian Church. I have great respect for the memory of Theodore +Parker. I have great respect for every man who has assisted in reaving +the heavens of an infinite monster. I have great respect for every man +who has helped to put out the fires of hell. In other words, I have +great respect for every man who has tried to civilize my race. + +The Unitarian Church has done more than any other church--and may be +more than all other churches--to substitute character for creed, and +to say that a man should be judged by his spirit; by the climate of his +heart; by the autumn of his generosity; by the spring of his hope; that +he should be judged by what he does; by the influence that he exerts, +rather than by the mythology he may believe. And whether there be one +God or a million, I am perfectly satisfied that every duty that devolves +upon me is within my reach; it is something that I can do myself, +without the help of anybody else, either in this world or any other. + +Now, in order to make myself plain on this subject--I think I was to +speak about the Ideal--I want to thank the Unitarian Church for what +it has done; and I want to thank the Universalist Church, too. They at +least believe in a God who is a gentleman; and that is much more than +was ever done by an orthodox church. They believe, at least, in a +heavenly father who will leave the latch string out until the last +child gets home; and as that lets me in--especially in reference to the +"last"--I have great respect for that church. + +But now I am coming to the Ideal; and in what I may say you may not all +agree. I hope you won't, because that would be to me evidence that I am +wrong. You cannot expect everybody to agree in the right, and I cannot +expect to be always in the right myself. I have to judge with the +standard called my reason, and I do not know whether it is right or +not; I will admit that. But as opposed to any other man's, I will bet +on mine. That is to say, for home use. In the first place, I think it +is said in some book--and if I am wrong there are plenty here to correct +me--that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." I think +a knowledge of the limitations of the human mind is the beginning of +wisdom, and, I may almost say, the end of it--really to understand +yourself. + +Now, let me lay down this proposition. The imagination of man has the +horizon of experience; and beyond experience or nature man cannot +go, even in imagination. Man is not a creator. He combines; he adds +together; he divides; he subtracts; he does not create, even in the +world of imagination. Let me make myself a little plainer: Not one +here--not one in the wide, wide world can think of a color that he never +saw. No human being can imagine a sound that he has not heard, and +no one can think of a taste that he has not experienced. He can add +to--that is add together--combine; but he cannot, by any possibility, +create. + +Man originally, we will say--go back to the age of barbarism, and you +will not have to go far; our own childhood, probably, is as far as is +necessary--but go back to what is called the age of savagery; every man +was an idealist, as every man is to-day an idealist. Every man in savage +or civilized time, commencing with the first that ever crawled out of +a cave and pushed the hair back from his forehead to look at the +sun--commence with him and end with Judge Wright--the last expression +on the God question--and from that cave to the soul that lives in this +temple, everyone has been an idealist and has endeavored to account in +some way for what he saw and for what he felt; in other words, for the +phenomena of nature. The easiest way to account for it by the rudest +savage, is the way it has been accounted for to-night. What makes the +river run? There's a god in it. What makes the tree grow? There's a god +in it. What makes the star shine? There's a god in it. What makes the +sun rise? Why, he is a god himself. And what makes the nightingale sing +until the air is faint with melody? There's a god in it. + +They commenced making gods to account for everything that happens; gods +of dreams and gods of love and friendship, and heroism and courage. +Splendid! They kept making more and more. The more they found out in +nature, up to a certain point, the more gods they needed; and they kept +on making gods until almost every wave of the sea bore a god. Gods on +every mountain, and in every vale and field, and by every stream! Gods +in flowers, gods in grass; gods everywhere! All accounting for this +world and for what happened in this world. + +Then, when they had got about to the top, when their ingenuity had been +exhausted, they had not produced anything, and they did not produce +anything beyond their own experience. We are told that they were +idolaters. That is a mistake, except in the sense that we are all +idolaters. They said, "Here is a god; let us express our idea of him. +He is stronger than a man; let us give him the body of a lion. He is +swifter than a man; let us give him the wings of an eagle. He is wiser +than a man"--and when a man was very savage he said, "let us give +him the head of a serpent;" a serpent is wonderfully wise; he travels +without feet; he climbs without claws; he lives without food, and he is +of the simplest conceivable form. + +And that was simply to represent their idea of power, of swiftness, of +wisdom. And yet this impossible monster was simply made of what man had +seen in nature, and he put the various attributes or parts together +by his imagination. He created nothing. He simply took these parts of +certain beasts, when beasts were supposed to be superior to man in some +particulars, and in that way expressed his thought. + +You go into the territory of Arizona to-day, and you will find there +pictures of God. He was clothed in stone, through which no arrow could +pierce, and so they called God the Stone-Shirted whom no Indian could +kill. That was for the simple and only reason that it was impossible to +get an arrow through his armor. They got the idea from the armadillo. + +Now, I am simply saying this to show that they were making gods for all +these centuries, and making them out of something they found in nature. +Then, after they got through with the beast business, they made gods +after the image of man; and they are the best gods, so far as I know, +that have been made. + +The gods that were first made after the image of man were not made after +the pattern of very good men; but they were good men according to the +standard of that time, because, as I will show you in a moment, all +these things are relative. The qualities or things that we call mercy, +justice, charity and religion are all relative. There was a time when +the victor on the field of battle was exceedingly merciful if he failed +to eat his prisoner; he was regarded as a very charitable gentleman if +he refused to eat the man he had captured in battle. Afterward he +was regarded as an exceedingly benevolent person if he would spare a +prisoner's life and make him a slave. + +So that--but you all know it as well as I do or you would not be +Unitarians--all this has been simply a growth from year to year, from +generation to generation, from age to age. And let me tell you the first +thing about these gods that they made after the image of men. After +a time there were men on the earth who were better than these gods in +heaven. + +Then those gods began to die, one after another, and dropped from their +thrones. The time will probably come in the history of this world when +an insurance company can calculate the average life of gods as well as +they do now of men; because all these gods have been made by folks. And, +let me say right here, the folks did the best they could. I do not blame +them. Everybody in the business has always done his best. I admit it. I +admit that man has traveled from the first conception up to Unitarianism +by a necessary road. Under the conditions he could have come up in no +other way. I admit all that. I blame nobody. But I am simply trying to +tell, in a very feeble manner, how it is. + +Now, in a little while, I say, men got better than their gods. Then the +gods began to die. Then we began to find out a few things in nature, and +we found out that we were supporting more gods than were necessary--that +fewer gods could do the business--and that, from an economical point of +view, expenses ought to be cut down. There were too many temples, too +many priests, and you always had to give tithes of something to each +one, and these gods were about to eat up the substance of the world. + +And there came a time when it got to that point that either the gods +would eat up the people or the people must destroy some gods, and of +course they destroyed the gods--one by one and in their places they put +forces of nature to do the business--forces of nature that needed no +church, that needed no theologians; forces of nature that you are under +no obligation to; that you do not have to pay anything to keep working. +We found that the attraction of gravitation would attend to its +business, night and day, at its own expense. There was a great saving. +I wish it were the same with all kinds of law, so that we could all go +into some useful business, including myself. + +So day by day, they dispensed with this expense of deities; and the +world got along just as well--a good deal better. They used to think--a +community thought--that if a man was allowed to say a word against a +deity, the god would visit his vengeance upon the entire nation. But +they found out, after a while, that no harm came of it; so they went on +destroying the gods. Now, all these things are relative; and they made +gods a little better all the time--I admit that--till we struck the +Presbyterian, which is probably the worst ever made. The Presbyterians +seem to have bred back. + +But no matter. As man became more just, or nearer just, as he became +more charitable, or nearer charitable, his god grew to be a little +better and a little better. He was very bad in Geneva--the three that +we then had. They were very bad in Scotland--horrible! Very bad in New +England--infamous! I might as well tell the truth about it--very bad! +And then men went to work, finally, to civilize their gods, to civilize +heaven, to give heaven the benefit of the freedom of this brave world. +That's what we did. We wanted to civilize religion--civilize what is +known as Christianity. And nothing on earth needed civilization more; +and nothing needs it more than that to-night. Civilization! I am not so +much for the freedom of religion as I am for the religion of freedom. + +Now, there was a time when our ancestors--good people, away back, all +dead, no great regret expressed at this meeting on that account--there +was a time when our ancestors were happy in their belief that nearly +everybody was to be lost, and that a few, including themselves, were +to be saved. That religion, I say, fitted that time. It fitted their +geology. It was a very good running mate for their astronomy. It was a +good match for their chemistry. In other words, they were about equal in +every department of human ignorance. + +And they insisted that there lived up there somewhere--generally +up--exactly where nobody has, I believe, yet said--a being, an infinite +person "without body, parts, or passions," and yet without passions he +was angry at the wicked every day; without body he inhabited a certain +place; and without parts he was, after all, in some strange and +miraculous manner, organized so that he thought. + +And I don't know that it is possible for anyone here--I don't know that +anyone here is gifted with imagination enough--to conceive of such a +being. Our fathers had not imagination enough to do so, at least, and +so they said of this God, that he loves and he hates; he punishes and he +rewards; and that religion has been described perfectly tonight by Judge +Wright as really making God a monster, and men poor, helpless victims. +And the highest possible conception of the orthodox man was, finally, +to be a good servant--just lucky enough to get in--feathers somewhat +singed, but enough left to fly. That was the idea of our fathers. And +then came these divisions, simply because men began to think. + +And why did they begin to think? Because in every direction, in all +departments, they were getting more and more information. And then the +religion did not fit. When they found out something of the history of +this globe they found out that the Scriptures were not true. I will not +say not inspired, because I do not know whether they are inspired or +not. It is a question, to me, of no possible importance, whether they +are inspired or not. The question is: Are they true? If they are true, +they do not need inspiration; and if they are not true, inspiration will +not help them. So that is a matter that I care nothing about. + +On every hand, I say, they studied and thought. They began to grow--to +have new ideas of mercy, kindness, justice; new ideas of duty--new ideas +of life. The old gods, after we got past the civilization of the Greeks, +past their mythology--and it is the best mythology that man has ever +made--after we got past that, I say, the gods cared very little about +women. Women occupied no place in the state--no place by the hearth, +except one of subordination, and almost of slavery. So the early +churches made God after that image who held women in contempt. It was +only natural--I am not blaming anybody--they had to do it, it was part +of the _must!_ + +Now, I say that we have advanced up to the point that we demand not only +intelligence, but justice and mercy, in the sky; we demand that--that +idea of God. Then comes my trouble. I want to be honest about it. Here +is my trouble--and I want it also understood that if I should see a man +praying to a stone image or to a stuffed serpent, with that man's wife +or daughter or son lying at the point of death, and that poor savage on +his knees imploring that image or that stuffed serpent to save his +child or his wife, there is nothing in my heart that could suggest the +slightest scorn, or any other feeling than that of sympathy; any other +feeling than that of grief that the stuffed serpent could not answer the +prayer and that the stone image did not feel; I want that understood. +And wherever man prays for the right--no matter to whom or to what he +prays; where he prays for strength to conquer the wrong, I hope his +prayer may be heard; and if I think there is no one else to hear it I +will hear it, and I am willing to help answer it to the extent of my +power. + +So I want it distinctly understood that that is my feeling. But here is +my trouble: I find this world made on a very cruel plan. I do not say it +is wrong--I just say that that is the way it seems to me. I may be wrong +myself, because this is the only world I was ever in; I am provincial. +This grain of sand and tear they call the earth is the only world I have +ever lived in. And you have no idea how little I know about the rest of +this universe; you never will know how little I know about it until you +examine your own minds on the same subject. + +The plan is this: Life feeds on life. Justice does not always triumph: +Innocence is not a perfect shield. There is my trouble. No matter now, +whether you agree with me or not; I beg of you to be honest and fair +with me in your thought, as I am toward you in mine. + +I hope, as devoutly as you, that there is a power somewhere in this +universe that will finally bring everything as it should be. I take a +little consolation in the "perhaps"--in the guess that this is only one +scene of a great drama, and that when the curtain rises on the fifth +act, if I live that long, I may see the coherence and the relation of +things. But up to the present writing--or speaking--I do not. I do not +understand it--a God that has life feed on life; every joy in the world +born of some agony! I do not understand why in this world, over the +Niagara of cruelty, should run this ocean of blood. I do not understand +it. And, then, why does not justice always triumph? Why is not innocence +a perfect shield? These are my troubles. + +Suppose a man had control of the atmosphere, knew enough of the secrets +of nature, had read enough in "nature's infinite book of secrecy" so +that he could control the wind and rain; suppose a man had that power, +and suppose that last year he kept the rain from Russia and did not +allow the crops to ripen when hundreds of thousands were famishing and +when little babes were found with their lips on the breasts of dead +mothers! What would you think of such a man? Now, there is my trouble. +If there be a God he understood this. He knew when he withheld his rain +that the famine would come. He saw the dead mothers, he saw the empty +breasts of death, and he saw the helpless babes. There is my trouble. I +am perfectly frank with you and honest. That is my trouble. + +Now, understand me! I do not say there is no God. I do not know. As I +told you before, I have traveled but very little--only in this world. + +I want it understood that I do not pretend to know. I say I think. +And in my mind the idea expressed by Judge Wright so eloquently and +so beautifully is not exactly true. I cannot conceive of the God he +endeavors to describe, because he gives to that God will, purpose, +achievement, benevolence, love, and no form--no organization--no wants. +There's the trouble. No wants. And let me say why that is a trouble. Man +acts only because he wants. You civilize man by increasing his wants, +or, as his wants increase he becomes civilized. You find a lazy savage +who would not hunt an elephant tusk to save your life. But let him have +a few tastes of whiskey and tobacco, and he will run his legs off for +tusks. You have given him another want and he is willing to work. And +they nearly all started on the road toward Unitarianism--that is to say, +toward civilization--in that way. You must increase their wants. + +The question arises: Can an infinite being want anything? If he does and +cannot get it, he is not happy. If he does not want anything, I cannot +help him. I am under no obligation to do anything for anybody who does +not need anything and who does not want anything. Now, there is my +trouble. I may be wrong, and I may get paid for it some time, but that +is my trouble. + +I do not see--admitting that all is true that has been said about the +existence of God--I do not see what I can do for him; and I do not see +either what he can do for me, judging by what he has done for others. + +And then I come to the other point, that religion so-called, explains +our duties to this supposed being, when we do not even know that he +exists; and no human being has got imagination enough to describe him, +or to use such words that you understand what he is trying to say. I +have listened with great pleasure to Judge Wright this evening, and I +have heard a great many other beautiful things on the same subject--none +better than his. But I never understood them--never. + +Now, then, what is religion? I say, religion is all here in this +world--right here--and that all our duties are right here to our +fellow-men; that the man that builds a home; marries the girl that he +loves; takes good care of her; likes the family; stays home nights, as +a general thing; pays his debts; tries to find out what he can; gets all +the ideas and beautiful things that his mind will hold; turns a part +of his brain into a gallery of fine arts; has a host of paintings and +statues there; then has another niche devoted to music--a magnificent +dome, filled with winged notes that rise to glory--now, the man who does +that gets all he can from the great ones dead; swaps all the thoughts he +can with the ones that are alive; true to the ideal that he has here in +his brain--he is what I call a religious man, because he makes the world +better, happier; he puts the dimples of joy in the cheeks of the ones he +loves, and he lets the gods run heaven to suit themselves. And I am not +saying that he is right; I do not know. + +This is all the religion that I have; to make somebody else happier if I +can. + +I divide this world into two classes--the cruel and the kind; and I +think a thousand times more of a kind man than I do of an intelligent +man. I think more of kindness than I do of genius, I think more of real, +good, human nature in that way--of one who is willing to lend a helping +hand and who goes through the world with a face that looks as if its +owner were willing to answer a decent question--I think a thousand times +more of that than I do of being theologically right; because I do not +care whether I am theologically right or not. It is something that is +not worth talking about, because it is something that I never, never, +never shall understand; and every one of you will die and you won't +understand it either--until after you die at any rate. I do not know +what will happen then. + +I am not denying anything. There is another ideal, and it is a beautiful +ideal. It is the greatest dream that ever entered the heart or brain of +man--the Dream of Immortality. It was born of human affection. It did +not come to us from heaven. It was born of the human heart. And when +he who loved, kissed the lips of her who was dead, there came into his +heart the dream: We may meet again. + +And, let me tell you, that hope of immortality never came from any +religion. That hope of immortality has helped make religion. It has +been the great oak around which have climbed the poisonous vines of +superstition--that hope of immortality is the great oak. + +And yet the moment a man expresses a doubt about the truth of Joshua or +Jonah or the other three fellows in a furnace, up hops some poor little +wretch and says, "Why, he doesn't want to live any more; he wants to +die and go down like a dog, and that is the end of him and his wife and +children." They really seem to think that the moment a man is what +they call an Infidel he has no affections, no heart, no feeling, no +hope--nothing--nothing. Just anxious to be annihilated! But, if the +orthodox creed be true, I make my choice to-night. I take hell. And if +it is between hell and annihilation, I take annihilation. + +I will tell you why I take hell in making the first choice. We have +heard from both of those places--heaven and hell. According to the New +Testament there was a rich man in hell, and a poor man, Lazarus, in +heaven. And there was another gentleman by the name of Abraham. The rich +man in hell was in flames, and he called for water, and they told him +they couldn't give him any. No bridge! But they did not express the +slightest regret that they could not give him any water. Mr. Abraham was +not decent enough to say he would if he could; no, sir; nothing. It +did not make any difference to him. But this rich man in hell--in +torment--his heart was all right, for he remembered his brothers; and +he said to this Abraham, "If you cannot go, why, send a man to my five +brethren, so that they will not come to this place!" Good fellow, to +think of his five brothers when he was burning up. Good fellow. Best +fellow we ever heard from on the other side--in either world. + +So, I say there is my place. And, incidentally, Abraham at that time +gave his judgment as to the value of miracles. He said, "Though one +should arise from the dead he wouldn't help your five brethren!" "There +are Moses and the prophets." No need of raising people from the dead. + +That is my idea, in a general way, about religion; and I want the +imagination to go to work upon it, taking the perfections of one church, +of one school, of one system, and putting them together, just as the +sculptor makes a great statue by taking the eyes from one, the nose from +another, the limbs from another, and so on; just as they make a great +painting from a landscape by putting a river in this place, instead of +over there, changing the location of a tree and improving on what they +call nature--that is to say, simply by adding to, taking from; that is +all we can do. But let us go on doing that until there shall be a church +in sympathy with the best human heart and in harmony with the best human +brain. + +And, what is more, let us have that religion for the world we live in. +Right here! Let us have that religion until it cannot be said that they +who do the most work have the least to eat. Let us have that religion +here until hundreds and thousands of women are not compelled to make a +living with the needle that has been called "the asp for the breast +of the poor," and to live in tenements, in filth, where modesty is +impossible. + +I say, let us preach that religion here until men will be ashamed to +have forty or fifty millions, or any more than they need, while their +brethren lack bread--while their sisters die from want. Let us preach +that religion here until man will have more ambition to become wise and +good than to become rich and powerful. Let us preach that religion +here among ourselves until there are no abused and beaten wives. Let us +preach that religion until children are no longer afraid of their own +parents and until there is no back of a child bearing the scars of a +father's lash. Let us preach it, I say, until we understand and know +that every man does as he must, and that, if we want better men and +women, we must have better conditions. + +Let us preach this grand religion until everywhere, the world over, men +are just and kind to each other. And then, if there be another world, +we shall be prepared for it. And if I come into the presence of an +infinite, good, and wise being, he will say, "Well, you did the best you +could. You did very well, indeed. There is plenty of work for you to do +here. Try and get a little higher than you were before." Let us preach +that one drop of restitution is worth an ocean of repentance. + +And if there is a life of eternal progress before us, I shall be as glad +as any other angel to find that out. + +But I will not sacrifice the world I have for one I know not of. I will +not live here in fear, when I do not know that that which I fear lives. + +I am going to live a perfectly free man. I am going to reap the harvest +of my mind, no matter how poor it is, whether it is wheat or corn or +worthless weeds. And I am going to scatter it. Some may "fall on stony +ground." But I think I have struck good soil to-night. + +And so, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you a thousand times for your +attention. I beg that you will forgive the time that I have taken, and +allow me to say, once more, that this event marks an epoch in Religious +Liberty in the United States. + + + + +WESTERN SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BANQUET. + +Chicago, January 31, 1894. + + * Every soldier of the Army of the Potomac: remembers, the + colors that for two years floated over the headquarters of + Gen. Meade. Last night when one hundred and fifty men who + fought in that army gathered around the banquet board at the + Grand Pacific hotel a fac-simile of that flag floated over + them. It was a handsome guidon, on one side a field of + solferino red bearing a life-sized golden eagle surrounded + by a silver wreath of laurel; on the other were the national + colors with the names of the corps of the army. + + The fifth annual banquet of the Western Society of the Army + of the Potomac will be remembered on account of the presence + of many distinguished men. The cigars had not been lighted + when Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, escorted by Gen. Newberry and + Col. Burbanks, came in. The bald head and sparse gray hair + of the famous orator were recognized by all, and he was + given a mighty welcome. + + Save for the emblems of the Union and the fac-simile of Gen. + Meade's flag the decorations were simple. There were no + flowers, but the soldiers could read on little signs stuck + up around the tables such names as "Petersburg," "White + Oak," "Mine Run," "Cold Harbor," "Fair Oaks" and "South + Mountain." The exercises began and ended with bugle call and + military song, and the heroes of the Potomac showed that + they still remembered the words of the songs sung in camp. + + Col. Freeman Connor, the retiring president, acted as + toastmaster. Seated near him were Maj.-Gen. Nelson Miles, + United States army; Gen. Newberry, Col. Ingersoll, Thomas B. + Bryan, Col. James A.. Sexton, Maj. E. A. Blodgett, Fred W. + Spink, Col. Williston and Maj. Heyle. + + The exercises began with the singing of "America" by all + Col. Conner made a few remarks and then Col. C. S. McEntee + presented the new-comer to the society. When Colonel + Ingersoll was introduced, the veterans jumped up on chairs, + waved their handkerchiefs and greeted him with a mighty + shout. The Colonel spoke only fifteen minutes. + + At the conclusion of Colonel Ingersoll's speech he was again + cheered for several minutes. A motion was made to make him + an honorary member of the Western Society of the Army of the + Potomac. The toastmaster in putting the question said: "All + who are in favor will rise and yell," and every comrade + yelled. + + --Chicago Record, February 1, 1894. + + +FIRST of all, I wish to thank you for allowing me to be present. Next, I +wish to congratulate you that you are all alive. I congratulate you +that you were born in this century, the greatest century in the world's +history, the greatest century of intellectual genius and of physical, +mental and moral progress that the world ever knew. I congratulate you +all that you are members of the Army of the Potomac. I believe that +no better army ever marched under the flag of any nation. There was no +difficulty that discouraged you; no defeat that disheartened you. For +years you bore the heat and burden of battle; for years you saw your +comrades torn by shot and shell, but wiping the tears, from your cheeks +you marched on with greater determination than ever to fight to the end. + +To the Army of the Potomac belongs the eternal honor of having obtained +finally the sword of Rebellion. I congratulate you because you fought +for the Republic, and I thank you for your courage. For by you the +United States was kept on the map of the world, and our flag was kept +floating. If not for your work, neither would have been there. You +removed from it the only stain that was ever on it. You fought not only +the battle of the Union, but of the whole world. + +I congratulate you that you live in a period when the North has attained +a higher moral altitude than was ever attained by any nation. You now +live in a country which believes in absolute freedom for all. In this +country any man may reap what he sows and may give his honest thought to +his fellow-men. It is wonderful to think what this Nation was before the +Army of the Potomac came into existence. It believed in liberty as the +convict believes in liberty. It was a country where men that had honest +thoughts were ostracized. I thank you and your courage for what we are. +Nothing ennobles a man so much as fighting for the right. Whoever fights +for the wrong wounds himself. I believe that every man who fought in the +Union army came out a stronger and a better and a nobler man. + +I believe in this country. I am so young and so full of enthusiasm +that I am a believer in National growth. I want this country to be +territorial and to become larger than it is. I want a country worthy of +Chicago. I want to pick up the West Indies, take in the Bermudas, +the Bahamas and Barbadoes. They are our islands. They belong to this +continent and it is a piece of impudence for any other nation to think +of owning them. We want to grow. Such is the extravagance of my ambition +that I even want the Sandwich Islands. They say that these islands are +too far away from us; that they are two thousand miles from our shores. +But they are nearer to our shores than to any other. I want them. I want +a naval station there. I want America to be mistress of the Pacific. +Then there is another thing in my mind. I want to grow North and South. +I want Canada--good people--good land. I want that country. I do not +want to steal it, but I want it. I want to go South with this Nation. My +idea is this: There is only air enough between the Isthmus of Panama and +the North Pole for one flag. A country that guarantees liberty to +all cannot be too large. If any of these people are ignorant, we +will educate them; give them the benefit of our free schools. Another +thing--I might as well sow a few seeds for next fall. I have heard many +reasons why the South failed in the Rebellion, and why with the help of +Northern dissensions and a European hatred the South did not succeed. I +will tell you. In my judgment, the South failed, not on account of its +army, but from other conditions. Luckily for us, the South had always +been in favor of free trade. + +Secondly--The South raised and sold raw material, and when the war came +it had no foundries, no factories, and no looms to weave the cloth for +uniforms; no shops to make munitions of war, and it had to get what +supplies it could by running the blockade. We of the North had the +cloth to clothe our soldiers, shops to make our bayonets; we had all the +curious wheels that invention had produced, and had labor and genius, +the power of steam, and the water to make what we needed, and we did +not require anything from any other country. Suppose this whole country +raised raw material and shipped it out, we would be in the condition +that the South was. We want this Nation to be independent of the whole +world. A nation to be ready to settle questions of dispute by war should +be in a condition of absolute independence. For that reason I want all +the wheels turning in this country, all the chimneys full of fire, +all the looms running, the iron red hot everywhere. I want to see all +mechanics having plenty of work with good wages and good homes for their +families, good food, schools for their children, plenty of clothes, and +enough to take care of a child if it happens to take sick. I am for the +independence of America, the growth of America physically, mentally, +and every other way. The time will come when all nations combined cannot +take that flag out of the sky. I want to see this country so that if +a deluge sweeps every other nation from the face of the globe we would +have all we want made right here by our factories, by American brain and +hand. + +I thank you that the Republic still lives. I thank you that we are all +lovers of freedom. I thank you for having helped establish a Government +where every child has an opportunity, and where every avenue of +advancement if open to all. + + + + +LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF ANTON SEIDL. + +New York, February 2, 1895. + + +MR. PRESIDENT, Mr. Anton Seidl, and Gentlemen: I was enjoying myself +with music and song; why I should be troubled, why I should be called +upon to trouble you, is a question I can hardly answer. Still, as the +president has remarked, the American people like to hear speeches. Why, +I don't know. It has always been a matter of amazement that anybody +wanted to hear me. Talking is so universal; with few exceptions--the +deaf and dumb--everybody seems to be in the business. Why they should be +so anxious to hear a rival I never could understand. But, gentlemen, +we are all pupils of nature; we are taught by the countless things that +touch us on every side; by field and flower and star and cloud and river +and sea, where the waves break into whitecaps, and by the prairie, and +by the mountain that lifts its granite forehead to the sun; all things +in nature touch us, educate us, sharpen us, cause the heart to bud, to +burst, it may be, into blossom; to produce fruit. In common with the +rest of the world I have been educated a little that way; by the things +I have seen and by the things I have heard and by the people I have met. +But there are a few things that stand out in my recollection as having +touched me more deeply than others, a few men to whom I feel indebted +for the little I know, and for the little I happen to be. Those men, +those things, are forever present in my mind. But I want to tell you +to-night that the first man that let up the curtain in my mind, that +ever opened a blind, that ever allowed a little sunshine to straggle in, +was Robert Burns. I went to get my shoes mended, and I had to go with +them. And I had to wait till they were done. I was like the fellow +standing by the stream naked washing his shirt. A lady and gentleman +were riding by in a carriage, and upon seeing him the man indignantly +shouted, "Why don't you put on another shirt when you are washing one?" +The fellow said, "I suppose you think I've got a hundred shirts!" + +When I went into the shop of the old Scotch shoemaker he was reading +a book, and when he took my shoes in hand I took his book, which was +"Robert Burns." In a few days I had a copy; and, indeed, gentlemen, from +that time if "Burns" had been destroyed I could have restored more than +half of it. It was in my mind day and night. Burns you know is a little +valley, not very wide, but full of sunshine; a little stream runs down +making music over the rocks, and children play upon the banks; narrow +roads overrun with vines, covered with blossoms, happy children, the hum +of bees, and little birds pour out their hearts and enrich the air. That +is Burns. Then, you must know that I was raised respectably. Certain +books were not thought to be good for the young person; only such books +as would start you in the narrow road for the New Jerusalem. But one +night I stopped at a little hotel in Illinois, many years ago, when we +were not quite civilized, when the footsteps of the red man were still +in the prairies. While I was waiting for supper an old man was reading +from a book, and among others who were listening was myself. I was +filled with wonder. I had never heard anything like it. I was ashamed to +ask him what he was reading; I supposed that an intelligent boy ought to +know. So I waited, and when the little bell rang for supper I hung back +and they went out. I picked up the book; it was Sam Johnson's edition of +Shakespeare. The next day I bought a copy for four dollars. My God! +more than the national debt. You talk about the present straits of the +Treasury! For days, for nights, for months, for years, I read those +books, two volumes, and I commenced with the introduction. I haven't +read that introduction for nearly fifty years, certainly forty-five, but +I remember it still. Other writers are like a garden diligently planted +and watered, but Shakespeare a forest where the oaks and elms toss their +branches to the storm, where the pine towers, where the vine bursts into +blossom at its foot. That book opened to me a new world, another nature. +While Burns was the valley, here was a range of mountains with thousands +of such valleys; while Burns was as sweet a star as ever rose into the +horizon, here was a heaven filled with constellations. That book has +been a source of perpetual joy to me from that day to this; and whenever +I read Shakespeare--if it ever happens that I fail to find some new +beauty, some new presentation of some wonderful truth, or another +word that bursts into blossom, I shall make up my mind that my mental +faculties are failing, that it is not the fault of the book. Those, +then, are two things that helped to educate me a little. + +Afterward I saw a few paintings by Rembrandt, and all at once I was +overwhelmed with the genius of the man that could convey so much thought +in form and color. Then I saw a few landscapes by Corot, and I began to +think I knew something about art. During all my life, of course, like +other people, I had heard what they call music, and I had my favorite +pieces, most of those favorite pieces being favorites on account of +association; and nine-tenths of the music that is beautiful to the world +is beautiful because of the association, not because the music is good, +but because of association.. We cannot write a very poetic thing about a +pump or about water works; they are not old enough. + +We can write a poetic thing about a well and a sweep and an old +moss-covered bucket, and you can write a poem about a spring, because +a spring seems a gift of nature, something that cost no trouble and no +work, something that will sing of nature under the quiet stars of June. +So, it is poetic on account of association. The stage coach is more +poetic than the car, but the time will come when cars will be poetic, +because human feelings, love's remembrances, will twine around them, and +consequently they will become beautiful. There are two pieces of music, +"The Last Rose of Summer," and "Home Sweet Home," with the music a +little weak in the back; but association makes them both beautiful. So, +in the "Marseillaise" is the French Revolution, that whirlwind and flame +of war, of heroism the highest possible, of generosity, of self-denial, +of cruelty, of all of which the human heart and brain are capable; so +that music now sounds as though its notes were made of stars, and it is +beautiful mostly by association. + +Now, I always felt that there must be some greater music somewhere, +somehow. You know this little music that comes back with recurring +emphasis every two inches or every three-and-a-half inches; I thought +there ought to be music somewhere with a great sweep from horizon to +horizon, and that could fill the great dome of sound with winged notes +like the eagle; if there was not such music, somebody, sometime, would +make it, and I was waiting for it. One day I heard it, and I said, "What +music is that?" "Who wrote that?" I felt it everywhere. I was cold. I +was almost hysterical. It answered to my brain, to my heart; not only to +association, but to all there was of hope and aspiration, all my future; +and they said this is the music of Wagner. I never knew one note from +another--of course I would know it from a promissory note--and +was utterly and absolutely ignorant of music until I heard Wagner +interpreted by the greatest leader, in my judgment, in the world--Anton +Seidl. He not only understands Wagner in the brain, but he feels him in +the heart, and there is in his blood the same kind of wild and splendid +independence that was in the brain of Wagner. I want to say to-night, +because there are so many heresies, Mr. President, creeping into this +world, I want to say and say it with all my might, that Robert Burns was +not Scotch. He was far wider than Scotland: he had in him the universal +tide, and wherever it touches the shore of a human being it finds +access. Not Scotch, gentlemen, but a man, a man! I can swear to it, +or rather affirm, that Shakespeare was not English, but another man, +kindred of all, of all races and peoples, and who understood the +universal brain and heart of the human race, and who had imagination +enough to put himself in the place of all. + +And so I want to say to-night, because I want to be consistent, Richard +Wagner was not a German, and his music is not German; and why? Germany +would not have it. Germany denied that it was music. The great German +critics said it was nothing in the world but noise. The best interpreter +of Wagner in the world is not German, and no man has to be German to +understand Richard Wagner. In the heart of nearly every man is an Æolian +harp, and when the breath of true genius touches that harp, every man +that has one, or that knows what music is or has the depth and height +of feeling necessary to appreciate it, appreciates Richard Wagner. To +understand that music, to hear it as interpreted by this great leader, +is an education. It develops the brain; it gives to the imagination +wings; the little earth grows larger; the people grow important; and +not only that, it civilizes the heart; and the man who understands +that music can love better and with greater intensity than he ever did +before. The man who understands and appreciates that music, becomes in +the highest sense spiritual--and I don't mean by spiritual, worshiping +some phantom, or dwelling upon what is going to happen to some of us--I +mean spiritual in the highest sense; when a perfume arises from the +heart in gratitude, and when you feel that you know what there is of +beauty, of sublimity, of heroism and honor and love in the human heart. +This is what I mean by being spiritual. I don't mean denying yourself +here and living on a crust with the expectation of eternal joy--that is +not what I mean. By spiritual I mean a man that has an ideal, a great +ideal, and who is splendid enough to live to that ideal; that is what I +mean by spiritual. And the man who has heard the music of Wagner, that +music of love and death, the greatest music, in my judgment, that ever +issued from the human brain, the man who has heard that and understands +it has been civilized. + +Another man to whom I feel under obligation whose name I do not know--I +know Burns, Shakespeare, Rembrandt and Wagner, but there are some other +fellows whose names I do not know--is he who chiseled the Venus de Milo. +This man helped to civilize the world; and there is nothing under the +sun so pathetic as the perfect. Whoever creates the perfect has thought +and labored and suffered; and no perfect thing has ever been done except +through suffering and except through the highest and holiest thought, +and among this class of men is Wagner. Let me tell you something +more. You know I am a great believer. There is no man in the world who +believes more in human nature than I do. No man believes more in the +nobility and splendor of humanity than I do; no man feels more grateful +than I to the self-denying, heroic, splendid souls who have made this +world fit for ladies and gentlemen to live in. But I believe that the +human mind has reached its top in three departments. I don't believe +the human race--no matter if it lives millions of years more upon this +wheeling world--I don't believe the human race will ever produce in the +world anything greater, sublimer, than the marbles of the Greeks. I do +not believe it. I believe they reach absolutely the perfection of form +and the expression of force and passion in stone. The Greeks made marble +as sensitive as flesh and as passionate as blood. I don't believe that +any human being of any coming race--no matter how many suns may rise and +set, or how many religions may rise and fall, or how many languages +be born and decay--I don't believe any human being will ever excel the +dramas of Shakespeare. Neither do I believe that the time will ever come +when any man with such instruments of music as we now have, and having +nothing but the common air that we now breathe, will ever produce +greater pictures in sound, greater music, than Wagner. Never! Never! And +I don't believe he will ever have a better interpreter than Anton Seidl. +Seidl is a poet in sound, a sculptor in sound. He is what you might call +an orchestral orator, and as such he expresses the deepest feelings, +the highest aspirations and the in-tensest and truest love of which the +brain and heart of man are capable. + +Now, I am glad, I am delighted, that the people here in this city and in +various other cities of our great country are becoming civilized enough +to appreciate these harmonies; I am glad they are civilized at last +enough to know that the home of music is tone, not tune; that the home +of music is in harmonies where you braid them like rainbows; I am glad +they are great enough and civilized enough to appreciate the music +of Wagner, the greatest music in this world. Wagner sustains the same +relation to other composers that Shakespeare does to other dramatists, +and any other dramatist compared with Shakespeare is like one tree +compared with an immeasurable forest, or rather like one leaf compared +with a forest; and all the other composers of the world are embraced in +the music of Wagner. + +"Nobody has written anything more tender than he, nobody anything +sublimer than he. Whether it is the song of the deep, or the warble of +the mated bird, nobody has excelled Wagner; he has expressed all that +the human heart is capable of appreciating. And now, gentlemen, having +troubled you long enough, and saying long live Anton Seidl, I bid you +good-night." + + + + +LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF REAR ADMIRAL SCHLEY. + +New York, November 26, 1898. + + * The Lotos Club did honor to Rear Admiral Winfield Scott + Schley, and incidentally, to the United States, at its + clubhouse in Fifth Avenue last night. All day long the + square, blue pennant, blazoned with the two stars of a Rear + Admiral, snapped in the wind, signifying to all who saw it + that the Lotos Clubhouse was for the time being the flagship + of the erstwhile Flying Squadron. + + Within the home of the club were gathered men who like the + guest of the evening were prominent in the war with Spain, + The navy was represented by Capt. Charles D. Sigs-Dee, Capt. + A. T. Mahan and Captain Goodrich. From the army there was + Brig. Gen. W F. Randolph, and from civil life many men + prominent in the business, professional and social life of + the city. The one impulse that led these men to brave the + storm was their desire to pay their respects to one of the + men who had done so much to win laurels for the American + arms. + + The parlors and dining rooms of the clubhouse wore thrown + into one in order to accommodate the three hundred men + present fit the dinner. Smilax covered the walls, save hero + and there where the American flag was draped in graceful + folds. From the archway under which the table of honor was + spread, hung a large National ensign and a Rear Admiral's + pennant. + + The menu was unique. Etched on a cream-tinted paper appeared + an open nook, and on the tops of the pages was inscribed, + "Logge of the Goode Ship Lotos." "Dinner to Rear Admiral + Winfield Scott Schley, given in the cabin of ye Shippe, Nov. + 26, l898, Lat. 40 degrees 42 minutes 43 seconds north; + longitude, 74 degrees 3 seconds west." + + On each side of the menu was stretched a string of signal + flags, giving the orders made famous by Admiral Schley in + the naval engagement of July 3, 1898. On the second page of + the menu was a fine etching of the Brooklyn, Admiral + Schley's flagship. The souvenir menu was inclosed in blue + paper, upon which were two white stars, the whole + representing Rear Admiral Schley's pennant. + + +MR.PRESIDENT, Gentlemen of the Club--Boys: I congratulate all of you and +I congratulate myself, and I will tell you why. In the first place, we +were well born, and we were all born rich, all of us. We belong to a +great race. That is something; that is having a start, to feel that in +your veins flows heroic blood, blood that has accomplished great things +and has planted the flag of victory on the field of war. It is a great +thing to belong to a great race. + +I congratulate you and myself on another thing; we were born in a great +nation, and you can't be much of a man without having a nation behind +you, with you; Just think about it! What would Shakespeare have been, if +he had been born in Labrador? I used to know an old lawyer in southern +Illinois, a smart old chap, who mourned his unfortunate surroundings. +He lived in Pinkneyville, and occasionally drank a little too freely of +Illinois wine; and when in his cups he sometimes grew philosophic and +egotistic. He said one day, "Boys, I have got more brains than you have, +I have, but I have never had a chance. I want you just to think of +it. What would Daniel Webster have been, by God, if he had settled in +Pinkneyville?" + +So I congratulate you all that you were born in a great nation, +born rich; and why do I say rich? Because you fell heir to a great, +expressive, flexible language; that is one thing. What could a man do +who speaks a poor language, a language of a few words that you could +almost count on your fingers? What could he do? You were born heirs to +a great literature, the greatest in the world--in all the world. All the +literature of Greece and Rome would not make one act of "Hamlet." All +the literature of the ancient world added to all of the modern world, +except England, would not equal the literature that we have. We were +born to it, heirs to that vast intellectual possession. + +So I say you were all born rich, all. And then you were very fortunate +in being born in this country, where people have some rights, not as +many as they should have, not as many as they would have if it were not +for the preachers, may be, but where we have some; and no man yet was +ever great unless a great drama was being played on some great stage and +he got a part. Nature deals you a hand, and all she asks is for you to +have the sense to play it. If no hand is dealt to you, you win no money. +You must have the opportunity, must be on the stage, and some great +drama must be there. Take it in our own country. The Revolutionary +war was a drama, and a few great actors appeared; the War of 1812 was +another, and a few appeared; the Civil war another. Where would have +been the heroes whose brows we have crowned with laurel had there been +no Civil war? What would have become of Lincoln, a lawyer in a country +town? What would have become of Grant? He would have been covered with +the mantle of absolute obscurity, tucked in at all the edges, his name +never heard of by any human being not related to him. + +Now, you have got to have the chance, and you cannot create it. I heard +a gentleman say here a few minutes ago that this war could have been +averted. That is not true. I am not doubting his veracity, but rather +his philosophy. Nothing ever happened beneath the dome of heaven that +could have been avoided. Everything that is possible happens. That may +not suit all the creeds, but it is true. And everything that is possible +will continue to happen. The war could not have been averted, and the +thing that makes me glad and proud is that it was not averted. I will +tell you why. + +It was the first war in the history of this world that was waged +unselfishly for the good of others; the first war. Almost anybody will +fight for himself; a great many people will fight for their country, +their fellow-men, their fellow-citizens; but it requires something +besides courage to fight for the rights of aliens; it requires not only +courage, but principle and the highest morality. This war was waged to +compel Spain to take her bloody hands from the throat of Cuba. That +is exactly what it was waged for. Another great drama was put upon +the boards, another play was advertised, and the actors had their +opportunity. Had there been no such war, many of the actors would never +have been heard of. + +But the thing is to take advantage of the occasion when it arrives. In +this war we added to the greatness and the glory of our history. That is +another thing that we all fell heirs to--the history of our people, the +history of our Nation. We fell heirs to all the great and grand things +that had been accomplished, to all the great deeds, to the splendid +achievements either in the realm of mind or on the field of battle. + +Then there was another great drama. The first thing we knew, a man in +the far Pacific, a gentleman from Vermont, sailed one May morning into +the bay of Manila, and the next news was that the Spanish fleet had been +beached, burned, destroyed, and nothing had happened to him. I have read +a little history, not much, and a good deal that I have read was not +true. I have read something about our own navy, not much. I recollect +when I was a boy my hero was John Paul Jones; he covered the ocean; and +afterward I knew of Hull and Perry and Decatur and Bainbridge and a good +many others that I don't remember now. And then came the Civil war, and +I remember a little about Farragut, a great Admiral, as great as ever +trod a deck, in my judgment. And I have also read about other admirals +and sailors of the world. I knew something of Drake and I have read the +"Life of Nelson" and several other sea dogs; but when I got the news +from Manila I said, "There is the most wonderful victory ever won upon +the sea;" and I did not think it would ever be paralleled. I thought +such things come one in a box. But a little while afterward another of +Spain's fleets was heard from. Oh, those Spaniards! They have got the +courage of passion, but that is not the highest courage. They have got +plenty of that; but it is necessary to be coolly courageous, and to have +the brain working with the accuracy of an engine--courageous, I don't +care how mad you get, but there must not be a cloud in the heaven of +your judgment. That is Anglo-Saxon courage, and there is no higher type. +The Spaniards sprinkled the holy water on their guns, then banged away +and left it to the Holy Ghost to direct the rest. + +Another fleet, at Santiago, ventured out one day, and another great +victory was won by the American Navy. I don't know which victory was +the more wonderful, that at Manila Bay or that at Santiago. The Spanish +ships were, some of them, of the best class and type, and had fine guns, +yet in a few moments they were wrecks on the shore of defeat, gone, +lost. + +Now, when I used to read about these things in the olden times, what +ideas I had of the hero! I never expected to see one; and yet to-night I +have the happiness of dining with one, with one whose name is associated +with as great a victory, in my judgment, as was ever won; a victory that +required courage, intelligence, that power of will that holds itself +firm until the thing sought has been accomplished; and that has my +greatest admiration. I thank Admiral Schley for having enriched my +country, for having added a little to my own height, to my own pride, so +that I utter the word America with a little more unction than I ever +did before, and the old flag looks a little brighter, better, and has +an added glory. When I see it now, it looks as if the air had burst into +blossom, and it stands for all that he has accomplished. + +Admiral Schley has added not only to our wealth, but to the wealth of +the children yet unborn that are going to come into the great heritage +not only of wealth, but of the highest possible riches, glory, honor, +achievement. That is the reason I congratulate you to-night. And I +congratulate you on another thing, that this country has entered upon +the great highway, I believe, of progress. I believe that the great +nation has the sentiment, the feeling of growth. The successful farmer +wants to buy the land adjoining him; the great nation loves to see its +territory increase. And what has been our history? Why, when we bought +Louisiana from Napoleon, in 1803, thousands of people were opposed to +"imperialism," to expansion; the poor old moss-backs were opposed to it. +When we bought Florida, it was the same. When we took the vast West from +Mexico in 1848 it was the same. When we took Alaska it was the same. +Now, is anybody in favor of modifying that sentiment? + +We have annexed Hawaii, and we have got the biggest volcano in the +business. A man I know visited that volcano some years ago and came back +and told me about his visit. He said that at the little hotel they had +a guest-book in which the people wrote their feelings on seeing the +volcano in action. "Now," he said, "I will tell you this so that you +may know how you are spreading out yourself. One man had written in +that book, 'if Bob Ingersoll were here, I think he would change his mind +about hell.'" + +I want that volcano. I want the Philippines. It would be simply infamous +to hand those people back to the brutality of Spain. Spain has been +Christianizing them for about four hundred years. The first thing the +poor devils did was to sign a petition asking for the expulsion of the +priests. That was their idea of the commencement of liberty. They are +not quite so savage as some people imagine. I want those islands; I want +all of them, and I don't know that I disagree with the Rev. Mr. Slicer +as to the use we can put them to. I don't know that they will be of any +use, but I want them; they might come handy. And I wanted to pick up +the small change, the Ladrones and the Carolines. I am glad we have got +Porto Rico. I don't know as it will be of any use, but there's no harm +in having the title. I want Cuba whenever Cuba wants us, and I favor +the idea of getting her in the notion of wanting us. I want it in the +interest, as I believe, of humanity, of progress; in other words, of +human liberty. That is what the war was waged for, and the fact that it +was waged for that, gives an additional glory to these naval officers +and to the officers in the army. They fought in the first righteous war; +I mean righteous in the sense that we fought for the liberty of others. + +Now, gentlemen, I feel that we have all honored ourselves to-night by +honoring Rear Admiral Schley. I want you to know that long after we +are dead and long after the Admiral has ceased to sail, he will be +remembered, and in the constellation of glory one of the brightest stars +will stand for the name of Winfield Scott Schley, as brave an officer as +ever sailed a ship. I am glad I am here to-night, and again, gentlemen, +I congratulate you all upon being here. I congratulate you that you +belong to this race, to this nation, and that you are equal heirs in the +glory of the great Republic. + + + + +ADDRESS TO THE ACTORS' FUND OF AMERICA. + +New York, June 5, 1888. + + +MR. PRESIDENT, Ladies and Gentlemen: I have addressed, or annoyed, a +great many audiences in my life and I have not the slightest doubt that +I stand now before more ability, a greater variety of talent, and more +real genius than I ever addressed in my life. + +I know all about respectable stupidity, and I am perfectly acquainted +with the brainless wealth and success of this life, and I know, after +all, how poor the world would be without that divine thing that we call +genius--what a worthless habitation, if you take from it all that genius +has given. + +I know also that all joy springs from a love of nature. I know that all +joy is what I call Pagan. The natural man takes delight in everything +that grows, in everything that shines, in everything that enjoys--he has +an immense sympathy with the whole human race. + +Of that feeling, of that spirit, the drama is born. People must first be +in love with life before they can think it worth representing. They +must have sympathy with their fellows before they can enter into their +feelings and know what their heart throbs about. So, I say, back of the +drama is this love of life, this love of nature. And whenever a country +becomes prosperous--and this has been pointed cut many times--when a +wave of wealth runs over a land,--behind it you will see all the sons +and daughters of genius. When a man becomes of some account he is worth +painting. When by success and prosperity he gets the pose of a victor, +the sculptor is inspired; and when love is really in his heart, words +burst into blossom and the poet is born. When great virtues appear, when +magnificent things are done by heroines and heroes, then the stage is +built, and the life of a nation is compressed into a few hours, or--to +use the language of the greatest--"turning the accomplishment of many +years into an hour-glass"; the stage is born, and we love it because we +love life--and he who loves the stage has a kind of double life. + +The drama is a crystallization of history, an epitome of the human +heart. The past is lived again and again, and we see upon the stage, +love, sacrifice, fidelity, courage--all the virtues mingled with all the +follies. + +And what is the great thing that the stage does? It cultivates the +imagination. And let me say now, that the imagination constitutes the +great difference between human beings. + +The imagination is the mother of pity, the mother of generosity, the +mother of every possible virtue. It is by the imagination that you are +enabled to put yourself in the place of another. Every dollar that has +been paid into your treasury came from an imagination vivid enough +to imagine himself or herself lying upon the lonely bed of pain, or +as having fallen by the wayside of life, dying alone. It is this +imagination that makes the difference in men. + +Do you believe that a man would plunge the dagger into the heart of +another if he had imagination enough to see him dead--imagination enough +to see his widow throw her arms about the corpse and cover his face with +sacred tears--imagination enough to see them digging his grave, and to +see the funeral and to hear the clods fall upon the coffin and the sobs +of those who stood about--do you believe he would commit the crime? +Would any man be false who had imagination enough to see the woman that +he once loved, in the darkness of night, when the black clouds were +floating through the sky hurried by the blast as thoughts and memories +were hurrying through her poor brain--if he could see the white flutter +of her garment as she leaped to the eternal, blessed sleep of death--do +you believe that he would be false to her? I tell you that he would be +true. + +So that, in my judgment, the great mission of the stage is to cultivate +the human imagination. That is the reason fiction has done so much good. +Compared with the stupid lies-called history, how beautiful are the +imagined things with painted wings. Everybody detests a thing that +pretends to be true and is not; but when it says, "I am about to +create," then it is beautiful in the proportion that it is artistic, in +the proportion that it is a success. + +Imagination is the mother of enthusiasm. Imagination fans the little +spark into a flame great enough to warm the human race; and enthusiasm +is to the mind what spring is to the world. . + +Now I am going to say a few words because I want to, and because I have +the chance. + +What is known as "orthodox religion" has always been the enemy of the +theatre. It has been the enemy of every possible comfort, of every +rational joy--that is to say, of amusement. And there is a reason for +this. Because, if that religion be true, there should be no amusement. +If you believe that in every moment is the peril of eternal pain--do +not amuse yourself. Stop the orchestra, ring down the curtain, and be as +miserable as you can. That idea puts an infinite responsibility upon the +soul--an infinite responsibility--and how can there be any art, how can +there be any joy, after that? You might as well pile all the Alps on one +unfortunate ant, and then say, "Why don't you play? Enjoy yourself." + +If that doctrine be true, every one should regard time as a kind of +dock, a pier running out into the ocean of eternity, on which you sit +on your trunk and wait for the ship of death--solemn, lugubrious, +melancholy to the last degree. + +And that is why I have said joy is Pagan. It comes from a love of +nature, from a love of this world, from a love of this life. According +to the idea of some good people, life is a kind of green-room, where you +are getting ready for a "play" in some other country. + +You all remember the story of "Great Expectations," and I presume you +have all had them. That is another thing about this profession of acting +that I like--you do not know how it is coming out--and there is this +delightful uncertainty. + +You have all read the book called "Great Expectations," written, in +my judgment, by the greatest novelist that ever wrote the English +language--the man who created a vast realm of joy. I love the +joy-makers--not the solemn, mournful wretches. And when I think of the +church asking something of the theatre, I remember that story of "Great +Expectations." You remember Miss Haversham--she was to have been +married some fifty or sixty years before that time--sitting there in the +darkness, in all of her wedding finery, the laces having turned yellow +by time, the old wedding cake crumbled, various insects having made +it their palatial residence--you remember that she sent for that poor +little boy Pip, and when he got there in the midst of all these horrors, +she looked at him and said, "Pip, play!" And if their doctrine be true, +every actor is in that situation. + +I have always loved the theatre--loved the stage, simply because it has +added to the happiness of this life. "Oh, but," they say, "is it moral?" +A superstitious man suspects everything that is pleasant. It seems +inbred in his nature, and in the nature of most people. You let such a +man pull up a little weed and taste it, and if it is sweet and good, he +says, "I'll bet it is poison." But if it tastes awful, so that his +face becomes a mask of disgust, he says, "I'll bet you that it is good +medicine." + +Now, I believe that everything in the world that tends to make man +happy, is moral. That is my definition of morality. Anything that bursts +into bud and blossom, and bears the fruit of joy, is moral. + +Some people expect to make the world good by destroying desire--by a +kind of pious petrifaction, feeling that if you do not want anything, +you will not want anything bad. In other words, you will be good +and moral if you will only stop growing, stop wishing, turn all your +energies in the direction of repression, and if from the tree of life +you pull every leaf, and then every bud--and if an apple happens to get +ripe in spite of you, don't touch it--snakes! + +I insist that happiness is the end--virtue the means--and anything +that wipes a tear from the face of man is good. Everything that gives +laughter to the world--laughter springing from good nature, that is the +most wonderful music that has ever enriched the ears of man. And let me +say that nothing can be more immoral than to waste your own life, and +sour that of others. + +Is the theatre moral? I suppose you have had an election to-day. They +had an election at the Metropolitan Opera House for bishops, and they +voted forged tickets; and after the election was over, I suppose they +asked the old question in the same solemn tone: "Is the theatre moral?" + +At last, all the intelligence of the world admits that the theatre is a +great, a splendid instrumentality for increasing the well-being of man. +But only a few years ago our fathers were poor barbarians. They only +wanted the essentials of life, and through nearly all the centuries +Genius was a vagabond--Art was a servant. He was the companion of the +clown. Writers, poets, actors, either sat "below the salt" or devoured +the "remainder biscuit," and drank what drunkenness happened to leave, +or lived on crumbs, and they had less than the crumbs of respect. The +painter had to have a patron, and then in order to pay the patron, he +took the patron's wife for Venus--and the man, he was the Apollo! So the +writer had to have a patron, and he endeavored to immortalize him in a +preface of obsequious lies. The writer had no courage. The painter, +the sculptor--poor wretches--had "patrons." Some of the greatest of the +world were treated as servants, and yet they were the real kings of the +human race. + +Now the public is the patron. The public has the intelligence to see +what it wants. The stage does not have to flatter any man. The actor now +does not enroll himself as the servant of duke or lord. He has the great +public, and if he is a great actor, he stands as high in the public +estimation as any other man in any other walk of life. + +And these men of genius, these "vagabonds," these "sturdy vagrants" of +the old law--and let me say one thing right here: I do not believe +that there ever was a man of genius that had not a little touch of the +vagabond in him somewhere--just a little touch of chaos--that is to +say, he must have generosity enough now and then absolutely to forget +himself--he must be generous to that degree that he starts out without +thinking of the shore and without caring for the sea--and that is that +touch of chaos. And yet, through all those years the poets and the +actors lacked bread. Imagine the number of respectable dolts who felt +above them. The men of genius lived on the bounty of the few, grudgingly +given. + +Now, just think what would happen, what we would be, if you could blot +from this world what these men have done. If you could take from the +walls the pictures; from the niches the statues; from the memory of man +the songs that have been sung by "The Plowman"--take from the memory of +the world what has been done by the actors and play-writers, and this +great globe would be like a vast skull emptied of all thought. + +And let me say one word more, and that is as to the dignity of your +profession. + +The greatest genius of this world has produced your literature. I am not +now alluding simply to one--but there has been more genius lavished upon +the stage--more real genius, more creative talent, than upon any +other department of human effort. And when men and women belong to a +profession that can count Shakespeare in its number, they should feel +nothing but pride. + +Nothing gives me more pleasure than to speak of +Shakespeare--Shakespeare, in whose brain were the fruits of all thoughts +past, the seeds of all to be--Shakespeare, an intellectual ocean toward +which all rivers ran, and from which now the isles and continents of +thought receive their dew and rain. + +A profession that can boast that Shakespeare was one of its members, and +that from his brain poured out that mighty intellectual cataract--that +Mississippi that will enrich all coming generations--the man that +belongs to that profession--should feel that no other man by reason of +belonging to some other, can be his superior. + +And such a man, when he dies--or the friend of such a man, when that man +dies--should not imagine that it is a very generous and liberal thing +for some minister to say a few words above the corpse--and I do not want +to see this profession cringe before any other. + +One word more. I hope that you will sustain this splendid charity. I do +not believe that more generous people exist than actors. I hope you will +sustain this charity. And yet, there was one little thing I saw in +your report of last year, that I want to call attention to. You had +"benefits" all over this country, and of the amount raised, one hundred +and twenty-five thousand dollars were given to religious societies and +twelve thousand dollars to the Actors' Fund--and yet they say actors are +not Christians! Do you not love your enemies? After this, I hope that +you will also love your friends. + + + + +THE CHILDREN OF THE STAGE. + +New York, March 23, 1899. + + * Col. Robert G. Ingersoll was the special star among stars + at the benefit given yesterday afternoon at the Fifth Avenue + Theatre for the Actors' Fund. There were a great many other + stars and a very long programme. The consequence was that + the performance began before one o'clock and was not over + until almost dinner time. + + Usually in such cases the least important performers are + placed at the beginning and the audience straggles in + leisurely without worrying a great deal over what it has + missed. Yesterday, however, it had been announced in advance + that Col. Ingersoll would start the ball a-rolling and the + result was that before the overture was finished the house + was packed to the doors. + + Col. Ingersoll's contribution was a short address delivered + in his characteristic style of florid eloquence.--The World, + New York, March 24, 1899. + + +Disguise it as we may, we live in a frightful world, with evils, with +enemies, on every side. From the hedges along the path of life, leap the +bandits that murder and destroy; and every human being, no matter how +often he escapes, at last will fall beneath the assassin's knife. + +To change the figure: We are all passengers on the train of life. The +tickets give the names of the stations where we boarded the car, but +the destination is unknown. At every station some passengers, pallid, +breathless, dead, are put away, and some with the light of morning in +their eyes, get on. + +To change the figure again: On the wide sea of life we are all on ships +or rafts or spars, and some by friendly winds are borne to the fortunate +isles, and some by storms are wrecked on the cruel rocks. And yet upon +the isles the same as upon the rocks, death waits for all. And death +alone can truly say, "All things come to him who waits." + +And yet, strangely enough, there is in this world of misery, of +misfortune and of death, the blessed spirit of mirth. The travelers on +the path, on the train, on the ships, the rafts and spars, sometimes +forget their perils and their doom. + +All blessings on the man whose face was first illuminated by a smile! + +All blessings on the man who first gave to the common air the music +of laughter--the music that for the moment drove fears from the heart, +tears from the eyes, and dimpled cheeks with joy! + +All blessings on the man who sowed with merry hands the seeds of humor, +and at the lipless skull of death snapped the reckless fingers of +disdain! Laughter is the blessed boundary line between the brute and +man. + +Who are the friends of the human race? They who hide with vine and +flower the cruel rocks of fate--the children of genius, the sons and +daughters of mirth and laughter, of imagination, those whose thoughts, +like moths with painted wings, fill the heaven of the mind. + +Among these sons and daughters are the children of the stage, the +citizens of the mimic world--the world enriched by all the wealth of +genius--enriched by painter, orator, composer and poet. The world +of which Shakespeare, the greatest of human beings, is still the +unchallenged emperor. These children of the stage have delighted the +weary travelers on the thorny path, amused the passengers on the fated +train, and filled with joy the hearts of the clingers to spars, and the +floaters on rafts. + +These, children of the stage, with fancy's wand rebuild the past. The +dead are brought to life and made to act again the parts they played. +The hearts and lips that long ago were dust, are made to beat and speak +again. The dead kings are crowned once more, and from the shadows of the +past emerge the queens, jeweled and sceptred as of yore. Lovers leave +their graves and breathe again their burning vows; and again the white +breasts rise and fall in passion's storm. The laughter that died away +beneath the touch of death is heard again and lips that fell to ashes +long ago are curved once more with mirth. Again the hero bares his +breast to death; again the patriot falls, and again the scaffold, +stained with noble blood, becomes a shrine. + +The citizens of the real world gain joy and comfort from the stage. +The broker, the speculator ruined by rumor, the lawyer baffled by the +intelligence of a jury or the stupidity of a judge, the doctor who lost +his patience because he lost his patients, the merchant in the dark days +of depression, and all the children of misfortune, the victims of hope +deferred, forget their troubles for a little while when looking on +the mimic world. When the shaft of wit flies like the arrow of Ulysses +through all the rings and strikes the centre; when words of wisdom +mingle with the clown's conceits; when folly laughing shows her pearls, +and mirth holds carnival; when the villain fails and the right triumphs, +the trials and the griefs of life for the moment fade away. + +And so the maiden longing to be loved, the young man waiting for +the "Yes" deferred; the unloved wife, hear the old, old story told +again,--and again within their hearts is the ecstasy of requited love. + +The stage brings solace to the wounded, peace to the troubled, and with +the wizard's wand touches the tears of grief and they are changed to the +smiles of joy. + +The stage has ever been the altar, the pulpit, the cathedral of the +heart. There the enslaved and the oppressed, the erring, the fallen, +even the outcast, find sympathy, and pity gives them all her tears--and +there, in spite of wealth and power, in spite of caste and cruel pride, +true love has ever triumphed over all. + +The stage has taught the noblest lesson, the highest truth, and that is +this: It is better to deserve without receiving than to receive without +deserving. As a matter of fact, it is better to be the victim of +villainy than to be a villain. Better to be stolen from than to be +a thief, and in the last analysis the oppressed, the slave, is less +unfortunate than the oppressor, the master. + +The children of the stage, these citizens of the mimic world, are +not the grasping, shrewd and prudent people of the mart; they are +improvident enough to enjoy the present and credulous enough to believe +the promises of the universal liar known as Hope. Their hearts and hands +are open. As a rule genius is generous, luxurious, lavish, reckless and +royal. And so, when they have reached the ladder's topmost round, they +think the world is theirs and that the heaven of the future can have +no cloud. But from the ranks of youth the rival steps. Upon the veteran +brows the wreaths begin to fade, the leaves to fall; and failure sadly +sups on memory. They tread the stage no more. They leave the mimic +world, fair fancy's realm; they leave their palaces and thrones; their +crowns are gone, and from their hands the sceptres fall. At last, in age +and want, in lodgings small and bare, they wait the prompter's call; +and when the end is reached, maybe a vision glorifies the closing scene. +Again they are on the stage; again their hearts throb high; again they +utter perfect words; again the flowers fall about their feet; and as the +curtain falls, the last sound that greets their ears, is the music of +applause, the "bravos" for an encore. + +And then the silence falls on darkness. + +Some loving hands should close their eyes, some loving lips should leave +upon their pallid brows a kiss; some friends should lay the breathless +forms away, and on the graves drop blossoms jeweled with the tears of +love. + +This is the work of the generous men and women who contribute to the +Actors' Fund. This is charity; and these generous men and women have +taught, and are teaching, a lesson that all the world should learn, and +that is this: The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray. + + + + +ADDRESS TO THE PRESS CLUB. + +New Orleans, February 1, 1898. + + +LADIES AND GENTLEMEN of the New Orleans + +Press Club: I do not remember to have agreed or consented to make any +remarks about the press or anything else on the present occasion, but I +am glad of this opportunity to say a word or two. Of course, I have the +very greatest respect for this profession, the profession of the press, +knowing it, as I do, to be one of the greatest civilizers of the +world. Above all other institutions and all other influences, it is the +greatest agency in breaking down the hedges of provincialism. In olden +times one nation had no knowledge or understanding of another nation, +and no insight or understanding into its life; and, indeed, various +parts of one nation held the other parts of it somewhat in the attitude +of hostility, because of a lack of more thorough knowledge; and, +curiously enough, we are prone to look upon strangers more or less in +the light of enemies. Indeed, enemy and stranger in the old vocabularies +are pretty much of the same significance. A stranger was an enemy. I +think it is Darwin who alludes to the instinctive fear a child has of +a stranger as one of the heritages of centuries of instinctive +cultivation, the handed-down instinct of years ago. And even now it is +a fact that we have very little sympathy with people of a different +country, even people speaking the same language, having the same god +with a different name, or another god with the same name, recognizing +the same principles of right and wrong. + +But the moment people began to trade with each other, the moment they +began to enjoy the results of each other's industry and brain, the +moment that, through this medium, they began to get an insight into +each other's life, people began to see each other as they were; and +so commerce became the greatest of all missionaries of civilization, +because, like the press, it tended to do away with provincialism. + +You know there is no one else in the world so egotistic as the man who +knows nothing. No man is more certain than the man who knows nothing. +The savage knows everything. The moment man begins to be civilized he +begins to appreciate how little he knows, how very circumscribed in its +very nature human knowledge is. + +Now, after commerce came the press. From the Moors, I believe, we +learned the first rudiments of that art which has civilized the world. +With the invention of movable type came an easy and cheap method of +preserving the thoughts and history of one generation to another and +transmitting the life of one nation to another. Facts became immortal, +and from that day to this the intelligence of the world has rapidly and +steadily increased. + +And now, if we are provincial, it is our own fault, and if we are +hateful and odious and circumscribed and narrow and peevish and limited +in the light we get from the known universe, it is our own fault. + +Day by day the world is growing smaller and men larger. But a few years +ago the State of New York was as large as the United States is to-day. +It required as much time to reach Albany from New York as it now +requires to reach San Francisco from the same city, and so far as the +transmission of thought goes the world is but a hamlet. + +I count as one of the great good things of the modern press--as one +of the specific good things--that the same news, the same direction of +thought is transmitted to many millions of people each day. So that the +thoughts of multitudes of men are substantially tending at the same time +along the same direction. It tends more and more to make us citizens +in the highest sense of the term, and that is the reason that I have so +much respect for the press. + +Of course I know that the news and opinions are written by folks liable +to the same percentage of error as characterizes all mankind. No one +makes no mistakes but the man who knows everything--no one makes no +mistakes but the hypocrite. + +I must confess, however, that there are things about the press of to-day +that I would have changed--that I do not like. + +I hate to see brain the slave of the material god. I hate to see money +own genius. So I think that every writer on every paper should be +compelled to sign his name to everything he writes. There are many +reasons why he has a right to the reputation he makes. His reputation +is his property, his capital, his stock in trade, and it is not just +or fair or right that it should be absorbed by the corporation which +employs him. After giving great thoughts to the world, after millions of +people have read his thoughts with delight, no one knows this lonely +man or his solitary name. If he loses the good will of his employer, he +loses his place and with it all that his labor and time and brain have +earned for himself as his own inalienable property, and his corporation +or employer reaps the benefit of it. + +There is another reason establishing the absolute equity of this +proposition, a reason pointing in other directions than to the writer +and his rights. It is no more than right to the reader that the opinion +or the narrative should be that of Mr. Smith or Mr. Brown or Mr. So and +So, and not that of, say, the _Picayune_. That is too impersonal. It is +no more than right that a single man should have his honor at stake for +what is said, and not an impersonal something. I know that we are all +liable to believe it if the _Picayune_ says it, and yet, after all, +it is the individual man who is saying it and it is in the interest of +justice that the reader be apprised of the fact. + +I believe I have just a little fault to find with the tendency of +the modern press to go into personal affairs--into so-called private +affairs. In saying this, I have no complaint to lodge on my own behalf, +for I have no private affairs. I am not so much opposed to what +is called sensationalism, for that must exist as long as crime is +considered news, and believe me, when virtue becomes news it can only be +when this will have become an exceedingly bad world. At the same time I +think that the publication of crime may have more or less the tendency +of increasing it. + +I read not long ago that if some heavy piece of furniture were dropped +in a room in which there was a string instrument, the strings in harmony +with the vibrations of the air made by that noise would take up the +sound. Now a man with a tendency to crime would pick up that criminal +feeling inspiring the act which he sees blazoned forth in all its detail +in the press. In that view of the matter it seems to me better not to +give details of all offences. + +Now, as to the matter of being too personal, I think that one of the +results of that sort of journalism is to drive a great many capable and +excellent men out of public life. I heard a little story quite recently +of a man who was being urged for the Legislature, and yet hesitated +because of his fear of newspaper criticism of this character. "I +don't want to run," said he to his wife, who urged that this was an +opportunity to do himself and his friends honor, and that it was a sort +of duty in him. "I would if I were you," said his wife. "Well, but there +is no saying," he responded, "what the newspapers might print about me." +"Why, your life has always been honorable," said she; "they could not +say anything to your disparagement." "But they might attack my father." +"Well, there was nothing in his career of which any one might feel +ashamed. He was as irreproachable as you." "Ay, but they might attack +you and tell of some devilment you went into before we were married." +"Then you better not run," said his wife promptly. I think this fear on +the part of husband and wife is identical with that which keeps many a +great man out of public service. + +Now, there is another thing which every one ought to abhor. All men and +newspapers are entirely too apt to criticise the motives of men. It is +a fault common to all good men--except the clergy, of course--this habit +of attacking motives. And whenever we see a man do something which is +great and praiseworthy, let us talk about the act itself and not go +into a speculation or an attack upon the motive which prompted the act. +Attack what a man actually does. + +But these are only small matters. The press is the most powerful of all +agencies for the dissemination of intelligence, and as such I hail +it always. It has nearly always been very friendly and kind to me +and certainly I have received at the hands of the New Orleans press a +treatment I shall never forget. + +Our Sunday newspapers, to my mind, rank among the greatest institutions +of the present day. One finds in them matter that could not be found in +several hundreds of books,--beautiful thoughts, broad intelligence, a +range of information perfectly startling in its usefulness and perfectly +charming in its entertainment. Contrast, please, how we are enabled by +their good offices to spend the Sabbath, with the descriptions of hell +with all its terrors and all the gloom characterizing the Sabbaths our +forefathers had to spend. The Sunday newspaper is an absolute blessing +to the American people, a picture gallery, short stories, little poems, +a symposium of brain and intelligence and refinement and--divorce +proceedings. + +As I have said, the good will and the fair treatment of the American +press have nearly always been my lot. There have been some misguided +people who have said harsh things, but when I remember all the +misguided things I have done, I am inclined to be charitable for their +shortcomings. + +I do not know that I have anything else to say, except that I wish you +all good luck and sunshine and prosperity, and enough of it to last you +through a long life. + + + + +THE CIRCULATION OF OBSCENE LITERATURE. + + * From "Ingersoll As He Is," by E. M. Macdonald. + +"ONE of the charges most persistently made against Colonel Ingersoll is +that during and after the trial of D. M. Bennett, persecuted by Anthony +Comstock, the Colonel endeavored to have the law against sending obscene +literature through the mail repealed. That the charge is maliciously +false is fully shown by the following brief history of events connected +with the prosecution of D. M. Bennett, and Mr. Ingersoll's efforts in +his behalf.... + +"After Mr. Bennett's arrest in 1877, he printed a petition to Congress, +written by T. B. Wakeman, asking for the _repeal or modification_ of +Comstock's law by which he expected to stamp out the publications of +Freethinkers.... + +"The connection of Mr. Ingersoll with this petition is soon explained. +Mr. Ingersoll knew of Comstock's attempts to suppress heresy by means of +this law, and when called upon by the Washington committee in charge +of the petition, he allowed his name to go on the petition for +modification, but he told them distinctly and plainly that he was _not_ +in favor of the _repeal_ of the law, as he was willing and anxious that +obscenity should be suppressed by all legal means. His sentiments are +best expressed by himself in a letter to the _Boston Journal_. He says: + +"'Washington, March 18, 1878. + +"'To the Editor of the Boston Journal: + +"'My attention has been called to the following article that recently +appeared in your paper: + +"'Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, and others, feel aggrieved because Congress, +in 1873, enacted a law for the suppression of obscene literature, and, +believing it an infringement of the rights of certain citizens, and an +effort to muzzle the press and conscience, petition for its repeal. When +a man's conscience permits him to spread broadcast obscene literature, +it is time that conscience was muzzled. The law is a terror only to +evil-doers." + +"'No one wishes the repeal of any law for the suppression of obscene +literature. For my part, I wish all such laws rigidly enforced. The only +objection I have to the law of 1873 is, that it has been construed to +include books and pamphlets written against the religion of the day, +although containing nothing that can be called obscene or impure. +Certain religious fanatics, taking advantage of the word "immoral" in +the law, have claimed that all writings against what they are pleased to +call orthodox religion are immoral, and such books have been seized and +their authors arrested. To this, and this only, I object. + +"'Your article does me great injustice, and I ask that you will have the +kindness to publish this note. + +"'From the bottom of my heart I despise the publishers of obscene +literature. Below them there is no depth of filth. And I also despise +those, who, under the pretence of suppressing obscene literature, +endeavor to prevent honest and pure men from writing and publishing +honest and pure thoughts. Yours truly. + +"'R. G. Ingersoll.' + + +"This is sufficiently easy of comprehension even for ministers, but of +course they misrepresented and lied about the writer. From that day +to this he has been accused of favoring the dissemination of obscene +literature. That the friends of Colonel Ingersoll may know just +how infamous this is, we will give a brief history of the repeal or +modification movement.... + +"On October 26, the National Liberal League held its Congress in +Syracuse. At this Congress the League left the matter of repeal or +modification of the laws open, taking no action as an organization, +either way, but elected officers known to be in favor of repeal. On +December 10, Mr. Bennett was again arrested. He was tried, and found +guilty; he appealed, the conviction was affirmed, and he was sentenced +to thirteen months' imprisonment at hard labor. + +"After the trial Colonel Ingersoll interposed, and endeavored to get +a pardon for Mr. Bennett, who was held in Ludlow street jail pending +President Hayes's reply. The man who occupied the President's office +promised to pardon the Infidel editor; then he went back on his word, +and Mr. Bennett served his term of imprisonment. + +"Then preachers opened the sluiceways of vituperation and billingsgate +upon Colonel Ingersoll for having interceded for a man convicted of +mailing obscene literature. The charges were as infamously false then +as they are now, and to show it, it is only necessary to quote +Colonel Ingersoll's words during the year or two succeeding, when +the Freethinkers and the Christians were not only opposing each +other vigorously, but the Freethinkers themselves were divided on the +question. In 1879, while Mr. Bennett was in prison, a correspondent of +the Nashville, Tenn., _Banner_ said that the National Liberal League and +Colonel Ingersoll were in favor of disseminating obscene literature. To +this Colonel Ingersoll replied in a letter to a friend: + +"1417 G St., Washington, Aug. 21, 1879. + +"'My Dear Sir: The article in the Nashville _Banner_ by "J. L." is +utterly and maliciously false. + +"'A petition was sent to Congress praying for the repeal or modification +of certain postal laws, to the end that the freedom of conscience and of +the press should not be abridged. + +"'Nobody holds in greater contempt than I the writers, publishers, or +dealers in obscene literature. One of my objections to the Bible is that +it contains hundreds of grossly obscene passages not fit to be read by +any decent man, thousands of passages, in my judgment, calculated to +corrupt the minds of youth. I hope the time will soon come when the +good sense of the American people will demand a Bible with all obscene +passages left out. + +"'The only reason a modification of the postal laws is necessary is that +at present, under color of those laws, books and pamphlets are excluded +from the mails simply because they are considered heterodox and +blasphemous. In other words, every man should be allowed to write, +publish, and send through the mails his thoughts upon any subject, +expressed in a decent and becoming manner. As to the propriety of giving +anybody authority to overhaul mails, break seals, and read private +correspondence, that is another question. + +"'Every minister and every layman who charges me with directly or +indirectly favoring the dissemination of anything that is impure, +retails what he knows to be a wilful and malicious lie. I remain, Yours +truly, + +"'R. G. Ingersoll.' + + +"Three weeks after this letter was written the National Liberal League +held its third annual Congress at Cincinnati. Colonel Ingersoll was +chairman of the committee on resolutions and platform and unfinished +business of the League. One of the subjects to be dealt with was these +Comstock laws. The following are Colonel Ingersoll's remarks and the +resolutions he presented: + +"'It may be proper, before presenting the resolutions of the committee, +to say a word in explanation. The committee were charged with the +consideration of the unfinished business of the League. It seems that +at Syracuse there was a division as to what course should be taken in +regard to the postal laws of the United States. These laws were used +as an engine of oppression against the free circulation of what we +understand to be scientific literature. Every honest man in this country +is in favor of allowing every other human being every right that he +claims for himself. The majority at Syracuse were at that time simply +in favor of the absolute repeal of those laws, believing them to be +unconstitutional--not because they were in favor of anything obscene, +but because they were opposed to the mails of the United States being +under the espionage and bigotry of the church. They therefore demanded +an absolute repeal of the law. Others, feeling that they might be +misunderstood, and knowing that theology can coin the meanest words +to act as the vehicle of the lowest lies, were afraid of being +misunderstood, and therefore they said, Let us amend these laws so that +our literature shall be upon an equality with that of theology. I know +that there is not a Liberal here, or in the United States, that is in +favor of the dissemination of obscene literature. One of the objections +which we have to the book said to be written by God is that it is +obscene. + +"'The Liberals of this country believe in purity, and they believe that +every fact in nature and in science is as pure as a star. We do not need +to ask for any more than we want. We simply want the laws of our country +so framed that we are not discriminated against. So, taking that view of +the vexed question, we want to put the boot upon the other foot. We want +to put the charge of obscenity where it belongs, and the committee, of +which I have the honor to be one of the members, have endeavored to do +just that thing. Men have no right to talk to me about obscenity who +regard the story of Lot and his daughters as a fit thing for men, women, +and children to read, and who worship a God in whom the violation of +[_Cheers drowned the conclusion of this sentence so the reporters could +not hear it._] Such a God I hold in infinite contempt. + +"'Now I will read you the resolutions recommended by the committee. + +"'RESOLUTIONS. + +"'Your committee have the honor to submit the following report: "'First, +As to the unfinished business of the League, your committee submits the +following resolutions: + +"'Resolved., That we are in favor of such postal laws as will allow the +free transportation through the mails of the United States of all books, +pamphlets, and papers, irrespective of the religious, irreligious, +political, and scientific views they may contain, so that the literature +of science may be placed upon an equality with that of superstition. + +"'Resolved, That we are utterly opposed to the dissemination, through +the mails, or by any other means, of obscene literature, whether +"inspired" or uninspired, and hold in measureless contempt its authors +and disseminators. + +"'Resolved, That we call upon the Christian world to expunge from the +so-called "sacred" Bible every passage that cannot be read without +covering the cheek of modesty with the blush of shame; and until such +passages are expunged, we demand that the laws against the dissemination +of obscene literature be impartially enforced. '... + +"We believe that lotteries and obscenity should be dealt with by State +and municipal legislation, and offenders punished in the county in which +they commit their offence. So in those days we argued for the repeal of +the Comstock laws, as did dozens of others--James Parton, Elizur Wright, +O. B. Frothingham, T. C. Leland, Courtlandt Palmer, and many more whose +names we do not recall. But Colonel Ingersoll did not, and when the +National Liberal League met the next year at Chicago (September 17, +1880), he was opposed to the League's making a pledge to defend every +case under the Comstock laws, and he was opposed to a resolution +demanding a repeal of those laws. The following is what Colonel +Ingersoll said upon the subject: + +"'Mr. Chairman, I wish to offer the following resolution in place and +instead of resolutions numbered 5 and 6: + +"'Resolved, That the committee of defence, whenever a person has been +indicted for what he claims to have been an honest exercise of the +freedom of thought and expression, shall investigate the case, and if it +appears that such person has been guilty of no offence, then it shall +be the duty of said committee to defend such person if he is unable to +defend himself.' + +"'Now, allow me one moment to state my reasons. I do not, I have not, I +never shall, accuse or suspect a solitary member of the Liberal League +of the United States of being in favor of doing any act under heaven +that he is not thoroughly convinced is right. We all claim freedom of +speech, and it is the gem of the human soul. We all claim a right to +express our honest thoughts. Did it ever occur to any Liberal that +he wished to express any thought honestly, truly, and legally that he +considered immoral? How does it happen that _we_ have any interest in +what is known as immoral literature? I deny that the League has any +interest in that kind of literature. Whenever we mention it, whenever we +speak of it, we put ourselves in a false position. What do we want? We +want to see to it that the church party shall not smother the literature +of Liberalism. We want to see to it that the viper of intellectual +slavery shall not sting our cause. We want it so that every honest man, +so that every honest woman, can express his or her honest thought upon +any subject in the world. And the question, and the only question, as to +whether they are amenable to the law, in my mind, is, Were they honest? +Was their effort to benefit mankind? Was that their intention? And no +man, no woman, should be convicted of any offence that that man or woman +did not intend to commit. Now, then, suppose some person is arrested, +and it is claimed that a work written by him is immoral, is illegal. +Then, I say, let our committee of defence examine that case, and if +our enemies are seeking to trample out Freethought under the name of +immorality, and under the cover and shield of our criminal law, then let +us defend that man to the last dollar we have. But we do not wish to put +ourselves in the position of general defenders of all the slush that may +be written in this or any other country. You cannot afford to do it. +You cannot afford to put into the mouth of theology a perpetual and +continual slur. You cannot afford to do it. And this meeting is not the +time to go into the question of what authority the United States may +have over the mails. It is a very wide question. It embraces many +others. Has the Government a right to say what shall go into the mails? +Why, in one sense, assuredly. Certainly they have a right to say you +shall not send a horse and wagon by mail. They have a right to fix some +limit; and the only thing we want is that the literature of liberty, the +literature of real Freethought, shall not be discriminated against. +And we know now as well as if it had been perfectly and absolutely +demonstrated, that the literature of Freethought will be absolutely +pure. We know it, We call upon the Christian world to expunge obscenity +from their book, and until that is expunged we demand that the laws +against obscene literature shall be executed. And how can we, in the +next resolution, say those laws ought all to be repealed? We cannot do +that. I have always been in favor of such an amendment of the law that +by no trick, by no device, by no judicial discretion, an honest, high, +pure-minded man should be subjected to punishment simply for giving his +best and his honest thought. What more do we need? What more can we ask? +I am as much opposed as my friend Mr. Wakeman can be to the assumption +of the church that it is the guardian of morality. If our morality is +to be guarded by that sentiment alone, then is the end come. The natural +instinct of self-defence in mankind and in all organized society is the +fortress of the morality in mankind. The church itself was at one time +the outgrowth of that same feeling, but now the feeling has outgrown the +church. Now, then, we will have a Committee of Defence. That committee +will examine every case. Suppose some man has been indicted, and suppose +he is guilty. Suppose he has endeavored to soil the human mind. Suppose +he has been willing to make money by pandering to the lowest passions +in the human breast. What will that committee do with him then? We will +say, "Go on; let the law take its course." But if, upon reading his +book, we find that he is all wrong, horribly wrong, idiotically wrong, +but make up our minds that he was honest in his error, I will give +as much as any other living man of my means to defend that man. And I +believe you will all bear me witness when I say that I have the cause of +intellectual liberty at heart as much as I am capable of having anything +at heart. And I know hundreds of others here just the same. I understand +that. I understand their motive. I believe it to be perfectly good, but +I truly and honestly think they are mistaken. + +If we have an interest in the business, I would fight for it. If our +cause were assailed by law, then I say fight; and our cause is assailed, +and I say fight. They will not allow me, in many States of this Union, +to testify. I say fight until every one of those laws is repealed. They +discriminate against a man simply because he is honest. Repeal such +laws. The church, if it had the power to-day, would trample out every +particle of free literature in this land. And when they endeavor to +do that, I say fight. But there is a distinction wide as the +Mississippi--yes, wider than the Atlantic, wider than all the +oceans--between the literature of immorality and the literature of +Freethought. One is a crawling, slimy lizard, and the other an +angel with wings of light. Now, let us draw this distinction, let us +understand ourselves, and do not give to the common enemy a word covered +with mire, a word stained with cloaca, to throw at us. We thought we had +settled that question a year ago. We buried it then, and I say let it +rot. + +"'This question is of great importance. It is the most important one we +have here. I have fought this question; I am ever going to do so, and +I will not allow anybody to put a stain upon me. This question must be +understood if it takes all summer. Here is a case in point. Some lady +has written a work which, I am informed, is a good work, and that has +nothing wrong about it. Her opinions may be foolish or wise. Let this +committee examine that case. If they find that she is a good woman, that +she had good intentions, no matter how terrible the work may be, if +her intentions are good, she has committed no crime. I want the honest +thought. I think I have always been in favor of it. But we haven't the +time to go into all these questions. + +"'Then comes the question for this house to decide in a moment whether +these cases should have been tried in the State or Federal court. I +want it understood that I have confidence in the Federal courts of the +nation. There may be some bad judges, there may be some idiotic jurors. +I think there was in that case [of Mr. Bennett]. But the Committee of +Defence, if I understand it, supplied means, for the defence of that +man. They did, but are we ready now to decide in a moment what courts +shall have jurisdiction? Are we ready to say that the Federal courts +shall be denied jurisdiction in any case arising about the mails? +Suppose somebody robs the mails? Before whom shall we try the robber? +Try him before a Federal judge. Why? Because he has violated a Federal +law. We have not any time for such an investigation as this. What we +want to do is to defend free speech everywhere. What we want to do is to +defend the expression of thought in papers, in pamphlets, in books. What +we want to do is to see to it that these books, papers, and pamphlets +are on an equality with all other books, papers, and pamphlets in the +United States mails. And then the next step we want to take, if any man +is indicted under the pretence that he is publishing immoral books, +is to have our Committee of Defence well examine the case; and if we +believe the man to be innocent we will help defend him if he is +unable to defend himself; and if we find that the law is wrong in that +particular, we will go for the amendment of that law. I beg of you to +have some sense in this matter. We must have it. If we don't, upon that +rock we shall split--upon that rock we shall again divide. Let us not do +it. The cause of intellectual liberty is the highest to the human mind. +Let us stand by it, and we can help all these people by this resolution. +We can do justice everywhere with it, while if we agree to the fifth and +sixth resolutions that have been offered I say we lay ourselves open to +the charge, and it will be hurled against us, no matter how unjustly, +that we are in favor of widespread immorality. + +"'Mr. Clarke: We are not afraid of it. + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: You may say we are not afraid. I am not afraid. He +only is a fool who rushes into unnecessary danger. + +"'Mr. Clarke: What are you talking about, anyway? + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: I am talking with endeavor to put a little sense +into such men as you. Your very question shows that it was necessary +that I should talk. And now I move that my resolution be adopted. + +"'Mr. Wakeman moved that it be added to that portion of the sixth +resolution which recommended the constitution of the Committee of +Defence. + +"'Col. Ingersoll: I cannot agree to the sixth resolution. I think nearly +every word of it is wrong in principle. I think it binds us to a course +of action that we shall not be willing to follow; and my resolution +covers every possible case. My resolution binds us to defend every +honest man in the exercise of his right. I can't be bound to say that +the Government hasn't control of its morals--that we cannot trust the +Federal courts--that, under any circumstances, at any time, I am bound +to defend, either by word or money, any man who violates the laws of +this country. + +"'Mr. Wakeman: We do not say that. + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: I beg of you, I beseech you, not to pass the sixth +resolution. If you do, I wouldn't give that [snapping his fingers] for +the platform. A part of the Comstock law authorizes the vilest possible +trick. We are all opposed to that. + +"'Mr. Leland: What is the question? + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: Don't let us be silly. Don't let us say we are +opposed to what we are not opposed to. If any man here is opposed to +putting down the vilest of all possible trash he ought to go home. +We are opposed to only a part of the law--opposed to it whenever they +endeavor to trample Freethought under foot in the name of immorality. + +Afterward, at the same session of the Congress, the following colloquy +took place between Colonel Ingersoll and T. B. Wakeman: + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: You know as well as I that there are certain +books not fit to go through the mails--books and pictures not fit to be +delivered. + +"'Mr. Wakeman: That is so. + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: There is not a man here who is not in favor, when +these books and pictures come into the control of the United States, +of burning them up when they are manifestly obscene. You don't want any +grand jury there. + +"'Mr. Wakeman: Yes, we do. + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: No, we don't. When they are manifestly obscene, +burn them up. + +"'A delegate: Who is to be judge of that? + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: There are books that nobody differs about. There +are certain things about which we can use discretion. If that discretion +is abused, a man has his remedy. We stand for the free thought of this +country. We stand for the progressive spirit of the United States. We +can't afford to say that all these laws should be repealed. If we had +time to investigate them we could say in what they should be amended. +Don't tie us to this nonsense--to the idea that we have an interest in +immoral literature. Let us remember that Mr. Wakeman is sore. He had a +case before the Federal courts, and he imagines, having lost that case, +you cannot depend on them. I have lost hundreds of cases. I have as much +confidence in the Federal courts as in the State courts. I am not to be +a party to throwing a slur upon the Federal judiciary. All we want is +fair play. We want the same chance for our doctrines that others have +for theirs. And how this infernal question of obscenity ever got into +the Liberal League I could never understand. If an innocent man is +convicted of larceny, should we repeal all the laws on the subject? I +don't pretend to be better than other people. + +It is easy to talk right--so easy to be right that I never care to have +the luxury of being wrong. I am advocating something that we can stand +upon. I do not misunderstand Mr. Wakeman's motives. I believe they are +perfectly good--that he is thoroughly honest. Why not just say we will +stand by freedom of thought and its expression? Why not say that we +are in favor of amending any law that is wrong? But do not make the +wholesale statement that all these laws ought to be repealed. They ought +not to be repealed. Some of them are good." The law against sending +instruments of vice in the mails is good, as is the law against sending +obscene books and pictures, and the law against letting ignorant hyenas +prey upon sick people, and the law which prevents the getters up of +bogus lotteries sending their letters through the mail.' + +"At the evening session of the Congress, on the same day, Mr. Ingersoll +made this speech in opposition to the resolution demanding the repeal of +the Comstock laws: + +"'I am not in favor of the repeal of those laws. I have never been, and +I never expect to be. But I do wish that every law providing for the +punishment of a criminal offence should distinctly define the offence. +That is the objection to this law, that it does not define the offence, +so that an American citizen can readily know when he is about to violate +it and consequently the law ought in all probability to be modified +in that regard. I am in favor of every law defining with perfect +distinctness the offence to be punished, but I cannot say by wholesale +these laws should be repealed. I have the cause of Freethought too much +at heart. Neither will I consent to the repeal simply because the church +is in favor of those laws. In so far as the church agrees with me, I +congratulate the church. In so far as superstition is willing to help +me, good! I am willing to accept it. I believe, also, that this League +is upon a secular basis, and there should be nothing in our platform +that would prevent any Christian from acting with us. What is our +platform?--and we ought to leave it as it is. It needs no amendment. +Our platform is for a secular government. Is it improper in a secular +government to endeavor to prevent the spread of obscene literature? It +is the business of a secular government to do it, but if that government +attempts to stamp out Freethought in the name of obscenity, it is then +for the friends of Freethought to call for a definition of the word, and +such a definition as will allow Freethought to go everywhere through all +the mails of the United States. We are also in favor of secular schools. +Good! We are in favor of doing away with every law that discriminates +against a man on account of his belief. Good! We are in favor of +universal education. Good! We are in favor of the taxation of church +property. Good!--because the experience of the world shows that where +you allow superstition to own property without taxing it, it will absorb +the net profits. Is it time now that we should throw into the scale, +against all these splendid purposes, an effort to repeal some postal +laws against obscenity? As well might we turn the League into an engine +to do away with all laws against the sale of stale eggs. + +"'What have we to do with those things? Is it possible that Freethought +can be charged with being obscene? Is it possible that, if the charge +is made, it can be substantiated? Can you not attack any superstition +in the world in perfectly pure language? Can you not attack anything you +please in perfectly pure language? And where a man intends right, no law +should find him guilty; and if the law is weak in that respect, let it +be modified. But I say to you that I cannot go with any body of men who +demand the unconditional repeal of these laws. I believe in liberty +as much as any man that breathes. I will do as much, according to my +ability, as any other man to make this an absolutely free and secular +government I will do as much as any other man of my strength and of my +intellectual power to give every human being every right that I claim +for myself. But this obscene law business is a stumbling block. Had it +not been for this, instead of the few people voting here--less than one +hundred--we would have had a Congress numbered by thousands. Had it not +been for this business, the Liberal League of the United States would +to-night hold in its hand the political destiny of the United States. +Instead of that, we have thrown away our power upon a question in which +we are not interested. Instead of that, we have wasted our resources +and our brain for the repeal of a law that we don't want repealed. If +we want anything, we simply want a modification. Now, then, don't stain +this cause by such a course. And don't understand that I am pretending, +or am insinuating, that anyone here is in favor of obscene literature. +It is a question, not of principle, but of means, and I beg pardon +of this Convention if I have done anything so horrible as has been +described by Mr. Pillsbury. I regret it if I have ever endeavored to +trample upon the rights of this Convention. + +"'There is one thing I have not done--I have not endeavored to cast +five votes when I didn't have a solitary vote. Let us be fair; let us be +fair. I have simply given my vote. I wish to trample upon the rights +of no one; and when Mr. Pillsbury gave those votes he supposed he had +a right to give them; and if he had a right, the votes would have been +counted. I attribute nothing wrong to him, but I say this: I have the +right to make a motion in this Congress, I have the right to argue that +motion, but I have no more rights than any other member, and I claim +none. But I want to say to you--and I want you to know and feel it--that +I want to act with every Liberal man and woman in this world. I want you +to know and feel it that I want to do everything I can to get every one +of these statutes off our books that discriminates against a man because +of his religious belief--that I am in favor of a secular government, +and of all these rights. But I cannot, and I will not, operate with any +organization that asks for the unconditional repeal of those laws. I +will stand alone, and I have stood alone. I can tell my thoughts to my +countrymen, and I will do it, and whatever position you take, whether +I am with you or not, you will find me battling everywhere for the +absolute freedom of the human mind. You will find me battling everywhere +to make this world better and grander; and whatever my personal conduct +may be, I shall endeavor to keep my theories right. I beg of you, +I implore you, do not pass the resolution No. 6. It is not for our +interest; it will do us no good. It will lose us hosts of honest, +splendid friends. Do not do it; it will be a mistake; and the only +reason I offered the motion was to give the members time to think this +over. I am not pretending to know more than other people. I am perfectly +willing to say that in many things I know less. But upon this subject I +want you to think. No matter whether you are afraid of your sons, your +daughters, your wives, or your husbands, that isn't it--I don't want the +splendid prospects of this League put in jeopardy upon such an issue +as this. I have no more to say. But if that resolution is passed, all I +have to say is that, while I shall be for liberty everywhere, I cannot +act with this organization, and I will not.' + +"The resolution was finally adopted, and Colonel Ingersoll resigned his +office of vice-president in the League, and never acted with it again +until the League dropped all side issues, and came back to first +principles--the enforcement of the Nine Demands of Liberalism." + +In 1892, writing upon this subject in answer to a minister who had +repeated these absurd charges, Colonel Ingersoll made this offer: + +"I will pay a premium of one thousand dollars a word for each and every +word I ever said or wrote in favor of sending obscene publications +through the mails." + + + + +CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL LIBERAL LEAGUE. + +Cincinnati, O., September 14.1878. + +LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Allow me to say that the cause nearest my heart, +and to which I am willing to devote the remainder of my life, is the +absolute, the _absolute_, enfranchisement of the human mind. I believe +that the family is the unit of good government, and that every good +government is simply an aggregation of good families. I therefore not +only believe in perfect civil and religious liberty, but I believe in +the one man loving the one woman. I believe the real temple of the human +heart is the hearthstone, and that there is where the sacrifice of life +should be made; and just in proportion as we have that idea in this +country, just in that proportion we shall advance and become a great, +glorious and splendid nation. I do not want the church or the state to +come between the man and wife. I want to do what little I can while I +live to strengthen and render still more sacred the family relation. I +am also in favor of granting every right to every other human being that +I claim for myself; and when I look about upon the world and see how the +children that are born to-day, or this year, or this age, came into a +world that has nearly all been taken up before their arrival; when I see +that they have not even an opportunity to labor for bread; when I see +that in our splendid country some who do the most have the least, +and others who do the least have the most; I say to myself there is +something wrong somewhere, and I hope the time will come when every +child that nature has invited to our feast will have an equal right with +all the others. There is only one way, in my judgment, to bring that +about; and that is, first, not simply by the education of the head, but +by the universal education of the heart. The time will come when a man +with millions in his possession will not be respected unless with those +millions he improves the condition of his fellow-men. + +The time will come when it will be utterly impossible for a man to go +down to death, grasping millions in the clutch of avarice. The time will +come when it will be impossible for such a man to exist, for he will be +followed by the scorn and execration of mankind. The time will come +when such a man when stricken by death, cannot purchase the favor of +posterity by leaving a portion of the gains which he has wrung from the +poor, to some church or Bible society for the glory of God. + +Now, let me say that we have met together as a Liberal League. We have +passed the same platform again; but if you will read that platform you +will see that it covers nearly every word that I have spoken--universal +education--the laws of science included, not the guesses of +superstition--universal education, not for the next world but for +this--happiness, not so much for an unknown land beyond the clouds as +for this life in this world. I do not say that there is not another +life. If there is any God who has allowed his children to be oppressed +in this world he certainly needs another life to reform the blunders he +has made in this. + +Now, let us all agree that we will stand by each other splendidly, +grandly; and when we come into convention let us pass resolutions that +are broad, kind, and genial, because, if you are true Liberals, you will +hold in a kind of tender pity the most outrageous superstitions in +the world. I have said some things in my time that were not altogether +charitable; but, after all, when I think it over, I see that men are as +they are, because they are the result of every thing that has ever been. + +Sometimes I think the clergy a necessary evil; but I say, let us be +genial and kind, and let us know that every other person has the same +right to be a Catholic or a Presbyterian, and gather consolation +from the doctrine of reprobation, that he has the same right to be +a Methodist or a Christian Disciple or a Baptist; the same right to +believe these phantasies and follies and superstitions--[_A voice--"And +to burn heretics?"_] + +No--The same right that we have to believe that it is all superstition. +But when that Catholic or Baptist or Methodist endeavors to put chains +on the bodies or intellects of men, it is then the duty of every Liberal +to prevent it at all hazards. If we can do any good in our day and +generation, let us do it. + +There is no office I want in this world. I will make up my mind as to +the next when I get there, because my motto is--and with that motto I +will close what I have to say--My motto is: One world at a time! + + + + +CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN SECULAR UNION. + +Albany, N. Y., September 13, 1885. + +LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: While I have never sought any place in any +organization, and while I never intended to accept any place in any +organization, yet as you have done me the honor to elect me president of +the American Secular Union, I not only accept the place, but tender to +you each and all my sincere thanks. + +This is a position that a man cannot obtain by repressing his honest +thought. Nearly all other positions he obtains in that way. But I +am glad that the time has come when men can afford to preserve +their manhood in this country. Maybe they cannot be elected to the +Legislature, cannot become errand boys in Congress, cannot be placed as +weather-vanes in the presidential chair, but the time has come when a +man can express his honest thought and be treated like a gentleman +in the United States. We have arrived at a point where priests do not +govern, and have reached that stage of our journey where we, as Harriet +Martineau expressed it, are "free rovers on the breezy common of the +universe." Day by day we are getting rid of the aristocracy of the air. +We have been the slaves of phantoms long enough, and a new day, a day +of glory, has dawned upon this new world--this new world which is far +beyond the old in the real freedom of thought. + +In the selection of your officers, without referring to myself, I think +you have shown great good sense. The first man chosen as vice-president, +Mr. Charles Watts, is a gentleman of sound, logical mind; one who +knows what he wants to say and how to say it; who is familiar with the +organization of Secular societies, knows what we wish to accomplish and +the means to attain it. I am glad that he is about to make this country +his home, and I know of no man who, in my judgment, can do more for the +cause of intellectual liberty. + +The next vice-president, Mr. Remsburg, has done splendid work all over +the country. He is an absolutely fearless man, and tells really and +truly what his mind produces. We need such men everywhere. + +You know it is almost a rule, or at any rate the practice, in political +parties and in organizations generally, to be so anxious for success +that all the offices and places of honor are given to those who will +come in at the eleventh hour. The rule is to hold out these honors as +bribes for newcomers instead of conferring them upon those who have +borne the heat and burden of the day. I hope that the American Secular +Union will not be guilty of any such injustice. Bestow your honors upon +the men who stood by you when you had few friends, the men who enlisted +for the war when the cause needed soldiers. Give your places to them, +and if others want to join your ranks, welcome them heartily to the +places of honor in the rear and let them learn how to keep step. + +In this particular, leaving out myself as I have said, you have done +magnificently well. Mrs. Mattie Krekel, another vice-president, is a +woman who has the courage to express her opinions, and she is all the +more to be commended because, as you know, women have to suffer a little +more punishment than men, being amenable to social laws that are more +exacting and tyrannical than those passed by Legislatures. + +Of Mr. Wakeman it is not necessary to speak. You all know him to be an +able, thoughtful, and experienced man, capable in every respect; one +who has been in this organization from the beginning, and who is now +president of the New York society. Elizur Wright, one of the patriarchs +of Freethought, who was battling for liberty before I was born, and who +will be found in the front rank until he ceases to be. You have honored +yourselves by electing James Parton, a thoughtful man, a scholar, a +philosopher, and a philanthropist--honest, courageous, and logical--with +a mind as clear as a cloudless sky. Parker Pillsbury, who has always +been on the side of liberty, always willing, if need be, to stand +alone--a man who has been mobbed many times because he had the goodness +and courage to denounce the institution of slavery--a man possessed +of the true martyr spirit. Messrs. Algie and Adams, our friends from +Canada, men of the highest character, worthy of our fullest confidence +and esteem--conscientious, upright, and faithful. + +And permit me to say that I know of no man of kinder heart, of gentler +disposition, with more real, good human feeling toward all the world, +with a more forgiving and tender spirit, than Horace Seaver. He and Mr. +Mendum are the editors of the _Investigator_, the first Infidel paper +I ever saw, and I guess the first that any one of you ever saw--a paper +once edited by Abner Kneeland, who was put in prison for saying, "The +Universalists believe in a God which I do not." The court decided that +he had denied the existence of a Supreme Being, and at that time it was +not thought safe to allow a remark of that kind to be made, and so, for +the purpose of keeping an infinite God from tumbling off his throne, Mr. +Kneeland was put in jail. But Horace Seaver and Mr. Mendum went on with +his work. They are pioneers in this cause, and they have been absolutely +true to the principles of Freethought from the first day until now. + +If there is anybody belonging to our Secular Union more enthusiastic and +better calculated to impart something of his enthusiasm to others than +Samuel P. Putnam, our secretary, I do not know him. Courtlandt Palmer, +your treasurer, you all know, and you will presently know him better +when you hear the speech he is about to make, and that speech will speak +better for him than I possibly can. Wait until you hear him, as he is +now waiting for me to get through that you may hear him. He will give +you the definition of the true gentleman, and that definition will be a +truthful description of himself. + +Mr. Reynolds is on our side if anybody is or ever was, and Mr. +Macdonald, editor of _The Truth Seeker_, aiming not only to seek the +truth but to expose error, has done and is doing incalculable good in +the cause of mental freedom. + +All these men and women are men and women of character, of high purpose; +in favor of Freethought not as a peculiarity or as an eccentricity of +the hour, but with all their hearts, through and through, to the very +center and core of conviction, life, and purpose. + +And so I can congratulate you on your choice, and believe that you have +entered upon the most prosperous year of your existence. I believe that +you will do all you can to have every law repealed that puts a hypocrite +above an honest mail. We know that no man is thoroughly honest who does +not tell his honest thought. We want the Sabbath day for ourselves and +our families. Let the gods have the heavens. Give us the earth. If the +gods want to stay at home Sundays and look solemn, let them do it; let +us have a little wholesome recreation and pleasure. If the gods wish to +go out with their wives and children, let them go. If they want to play +billiards with the stars, so they don't carom on us, let them play. + +We want to do what we can to compel every church to pay taxes on its +property as other people pay on theirs. Do you know that if church +property is allowed to go without taxation, it is only a question +of time when they will own a large per cent, of the property of the +civilized world? It is the same as compound interest; only give it time. +If you allow it to increase without taxing it for its protection, its +growth can only be measured by the time in which it has to grow. The +church builds an edifice in some small town, gets several acres of land. +In time a city rises around it. The labor of others has added to the +value of this property, until it is worth millions. If this property is +not taxed, the churches will have so much in their hands that they will +again become dangerous to the liberties of mankind. There never will be +real liberty in this country until all property is put upon a perfect +equality. If you want to build a Joss house, pay taxes. If you want +to build churches, pay taxes. If you want to build a hall or temple in +which Freethought and science are to be taught, pay taxes. Let there be +no property untaxed. When you fail to tax any species of property, you +increase the tax of other people owning the rest. To that extent, you +unite church and state. You compel the Infidel to support the +Catholic. I do not want to support the Catholic Church. It is not worth +supporting. It is an unadulterated evil. Neither do I want to reform +the Catholic Church. The only reformation of which that church or any +orthodox church is capable, is destruction. I want to spend no more +money on superstition. Neither should our money be taken to support +sectarian schools. We do not wish to employ any chaplains in the navy, +or in the army, or in the Legislatures, or in Congress. It is useless to +ask God to help the political party that happens to be in power. We want +no President, no Governor "clothed with a little brief authority," to +issue a proclamation as though he were an agent of God, authorized to +tell all his loving subjects to fast on a certain day, or to enter their +churches and pray for the accomplishment of a certain object. It is +none of his business. When they called on Thomas Jefferson to issue +a proclamation, he said he had no right to do it, that religion was a +personal, individual matter, and that the state had no right, no power, +to interfere. + +I now have the pleasure of introducing Mr. Courtlandt Palmer, who will +speak to you on the "Aristocracy of Freethought," in my judgment the +aristocracy not only of the present, but the aristocracy of the future. + + + + +THE RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + +New York, May 28, 1896. + + +MY DEAR MR. SEIP: I have carefully read your article on the religious +belief of Abraham Lincoln, and in accordance with your request I will +not only give you my opinion of the evidence upon which you rely, as set +out in your article, but my belief as to the religious opinions of Mr. +Lincoln, and the facts on which my belief rests. + +You speak of a controversy between myself and General Collis upon this +subject. A few years ago I delivered a lecture on Mr. Lincoln, in this +city, and in that lecture said that Lincoln, so far as his religious +opinions were concerned, substantially agreed with Franklin, +Jefferson, Paine and Voltaire. Thereupon General Collis wrote me a note +contradicting what I had said and asserting that "Lincoln invoked the +power of Almighty God, not the Deist God, but the God whom he worshiped +under the forms of the Christian church of which he was a member." To +this I replied saying that Voltaire and Paine both believed in God, and +that Lincoln was never a member of any Christian church. + +General Collis wrote another letter to which, I think, I made no reply, +for the reason that the General had demonstrated that he knew nothing +whatever on the subject. It was evident that he had never read the life +of Lincoln, because if he had, he would not have said that he was a +member of a church. It was also evident that he knew nothing about the +religious opinions of Franklin, Voltaire or Paine, or he would have +known that they were believers in the existence of a Supreme Being. It +did not seem to me that his letter was worthy of a reply. + +Now as to your article: I find in what you have written very little that +is new. I do not remember ever to have seen anything about the statement +of the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Gurley in regard to Lincoln's letters. +The daughter, however, does not pretend to know the contents of the +letters and says that they were destroyed by fire; consequently these +letters, so far as this question is concerned, are of no possible +importance. The only thing in your article tending to show that Lincoln +was a Christian is the following: "I think I can say with sincerity that +I hope I am a Christian. I had lived until my Willie died without +fully realizing these things. That blow overwhelmed me. It showed me +my weakness as I had never felt it before, and I think I can safely say +that I know something of a change of heart, and I will further add that +it has been my intention for some time, at a suitable opportunity, to +make a public religious profession." + +Now, if you had given the name of the person to whom this was said, and +if that person had told you that Lincoln did utter these words, then the +evidence would have been good; but you are forced to say that this was +said to an eminent Christian lady. You do not give this lady's name. I +take it for granted that her name is unknown, and that the name of the +person to whom she told the story is also unknown, and that the name +of the man who gave the story to the world is unknown. This falsehood, +according to your own showing, is an orphan, a lonely lie without +father or mother. Such testimony cannot be accepted. It is not even good +hearsay. + +In the next point you make, you also bring forward the remarks claimed +to have been made by Mr. Lincoln when some colored people of Baltimore +presented him with a Bible. You say that he said that the Bible was +God's best gift to man, and but for the Bible we could not know right +from wrong. It is impossible that Lincoln should have uttered these +words. He certainly would not have said to some colored people that the +book that instituted human slavery was God's best gift to man; neither +could he have said that but for this book we could not know right from +wrong. If he said these things he was temporarily insane. Mr. Lincoln +was familiar with the lives of Socrates, Epictetus, Epicurus, Zeno, +Confucius, Zoroaster and Buddha, not one of whom ever heard of the +Bible. Certainly these men knew right from wrong. In my judgment they +would compare favorably with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and the Jews +that crucified Christ. These pretended remarks must be thrown away; they +could have been uttered only by an ignorant and thoughtless zealot, not +by a sensible, thoughtful man. Neither can we rely on any new evidence +given by the Rev. Mr. Gurley. If Mr. Gurley at any time claimed that +Lincoln was a Christian, such claim was born of an afterthought. Mr. +Gurley preached a funeral sermon over the body of Lincoln at the White +House, and in that sermon he did not claim that Mr. Lincoln was in any +sense a Christian. He said nothing about Christ. So, the testimony of +the Rev. Mr. Sunderland amounts to nothing. Lincoln did not tell him +that he was a Christian or that he believed in Christ. Not one of the +ministers that claim that Lincoln was a Christian, not one, testifies +that Lincoln so said in his hearing. So, the lives that have been +written of Lincoln by Holland and Arnold are of no possible authority. +Holland knew nothing about Lincoln; he relied on gossip, and was +exceedingly anxious to make Lincoln a Christian so that his Life would +sell. As a matter of fact, Mr. Arnold knew little of Lincoln, and knew +no more of his religious opinions than he seems to have known about the +opinions of Washington. + +I find also in your article a claim that Lincoln said to somebody that +under certain conditions, that is to say, if a church had the Golden +Rule for its creed, he would join that church; but you do not give the +name of the friend to whom Lincoln made this declaration. Still, if +he made it, it does not tend to show that he was a Christian. A church +founded on the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would that others +should do unto you," would not in any sense be a Christian church. +It would be an ethical society. The testimony of Mr. Bateman has been +changed by himself, he having admitted that it was colored, that he +was not properly reported; so the night-walking scene given by James +E. Murdoch, does not even tend to show that Lincoln was a Christian. +According to Mr. Murdoch he was praying to the God of Solomon and he +never mentioned the name of Christ. I think, however, Mr. Murdoch's +story is too theatrical, and my own opinion is that it was a waking +dream. I think Lincoln was a man of too much sense, too much tact, to +have said anything to God about Solomon. Lincoln knew that what God did +for Solomon ended in failure, and if he wanted God to do something for +him (Lincoln) he would not have called attention to the other case. So +Bishop Simpson, in his oration or funeral sermon, said nothing about +Lincoln's having been a Christian. + +Now, what is the testimony that you present that Lincoln was a +Christian? + +First, Several of your witnesses say that he believed in God. + +Second, Some say that he believed in the efficacy of prayer. + +Third, Some say that he was a believer in Providence. + +Fourth, An unknown person says that he said to another unknown person +that he was a Christian. + +Fifth, You also claim that he said the Bible was the best gift of God to +man, and that without it we could not have known right from wrong. + +The anonymous testimony has to be thrown away, so nothing is left except +the remarks claimed to have been made when the Bible was presented +by the colored people, and these remarks destroy themselves. It +is absolutely impossible that Lincoln could have uttered the words +attributed to him on that occasion. I know of no one who heard the +words, I know of no witness who says he heard them or that he knows +anybody who did. These remarks were not even heard by an "eminent +Christian lady," and we are driven to say that if Lincoln was a +Christian he took great pains to keep it a secret. + +I believe that I am familiar with the material facts bearing upon the +religious belief of Mr. Lincoln, and that I know what he thought of +orthodox Christianity. I was somewhat acquainted with him and well +acquainted with many of his associates and friends, and I am familiar +with Mr. Lincoln's public utterances. Orthodox Christians have the habit +of claiming all great men, all men who have held important positions, +men of reputation, men of wealth. As soon as the funeral is over +clergymen begin to relate imaginary conversations with the deceased, and +in a very little while the great man is changed to a Christian--possibly +to a saint. + +All this happened in Mr. Lincoln's case. Many pious falsehoods were +told, conversations were manufactured, and suddenly the church claimed +that the great President was an orthodox Christian. The truth is that +Lincoln in his religious views agreed with Franklin, Jefferson, and +Voltaire. He did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible or the +divinity of Christ or the scheme of salvation, and he utterly repudiated +the dogma of eternal pain. + +In making up my mind as to what Mr. Lincoln really believed, I do not +take into consideration the evidence of unnamed persons or the contents +of anonymous letters; I take the testimony of those who knew and loved +him, of those to whom he opened his heart and to whom he spoke in the +freedom of perfect confidence. + +Mr. Herndon was his friend and partner for many years. I knew Mr. +Herndon well. I know that Lincoln never had a better, warmer, truer +friend. Herndon was an honest, thoughtful, able, studious man, respected +by all who knew him. He was as natural and sincere as Lincoln himself. +On several occasions Mr. Herndon told me what Lincoln believed and what +he rejected in the realm of religion. He told me again and again +that Mr. Lincoln did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible, the +divinity of Christ, or in the existence of a personal God. There was no +possible reason for Mr. Herndon to make a mistake or to color the facts. + +Justice David Davis was a life-long friend and associate of Mr. Lincoln, +and Judge Davis knew Lincoln's religious opinions and knew Lincoln as +well as anybody did. Judge Davis told me that Lincoln was a Freethinker, +that he denied the inspiration of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, +and all miracles. Davis also told me that he had talked with Lincoln on +these subjects hundreds of times. + +I was well acquainted with Col. Ward H. Lamon and had many conversations +with him about Mr. Lincoln's religious belief, before and after he wrote +his life of Lincoln. He told me that he had told the exact truth in his +life of Lincoln, that Lincoln never did believe in the Bible, or in the +divinity of Christ, or in the dogma of eternal pain; that Lincoln was a +Freethinker. + +For many years I was well acquainted with the Hon. Jesse W. Fell, one +of Lincoln's warmest friends. Mr. Fell often came to my house and we had +many talks about the religious belief of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Fell told me +that Lincoln did not believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures, and +that he denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. Mr. Fell was very liberal +in his own ideas, a great admirer of Theodore Parker and a perfectly +sincere and honorable man. + +For several years I was well acquainted with William G. Green, who was +a clerk with Lincoln at New Salem in the early days, and who admired and +loved Lincoln with all his heart. Green told me that Lincoln was always +an Infidel, and that he had heard him argue against the Bible hundreds +of times. Mr. Green knew Lincoln, and knew him well, up to the time of +Lincoln's death. + +The Hon. James Tuttle of Illinois was a great friend of Lincoln, and +he is, if living, a friend of mine, and I am a friend of his. He knew +Lincoln well for many years, and he told me again and again that Lincoln +was an Infidel. Mr. Tuttle is a Freethinker himself and has always +enjoyed the respect of his neighbors. A man with purer motives does not +live. + +So I place great reliance on the testimony of Col. John G. Nicolay. Six +weeks after Mr. Lincoln's death Colonel Nicolay said that he did not in +any way change his religious ideas, opinions or belief from the time he +left Springfield until the day of his death. + +In addition to all said by the persons I have mentioned, Mrs. Lincoln +said that her husband _was not a Christian_. There are many other +witnesses upon this question whose testimony can be found in a book +entitled "Abraham Lincoln, was he a Christian?" written by John E. +Remsburg, and published in 1893. In that book will be found all +the evidence on both sides. Mr. Remsburg states the case with great +clearness and demonstrates that Lincoln was not a Christian. + +Now, what is a Christian? + +First. He is a believer in the existence of God, the Creator and +Governor of the Universe. + +Second. He believes in the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments. + +Third. He believes in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ; that the +Holy Ghost was his father. + +Fourth. He believes that this Christ was offered as a sacrifice for the +sins of men, that he was crucified, dead and buried, that he arose from +the dead and that he ascended into heaven. + +Fifth. He believes in the "fall of man," in the scheme of redemption +through the atonement. + +Sixth. He believes in salvation by faith, that the few are to be +eternally happy, and that the many are to be eternally damned. + +Seventh. He believes in the Trinity, in God the Father, God the Son and +God the Holy Ghost. + +Now, is there the slightest evidence to show that Lincoln believed in +the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments? + +Has anybody said that he was heard to say that he so believed? + +Does anybody testify that Lincoln believed in the miraculous birth of +Jesus Christ, that the Holy Ghost was the father or that Christ was or +is God? + +Has anybody testified that Lincoln believed that Christ was raised from +the dead? + +Did anyone ever hear him say that he believed in the ascension of +Jesus Christ? Did anyone ever hear him assert that he believed in the +forgiveness of sins, or in salvation by faith, or that belief was a +virtue and investigation a crime? + +Where, then, is the evidence that he was a Christian? + +There is another reason for thinking that Lincoln never became a +Christian. + +All will admit that he was an honest man, that he discharged all +obligations perceived, and did what he believed to be his duty. If +he had become a Christian it was his duty publicly to say so. He was +President; he had the ear of the nation; every citizen, had he spoken, +would have listened. It was his duty to make a clear, explicit statement +of his conversion, and it was his duty to join some orthodox church, and +he should have given his reasons. He should have endeavored to reach +the heart and brain of the Republic. It was unmanly for him to keep his +"second birth" a secret and sneak into heaven leaving his old friends to +travel the road to hell. + +Great pains have been taken to show that Mr. Lincoln believed in, +and worshiped the one true God. This by many is held to have been his +greatest virtue, the foundation of his character, and yet, the God he +worshiped, the God to whom he prayed, allowed him to be assassinated. + +Is it possible that God will not protect his friends? + + + + +ORGANIZED CHARITIES. + +I HAVE no great confidence in organized charities. Money is left and +buildings are erected and sinecures provided for a good many worthless +people. Those in immediate control are almost, or when they were +appointed were almost, in want themselves, and they naturally hate other +beggars. + +They regard persons who ask assistance as their enemies. There is an old +story of a tramp who begged a breakfast. After breakfast another tramp +came to the same place to beg his breakfast, and the first tramp with +blows and curses drove him away, saying at the same time: "I expect to +get dinner here myself." + +This is the general attitude of beggar toward beggar. + +Another trouble with organized charities is the machinery, the various +methods they have adopted to prevent what they call fraud. They are +exceedingly anxious that the needy, that those who ask help, who have +been without fault, shall be attended to, their rule apparently being to +assist only the unfortunate perfect. + +The trouble is that Nature produces very few specimens of that kind. As +a rule, men come to want on account of their imperfections, on account +of their ignorance, on account of their vices, and their vices are born +of their lack of capacity, of their want of brain. In other words, they +are failures of Nature, and the fact that they need help is not their +own fault, but the fault of their construction, their surroundings. + +Very few people have the opportunity of selecting their parents, and it +is exceedingly difficult in the matter of grandparents. Consequently, +I do not hold people responsible for hereditary tendencies, traits and +vices. Neither do I praise them for having hereditary virtues. + +A man going to one of these various charitable establishments is +cross-examined. He must give his biography. And after he has answered +all the supercilious, impudent questions, he is asked for references. + +Then the people referred to are sought out, to find whether the +statements made by the applicant are true. By the time the thing is +settled the man who asked aid has either gotten it somewhere else or +has, in the language of the Spiritualists, "passed over to the other +side." + +Of course this does not trouble the persons in charge of the organized +charities, because their salaries are going on. + +As a rule, these charities were commenced by the best of people. Some +generous, philanthropic man or woman gave a life to establish a "home," +it may be, for aged women, for orphans, for the waifs of the pavements. + +These generous people, filled with the spirit of charity, raised a +little money, succeeded in hiring or erecting a humble building, and the +money they collected, so honestly given, they honestly used to bind up +the wounds and wipe away the tears of the unfortunate, and to save, if +possible, some who had been wrecked on the rocks and reefs of crime. + +Then some very rich man dies who had no charity and who would not have +left a dollar could he have taken his money with him. This rich man, who +hated his relatives and the people he actually knew, gives a large sum +of money to some particular charity--not that he had any charity, but +because he wanted to be remembered as a philanthropist. + +Then the organized charity becomes rich, and the richer the meaner, the +richer the harder of heart and the closer of fist. + +Now, I believe that Trinity Church, in this city, would be called an +organized charity. The church was started to save, if possible, a few +souls from eternal torment, and on the plea of saving these souls money +was given to the church. + +Finally the church became rich. It is now a landlord--has many buildings +to rent. And if what I hear is true there is no harder landlord in the +city of New York. + +So, I have heard it said of Dublin University, that it is about the +hardest landlord in Ireland. + +I think you will find that all such institutions try to collect the very +last cent, and, in the name of pity, drive pity from their hearts. + +I think it is Shakespeare who says, "Pity drives out pity," and he must +have had organized charities in his mind when he uttered this remark. Of +course a great many really good and philanthropic people leave vast sums +of money to charities. + +I find that it is sometimes very difficult to get an injured man, or one +seized with some sudden illness, taken into a city hospital. There are +so many rules and so many regulations, so many things necessary to be +done, that while the rules are being complied with the soul of the sick +or injured man, weary of the waiting, takes its flight. And after the +man is dead, the doctors are kind enough to certify that he died of +heart failure. + +So--in a general way--I speak of all the asylums, of all the homes for +orphans. When I see one of those buildings I feel that it is full of +petty tyranny, of what might be called pious meanness, devout deviltry, +where the object is to break the will of every recipient of public +favor. + +I may be all wrong. I hope I am. At the same time I fear that I am +somewhere near right. + +You may take our prisons; the treatment of prisoners is often infamous. +The Elmira Reformatory is a worthy successor of the Inquisition, a +disgrace, in my judgment, to the State of New York, to the civilization +of our day. Every little while something comes to light showing the +cruelty, the tyranny, the meanness, of these professional distributers +of public charity--of these professed reformers. + +I know that they are visited now and then by committees from the +Legislature, and I know that the keepers of these places know when the +"committee" may be expected. + +I know that everything is scoured and swept and burnished for the +occasion; and I know that the poor devils that have been abused or +whipped or starved, fear to open their mouths, knowing that if they +do they may not be believed and that they will be treated afterward as +though they were wild beasts. + +I think these public institutions ought to be open to inspection at all +times. I think the very best men ought to be put in control of them. +I think only those doctors who have passed, and recently passed, +examinations as to their fitness, as to their intelligence and +professional acquirements, ought to be put in charge. + +I do not think that hospitals should be places for young doctors to +practice sawing off the arms and legs of paupers or hunting in the +stomachs of old women for tumors. I think only the skillful, the +experienced, should be employed in such places. Neither do I think +hospitals should be places where medicine is distributed by students to +the poor. + +Ignorance is a poor doctor, even for the poor, and if we pretend to be +charitable we ought to carry it out. + +I would like to see tyranny done away with in prisons, in the +reformatories, and in all places under the government or supervision of +the State. + +I would like to have all corporal punishment abolished, and I would also +like to see the money that is given to charity distributed by charity +and by intelligence. I hope all these institutions will be overhauled. + +I hope all places where people are pretending to take care of the poor +and for which they collect money from the public, will be visited, and +will be visited unexpectedly and the truth told. + +In my judgment there is some better way. I think every hospital, +every asylum, every home for waifs and orphans should be supported by +taxation, not by charity; should be under the care and control of the +State absolutely. + +I do not believe in these institutions being managed by any individual +or by any society, religious or secular, but by the State. I would no +more have hospitals and asylums depend on charity than I would have the +public school depend on voluntary contributions. + +I want the schools supported by taxation and to be controlled by the +State, and I want the hospitals and asylums and charitable institutions +founded and controlled and carried on in the same way. Let the property +of the State do it. + +Let those pay the taxes who are able. And let us do away forever with +the idea that to take care of the sick, of the helpless, is a charity. +It is not a charity. It is a duty. It is something to be done for our +own sakes. It is no more a charity than it is to pave or light the +streets, no more a charity than it is to have a system of sewers. + +It is all for the purpose of protecting society and of civilizing +ourselves. + + + + +SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS. + + +SPAIN has always been exceedingly religious and exceedingly cruel. That +country had an unfortunate experience. The Spaniards fought the Moors +for about seven hundred or eight hundred years, and during that time +Catholicism and patriotism became synonymous. They were fighting the +Moslems. It was a religious war. For this reason they became intense in +their Catholicism, and they were fearful that if they should grant the +least concession to the Moor, God would destroy them. Their idea was +that the only way to secure divine aid was to have absolute faith, and +this faith was proved by their hatred of all ideas inconsistent with +their own. + +Spain has been and is the victim of superstition. The Spaniards expelled +the Jews, who at that time represented a good deal of wealth and +considerable intelligence. This expulsion was characterized by infinite +brutality and by cruelties that words can not express. They drove +out the Moors at last. Not satisfied with this, they drove out the +Moriscoes. These were Moors who had been converted to Catholicism. + +The Spaniards, however, had no confidence in the honesty of the +conversion, and for the purpose of gaining the good will of God, they +drove them out. They had succeeded in getting rid of Jews, Moors and +Moriscoes; that is to say, of the intelligence and industry of Spain. +Nothing was left but Spaniards; that is to say, indolence, pride, +cruelty and infinite superstition. So Spain destroyed all freedom of +thought through the Inquisition, and for many years the sky was livid +with the flames of the _Auto da fe_; Spain was busy carrying fagots +to the feet of philosophy, busy in burning people for thinking, for +investigating, for expressing honest opinions. The result was that a +great darkness settled over Spain, pierced by no star and shone upon by +no rising sun. + +At one time Spain was the greatest of powers, owner of half the world, +and now she has only a few islands, the small change of her great +fortune, the few pennies in the almost empty purse, souvenirs of +departed wealth, of vanished greatness. Now Spain is bankrupt, bankrupt +not only in purse, but in the higher faculties of the mind, a nation +without progress, without thought; still devoted to bull fights and +superstition, still trying to affright contagious diseases by religious +processions. Spain is a part of the mediæval ages, belongs to an ancient +generation. It really has no place in the nineteenth century. + +Spain has always been cruel. S. S. Prentice, many years ago, speaking +of Spain said: "On the shore of discovery it leaped an armed robber, and +sought for gold even in the throats of its victims." The bloodiest pages +in the history of this world have been written by Spain. Spain in Peru, +in Mexico, Spain in the low countries--all possible cruelties come back +to the mind when we say Philip II., when we say the Duke of Alva, when +we pronounce the names of Ferdinand and Isabella. Spain has inflicted +every torture, has practiced every cruelty, has been guilty of every +possible outrage. There has been no break between Torquemada and +Weyler, between the Inquisition and the infamies committed in Cuba. + +When Columbus found Cuba, the original inhabitants were the kindest and +gentlest of people. They practiced no inhuman rites, they were good, +contented people. The Spaniards enslaved them or sought to enslave them. +The people rising, they were hunted with dogs, they were tortured, they +were murdered, and finally exterminated. This was the commencement of +Spanish rule on the island of Cuba. The same spirit is in Spain to-day +that was in Spain then. The idea is not to conciliate, but to coerce, +not to treat justly, but to rob and enslave. No Spaniard regards a +Cuban as having equal rights with himself. He looks upon the island as +property, and upon the people as a part of that property, both equally +belonging to Spain. + +Spain has kept no promises made to the Cubans and never will. At last +the Cubans know exactly what Spain is, and they have made up their minds +to be free or to be exterminated. There is nothing in history to equal +the atrocities and outrages that have been perpetrated by Spain upon +Cuba. What Spain does now, all know is only a repetition of what Spain +has done, and this is a prophecy of what Spain will do if she has the +power. + +So far as I am concerned, I have no idea that there is to be any war +between Spain and the United States. A country that can't conquer Cuba, +certainly has no very flattering chance of overwhelming the United +States. A man that cannot whip one of his own boys is foolish when he +threatens to clean out the whole neighborhood. Of course, there is +some wisdom even in Spain, and the Spaniards who know anything of this +country know that it would be absolute madness and the utmost extreme +of folly to attack us. I believe in treating even Spain with perfect +fairness. I feel about the country as Burns did about the Devil: "O wad +ye tak' a thought an' mend!" I know that nations, like people, do as +they must, and I regard Spain as the victim and result of conditions, +the fruit of a tree that was planted by ignorance and watered by +superstition. + +I believe that Cuba is to be free, and I want that island to give a new +flag to the air, whether it ever becomes a part of the United States +or not. My sympathies are all with those who are struggling for their +rights, trying to get the clutch of tyranny from their throats; for +those who are defending their homes, their firesides, against tyrants +and robbers. + +Whether the Maine was blown up by the Spaniards is still a question. I +suppose it will soon be decided. In my own opinion, the disaster came +from the outside, but I do not know, and not knowing, I am willing +to wait for the sake of human nature. I sincerely hope that it was an +accident. I hate to think that there are people base and cruel enough +to commit such an act. Still, I think that all these matters will be +settled without war. + +I am in favor of an international court, the members to be selected +by the ruling nations of the world; and before this court I think all +questions between nations should be decided, and the only army and the +only navy should be under its direction, and used only for the purpose +of enforcing its decrees. Were there such a court now, before which +Cuba could appear and tell the story of her wrongs, of the murders, the +assassinations, the treachery, the starvings, the cruelty, I think that +the decision would instantly be in her favor and that Spain would be +driven from the island. Until there is such a court there is no need of +talking about the world being civilized. + +I am not a Christian, but I do believe in the religion of justice, of +kindness. I believe in humanity. I do believe that usefulness is the +highest possible form of worship. The useful man is the good man, the +useful man is the real saint. I care nothing about supernatural myths +and mysteries, but I do care for human beings. I have a little short +creed of my own, not very hard to understand, that has in it no +contradictions, and it is this: Happiness is the only good. The time to +be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is +to make others so. + +I think this creed if adopted, would do away with war. I think it would +destroy superstition, and I think it would civilize even Spain. + + + + +OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. + + +AS I understand it, the United States went into this war against Spain +in the cause of freedom. For three years Spain has been endeavoring +to conquer these people. The means employed were savage. Hundreds +of thousands were starved. Yet the Cubans, with great heroism, were +continuing the struggle. In spite of their burned homes, their wasted +fields, their dead comrades, the Cubans were not conquered and still +waged war. Under those circumstances we said to Spain, "You must +withdraw from the Western World. The Cubans have the right to be free!" +They have been robbed and enslaved by Spanish officers and soldiers. +Undoubtedly they were savages when first found, and undoubtedly they are +worse now than when discovered--more barbarous. They wouldn't make +very good citizens of the United States; they are probably incapable +of self-government, but no people can be ignorant enough to be justly +robbed or savage enough to be rightly enslaved. I think that we should +keep the islands, not for our own sake, but for the sake of these +people. + +It was understood and declared at the time, that we were not waging war +for the sake of territory, that we were not trying to annex Cuba, but +that we were moved by compassion--a compassion that became as stern as +justice. I did not think at the time there would be war. I supposed that +the Spanish people had some sense, that they knew their own condition +and the condition of this Republic. But the improbable happened, and +now, after the successes we have had, the end of the war appears to be +in sight, and the question arises: What shall we do with the Spanish +islands that we have taken already, or that we may take before peace +comes? + +Of course, we could not, without stultifying ourselves and committing +the greatest of crimes, hand back Cuba to Spain. But to do that would be +no more criminal, no more infamous, than to hand back the Philippines. +In those islands there are from eight to ten millions of people. + +As far as the Philippines are concerned, I think that we should endeavor +to civilize them, and to do this we should send teachers, not preachers. +We should not endeavor to give them our superstition in place of +Spanish superstition. They have had superstition enough. They don't +need churches, they need schools. We should teach them our arts; how to +cultivate the soil, how to manufacture the things they need. In other +words, we should deal honestly with them, and try our best to make them +a self-supporting and a self-governing people. The eagle should spread +its wings over those islands for that and for no other purpose. We can +not afford to give them to other nations or to throw fragments of them +to the wild beasts of Europe. We can not say to Russia, "You may have a +part," and to Germany, "You may have a share," and to France, "You take +something," and so divide out these people as thieves divide plunder. +That we will never do. + +There is, moreover, in my mind, a little sentiment mixed with this +matter. Manila Bay has been filled with American glory. There was won +one of our greatest triumphs, one of the greatest naval victories of the +world--won by American courage and genius. We can not allow any other +nation to become the owner of the stage on which this American drama was +played. I know that we can be of great assistance to the inhabitants of +the Philippines. I know that we can be an unmixed blessing to them, and +that is the only ambition I have in regard to those islands. I would no +more think of handing them back to Spain than I would of butchering the +entire population in cold blood. Spain is unfit to govern. Spain has +always been a robber. She has never made an effort to civilize a human +being. The history of Spain, I think, is the darkest page in the history +of the world. + +At the same time I have a kind of pity for the Spanish people. I feel +that they have been victims--victims of superstition. Their blood has +been sucked, their energies have been wasted and misdirected, and they +excite my sympathies. Of course, there are many good Spaniards, good +men, good women. Cervera appears to be a civilized man, a gentleman, and +I feel obliged to him for his treatment of Hobson. The great mass of +the Spaniards, however, must be exceedingly ignorant. Their so-called +leaders dare not tell them the truth about the progress of this war. +They seem to be afraid to state the facts. They always commence with a +lie, then change it a little, then change it a little more, and may be +at last tell the truth. They never seem to dare to tell the truth at +first, if the truth is bad. They put me in mind of the story of a man +telegraphing to a wife about the condition of her husband. The first +dispatch was, "Your husband is well, never better." The second was, +"Your husband is sick, but not very." The third was, "Your husband is +much worse, but we still have hope." The fourth was, "You may as well +know the truth--we buried your husband yesterday." That is about the way +the Spanish people get their war news. + +That is why it may be incorrect to assume that peace is coming quickly. +If the Spaniards were a normal people, who acted as other folks do, we +might prophesy a speedy peace, but nobody has prophetic vision enough +to tell what such a people will do. In spite of all appearances, and all +our successes, and of all sense, the war may drag on. But I hope not, +not only for our own sake, but for the sake of the Spaniards themselves. +I can't help thinking of the poor peasants who will be killed, neither +can I help thinking of the poor peasants who will have to toil for many +years on the melancholy fields of Spain to pay the cost of this war. I +am sorry for them, and I am sorry also for the widows and orphans, and +no one will be more delighted when peace comes. + +The argument has been advanced in the National Senate and elsewhere, +that the Federal Constitution makes no provision for the holding of +colonies or dependencies, such as the Philippines would be; that we can +only acquire them as territories, and eventually must take them in +as States, with their population of mixed and inferior races. That is +hardly an effective argument. + +When this country was an infant, still in its cradle, George Washington +gave the child some very good advice; told him to beware of entangling +alliances, to stay at home and attend to his own business. Under the +circumstances this was all very good. But the infant has been growing, +and the Republic is now one of the most powerful nations in the world, +and yet, from its infant days until now, good, conservative people have +been repeating the advice of Washington. It was repeated again and again +when we were talking about purchasing Louisiana, and many Senators and +Congressmen became hysterical and predicted the fall of the Republic if +that was done. The same thing took place when we purchased Florida, and +again when we got one million square miles from Mexico, and still again +when we bought Alaska. These ideas about violating the Constitution and +wrecking the Republic were promulgated by our great and wise statesmen +on all these previous occasions, but, after all, the Constitution seems +to have borne the strain. There seems to be as much liberty now as there +was then, and, in fact, a great deal more. Our Territories have given us +no trouble, while they have greatly added to our population and vastly +increased our wealth. + +Beside this, the statesmen of the olden time, the wise men with whom +wisdom was supposed to have perished, could not and did not imagine the +improvements that would take place after they were gone. In their time, +practically speaking, it was farther from New York to Buffalo than it is +now from New York to San Francisco, and so far as the transportation of +intelligence is concerned, San Francisco is as near New York as it would +have been in their day had it been just across the Harlem River. Taking +into consideration the railways, the telegraphs and the telephones, this +country now, with its area of three million five hundred thousand square +miles, is not so large as the thirteen original colonies were; that is +to say, the distances are more easily traveled and more easily overcome. +In those days it required months and months to cross the continent. Now +it is the work of four or five days. + +Yet, when we came to talk about annexing the Hawaiian Islands, the +advice of George Washington was again repeated, and the older the +Senator the fonder he was of this advice. These Senators had the idea +that the Constitution, having nothing in favor of it, must contain +something, at least in spirit, against it. Of course, our fathers had +no idea of the growth of the Republic. We have, because with us it is a +matter of experience. I don't see that Alaska has imperiled any of the +liberties of New York. We need not admit Alaska as a State unless it has +a population entitling it to admission, and we are not bound to take in +the Sandwich Islands until the people are civilized, until they are fit +companions of free men and free women. It may be that a good many of our +citizens will go to the Sandwich Islands, and that, in a short time, +the people there will be ready to be admitted as a State. All this the +Constitution can stand, and in it there is no danger of imperialism. + +I believe in national growth. As a rule, the prosperous farmer wants to +buy the land that adjoins him, and I think a prosperous nation has the +ambition of growth. It is better to expand than to shrivel; and, if our +Constitution is too narrow to spread over the territory that we have +the courage to acquire, why we can make a broader one. It is a very easy +matter to make a constitution, and no human happiness, no prosperity, +no progress should be sacrificed for the sake of a piece of paper with +writing on it; because there is plenty of paper and plenty of men to do +the writing, and plenty of people to say what the writing should be. +I take more interest in people than I do in constitutions. I regard +constitutions as secondary; they are means to an end, but the dear, +old, conservative gentlemen seem to regard constitutions as ends in +themselves. + +I have read what ex-President Cleveland had to say on this important +subject, and I am happy to say that I entirely disagree with him. So, +too, I disagree with Senator Edmunds, and with Mr. Bryan, and with +Senator Hoar, and with all the other gentlemen who wish to stop the +growth of the Republic. I want it to grow. + +As to the final destiny of the island possessions won from Spain, my +idea is that the Philippine Islands will finally be free, protected, it +may be for a long time, by the United States. I think Cuba will come to +us for protection, naturally, and, so far as I am concerned, I want +Cuba only when Cuba wants us. I think that Porto Rico and some of those +islands will belong permanently to the United States, and I believe Cuba +will finally become a part of our Republic. + +When the opponents of progress found that they couldn't make the +American people take the back track by holding up their hands over the +Constitution, they dragged in the Monroe doctrine. When we concluded not +to allow Spain any longer to enslave her colonists, or the people who +had been her colonists, in the New World, that was a very humane and +wise resolve, and it was strictly in accord with the Monroe doctrine. +For the purpose of conquering Spain, we attacked her fleet in Manila +Bay, and destroyed it. I can not conceive how that action of ours can +be twisted into a violation of the Monroe doctrine. The most that can be +said is, that it is an extension of that doctrine, and that we are now +saying to Spain, "You shall not enslave, you shall not rob, anywhere +that we have the power to prevent it." + +Having taken the Philippines, the same humanity that dictated the +declaration of what is called the Monroe doctrine, will force us to act +there in accordance with the spirit of that doctrine. The other day I +saw in the paper an extract, I think, from Goldwin Smith, in which +he says that if we were to bombard Cadiz we would give up the Monroe +doctrine. I do not see the application. We are at war with Spain, and we +have a right to invade that country, and the invasion would have nothing +whatever to do with the Monroe doctrine. War being declared, we have +the right to do anything consistent with civilized warfare to gain the +victory. The bombardment of Cadiz would have no more to do with the +Monroe doctrine than with the attraction of gravitation. If, by the +Monroe doctrine is meant that we have agreed to stay in this hemisphere, +and to prevent other nations from interfering with any people +on this hemisphere, and if it is said that, growing out of this, is +another doctrine, namely, that we are pledged not to interfere with +any people living on the other hemisphere, then it might be called a +violation of the Monroe doctrine for us to bombard Cadiz. But such is +not the Monroe doctrine. If, we being at war with England, she should +bombard the city of New York, or we should bombard some city of England, +would anybody say that either nation had violated the Monroe doctrine? I +do not see how that doctrine is involved, whether we fight at sea or on +the territory of the enemy. + +This is the first war, so far as I know, in the history of the world +that has been waged absolutely in the interest of humanity; the only +war born of pity, of sympathy; and for that reason I have taken a deep +interest in it, and I must say that I was greatly astonished by the +victory of Admiral Dewey in Manila Bay. I think it one of the most +wonderful in the history of the world, and I think all that Dewey +has done shows clearly that he is a man of thought, of courage and of +genius. So, too, the victory over the fleet of Cervera by Commodore +Schley, is one of the most marvelous and the most brilliant in all +the annals of the world. The marksmanship, the courage, the absolute +precision with which everything was done, is to my mind astonishing. +Neither should we forget Wainwright's heroic exploit, as commander of +the Gloucester, by which he demonstrated that torpedo destroyers have +no terrors for a yacht manned by American pluck. Manila Bay and Santiago +both are surpassingly wonderful. There are no words with which to +describe such deeds--deeds that leap like flames above the clouds and +glorify the whole heavens. + +The Spanish have shown in this contest that they possess courage, and +they have displayed what you might call the heroism of desperation, +but the Anglo-Saxon has courage and coolness--courage not blinded by +passion, courage that is the absolute servant of intelligence. The +Anglo-Saxon has a fixedness of purpose that is never interfered with by +feeling; he does not become enraged--he becomes firm, unyielding, his +mind is absolutely made up, clasped, locked, and he carries out his +will. With the Spaniard it is excitement, nervousness; he becomes +frantic. I think this war has shown the superiority, not simply of our +ships, or our armor, or our guns, but the superiority of our men, of +our officers, of our gunners. The courage of our army about Santiago was +splendid, the steadiness and bravery of the volunteers magnificent. I +think that what has already been done has given us the admiration of the +civilized world. + +I know, of course, that some countries hate us. Germany is filled with +malice, and has been just on the crumbling edge of meanness for months, +wishing but not daring to interfere; hateful, hostile, but keeping just +within the overt act. We could teach Germany a lesson and her ships +would go down before ours just the same as the Spanish ships have done. +Sometimes I have almost wished that a hostile German shot might be +fired. But I think we will get even with Germany and with France--at +least I hope so. + +And there is another thing I hope--that the good feeling now existing +between England and the United States may be eternal. In other words, +I hope it will be to the interests of both to be friends. I think the +English-speaking peoples are to rule this world. They are the kings of +invention, of manufactures, of commerce, of administration, and they +have a higher conception of human liberty than any other people. Of +course, they are not entirely free; they still have some of the rags and +tatters and ravelings of superstition; but they are tatters and they are +rags and they are ravelings, and the people know it. And, besides all +this, the English language holds the greatest literature of the world. + + + + +A FEW FRAGMENTS ON EXPANSION. + + +A NATION rises from infancy to manhood and sinks from dotage to death. +I think that the great Republic is in the morning of her life--the sun +just above the horizon--the grass still wet with dew. + +Our country has the courage and enthusiasm of youth--her blood flows +full--her heart beats strong and her brow is fair. We stand on +the threshold of a great, a sublime career. All the conditions are +favorable--the environment kind. The best part of this hemisphere is +ours. We have a thousand million acres of fertile land, vast forests, +whole States underlaid with coal; ranges of mountains filled with +iron, silver and gold, and we have seventy-five millions of the most +energetic, active, inventive, progressive and practical people in the +world. The great Republic is a happy combination of mind and muscle, of +head and heart, of courage and good nature. We are growing. We have the +instinct of expansion. We are full of life and health. We are about to +take our rightful place at the head of the nations. The great powers +have been struggling to obtain markets. They are fighting for the trade +of the East. They are contending for China. We watched, but we did +not act. They paid no attention to us or we to them. Conditions have +changed. We own the Hawaiian Islands. We will own the Philippines. + +Japan and China will be our neighbors--our customers. Our interests must +be protected. In China we want the "open door," and we will see to it +that the door is kept open. The nation that tries to shut it, will get +its fingers pinched. We have taught the Old World that the Republic must +be consulted. We have entered on the great highway, and we are destined +to become the most powerful, the most successful and the most generous +of nations. I am for expansion. The more people beneath the flag the +better. Let the Republic grow.. + + +I BELIEVE in growth. Of course there are many moss-back conservatives +who fear expansion. Thousands opposed the purchase of Louisiana from +Napoleon, thousands were against the acquisition of Florida and of the +vast territory we obtained from Mexico. So, thousands were against the +purchase of Alaska, and some dear old mummies opposed the annexation +of the Sandwich Islands, and yet, I do not believe that there is an +intelligent American who would like to part with one acre that has +been acquired by the Government. Now, there are some timid, withered +statesmen who do not want Porto Rico--who beg us in a trembling, +patriotic voice not to keep the Philippines. But the sensible people +feel exactly the other way. They love to see our borders extended. +They love to see the flag floating over the islands of the +tropics,--showering its blessings upon the poor people who have been +robbed and tortured by the Spanish. Let the Republic grow! Let us spread +the gospel of Freedom! In a few years I hope that Canada will be ours--I +want Mexico--in other words, I want all of North America. I want to see +our flag waving from the North Pole. + +I think it was a mistake to appoint a peace commission. The President +should have demanded the unconditional surrender of Cuba, Porto Rico +and the Philippines. Spain was helpless. The war would have ended on our +terms, and all this commission nonsense would have been saved. Still, I +make no complaint. It will probably come out right, though it would have +been far better to have ended the business when we could--when Spain +was prostrate. It was foolish to let her get up and catch her breath and +hunt for friends. + +ONLY a few days ago our President, by proclamation, thanked God for +giving us the victory at Santiago. He did not thank him for sending the +yellow fever. To be consistent the President should have thanked him +equally for both. Man should think; he should use all his senses; he +should examine; he should reason. The man who cannot think is less than +man; the man who will not think is a traitor to himself; the man who +fears to think is superstition's slave. I do not thank God for the +splendid victory in Manila Bay. I don't know whether he had anything +to do with it; if I find out that he did I will thank him readily. +Meanwhile, I will thank Admiral George Dewey and the brave fellows who +were with him. + +I do not thank God for the destruction of Cervera's fleet at Santiago. +No, I thank Schley and the men with the trained eyes and the nerves of +steel, who stood behind the guns. I do not thank God because we won +the battle of Santiago. I thank the Regular Army, black and white--the +Volunteers--the Rough Riders, and all the men who made the grand charge +at San Juan Hill. I have asked, "Why should God help us to whip Spain?" +and have been answered: "For the sake of the Cubans, who have been +crushed and ill-treated by their Spanish masters." Then why did not God +help the Cubans long before? Certainly, they were fighting long enough +and needed his help badly enough. But, I am told, God's ways are +inscrutable. Suppose Spain had whipped us; would the Christians then say +that God did it? Very likely they would, and would have as an excuse, +that we broke the Sabbath with our base-ball, our bicycles and bloomers. + + + + +IS IT EVER RIGHT FOR HUSBAND OR WIFE TO KILL RIVAL? + + +HOW far should a husband or wife go in defending the sanctity of home? + +Is it right for the husband to kill the paramour of his wife? + +Is it right for the wife to kill the paramour of her husband? + +These three questions are in substance one, and one answer will be +sufficient for all. + +In the first place, we should have an understanding of the real relation +that exists, or should exist, between husband and wife. + +The real good orthodox people, those who admire St. Paul, look upon the +wife as the property of the husband. He owns, not only her body, but her +very soul. This being the case, no other man has the right to steal +or try to steal this property. The owner has the right to defend his +possession, even to the death. In the olden time the husband was +never regarded as the property of the wife. She had a claim on him for +support, and there was usually some way to enforce the claim. If +the husband deserted the wife for the sake of some other woman, or +transferred his affections to another, the wife, as a rule, suffered in +silence. Sometimes she took her revenge on the woman, but generally she +did nothing. Men killed the "destroyers" of their homes, but the women, +having no homes, being only wives, nothing but mothers--bearers of babes +for masters--allowed their destroyers to live. + +In recent years women have advanced. They have stepped to the front. +Wives are no longer slaves. They are the equals of husbands. They have +homes to defend, husbands to protect and "destroyers" to kill. The +rights of husbands and wives are now equal. They live under the same +moral code. Their obligations to each other are mutual. Both are bound, +and equally bound, to live virtuous lives. + +Now, if A falls in love with the wife of B, and she returns his love, +has B the right to kill him? Or if A falls in love with the husband of +B, and he returns her love, has B the right to kill her? + +If the wronged husband has the right to kill, so has the wronged wife. + +Suppose that a young man and woman are engaged to be married, and that +she falls in love with another and marries him, has the first lover a +right to kill the last? + +This leads me to another question: What is marriage? Men and women +cannot truly be married by any set or form of words, or by any +ceremonies however solemn, or by contract signed, sealed and witnessed, +or by the words or declarations of priests or judges. All these put +together do not constitute marriage. At the very best they are only +evidences of the fact of marriage--something that really happened +between the parties. Without pure, honest, mutual love there can be no +real marriage. Marriage without love is only a form of prostitution. +Marriage for the sake of position or wealth is immoral. No good, +sensible man wants to marry a woman whose heart is not absolutely his, +and no good, sensible woman wants to marry a man whose heart is not +absolutely hers. Now, if there can be no real marriage without mutual +love, does the marriage outlast the love? If it is immoral for a woman +to marry a man without loving him, is it moral for her to live as the +wife of a man whom she has ceased to love? Is she bound by the words, by +the ceremony, after the real marriage is dead? Is she so bound that the +man she hates has the right to be the father of her babes? + +If a girl is engaged and afterward meets her ideal, a young man whose +presence is joy, whose touch is ecstasy, is it her duty to fulfill her +engagement? Would it not be a thousand times nobler and purer for her to +say to the first lover: "I thought I loved you; I was mistaken. I belong +heart and soul to another, and if I married you I could not be yours." + +So, if a young man is engaged and finds that he has made a mistake, is +it honorable for him to keep his contract? Would it not be far nobler +for him to tell her the truth? + +The civilized man loves a woman not only for his own sake, but for +her sake. He longs to make her happy--to fill her life with joy. He +is willing to make sacrifices for her, but he does not want her to +sacrifice herself for him. The civilized husband wants his wife to be +free--wants the love that she cannot help giving him. He does not want +her, from a sense of duty, or because of the contract or ceremony, to +act as though she loved him, when in fact her heart is far away. He +does not want her to pollute her soul and live a lie for his sake. The +civilized husband places the happiness of his wife above his own. Her +love is the wealth of his heart, and to guard her from evil is the +business of his life. + +But the civilized husband knows when his wife ceases to love him that +the real marriage has also ceased. He knows that it is then infamous for +him to compel her to remain his wife. He knows that it is her right +to be free--that her body belongs to her, that her soul is her own. He +knows, too, if he knows anything, that her affection is not the slave of +her will. + +In a case like this, the civilized husband would, so far as he had +the power, release his wife from the contract of marriage, divide his +property fairly with her and do what he could for her welfare. Civilized +love never turns to hatred. + +Suppose he should find that there was a man in the case, that another +had won her love, or that she had given her love to another, would it +then be his right or duty to kill that man? Would the killing do any +good? Would it bring back her love? Would it reunite the family? Would +it annihilate the disgrace or the memory of the shame? Would it lessen +the husband's loss? + +Society says that the husband should kill the man because he led the +woman astray. + +How do we know that he betrayed the woman? Mrs. Potiphar left many +daughters, and Joseph certainly had but few sons. How do we know that +it was not the husband's fault? She may for years have shivered in the +winter of his neglect. She may have borne his cruelties of word and deed +until her love w'as dead and buried side by side with hope. Another man +comes into her life. He pities her. She looks and loves. He lifts her +from the grave. Again she really lives, and her poor heart is rich with +love's red blood. Ought this man to be killed? He has robbed no husband, +wronged no man. He has rescued a victim, released an innocent prisoner +and made a life worth living. But the brutal husband says that the wife +has been led astray; that he has been wronged and dishonored, and that +it is his right, his duty, to shed the seducer's blood. He finds the +facts himself. He is witness, jury, judge and executioner. He forgets +his neglect, his cruelties, his faithlessness; forgets that he drove her +from his heart, remembers only that she loves another, and then in the +name of justice he takes the life of the one she loves. + +A husband deserts his wife, leaves her without money, without the means +to live, with his babes in her arms. She cannot get a divorce; she must +wait, and in the meantime she must live. A man falls in love with her +and she with him. He takes care of her and the deserted children. The +"wronged" husband returns and kills the "betrayer" of his wife. He +believes in the sacredness of marriage, the holiness of home. + +It may be admitted that the deserted wife did wrong, and that the man +who cared for her and her worse than fatherless children also did wrong, +but certainly he had done nothing for which he deserved to be murdered. + +A woman finds that her husband is in love with another woman, that he +is false, and the question is whether it is her right to kill the other +woman. The wronged husband has always claimed that the man led his wife +astray, that he had crept and crawled into his Eden, but now the wronged +wife claims that the woman seduced her husband, that she spread the +net, wove the web and baited the trap in which the innocent husband was +caught. Thereupon she kills the other woman. + +In the first place, how can she be sure of the facts? How does she know +whose fault it was? Possibly she was to blame herself. + +But what good has the killing done? It will not give her back her +husband's love. It will not cool the fervor of her jealousy. It will not +give her better sleep or happier dreams. + +It would have been far better if she had said to her husband: "Go with +the woman you love. I do not want your body without your heart, your +presence without your love." + +So, it would be better for the wronged husband to say to the unfaithful +wife: "Go with the man you love. Your heart is his, I am not your +master. You are free." + +After all, murder is a poor remedy. If you kill a man for one wrong, why +not for another? If you take the law into your own hands and kill a man +because he loves your wife and your wife loves him, why not kill him for +any injury he may inflict on you or yours?... + +In a civilized nation the people are governed by law. They do not +redress their own wrongs. They submit their differences to courts. If +they are wronged they appeal to the law. Savages redress what they call +their wrongs. They appeal to knife or gun. They kill, they assassinate, +they murder; and they do this to preserve their honor. Admit that the +seducer of the wife deserves death, that the woman who leads the husband +astray deserves death, admit that both have justly forfeited their +lives, the question yet remains whether the wronged husband and the +wronged wife have the right to commit murder. + +If they have this right, then there ought to be some way provided for +ascertaining the facts. Before the husband kills the "betrayer," the +fact that the wife was really led astray should be established, and the +"wronged" husband who claims the right to kill, should show that he had +been a good, loving and true husband. + +As a rule, the wives of good and generous men are true and faithful. +They love their homes, they adore their children. In poverty and +disaster they cling the closer. But when husbands are indolent and mean, +when they are cruel and selfish, when they make a hell of home, why +should we insist that their wives should love them still? + +When the civilized man finds that his wife loves another he does not +kill, he does not murder. He says to his wife, "You are free." + +When the civilized woman finds that her husband loves another she does +not kill, she does not murder. She says to her husband, "I am free." +This, in my judgment, is the better way. It is in accordance with a far +higher philosophy of life, of the real rights of others. The civilized +man is governed by his reason, his intelligence; the savage by his +passions. The civilized, man seeks for the right, regardless of himself; +the savage for revenge, regardless of the rights of others. + +I do not believe that murder guards the sacredness of home, the purity +of the fireside. I do not believe that crime wins victories for virtue. +I believe in liberty and I believe in law. That country is free where +the people make and honestly uphold the law. I am opposed to a redress +of grievances or the punishment of criminals by mobs and I am equally +opposed to giving the "wronged" husbands and the "wronged" wives the +right to kill the men and women they suspect. In other words, I believe +in civilization. + +A few years ago a merchant living in the West suspected that his wife +and bookkeeper were in love. One morning he started for a distant city, +pretending that he would be absent for a couple of weeks. He came back +that night and found the lovers occupying the same room. He did not kill +the man, but said to him: "Take her; she is yours. Treat her well +and you will not be troubled. Abuse or desert her and I will be her +avenger." + +He did not kill his wife, but said: "We part forever. You are entitled +to one-half of the property we have accumulated. You shall have it. +Farewell!" + +The merchant was a civilized man--a philosopher. + + + + +PROFESSOR BRIGGS. + +To the study of the Bible he has given the best years of his life. When +he commenced this study he was probably a devout believer in the plenary +inspiration of the Scripture--thought that the Bible was without an +error; that all the so-called contradictions could be easily explained. +He had been educated by Presbyterians and had confidence in his +teachers. + +In spite of his early training, in spite of his prejudices, he was led, +in some mysterious way, to rely a little on his own reason. This was +a dangerous thing to do. The moment a man talks about reason he is on +dangerous ground. He is liable to contradict the "Word of God." Then he +loses spirituality and begins to think more of truth than creed. This is +a step toward heresy--toward Infidelity. + +Professor Briggs began to have doubts about some of the miracles. +These doubts, like rats, began to gnaw the foundations of his faith. He +examined these wonderful stories in the light of what is known to have +happened, and in the light of like miracles found in the other sacred +books of the world. And he concluded that they were not quite true. He +was not ready to say that they were actually false; that would be too +brutally candid. + +I once read of an English lord who had a very polite gamekeeper. The +lord wishing to show his skill with the rifle fired at a target. He and +the gamekeeper went to see where the bullet had struck. The gamekeeper +was first at the target, and the lord cried out: "Did I miss it?" + +"I would not," said the gamekeeper, "go so far as to say that your +lordship missed it, but--but--you didn't hit it." + +Professor Briggs saw clearly that the Bible was the product, the growth +of many centuries; that legends and facts, mistakes, contradictions, +miracles, myths and history, interpolations, prophecies and dreams, +wisdom, foolishness, justice, cruelty, poetry and bathos were mixed, +mingled and interwoven. In other words, that the gold of truth was +surrounded by meaner metals and worthless stones. + +He saw that it was necessary to construct what might be called a sacred +smelter to divide the true from the false. + +Undoubtedly he reached this conclusion in the interest of what he +believed to be the truth. He had the mistaken but honest idea that a +Christian should really think. Of course, we know that all heresy +has been the result of thought. It has always been dangerous to grow. +Shrinking is safe. + +Studying the Bible was the first mistake that Professor Briggs made, +reasoning was the second, and publishing his conclusions was the third. +If he had read without studying, if he had believed without reasoning, +he would have remained a good, orthodox Presbyterian. He probably read +the works of Humboldt, Darwin and Haeckel, and found that the author +of Genesis was not a geologist, not a scientist. He seems to have his +doubts about the truth of the story of the deluge. Should he be blamed +for this? Is there a sensible man in the wide world who really believes +in the flood? + +This flood business puts Jehovah in such an idiotic light. + +Of course, he must have known, after the "fall" of Adam and Eve, that he +would have to drown their descendants. Certainly it would have been +more merciful to have killed Adam and Eve, made a new pair and kept the +serpent out of the Garden of Eden. If Jehovah had been an intelligent +God he never would have created the serpent. Then there would have been +no fall, no flood, no atonement, no hell. + +Think of a God who drowned a world! What a merciless monster! The +cruelty of the flood is exceeded only by its stupidity. + +Thousands of little theologians have tried to explain this miracle. This +is the very top of absurdity. To explain a miracle is to destroy it. +Some have said that the flood was local. How could water that rose over +the mountains remain local? + +Why should we expect mercy from a God who drowned millions of men, women +and babes? I would no more think of softening the heart of such a God +by prayer than of protecting myself from a hungry tiger by repeating +poetry. + +Professor Briggs has sense enough to see that the story of the flood +is but an ignorant legend. He is trying to rescue Jehovah from the +frightful slander. After all, why should we believe the unreasonable? +Must we be foolish to be virtuous? The rain fell for forty days; this +caused the flood. The water was at least thirty thousand feet in depth. +Seven hundred and fifty feet a day--more than thirty feet an hour, six +inches a minute; the rain fell for forty days. Does any man with sense +enough to eat and breathe believe this idiotic lie? + +Professor Briggs knows that the Jews got the story of the flood from the +Babylonians, and that it is no more inspired than the history of "Peter +Wilkins and His Flying Wife." The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is +another legend. + +If those cities were destroyed sensible people believe the phenomenon +was as natural as the destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii. They do +not believe that in either case it was the result of the wickedness of +the people. + +Neither does any thinking man believe that the wife of Lot was changed +or turned into a pillar of salt as a punishment for having looked back +at her burning home. How could flesh, bones and blood be changed to +salt? This presupposes two miracles. First, the annihilation +of the woman, and second, the creation of salt. A God cannot +annihilate or create matter. Annihilation and creation are both +impossible--unthinkable. A grain of sand can defy all the gods. What was +Mrs. Lot turned to salt for? What good was achieved? What useful lesson +taught? What man with a head fertile enough to raise one hair can +believe a story like this? + +Does a man who denies the truth of this childish absurdity weaken the +foundation of virtue? Does he discourage truth-telling by denouncing +lies? Should a man be true to himself? If reason is not the standard, +what is? Can a man think one way and believe another? Of course he can +talk one way and think another. If a man should be honest with himself +he should be honest with others. A man who conceals his doubts lives a +dishonest life. He defiles his own soul. + +When a truth-loving man reads about the plagues of Egypt, should he +reason as he reads? Should he take into consideration the fact that like +stories have been told and believed by savages for thousands of years? +Should he ask himself whether Jehovah in his efforts to induce the +Egyptian King to free the Hebrews acted like a sensible God? Should he +ask himself whether a good God would kill the babes of the people on +account of the sins of the king? Whether he would torture, mangle and +kill innocent cattle to get even with a monarch? + +Is it better to believe without thinking than to think without +believing? If there be a God can we please him by believing that he +acted like a fiend? + +Probably Professor Briggs has a higher conception of God than the author +of Exodus. The writer of that book was a barbarian--an honest barbarian, +and he wrote what he supposed was the truth. I do not blame him for +having written falsehoods. Neither do I blame Professor Briggs for +having detected these falsehoods. In our day no man capable of reasoning +believes the miracles wrought for the Hebrews in their flight through +the wilderness. The opening of the sea, the cloud and pillar, the +quails, the manna, the serpents and hornets are no more believed than +the miracles of the Mormons when they crossed the plains. + +The probability is that the Hebrews never were in Egypt. In the Hebrew +language there are no Egyptian words, and in the Egyptian no Hebrew. +This proves that the Hebrews could not have mingled with the Egyptians +for four hundred and thirty years. As a matter of fact, Moses is a myth. +The enslavement of the Hebrews, the flight, the journey through the +wilderness existed only in the imagination of ignorance. + +So Professor Briggs has his doubts about the sun and moon having been +stopped for a day in order that Gen. Joshua might kill more heathen. +Theologians have gathered around this miracle like moths around a flame. +They have done their best to make it reasonable. They have talked about +refraction and reflection, about the nature of the air having been +changed so that the sun was visible all night. They have even gone +so far as to say that Joshua and his soldiers killed so many that +afterward, when thinking about it, they concluded that it must have +taken them at least two days. + +This miracle can be accounted for only in one way. Jehovah must have +stopped the earth. The earth, turning over at about one thousand miles +an hour--weighing trillions of tons--had to be stopped. Now we know that +all arrested motion changes instantly to heat. It has been calculated +that to stop the earth would cause as much heat as could be produced by +burning three lumps of coal, each lump as large as this world. + +Now, is it possible that a God in his right mind would waste all that +force? The Bible also tells us that at the same time God cast hailstones +from heaven on the poor heathen. If the writer had known something of +astronomy he would have had more hailstones and said nothing about the +sun and moon. + +Is it wise for ministers to ask their congregations to believe this +story? Is it wise for congregations to ask their ministers to believe +this story? If Jehovah performed this miracle he must have been insane. +There should be some relation, some proportion, between means and ends. +No sane general would call into the field a million soldiers and a +hundred batteries to kill one insect. And yet the disproportion of means +to the end sought would be reasonable when compared with what Jehovah is +claimed to have done. + +If Jehovah existed let us admit that he had some sense. + +If it should be demonstrated that the book of Joshua is all false, what +harm could follow? There would remain the same reasons for living a +useful and virtuous life; the same reasons against theft and murder. +Virtue would lose no prop and vice would gain no crutch. Take all the +miracles from the Old Testament and the book would be improved. Throw +away all its cruelties and absurdities and its influence would be far +better. + +Professor Briggs seems to have doubts about the inspiration of Ruth. Is +there any harm in that? What difference does it make whether the story +of Ruth is fact or fiction; history or poetry? Its value is just the +same. Who cares whether Hamlet or Lear lived? Who cares whether +Imogen and Perdita were real women or the creation of Shakespeare's +imagination? + +The book of Esther is absurd and cruel. It has no ethical value. There +is not a line, a word in it calculated to make a human being better. The +king issued a decree to kill the Jews. Esther succeeded in getting this +decree set aside, and induced the king to issue another decree that +the Jews should kill the other folks, and so the Jews killed some +seventy-five thousand of the king's subjects. Is it really important to +believe that the book of Esther is inspired? Is it possible that Jehovah +is proud of having written this book? Does he guard his copyright with +the fires of hell? Why should the facts be kept from the people? Every +intelligent minister knows that Moses did not write the Pentateuch; that +David did not write the Psalms, and that Solomon was not the author of +the song or the book of Ecclesiastes. Why not say so? + +No intelligent minister believes the story of Daniel in the Lion's den, +or of the three men who were cast into the furnace, or the story of +Jonah. These miracles seem to have done no good--seem to have convinced +nobody and to have had no consequences. Daniel w'as miraculously saved +from the lions, and then the king sent for the men who had accused +Daniel, for their wives and their children, and threw them all into +the den of lions and they were devoured by beasts almost as cruel as +Jehovah. What a beautiful story! How can any man be wicked enough to +doubt its truth? + +God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah ran away, took a boat for another +place. God raised a storm, the sailors became frightened, threw Jonah +overboard, and the poor wretch was swallowed and carried ashore by a +fish that God had prepared. Then he made his proclamation in Nineveh. +Then the people repented and Jonah was disappointed. Then he became +malicious and found fault with God. Then comes the story of the gourd, +the worm and the east wind, and the effect of the sun on a bald-headed +prophet. Would not this story be just as beautiful with the storm and +fish left out? Could we not dispense with the gourd, the worm and the +east wind? + +Professor Briggs does not believe this story. He does not reject it +because he is wicked or because he wishes to destroy religion, but +because, in his judgment, it is not true. This may not be religious, but +it is honest. It may not become a minister, but it certainly becomes a +man. + +Professor Briggs wishes to free the Old Testament from interpolations, +from excrescences, from fungus growths, from mistakes and falsehoods. + +I am satisfied that he is sincere, actuated by the noblest motives. + +Suppose that all the interpolations in the Bible should be found and the +original be perfectly restored, what evidence would we have that it was +written by inspired men? How can the fact of inspiration be established? +When was it established? Did Jehovah furnish anybody with a list of +books he had inspired? Does anybody know that he ever said that he had +inspired anybody? Did the writer of Genesis claim that he was inspired? +Did any writer of any part of the Pentateuch make the claim? Did the +authors of Joshua, Judges, Kings or Chronicles pretend that they had +obtained their facts from Jehovah? Does the author of Job or of the +Psalms pretend to have received assistance from God? + +There is not the slightest reference to God in Esther or in Solomon's +Song. Why should theologians say that those books were inspired? The +dogma of inspiration rests on no established fact. It rests only on +assertion--the assertion of those who have no knowledge on the subject. +Professor Briggs calls the Bible a "holy" book. He seems to think that +much of it was inspired; that it is in some sense a message from God. +The reasons he has for thinking so I cannot even guess. He seems also to +have his doubts about certain parts of the New Testament. He is not +certain that the angel who appeared to Joseph in a dream was entirely +truthful, or he is not certain that Joseph had the dream. + +It seems clear that when the gospel according to Matthew was first +written the writer believed that Christ was a lineal descendant of +David, through his father, Joseph. The genealogy is given for the +purpose of showing that the blood of David flowed in the veins of +Christ. The man who wrote that genealogy had never heard that the Holy +Ghost was the father of Christ. That was an afterthought. + +How is it possible to prove that the Holy Ghost was the father of +Christ? The Holy Ghost said nothing on the subject. Mary wrote nothing +and we have no evidence that Joseph had a dream. + +The divinity of Christ rests upon a dream that somebody said Joseph had. + +According to the New Testament, Mary herself called Joseph the father +of Christ. She told Christ that Joseph, his father, had been looking for +him. Her statement is better evidence than Joseph's dream--if he really +had it. If there are legends in Holy Scripture, as Professor Briggs +declares, certainly the divine parentage of Christ is one of them. The +story lacks even originality. Among the Greeks many persons had gods for +fathers. Among Hindoos and Egyptians these god-men were common. So in +many other countries the blood of gods was in the veins of men. Such +wonders, told in Sanscrit, are just as reasonable as when told in +Hebrew--just as reasonable in India as in Palestine. Of course, there +is no evidence that any human being had a god for a father, or a goddess +for a mother. Intelligent people have outgrown these myths. Centaurs, +satyrs, nymphs and god-men have faded away. Science murdered them all. + +There are many contradictions in the gospels. They differ not only on +questions of fact, but as to Christianity itself. According to Matthew, +Mark and Luke, if you will forgive others God will forgive you. This +is the one condition of salvation. But in John we find an entirely +different religion. According to John you must be born again and +believe in Jesus Christ. There you find for the first time about +the atonement--that Christ died to save sinners. The gospel of John +discloses a regular theological system--a new one. To forgive others is +not enough. You must have faith. You must be born again. + +The four gospels cannot be harmonized. If John is true the others are +false. If the others are true John is false. From this there is no +escape. I do not for a moment suppose that Professor Briggs agrees with +me on these questions. He probably regards me as a very bad and wicked +man, and my opinions as blasphemies. I find no fault with him for that. +I believe him to be an honest man; right in some things and wrong in +many. He seems to be true to his thought and I honor him for that. + +He would like to get all the stumbling-blocks out of the Bible, so +that a really thoughtful man can "believe." If theologians cling to +the miracles recorded in the New Testament the entire book will be +disparaged and denied. The "Gospel ship" is overloaded. Somethings must +be thrown overboard or the boat will go down. If the churches try to +save all they will lose all. + +They must throw the miracles away. They must admit that Christ did not +cast devils out of the bodies of men and women--that he did not cure +diseases with a word, or blindness with spittle and clay; that he had no +power over winds and waves; that he did not raise the dead; that he was +not raised from the dead himself, and that he did not ascend bodily to +heaven. These absurdities must be given up, or in a little while the +orthodox ministers will be preaching the "tidings of great joy" to +benches, bonnets and bibs. + +Professor Briggs, as I understand him, is willing to give up the +absurdest absurdities, but wishes to keep all the miracles that +can possibly be believed. He is anxious to preserve the important +miracles--the great central falsehoods--but the little lies that were +told just to embellish the story--to furnish vines for the columns--he +is willing to cast aside. + +But Professor Briggs was honest enough to say that we do not know the +authors of most of the books in the Bible; that we do not know who wrote +the Psalms or Job or Proverbs or the Song of Songs or Ecclesiastes or +the Epistle to the Hebrews. He also said that no translation can ever +take the place of the original Scriptures, because a translation is at +best the work of men. In other words, that God has not revealed to us +the names of the inspired books. That this must be determined by us. +Professor Briggs puts reason above revelation. By reason we are to +decide what books are inspired. By reason we are to decide whether +anything has been improperly added to those books. By reason we are to +decide the real meaning of those books. + +It therefore follows that if the books are unreasonable they are +uninspired. It seems to me that this position is absolutely correct. +There is no other that can be defended. The Presbyterians who pretend to +answer Professor Briggs seem to be actuated by hatred. + +Dr. Da Costa answers with vituperation and epithet. He answers no +argument; brings forward no fact; points out no mistake. He simply +attacks the man. He exhibits the ordinary malice of those who love their +enemies. + +President Patton, of Princeton, is a despiser of reason; a hater of +thought. Progress is the only thing that he fears. He knows that +the Bible is absolutely true. He knows that every word is inspired. +According to him, all questions have been settled, and criticism said +its last word when the King James Bible was printed. The Presbyterian +Church is infallible, and whoever doubts or denies will be damned. +Morality is worthless without the creed. This, is the religion, the +philosophy, of Dr. Patton. He fights with the ancient weapons, with +stone and club. He is a private in Captain Calvin's company, and he +marches to defeat with the courage of invincible ignorance. + +I do not blame the Presbyterian Church for closing the mouth of +Professor Briggs. That church believes the Bible--all of it--and the +members did not feel like paying a man for showing that it was not all +inspired. Long ago the Presbyterians stopped growing. They have been +petrified for many years. Professor Briggs had been growing. He had +to leave the church or shrink. He left. Then he joined the Episcopal +Church. He probably supposed that that church preferred the living to +the dead. He knew about Colenso, Stanley, Temple, Heber Newton, Dr. +Rainsford and Farrar, and thought that the finger and thumb of authority +would not insist on plucking from the mind the buds of thought. + +Whether he was mistaken or not remains to be seen. + +The Episcopal Church may refuse to ordain him, and by such refusal put +the bigot brand upon its brow. + +The refusal cannot injure Professor Briggs. It will leave him where +it found him--with too much science for a churchman and too much +superstition for a scientist; with his feet in the gutter and his head +in the clouds. + +I admire every man who is true to himself, to his highest ideal, and who +preserves unstained the veracity of his soul. + +I believe in growth. I prefer the living to the dead. Men are superior +to mummies. Cradles are more beautiful than coffins. Development is +grander than decay. I do not agree with Professor Briggs. I do not +believe in inspired books, or in the Holy Ghost, or that any God has +ever appeared to man. I deny the existence of the supernatural. I know +of no religion that is founded on facts. + +But I cheerfully admit that Professor Briggs appears to be candid, good +tempered and conscientious--the opposite of those who attack him. He is +not a Freethinker, but he honestly thinks that he is free. + + + + +FRAGMENTS. + + +CLOVER. + + * A letter written to Col. Thomas Donaldson, of Philadelphia, + declining an invitation to be a guest of the Clover Club of + that city. + +I regret that I cannot be "in clover" with you on the 28th instant. + +A wonderful thing is clover! It means honey and cream,--that is to say, +industry and contentment,--that is to say, the happy bees in perfumed +fields, and at the cottage gate "bos" the bountiful serenely chewing +satisfaction's cud, in that blessed twilight pause that like a +benediction falls between all toil and sleep. + +This clover makes me dream of happy hours; of childhood's rosy cheeks; +of dimpled babes; of wholesome, loving wives; of honest men; of springs +and brooks and violets and all there is of stainless joy in peaceful +human life. + +A wonderful word is "clover"! Drop the "c," and you have the happiest +of mankind. Drop the "r," and "c," and you have left the only thing that +makes a heaven of this dull and barren earth. Drop the "r," and there +remains a warm, deceitful bud that sweetens breath and keeps the peace +in countless homes whose masters frequent clubs. After all, Bottom was +right: + +"Good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow." + +Yours sincerely and regretfully, + +R. G. INGERSOLL. + +Washington, D. C., January 16, 1883. + +***** + +SUPERSTITION puts belief above goodness--credulity above virtue. + +Here are two men. One is industrious, frugal, honest, generous. He has +a happy home--loves his wife and children--fills their lives with +sunshine. He enjoys study, thoughts, music, and all the subtleties of +Art--but he does not believe the creed--cares nothing for sacred books, +worships no god and fears no devil. + +The other is ignorant, coarse, brutal, beats his wife and children--but +he believes--regards the Bible as inspired--bows to the priests, counts +his beads, says his prayers, confesses and contributes, and the Catholic +Church declares and the Protestant Churches declare that he is the +better man. + +The ignorant believer, coarse and brutal as he is, is going to heaven. +He will be washed in the blood of the Lamb. He will have wings--a harp +and a halo. + +The intelligent and generous man who loves his fellow-men--who develops +his brain, who enjoys the beautiful, is going to hell--to the eternal +prison. + +Such is the justice of God--the mercy of Christ. + +***** + +WHILE reading the accounts of the coronation of the Czar, of the +pageants, processions and feasts, of the pomp and parade, of the +barbaric splendor, of cloth of gold and glittering gems, I could not +help thinking of the poor and melancholy peasants, of the toiling, +half-fed millions, of the sad and ignorant multitudes who belong body +and soul to this Czar. + +I thought of the backs that have been scarred by the knout, of the +thousands in prisons for having dared to say a whispered word for +freedom, of the great multitude who had been driven like cattle along +the weary roads that lead to the hell of Siberia. + +The cannon at Moscow were not loud enough, nor the clang of the bells, +nor the blare of the trumpets, to drown the groans of the captives. + +I thought of the fathers that had been torn from wives and children for +the crime of speaking like men. + +And when the priests spoke of the Czar as the "God-selected man," the +"God-adorned man," my blood grew warm. + +When I read of the coronation of the Czarina I thought of Siberia. I +thought of girls working in the mines, hauling ore from the pits with +chains about their waists; young girls, almost naked, at the mercy +of brutal officials; young girls weeping and moaning their lives away +because between their pure lips the word Liberty had burst into blossom. + +Yet law neglects, forgets them, and crowns the Czarina. The injustice, +the agony and horror in this poor world are enough to make mankind +insane. + +Ignorance and superstition crown impudence and tyranny. Millions of +money squandered for the humiliation of man, to dishonor the people. + +Back of the coronation, back of all the ceremonies, back of all the +hypocrisy there is nothing but a lie. + +It is not true that God "selected" this Czar to rule and rob a hundred +millions of human beings. + +It is all an ignorant, barbaric, superstitious lie--a lie that pomp and +pageant, and flaunting flags, and robed priests, and swinging censers, +cannot change to truth. + +Those who are not blinded by the glare and glitter at Moscow see +millions of homes on which the shadows fall; see millions of weeping +mothers, whose children have been stolen by the Czar; see thousands of +villages without schools, millions of houses without books, millions and +millions of men, women and children in whose future there is no star and +whose only friend is death. + +The coronation is an insult to the nineteenth century. + +Long live the people of Russia! + +***** + +MUSIC.--The savage enjoys noises--explosion--the imitation of thunder. +This noise expresses his feeling. He enjoys concussion. His ear and +brain are in harmony. So, he takes cognizance of but few colors. The +neutral tints make no impression on his eyes. He appreciates the flames +of red and yellow. That is to say, there is a harmony between his brain +and eye. As he advances, develops, progresses, his ear catches other +sounds, his eye other colors. He becomes a complex being, and there has +entered into his mind the idea of proportion. The music of the drum no +longer satisfies him. He sees that there is as much difference between +noises and melodies as between stones and statues. The strings in +Corti's Harp become sensitive and possibly new ones are developed. + +The eye keeps pace with the ear, and the worlds of sound and sight +increase from age to age. + +The first idea of music is the keeping of time--a recurring emphasis at +intervals of equal length or duration. This is afterward modified--the +music of joy being fast, the emphasis at short intervals, and that of +sorrow slow. + +After all, this music of time corresponds to the action of the blood and +muscles. There is a rise and fall under excitement of both. In joy the +heart beats fast, and the music corresponding to such emotion is quick. +In grief--in sadness, the blood is delayed. In music the broad division +is one of time. In language, words of joy are born of light--that which +shines--words of grief of darkness and gloom. There is still another +division: The language of happiness comes also from heat, and that of +sadness from cold. + +These ideas or divisions are universal. In all art are the light and +shadow--the heat and cold. + +***** + +OF COURSE ENGLAND has no love for America. By England I mean the +governing class. Why should monarchy be in love with republicanism, with +democracy? The monarch insists that he gets his right to rule from +what he is pleased to call the will of God, whereas in a republic the +sovereign authority is the will of the people. It is impossible that +there should be any real friendship between the two forms of government. + +We must, however, remember one thing, and that is, that there is an +England within England--an England that does not belong to the titled +classes--an England that has not been bribed or demoralized by those +in authority; and that England has always been our friend, because that +England is the friend of liberty and of progress everywhere. But the +lackeys, the snobs, the flatterers of the titled, those who are willing +to crawl that they may rise, are now and always have been the enemies of +the great Republic. + +It is a curious fact that in monarchical governments the highest +and lowest are generally friends. There may be a foundation for this +friendship in the fact that both are parasites--both live on the labor +of honest men. After all, there is a kinship between the prince and the +pauper. Both extend the hand for alms, and the fact that one is jeweled +and the other extremely dirty makes no difference in principle--and the +owners of these hands have always been fast friends, and, in accordance +with the great law of ingratitude, both have held in contempt the people +who supported them. + +One thing we must not forget, and that is that the best people of +England are our friends. The best writers, the best thinkers are on our +side. It is only natural that all who visit America should find some +fault. We find fault ourselves, and to be thin-skinned is almost a plea +of guilty. For my part, I have no doubt about the future of America. +It not only is, but is to be for many, many generations, the greatest +nation of the world. + +I DO not care so much where, as with whom, I live. If the right folks +are with me I can manage to get a good deal of happiness in the city or +in the country. Cats love places and become attached to chimney-corners +and all sorts of nooks--but I have but little of the cat in me, and +am not particularly in love with places. After all, a palace without +affection is a poor hovel, and the meanest hut with love in it is a +palace for the soul. + +If the time comes when poverty and want cease for the most part to +exist, then the city will be far better than the country. People +are always talking about the beauties of nature and the delights of +solitude, but to me some people are more interesting than rocks and +trees. As to city and country life I think that I substantially agree +with Touchstone: + +"In respect that it is solitary I like it very well; but in respect +that it is private it is a very vile life. Now, in respect it is in the +fields it pleaseth me well; but in respect it is not in the court it is +tedious." + +***** + +WHAT do I think of the lynchings in Georgia? + +I suppose these outrages--these frightful crimes--make the same +impression on my mind that they do on the minds of all civilized +people. I know of no words strong enough, bitter enough, to express my +indignation and horror. Men who belong to the "superior" race take a +negro--a criminal, a supposed murderer, one alleged to have assaulted a +white woman--chain him to a tree, saturate his clothing with kerosene, +pile fagots about his feet. This is the preparation for the festival. +The people flock in from the neighborhood--come in special trains from +the towns. They are going to enjoy themselves. + +Laughing and cursing they gather about the victim. A man steps from the +crowd--a man who hates crime and loves virtue. He draws his knife, and +in a spirit of merry sport cuts off one of the victim's ears. This he +keeps for a trophy--a souvenir. Another gentlemen fond of a jest cuts +off the other ear. Another cuts off the nose of the chained and +helpless wretch. The victim suffered in silence. He uttered no groan, no +word--the one man of the two thousand who had courage. + +Other white heroes cut and slashed his flesh. The crowd cheered. The +people were intoxicated with joy. Then the fagots were lighted and the +bleeding and mutilated man was clothed in flame. + +The people were wild with hideous delight. With greedy eyes they watched +him burn; with hungry ears they listened for his shrieks--for the music +of his moans and cries. He did not shriek. The festival was not quite +perfect. + +But they had their revenge. They trampled on the charred and burning +corpse. They divided among themselves the broken bones. They wanted +mementos--keepsakes that they could give to their loving wives and +gentle babes. + +These horrors were perpetrated in the name of justice. The savages who +did these things belong to the superior race. They are citizens of the +great Republic. And yet, it does not seem possible that such fiends are +human beings. They are a disgrace to our country, our century and the +human race. + +Ex-Governor Atkinson protested against this savagery. He was threatened +with death. The good people were helpless. While these lynchers murder +the blacks they will destroy their own country. No civilized man wishes +to live where the mob is supreme. He does not wish to be governed by +murderers. + +Let me say that what I have said is flattery compared with what I feel. +When I think of the other lynching--of the poor man mutilated and hanged +without the slightest evidence, of the negro who said that these murders +would be avenged, and who was brutally murdered for the utterance of a +natural feeling--I am utterly at a loss for words. + +Are the white people insane? Has mercy fled to beasts? Has the United +States no power to protect a citizen? A nation that cannot or will not +protect its citizens in time of peace has no right to ask its citizens +to protect it in time of War. + +***** + +OUR COUNTRY.--Our country is all we hope for--all we are. It is the +grave of our father, of our mother, of each and every one of the sacred +dead. + +It is every glorious memory of our race. Every heroic deed. Every act of +self-sacrifice done by our blood. It is all the accomplishments of the +past--all the wise things said--all the kind things done--all the poems +written and all the poems lived--all the defeats sustained--all the +victories won--the girls we love--the wives we adore--the children we +carry in our hearts--all the firesides of home--all the quiet springs, +the babbling brooks, the rushing rivers, the mountains, plains and +woods--the dells and dales and vines and vales. + +***** + +GIFT GIVING.--I believe in the festival called Christmas--not in the +celebration of the birth of any man, but to celebrate the triumph of +light over darkness--the victory of the sun. + +I believe in giving gifts on that day, and a real gift should be given +to those who cannot return it; gifts from the rich to the poor, from the +prosperous to the unfortunate, from parents to children. + +There is no need of giving water to the sea or light to the sun. Let us +give to those who need, neither asking nor expecting return, not even +asking gratitude, only asking that the gift shall make the receiver +happy--and he who gives in that way increases his own joy. + +***** + +We have no right to enslave our children. We have no right to bequeath +chains and manacles to our heirs. We have no right to leave a legacy of +mental degradation. + +Liberty is the birthright of all. Parents should not deprive their +children of the great gifts of nature. We cannot all leave lands and +gold to those we love; but we can leave Liberty, and that is of more +value than all the wealth of India. + +The dead have no right to enslave the living. To worship ancestors is to +curse posterity. He who bows to the Past insults the Future; and allows, +so to speak, the dead to rob the unborn. The coffin is good enough in +its way, but the cradle is far better. With the bones of the fathers +they beat out the brains of the children. + +***** + +RANDOM THOUGHTS.--The road is short to anything we fear. + + Joy lives in the house beyond the one we reach. + In youth the time is halting, slow and lame. + In age the time is winged and eager as a flame. + The sea seems narrow as we near the farther shore. + +Youth goes hand in hand with hope--old age with fear. . + +Youth has a wish--old age a dread. + +In youth the leaves and buds seem loath to grow. + +Youth shakes the glass to speed the lingering sands. + +Youth says to Time: O crutched and limping laggard, get thee wings. + +The dawn comes slowly, but the Westering day leaps like a lover to the +dusky bosom of the Ethiop night. + +***** + +I THINK that all days are substantially alike in the long run. It is no +worse to drink on Sunday than on Monday. The idea that one day in the +week is holy is wholly idiotic. Besides, these closing laws do no good. + +Laws are not locks and keys. Saloon doors care nothing about laws. Law +or no law, people will slip in, and then, having had so much trouble +getting there, they will stay until they stagger out. These nasty, +meddlesome, Pharisaic, hypocritical laws make sneaks and hypocrites. The +children of these laws are like the fathers of the laws. Ever since I +can remember, people have been trying to make other people temperate by +intemperate laws. I have never known of the slightest success. It is +a pity that Christ manufactured wine, a pity that Paul took heart and +thanked God when he saw the sign of the Three Taverns; a pity that +Jehovah put alcohol in almost everything that grows; a great pity that +prayer-meetings are not more popular than saloons; a pity that our +workingmen do not amuse themselves reading religious papers and the +genealogies in the Old Testament. + +Rum has caused many quarrels and many murders. + +Religion has caused many wars and covered countless fields with dead. + +Of course, all men should be temperate,--should avoid excess--should +keep the golden path between extremes--should gather roses, not thorns. +The only way to make men temperate is to develop the brain. + +When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men are +savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the +passions are servants, men are civilized. The people need +education--facts--philosophy. Drunkenness is one form of intemperance, +prohibition is another form. Another trouble is that these little laws +and ordinances can not be enforced. + +Both parties want votes, and to get votes they will allow unpopular laws +to sleep, neglected, and finally refuse to enforce them. These spasms of +virtue, these convulsions of conscience are soon over, and then comes a +long period of neglectful rest. + +***** + +THE OLD AND NEW YEAR.--For countless ages the old earth has been making, +in alternating light and shade, in gleam and gloom, the whirling circuit +of the sun, leaving the record of its flight in many forms--in leaves of +stone, in growth of tree and vine and flower, in glittering gems of many +hues, in curious forms of monstrous life, in ravages of flood and flame, +in fossil fragments stolen from decay by chance, in molten masses hurled +from lips of fire, in gorges worn by waveless, foamless cataracts of +ice, in coast lines beaten back by the imprisoned sea, in mountain +ranges and in ocean reefs, in islands lifted from the underworld--in +continents submerged and given back to light and life. + +Another year has joined his shadowy fellows in the wide and voiceless +desert of the past, where, from the eternal hour-glass forever fall the +sands of time. Another year, with all its joy and grief, of birth and +death, of failure and success--of love and hate. And now, the first day +of the new o'er arches all. Standing between the buried and the babe, we +cry, "Farewell and Hail!"--January 1,1893. + +***** + +KNOWLEDGE consists in the perception of facts, their +relations--conditions, modes and results of action. Experience is the +foundation of knowledge--without experience it is impossible to know. +It may be that experience can be transmitted--inherited. Suppose that an +infinite being existed in infinite space. He being the only existence, +what knowledge could he gain by experience? He could see nothing, hear +nothing, feel nothing. He would have no use for what we call the senses. +Could he use what we call the faculties of the mind? He could not +compare, remember, hope or fear. He could not reason. How could he +know that he existed? How could he use force? There was in the universe +nothing that would resist--nothing. + +***** + +Most men are economical when dealing with abundance, hoarding gold and +wasting time--throwing away the sunshine of life--the few remaining +hours, and hugging to their shriveled hearts that which they do not and +cannot even expect to use. Old age should enjoy the luxury of giving. +How divine to live in the atmosphere, the climate of gratitude! The men +who clutch and fiercely hold and look at wife and children with eyes +dimmed by age and darkened by suspicion, giving naught until the end, +then give to death the gratitude that should have been their own. + +***** + +DEATH OF THE AGED. + + * From a letter of condolence written to a friend on the + death of his mother. + +After all, there is something tenderly appropriate in the serene death +of the old. Nothing is more touching than the death of the young, the +strong. But when the duties of life have all been nobly done; when the +sun touches the horizon; when the purple twilight falls upon the past, +the present, and the future; when memory, with dim eyes, can scarcely +spell the blurred and faded records of the vanished days--then, +surrounded by kindred and by friends, death comes like a strain of +music. The day has been long, the road weary, and the traveler gladly +stops at the welcome inn. + +Nearly forty-eight years ago, under the snow, in the little town +of Cazenovia, my poor mother was buried. I was but two years old. I +remember her as she looked in death. That sweet, cold face has kept my +heart warm through all the changing years. + +***** + + There is no cunning art to trace + In any feature, form or face, + + Or wrinkled palm, with criss-cross lines + The good or bad in peoples' minds. + + Nor can we guess men's thoughts or aims + By seeing how they write their names. + + We could as well foretell their acts + By getting outlines of their tracks. + + Ourselves we do not know--how then + Can we find out our fellow-men? + + And yet--although the reason laughs-- + + We like to look at autographs-- + + And almost think that we can guess + What lines and dots of ink express. + + + * From the autograph collection of Miss Eva Ingersoll + Farrell. + + August 11, 1892. R. G. Ingersoll. + +***** + +The World is Growing Poor.--Darwin the naturalist, the observer, +the philosopher, is dead. Wagner the greatest composer the world has +produced, is silent. Hugo the poet, patriot and philanthropist, is at +rest. Three mighty rivers have ceased to flow. The smallest insect was +made interesting by Darwin's glance; the poor blind worm became the +farmer's friend--the maker of the farm,--and even weeds began to dream +and hope. + +***** + +But if we live beyond life's day and reach the dusk, and slowly travel +in the shadows of the night, the way seems long, and being weary we ask +for rest, and then, as in our youth, we chide the loitering hours. When +eyes are dim and memory fails to keep a record of events; when ears are +dull and muscles fail to obey the will; when the pulse is low and the +tired heart is weak, and the poor brain has hardly power to think, +then comes the dream, the hope of rest, the longing for the peace of +dreamless sleep. + +***** + +SAINTS.--The saints have poisoned life with piety. They have soured the +mother's milk. They have insisted that joy is crime--that beauty is a +bait with which the Devil captures the souls of men--that laughter leads +to sin--that pleasure, in its every form, degrades, and that love itself +is but the loathsome serpent of unclean desire. They have tried to +compel men to love shadows rather than women--phantoms rather than +people. + +The saints have been the assassins of sunshine,--the skeletons at +feasts. They have been the enemies of happiness. They have hated the +singing birds, the blossoming plants. They have loved the barren and +the desolate--the croaking raven and the hooting owl--tombstones, rather +than statues. + +And yet, with a strange inconsistency, happiness was to be enjoyed +forever, in another world. There, pleasure, with all its corrupting +influences, was to be eternal. No one pretended that heaven was to be +filled with self-denial, with fastings and scourgings, with weepings and +regrets, with solemn and emaciated angels, with sad-eyed seraphim, with +lonely parsons, with mumbling monks, with shriveled nuns, with days of +penance and with nights of prayer. + +Yet all this self-denial on the part of the saints was founded in the +purest selfishness. They were to be paid for all their sufferings in +another world. They were "laying up treasures in heaven." They had made +a bargain with God. He had offered eternal joy to those who would make +themselves miserable here. The saints gladly and cheerfully accepted the +terms. They expected pay for every pang of hunger, for every groan, +for every tear, for every temptation resisted; and this pay was to bean +eternity of joy. The selfishness of the saints was equaled only by the +stupidity of the saints. + +It is not true that character is the aim of life. Happiness should be +the aim--and as a matter of fact is and always has been the aim, +not only of sinners, but of saints. The saints seemed to think that +happiness was better in another world than here, and they expected this +happiness beyond the clouds. They looked upon the sinner as foolish to +enjoy himself for the moment here, and in consequence thereof to suffer +forever. Character is not an end, it is a means to an end. The object of +the saint is happiness hereafter--the means, to make himself miserable +here. The object of the philosopher is happiness here and now, and +hereafter,--if there be another world. + +If struggle and temptation, misery and misfortune, are essential to +the formation of what you call character, how do you account for the +perfection of your angels, or for the goodness of your God? Were the +angels perfected through misfortune? If happiness is the only good in +heaven, why should it not be considered the only good here? + +In order to be happy, we must be in harmony with the conditions of +happiness. It cannot be obtained by prayer,--it does not come from +heaven--it must be found here, and nothing should be done, or left +undone, for the sake of any supernatural being, but for the sake of +ourselves and other natural beings. + +The early Christians were preparing for the end of the world. In their +view, life was of no importance except as it gave them time to prepare +for "The Second Coming." They were crazed by fear. Since that time, the +world not coming to the expected end, they have been preparing for "The +Day of Judgment," and have, to the extent of their ability, filled the +world with horror. For centuries, it was, and still is, their business +to destroy the pleasures of this life. In the midst of prosperity they +have prophesied disaster. At every feast they have spoken of famine, and +over the cradle they have talked of death. They have held skulls before +the faces of terrified babes. On the cheeks of health they see the worms +of the grave, and in their eyes the white breasts of love are naught but +corruption and decay. + +***** + +THE WASTE FORCES OF NATURE.--For countless years the great cataracts, as +for instance, Niagara, have been singing their solemn songs, filling the +savage with terror, the civilized with awe; recording its achievements +in books of stone--useless and sublime; inspiring beholders with the +majesty of purposeless force and the wastefulness of nature. + +Force great enough to turn the wheels of the world, lost, useless. + +So with the great tides that rise and fall on all the shores of the +world--lost forces. And yet man is compelled to use to exhaustion's +point the little strength he has. + +This will be changed. + +The great cataracts and the great tides will submit to the genius of +man. They are to be for use. Niagara will not be allowed to remain a +barren roar. It must become the servant of man. It will weave robes +for men and women. It will fashion implements for the farmer and the +mechanic. It will propel coaches for rich and poor. It will fill streets +and homes with light, and the old barren roar will be changed to songs +of success, to the voices of love and content and joy. + +Science at last has found that all forces are convertible into each +other, and that all are only different aspects of one fact. + +So the flood is still a terror, but, in my judgment, the time will +come when the floods will be controlled by the genius of man, when the +tributaries of the great rivers and their tributaries will be dammed +in such a way as to collect the waters of every flood and give them +out gradually through all the year, maintaining an equal current at all +times in the great rivers. + +We have at last found that force occupies a circle, that Niagara is a +child of the Sun--that the sun shines, the mist rises, clouds form, the +rain falls, the rivers flow to the lakes, and Niagara fills the heavens +with its song. Man will arrest the falling flood; he will change its +force to electricity; that is to say, to light, and then force will have +made the circuit from light to light. + +***** + +ARE Men's characters fully determined at the age of thirty? + +It depends, first, on what their opportunities have been--that is to +say, on their surroundings, their education, their advantages; second, +on the shape, quality and quantity of brain they happen to possess; +third, on their mental and moral courage; and, fourth, on the character +of the people among whom they live. + +The natural man continues to grow. The longer he lives, the more he +ought to know, and the more he knows, the more he changes the views and +opinions held by him in his youth. Every new fact results in a change of +views more or less radical. This growth of the mind may be hindered +by the "tyrannous north wind" of public opinion; by the bigotry of +his associates; by the fear that he cannot make a living if he becomes +unpopular; and it is to some extent affected by the ambition of the +person; that is to say, if he wishes to hold office the tendency is to +agree with his neighbor, or at least to round off and smooth the corners +and angles of difference. If a man wishes to ascertain the truth, +regardless of the opinions of his fellow-citizens, the probability is +that he will change from day to day and from year to year--that is, his +intellectual horizon will widen--and that what he once deemed of great +importance will be regarded as an exceedingly small segment of a greater +circle. + +Growth means change. If a man grows after thirty years he must +necessarily change. Many men probably reach their intellectual height +long before they have lived thirty years, and spend the balance of their +lives in defending the mistakes of their youth. A great man continues to +grow until his death, and growth--as I said before--means change. Darwin +was continually finding new facts, and kept his mind as open to a new +truth as the East is to the rising of another sun. Humboldt at the age +of ninety maintained the attitude of a pupil, and was, until the moment +of his death, willing to learn. + +The more a man knows, the more willing he is to learn. The less a man +knows, the more positive, a? is that he knows everything. + +The smallest minds mature the earliest. The less there is to a man the +quicker he attains his growth. I have known many people who reached +their intellectual height while in their mother's arms. I have known +people who were exceedingly smart babies to become excessively stupid +people. It is with men as with other things. The mullein needs only a +year, but the oak a century, and the greatest men are those who have +continued to grow as long as they have lived. Small people delight in +what they call consistency--that is, it gives them immense pleasure to +say that they believe now exactly as they did ten years ago. This simply +amounts to a certificate that they have not grown--that they have not +developed--and that they know just as little now as they ever did. +The highest possible conception of consistency is to be true to the +knowledge of to-day, without the slightest reference to what your +opinion was years ago. + +There is another view of this subject. Few men have settled opinions +before or at thirty. Of course, I do not include persons of genius. At +thirty the passions have, as a rule, too much influence; the intellect +is not the pilot. At thirty most men have prejudices rather than +opinions--that is to say, rather than judgments--and few men have lived +to be sixty without materially modifying the opinions they held at +thirty. + +As I said in the first place, much depends on the shape, quality and +quantity of brain; much depends on mental and moral courage. There are +many people with great physical courage who are afraid to express their +opinions; men who will meet death without a tremor and will yet hesitate +to express their views. + +So, much depends on the character of the people among whom we live. A +man in the old times living in New England thought several times before +he expressed any opinion contrary to the views of the majority. But +if the people have intellectual hospitality, then men express their +views--and it may be that we change somewhat in proportion to the +decency of our neighbors. In the old times it was thought that God was +opposed to any change of opinion, and that nothing so excited the auger +of the deity as the expression of a new thought. That idea is fading +away. + +The real truth is that men change their opinions as long as they grow, +and only those remain of the same opinion still who have reached the +intellectual autumn of their lives; who have gone to seed, and who are +simply waiting for the winter of death. Now and then there is a brain +in which there is the climate of perpetual spring--men who never grow +old--and when such a one is found we say, "Here is a genius." + +Talent has the four seasons: spring, that is to say, the sowing of the +seeds; summer, growth; autumn, the harvest; winter, intellectual death. +But there is now and then a genius who has no winter, and, no matter +how many years he may live, on the blossom of his thought no snow falls. +Genius has the climate of perpetual growth. + +***** + +THE MOIETY SYSTEM.--The Secretary of the Treasury recommends a revival +of the moiety system. Against this infamous step every honest citizen +ought to protest. + +In this country, taxes cannot be collected through such +instrumentalities. An _informer_ is not indigenous to our soil. He +always has been and always will be held in merited contempt. + +Every inducement, by this system, is held out to the informer to become +a liar. The spy becomes an officer of the Government. He soon becomes +the terror of his superior. He is a sword without a hilt and without a +scabbard. Every taxpayer becomes the lawful prey of a detective whose +property depends upon the destruction of his prey. + +These informers and spies are corrupters of public morals. They resort +to all known dishonest means for the accomplishment of what they pretend +to be an honest object. With them perjury becomes a fine art. Their +words are a commodity bought and sold in courts of justice. + +This is the first phase. In a little while juries will refuse to believe +them, and every suit in which they are introduced will be lost by the +Government. Of this the real thieves will be quick to take advantage. So +many honest men will have been falsely charged by perjured informers and +moiety miscreants, that to convict the guilty will become impossible. +If the Government wishes to collect the taxes it must set an honorable +example. It must deal kindly and honestly with the people. It must +not inaugurate a vampire system of espionage. It must not take it for +granted that every manufacturer and importer is a thief, and that all +spies and informers are honest men. + +The revenues of this country are as honestly paid as they are expended. +There has been as much fair dealing outside as inside of the Treasury +Department. + +But, however that may be, the informer system will not make them honest +men, but will in all probability produce exactly the opposite result. +If our system of taxation is so unpopular that the revenues cannot be +collected without bribing men to tell the truth; if our officers must +be offered rewards beyond their salaries to state the facts; if it is +impossible to employ men to discharge their duties honestly, then let +us change the system. The moiety system makes the Treasury Department +a vast vampire sucking the blood of the people upon shares. Americans +detest informers, spies, detectives, turners of State's evidence, +eavesdroppers, paid listeners, hypocrites, public smellers, trackers, +human hounds and ferrets. They despise men who "suspect" for a living; +they hate legal lyers-in-wait and the highwaymen of the law. They abhor +the betrayers of friends and those who lead and tempt others to commit +a crime in order that they may detect it. In a monarchy, the detective +system is a necessity. The great thief has to be sustained by smaller +ones.--December 4,1877. + +***** + +LANGUAGE.--Most people imagine that men have always talked; that +language is as old as the race; and it is supposed that some language +was taught by some mythological god to the first pair. But we now know, +if we know anything, that language is a growth; that every word had to +be created by man, and that back of every word is some want, some wish, +some necessity of the body or mind, and also a genius to embody that +want or that wish, to express that thought in some sound that we call a +word. + +At first, the probability is that men uttered sounds of fear, of +content, of anger, or happiness. And the probability is that the first +sounds or cries expressed such feelings, and these sounds were nouns, +adjectives, and verbs. + +After a time, man began to give his ideas to others by rude pictures, +drawings of animals and trees and the various other things with which he +could give rude thoughts. At first he would make a picture of the whole +animal. Afterward some part of the animal would stand for the whole, and +in some of the old picture-writings the curve of the nostril of a horse +stands for the animal. This was the shorthand of picture-writing. But it +was a long journey to where marks would stand, not for pictures, but for +sounds. And then think of the distance still to the alphabet. Then to +writing, so that marks took entirely the place of pictures. Then the +invention of movable type, and then the press, making it possible to +save the wealth of the brain; making it possible for a man to leave not +simply his property to his fellow-man, not houses and lands and dollars, +but his ideas, his thoughts, his theories, his dreams, the poetry and +pathos of his soul. Now each generation is heir to all the past. + +If we had free thought, then we could collect the wealth of the +intellectual world. In the physical world, springs make the creeks and +brooks, and they the rivers, and the rivers empty into the great sea. So +each brain should add to the sum of human knowledge. If we deny freedom +of thought, the springs cease to gurgle, the rivers to run, and the +great ocean of knowledge becomes a desert of barren, ignorant sand. + +***** + +THIS IS AN AGE OF MONEY-GETTING, of materialism, of cold, unfeeling +science. The question arises, Is the world growing less generous, less +heroic, less chivalric? + +Let us answer this. The experience of the individual is much like the +experience of a generation, or of a race. An old man imagines that +everything was better when he was young; that the weather could then be +depended on; that sudden changes are recent inventions. So he will tell +you that people used to be honest; that the grocers gave full weight and +the merchants full measure, and that the bank cashier did not spend the +evening of his days in Canada. + +He will also tell you that the women were handsome and virtuous. There +were no scandals then, no divorces, and that in religion all were +orthodox--no Infidels. Before he gets through, he will probably tell you +that the art of cooking has been lost--that nobody can make biscuit now, +and that he never expects to eat another slice of good bread. + +He mistakes the twilight of his own life for the coming of the night +of universal decay and death. He imagines that that has happened to the +world, which has only happened to him. It does not occur to him that +millions at the moment he is talking are undergoing the experience of +his youth, and that when they become old they will praise the very days +that he denounces. + +The Garden of Eden has always been behind us. The Golden Age, after all, +is the memory of youth--it is the result of remembered pleasure in the +midst of present pain. + +To old age youth is divine, and the morning of life cloudless. + +So now thousands and millions of people suppose that the age of true +chivalry has gone by and that honesty has about concluded to leave the +world. As a matter of fact, the age known as the age of chivalry was the +age of tyranny, of arrogance and cowardice. Men clad in complete armor +cut down the peasants that were covered with leather, and these soldiers +of the chivalric age armored themselves to that degree that if they fell +in battle they could not rise, held to the earth by the weight of +iron that their bravery had got itself entrenched within. Compare the +difference in courage between going to war in coats of mail against +sword and spear, and charging a battery of Krupp guns! + +The ideas of justice have grown larger and nobler. Charity now does, +without a thought, what the average man a few centuries ago was +incapable of imagining. In the old times slavery was upheld, and +imprisonment for debt. Hundreds of crimes--or rather misdemeanors--were +punishable by death. Prisons were loathsome beyond description. +Thousands and thousands died in chains. The insane were treated like +wild beasts; no respect was paid to sex or age. Women were burned and +beheaded and torn asunder as though they had been hyenas, and children +were butchered with the greatest possible cheerfulness. + +So it seems to me that the world is more chivalric, more generous, +nearer just and fair, more charitable, than ever before. + +***** + +THE COLORED MAN is doing well. He is hungry for knowledge. Their +children are going to school. Colored boys are taking prizes in the +colleges. A colored man was the orator of Harvard. They are industrious, +and in the South many are becoming rich. As the people, black and white, +become educated they become better friends. The old prejudice is the +child of ignorance. The colored man will succeed if the South succeeds. +The South is richer to-day than ever before, more prosperous, and both +races are really improving. The greatest danger in the South, and for +that matter all over the country, is the mob. It is the duty of every +good citizen to denounce the mob. Down with the mob. + +***** + +FREEDOM OF RELIGION is the destruction of religion. In Rome, after +people were allowed to worship their own gods, all gods fell into +disrepute. It will be so in America. Here is freedom of religion, and +all devotees find that the gods of other devotees are just as good as +theirs. They find that the prayers of others are answered precisely as +their prayers are answered. + +The Protestant God is no better than the Catholic, and the Catholic is +no better than the Mormon, and the Mormon is no better than Nature for +answering prayers. In other words, all prayers die in the air which they +uselessly agitate. There is undoubtedly a tendency among the Protestant +denominations to unite. This tendency is born of weakness, not of +strength. In a few years, if all should unite, they would hardly have +power enough to obstruct, for any considerable time, the march of the +intellectual host destined to conquer the world. But let us all be +good natured; let us give to others all the rights that we claim for +ourselves. The future, I believe, has both hands full of blessings for +the human race. + +***** + +THE DEISTS AND NATURE.--We who deny the supernatural origin of the +Bible, must admit not only that it exists, but that it was naturally +produced. If it is not supernatural, it is natural. It will hardly +do for the worshipers of Nature to hold the Bible in contempt, simply +because it is not a supernatural book. + +The Deists of the last century made a mistake. They proceeded to show +that the Bible is immoral, untrue, cruel and absurd, and therefore came +to the conclusion that it could not have been written by a being of +infinite wisdom and goodness,--the being whom they believed to be the +author of Nature. Could not infinite wisdom and goodness just as easily +command crime as to permit it? Is it really any worse to order the +strong to slay the weak, than to stand by and refuse to protect the +weak? + +After all, is Nature, taken together, any better than the Bible? If God +did not command the Jews to murder the Canaanites, Nature, to say +the least, did not prevent it. If God did not uphold the practice of +polygamy, Nature did. The moment we deny the supernatural origin of the +Bible, we declare that Nature wrote its every word, commanded all its +cruelties, told all its falsehoods. The Bible is, like Nature, a mixture +of what we call "good" and "bad,"--of what appears, and of what in +reality is. + +The Bible must have been a perfectly natural production not only, but +a necessary one. There was, and is, no power in the universe that could +have changed one word. All the mistakes in translation were necessarily +made, and not one, by any possibility, could have been avoided. That +book, like all other facts in Nature, could not have been otherwise than +it is. The fact being that Nature has produced all superstitions, all +persecution, all slavery, and every crime, ought to be sufficient to +deter the average man from imagining that this power, whatever it may +be, is worthy of worship. + +There is good in Nature. It is the nature in us that perceives the evil, +that pursues the right. In man, Nature not only contemplates herself, +but approves or condemns her actions. Of course, "good" and "bad" are +relative terms, and things are "good" or "bad" as they affect man well +or ill. + +Infidels, skeptics,--that is to say, Freethinkers, have opposed the +Bible on account of the bad things in it, and Christians have upheld it, +not on account of the bad, but on account of the good. Throw away the +doctrine of inspiration, and the Bible will be more powerful for good +and far less for evil. Only a few years ago, Christians looked upon the +Bible as the bulwark of human slavery. It was the word of God, and for +that reason was superior to the reason of uninspired man. Had it been +considered simply as the work of man, it would not have been quoted to +establish that which the man of this age condemns. Throw away the idea +of inspiration, and all passages in conflict with liberty, with science, +with the experience of the intelligent part of the human race, instantly +become harmless. They are no longer guides for man. They are simply +the opinions of dead barbarians. The good passages not only remain, but +their influence is increased, because they are relieved of a burden. + +No one cares whether the truth is inspired or not. The truth is +independent of man, not only, but of God. And by truth I do not mean +the absolute, I mean this: Truth is the relation between things and +thoughts, and between thoughts and thoughts. The perception of this +relation bears the same relation to the logical faculty in man, that +music does to some portion of the brain--that is to say, it is a +mental melody. This sublime strain has been heard by a few, and I am +enthusiastic enough to believe that it will be the music of the future. + +For the good and for the true in the Old and New Testaments I have the +same regard that I have for the good and true, no matter where they may +be found. We who know how false the history of to-day is; we who know +the almost numberless mistakes that men make who are endeavoring to tell +the truth; we who know how hard it is, with all the facilities we now +have--with the daily press, the telegraph, the fact that nearly all can +read and write--to get a truthful report of the simplest occurrence, +must see that nothing short of inspiration (admitting for the moment the +possibility of such a thing,) could have prevented the Scriptures from +being filled with error. + +***** + +AT LAST, THE SCHOOLHOUSE is larger than the church. The common people +have, through education, become uncommon. They now know how little is +really known by kings, presidents, legislators, and professors. At last, +they are capable of not only understanding a few questions, but they +have acquired the art of discussing those that no one understands. With +the facility of the cultured, they can now hide behind phrases and make +barricades of statistics. They understand the sophistries of the upper +classes; and while the cultured have been turning their attention to +the classics, to the dead languages, and the dead ideas that they +contain,--while they have been giving their attention to ceramics, +artistic decorations, and compulsory prayers, the common people have +been compelled to learn the practical things. They are acquainted with +facts, because they have done the work of the world. + +***** + +CRUELTY.--Sometimes it has seemed to me that cruelty is the climate of +crime, and that generosity is the Spring, Summer and Autumn of virtue. +Every form of wickedness, of meanness, springs from selfishness, that is +to say, from cruelty. Every good man hates and despises the wretch who +abuses wife and child--who rules by curses and blows and makes his home +a kind of hell. So, no generous man wishes to associate with one who +overworks his horse and feeds the lean and fainting beast with blows. + +The barbarian delights in inflicting pain. He loves to see his victim +bleed,--but the civilized man staunches blood, binds up wounds and +decreases pain. He pities the suffering animal as well as the suffering +man. + +He would no more inflict wanton wounds upon a dog than on a man. The +heart of the civilized man speaks for the dumb and helpless. + +A good man would no more think of flaying a living animal than of +murdering his mother. The man who cuts a hoof from the leg of a horse is +capable of committing any crime that does not require courage. Such an +experiment can be of no use. Under no circumstances are hoofs taken from +horses for the good of the horses any more than their heads would be cut +off. + +Think of the pain inflicted by separating the hoof of a living horse +from the flesh! If the poor beast could speak what would he say? The +same knowledge could be obtained by cutting away the hoof of a dead +horse. Knowledge of every bone, ligament, artery and vein, of every +cartilage and joint can be obtained by the dissection of the dead. +"But," says the biologist, "we must dissect the living." + +Well, millions of living animals have been cut in pieces; millions of +experiments have been tried; all the nerves have been touched; every +possible agony has been inflicted that ingenuity could invent and +cruelty accomplish. Many volumes have been published filled with +accounts of these experiments, giving all the details and the results. +People who are curious about such things can read these reports. There +is no need of repeating these savage experiments. It is now known how +long a dog can live with all the pores of his skin closed, how long he +can survive the loss of his skin, or one lobe of his brain, or both of +his kidneys, or part of his intestines, or without his liver, and there +is no necessity of mutilating and mangling thousands of other dogs to +substantiate what is already known. + +Of what possible use is it to know just how long an animal can live +without water--at what time he becomes insane from thirst, or blind or +deaf? + +***** + +THE WORLD'S FAIR will do great good. A great many thousand people of the +Old World will for the first time understand the new; will for the first +time appreciate what a free people can do. For the first time they will +know the value of free institutions, of individual independence, of +a country where people express their thoughts, are not afraid of +each other, not afraid to try--a people so accustomed to success +that disaster is not taken into calculation. Of course, we have great +advantages. We have a new half of the world. We have soil better than is +found in other countries, and the soil is new and generous and anxious +to be cultivated. So we have everything in hill and mountain that +man can need--silver, and gold, and iron beyond computation--and, in +addition to all that, our people are the most inventive. We sustain +about the same relation to invention that Italy in her palmy days did to +art, or that Spain did to superstition. + +And right here it may be well enough to say that I think it was +exceedingly unfortunate that this country was discovered under the +auspices of Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella were a couple of wretches. The +same year that Columbus discovered America, these sovereigns expelled +the Jews from Spain, and the expulsion was accompanied by every outrage, +by every atrocity to which man--that is to say, savage man--that is to +say, the superstitious savage--is capable of inflicting. + +The Spaniards came to America and destroyed two civilizations far better +than their own. They were natural robbers, buccaneers, and thought +nothing of murdering thousands for gold. I am perfectly willing to +celebrate the fact of discovery, but for the sovereigns of Spain I am +not willing to celebrate, except, perhaps their deaths. There is at +least some joy to be extracted from that. + +In spite of the untoward circumstances under which the continent was +discovered and settled, there is one thing that counteracted to a +certain degree the influence of the Old World in the New. Possibly we +owe our liberty to the Indians. If there had been no hostile savages on +this continent, the kings and princes of the Old World would have taken +possession and would have divided it out among their favorites. They +tried to do that, but their favorites could not take possession. They +had to fight for the soil and in the conflict of centuries they found +that a good fighter was a good citizen, and the ideas of caste were +slowly lost. + +Then another thing was of benefit to us. The settlers felt that they +had earned the soil; that they had fought for it, gained it by their +sufferings, their courage, their selfdenial, and their labor; and the +idea crept into their heads that the kings in Europe, who had done +nothing, had no right to dictate to them. + +Thus at first the spirit of caste was destroyed by respectability +resting on usefulness. The spirit of subserviency to the Old World also +died, and the people who had rescued the land made up their minds not +only to own it, but to control it. They were also firmly convinced that +the profits belonged to them. In this way manhood was recognized in the +New World. In this way grew up the feeling of nationality here. + +What I wish to see celebrated in this great exposition are the triumphs +that have been achieved in this New World. These I wish to see above +all. At the same time I want the best that labor and thought have +produced in all countries. It seems to me that in the presence of the +wonderful machines, of those marvelous mechanical contrivances by which +we take advantage of the forces of nature, by which we make servants of +the elemental powers--in the presence, I say, of these, it seems to me +respect for labor must be born. We shall begin to appreciate the men of +use instead of those who have posed as decorations. All the beautiful +things, all the useful things, come from labor, and it is labor that has +made the world a fit habitation for the human race. + +Take from the World's Fair what labor has produced--the work of the +great artists--and nothing will be left. What have the great conquerors +to show in this great exhibition? What shall we get from the Caesars and +the Napoleons? What shall we get from popes and cardinals? What shall +we get from the nobility? From princes and lords and dukes? What excuse +have they for having existence and for having lived on the bread earned +by honest men? They stand in the show-windows of history, lay figures, +on which fine goods are shown, but inside the raiment there is nothing, +and never was. This exposition will be the apotheosis of labor. No man +can attend it without losing, if he has any sense at all, the spirit +of caste; or, if he still maintains it, he will put the useful in the +highest class, and the useless, whether carrying sceptres or dishes for +alms, in the lowest.--October, 1892. + +***** + +THE SAVAGE made of the river, the tree, the mountain, a fetich. He put +within, or behind these things, a spirit--according to Mr. Spencer, the +spirit of a dead ancestor. This is considered by the modern Christian, +and in fact by the modern philosopher, as the lowest possible phase of +the religious idea. To put behind the river or the tree, or within them, +a spirit, a something, is considered the religion of savagery; but +to put behind the universe, or within it, the same kind of fetich, is +considered the height of philosophy. + +For my part, I see no possible distinction in these systems, except that +the view of the savage is altogether the more poetic. The _fetich_ of +the savage is the _noumenon_ of the Greek, the _God_ of the theologian, +the _First Cause_ of the metaphysician, the _Unknowable_ of Spencer. + +***** + +THE UNTHINKABLE.--It is admitted by all who have thought upon the +question that a First Cause is unthinkable--that a creative power +is beyond the reach of human thought. It therefore follows that the +miraculous is unthinkable. There is no possible way in which the human +mind can even think of a miracle. It is infinitely beyond our power of +conception. We can conceive of the statement, but not of the thing. It +is impossible for the intellect to conceive of a clay pot producing oil. +It is impossible to conceive even, of human life being perpetuated in +the midst of fire. This is just as unthinkable as that twice two are +twenty-seven. A man can say that three times three are two, but it +is impossible to think of any such thing--that is, to think of such a +statement as true. A man may say that he heard a stone sing a song and +heard it afterward repeat a part of Milton's "Paradise Lost." Now, I can +conceive of a man telling such a falsehood, but I cannot conceive of the +thing having happened. + +***** + +CAN HUMAN TESTIMONY Overcome the Apparently Impossible Without +Explanation?--It can only be believed by a philosophic mind when +explained--that is to say, by being destroyed as a miracle, and +persisting simply as a fact. + +Now, I say that a miracle is unthinkable because a power above Nature, +a power that created Nature, is unthinkable. And if a power above +Nature be unthinkable, the miracles claiming to be supernatural are +unthinkable. In other words, all consequences flowing from a belief in +an infinite Creator are necessarily unthinkable. + +***** + +EDOUARD REMENYI.--This week the great violinist, Edouard Remenyi, as my +guest, visited the Bass Rocks House, Cape Ann, Mass., and for three days +delighted and entranced the fortunate idlers of the beach. He played +nearly all the time, night and day, seemingly carried away with his own +music. Among the many selections given, were the andante from the Tenth +Sonata in E flat, also from the Twelfth Sonata in G minor, by Mozart. +Nothing could exceed the wonderful playing of the selections from the +Twelfth Sonata. A hush as of death fell upon the audience, and when he +ceased, tears fell upon applauding hands. Then followed the Elegie from +Ernst; then "The Ideal Dance" composed by himself--a fairy piece, full +of wings and glancing feet, moonlight and melody, where fountains fall +in showers of pearl, and waves of music die on sands of gold--then came +the "Barcarole" by Schubert, and he played this with infinite spirit, +in a kind of inspired frenzy, as though music itself were mad with joy; +then the grand Sonata in G, in three movements, by Beethoven.--August, +1880. + +Remenyi's Playing.--In my mind the old tones are still rising and +falling--still throbbing, pleading, beseeching, imploring, wailing like +the lost--rising winged and triumphant, superb and victorious--then +caressing, whispering every thought of love--intoxicated, delirious with +joy--panting with passion--fading to silence as softly and imperceptibly +as consciousness is lost in sleep. + +***** + +THE KINDERGARTEN is perfectly adapted to the natural needs and desires +of children. Most children dislike the old system and go "unwillingly +to school." They feel imprisoned and wait impatiently for their liberty. +They learn without understanding and take no interest in their lessons. +In the Kindergarten there is perfect liberty, and study is transformed +into play. To learn is a pleasure. There are no wearisome tasks--no +mental drudgery--nothing but enjoyment,--the enjoyment of natural +development in natural ways. Children do not have to be driven to the +Kindergarten. To be kept away is a punishment. + +The experience in many towns and cities justifies our belief that the +Kindergarten is the only valuable school for little children. They are +brought in contact with actual things--with forms and colors--things +that can be seen and touched, and they are taught to use their hands and +senses--to understand qualities and relations, and all is done under +the guise of play. We agree with Froebel who said: "Let us live for our +children." + +***** + +THE METHODIST CHURCH STATISTICS.--First. In 1800, a resolution in favor +of gradual emancipation was defeated. + +Second. In 1804, resolutions passed requiring ministers to exhort slaves +to be obedient to their masters. + +Third. In 1808, everything about laymen owning slaves Stricken out. + +Fourth. In 1820, a resolution that ministers should not hold slaves was +defeated. + +Fifth. In 1836, a resolution passed that the Methodist Church opposed, +abolition of slavery--one hundred and twenty to fourteen. + +Sixth. In 1845-1846, the Methodist Church divided--Bishop Andrews owned +slaves. + +Seventh. As late as 1860 there were over ten thousand Methodists who +were slaveholders in the M. E. Church, North. + +***** + +117 East 21st Str., N. Y. + + * Response to an invitation to a dinner and a billiard + tournament at the Manhattan Athletic Club, New York City. + +Feby. 18, 1899. + +My Dear Dr. Ranney: + +I go to Boston to-morrow. So, you see it is impossible for me to be with +you on the 22d inst. I would like to make a few remarks on "orthodox +billiards." The fact is that the whole world is a table, we are the +balls and Fate plays the game. We are knocked and whacked against each +other,--followed and drawn--whirled and twisted, pocketed and spotted, +and all the time we think that we are doing the playing. But no matter, +we feel that we are in the game, and a real good illusion is, after all, +it may be, the only reality that we know. At the same time, I feel +that Fate is a careless player--that he is always a little nervous and +generally forgets to chalk his cue. I know that he has made lots of +mistakes with me--lots of misses. + +With many thanks, I remain, yours always. + +R. G. Ingersoll. + +***** + +THOUGHTS ON CHRISTMAS, 1891.--It is beautiful to give one day to the +ideal--to have one day apart; one day for generous deeds, for good will, +for gladness; one day to forget the shadows, the rains, the storms of +life; to remember the sunshine, the happiness of youth and health; one +day to forget the briers and thorns of the winding path, to remember the +fruits and flowers; one day in which to feed the hungry, to salute +the poor and lowly; one day to feel the brotherhood of man; one day +to remember the heroic and loving deeds of the dead; one day to get +acquainted with children, to remember the old, the unfortunate and the +imprisoned; one day in which to forget yourself and think lovingly of +others; one day for the family, for the fireside, for wife and children, +for the love and laughter, the joy and rapture, of home; one day in +which bonds and stocks and deeds and notes and interest and mortgages +and all kinds of business and trade are forgotten, and all stores and +shops and factories and offices and banks and ledgers and accounts and +lawsuits are cast aside, put away and locked up, and the weary heart and +brain are given a voyage to fairyland. + +Let us hope that such a day is a prophecy of what all days will be. + +***** + +THE ORTHODOX PREACHERS are several centuries in the rear. They all love +the absurd, and glory in believing the impossible. They are also as +conservative as though they were dead--good people--the leaders of those +who are going backward. + +***** + + The Man who builds a home erects a temple. + The flame upon the hearth is the sacred fire. + He who loves wife and children is the true worshiper. + Forms and ceremonies, kneelings and fastings are born of selfish fear. + A good deed is the best prayer. + A loving life is the best religion. + No one knows whether the Unknown is worthy of worship or not. + +***** + +WE TWO, THE DOUBTING BRAIN AND HOPING HEART, with somber thought and +radiant wish, in dusk and dawn, in light and shade 'neath star and +sun, together journeying toward the night. And then the end, sighs the +doubting brain--but there is no end, says the hoping heart. O Brain! if +you knew, you would not doubt. O Heart! if you knew, you would not hope. + +***** + +RIGHTS AND DUTIES spring from the same source. He who has no rights +has no duties. Without liberty there can be no responsibility and no +conscience. Man calls himself to an account for the use of his power, +and passes judgment upon himself. The standard of such judgment we call +conscience. In the proportion that man uses his liberty, his power, for +the good of all, he advances, becomes civilized. Civilization does not +consist merely in invention, discovery, material advancement, but +in doing justice. By civilization is meant all discoveries, facts, +theories, agencies, that add to the happiness of man. + +***** + +AT BAY.--Sometimes in the darkness of night I feel as though surrounded +by the great armies of effacement--that the horizon is growing +smaller every moment--that the final surrender is only postponed--that +everything is taking something from me--that Nature robs me with her +countless hands--that my heart grows weaker with every beat--that even +kisses wear me away, and that every thought takes toll of my brief life. + +***** + +THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY.*--One year of perfect health--of countless +smiles--of wonder and surprise--of growing thought and love--was duly +celebrated on this day, and all paid tribute to the infant queen. There +were whirling things that scattered music as they turned--and boxes +filled with tunes--and curious animals of whittled wood--and ivory rings +with tinkling bells--and little dishes for a fairy-feast--horses that +rocked, and bleating sheep and monstrous elephants of painted tin. A +baby-tender, for a tender babe, garments of silk and cushions wrought +with flowers, and pictures of her mother when a babe--and silver dishes +for another year--and coach and four and train of cars--and bric-a-brac +for a baby's house--and last of all, a pearl, to mark her first round +year of life and love. + + * Written on the first anniversary of his grandchild, Eva + Ingersoll-Brown, August 27, 1892. + +***** + +SHELLEY.--The light of morn beyond the purple hills--a palm that lifts +its coronet of leaves above the desert's sands--an isle of green in some +far sea--a spring that waits for lips of thirst--a strain of music heard +within some palace wrought of dreams--a cloud of gold above a setting +sun--a fragrance wafted from some unseen shore. + +***** + +FATE.--Never hurried, never delayed, passionless, pitiless, patient, +keeping the tryst--neither early nor late--there, on the very stroke and +center of the instant fixed. + +***** + +QUIET, and introspective calm come with the afternoon. Toward evening +the mind grows satisfied and still. The flare and flicker of youth are +gone, and the soul is like the flame of a lamp where the air is at rest. +Age discards the superfluous, the immaterial, the straw and chaff, and +hoards the golden grain. The highway is known, and the paths no longer +mislead. Clouds are not mistaken for mountains. + +***** + +THE OLD MAN has been long at the fair. He is acquainted with the +jugglers at the booths. His curiosity has been satisfied. He no longer +cares for the exceptional, the monstrous, the marvelous and deformed. He +looks through and beyond the gilding, the glitter and gloss, not only +of things, but of conduct, of manners, theories, religions and +philosophies. He sees clearer. The light no longer shines in his eyes. + +***** + +The time will come when even selfishness will be charitable for its own +sake, because at that time the man will have grown and developed to that +degree that selfishness demands generosity and kindness and justice. The +self becomes so noble that selfishness is a virtue. The lowest form of +selfishness is when one is willing to be happy, or wishes to be happy, +at the expense or the misery of another. The highest form of selfishness +is when a man becomes so noble that he finds his happiness in making +others so. This is the nobility of selfishness. + +***** + +CUBA fell upon her knees--stretched her thin hands toward the great +Republic. We saw her tear-filled eyes--her withered breasts--her dead +babes--her dying--her buried and unburied dead. We heard her voice, and +pity, roused to action by her grief, became as stern as justice, and +the great Republic cried to Spain: "Sheathe the dagger of assassination; +take your bloody hand from the throat of the helpless; and take your +flag from the heaven of the Western World." + +***** + +Perhaps I have reached the years of discretion. But it may be that +discretion is the enemy of happiness. If the buds had discretion there +might be no fruit. So it may be that the follies committed in the spring +give autumn the harvest.--August 11,1892. + +***** + +Dickens wrote for homes--Thackeray for clubs. Byron did not care for the +fireside--for the prattle of babes--for the smiles and tears of humble +life. He was touched by grandeur rather than goodness,--loved storm and +crag and the wild sea. But Burns lived in the valley, touched by the +joys and griefs of lowly lives. + +Imagine amethysts, rubies, diamonds, emeralds and opals mingled as +liquids--then imagine these marvelous glories of light and color changed +to a tone, and you have the wondrous, the incomparable voice of Scalchi. + +***** + +THE ORGAN.--The beginnings--the timidities--the half +thoughts--blushes--suggestions--a phrase of grace and feeling--a +sustained note--the wing on the wind--confidence--the flight--rising +with many harmonies that unite in the voluptuous swell--in the +passionate tremor--rising still higher--flooding the great dome with the +soul of enraptured sound. + +***** + +NEW MEXICO is a most wonderful country. It is a ragged miser with +billions of buried treasure. It looks as if Nature had guarded her +silver and gold with enough desolation to deter all but the brave. + +***** + +WHY SHOULD THE INDIAN SUMMER of a life be lost--the long, serene, and +tender days when earth and sky are friends? The falling leaves disclose +the ripened fruit--and so the flight of youth with dreams and fancies +should show the wealth of bending bough. + +***** + +Give milk to babes, and wine to youth. But for old age, when ghosts +of more than two-score years are wandering on the traveled road, the +fragrant tea, that loosens gossip's tongue, is best.--December 25,1892. + + [From a letter thanking a friend for a Christmas present of + a chest of tea.] + +***** + +ON MEMORIAL DAY our hearts blossom in gratitude as we lovingly remember +the brave men upon whose brows Death, with fleshless hands, placed the +laurel wreath of fame. + +***** + +THE SOUL IS AN ARCHITECt--it builds a habitation for itself--and as the +soul is, is the habitation. Some live in dens and caves, and some in +lowly homes made rich with love, and overrun with vine and flower. + +***** + +SCIENCE at last holds with honest hand the scales wherein are weighed +the facts and fictions of the world. She neither kneels nor prays, she +stands erect and thinks. Her tongue is not a traitor to her brain. Her +thought and speech agree. + +***** + +THE NEGRO who can pass me in the race of life will receive my +admiration, and he can count on my friendship. No man ever lived who +proved his superiority by trampling on the weak. + +***** + +RELIGION is like a palm tree--it grows at the top. The dead leaves are +all orthodox, while the new ones and the buds are all heretics. + +***** + +MEMORY is the miser of the mind; forgetfulness the spendthrift. + +***** + +HOPE is the only bee that makes honey without flowers. + +***** + +THE FIRES OF THE NEXT WORLD sustain the same relation to churches that +those in this world sustain to insurance companies. + +***** + +Now and then there arises a man who on peril's edge draws from the +scabbard of despair the sword of victory. + +***** + +The falling leaf that tells of autumn's death is, in a subtler sense, a +prophecy of spring. + +***** + +Vice lives either before Love is born, or after Love is dead. + +***** + +Intellectual freedom is only the right to be honest. + +***** + +I believe that finally man will go through the phase of religion before +birth. + +***** + +When shrill chanticleer pierces the dull ear of morn. + +***** + +Orthodoxy is the refuge of mediocrity. + +***** + +The ocean is the womb of all that will be, the tomb of all that has +been. + +***** + +Jealousy never knows the value of a fact. + +Envy cannot reason, malice cannot prophesy. + +***** + +Love has a kind of second sight. + +***** + +I have never given to any one a sketch of my life. According to my idea +a life should not be written until it has been lived.--July 1, 1888. + + + + +EFFECT OF THE WORLD'S FAIR ON THE HUMAN RACE. + + +THE Great Fair should be for the intellectual, mechanical, artistic, +political and social advancement of the world. Nations, like small +communities, are in danger of becoming provincial, and must become +so, unless they exchange commodities, theories, thoughts, and ideals. +Isolation is the soil of ignorance, and ignorance is the soil of +egotism; and nations, like individuals who live apart, mistake +provincialism for perfection, and hatred of all other nations for +patriotism. With most people, strangers are not only enemies, but +inferiors. They imagine that they are progressive because they know +little of others, and compare their present, not with the present of +other nations, but with their own past. + +Few people have imagination enough to sympathize with those of a +different complexion, with those professing another religion or speaking +another language, or even wearing garments unlike their own. Most people +regard every difference between themselves and others as an evidence of +the inferiority of the others. They have not intelligence enough to put +themselves in the place of another if that other happens to be outwardly +unlike themselves. + +Countless agencies have been at work for many years destroying the +hedges of thorn that have so long divided nations, and we at last are +beginning to see that other people do not differ from us, except in the +same particulars that we differ from them. At last, nations are becoming +acquainted with each other, and they now know that people everywhere are +substantially the same. We now know that while nations differ outwardly +in form and feature, somewhat in theory, philosophy and creed, +still, inwardly--that is to say, so far as hopes and passions are +concerned--they are much the same, having the same fears, experiencing +the same joys and sorrows. So we are beginning to find that the virtues +belong exclusively to no race, to no creed, and to no religion; that the +humanities dwell in the hearts of men, whomever and whatever they +may happen to worship. We have at last found that every creed is of +necessity a provincialism, destined to be lost in the universal. + +At last, Science extends an invitation to all nations, and places at +their disposal its ships and its cars; and when these people meet--or +rather, the representatives of these people--they will find that, in +spite of the accidents of birth, they are, after all, about the same; +that their sympathies, their ideas' of right and wrong, of virtue and +vice, of heroism and honor, are substantially alike. They will find that +in every land honesty is honored, truth respected and admired, and that +generosity and charity touch all hearts. + +So it is of the greatest importance that the inventions of the world +should be brought beneath one roof. These inventions, in my judgment, +are destined to be the liberators of mankind. They enslave forces and +compel the energies of nature to work for man. These forces have no +backs to feel the lash, no tears to shed, no hearts to break. + +The history of the world demonstrates that man becomes What we call +civilized by increasing his wants. As his necessities increase, he +becomes industrious and energetic. If his heart does not keep pace with +his brain, he is cruel, and the physically or mentally strong enslave +the physically or mentally weak. At present these inventions, while they +have greatly increased the countless articles needed by man, have to +a certain extent enslaved mankind. In a savage state there are few +failures. Almost any one succeeds in hunting and fishing. The wants are +few, and easily supplied. As man becomes civilized, wants increase; or +rather as wants increase, man becomes civilized. Then the struggle for +existence becomes complex; failures increase. + +The first result of the invention of machinery has been to increase the +wealth of the few. The hope of the world is that through invention man +can finally take such advantage of these forces of nature, of the weight +of water, of the force of wind, of steam, of electricity, that they will +do the work of the world; and it is the hope of the really civilized +that these inventions will finally cease to be the property of the few, +to the end that they may do the work of all for all. + +When those who do the work own the machines, when those who toil control +the invention, then, and not till then, can the world be civilized or +free. When these forces shall do the bidding of the individual, when +they become the property of the mechanic instead of the monopoly, when +they belong to labor instead of what is called capital, when these great +powers are as free to the individual laborer as the air and light +are now free to all, then, and not until then, the individual will be +restored and all forms of slavery will disappear. + +Another great benefit will come from the Fair. Other nations in some +directions are more artistic than we, but no other nation has made +the common as beautiful as we have. We have given beauty of form to +machines, to common utensils, to the things of every day, and have thus +laid the foundation for producing the artistic in its highest possible +forms. It will be of great benefit to us to look upon the paintings and +marbles of the Old World. To see them is an education. + +The great Republic has lived a greater poem than the brain and heart of +man have as yet produced, and we have supplied material for artists and +poets yet unborn; material for form and color and song. The Republic is +to-day Art's greatest market. + +Nothing else is so well calculated to make friends of all nations as +really to become acquainted with the best that each has produced. + +The nation that has produced a great poet, a great artist, a great +statesman, a great thinker, takes its place on an equality with other +nations of the world, and transfers to all of its citizens some of the +genius of its most illustrious men. + +This great Fair will be an object lesson to other nations. They will see +the result of a government, republican in form, where the people are the +source of authority, where governors and presidents are servants--not +rulers. We want all nations to see the great Republic as it is, to study +and understand its growth, development and destiny. We want them to know +that here, under our flag, are sixty-five millions of people and that +they are the best fed, the best clothed and the best housed in the +world. We want them to know that we are solving the great social +problems, and that we are going to demonstrate the right and power of +man to govern himself. We want the subjects of other nations to see +aland filled with citizens--not subjects; aland in which the pew is +above the pulpit; where the people are superior to the state; where +legislators are representatives and where authority means simply the +duty to enforce the people's will. + +Let us hope above all things that this Fair will bind the nations +together closer and stronger; and let us hope that this will result in +the settlement of all national difficulties by arbitration instead of +war. In a savage state, individuals settle their own difficulties by +an appeal to force. After a time these individuals agree that their +difficulties shall be settled by others. This is the first great step +toward civilization. The result is the establishment of courts. Nations +at present sustain to each other the same relation that savage does +to savage. Each nation is left to decide for itself, and it generally +decides according to its strength--not the strength of its side of the +case, but the strength of its army. The consequence is that what is +called "the Law of Nations" is a savage code. The world will never be +civilized until there is an international court. Savages begin to be +civilized when they submit their difficulties to their peers. Nations +will become civilized when they submit their difficulties to a great +court, the judgments of which can be carried out, all nations pledging +the co-operation of their armies and their navies for that purpose. + +If the holding of the great Fair shall result in hastening the coming of +that time it will be a blessing to the whole world. + +And here let me prophesy: The Fair will be worthy of Chicago, the +most wonderful city of the world--of Illinois, the best State in the +Union--of the United States, the best country on the earth. It will +eclipse all predecessors in every department. It will represent the +progressive spirit of the nineteenth century. Beneath its ample roofs +will be gathered the treasures of Art, and the accomplishments of +Science. At the feet of the Republic will be laid the triumphs of our +race, the best of every land.--The illustrated World's Fair, Chicago, +November, 1891. + + + + +SABBATH SUPERSTITION. + + +THE idea that one day in the week is better than the others and should +be set apart for religious purposes; that it should be considered holy; +that no useful work should be done on that day; that it should be given +over to pious idleness and sad ceremonies connected with the worship of +a supposed Being, seems to have been originated by the Jews. + +According to the Old Testament, the Sabbath was marvelously sacred for +two reasons; the first being, that Jehovah created the universe in six +days and rested on the seventh: and the second, because the Jews had +been delivered from the Egyptians. + +The first of these reasons we now know to be false; and the second has +nothing, so far as we are concerned, to do with the question. + +There is no reason for our keeping the seventh day because the Hebrews +were delivered from the Egyptians. + +The Sabbath was a Jewish institution, and, according to the Bible, only +the Jews were commanded to keep that day. Jehovah said nothing to the +Egyptians on that subject; nothing to the Philistines, nothing to the +Gentiles. + +The Jews kept that day with infinite strictness, and with them this +space of time known as the Sabbath became so holy that he who violated +it by working was put to death. Sabbath-breaking and murder were equal +crimes. On the Sabbath the pious Jew would not build a fire in his +house. He ate cold victuals and thanked God. The gates of the city were +closed. No business was done, and the traveler who arrived at the city +on that day remained outside until evening. If he happened to fall, he +remained where he fell until the sun had gone done. + +The early Christians did not hold the seventh day in such veneration. +As a matter of fact, they ceased to regard it as holy, and changed the +sacred day from the seventh to the first. This change was really made +by Constantine, because the first day of the week was the Sunday of the +Pagans; and this day had been given to pleasure and recreation and to +religious ceremonies for many centuries. + +After Constantine designated the first day to be kept and observed by +Christians, our Sunday became the sacred time. + +The early Christians, however, kept the day much as it had been kept by +the Pagans. They attended church in the morning, and in the afternoon +enjoyed themselves as best they could.. + +The Catholic Church fell in with the prevailing customs, and to +accommodate itself to Pagan ways and superstitions, it agreed, as far as +it could, with the ideas of the Pagan. + +Up to the time of the Reformation, Sunday had been divided between the +discharge of religious duties and recreation. + +Luther did not believe in the sacredness of the Sabbath. After church he +enjoyed himself by playing games, and wanted others to do the same. + +Even John Calvin, whose view had been blurred by the "Five Points," +allowed the people to enjoy themselves on Sunday afternoon. + +The reformers on the continent never had the Jewish idea of the +sacredness of the Sabbath. + +In Geneva, Germany and France, all kinds of innocent amusement were +allowed on that day; and I believe the same was true of Holland. + +But in Scotland the Jewish idea was adopted to the fullest extent. There +Sabbath-breaking was one of the blackest and one of the most terrible +crimes. Nothing was considered quite as sacred as the Sabbath. + +The Scotch went so far as to take the ground that it was wrong to save +people who were drowning on Sunday, the drowning being a punishment +inflicted by God. Upon the question of keeping the Sabbath most of the +Scottish people became insane. + +The same notions about the holy day were adopted by the Dissenters in +England, and it became the principal tenet in their creed. + +The Puritans and Pilgrims were substantially crazy about the sacredness +of Sunday. With them the first day of the week was set apart for +preaching, praying, attending church, reading the Bible and studying +the catechism. Walking, riding, playing on musical instruments, boating, +swimming and courting, were all crimes. + +No one had the right to be happy on that blessed day. It was a time of +gloom, sacred, solemn and religiously stupid. + +They did their best to strip their religion of every redeeming feature. +They hated art and music--everything calculated to produce joy. They +despised everything except the Bible, the church, God, Sunday and the +creed. + +The influence of these people has been felt in every part of our +country. The Sabbath superstition became almost universal. No laughter, +no smiles on that day; no games, no recreation, no riding, no walking +through the perfumed fields or by the winding streams or the shore of +the sea. No communion with the subtile beauties of nature; no wandering +in the woods with wife and children, no reading of poetry and fiction; +nothing but solemnity and gloom, listening to sermons, thinking about +sin, death, graves, coffins, shrouds, epitaphs and ceremonies and the +marvelous truths of sectarian religion, and the weaknesses of those +who were natural enough and sensible enough to enjoy themselves on the +Sabbath day. + +So universal became the Sabbath superstition that the Legislatures of +all the States, or nearly all, passed laws to prevent work and enjoyment +on that day, and declared all contracts void relating to business +entered into on Sunday. + +The Germans gave us the first valuable lesson on this subject. They +came to this country in great numbers; they did not keep the American +Sabbath. They listened to music and they drank beer on that holy day. +They took their wives and children with them and enjoyed themselves; +yet they were good, kind, industrious people. They paid their debts and +their credit was the best. + +Our people saw that men could be good and women virtuous without +"keeping" the Sabbath. + +This did us great good, and changed the opinions of hundreds of +thousands of Americans. + +But the churches insisted on the old way. Gradually our people began +to appreciate the fact that one-seventh of the time was being stolen by +superstition. They began to ask for the opening of libraries, for music +in the parks and to be allowed to visit museums and public places on the +Sabbath. + +In several States these demands were granted, and the privileges have +never been abused. The people were orderly, polite to officials and to +each other. + +In 1876, when the Centennial was held at Philadelphia, the Sabbatarians +had control. Philadelphia was a Sunday city, and so the gates of the +Centennial were closed on that day. + +This was in Philadelphia where the Sabbath superstition had been so +virulent that chains had been put across the streets to prevent stages +and carriages from passing at that holy time. + +At that time millions of Americans felt that a great wrong was done by +closing the Centennial to the laboring people; but the managers--most +of them being politicians--took care of themselves and kept the gates +closed. + +In 1876 the Sabbatarians triumphed, and when it was determined to hold a +world's fair at Chicago they made up their minds that no one should look +upon the world's wonders on the Sabbath day. + +To accomplish this pious and foolish purpose committees were appointed +all over the country; money was raised to make a campaign; persons were +employed to go about and arouse the enthusiasm of religious people; +petitions by the thousand were sent to Congress and to the officers +of the World's Fair, signed by thousands of people who never saw them; +resolutions were passed in favor of Sunday closing by conventions, +presbyteries, councils and associations. Lobbyists were employed to +influence members of Congress. Great bodies of Christians threatened to +boycott the fair and yet the World's Fair is open on Sunday. + +What is the meaning of this? Let me tell you. It means that in this +country the Scotch New England Sabbath has ceased to be; it means that +it is dead. The last great effort for its salvation has been put forth, +and has failed. It belonged to the creed of Jonathan Edwards and the +belief of the witch-burners, and in this age it is out of place. + +There was a time when the minister and priest were regarded as the +foundation of wisdom; when information came from the altar, from the +pulpit; and when the sheep were the property of the shepherd. + +That day in intelligent communities has passed. We no longer go to the +minister or the church for information. The orthodox minister is +losing his power, and the Sabbath is now regarded as a day of rest, of +recreation and of pleasure. + +The church must keep up with the people. The minister must take another +step. The multitude care but little about controversies in churches, but +they do care about the practical questions that directly affect their +daily lives. + +Must we waste one day in seven; must we make ourselves unhappy or +melancholy one-seventh of the time? + +These are important questions and for many years the church in our +country has answered them both in the affirmative, and a vast number of +people not Christians have also said "yes" because they wanted votes, or +because they feared to incite the hatred of the church. + +Now in this year of 1893 a World's Fair answered this question in the +negative, and a large majority of the citizens of the Republic say that +the officers of the Fair have done right. + +This marks an epoch in the history of the Sabbath. It is to be sacred +in a religious sense in this country no longer. Henceforth in the United +States the Sabbath is for the use of man. + +Many of those who labored for the closing of the Fair on Sunday took the +ground that if the gates were opened, God would visit this nation with +famine, flood and fire. + +It hardly seems possible that God will destroy thousands of women and +children who had nothing to do with the opening of the Fair; still, if +he is the same God described in the Christian Bible, he may destroy our +babes as he did those of the Egyptians. It is a little hard to tell in +advance what a God of that kind will do. + +It was believed for many centuries that God punished the +Sabbath-breaking individual and the Sabbath-breaking nation. Of course +facts never had anything to do with this belief, and the prophecies +of the pulpit were never fulfilled. People who were drowned on Sunday, +according to the church, lost their lives by the will of God. Those +drowned on other days were the victims of storm or accident. The nations +that kept the Sabbath were no more prosperous than those that broke the +sacred day. Certainly France is as prosperous as Scotland. + +Let us hope, however, that these zealous gentlemen who have predicted +calamities were mistaken; let us be glad that hundreds of thousands of +workingmen and women will be delighted and refined by looking at the +statues, the paintings, the machinery, and the countless articles of use +and beauty gathered together at the great Fair, and let us be glad that +on the one day that they can spare from toil, the gates will be open to +them. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE JACOB HOLYOAKE. + + +TWO articles have recently appeared attacking the motives of George +Jacob Holyoake. He is spoken of as a man governed by a desire to please +the rich and powerful, as one afraid of public opinion and who in the +perilous hour denies or conceals his convictions. + +In these attacks there is not one word of truth. They are based upon +mistakes and misconceptions. + +There is not in this world a nobler, braver man. In England he has done +more for the great cause of intellectual liberty than any other man +of this generation. He has done more for the poor, for the children of +toil, for the homeless and wretched than any other living man. He has +attacked all abuses, all tyranny and all forms of hypocrisy. His weapons +have been reason, logic, facts, kindness, and above all, example. He has +lived his creed. He has won the admiration and respect of his bitterest +antagonists. He has the simplicity of childhood, the enthusiasm of +youth and the wisdom of age. He is not abusive, but he is clear and +conclusive.. He is intense without violence--firm without anger. He has +the strength of perfect kindness. He does not hate--he pities. He does +not attack men and women, but dogmas and creeds. And he does not attack +them to get the better of people, but to enable people to get the better +of them. He gives the light he has. He shares his intellectual wealth +with the orthodox poor. He assists without insulting, guides without +arrogance, and enlightens without outrage. Besides, he is eminent for +the exercise of plain common sense. He knows that there are wrongs +besides those born of superstition--that people are not necessarily +happy because they have renounced the Thirty-nine Articles--and that +the priest is not the only enemy of mankind. He has for forty years been +preaching and practicing industry, economy, self-reliance, and kindness. +He has done all within his power to give the workingman a better home, +better food, better wages, and better opportunities for the education +of his children. He has demonstrated the success of co-operation--of +intelligent combination for the common good. As a rule, his methods have +been perfectly legal. In some instances he has knowingly violated the +law, and did so with the intention to take the consequences. He would +neither ask nor accept a pardon, because to receive a pardon carries +with it the implied promise to keep the law, and an admission that +you were in the wrong. He would not agree to desist from doing what he +believed ought to be done, neither would he stain his past to brighten +his future, nor imprison his soul to free his body. He has that happy +mingling of gentleness and firmness found only in the highest type of +moral heroes. He is an absolutely just man, and will never do an act +that he would condemn in another. He admits that the most bigoted +churchman has a perfect right to express his opinions not only, but +that he must be met with argument couched in kind and candid terms. Mr. +Holyoake is not only the enemy of a theological hierarchy, but he is +also opposed to mental mobs. He will not use the bludgeon of epithet. + +Perfect fairness is regarded by many as weakness. Some people have +altogether more confidence in their beliefs than in their own arguments. +They resort to assertion. If what they assert be denied, the "debate" +becomes a question of veracity. On both sides of most questions there +are plenty of persons who imagine that logic dwells only in adjectives, +and that to speak kindly of an opponent is a virtual surrender. + +Mr. Holyoake attacks the church because it has been, is, and ever will +be the enemy of mental freedom, but he does not wish to deprive the +church even of its freedom to express its opinion against freedom. He +is true to his own creed, knowing that when we have freedom we can take +care of all its enemies. + +In one of the articles to which I have referred it is charged that Mr. +Holyoake refused to sign a petition for the pardon of persons convicted +of blasphemy. If this is true, he undoubtedly had a reason satisfactory +to himself. You will find that his action, or his refusal to act, rests +upon a principle that he would not violate in his own behalf. + +Why should we suspect the motives of this man who has given his life +for the good of others? I know of no one who is his mental or moral +superior. He is the most disinterested of men. His name is a synonym +of candor. He is a natural logician--an intellectual marksman. Like an +unerring arrow his thought flies to the heart and center. He is +governed by principle, and makes no exception in his own favor. He is +intellectually honest. He shows you the cracks and flaws in his own +wares. He calls attention to the open joints and to the weakest links. +He does not want a victory for himself, but for truth. He wishes to +expose and oppose, not men, but error. He is blessed with that cloudless +mental vision that appearances cannot deceive, that interest cannot +darken, and that even ingratitude cannot blur. Friends cannot induce +and enemies cannot drive this man to do an act that his heart and brain +would not applaud. That such a character was formed without the aid +of the church, without the hope of harp or fear of flame, is a +demonstration against the necessity of superstition. + +Whoever is opposed to mental bondage, to the shackles wrought by cruelty +and worn by fear, should be the friend of this heroic and unselfish man. + +I know something of his life--something of what he has suffered--of what +he has accomplished for his fellow-men. He has been maligned, imprisoned +and impoverished. "He bore the heat and burden of the unregarded day" +and "remembered the misery of the many." For years his only recompense +was ingratitude. At last he was understood. He was recognized as an +earnest, honest, gifted, generous, sterling man, loving his country, +sympathizing with the poor, honoring the useful, and holding in supreme +abhorrence tyranny and falsehood in all their forms. The idea that this +man could for a moment be controlled by any selfish motive, by the +hope of preferment, by the fear of losing a supposed annuity, is +simply absurd. The authors of these attacks are not acquainted with Mr. +Holyoake. Whoever dislikes him does not know him. + +Read his "Trial of Theism"--his history of "Co-operation in England"--if +you wish to know his heart--to discover the motives of his life--the +depth and tenderness of his sympathy--the nobleness of his nature--the +subtlety of his thought--the beauty of his spirit--the force and volume +of his brain--the extent of his information--his candor, his kindness, +his genius, and the perfect integrity of his stainless soul. + +There is no man for whom I have greater respect, greater reverence, +greater love, than George Jacob Holyoake.-- + +August 8, 1883. + + + + +AT THE GRAVE OF BENJAMIN W. PARKER. + + * This was the first tribute ever delivered by Colonel + Ingersoll at a grave. Mr. Parker himself was an Agnostic, + was the father of Mrs. Ingersoll, and was always a devoted + friend and admirer of the Colonel even before the latter's + marriage with his daughter. + + +Peoria, Ill., May 24, 1876. + +FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS: To fulfill a promise made many years ago, I wish +to say a word. + +He whom we are about to lay in the earth, was gentle, kind and loving +in his life. He was ambitious only to live with those he loved. He was +hospitable, generous, and sincere. He loved his friends, and the friends +of his friends. He returned good for good. He lived the life of a child, +and died without leaving in the memory of his family the record of an +unkind act. Without assurance, and without fear, we give him back to +Nature, the source and mother of us all. + +With morn, with noon, with night; with changing clouds and changeless +stars; with grass and trees and birds, with leaf and bud, with flower +and blossoming vine,--with all the sweet influences of nature, we leave +our dead. + +Husband, father, friend, farewell. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO EBON C. INGERSOLL + +Washington, D. C., May 31, 1879. + + * The funeral of the Hon. E. C. Ingersoll took place + yesterday afternoon at four o'clock, from his late + residence, 1403 K Street The only ceremony at the house, + other than the viewing of the remains, was a most affecting + pathetic, and touching address by Col. Robert G. ingersoll, + brother of the deceased. Not only the speaker, but every one + of his hearers were deeply affected. When he began to read + his eloquent characterization of the dead man his eyes at + once filled with tears. He tried to hide them, but he could + not do it, and finally he bowed his head upon the dead man's + coffin in uncontrollable grief It was only after some delay, + and the greatest efforts a self-mastery, that Colonel + Ingersoll was able to finish reading his address. When he + had ceased speaking, the members of the bereaved family + approached the casket and looked upon the form which it + contained, for the last time. The scene was heartrending. + The devotion of all connected with the household excited + the sympathy of all and there was not a dry eye to be seen. + The pall-bearers--Senator William B. Allison, Senator James + G. Blaine, Senator David Davis, Senator Daniel W Voorhees. + Representative James A. Garfield, Senator A. S Paddock, + Representative Thomas Q. Boyd of Illinois, the Hon. Ward H. + Lermon, ex-Congressman Jere Wilson, and Representative Adlai + E. Stevenson of Illinois--then bore the remains to the + hearse, and the lengthy cortege proceeded to the Oak Hill + Cemetery, where the remains were interred, in the presence + of the family and friends, without further ceremony.-- + National Republican, Washington, D. C., June 3, 1879. + + +DEAR FRIENDS: I am going to do that which the dead oft promised he would +do for me. + +The loved and loving brother, husband, father, friend, died where +manhood's morning almost touches noon, and while the shadows still were +falling toward the west. + +He had not passed on life's highway the stone that marks the highest +point; but being weary for a moment, he lay down by the wayside, and +using his burden for a pillow, fell into that dreamless sleep that +kisses down his eyelids still. While yet in love with life and raptured +with the world, he passed to silence and pathetic dust. + +Yet, after all, it may be best, just in the happiest, sunniest hour +of all the voyage, while eager winds are kissing every sail, to dash +against the unseen rock, and in an instant hear the billows roar above a +sunken ship. For whether in mid-sea or 'mong the breakers of the farther +shore, a wreck at last must mark the end of each and all. And every +life, no matter if its every hour is rich with love and every moment +jeweled with a joy, will, at its close, become a tragedy as sad and deep +and dark as can be woven of the warp and woof of mystery and death. + +This brave and tender man in every storm of life was oak and rock; but +in the sunshine he was vine and flower. He was the friend of all heroic +souls. He climbed the heights, and left all superstitions far below, +while on his forehead fell the golden dawning of the grander day. + +He loved the beautiful, and was with color, form, and music touched to +tears. He sided with the weak, the poor, and wronged, and lovingly +gave alms. With loyal heart and with the purest hands he faithfully +discharged all public trusts. + +He was a worshiper of liberty, a friend of the oppressed. A thousand +times I have heard him quote these words: "_For Justice all place a +temple, and all season, summer_." He believed that happiness is the only +good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only +religion, and love the only priest. He added to the sum of human joy; +and were every one to whom he did some loving service to bring a blossom +to his grave, he would sleep tonight beneath a wilderness of flowers. + +Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two +eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, +and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless +lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word; but in the night of +death hope sees a star and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing. + +He who sleeps here, when dying, mistaking the approach of death for the +return of health, whispered with his latest breath, "I am better now." +Let us believe, in spite of doubts and dogmas, of fears and tears, that +these dear words are true of all the countless dead. + +The record of a generous life runs like a vine around the memory of our +dead, and every sweet, unselfish act is now a perfumed flower. + +And now, to you, who have been chosen, from among the many men he loved, +to do the last sad office for the dead, we give his sacred dust. + +Speech cannot contain our love. There was, there is, no gentler, +stronger, manlier man. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO THE REV. ALEXANDER CLARK. + +Washington, D. C. July 13, 1879. + + +UPON the grave of the Reverend Alexander Clark I wish to place one +flower. Utterly destitute of cold, dogmatic pride, that often passes for +the love of God; without the arrogance of the "elect;" simple, free, and +kind--this earnest man made me his friend by being mine. I forgot that +he was a Christian, and he seemed to forget that I was not, while each +remembered that the other was at least a man. + +Frank, candid, and sincere, he practiced what he preached, and looked +with the holy eyes of charity upon the failings and mistakes of men. He +believed in the power of kindness, and spanned with divine sympathy the +hideous gulf that separates the fallen from the pure. + +Giving freely to others the rights that he claimed for himself, it never +occurred to him that his God hated a brave and honest unbeliever. He +remembered that even an Infidel had rights that love respects; that +hatred has no saving power, and that in order to be a Christian it is +not necessary to become less than a human being. He knew that no one can +be maligned into kindness; that epithets cannot convince; that curses +are not arguments, and that the finger of scorn never points toward +heaven. With the generosity of an honest man, he accorded to all the +fullest liberty of thought, knowing, as he did, that in the realm of +mind a chain is but a curse. + +For this man I felt the greatest possible regard. In spite of the taunts +and jeers of his brethren, he publicly proclaimed that he would treat +Infidels with fairness and respect; that he would endeavor to convince +them by argument and win them with love. He insisted that the God +he worshiped loved the well-being even of an Atheist. In this grand +position he stood almost alone. Tender, just, and loving where others +were harsh, vindictive, and cruel, he challenged the admiration of every +honest man. A few more such clergymen might drive calumny from the lips +of faith and render the pulpit worthy of esteem. + +The heartiness and kindness with which this generous man treated me can +never be excelled. He admitted that I had not lost, and could not lose, +a single right by the expression of my honest thought. Neither did he +believe that a servant could win the respect of a generous master by +persecuting and maligning those whom the master would willingly forgive. + +While this good man was living, his brethren blamed him for having +treated me with fairness. But, I trust, now that he has left the shore +touched by the mysterious sea that never yet has borne, on any wave, the +image of a homeward sail, this crime will be forgiven him by those who +still remain to preach the love of God. + +His sympathies were not confined within the prison, of a creed, but ran +out and over the walls like vines, hiding the cruel rocks and rusted +bars with leaf and flower. He could not echo with his heart the fiendish +sentence of eternal fire. In spite of book and creed, he read "between +the lines" the words of tenderness and love, with promises for all the +world.. Above, beyond, the dogmas of his church--humane even to the +verge of heresy--causing some to doubt his love of God because he +failed to hate his unbelieving fellow-men, he labored for the welfare of +mankind and to his work gave up his life with all his heart. + + + + +AT A CHILD'S GRAVE. + +Washington, D. C., January 8, 1882. + + +MY FRIENDS: I know how vain it is to gild a grief with words, and yet I +wish to take from every grave its fear. Here in this world, where life +and death are equal kings, all should be brave enough to meet what all +the dead have met. The future has been filled with fear, stained and +polluted by the heartless past. From the wondrous tree of life the buds +and blossoms fall with ripened fruit, and in the common bed of earth, +patriarchs and babes sleep side by side. + +Why should we fear that which will come to all that is? We cannot tell, +we do not know, which is the greater blessing--life or death. We cannot +say that death is not a good. We do not know whether the grave is the +end of this life, or the door of another, or whether the night here +is not somewhere else a dawn. Neither can we tell which is the more +fortunate--the child dying in its mother's arms, before its lips have +learned to form a word, or he who journeys all the length of life's +uneven road, painfully taking the last slow steps with staff and crutch. + +Every cradle asks us "Whence?" and every coffin "Whither?" The poor +barbarian, weeping above his dead, can answer these questions just +as well as the robed priest of the most authentic creed. The tearful +ignorance of the one, is as consoling as the learned and unmeaning words +of the other. No man, standing where the horizon of a life has touched a +grave, has any right to prophesy a future filled with pain and tears. + +May be that death gives all there is of worth to life. If those we press +and strain within our arms could never die, perhaps that love would +wither from the earth. May be this common fate treads from out the paths +between our hearts the weeds of selfishness and hate. And I had rather +live and love where death is king, than have eternal life where love is +not. Another life is nought, unless we know and love again the ones who +love us here. + +They who stand with breaking hearts around this little grave, need have +no fear. The larger and the nobler faith in all that is, and is to be, +tells us that death, even at its worst, is only perfect rest. We know +that through the common wants of life--the needs and duties of each +hour--their grief will lessen day by day, until at last this grave will +be to them a place of rest and peace--almost of joy. There is for them +this consolation: The dead do not suffer. If they live again, their +lives will surely be as good as ours. We have no fear. We are all +children of the same mother, and the same fate awaits us all. We, too, +have our religion, and it is this: Help for the living--Hope for the +dead. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO JOHN G. MILLS. + +Washington, D. C., April 15, 1883. + + +MY FRIENDS: Again we are face to face with the great mystery that +shrouds this world. We question, but there is no reply. Out on the wide +waste seas, there drifts no spar. Over the desert of death the sphinx +gazes forever, but never speaks. + +In the very May of life another heart has ceased to beat. Night has +fallen upon noon. But he lived, he loved, he was loved. Wife and +children pressed their kisses on his lips. This is enough. The longest +life contains no more. This fills the vase of joy. + +He who lies here, clothed with the perfect peace of death, was a kind +and loving husband, a good father, a generous neighbor, an honest +man,--and these words build a monument of glory above the humblest +grave. He was always a child, sincere and frank, as full of hope as +Spring. He divided all time into to-day and to-morrow. To-morrow was +without a cloud, and of to-morrow he borrowed sunshine for to-day. He +was my friend. He will remain so. The living oft become estranged; the +dead are true. He was not a Christian. In the Eden of his hope there +did not crawl and coil the serpent of eternal pain. In many languages +he sought the thoughts of men, and for himself he solved the problems of +the world. He accepted the philosophy of Auguste Comte. Humanity was his +God; the human race was his Supreme Being. In that Supreme Being he put +his trust. He believed that we are indebted for what we enjoy to the +labor, the self-denial, the heroism of the human race, and that as we +have plucked the fruit of what others planted, we in thankfulness should +plant for others yet to be. + +With him immortality was the eternal consequences of his own acts. He +believed that every pure thought, every disinterested deed, hastens the +harvest of universal good. This is a religion that enriches poverty; +that enables us to bear the sorrows of the saddest life; that peoples +even solitude with the happy millions yet to live,--a religion born +not of selfishness and fear, but of love, of gratitude, and hope,--a +religion that digs wells to slake the thirst of others, and gladly bears +the burdens of the unborn. + +But in the presence of death, how beliefs and dogmas wither and decay! +How loving words and deeds burst into blossom! Pluck from the tree +of any life these flowers, and there remain but the barren thorns of +bigotry and creed. + +All wish for happiness beyond this life. All hope to meet again +the loved and lost. In every heart there grows this sacred flower. +Immortality is a word that Hope through all the ages has been whispering +to Love. The miracle of thought we cannot understand. The mystery of +life and death we cannot comprehend. This chaos called the world has +never been explained. The golden bridge of life from gloom emerges, and +on shadow rests. Beyond this we do not know. Fate is speechless, destiny +is dumb, and the secret of the future has never yet been told. We love; +we wait; we hope. The more we love, the more we fear. Upon the tenderest +heart the deepest shadows fall. All paths, whether filled with thorns +or flowers, end here. Here success and failure are the same. The rag of +Wretchedness and the purple robe of power all difference and distinction +lose in this democracy of death. Character survives; goodness lives; +love is immortal. + +And yet to all a time may come when the fevered lips of life will long +for the cool, delicious kiss of death--when tired of the dust and glare +of day we all shall hear with joy the rustling garments of the night. + +What can we say of death? What can we say of the dead? Where they have +gone, reason cannot go, and from thence revelation has not come. But let +us believe that over the cradle Nature bends and smiles, and lovingly +above the dead in benediction holds her outstretched hands. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO ELIZUR WRIGHT. + +New York. December 19, 1885. + + +ANOTHER hero has fallen asleep--one who enriched the world with an +honest life. + +Elizur Wright was one of the Titans who attacked the monsters, the +Gods, of his time--one of the few whose confidence in liberty was never +shaken, and who, with undimmed eyes, saw the atrocities and barbarisms +of his day and the glories of the future. + +When New York was degraded enough to mob Arthur Tappan, the noblest of +her citizens; when Boston was sufficiently infamous to howl and hoot at +Harriet Martineau, the grandest Englishwoman that ever touched our soil; +when the North was dominated by theology and trade, by piety and piracy; +when we received our morals from merchants, and made merchandise of our +morals, Elizur Wright held principle above profit, and preserved his +manhood at the peril of his life. + +When the rich, the cultured, and the respectable,--when church members +and ministers, who had been "called" to preach the "glad tidings," and +when statesmen like Webster joined with bloodhounds, and in the name +of God hunted men and mothers, this man rescued the fugitives and gave +asylum to the oppressed. + +During those infamous years--years of cruelty and national +degradation--years of hypocrisy and greed and meanness beneath the reach +of any English word, Elizur Wright became acquainted with the orthodox +church. He found that a majority of Christians were willing to enslave +men and women for whom they said that Christ had died--that they would +steal the babe of a Christian mother, although they believed that the +mother would be their equal in heaven forever. He found that those who +loved their enemies would enslave their friends--that people who when +smitten on one cheek turned the other, were ready, willing and anxious +to mob and murder those who simply said: "The laborer is worthy of his +hire." + +In those days the church was in favor of slavery, not only of the body +but of the mind. According to the creeds, God himself was an infinite +master and all his children serfs. He ruled with whip and chain, with +pestilence and fire. Devils were his bloodhounds, and hell his place of +eternal torture. + +Elizur Wright said to himself, why should we take chains from bodies and +enslave minds--why fight to free the cage and leave the bird a prisoner? +He became an enemy of orthodox religion--that is to say, a friend of +intellectual liberty. + +He lived to see the destruction of legalized larceny; to read the +Proclamation of Emancipation; to see a country without a slave, a flag +without a stain. He lived long enough to reap the reward for having +been an honest man; long enough for his "disgrace" to become a crown of +glory; long enough to see his views adopted and his course applauded by +the civilized world; long enough for the hated word "abolitionist" to +become a title of nobility, a certificate of manhood, courage and true +patriotism. + +Only a few years ago, the heretic was regarded as an enemy of the human +race. The man who denied the inspiration of the Jewish Scriptures was +looked upon as a moral leper, and the Atheist as the worst of criminals. +Even in that day, Elizur Wright was grand enough to speak his honest +thought, to deny the inspiration of the Bible; brave enough to defy +the God of the orthodox church--the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the +Eternal Jailer, the Everlasting Inquisitor. + +He contended that a good God would not have upheld slavery and polygamy; +that a loving Father would not assist some of his children to enslave or +exterminate their brethren; that an infinite being would not be unjust, +irritable, jealous, revengeful, ignorant, and cruel. + +And it was his great good fortune to live long enough to find the +intellectual world on his side; long enough to know that the greatest' +naturalists, philosophers, and scientists agreed with him; long enough +to see certain words change places, so that "heretic" was honorable +and "orthodox" an epithet. To-day, the heretic is known to be a man of +principle and courage--one blest with enough mental independence to +tell his thought. To-day, the thoroughly orthodox means the thoroughly +stupid. + +Only a few years ago it was taken for granted that an "unbeliever" could +not be a moral man; that one who disputed the inspiration of the legends +of Judea could not be sympathetic and humane, and could not really love +his fellow-men. Had we no other evidence upon this subject, the noble +life of Elizur Wright would demonstrate the utter baselessness of these +views. + +His life was spent in doing good--in attacking the hurtful, in defending +what he believed to be the truth. Generous beyond his means; helping +others to help themselves; always hopeful, busy, just, cheerful; filled +with the spirit of reform; a model citizen--always thinking of the +public good, devising ways and means to save something for posterity, +feeling that what he had he held in trust; loving Nature, familiar +with the poetic side of things, touched to enthusiasm by the beautiful +thought, the brave word, and the generous deed; friendly in manner, +candid and kind in speech, modest but persistent; enjoying leisure +as only the industrious can; loving and gentle in his family; +hospitable,--judging men and women regardless of wealth, position or +public clamor; physically fearless, intellectually honest, thoroughly +informed; unselfish, sincere, and reliable as the attraction of +gravitation. Such was Elizur Wright,--one of the staunchest soldiers +that ever faced and braved for freedom's sake the wrath and scorn and +lies of place and power. + +A few days ago I met this genuine man. His interest in all human +things was just as deep and keen, his hatred of oppression, his love of +freedom, just as intense, just as fervid, as on the day I met him first. +True, his body was old, but his mind was young, and his heart, like +a spring in the desert, bubbled over as joyously as though it had the +secret of eternal youth. But it has ceased to beat, and the mysterious +veil that hangs where sight and blindness are the same--the veil that +revelation has not drawn aside--that science cannot lift, has fallen +once again between the living and the dead. + +And yet we hope and dream. May be the longing for another life is but +the prophecy forever warm from Nature's lips, that love, disguised as +death, alone fulfills. We cannot tell. And yet perhaps this Hope is but +an antic, following the fortunes of an uncrowned king, beguiling grief +with jest and satisfying loss with pictured gain. We do not know. + +But from the Christian's cruel hell, and from his heaven more heartless +still, the free and noble soul, if forced to choose, should loathing +turn, and cling with rapture to the thought of endless sleep. + +But this we know: good deeds are never childless. A noble life is never +lost. A virtuous action does not die. Elizur Wright scattered with +generous hand the priceless seeds, and we shall reap the golden grain. +His words and acts are ours, and all he nobly did is living still. + +Farewell, brave soul! Upon thy grave I lay this tribute of respect and +love. When last our hands were joined, I said these parting words: "Long +life!" And I repeat them now. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO MRS. IDA WHITING KNOWLES. + +New York, Dec, 16, 1887. + + +MY FRIENDS: Again we stand in the shadow of the great mystery--a shadow +as deep and dark as when the tears of the first mother fell upon the +pallid face of her lifeless babe--a mystery that has never yet been +solved. + +We have met in the presence of the sacred dead, to speak a word of +praise, of hope, of consolation. + +Another life of love is now a blessed memory--a lingering strain of +music. + +The loving daughter, the pure and consecrated wife, the sincere friend, +who with tender faithfulness discharged the duties of a life, has +reached her journey's end. + +A braver, a more serene, a more chivalric spirit--clasping the loved and +by them clasped--never passed from life to enrich the realm of death. +No field of war ever witnessed greater fortitude, more perfect, smiling +courage, than this poor, weak and helpless woman displayed upon the bed +of pain and death. + +Her life was gentle and her death sublime. She loved the good and all +the good loved her. + +There is this consolation: she can never suffer more; never feel again +the chill of death; never part again from those she loves. Her heart can +break no more. She has shed her last tear, and upon her stainless brow +has been set the wondrous seal of everlasting peace. + +When the Angel of Death--the masked and voiceless--enters the door of +home, there come with her all the daughters of Compassion, and of these +Love and Hope remain forever. + +You are about to take this dear dust home--to the home of her girlhood, +and to the place that was once my home. You will lay her with neighbors +whom I have loved, and who are now at rest. You will lay her where my +father sleeps. + + "Lay her i' the earth, + And from her fair and unpolluted flesh + May violets spring." + +I never knew, I never met, a braver spirit than the one that once +inhabited this silent form of dreamless clay. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO HENRY WARD BEECHER. + +New York, June 26,1887. + + +HENRY WARD BEECHER was born in a Puritan penitentiary, of which +his father was one of the wardens--a prison with very narrow and +closely-grated windows. Under its walls were the rayless, hopeless and +measureless dungeons of the damned, and on its roof fell the shadow of +God's eternal frown. In this prison the creed and catechism were primers +for children, and from a pure sense of duty their loving hearts were +stained and scarred with the religion of John Calvin. + +In those days the home of an orthodox minister was an inquisition in +which babes were tortured for the good of their souls. Children then, +as now, rebelled against the infamous absurdities and cruelties of the +creed. No Calvinist was ever able, unless with blows, to answer the +questions of his child. Children were raised in what was called "the +nurture and admonition of the Lord"--that is to say, their wills were +broken or subdued, their natures were deformed and dwarfed, their +desires defeated or destroyed, and their development arrested or +perverted. Life was robbed of its Spring, its Summer and its Autumn. +Children stepped from the cradle into the snow. No laughter, no +sunshine, no joyous, free, unburdened days. God, an infinite detective, +watched them from above, and Satan, with malicious leer, was waiting +for their souls below. Between these monsters life was passed. Infinite +consequences were predicated of the smallest action, and a burden +greater than a God could bear was placed upon the heart and brain of +every child. To think, to ask questions, to doubt, to investigate, +were acts of rebellion. To express pity for the lost, writhing in the +dungeons below, was simply to give evidence that the enemy of souls had +been at work within their hearts. + +Among all the religions of this world--from the creed of cannibals who +devoured flesh, to that of Calvinists who polluted souls--there is none, +there has been none, there will be none, more utterly heartless and +inhuman than was the orthodox Congregationalism of New England in the +year of grace 1813. It despised every natural joy, hated pictures, +abhorred statues as lewd and lustful things, execrated music, regarded +nature as fallen and corrupt, man as totally depraved and woman as +somewhat worse. The theatre was the vestibule of perdition, actors the +servants of Satan, and Shakespeare a trifling wretch whose words +were seeds of death. And yet the virtues found a welcome, cordial and +sincere; duty was done as understood; obligations were discharged; truth +was told; self-denial was practiced for the sake of others, and many +hearts were good and true in spite of book and creed. + +In this atmosphere of theological miasma, in this hideous dream of +superstition, in this penitentiary, moral and austere, this babe first +saw the imprisoned gloom. The natural desires ungratified, the laughter +suppressed, the logic brow-beaten by authority, the humor frozen by +fear--of many generations--were in this child, a child destined to rend +and wreck the prison's walls. + +Through the grated windows of his cell, this child, this boy, this man, +caught glimpses of the outer world, of fields and skies. New thoughts +were in his brain, new hopes within his heart. Another heaven bent above +his life. There came a revelation of the beautiful and real. + +Theology grew mean and small. Nature wooed and won and saved this mighty +soul. + +Her countless hands were sowing seeds within his tropic brain. All +sights and sounds--all colors, forms and fragments--were stored within +the treasury of his mind. His thoughts were moulded by the graceful +curves of streams, by winding paths in woods, the charm of quiet country +roads, and lanes grown indistinct with weeds and grass--by vines that +cling and hide with leaf and flower the crumbling wall's decay--by +cattle standing in the summer pools like statues of content. + +There was within his words the subtle spirit of the season's change--of +everything that is, of everything that lies between the slumbering seeds +that, half awakened by the April rain, have dreams of heaven's blue, and +feel the amorous kisses of the sun, and that strange tomb wherein the +alchemist doth give to death's cold dust the throb and thrill of life +again. He saw with loving eyes the willows of the meadow-streams grow +red beneath the glance of Spring--the grass along the marsh's edge--the +stir of life beneath the withered leaves--the moss below the drip of +snow--the flowers that give their bosoms to the first south wind that +wooes--the sad and timid violets that only bear the gaze of love from +eyes half closed--the ferns, where fancy gives a thousand forms with but +a single plan--the green and sunny slopes enriched with daisy's silver +and the cowslip's gold. + +As in the leafless woods some tree, aflame with life, stands like a rapt +poet in the heedless crowd, so stood this man among his fellow-men. + +All there is of leaf and bud, of flower and fruit, of painted insect +life, and all the winged and happy children of the air that Summer holds +beneath her dome of blue, were known and loved by him. He loved the +yellow Autumn fields, the golden stacks, the happy homes of men, the +orchard's bending boughs, the sumach's flags of flame, the maples +with transfigured leaves, the tender yellow of the beech, the wondrous +harmonies of brown and gold--the vines where hang the clustered spheres +of wit and mirth. He loved the winter days, the whirl and drift of +snow--all forms of frost--the rage and fury of the storm, when in the +forest, desolate and stripped, the brave old pine towers green and +grand--a prophecy of Spring. He heard the rhythmic sounds of Nature's +busy strife, the hum of bees, the songs of birds, the eagle's cry, the +murmur of the streams, the sighs and lamentations of the winds, and all +the voices of the sea. He loved the shores, the vales, the crags and +cliffs, the city's busy streets, the introspective, silent plain, the +solemn splendors of the night, the silver sea of dawn, and evening's +clouds of molten gold. The love of nature freed this loving man. + +One by one the fetters fell; the gratings disappeared, the sunshine +smote the roof, and on the floors of stone, light streamed from open +doors. He realized the darkness and despair, the cruelty and hate, the +starless blackness of the old, malignant creed. The flower of pity grew +and blossomed in his heart. The selfish "consolation" filled his eyes +with tears. He saw that what is called the Christian's hope is, that, +among the countless billions wrecked and lost, a meagre few perhaps +may reach the eternal shore--a hope that, like the desert rain, gives +neither leaf nor bud--a hope that gives no joy, no peace, to any great +and loving soul. It is the dust on which the serpent feeds that coils in +heartless breasts. + +Day by day the wrath and vengeance faded from the sky--the Jewish God +grew vague and dint--the threats of torture and eternal pain grew vulgar +and absurd, and all the miracles seemed strangely out of place. They +clad the Infinite in motley garb, and gave to aureoled heads the cap and +bells. + +Touched by the pathos of all human life, knowing the shadows that fall +on every heart--the thorns in every path, the sighs, the sorrows, and +the tears that lie between a mother's arms and death's embrace--this +great and gifted man denounced, denied, and damned with all his heart +the fanged and frightful dogma that souls were made to feed the eternal +hunger--ravenous as famine--of a God's revenge. + +Take out this fearful, fiendish, heartless lie--compared with which all +other lies are true--and the great arch of orthodox religion crumbling +falls. + +To the average man the Christian hell and heaven are only words. He has +no scope of thought. He lives but in a dim, impoverished now. To him the +past is dead--the future still unborn. He occupies with downcast eyes +that narrow line of barren, shifting sand that lies between the flowing +seas. But Genius knows all time. For him the dead all live and breathe, +and act their countless parts again. All human life is in his now, and +every moment feels the thrill of all to be. + +No one can overestimate the good accomplished by this marvelous, +many-sided man. He helped to slay the heart-devouring monster of the +Christian world. He tried to civilize the church, to humanize the +creeds, to soften pious breasts of stone, to take the fear from mothers' +hearts, the chains of creed from every brain, to put the star of hope +in every sky and over every grave. Attacked on every side, maligned +by those who preached the law of love, he wavered not, but fought +whole-hearted to the end. + +Obstruction is but virtue's foil. From thwarted light leaps color's +flame. The stream impeded has a song. + +He passed from harsh and cruel creeds to that serene philosophy that has +no place for pride or hate, that threatens no revenge, that looks on sin +as stumblings of the blind and pities those who fall, knowing that in +the souls of all there is a sacred yearning for the light. He ceased +to think of man as something thrust upon the world--an exile from +some other sphere. He felt at last that men are part of Nature's +self--kindred of all life--the gradual growth of countless years; that +all the sacred books were helps until outgrown, and all religions rough +and devious paths that man has worn with weary feet in sad and painful +search for truth and peace. To him these paths were wrong, and yet all +gave the promise of success. He knew that all the streams, no matter how +they wander, turn and curve amid the hills or rocks, or linger in the +lakes and pools, must some time reach the sea. These views enlarged his +soul and made him patient with the world, and while the wintry snows of +age were falling on his head, Spring, with all her wealth of bloom, was +in his heart. + +The memory of this ample man is now a part of Nature's wealth. He +battled for the rights of men. His heart was with the slave. He stood +against the selfish greed of millions banded to protect the pirate's +trade. His voice was for the right when freedom's friends were few. He +taught the church to think and doubt. He did not fear to stand +alone. His brain took counsel of his heart. To every foe he offered +reconciliation's hand. He loved this land of ours, and added to its +glory through the world. He was the greatest orator that stood within +the pulpit's narrow curve. He loved the liberty of speech. There was no +trace of bigot in his blood. He was a brave and generous man. + +With reverent hands, I place this tribute on his tomb. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO ROSCOE CONKLING. + + Delivered before the New York State Legislature, at Albany, + N. Y, May 9,1888. + + +ROSCOE CONKLING--a great man, an orator, a statesman, a lawyer, a +distinguished citizen of the Republic, in the zenith of his fame and +power has reached his journey's end; and we are met, here in the city of +his birth, to pay our tribute to his worth and work. He earned and held +a proud position in the public thought. He stood for independence, for +courage, and above all for absolute integrity, and his name was known +and honored by many millions of his fellow-men. + +The literature of many lands is rich with the tributes that gratitude, +admiration and love have paid to the great and honored dead. These +tributes disclose the character of nations, the ideals of the human +race. In them we find the estimates of greatness--the deeds and lives +that challenged praise and thrilled the hearts of men. + +In the presence of death, the good man judges as he would be judged. He +knows that men are only fragments--that the greatest walk in shadow, and +that faults and failures mingle with the lives of all. + +In the grave should be buried the prejudices and passions born of +conflict. Charity should hold the scales in which are weighed the deeds +of men. Peculiarities, traits born of locality and surroundings--these +are but the dust of the race--these are accidents, drapery, clothes, +fashions, that have nothing to do with the man except to hide his +character. They are the clouds that cling to mountains. Time gives us +clearer vision. That which was merely local fades away. The words of +envy are forgotten, and all there is of sterling worth remains. He who +was called a partisan is a patriot. The revolutionist and the outlaw are +the founders of nations, and he who was regarded as a scheming, selfish +politician becomes a statesman, a philosopher, whose words and deeds +shed light. + +Fortunate is that nation great enough to know the great. + +When a great man dies--one who has nobly fought the battle of a life, +who has been faithful to every trust, and has uttered his highest, +noblest thought--one who has stood proudly by the right in spite of jeer +and taunt, neither stopped by foe nor swerved by friend--in honoring +him, in speaking words of praise and love above his dust, we pay a +tribute to ourselves. + +How poor this world would be without its graves, without the memories of +its mighty dead. Only the voiceless speak forever. + +Intelligence, integrity and courage are the great pillars that support +the State. + +Above all, the citizens of a free nation should honor the brave +and independent man--the man of stainless integrity, of will and +intellectual force. Such men are the Atlases on whose mighty shoulders +rest the great fabric of the Republic. Flatterers, cringers, crawlers, +time-servers are the dangerous citizens of a democracy. They who gain +applause and power by pandering to the mistakes, the prejudices and +passions of the multitude, are the enemies of liberty. + +When the intelligent submit to the clamor of the many, anarchy begins +and the Republic reaches the edge of chaos. Mediocrity, touched with +ambition, flatters the base and calumniates the great, while the true +patriot, who will do neither, is often sacrificed. + +In a government of the people a leader should be a teacher--he should +carry the torch of truth. + +Most people are the slaves of habit--followers of custom--believers in +the wisdom of the past--and were it not for brave and splendid souls, +"the dust of antique time would lie unswept, and mountainous error be +too highly heaped for truth to overpeer." Custom is a prison, locked +and barred by those who long ago were dust, the keys of which are in the +keeping of the dead. + +Nothing is grander than when a strong, intrepid man breaks chains, +levels walls and breasts the many-headed mob like some great cliff that +meets and mocks the innumerable billows of the sea. + +The politician hastens to agree with the majority--insists that their +prejudice is patriotism, that their ignorance is wisdom;--not that +he loves them, but because he loves himself. The statesman, the +real reformer, points out the mistakes of the multitude, attacks the +prejudices of his countrymen, laughs at their follies, denounces +their cruelties, enlightens and enlarges their minds and educates the +conscience--not because he loves himself, but because he loves and +serves the right and wishes to make his country great and free. + +With him defeat is but a spur to further effort. He who refuses to +stoop, who cannot be bribed by the promise of success, or the fear of +failure--who walks the highway of the right, and in disaster stands +erect, is the only victor. Nothing is more despicable than to reach fame +by crawling,--position by cringing. + +When real history shall be written by the truthful and the wise, these +men, these kneelers at the shrines of chance and fraud, these brazen +idols worshiped once as gods, will be the very food of scorn, while +those who bore the burden of defeat, who earned and kept their +self-respect, who would not bow to man or men for place or power, will +wear upon their brows the laurel mingled with the oak. + +Roscoe Conkling was a man of superb courage. + +He not only acted without fear, but he had that fortitude of soul that +bears the consequences of the course pursued without complaint. He was +charged with being proud. The charge was true--he was proud. His knees +were as inflexible as the "unwedgeable and gnarled oak," but he was +not vain. Vanity rests on the opinion of others--pride, on our own. The +source of vanity is from without--of pride, from within. Vanity is a +vane that turns, a willow that bends, with every breeze--pride is +the oak that defies the storm. One is cloud--the other rock. One is +weakness--the other strength. + +This imperious man entered public life in the dawn of the +reformation--at a time when the country needed men of pride, of +principle and courage. The institution of slavery had poisoned all +the springs of power. Before this crime ambition fell upon its +knees,--politicians, judges, clergymen, and merchant-princes bowed low +and humbly, with their hats in their hands. The real friend of man was +denounced as the enemy of his country--the real enemy of the human race +was called a statesman and a patriot. Slavery was the bond and pledge of +peace, of union, and national greatness. The temple of American liberty +was finished--the auction-block was the corner-stone. + +It is hard to conceive of the utter demoralization, of the political +blindness and immorality, of the patriotic dishonesty, of the +cruelty and degradation of a people who supplemented the incomparable +Declaration of Independence with the Fugitive Slave Law. + +Think of the honored statesmen of that ignoble time who wallowed in this +mire and who, decorated with dripping filth, received the plaudits of +their fellow-men. The noble, the really patriotic, were the victims of +mobs, and the shameless were clad in the robes of office. + +But let us speak no word of blame--let us feel that each one acted +according to his light--according to his darkness. + +At last the conflict came. The hosts of light and darkness prepared +to meet upon the fields of war. The question was presented: Shall the +Republic be slave or free? The Republican party had triumphed at the +polls. The greatest man in our history was President elect. The victors +were appalled--they shrank from the great responsibility of success. In +the presence of rebellion they hesitated--they offered to return the +fruits of victory. Hoping to avert war they were willing that slavery +should become immortal. An amendment to the Constitution was proposed, +to the effect that no subsequent amendment should ever be made that in +anyway should interfere with the right of man to steal his fellow-men. + +This, the most marvelous proposition ever submitted to a Congress of +civilized men, received in the House an overwhelming majority, and the +necessary two-thirds in the Senate. The Republican party, in the moment +of its triumph, deserted every principle for which it had so gallantly +contended, and with the trembling hands of fear laid its convictions on +the altar of compromise. + +The Old Guard, numbering but sixty-five in the House, stood as firm +as the three hundred at Thermopylae. Thad-deus Stevens--as maliciously +right as any other man was ever wrong--refused to kneel. Owen Lovejoy, +remembering his brother's noble blood, refused to surrender, and on the +edge of disunion, in the shadow of civil war, with the air filled with +sounds of dreadful preparation, while the Republican party was retracing +its steps, Roscoe Conkling voted No. This puts a wreath of glory on his +tomb. From that vote to the last moment of his life he was a champion of +equal rights, staunch and stalwart. + +From that moment he stood in the front rank. He never wavered and he +never swerved. By his devotion to principle--his courage, the splendor +of his diction,--by his varied and profound knowledge, his conscientious +devotion to the great cause, and by his intellectual scope and grasp, he +won and held the admiration of his fellow-men. + +Disasters in the field, reverses at the polls, did not and could not +shake his courage or his faith. He knew the ghastly meaning of defeat. +He knew that the great ship that slavery sought to strand and wreck was +freighted with the world's sublimest hope. + +He battled for a nation's life--for the rights of slaves--the dignity +of labor, and the liberty of all. He guarded with a father's care the +rights of the hunted, the hated and despised. He attacked the savage +statutes of the reconstructed States with a torrent of invective, scorn +and execration. He was not satisfied until the freedman was an American +Citizen--clothed with every civil right--until the Constitution was his +shield--until the ballot was his sword. + +And long after we are dead, the colored man in this and other lands will +speak his name in reverence and love. Others wavered, but he stood +firm; some were false, but he was proudly true--fearlessly faithful unto +death. + +He gladly, proudly grasped the hands of colored men who stood with him +as makers of our laws, and treated them as equals and as friends. The +cry of "social equality" coined and uttered by the cruel and the base, +was to him the expression of a great and splendid truth. He knew that no +man can be the equal of the one he robs--that the intelligent and unjust +are not the superiors of the ignorant and honest--and he also felt, and +proudly felt, that if he were not too great to reach the hand of help +and recognition to the slave, no other Senator could rightfully refuse. + +We rise by raising others--and he who stoops above the fallen, stands +erect. + +Nothing can be grander than to sow the seeds of noble thoughts and +virtuous deeds--to liberate the bodies and the souls of men--to earn +the grateful homage of a race--and then, in life's last shadowy hour, +to know that the historian of Liberty will be compelled to write your +name. + +There are no words intense enough,--with heart enough--to express my +admiration for the great and gallant souls who have in every age and +every land upheld the right, and who have lived and died for freedom's +sake. + +In our lives have been the grandest years that man has lived, that Time +has measured by the flight of worlds. + +The history of that great Party that let the oppressed go free--that +lifted our nation from the depths of savagery to freedom's cloudless +heights, and tore with holy hands from every law the words that +sanctified the cruelty of man, is the most glorious in the annals of our +race. Never before was there such a moral exaltation--never a party with +a purpose so pure and high. It was the embodied conscience of a nation, +the enthusiasm of a people guided by wisdom, the impersonation of +justice; and the sublime victory achieved loaded even the conquered with +all the rights that freedom can bestow. + +Roscoe Conkling was an absolutely honest man. Honesty is the oak around +which all other virtues cling. Without that they fall, and groveling +die in weeds and dust. He believed that a nation should discharge its +obligations. He knew that a promise could not be made often enough, or +emphatic enough, to take the place of payment. He felt that the promise +of the Government was the promise of every citizen--that a national +obligation was a personal debt, and that no possible combination of +words and pictures could take the place of coin. He uttered the splendid +truth that "the higher obligations among men are not set down in writing +signed and sealed, but reside in honor." He knew that repudiation was +the sacrifice of honor--the death of the national soul. He knew that +without character, without integrity, there is no wealth, and that +below poverty, below bankruptcy, is the rayless abyss of repudiation. +He upheld the sacredness of contracts, of plighted national faith, and +helped to save and keep the honor of his native land. This adds another +laurel to his brow. + +He was the ideal representative, faithful and incorruptible. He believed +that his constituents and his country were entitled to the fruit of +his experience, to his best and highest thought. No man ever held the +standard of responsibility higher than he. He voted according to his +judgment, his conscience. He made no bargains--he neither bought nor +sold. + +To correct evils, abolish abuses and inaugurate reforms, he believed was +not only the duty, but the privilege, of a legislator. He neither sold +nor mortgaged himself. He was in Congress during the years of vast +expenditure, of war and waste--when the credit of the nation was loaned +to individuals--when claims were thick as leaves in June, when the +amendment of a statute, the change of a single word, meant millions, and +when empires were given to corporations. He stood at the summit of his +power--peer of the greatest--a leader tried and trusted. He had the +tastes of a prince, the fortune of a peasant, and yet he never swerved. +No corporation was great enough or rich enough to purchase him. His vote +could not be bought "for all the sun sees, or the close earth wombs, or +the profound seas hide." His hand was never touched by any bribe, and +on his soul there never was a sordid stain. Poverty was his priceless +crown. + +Above his marvelous intellectual gifts--above all place he ever +reached,--above the ermine he refused,--rises his integrity like some +great mountain peak--and there it stands, firm as the earth beneath, +pure as the stars above. + +He was a great lawyer. He understood the frame-work, the anatomy, the +foundations of law; was familiar with the great streams and currents and +tides of authority. + +He knew the history of legislation--the principles that have +been settled upon the fields of war. He knew the maxims,--those +crystallizations of common sense, those hand-grenades of argument. He +was not a case-lawyer--a decision index, or an echo; he was original, +thoughtful and profound. He had breadth and scope, resource, learning, +logic, and above all, a sense of justice. He was painstaking and +conscientious--anxious to know the facts--preparing for every attack, +ready for every defence. He rested only when the end was reached. During +the contest, he neither sent nor received a flag of truce. He was +true to his clients--making their case his. Feeling responsibility, he +listened patiently to details, and to his industry there were only the +limits of time and strength. He was a student of the Constitution. He +knew the boundaries of State and Federal jurisdiction, and no man +was more familiar with those great decisions that are the peaks and +promontories, the headlands and the beacons, of the law. + +He was an orator,--logical, earnest, intense and picturesque. He laid +the foundation with care, with accuracy and skill, and rose by "cold +gradation and well balanced form" from the corner-stone of statement +to the domed conclusion. He filled the stage. He satisfied the eye--the +audience was his. He had that indefinable thing called presence. Tall, +commanding, erect--ample in speech, graceful in compliment, Titanic +in denunciation, rich in illustration, prodigal of comparison and +metaphor--and his sentences, measured and rhythmical, fell like music on +the enraptured throng. + +He abhorred the Pharisee, and loathed all conscientious fraud. He had a +profound aversion for those who insist on putting base motives back +of the good deeds of others. He wore no mask. He knew his friends--his +enemies knew him. + +He had no patience with pretence--with patriotic reasons for unmanly +acts. He did his work and bravely spoke his thought. + +Sensitive to the last degree, he keenly felt the blows and stabs of the +envious and obscure--of the smallest, of the weakest--but the greatest +could not drive him from conviction's field. He would not stoop to +ask or give an explanation. He left his words and deeds to justify +themselves. + +He held in light esteem a friend who heard with half-believing ears the +slander of a foe. He walked a highway of his own, and kept the company +of his self-respect. He would not turn aside to avoid a foe--to greet or +gain a friend. + +In his nature there was no compromise. To him there were but two +paths--the right and wrong. He was maligned, misrepresented and +misunderstood--but he would not answer. He knew that character speaks +louder far than any words. He was as silent then as he is now--and his +silence, better than any form of speech, refuted every charge. + +He was an American--proud of his country, that was and ever will be +proud of him. He did not find perfection only in other lands. He did +not grow small and shrunken, withered and apologetic, in the presence +of those upon whom greatness had been thrust by chance. He could not +be overawed by dukes or lords, nor flattered into vertebrate-less +subserviency by the patronizing smiles of kings. In the midst of +conventionalities he had the feeling of suffocation. He believed in the +royalty of man, in the sovereignty of the citizen, and in the matchless +greatness of this Republic. + +He was of the classic mould--a figure from the antique world. He had +the pose of the great statues--the pride and bearing of the intellectual +Greek, of the conquering Roman, and he stood in the wide free air as +though within his veins there flowed the blood of a hundred kings. + +And as he lived he died. Proudly he entered the darkness--or the +dawn--that we call death. Unshrinkingly he passed beyond our horizon, +beyond the twilight's purple hills, beyond the utmost reach of human +harm or help--to that vast realm of silence or of joy where the +innumerable dwell, and he has left with us his wealth of thought and +deed--the memory of a brave, imperious, honest man, who bowed alone to +death. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO RICHARD H. WHITING. + +New York, May 24., 1888. + + +MY FRIENDS: The river of another life has reached the sea. + +Again we are in the presence of that eternal peace that we call death. + +My life has been rich in friends, but I never had a better or a truer +one than he who lies in silence here. He was as steadfast, as faithful, +as the stars. + +Richard H. Whiting was an absolutely honest man. His word was gold--his +promise was fulfillment--and there never has been, there never will be, +on this poor earth, any thing nobler than an honest, loving soul. + +This man was as reliable as the attraction of gravitation--he knew +no shadow of turning. He was as generous as autumn, as hospitable as +summer, and as tender as a perfect day in June. He forgot only himself, +and asked favors only for others. He begged for the opportunity to +do good--to stand by a friend, to support a cause, to defend what he +believed to be right. + +He was a lover of nature--of the woods, the fields and flowers. He was +a home-builder. He believed in the family and the fireside--in the +sacredness of the hearth. + +He was a believer in the religion of deed, and his creed was to do good. +No man has ever slept in death who nearer lived his creed. + +I have known him for many years, and have yet to hear a word spoken of +him except in praise. + +His life was full of honor, of kindness and of helpful deeds. Besides +all, his soul was free. He feared nothing, except to do wrong. He was +a believer in the gospel of help and hope. He knew how much better, how +much more sacred, a kind act is than any theory the brain has wrought. + +The good are the noble. His life filled the lives of others with +sunshine. He has left a legacy of glory to his children. They can +truthfully say that within their veins is right royal blood--the blood +of an honest, generous man, of a steadfast friend, of one who was true +to the very gates of death. + +If there be another world, another life beyond the shore of this,--if +the great and good who died upon this orb are there,--then the noblest +and the best, with eager hands, have welcomed him--the equal in honor, +in generosity, of any one that ever passed beyond the veil. + +To me this world is growing poor. New friends can never fill the places +of the old. + +Farewell! If this is the end, then you have left to us the sacred memory +of a noble life. If this is not the end, there is no world in which you, +my friend, will not be loved and welcomed. Farewell! + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO COURTLANDT PALMER. + +New York, July 26, 1888. + +MY FRIENDS: A thinker of pure thoughts, a speaker of brave words, a doer +of generous deeds has reached the silent haven that all the dead have +reached, and where the voyage of every life must end; and we, his +friends, who even now are hastening after him, are met to do the last +kind acts that man may do for man--to tell his virtues and to lay with +tenderness and tears lay ashes in the sacred place of rest and peace. + +Some one has said, that in the open hands of death we find only what +they gave away. + +Let us believe that pure thoughts, brave words and generous deeds can +never die. Let us believe that they bear fruit and add forever to the +well-being of the human race. Let us believe that a noble, self-denying +life increases the moral wealth of man, and gives assurance that the +future will be grander than the past. + +In the monotony of subservience, in the multitude of blind followers, +nothing is more inspiring than a free and independent man--one who gives +and asks reasons; one who demands freedom and gives what he demands; one +who refuses to be slave or master. Such a man was Courtlandt Palmer, to +whom we pay the tribute of respect and love. + +He was an honest man--he gave the rights he claimed. This was the +foundation on which he built. To think for himself--to give his thought +to others; this was to him not only a privilege, not only a right, but a +duty. + +He believed in self-preservation--in personal independence--that is to +say, in manhood. + +He preserved the realm of mind from the invasion of brute force, and +protected the children of the brain from the Herod of authority. + +He investigated for himself the questions, the problems and the +mysteries of life. Majorities were nothing to him. No error could be old +enough--popular, plausible or profitable enough--to bribe his judgment +or to keep his conscience still. + +He knew that, next to finding truth, the greatest joy is honest search. + +He was a believer in intellectual hospitality, in the fair exchange of +thought, in good mental manners, in the amenities of the soul, in the +chivalry of discussion. + +He insisted that those who speak should hear; that those who question +should answer; that each should strive not for a victory over others, +but for the discovery of truth, and that truth when found should be +welcomed by every human soul. + +He knew that truth has no fear of investigation--of being understood. +He knew that truth loves the day--that its enemies are ignorance, +prejudice, egotism, bigotry, hypocrisy, fear and darkness, and that +intelligence, candor, honesty, love and light are its eternal friends. + +He believed in the morality of the useful--that the virtues are the +friends of man--the seeds of joy. + +He knew that consequences determine the quality of actions, and "that +whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap." + +In the positive philosophy of Auguste Comte he found the framework of +his creed. In the conclusions of that great, sublime and tender soul he +found the rest, the serenity and the certainty he sought. + +The clouds had fallen from his life. He saw that the old faiths were +but phases in the growth of man--that out from the darkness, up from +the depths, the human race through countless ages and in every land had +struggled toward the ever-growing light. + +He felt that the living are indebted to the noble dead, and that each +should pay his debt; that he should pay it by preserving to the extent +of his power the good he has, by destroying the hurtful, by adding to +the knowledge of the world, by giving better than he had received; and +that each should be the bearer of a torch, a giver of light for all that +is, for all to be. + +This was the religion of duty perceived, of duty within the reach of +man, within the circumference of the known--a religion without mystery, +with experience for the foundation of belief--a religion understood by +the head and approved by the heart--a religion that appealed to reason +with a definite end in view--the civilization and development of the +human race by legitimate, adequate and natural means--that is to say, by +ascertaining the conditions of progress and by teaching each to be noble +enough to live for all. + +This is the gospel of man; this is the gospel of this world; this is the +religion of humanity; this is a philosophy that comtemplates not with +scorn, but with pity, with admiration and with love all that man has +done, regarding, as it does, the past with all its faults and virtues, +its sufferings, its cruelties and crimes, as the only road by which the +perfect could be reached. + +He denied the supernatural--the phantoms and the ghosts that fill +the twilight-land of fear. To him and for him there was but one +religion--the religion of pure thoughts, of noble words, of self-denying +deeds, of honest work for all the world--the religion of Help and Hope. + +Facts were the foundation of his faith; history was his prophet; reason +his guide; duty his deity; happiness the end; intelligence the means. + +He knew that man must be the providence of man. + +He did not believe in Religion and Science, but in the Religion of +Science--that is to say, wisdom glorified by love, the Savior of our +race--the religion that conquers prejudice and hatred, that drives all +superstition from the mind, that ennobles, lengthens and enriches life, +that drives from every home the wolves of want, from every heart the +fiends of selfishness and fear, and from every brain the monsters of the +night. + +He lived and labored for his fellow-men. He sided with the weak and poor +against the strong and rich. He welcomed light. His face was ever toward +the East. + +According to his light he lived. "The world was his country--to do good +his religion." There is no language to express a nobler creed than this; +nothing can be grander, more comprehensive, nearer perfect. This was the +creed that glorified his life and made his death sublime. + +He was afraid to do wrong, and for that reason was not afraid to die. + +He knew that the end was near. He knew that his work was done. He stood +within the twilight, within the deepening gloom, knowing that for the +last time the gold was fading from the West and that there could not +fall again within his eyes the trembling lustre of another dawn. He knew +that night had come, and yet his soul was filled with light, for in that +night the memory of his generous deeds shone out like stars. + +What can we say? What words can solve the mystery of life, the mystery +of death? What words can justly pay a tribute to the man who lived +to his ideal, who spoke his honest thought, and who was turned aside +neither by envy, nor hatred, nor contumely, nor slander, nor scorn, nor +fear? + +What words will do that life the justice that we know and feel? + +A heart breaks, a man dies, a leaf falls in the far forest, a babe is +born, and the great world sweeps on. + +By the grave of man stands the angel of Silence. + +No one can tell which is better--Life with its gleams and shadows, its +thrills and pangs, its ecstasy and tears, its wreaths and thorns, its +crowns, its glories and Golgothas, or Death, with its peace, its rest, +its cool and placid brow that hath within no memory or fear of grief or +pain. + +Farewell, dear friend. The world is better for your life--The world is +braver for your death. + +Farewell! We loved you living, and we love you now. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO MRS. MARY H. FISKE. + +At Scottish Rite Hall, New York, February 6, 1889. + + +MY FRIENDS: In the presence of the two great mysteries, Life and Death, +we are met to say above this still, unconscious house of clay, a few +words of kindness, of regret, of love, and hope. + +In this presence, let us speak of the goodness, the charity, the +generosity and the genius of the dead. + +Only flowers should be laid upon the tomb. In life's last pillow there +should be no thorns. + +Mary Fiske was like herself--she patterned after none. She was a genius, +and put her soul in all she did and wrote. She cared nothing for roads, +nothing for beaten paths, nothing for the footsteps of others--she went +across the fields and through the woods and by the winding streams, and +down the vales, or over crags, wherever fancy led. She wrote lines that +leaped with laughter and words that were wet with tears. She gave us +quaint thoughts, and sayings filled with the "pert and nimble spirit of +mirth." Her pages were flecked with sunshine and shadow, and in every +word were the pulse and breath of life. + +Her heart went out to all the wretched in this weary world--and yet she +seemed as joyous as though grief and death were nought but words. She +wept where others wept, but in her own misfortunes found the food of +hope. She cared for the to-morrow of others, but not for her own. She +lived for to-day. + +Some hearts are like a waveless pool, satisfied to hold the image of a +wondrous star--but hers was full of motion, life and light and storm. + +She longed for freedom. Every limitation was a prison's wall. Rules were +shackles, and forms were made for serfs and slaves. + +She gave her utmost thought. She praised all generous deeds; applauded +the struggling and even those who failed. + +She pitied the poor, the forsaken, the friendless. No one could fall +below her pity, no one could wander beyond the circumference of her +sympathy. To her there were no outcasts--they were victims. She knew +that the inhabitants of palaces and penitentiaries might change +places without adding to the injustice of the world. She knew that +circumstances and conditions determine character--that the lowest and +the worst of our race were children once, as pure as light, whose cheeks +dimpled with smiles beneath the heaven of a mother's eyes. She thought +of the road they had traveled, of the thorns that had pierced their +feet, of the deserts they had crossed, and so, instead of words of scorn +she gave the eager hand of help. + +No one appealed to her in vain. She listened to the story of the poor, +and all she had she gave. A god could do no more. + +The destitute and suffering turned naturally to her. The maimed and hurt +sought for her open door, and the helpless put their hands in hers. + +She shielded the weak--she attacked the strong. + +Her heart was open as the gates of day. She shed kindness as the sun +sheds light. If all her deeds were flowers, the air would be faint with +perfume. If all her charities could change to melodies, a symphony would +fill the sky. + +Mary Fiske had within her brain the divine fire called genius, and in +her heart the "touch of nature that makes the whole world kin." + +She wrote as a stream runs, that winds and babbles through the shadowy +fields, that falls in foam of flight and haste and laughing joins the +sea. + +A little while ago a babe was found--one that had been abandoned by +its mother--left as a legacy to chance or fate. The warm heart of Mary +Fiske, now cold in death, was touched. She took the waif and held it +lovingly to her breast and made the child her own. + +We pray thee, Mother Nature, that thou wilt take this woman and hold her +as tenderly in thy arms, as she held and pressed against her generous, +throbbing heart, the abandoned babe. + +We ask no more. + +In this presence, let us remember our faults, our frailties, and the +generous, helpful, self-denying, loving deeds of Mary Fiske. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO HORACE SEAVER. + +At Paine Hall, Boston, August 25, 1889. + + * The eulogy pronounced at the funeral of Horace Shaver In + Paine Hall last Sunday was the tribute of one great man to + another. To have Robert G. Ingersoll speak words of praise + above the silent form is fame; to deserve these words is + immortality.--The Boston Investigator, August 28, 1889. + + +HORACE SEAVER was a pioneer, a torch-bearer, a toiler in that great +field we call the world--a worker for his fellow-men. At the end of his +task he has fallen asleep, and we are met to tell the story of his long +and useful life--to pay our tribute to his work and worth. + +He was one who saw the dawn while others lived in night. He kept his +face toward the "purpling east" and watched the coming of the blessed +day. + +He always sought for light. His object was to know--to find a reason for +his faith--a fact on which to build. + +In superstition's sands he sought the gems of truth; in superstition's +night he looked for stars. + +Born in New England--reared amidst the cruel superstitions of his age +and time, he had the manhood and the courage to investigate, and he had +the goodness and the courage to tell his honest thoughts. + +He was always kind, and sought to win the confidence of men by sympathy +and love. There was no taint or touch of malice in his blood. To him +his fellows did not seem depraved--they were not wholly bad--there was +within the heart of each the seeds of good. He knew that back of every +thought and act were forces uncontrolled. He wisely said: "Circumstances +furnish the seeds of good and evil, and man is but the soil in which +they grow." Horace Seaver was crowned with the wreath of his own deeds, +woven by the generous hand of a noble friend. He fought the creed, and +loved the man. He pitied those who feared and shuddered at the thought +of death--who dwelt in darkness and in dread. + +The religion of his day filled his heart with horror. + +He was kind, compassionate, and tender, and could not fall upon his +knees before a cruel and revengeful God--he could not bow to one +who slew with famine, sword and fire--to one pitiless as pestilence, +relentless as the lightning stroke. Jehovah had no attribute that he +could love. + +He attacked the creed of New England--a creed that had within it +the ferocity of Knox, the malice of Calvin, the cruelty of Jonathan +Edwards--a religion that had a monster for a God--a religion whose +dogmas would have shocked cannibals feasting upon babes. + +Horace Seaver followed the light of his brain--the impulse of his heart. +He was attacked, but he answered the insulter with a smile; and even he +who coined malignant lies was treated as a friend misled. He did not +ask God to forgive his enemies--he forgave them himself. He was sincere. +Sincerity is the true and perfect mirror of the mind. It reflects the +honest thought. It is the foundation of character, and without it there +is no moral grandeur. + +Sacred are the lips from which has issued only truth. Over all wealth, +above all station, above the noble, the robed and crowned, rises the +sincere man. Happy is the man who neither paints nor patches, veils nor +veneers. Blessed is he who wears no mask. + +The man who lies before us wrapped in perfect peace, practiced no art to +hide or half conceal his thought. He did not write or speak the double +words that might be useful in retreat. He gave a truthful transcript of +his mind, and sought to make his meaning clear as light. + +To use his own words, he had "the courage which impels a man to do +his duty, to hold fast his integrity, to maintain a conscience void +of offence, at every hazard and at every sacrifice, in defiance of the +world." + +He lived to his ideal. He sought the approbation of himself. He did not +build his character upon the opinions of others, and it was out of the +very depths of his nature that he asked this profound question: + +"What is there in other men that makes us desire their approbation, and +fear their censure more than our own?" + +Horace Seaver was a good and loyal citizen of the mental republic--a +believer in, intellectual hospitality, one who knew that bigotry is +born of ignorance and fear--the provincialisms of the brain. He did +not belong to the tribe, or to the nation, but to the human race. His +sympathy was wide as want, and, like the sky, bent above the suffering +world. + +This man had that superb thing called moral courage--courage in its +highest form. He knew that his thoughts were not the thoughts of +others--that he was with the few, and that where one would take his +side, thousands would be his eager foes. He knew that wealth would +scorn and cultured ignorance deride, and that believers in the creeds, +buttressed by law and custom, would hurl the missiles of revenge and +hate. He knew that lies, like snakes, would fill the pathway of his +life--and yet he told his honest thought--told it without hatred and +without contempt--told it as it really was. And so, through all his +days, his heart was sound and stainless to the core. + +When he enlisted in the army whose banner is light, the honest +investigator was looked upon as lost and cursed, and even Christian +criminals held him in contempt. The believing embezzler, the orthodox +wife-beater, even the murderer, lifted his bloody hands and thanked God +that on his soul there was no stain of unbelief. + +In nearly every State of our Republic, the man who denied the +absurdities and impossibilities lying at the foundation of what is +called orthodox religion, was denied his civil rights. He was not +canopied by the ægis of the law. He stood beyond the reach of sympathy. +He was not allowed to testify against the invader of his home, the +seeker for his life--his lips were closed. He was declared dishonorable, +because he was honest. His unbelief made him a social leper, a pariah, +an outcast. He was the victim of religious hate and scorn. Arrayed +against him were all the prejudices and all the forces and hypocrisies +of society. All mistakes and lies were his enemies. Even the Theist was +denounced as a disturber of the peace, although he told his thoughts in +kind and candid words. He was called a blasphemer, because he sought to +rescue the reputation of his God from the slanders of orthodox priests. + +Such was the bigotry of the time, that natural love was lost. The +unbelieving son was hated by his pious sire, and even the mother's heart +was by her creed turned into stone. + +Horace Seaver pursued his way. He worked and wrought as best he could, +in solitude and want. He knew the day would come. He lived to be +rewarded for his toil--to see most of the laws repealed that had made +outcasts of the noblest, the wisest, and the best. He lived to see the +foremost preachers of the world attack the sacred creeds. He lived to +see the sciences released from superstition's clutch. He lived to see +the orthodox theologian take his place with the professor of the +black art, the fortune-teller, and the astrologer. He lived to see +the greatest of the world accept his thought--to see the theologian +displaced by the true priests of Nature--by Humboldt and Darwin, by +Huxley and Haeckel. + +Within the narrow compass of his life the world was changed. The +railway, the steamship, and the telegraph made all nations neighbors. +Countless inventions have made the luxuries of the past the necessities +of to-day. Life has been enriched, and man ennobled. The geologist has +read the records of frost and flame, of wind and wave--the astronomer +has told the story of the stars--the biologist has sought the germ of +life, and in every department of knowledge the torch of science sheds +its sacred light. + +The ancient creeds have grown absurd. The miracles are small and mean. +The inspired book is filled with fables told to please a childish world, +and the dogma of eternal pain now shocks the heart and brain. + +He lived to see a monument unveiled to Bruno in the city of Rome--to +Giordano Bruno--that great man who two hundred and eighty-nine years ago +suffered death for having proclaimed the truths that since have +filled the world with joy. He lived to see the victim of the church a +victor--lived to see his memory honored by a nation freed from papal +chains. + +He worked knowing what the end must be--expecting little while he +lived--but knowing that every fact in the wide universe was on his side. +He knew that truth can wait, and so he worked patient as eternity. + +He had the brain of a philosopher and the heart of a child. + +Horace Seaver was a man of common sense. + +By that I mean, one who knows the law of average. He denied the Bible, +not on account of what has been discovered in astronomy, or the length +of time it took to form the delta of the Nile--but he compared the +things he found with what he knew. + +He knew that antiquity added nothing to probability--that lapse of time +can never take the place of cause, and that the dust can never gather +thick enough upon mistakes to make them equal with the truth. + +He knew that the old, by no possibility, could have been more wonderful +than the new, and that the present is a perpetual torch by which we know +the past. + +To him all miracles were mistakes, whose parents were cunning and +credulity. He knew that miracles were not, because they are not. + +He believed in the sublime, unbroken, and eternal march of causes and +effects--denying the chaos of chance, and the caprice of power. + +He tested the past by the now, and judged of all the men and races of +the world by those he knew. + +He believed in the religion of free thought and good deed--of character, +of sincerity, of honest endeavor, of cheerful help--and above all, in +the religion of love and liberty--in a religion for every day--for +the world in which we live--for the present--the religion of roof and +raiment, of food, of intelligence, of intellectual hospitality--the +religion that gives health and happiness, freedom and content--in the +religion of work, and in the ceremonies of honest labor. + +He lived for this world; if there be another, he will live for that. + +He did what he could for the destruction of fear--the destruction of +the imaginary monster who rewards the few in heaven--the monster who +tortures the many in perdition. + +He was a friend of all the world, and sought to civilize the human race. + +For more than fifty years he labored to free the bodies and the souls +of men--and many thousands have read his words with joy. He sought the +suffering and oppressed. He sat by those in pain--and his helping hand +was laid in pity on the brow of death. + +He asked only to be treated as he treated others. He asked for only what +he earned, and had the manhood cheerfully to accept the consequences of +his actions. He expected no reward for the goodness of another. + +But he has lived his life. We should shed no tears except the tears of +gratitude. We should rejoice that he lived so long. + +In Nature's course, his time had come. The four seasons were complete +in him. The Spring could never come again. The measure of his years was +full. + +When the day is done--when the work of a life is finished--when the gold +of evening meets the dusk of night, beneath the silent stars the tired +laborer should fall asleep. To outlive usefulness is a double death. +"Let me not live after my flame lacks oil, to be the snuff of younger +spirits." + +When the old oak is visited in vain by Spring--when light and rain no +longer thrill--it is not well to stand leafless, desolate, and alone. It +is better far to fall where Nature softly covers all with woven moss and +creeping vine. + +How little, after all, we know of what is ill or well! How little of +this wondrous stream of cataracts and pools--this stream of life, that +rises in a world unknown, and flows to that mysterious sea whose shore +the foot of one who comes has never pressed! How little of this life we +know--this struggling ray of light 'twixt gloom and gloom--this strip of +land by verdure clad, between the unknown wastes--this throbbing moment +filled with love and pain--this dream that lies between the shadowy +shores of sleep and death! + +We stand upon this verge of crumbling time. We love, we hope, we +disappear. Again we mingle with the dust, and the "knot intrinsicate" +forever falls apart. + +But this we know: A noble life enriches all the world. + +Horace Seaver lived for others. He accepted toil and hope deferred. +Poverty was his portion. Like Socrates, he did not seek to adorn his +body, but rather his soul with the jewels of charity, modesty, courage, +and above all, with a love of liberty. + +Farewell, O brave and modest man! + +Your lips, between which truths burst into blossom, are forever closed. +Your loving heart has ceased to beat. Your busy brain is still, and from +your hand has dropped the sacred torch. + +Your noble, self-denying life has honored us, and we will honor you. + +You were my friend, and I was yours. Above your silent clay I pay this +tribute to your worth. + +Farewell! + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO LAWRENCE BARRETT. + +At the Broadway Theatre, New York, March 22, 1891. + + +MY heart tells me that on the threshold of my address it will be +appropriate for me to say a few words about the great actor who has +just fallen into that sleep that we call death. Lawrence Barrett was my +friend, and I was his. He was an interpreter of Shakespeare, to whose +creations he gave flesh and blood. He began at the foundation of his +profession, and rose until he stood next to his friend--next to one who +is regarded as the greatest tragedian of our time--next to Edwin Booth. + +The life of Lawrence Barrett was a success, because he honored himself +and added glory to the stage. + +He did not seek for gain by pandering to the thoughtless, ignorant or +base. He gave the drama in its highest and most serious form. He shunned +the questionable, the vulgar and impure, and gave the intellectual, +the pathetic, the manly and the tragic. He did not stoop to conquer--he +soared. He was fitted for the stage. He had a thoughtful face, a vibrant +voice and the pose of chivalry, and besides he had patience, industry, +courage and the genius of success. + +He was a graceful and striking Bassanio, a thoughtful Hamlet, an intense +Othello, a marvelous Harebell, and the best Cassius of his century. + +In the drama of human life, all are actors, and no one knows his part. +In this great play the scenes are shifted by unknown forces, and the +commencement, plot and end are still unknown--are still unguessed. One +by one the players leave the stage, and others take their places. There +is no pause--the play goes on. No prompter's voice is heard, and no one +has the slightest clue to what the next scene is to be. + +Will this great drama have an end? Will the curtain fall at last? Will +it rise again upon some other stage? Reason says perhaps, and Hope still +whispers yes. Sadly I bid my friend farewell, I admired the actor, and I +loved the man. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO WALT WHITMAN. + +Camden, N. J., March 30, 1892. + +MY FRIENDS: Again we, in the mystery of Life, are brought face to face +with the mystery of Death. A great man, a great American, the most +eminent citizen of this Republic, lies dead before us, and we have met +to pay a tribute to his greatness and his worth. + +I know he needs no words of mine. His fame is secure. He laid the +foundations of it deep in the human heart and brain. He was, above all +I have known, the poet of humanity, of sympathy. He was so great that he +rose above the greatest that he met without arrogance, and so great +that he stooped to the lowest without conscious condescension. He never +claimed to be lower or greater than any of the sous of men. + +He came into our generation a free, untrammeled spirit, with sympathy +for all. His arm was beneath the form of the sick. He sympathized with +the imprisoned and despised, and even on the brow of crime he was great +enough to place the kiss of human sympathy. + +One of the greatest lines in our literature is his, and the line is +great enough to do honor to the greatest genius that has ever lived. +He said, speaking of an outcast: "Not till the sun excludes you do I +exclude you." + +His charity was as wide as the sky, and wherever there was human +suffering, human misfortune, the sympathy of Whitman bent above it as +the firmament bends above the earth. + +He was built on a broad and splendid plan--ample, without appearing to +have limitations--passing easily for a brother of mountains and seas and +constellations; caring nothing for the little maps and charts with which +timid pilots hug the shore, but giving himself freely with recklessness +of genius to winds and waves and tides; caring for nothing as long as +the stars were above him. He walked among men, among writers, among +verbal varnishers and veneerers, among literary milliners and tailors, +with the unconscious majesty of an antique god. + +He was the poet of that divine democracy which gives equal rights to +all the sons and daughters of men. He uttered the great American voice; +uttered a song worthy of the great Republic. No man ever said more +for the rights of humanity, more in favor of real democracy, of real +justice. He neither scorned nor cringed, was neither tyrant nor slave. +He asked only to stand the equal of his fellows beneath the great flag +of nature, the blue and stars. + +He was the poet of Life. It was a joy simply to breathe. He loved the +clouds; he enjoyed the breath of morning, the twilight, the wind, the +winding streams. He loved to look at the sea when the waves burst into +the whitecaps of joy. He loved the fields, the hills; he was acquainted +with the trees, with birds, with all the beautiful objects of the earth. +He not only saw these objects, but understood their meaning, and he used +them that he might exhibit his heart to his fellow-men. + +He was the poet of Love. He was not ashamed of that divine passion that +has built every home in the world; that divine passion that has painted +every picture and given us every real work of art; that divine passion +that has made the world worth living in and has given some value to +human life. + +He was the poet of the natural, and taught men not to be ashamed of that +which is natural. He was not only the poet of democracy, not only the +poet of the great Republic, but he was the poet of the human race. He +was not confined to the limits of this country, but his sympathy went +out over the seas to all the nations of the earth. + +He stretched out his hand and felt himself the equal of all kings and of +all princes, and the brother of all men, no matter how high, no matter +how low. + +He has uttered more supreme words than any writer of our century, +possibly of almost any other. He was, above all things, a man, and above +genius, above all the snow-capped peaks of intelligence, above all art, +rises the true man. Greater than all is the true man, and he walked +among his fellow-men as such. + +He was the poet of Death. He accepted all life and all death, and he +justified all. He had the courage to meet all, and was great enough and +splendid enough to harmonize all and to accept all there is of life as a +divine melody. + +You know better than I what his life has been, but let me say one +thing. Knowing, as he did, what others can know and what they cannot, +he accepted and absorbed all theories, all creeds, all religions, and +believed in none. His philosophy was a sky that embraced all clouds and +accounted for all clouds. He had a philosophy and a religion of his own, +broader, as he believed--and as I believe--than others. He accepted all, +he understood all, and he was above all. + +He was absolutely true to himself. He had frankness and courage, and he +was as candid as light. He was willing that all the sons of men should +be absolutely acquainted with his heart and brain. He had nothing to +conceal. Frank, candid, pure, serene, noble, and yet for years he was +maligned and slandered, simply because he had the candor of nature. +He will be understood yet, and that for which he was condemned--his +frankness, his candor--will add to the glory and greatness of his fame. + +He wrote a liturgy for mankind; he wrote a great and splendid psalm of +life, and he gave to us the gospel of humanity--the greatest gospel that +can be preached. + +He was not afraid to live, not afraid to die. For many years he and +death were near neighbors. He was always willing and ready to meet +and greet this king called death, and for many months he sat in the +deepening twilight waiting for the night, waiting for the light. + +He never lost his hope. When the mists filled the valleys, he looked +upon the mountain tops, and when the mountains in darkness disappeared, +he fixed his gaze upon the stars. + +In his brain were the blessed memories of the day, and in his heart were +mingled the dawn and dusk of life. + +He was not afraid; he was cheerful every moment. The laughing nymphs of +day did not desert him. They remained that they might clasp the hands +and greet with smiles the veiled and silent sisters of the night. And +when they did come, Walt Whitman stretched his hand to them. On one side +were the nymphs of the day, and on the other the silent sisters of the +night, and so, hand in hand, between smiles and tears, he reached his +journey's end. + +From the frontier of life, from the western wave-kissed shore, he +sent us messages of content and hope, and these messages seem now like +strains of music blown by the "Mystic Trumpeter" from Death's pale +realm. + +To-day we give back to Mother Nature, to her clasp and kiss, one of the +bravest, sweetest souls that ever lived in human clay. + +Charitable as the air and generous as Nature, he was negligent of all +except to do and say what he believed he should do and should say. + +And I to-day thank him, not only for you but for myself, for all the +brave words he has uttered. I thank him for all the great and splendid +words lie has said in favor of liberty, in favor of man and woman, in +favor of motherhood, in favor of fathers, in favor of children, and I +thank him for the brave words that he has said of death. + +He has lived, he has died, and death is less terrible than it was +before. Thousands and millions will walk down into the "dark valley of +the shadow" holding Walt Whitman by the hand. Long after we are dead the +brave words he has spoken will sound like trumpets to the dying. + +And so I lay this little wreath upon this great mans tomb. I loved him +living, and I love him still. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO PHILO D. BECKWITH. + +Dowagiac, Mich., January 25, 1893. + + +LADIES and Gentlemen: Nothing is nobler than to plant the flower of +gratitude on the grave of a generous man--of one who labored for the +good of all--whose hands were open and whose heart was full. + +Praise for the noble dead is an inspiration for the noble living. + +Loving words sow seeds of love in every gentle heart. Appreciation is +the soil and climate of good and generous deeds. + +We are met to-night not to pay, but to acknowledge a debt of gratitude +to one who lived and labored here--who was the friend of all and who for +many years was the providence of the poor. To one who left to those who +knew him best, the memory of countless loving deeds--the richest legacy +that man can leave to man. + +We are here to dedicate this monument to the stainless memory of Philo +D. Beckwith--one of the kings of men. + +This monument--this perfect theatre--this beautiful house of +cheerfulness and joy--this home and child of all the arts--this temple +where the architect, the sculptor and painter united to build and +decorate a stage whereon the drama with a thousand tongues will tell +the frailties and the virtues of the human race, and music with her +thrilling voice will touch the source of happy tears. + +This is a fitting monument to the man whose memory we honor--to one, +who broadening with the years, outgrew the cruel creeds, the heartless +dogmas of his time--to one who passed from superstition to science--from +religion to reason--from theology to humanity--from slavery to +freedom--from the shadow of fear to the blessed light of love and +courage. To one who believed in intellectual hospitality--in the perfect +freedom of the soul, and hated tyranny, in every form, with all his +heart. + +To one whose head and hands were in partnership constituting the firm +of Intelligence and Industry, and whose heart divided the profits with +his fellow-men. To one who fought the battle of life alone, without the +aid of place or wealth, and yet grew nobler and gentler with success. + +To one who tried to make a heaven here and who believed in the blessed +gospel of cheerfulness and love--of happiness and hope. + +And it is fitting, too, that this monument should be adorned with the +sublime faces, wrought in stone, of the immortal dead--of those who +battled for the rights of man--who broke the fetters of the slave--of +those who filled the minds of men with poetry, art, and light--of +Voltaire, who abolished torture in France and who did more for liberty +than any other of the sons of men--of Thomas Paine, whose pen did as +much as any sword to make the New World free--of Victor Hugo, who wept +for those who weep--of Emerson, a worshiper of the Ideal, who filled +the mind with suggestions of the perfect--of Goethe, the +poet-philosopher--of Whitman, the ample, wide as the sky--author of the +tenderest, the most pathetic, the sublimest poem that this continent has +produced--of Shakespeare, the King of all--of Beethoven, the divine,--of +Chopin and Verdi and of Wagner, grandest of them all, whose music +satisfies the heart and brain and fills imagination's sky--of George +Eliot, who wove within her brain the purple robe her genius wears--of +George Sand, subtle and sincere, passionate and free--and with +these--faces of those who, on the stage, have made the mimic world as +real as life and death. + +Beneath the loftiest monuments may be found ambition's worthless dust, +while those who lived the loftiest lives are sleeping now in unknown +graves. + +It may be that the bravest of the brave who ever fell upon the field of +ruthless war, was left without a grave to mingle slowly with the land he +saved. + +But here and now the Man and Monument agree, and blend like sounds that +meet and melt in melody--a monument for the dead--a blessing for the +living--a memory of tears--a prophecy of joy. + +Fortunate the people where this good man lived, for they are all his +heirs--and fortunate for me that I have had the privilege of laying this +little laurel leaf upon his unstained brow. + +And now, speaking for those he loved--for those who represent the +honored dead--I dedicate this home of mirth and song--of poetry and +art--to the memory of Philo D. Beckwith--a true philosopher--a real +philanthropist. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO ANTON SEIDL. + + A telegram read at the funeral services in the Metropolitan + Opera House, New York City, March 31, 1898. + +IN the noon and zenith of his career, in the flush and glory of success, +Anton Seidl, the greatest orchestral leader of all time, the perfect +interpreter of Wagner, of all his subtlety and sympathy, his heroism and +grandeur, his intensity and limitless passion, his wondrous harmonies +that tell of all there is in life, and touch the longings and the hopes +of every heart, has passed from the shores of sound to the realm of +silence, borne by the mysterious and resistless tide that ever ebbs but +never flows. + +All moods were his. Delicate as the perfume of the first violet, wild as +the storm, he knew the music of all sounds, from the rustle of leaves, +the whisper of hidden springs, to the voices of the sea. + +He was the master of music, from the rhythmical strains of irresponsible +joy to the sob of the funeral march. + +He stood like a king with his sceptre in his hand, and we knew that +every tone and harmony were in his brain, every passion in his breast, +and yet his sculptured face was as calm, as serene as perfect art. He +mingled his soul with the music and gave his heart to the enchanted air. + +He appeared to have no limitations, no walls, no chains. He seemed to +follow the pathway of desire, and the marvelous melodies, the sublime +harmonies, were as free as eagles above the clouds with outstretched +wings. + +He educated, refined, and gave unspeakable joy to many thousands of his +fellow-men. He added to the grace and glory of life. He spoke a language +deeper, more poetic than words--the language of the perfect, the +language of love and death. + +But he is voiceless now; a fountain of harmony has ceased. Its inspired +strains have died away in night, and all its murmuring melodies are +strangely still. + +We will mourn for him, we will honor him, not in words, but in the +language that he used. + +Anton Seidl is dead. Play the great funeral march. Envelop him in music. +Let its wailing waves cover him. Let its wild and mournful winds sigh +and moan above him. Give his face to its kisses and its tears. + +Play the great funeral march, music as profound as death. That will +express our sorrow--that will voice our love, our hope, and that will +tell of the life, the triumph, the genius, the death of Anton Seidl. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO DR. THOMAS SETON ROBERTSON. + +New York September 8, 1898. + + +IN the pulseless hush of death, silence seems more expressive, more +appropriate--than speech. In the presence of the Great Mystery, the +great mystery that waits to enshroud us all, we feel the uselessness of +words. But where a fellow-mortal has reached his journey's end--where +the darkness from which he emerged has received him again, it is but +natural for his friends to mingle with their grief, expressions of their +love and loss. + +He who lies before us in the sleep of death was generous to his +fellow-men. His hands were always stretched to help, to save. He pitied +the friendless, the unfortunate, the hopeless--proud of his skill--of +his success. He was quick to decide--to act--prompt, tireless, forgetful +of self. He lengthened life and conquered pain--hundreds are well and +happy now because he lived. This is enough. This puts a star above the +gloom of death. + +He was sensitive to the last degree--quick to feel a slight--to resent +a wrong--but in the warmth of kindness the thorn of hatred blossomed. He +was not quite fashioned for this world. The flints and thorns on life's +highway bruised and pierced his flesh, and for his wounds he did +not have the blessed balm of patience. He felt the manacles, the +limitations--the imprisonments of life and so within the walls and bars +he wore his very soul away. He could not bear the storms. The tides, +the winds, the waves, in the morning of his life, dashed his frail bark +against the rocks. + +He fought as best he could, and that he failed was not his fault. + +He was honest, generous and courageous. These three great virtues were +his. He was a true and steadfast friend, seeing only the goodness of the +ones he loved. Only a great and noble heart is capable of this. + +But he has passed beyond the reach of praise or blame--passed to the +realm of rest--to the waveless calm of perfect peace. + +The storm is spent--the winds are hushed--the waves have died along the +shore--the tides are still--the aching heart has ceased to beat, and +within the brain all thoughts, all hopes and fears--ambitions, memories, +rejoicings and regrets--all images and pictures of the world, of +life, are now as though they had not been. And yet Hope, the child of +Love--the deathless, beyond the darkness sees the dawn. And we who knew +and loved him, we, who now perform the last sad rites--the last that +friendship can suggest--"will keep his memory green." + +Dear Friend, farewell! "If we do meet again we shall smile indeed--if +not, this parting is well made." Farewell! + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO THOMAS CORWIN. + +Lebanon, Ohio, March 5, 1899. + + * An Impromptu preface to Colonel Ingersoll's lecture at + Lebanon, Ohio. + + +LADIES and Gentlemen: Being for the first time where Thomas Corwin lived +and where his ashes rest, I cannot refrain from saying something of +what I feel. Thomas Corwin was a natural orator--armed with the sword of +attack and the shield of defence. + +Nature filled his quiver with perfect arrows. He was the lord of logic +and laughter. He had the presence, the pose, the voice, the face +that mirrored thoughts, the unconscious gesture of the orator. He had +intelligence--a wide horizon--logic as unerring as mathematics--humor as +rich as autumn when the boughs and vines bend with the weight of ripened +fruit, while the forests flame with scarlet, brown and gold. He had wit +as quick and sharp as lightning, and like the lightning it filled the +heavens with sudden light. + +In his laughter there was logic, in his wit wisdom, and in his humor +philosophy and philanthropy. He was a supreme artist. He painted +pictures with words. He knew the strength, the velocity of verbs, the +color, the light and shade of adjectives. + +He was a sculptor in speech--changing stones to statues. He had in +his heart the sacred something that we call sympathy. He pitied the +unfortunate, the oppressed and the outcast His words were often wet +with tears--tears that in a moment after were glorified by the light of +smiles. All moods were his. He knew the heart, its tides and currents, +its calms and storms, and like a skillful pilot he sailed emotion's +troubled sea. He was neither solemn nor dignified, because he was +neither stupid nor egotistic. He was natural, and had the spontaneity +of winds and waves. He was the greatest orator of his time, the grandest +that ever stood beneath our flag. Reverently I lay this leaf upon his +grave. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO ISAAC H. BAILEY. + +New York, March 27, 1899. + + +MY FRIENDS: When one whom we hold dear has reached the end of life and +laid his burden down, it is but natural for us, his friends, to pay the +tribute of respect and love; to tell his virtues, to express our sense +of loss and speak above the sculptured clay some word of hope. + +Our friend, about whose bier we stand, was in the highest, noblest sense +a man. He was not born to wealth--he was his own providence, his own +teacher. With him work was worship and labor was his only prayer. He +depended on himself, and was as independent as it is possible for man to +be. He hated debt, and obligation was a chain that scarred his flesh. He +lived a long and useful life. In age he reaped with joy what he had cown +in youth. He did not linger "until his flame lacked oil," but with his +senses keen, his mind undimmed, and with his arms filled with gathered +sheaves, in an instant, painlessly, unconsciously, he passed from +happiness and health to the realm of perfect peace. We need not mourn +for him, but for ourselves, for those he loved. + +He was an absolutely honest man--a man who kept his word, who fulfilled +his contracts, gave heaped and rounded measure and discharged all +obligations with the fabled chivalry of ancient knights. He was +absolutely honest, not only with others but with himself. To his last +moment his soul was stainless. He was true to his ideal--true to his +thought, and what his brain conceived his lips expressed. He refused to +pretend. He knew that to believe without evidence was impossible to +the sound and sane, and that to say you believed when you did not, was +possible only to the hypocrite or coward. He did not believe in the +supernatural. He was a natural man and lived a natural life. He had no +fear of fiends. He cared nothing for the guesses of inspired savages; +nothing for the threats or promises of the sainted and insane. + +He enjoyed this life--the good things of this world--the clasp and +smile of friendship, the exchange of generous deeds, the reasonable +gratification of the senses--of the wants of the body and mind. He was +neither an insane ascetic nor a fool of pleasure, but walked the +golden path along the strip of verdure that lies between the deserts of +extremes. + +With him to do right was not simply a duty, it was a pleasure. He had +philosophy enough to know that the quality of actions depends upon +their consequences, and that these consequences are the rewards and +punishments that no God can give, inflict, withhold or pardon. + +He loved his country, he was proud of the heroic past, dissatisfied +with the present, and confident of the future. He stood on the rock +of principle. With him the wisest policy was to do right. He would not +compromise with wrong. He had no respect for political failures who +became reformers and decorated fraud with the pretence of philanthropy, +or sought to gain some private end in the name of public good. He +despised time-servers, trimmers, fawners and all sorts and kinds of +pretenders. + +He believed in national honesty; in the preservation of public faith. +He believed that the Government should discharge every obligation--the +implied as faithfully as the expressed. And I would be unjust to his +memory if I did not say that he believed in honest money, in the best +money in the world, in pure gold, and that he despised with all his +heart financial frauds, and regarded fifty cents that pretended to be a +dollar, as he would a thief in the uniform of a policeman, or a criminal +in the robe of a judge. + +He believed in liberty, and liberty for all. He pitied the slave and +hated the master; that is to say, he was an honest man. In the dark days +of the Rebellion he stood for the right. He loved Lincoln with all his +heart--loved him for his genius, his courage and his goodness. He +loved Conkling--loved him for his independence, his manhood, for his +unwavering courage, and because he would not bow or bend--loved him +because he accepted defeat with the pride of a victor. He loved Grant, +and in the temple of his heart, over the altar, in the highest niche, +stood the great soldier. + +Nature was kind to our friend. She gave him the blessed gift of humor. +This filled his days with the climate of Autumn, so that to him even +disaster had its sunny side. On account of his humor he appreciated and +enjoyed the great literature of the world. He loved Shakespeare, his +clowns and heroes. He appreciated and enjoyed Dickens. The characters of +this great novelist were his acquaintances. He knew them all; some were +his friends and some he dearly loved. He had wit of the keenest +and quickest. The instant the steel of his logic smote the flint of +absurdity the spark glittered. And yet, his wit was always kind. +The flower went with the thorn. The targets of his wit were not made +enemies, but admirers. + +He was social, and after the feast of serious conversation he loved the +wine of wit--the dessert of a good story that blossomed into mirth. He +enjoyed games--was delighted by the relations of chance--the curious +combinations of accident. He had the genius of friendship. In his nature +there was no suspicion. He could not be poisoned against a friend. +The arrows of slander never pierced the shield of his confidence. He +demanded demonstration. He defended a friend as he defended himself. +Against all comers he stood firm, and he never deserted the field until +the friend had fled. I have known many, many friends--have clasped the +hands of many that I loved, but in the journey of my life I have never +grasped the hand of a better, truer, more unselfish friend than he who +lies before us clothed in the perfect peace of death. He loved me living +and I love him now. + +In youth we front the sun; we live in light without a fear, without a +thought of dusk or night. We glory in excess. There is no dread of loss +when all is growth and gain. With reckless hands we spend and waste and +chide the flying hours for loitering by the way. + +The future holds the fruit of joy; the present keeps us from the feast, +and so, with hurrying feet we climb the heights and upward look with +eager eyes. But when the sun begins to sink and shadows fall in front, +and lengthen on the path, then falls upon the heart a sense of loss, and +then we hoard the shreds and crumbs and vainly long for what was cast +away. And then with miser care we save and spread thin hands before +December's half-fed flickering flames, while through the glass of time +we moaning watch the few remaining grains of sand that hasten to their +end. In the gathering gloom the fires slowly die, while memory dreams of +youth, and hope sometimes mistakes the glow of ashes for the coming of +another morn. + +But our friend was an exception. He lived in the present; he enjoyed +the sunshine of to-day. Although his feet had touched the limit of +four-score, he had not reached the time to stop, to turn and think: +about the traveled road. He was still full of life and hope, and had the +interest of youth in all the affairs of men. + +He had no fear of the future--no dread. He was ready for the end. I have +often heard him repeat the words of Epicurus: "Why should I fear death? +If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that +which cannot exist when I do?" + +If there is, beyond the veil, beyond the night called death, another +world to which men carry all the failures and the triumphs of this life; +if above and over all there be a God who loves the right, an honest man +has naught to fear. If there be another world in which sincerity is a +virtue, in which fidelity is loved and courage honored, then all is well +with the dear friend whom we have lost. + +But if the grave ends all; if all that was our friend is dead, the +world is better for the life he lived. Beyond the tomb we cannot see. We +listen, but from the lips of mystery there comes no word. Darkness and +silence brooding over all. And yet, because we love we hope. Farewell! +And yet again, Farewell! + +And will there, sometime, be another world? We have our dream. The idea +of immortality, that like a sea has ebbed and flowed in the human heart, +beating with its countless waves against the sands and rocks of time +and fate, was not born of any book or of any creed. It was born of +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. +We have our dream! + + + + +JESUS CHRIST. + + * An unfinished lecture which Colonel Ingersoll commenced a + few days before his death. + + +FOR many centuries and by many millions of people, Christ has been +worshiped as God. Millions and millions of eulogies on his character +have been pronounced by priest and layman, in all of which his praises +were measured only by the limitations of language--words were regarded +as insufficient to paint his perfections. + +In his praise it was impossible to be extravagant. Sculptor, poet and +painter exhausted their genius in the portrayal of the peasant, who was +in fact the creator of all worlds. + +His wisdom excited the wonder, his sufferings the pity and his +resurrection and ascension the astonishment of the world. + +He was regarded as perfect man and infinite God. It was believed that +in the gospels was found the perfect history of his life, his words and +works, his death, his triumph over the grave and his return to heaven. +For many centuries his perfection, his divinity--have been defended by +sword and fire. + +By the altar was the scaffold--in the cathedral, the dungeon--the +chamber of torture. + +The story of Christ was told by mothers to their babes. For the most +part his story was the beginning and end of education. It was wicked to +doubt--infamous to deny. + +Heaven was the reward for belief and hell the destination of the denier. + +All the forces of what we call society, were directed against +investigation. Every avenue to the mind was closed. On all the highways +of thought, Christians placed posts and boards, and on the boards were +the words "No Thoroughfare," "No Crossing." The windows of the soul +were darkened--the doors were barred. Light was regarded as the enemy of +mankind. + +During these Christian years faith was rewarded with position, +wealth and power. Faith was the path to fame and honor. The man who +investigated was the enemy, the assassin of souls. The creed was +barricaded on every side, above it were the glories of heaven--below +were the agonies of hell. The soldiers of the cross were strangers to +pity. Only traitors to God were shocked by the murder of an unbeliever. +The true Christian was a savage. His virtues were ferocious, and +compared with his vices were beneficent. The drunkard was a better +citizen than the saint. The libertine and prostitute were far nearer +human, nearer moral, than those who pleased God by persecuting their +fellows. + +The man who thought, and expressed his thoughts, died in a dungeon--on +the scaffold or in flames. + +The sincere Christian was insane. His one object was to save his soul. +He despised all the pleasures of sense. He believed that his nature was +depraved and that his desires were wicked. + +He fasted and prayed--deserted his wife and children--inflicted tortures +on himself and sought by pain endured to gain the crown. * * * + + + + +LIFE. + + * Written for Mr. Harrison Grey Fiske, editor of The New + York Dramatic Mirror, December 18,1886. + + +BORN of love and hope, of ecstasy and pain, of agony and fear, of tears +and joy--dowered with the wealth of two united hearts--held in happy +arms, with lips upon life's drifted font, blue-veined and fair, where +perfect peace finds perfect form--rocked by willing feet and wooed to +shadowy shores of sleep by siren mother singing soft and low--looking +with wonder's wide and startled eyes at common things of life and +day--taught by want and wish and contact with the things that touch the +dimpled flesh of babes--lured by light and flame, and charmed by color's +wondrous robes--learning the use of hands and feet, and by the love +of mimicry beguiled to utter speech--releasing prisoned thoughts from +crabbed and curious marks on soiled and tattered leaves--puzzling the +brain with crooked numbers and their changing, tangled worth--and so +through years of alternating day and night, until the captive grows +familiar with the chains and walls and limitations of a life. + +And time runs on in sun and shade, until the one of all the world is +wooed and won, and all the lore of love is taught and learned again. +Again a home is built with the fair chamber wherein faint dreams, like +cool and shadowy vales, divide the billowed hours of love. Again the +miracle of a birth--the pain and joy, the kiss of welcome and the +cradle-song drowning the drowsy prattle of a babe. + +And then the sense of obligation and of wrong--pity for those who toil +and weep--tears for the imprisoned and despised--love for the generous +dead, and in the heart the rapture of a high resolve. + +And then ambition, with its lust of pelf and place and power, longing to +put upon its breast distinction's worthless badge. Then keener thoughts +of men, and eyes that see behind the smiling mask of craft--flattered no +more by the obsequious cringe of gain and greed--knowing the uselessness +of hoarded gold--of honor bought from those who charge the usury of +self-respect--of power that only bends a coward's knees and forces +from the lips of fear the lies of praise. Knowing at last the unstudied +gesture of esteem, the reverent eyes made rich with honest thought, and +holding high above all other things--high as hope's great throbbing star +above the darkness of the dead--the love of wife and child and friend. + +Then locks of gray, and growing love of other days and half-remembered +things--then holding withered hands of those who first held his, while +over dim and loving eyes death softly presses down the lids of rest. + +And so, locking in marriage vows his children's hands and crossing +others on the breasts of peace, with daughters' babes upon his knees, +the white hair mingling with the gold, he journeys on from day to day to +that horizon where the dusk is waiting for the night.--At last, sitting +by the holy hearth of home as evening's embers change from red to gray, +he falls asleep within the arms of her he worshiped and adored, feeling +upon his pallid lips love's last and holiest kiss. + +***** + +Fac-simile of the Last Letter written by Ingersoll + + +Urn Containing the Ashes of Ingersoll + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. +12 (of 12), by Robert G. Ingersoll + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF INGERSOLL *** + +***** This file should be named 38812-8.txt or 38812-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/8/1/38812/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Ingersoll, Vol. 12 (of 12) by Robert G. Ingersoll + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 12 +(of 12), by Robert G. Ingersoll + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 12 (of 12) + Dresden Edition--Miscellany + +Author: Robert G. Ingersoll + +Release Date: February 9, 2012 [EBook #38812] +Last Updated: November 15, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF INGERSOLL *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <a name="title" id="title"></a> + </p> + <h1> + THE WORKS OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Robert G. Ingersoll + </h2> + <h3> + "MY CREED IS THIS: HAPPINESS IS THE ONLY GOOD.<br /> THE PLACE TO BE HAPPY + IS HERE. THE TIME TO BE HAPPY<br /> IS NOW. THE WAY TO BE HAPPY IS TO HELP + MAKE OTHERS SO." + </h3> + <h4> + IN TWELVE VOLUMES, VOLUME XII. + </h4> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + MISCELLANY + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + 1900 + </h3> + <h3> + Dresden Edition + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto" cellpadding="4" border="3"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td> + <big><big><a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38812/old/orig38812-h/main.htm">This + file has been formatted in a very plain format for use with tablet + readers. Those wishing to view this eBook in its normal more + appealing format for laptops and other computers may click on this + line to to view the original HTML file.</a></big></big> + </td> + <td></td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img alt="titlepage (254K)" src="images/titlepage.png" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img alt="portrait (276K)" src="images/portrait.png" width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0001">PROF. VAN BUREN DENSLOW'S "MODERN THINKERS."</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkPREF1">PREFACE TO DR. EDGAR C. BEALL'S "THE BRAIN AND THE + BIBLE."</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkPREF2">PREFACE TO "MEN, WOMEN AND GODS."</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkPREF3">PREFACE TO "FOR HER DAILY BREAD."</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkPREF4">PREFACE TO "AGNOSTICISM AND OTHER ESSAYS."</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkPREF5">PREFACE TO "FAITH OR FACT."</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0007">THE GRANT BANQUET.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0008">THIRTEEN CLUB DINNER.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0009">ROBSON AND CRANE DINNER.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0010">THE POLICE CAPTAINS' DINNER.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0011">GENERAL GRANT'S BIRTHDAY DINNER</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0012">LOTOS CLUB DINNER, TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0013">MANHATTAN ATHLETIC CLUB DINNER.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0014">THE LIEDERKRANZ CLUB, SEIDL-STANTON BANQUET.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0015">THE FRANK B. CARPENTER DINNER.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0016">UNITARIAN CLUB DINNER.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0017">WESTERN SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BANQUET.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0018">LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF ANTON SEIDL.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0019">LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF REAR ADMIRAL SCHLEY.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0020">ADDRESS TO THE ACTORS' FUND OF AMERICA.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0021">THE CHILDREN OF THE STAGE.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0022">ADDRESS TO THE PRESS CLUB.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0023">THE CIRCULATION OF OBSCENE LITERATURE.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0024">CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL LIBERAL LEAGUE.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0025">CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN SECULAR UNION.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0026">THE RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0027">ORGANIZED CHARITIES.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0028">SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0029">OUR NEW POSSESSIONS.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0030">A FEW FRAGMENTS ON EXPANSION.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0031">IS IT EVER RIGHT FOR HUSBAND OR WIFE TO KILL RIVAL?</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0032">PROFESSOR BRIGGS.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0033">FRAGMENTS.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0034">EFFECT OF THE WORLD'S FAIR ON THE HUMAN RACE.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0035">SABBATH SUPERSTITION.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0036">A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE JACOB HOLYOAKE.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0037">AT THE GRAVE OF BENJAMIN W. PARKER.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0038">A TRIBUTE TO EBON C. INGERSOLL</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0039">A TRIBUTE TO THE REV. ALEXANDER CLARK.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0040">AT A CHILD'S GRAVE.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0041">A TRIBUTE TO JOHN G. MILLS.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0042">A TRIBUTE TO ELIZUR WRIGHT.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0043">A TRIBUTE TO MRS. IDA WHITING KNOWLES.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0044">A TRIBUTE TO HENRY WARD BEECHER.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0045">A TRIBUTE TO ROSCOE CONKLING.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0046">A TRIBUTE TO RICHARD H. WHITING.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0047">A TRIBUTE TO COURTLANDT PALMER.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0048">A TRIBUTE TO MRS. MARY H. FISKE.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0049">A TRIBUTE TO HORACE SEAVER.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0050">A TRIBUTE TO LAWRENCE BARRETT.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0051">A TRIBUTE TO WALT WHITMAN.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0052">A TRIBUTE TO PHILO D. BECKWITH.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0053">A TRIBUTE TO ANTON SEIDL.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0054">A TRIBUTE TO DR. THOMAS SETON ROBERTSON.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0055">A TRIBUTE TO THOMAS CORWIN.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0056">A TRIBUTE TO ISAAC H. BAILEY.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0057">JESUS CHRIST.</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link0058">LIFE.</a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link0001" id="link0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + PROF. VAN BUREN DENSLOW'S "MODERN THINKERS." + </h2> + <p> + IF others who read this book get as much information as I did from the + advance sheets, they will feel repaid a hundred times. It is perfectly + delightful to take advantage of the conscientious labors of those who go + through and through volume after volume, divide with infinite patience the + gold from the dross, and present us with the pure and shining coin. Such + men may be likened to bees who save us numberless journeys by giving us + the fruit of their own. + </p> + <p> + While this book will greatly add to the information of all who read it, it + may not increase the happiness of some to find that Swedenborg was really + insane. But when they remember that he was raised by a bishop, and + disappointed in love, they will cease to wonder at his mental condition. + Certainly an admixture of theology and "dis-prized love" is often + sufficient to compel reason to abdicate the throne of the mightiest soul. + </p> + <p> + The trouble with Swedenborg was that he changed realities into dreams, and + then out of the dreams made facts upon which he built, and with which he + constructed his system. + </p> + <p> + He regarded all realities as shadows cast by ideas. To him the material + was the unreal, and things were definitions of the ideas of God. He seemed + to think that he had made a discovery when he found that ideas were back + of words, and that language had a subjective as well as an objective + origin; that is that the interior meaning had been clothed upon. Of + course, a man capable of drawing the conclusion that natural reason cannot + harmonize with spiritual truth because in a dream, he had seen a beetle + that could not use its feet, is capable of any absurdity of which the + imagination can conceive. The fact is, that Swedenborg believed the Bible. + That was his misfortune. His mind had been overpowered by the bishop, but + the woman had not utterly destroyed his heart. He was shocked by the + liberal interpretation of the Scriptures, and sought to avoid the + difficulty by giving new meanings consistent with the decency and goodness + of God. He pointed out a way to preserve the old Bible with a new + interpretation. In this way Infidelity could be avoided; and, in his day, + that was almost a necessity. Had Swedenborg taken the ground that the + Bible was not inspired, the ears of the world would have been stopped. His + readers believed in the dogma of inspiration, and asked, not how to + destroy the Scriptures, but for some way in which they might be preserved. + He and his followers unconsciously rendered immense service to the cause + of intellectual enfranchisement by their efforts to show the necessity of + giving new meanings to the barbarous laws, and cruel orders of Jehovah. + For this purpose they attacked with great fury the literal text, taking + the ground that if the old interpretation was right, the Bible was the + work of savage men. They heightened in every way the absurdities, + cruelties and contradictions of the Scriptures for the purpose of showing + that a new interpretation must be found, and that the way pointed out by + Swedenborg was the only one by which the Bible could be saved. + </p> + <p> + Great men are, after all the instrumentalities of their time. The heart of + the civilized world was beginning to revolt at the cruelties ascribed to + God, and was seeking for some interpretation of the Bible that kind and + loving people could accept. The method of interpretation found by + Swedenborg was suitable for all. Each was permitted to construct his own + "science of correspondence" and gather such fruits as he might prefer. In + this way the ravings of revenge can instantly be changed to mercy's + melting tones, and murder's dagger to a smile of love. In this way and in + no other, can we explain the numberless mistakes and crimes ascribed to + God. Thousands of most excellent people, afraid to throw away the idea of + inspiration, hailed with joy a discovery that allowed them to write a + Bible for themselves. + </p> + <p> + But, whether Swedenborg was right or not, every man who reads a book, + necessarily gets from that book all that he is capable of receiving. Every + man who walks in the forest, or gathers a flower, or looks at a picture, + or stands by the sea, gets all the intellectual wealth he is capable of + receiving. What the forest, the flower, the picture or the sea is to him, + depends upon his mind, and upon the stage of development he has reached. + So that after all, the Bible must be a different book to each person who + reads it, as the revelations of nature depend upon the individual to whom + they are revealed, or by whom they are discovered. And the extent of the + revelation or discovery depends absolutely upon the intellectual and moral + development of the person to whom, or by whom, the revelation or discovery + is made. So that the Bible cannot be the same to any two people, but each + one must necessarily interpret it for himself. Now, the moment the + doctrine is established that we can give to this book such meanings as are + consistent with our highest ideals; that we can treat the old words as + purses or old stockings in which to put our gold, then, each one will, in + effect, make a new inspired Bible for himself, and throw the old away. If + his mind is narrow, if he has been raised by ignorance and nursed by fear, + he will believe in the literal truth of what he reads. If he has a little + courage he will doubt, and the doubt will with new interpretations modify + the literal text; but if his soul is free he will with scorn reject it + all. + </p> + <p> + Swedenborg did one thing for which I feel almost grateful. He gave an + account of having met John Calvin in hell. Nothing connected with the + supernatural could be more perfectly natural than this. The only thing + detracting from the value of this report is, that if there is a hell, we + know without visiting the place that John Calvin must be there. + </p> + <p> + All honest founders of religions have been the dreamers of dreams, the + sport of insanity, the prey of visions, the deceivers of others and of + themselves. All will admit that Swedenborg was a man of great intellect, + of vast acquirements and of honest intentions; and I think it equally + clear that upon one subject, at least, his mind was touched, shattered and + shaken. + </p> + <p> + Misled by analogies, imposed upon by the bishop, deceived by the woman, + borne to other worlds upon the wings of dreams, living in the twilight of + reason and the dawn of insanity, he regarded every fact as a patched and + ragged garment with a lining of the costliest silk, and insisted that the + wrong side, even of the silk, was far more beautiful than the right. + </p> + <p> + Herbert Spencer is almost the opposite of Swedenborg. He relies upon + evidence, upon demonstration, upon experience, and occupies himself with + one world at a time. He perceives that there is a mental horizon that we + cannot pierce, and that beyond that is the unknown—possibly the + unknowable. He endeavors to examine only that which is capable of being + examined, and considers the theological method as not only useless, but + hurtful. After all, God is but a guess, throned and established by + arrogance and assertion. Turning his attention to those things that have + in some way affected the condition of mankind, Spencer leaves the + unknowable to priests and to the believers in the "moral government" of + the world. He sees only natural causes and natural results, and seeks to + induce man to give up gazing into void and empty space, that he may give + his entire attention to the world in which he lives. He sees that right + and wrong do not depend upon the arbitrary will of even an infinite being, + but upon the nature of things; that they are relations, not entities, and + that they cannot exist, so far as we know, apart from human experience. + </p> + <p> + It may be that men will finally see that selfishness and self-sacrifice + are both mistakes; that the first devours itself; that the second is not + demanded by the good, and that the bad are unworthy of it. It may be that + our race has never been, and never will be, deserving of a martyr. + Sometime we may see that justice is the highest possible form of mercy and + love, and that all should not only be allowed, but compelled to reap + exactly what they sow; that industry should not support idleness, and that + they who waste the spring and summer and autumn of their lives should bear + the winter when it comes. The fortunate should assist the victims of + accident; the strong should defend the weak, and the intellectual should + lead, with loving hands, the mental poor; but Justice should remove the + bandage from her eyes long enough to distinguish between the vicious and + the unfortunate. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Spencer is wise enough to declare that "acts are called good or bad + according as they are well or ill adjusted to ends;" and he might have + added, that ends are good or bad according as they affect the happiness of + mankind. + </p> + <p> + It would be hard to over-estimate the influence of this great man. From an + immense intellectual elevation he has surveyed the world of thought. He + has rendered absurd the idea of special providence, born of the egotism of + savagery. He has shown that the "will of God" is not a rule for human + conduct; that morality is not a cold and heartless tyrant; that by the + destruction of the individual will, a higher life cannot be reached, and + that after all, an intelligent love of self extends the hand of help and + kindness to all the human race. + </p> + <p> + But had it not been for such men as Thomas Paine, Herbert Spencer could + not have existed for a century to come. Some one had to lead the way, to + raise the standard of revolt, and draw the sword of war. Thomas Paine was + a natural revolutionist. He was opposed to every government existing in + his day. Next to establishing a wise and just republic based upon the + equal rights of man, the best thing that can be done is to destroy a + monarchy. + </p> + <p> + Paine had a sense of justice, and had imagination enough to put himself in + the place of the oppressed. He had, also, what in these pages is so + felicitously expressed, "a haughty intellectual pride, and a willingness + to pit his individual thought against the clamor of a world." + </p> + <p> + I cannot believe that he wrote the letters of "Junius," although the two + critiques combined in this volume, entitled "Paine" and "Junius," make by + far the best argument upon that subject I have ever read. First, Paine + could have had no personal hatred against the men so bitterly assailed by + Junius. Second, He knew, at that time, but little of English politicians, + and certainly had never associated with men occupying the highest + positions, and could not have been personally acquainted with the leading + statesmen of England. Third., He was not an unjust man. He was neither a + coward, a calumniator, nor a sneak. All these delightful qualities must + have lovingly united in the character of Junius. Fourth, Paine could have + had no reason for keeping the secret after coming to America. + </p> + <p> + I have always believed that Junius, after having written his letters, + accepted office from the very men he had maligned, and at last became a + pensioner of the victims of his slander. "Had he as many mouths as Hydra, + such a course must have closed them all." Certainly the author must have + kept the secret to prevent the loss of his reputation. + </p> + <p> + It cannot be denied that the style of Junius is much like that of Paine. + Should it be established that Paine wrote the letters of Junius, it would + not, in my judgment, add to his reputation as a writer. Regarded as + literary efforts they cannot be compared with "Common Sense," "The + Crisis," or "The Rights of Man." + </p> + <p> + The claim that Paine was the real author of the Declaration of + Independence is much better founded. I am inclined to think that he + actually wrote it; but whether this is true or not, every idea contained + in it had been written by him long before. It is now claimed that the + original document is in Paine's handwriting. It certainly is not in + Jefferson's. Certain it is, that Jefferson could not have written anything + so manly, so striking, so comprehensive, so clear, so convincing, and so + faultless in rhetoric and rhythm as the Declaration of Independence. + </p> + <p> + Paine was the first man to write these words, "The United States of + America." He was the first great champion of absolute separation from + England. He was the first to urge the adoption of a Federal Constitution; + and, more clearly than any other man of his time, he perceived the future + greatness of this country. + </p> + <p> + He has been blamed for his attack on Washington. The truth is, he was in + prison in France. He had committed the crime of voting, against the + execution of the king It was the grandest act of his life, but at that + time to be merciful was criminal. Paine; being an American citizen, asked + Washington, then President, to say a word to Robespierre in his behalf. + Washington remained silent. In the calmness of power, the serenity, of + fortune, Washington the President, read the request of Paine, the + prisoner, and with the complacency of assured fame, consigned to the + wastebasket of forgetfulness the patriot's cry for help. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, + Wherein he puts alms for oblivion, + A great-sized monster of ingratitudes. + Those scraps are good deeds past, which are devour'd + As fast as they are made, forgot as soon + As done." +</pre> + <p> + In this controversy, my sympathies are with the prisoner. + </p> + <p> + Paine did more to free the mind, to destroy the power of ministers and + priests in the New World, than any other man. In order to answer his + arguments, the churches found it necessary to attack his character. There + was a general resort to falsehood. In trying to destroy the reputation of + Paine, the churches have demoralized themselves. Nearly every minister has + been a willing witness against the truth. Upon the grave of Thomas Paine, + the churches of America have sacrificed their honor. The influence of the + Hero author increases every day, and there are more copies of the "Age of + Reason" sold in the United States, than of any work written in defence of + the Christian religion. Hypocrisy, with its forked tongue, its envious and + malignant heart, lies coiled upon the memory of Paine, ready to fasten its + poisonous fangs in the reputation of any man who dares defend the great + and generous dead. + </p> + <p> + Leaving the dust and glory of revolutions, let us spend a moment of quiet + with Adam Smith. I was glad to find that a man's ideas upon the subject of + protection and free trade depend almost entirely upon the country in which + he lives, or the business in which he happens to be engaged, and that, + after all, each man regards the universe as a circumference of which he is + the center. It gratified me to learn that even Adam Smith was no exception + to this rule, and that he regarded all "protection as a hurtful and + ignorant interference," except when exercised for the good of Great + Britain. Owing to the fact that his nationality quarreled with his + philosophy, he succeeded in writing a book that is quoted with equal + satisfaction by both parties. The protectionists rely upon the exceptions + he made for England, and the free traders upon the doctrines laid down for + other countries. + </p> + <p> + He seems to have reasoned upon the question of money precisely as we have, + of late years, in the United States; and he has argued both sides equally + well. Poverty asks for inflation. Wealth is conservative, and always says + there is money enough. + </p> + <p> + Upon the question of money, this volume contains the best thing I have + ever read: "The only mode of procuring the service of others, on any large + scale, in the absence of money, is by force, which is slavery. Money, by + constituting a medium in which the smallest services can be paid for, + substitutes wages for the lash, and renders the liberty of the individual + consistent with the maintenance and support of society." There is more + philosophy in that one paragraph than Adam Smith expresses in his whole + work. It may truthfully be said, that without money, liberty is + impossible. No one, whatever his views may be, can read the article on + Adam Smith without profit and delight. + </p> + <p> + The discussion of the money question is in every respect admirable, and is + as candid as able. The world will sooner or later learn that there is + nothing miraculous in finance; that money is a real and tangible thing, a + product of labor, serving not merely as a medium of exchange but as a + basis of credit as well; that it cannot be created by an act of the + Legislature; that dreams cannot be coined, and that only labor, in some + form, can put, upon the hand of want, Alladin's magic ring. + </p> + <p> + Adam Smith wrote upon the wealth of nations, while Charles Fourier labored + for the happiness of mankind. In this country, few seem to understand + communism. While here, it may be regarded as vicious idleness, armed with + the assassin's knife and the incendiary's torch, in Europe, it is a + different thing. There, it is a reaction from Feudalism. Nobility is + communism in its worst possible form. Nothing can be worse than for + idleness to eat the bread of industry. Communism in Europe is not the + "stand and deliver" of the robber, but the protest of the robbed. + Centuries ago, kings and priests, that is to say, thieves and hypocrites, + divided Europe among themselves. Under this arrangement, the few were + masters and the many slaves. Nearly every government in the Old World + rests upon simple brute force. It is hard for the many to understand why + the few should own the soil. Neither can they clearly see why they should + give their brain and blood to those who steal their birthright and their + bread. It has occurred to them that they who do the most should not + receive the least, and that, after all, an industrious peasant is of far + more value to the world than a vain and idle king. + </p> + <p> + The Communists of France, blinded as they were, made the Republic + possible. Had they joined with their countrymen, the invaders would have + been repelled, and some Napoleon would still have occupied the throne. + Socialism perceives that Germany has been enslaved by victory, while + France found liberty in defeat. In Russia the Nihilists prefer chaos to + the government of the bayonet, Siberia and the knout, and these intrepid + men have kept upon the coast of despotism one beacon fire of hope. + </p> + <p> + As a matter of fact, every society is a species of communism—a kind + of co-operation in which selfishness, in spite of itself, benefits the + community. Every industrious man adds to the wealth, not only of his + nation, but to that of the world. Every inventor increases human power, + and every sculptor, painter and poet adds to the value of human life. + Fourier, touched by the sufferings of the poor as well as by the barren + joys of hoarded wealth, and discovering the vast advantages of combined + effort, and the immense economy of co-operation, sought to find some way + for men to help themselves by helping each other. He endeavored to do away + with monopoly and competition, and to ascertain some method by which the + sensuous, the moral, and the intellectual passions of man could be + gratified. + </p> + <p> + For my part I can place no confidence in any system that does away, or + tends to do away, with the institution of marriage. I can conceive of no + civilization of which the family must not be the unit. + </p> + <p> + Societies cannot be made; they must grow. Philosophers may predict, but + they cannot create. They may point out as many ways as they please; but + after all, humanity will travel in paths of its own. + </p> + <p> + Fourier sustained about the same relation to this world that Swedenborg + did to the other. There must be something wrong about the brain of one who + solemnly asserts that, "the elephant, the ox and the diamond, were created + by the sun; the horse, the lily and the ruby, by Saturn; the cow, the + jonquil and the topaz by Jupiter; and the dog, the violet and the opal + stones by the earth itself." + </p> + <p> + And yet, forgetting these aberrations of the mind, this lunacy of a great + and loving soul, for one, I hold in tender-est regard the memory of + Charles Fourier, one of the best and noblest of our race. + </p> + <p> + While Fourier was in his cradle, Jeremy Bentham, who read history when + three years old, played on the violin at five, "and at fifteen detected + the fallacies of Blackstone," was demonstrating that the good was the + useful; that a thing was right because it paid in the highest and best + sense; that utility was the basis of morals; that without allowing + interest to be paid upon money commerce could not exist; and that the + object of all human governments should be to secure the greatest happiness + of the greatest number. He read Hume and Helvetius, threw away the + Thirty-nine Articles, and endeavored to impress upon the English Law the + fact that its ancestor was a feudal savage. He held the past in contempt, + hated Westminster and despised Oxford. He combated the idea that + governments were originally founded on contract. Locke and Blackstone + talked as though men originally lived apart, and formed societies by + agreement. These writers probably imagined that at one time the trees were + separated like telegraph poles, and finally came together and made groves + by agreement. I believe that it was Pufendorf who said that slavery was + originally founded on contract. To which Voltaire replied:—"If my + lord Pufendorf will produce the original contract <i>signed by the party + who was to be the slave</i>, I will admit the truth of his statement." + </p> + <p> + A contract back of society is a myth manufactured by those in power to + serve as a title to place, and to impress the multitude with the idea that + they are, in some mysterious way, bound, fettered, and even benefited by + its terms. + </p> + <p> + The glory of Bentham is, that he gave the true basis of morals, and + furnished statesmen with the star and compass of this sentence:—"The + greatest happiness of the greatest number." + </p> + <p> + Most scientists have deferred to the theologians. They have admitted that + some questions could not, at present, be solved. These admissions have + been thankfully received by the clergy, who have always begged for some + curtain to be left, behind which their God could still exist. Men calling + themselves "scientific" have tried to harmonize the "apparent" + discrepancies between the Bible and the <i>other</i> works of Jehovah. In + this way they have made reputations. They were at once quoted by the + ministers as wonderful examples of piety and learning. These men + discounted the future that they might enjoy the ignorant praise of the + present. Agassiz preferred the applause of Boston, while he lived, to the + reverence of a world after he was dead. Small men appear great only when + they agree with the multitude. + </p> + <p> + The last Scientific Congress in America was opened with prayer. Think of a + science that depends upon the efficacy of words addressed to the Unknown + and Unknowable! + </p> + <p> + In our country, most of the so-called scientists are professors in + sectarian colleges, in which Moses is considered a geologist, and Joshua + an astronomer. For the most part their salaries depend upon the ingenuity + with which they can explain away facts and dodge demonstration. + </p> + <p> + The situation is about the same in England. When Mr. Huxley saw fit to + attack the Mosaic account of the creation, he did not deem it advisable to + say plainly what he meant. He attacked the account of creation as given by + Milton, although he knew that the Mosaic and Miltonic were substantially + the same. Science has acted like a guest without a wedding garment, and + has continually apologized for existing. In the presence of arrogant + absurdity, overawed by the patronizing airs of a successful charlatan, it + has played the role of a "poor relation," and accepted, while sitting + below the salt, insults as honors. + </p> + <p> + There can be no more pitiable sight than a scientist in the employ of + superstition dishonoring himself without assisting his master. But there + are a multitude of brave and tender men who give their honest thoughts, + who are true to nature, who give the facts and let consequences shirk for + themselves, who know the value and meaning of a truth, and who have + bravely tried the creeds by scientific tests. + </p> + <p> + Among the bravest, side by side with the greatest of the world, in + Germany, the land of science, stands Ernst Haeckel, who may be said to + have not only demonstrated the theories of Darwin, but the Monistic + conception of the world. Rejecting all the puerile ideas of a personal + Creator, he has had the courage to adopt the noble words of Bruno:—"A + spirit exists in all things, and no body is so small but it contains a + part of the divine substance within itself, by which it is animated." He + has endeavored—and I think with complete success—to show that + there is not, and never was, and never can be the <i>Creator</i> of + anything. There is no more a personal Creator than there is a personal + destroyer. Matter and force must have existed from eternity, all + generation must have been spontaneous, and the simplest organisms must + have been the ancestors of the most perfect and complex. + </p> + <p> + Haeckel is one of the bitterest enemies of the church, and is, therefore, + one of the bravest friends of man. + </p> + <p> + Catholicism was, at one time, the friend of education—of an + education sufficient to make a Catholic out of a barbarian. Protestantism + was also in favor of education—of an education sufficient to make a + Protestant out of a Catholic. But now, it having been demonstrated that + real education will make Freethinkers, Catholics and Protestants both are + the enemies of true learning. + </p> + <p> + In all countries where human beings are held in bondage, it is a crime to + teach a slave to read and write. Masters know that education is an + abolitionist, and theologians know that science is the deadly foe of every + creed in Christendom. + </p> + <p> + In the age of Faith, a personal god stood at the head of every department + of ignorance, and was supposed to be the King of kings, the rewarder and + punisher of individuals, and the governor of nations. + </p> + <p> + The worshipers of this god have always regarded the men in love with + simple facts, as Atheists in disguise. And it must be admitted that + nothing is more Atheistic than a fact. Pure science is necessarily + godless, It is incapable of worship. It investigates, and cannot afford to + shut its eyes even long enough to pray. There was a time when those who + disputed the divine right of kings were denounced as blasphemous; but the + time came when liberty demanded that a personal god should be retired from + politics. In our country this was substantially done in 1776, when our + fathers declared that all power to govern came from the consent of the + governed. The cloud-theory was abandoned, and one government has been + established for the benefit of mankind. Our fathers did not keep God out + of the Constitution from principle, but from jealousy. Each church, in + colonial times, preferred to live in single blessedness rather than see + some rival wedded to the state. Mutual hatred planted our tree of + religious liberty. A constitution without a god has at last given us a + nation without a slave. + </p> + <p> + A personal god sustains the same relation to religion as to politics. The + Deity is a master, and man a serf; and this relation is inconsistent with + true progress. The Universe ought to be a pure democracy—an infinite + republic without a tyrant and without a chain. + </p> + <p> + Auguste Comte endeavored to put humanity in the place of Jehovah, and no + conceivable change can be more desirable than this. This great man did + not, like some of his followers, put a mysterious something called law in + the place of God, which is simply giving the old master a new name. Law is + this side of phenomena, not the other. It is not the cause, neither is it + the result of phenomena. The fact of succession and resemblance, that is + to say, the same thing happening under the same conditions, is all we mean + by law. No one can conceive of a law existing apart from matter, or + controlling matter, any more than he can understand the eternal procession + of the Holy Ghost, or motion apart from substance. We are beginning to see + that law does not, and cannot exist as an entity, but that it is only a + conception of the mind to express the fact that the same entities, under + the same conditions, produce the same results. Law does not produce the + entities, the conditions, or the results, or even the sameness of the + results. Neither does it affect the relations of entities, nor the result + of such relations, but it stands simply for the fact that the same causes, + under the same conditions, eternally have produced and eternally will + produce the same results. + </p> + <p> + The metaphysicians are always giving us explanations of phenomena which + are as difficult to understand as the phenomena they seek to explain; and + the believers in God establish their dogmas by miracles, and then + substantiate the miracles by assertion. + </p> + <p> + The Designer of the teleologist, the First Cause of the religious + philosopher, the Vital Force of the biologist, and the law of the + half-orthodox scientist, are all the shadowy children of ignorance and + fear. + </p> + <p> + The Universe is all there is. It is both subject and object; contemplator + and contemplated; creator and created; destroyer and destroyed; preserver + and preserved; and within itself are all causes, modes, motions and + effects. + </p> + <p> + Unable in some things to rise above the superstitions of his day, Comte + adopted not only the machinery, but some of the prejudices, of + Catholicism. He made the mistake of Luther. He tried to reform the Church + of Rome. Destruction is the only reformation of which that church is + capable. Every religion is based upon a misconception, not only of the + cause of phenomena, but of the real object of life; that is to say, upon + falsehood; and the moment the truth is known and understood, these + religions must fall. In the field of thought, they are briers, thorns, and + noxious weeds; on the shores of intellectual discovery, they are sirens, + and in the forests that the brave thinkers are now penetrating, they are + the wild beasts, fanged and monstrous. + </p> + <p> + You cannot reform these weeds. Sirens cannot be changed into good + citizens; and such wild beasts, even when tamed, are of no possible use. + Destruction is the only remedy. Reformation is a hospital where the new + philosophy exhausts its strength nursing the old religion. + </p> + <p> + There was, in the brain of the great Frenchman, the dawn of that happy day + in which humanity will be the only religion, good the only god, happiness + the only object, restitution the only atonement, mistake the only sin, and + affection, guided by intelligence, the only savior of mankind. This dawn + enriched his poverty, illuminated the darkness of his life, peopled his + loneliness with the happy millions yet to be, and filled his eyes with + proud and tender tears. + </p> + <p> + A few years ago I asked the superintendent of Pere La Chaise if he knew + where I could find the tomb of Auguste Comte. He had never heard even the + name of the author of the "Positive Philosophy." I asked him if he had + ever heard of Napoleon Bonaparte. In a half-insulted tone, he replied, "Of + course I have, why do you ask me such a question?" "Simply," was my + answer, "that I might have the opportunity of saying, that when everything + connected with Napoleon, except his crimes, shall have been forgotten, + Auguste Comte will be lovingly remembered as a benefactor of the human + race." + </p> + <p> + The Jewish God must be dethroned! A personal Deity must go back to the + darkness of barbarism from whence he came. The theologians must abdicate, + and popes, priests, and clergymen, labeled as "extinct species," must + occupy the mental museums of the future. + </p> + <p> + In my judgment, this book, filled with original thought, will hasten the + coming of that blessed time. + </p> + <p> + Washington, D. C., Nov. 29,1879. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkPREF1" id="linkPREF1"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE TO DR. EDGAR C. BEALL'S "THE BRAIN AND THE BIBLE." + </h2> + <p> + THIS book, written by a brave and honest man, is filled with brave and + honest thoughts. The arguments it presents can not be answered by all the + theologians in the world. The author is convinced that the universe is + natural, that man is naturally produced, and that there is a necessary + relation between character and brain. He sees, and clearly sees, that the + theological explanation of phenomena is only a plausible absurdity, and, + at best, as great a mystery as it tries to solve. I thank the man who + breaks, or tries to break, the chains of custom, creed, and church, and + gives in plain, courageous words, the product of his brain. + </p> + <p> + It is almost impossible to investigate any subject without somewhere + touching the religious prejudices of ourselves or others. Most people + judge of the truth of a proposition by the consequences upon some + preconceived opinion. Certain things they take as truths, and with this + little standard in their minds, they measure all other theories. If the + new facts do not agree with the standard, they are instantly thrown away, + because it is much easier to dispose of the new facts than to reconstruct + an entire philosophy. + </p> + <p> + A few years ago, when men began to say that character could be determined + by the form, quantity, and quality of the brain, the religious world + rushed to the conclusion that this fact might destroy what they were + pleased to call the free moral agency of man. They admitted that all + things in the physical world were links in the infinite chain of causes + and effects, and that not one atom of the material universe could, by any + possibility, be entirely exempt from the action of every other. They + insisted that, if the motions of the spirit—the thoughts, dreams, + and conclusions of the brain, were as necessarily produced as stones and + stars, virtue became necessity, and morality the result of forces capable + of mathematical calculation. In other words, they insisted that, while + there were causes for all material phenomena, a something called the Will + sat enthroned above all law, and dominated the phenomena of the + intellectual world. They insisted that man was free; that he controlled + his brain; that he was responsible for thought as well as action; that the + intellectual world of each man was a universe in which his will was king. + They were afraid that phrenology might, in some way, interfere with the + scheme of salvation, or prevent the eternal torment of some erring soul. + </p> + <p> + It is insisted that man is free, and is responsible, because he knows + right from wrong. But the compass does not navigate the ship; neither does + it, in any way, of itself, determine the direction that is taken. When + winds and waves are too powerful, the compass is of no importance. The + pilot may read it correctly, and may know the direction the ship ought to + take, but the compass is not a force. So men, blown by the tempests of + passion, may have the intellectual conviction that they should go another + way; but, of what use, of what force, is the conviction? + </p> + <p> + Thousands of persons have gathered curious statistics for the purpose of + showing that man is absolutely dominated by his surroundings. By these + statistics is discovered what is called "the law of average." They show + that there are about so many suicides in London every year, so many + letters misdirected at Paris, so many men uniting themselves In marriage + with women older than themselves in Belgium, so many burglaries to one + murder in France, or so many persons driven insane by religion in the + United States. It is asserted that these facts conclusively show that man + is acted upon; that behind each thought, each dream, is the efficient + cause, and that the doctrine of moral responsibility has been destroyed by + statistics. + </p> + <p> + But, does the fact that about so many crimes are committed on the average, + in a given population, or that so many any things are done, prove that + there is no freedom in human action? + </p> + <p> + Suppose a population of ten thousand persons; and suppose, further, that + they are free, and that they have the usual wants of mankind. Is it not + reasonable to say that they would act in some way? They certainly would + take measures to obtain food, clothing, and shelter. If these people + differed in intellect, in surroundings, in temperament, in strength, it is + reasonable to suppose that all would not be equally successful. Under such + circumstances, may we not safely infer that, in a little while, if the + statistics were properly taken, a law of average would appear? In other + words, free people would act; and, being different in mind, body, and + circumstances, would not all act exactly alike. All would not be alike + acted upon. The deviations from what might be thought wise, or right, + would sustain such a relation to time and numbers that they could be + expressed by a law of average. + </p> + <p> + If this is true, the law of average does not establish necessity. + </p> + <p> + But, in my supposed case, the people, after all, are not free. They have + wants. They are under the necessity of feeding, clothing, and sheltering + themselves. To the extent of their actual wants, they are not free. Every + limitation is a master. Every finite being is a prisoner, and no man has + ever yet looked above or beyond the prison walls. + </p> + <p> + Our highest conception of liberty is to be free from the dictation of + fellow prisoners. + </p> + <p> + To the extent that we have wants, we are not free. To the extent that we + do not have wants, we do not act. + </p> + <p> + If we are responsible for our thoughts, we ought not only to know how they + are formed, but we ought to form them. If we are the masters of our own + minds, we ought to be able to tell what we are going to think at any + future time. Evidently, the food of thought—its very warp and woof—is + furnished through the medium of the senses. If we open our eyes, we cannot + help seeing. If we do not stop our ears, we cannot help hearing. If + anything touches us, we feel it. The heart beats in spite of us. The lungs + supply themselves with air without our knowledge. The blood pursues its + old accustomed rounds, and all our senses act without our leave. As the + heart beats, so the brain thinks. The will is not its king. As the blood + flows, as the lungs expand, as the eyes see, as the ears hear, as the + flesh is sensitive to touch, so the brain thinks. + </p> + <p> + I had a dream, in which I debated a question with a friend. I thought to + myself: "This is a dream, and yet I can not tell what my opponent is going + to say. Yet, if it is a dream, I am doing the thinking for both sides, and + therefore ought to know in advance what my friend will urge." But, in a + dream, there is some one who seems to talk to us. Our own brain tells us + news, and presents an unexpected thought. Is it not possible that each + brain is a field where all the senses sow the seeds of thought? Some of + these fields are mostly barren, poor, and hard, producing only worthless + weeds; and some grow sturdy oaks and stately palms; and some are like the + tropic world, where plants and trees and vines seem royal children of the + soil and sun. + </p> + <p> + Nothing seems more certain than that the capacity of a human being + depends, other things being equal, upon the amount, form, and quality of + his brain. We also know that health, disposition, temperament, occupation, + food, surroundings, ancestors, quality, form, and texture of the brain, + determine what we call character. Man is, collectively and individually, + what his surroundings have made him. Nations differ from each other as + greatly as individuals in the same nation. Nations depend upon soil, + climate, geographical position, and countless other facts. Shakespeare + would have been impossible without the climate of England. There is a + direct relation between Hamlet and the Gulf Stream. Dr. Draper has shown + that the great desert of Sahara made negroes possible in Africa. If the + Caribbean Sea had been a desert, negroes might have been produced in + America. + </p> + <p> + Are the effects of climate upon man necessary effects? Is it possible for + man to escape them? Is he responsible for what he does as a consequence of + his surroundings? Is the mind dependent upon causes? Does it act without + cause? Is every thought a necessity? Can man choose without reference to + any quality in the thing chosen? + </p> + <p> + No one will blame Mr. Brown or Mr. Jones for not writing like Shakespeare. + Should they be blamed for not acting like Christ? We say that a great + painter has genius. Is it not possible that a certain genius is required + to be what is called "good"? All men cannot be great. All men cannot be + successful. Can all men be kind? Can all men be honest? + </p> + <p> + It may be that a crime appears terrible in proportion as we realize its + consequences. If this is true, morality may depend largely upon the + imagination. Man cannot have imagination at will; that, certainly, is a + natural product. And yet, a man's action may depend largely upon the want + of imagination. One man may feel that he really wishes to kill another. He + may make preparations to commit the deed; and yet, his imagination may + present such pictures of horror and despair; he may so vividly see the + widow clasping the mangled corpse; he may so plainly hear the cries and + sobs of orphans, while the clods fall upon the coffin, that his hand is + stayed. Another, lacking imagination, thirsting only for revenge, seeing + nothing beyond the accomplishment of the deed, buries, with blind-and + thoughtless hate, the dagger in his victim's heart. + </p> + <p> + Morality, for the most part, is the verdict of the majority. This verdict + depends upon the intelligence of the people; and the intelligence depends + upon the amount, form, and quality of the average brain. + </p> + <p> + If the mind depends upon certain organs for the expression of its thought, + does it have thought independently of those organs? Is there any mind + without brain? Does the mind think apart from the brain, and then express + its thought through the instrumentality of the brain? Theologians tell us + that insanity is not a disease of the soul, but of the brain; that the + soul is perfectly untouched; but that the instrument with which, and + through which, it manifests itself, is impaired. The fact, however, seems + to be, that the mind, the something that is the man, is unconscious of the + fact that anything is out of order in the brain. Insane people insist that + they are sane. + </p> + <p> + If we should find a locomotive off the track, and the engineer using the + proper appliances to put it back, we would say that the machine is out of + order, but the engineer is not. But, if we found the locomotive upside + down, with wheels in air, and the engineer insisting that it was on the + track, and never running better, we would then conclude that something was + wrong, not only with the locomotive, but with the engineer. + </p> + <p> + We are told in medical books of a girl, who, at about the age of nine + years, was attacked with some cerebral disease. When she recovered, she + had forgotten all she ever knew, and had to relearn the alphabet, and the + names of her parents and kindred. In this abnormal state, she was not a + good girl; in the normal state, she was. After having lived in the second + state for several years, she went back to the first; and all she had + learned in the second state was forgotten, and all she had learned in the + first was remembered. + </p> + <p> + I believe she changed once more, and died in the abnormal state. In which + of these states was she responsible? Were her thoughts and actions as free + in one as in the other? It may be contended that, in her diseased state, + the mind or soul could not correctly express itself. If this is so, it + follows that, as no one is perfectly healthy, and as no one has a perfect + brain, it is impossible that the soul should ever correctly express + itself. Is the soul responsible for the defects of the brain? Is it not + altogether more rational to say, that what we call mind depends upon the + brain, and that the child—mind, inherits the defects of its parent—brain? + </p> + <p> + Are certain physical conditions necessary to the production of what we + call virtuous actions? Is it possible for anything to be produced without + what we call cause, and, if the cause was sufficient, was it not + necessarily produced? Do not most people mistake for freedom the right to + examine their own chains? If morality depends upon conditions, should it + not be the task of the great and good to discover such conditions? May it + not be possible so to understand the brain that we can stop producing + criminals? + </p> + <p> + It may be insisted that there is something produced by the brain besides + thought—a something that takes cognizance of thoughts—a + something that weighs, compares, reflects and pronounces judgment. This + something cannot find the origin of itself. Does it exist independently of + the brain? Is it merely a looker-on? If it is a product of the brain, then + its power, perception, and judgment depend upon the quantity, form, and + quality of the brain. + </p> + <p> + Man, including all his attributes, must have been necessarily produced, + and the product was the child of conditions. + </p> + <p> + Most reformers have infinite confidence in creeds, resolutions, and laws. + They think of the common people as raw material, out of which they propose + to construct institutions and governments, like mechanical contrivances, + where each person will stand for a cog, rope, wheel, pulley, bolt, or + fuel, and the reformers will be the managers and directors. They forget + that these cogs and wheels have opinions of their own; that they fall out + with other cogs, and refuse to turn with other wheels; that the pulleys + and ropes have ideas peculiar to themselves, and delight in mutiny and + revolution. These reformers have theories that can only be realized when + other people have none. + </p> + <p> + Some time, it will be found that people can be changed only by changing + their surroundings. It is alleged that, at least ninety-five per cent. of + the criminals transported from England to Australia and other penal + colonies, became good and useful citizens in a new world. Free from former + associates and associations, from the necessities of a hard, cruel, and + competitive civilization, they became, for the most part, honest people. + This immense fact throws more light upon social questions than all the + theories of the world. All people are not able to support themselves. They + lack intelligence, industry, cunning—in short, capacity. They are + continually falling by the way. In the midst of plenty, they are hungry. + Larceny is born of want and opportunity. In passion's storm, the will is + wrecked upon the reefs and rocks of crime. + </p> + <p> + The complex, tangled web of thought and dream, of perception and memory, + of imagination and judgment, of wish and will and want—the woven + wonder of a life—has never yet been raveled back to simple threads. + </p> + <p> + Shall we not become charitable and just, when we know that every act is + but condition's fruit; that Nature, with her countless hands, scatters the + seeds of tears and crimes—of every virtue and of every joy; that all + the base and vile are victims of the Blind, and that the good and great + have, in the lottery of life, by chance or fate, drawn heart and brain? + </p> + <p> + Washington, December 21, 1881. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkPREF2" id="linkPREF2"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE TO "MEN, WOMEN AND GODS." + </h2> + <p> + NOTHING gives me more pleasure, nothing gives greater promise for the + future, than the fact that woman is achieving intellectual and physical + liberty. + </p> + <p> + It is refreshing to know that here, in our country, there are thousands of + women who think, and express their thoughts—who are thoroughly free + and thoroughly conscientious—who have neither been narrowed nor + corrupted by a heartless creed—who do not worship a being in heaven + whom they would shudderingly loathe on earth—women who do not stand + before the altar of a cruel faith, with downcast eyes of timid + acquiescence, and pay to impudent authority the tribute of a thoughtless + yes. They are no longer satisfied with being told. They examine for + themselves. They have ceased to be the prisoners of society—the + satisfied serfs of husbands, or the echoes of priests. They demand the + rights that naturally belong to intelligent human beings. If wives, they + wish to be the equals of husbands. If mothers, they wish to rear their + children in the atmosphere of love, liberty and philosophy. They believe + that woman can discharge all her duties without the aid of superstition, + and preserve all that is true, pure, and tender, without sacrificing in + the temple of absurdity the convictions of the soul. + </p> + <p> + Woman is not the intellectual inferior of man. She has lacked, not mind, + but opportunity. In the long night of barbarism, physical strength and the + cruelty to use it, were the badges of superiority. Muscle was more than + mind. In the ignorant age of Faith, the loving nature of woman was abused. + Her conscience was rendered morbid and diseased. It might almost be said + that she was betrayed by her own virtues. At best she secured, not + opportunity, but flattery—the preface to degradation. She was + deprived of liberty, and without that, nothing is worth the having. She + was taught to obey without question, and to believe without thought. There + were universities for men before the alphabet had been taught to women. At + the intellectual feast, there were no places for wives and mothers. Even + now they sit at the second table and eat the crusts and crumbs. The + schools for women, at the present time, are just far enough behind those + for men, to fall heirs to the discarded; on the same principle that when a + doctrine becomes too absurd for the pulpit, it is given to the + Sunday-school. + </p> + <p> + The ages of muscle and miracle—of fists and faith—are passing + away. Minerva occupies at last a higher niche than Hercules. Now a word is + stronger than a blow. At last we see women who depend upon themselves—who + stand, self poised, the shocks of this sad world, without leaning for + support against a church—who do not go to the literature of + barbarism for consolation, or use the falsehoods and mistakes of the past + for the foundation of their hope—women brave enough and tender + enough to meet and bear the facts and fortunes of this world. + </p> + <p> + The men who declare that woman is the intellectual inferior of man, do + not, and cannot, by offering themselves in evidence, substantiate their + declaration. + </p> + <p> + Yet, I must admit that there are thousands of wives who still have faith + in the saving power of superstition—who still insist on attending + church while husbands prefer the shores, the woods, or the fields. In this + way, families are divided. Parents grow apart, and unconsciously the pearl + of greatest price is thrown away. The wife ceases to be the intellectual + companion of the husband. She reads <i>The Christian Register</i>, sermons + in the Monday papers, and a little gossip about folks and fashions, while + he studies the works of Darwin, Haeckel, and Humboldt. Their sympathies + become estranged. They are no longer mental friends. The husband smiles at + the follies of the wife, and she weeps for the supposed sins of the + husband. Such wives should read this book. They should not be satisfied to + remain forever in the cradle of thought, amused with the toys of + superstition. + </p> + <p> + The parasite of woman is the priest. + </p> + <p> + It must also be admitted that there are thousands of men who believe that + superstition is good for women and children—who regard falsehood as + the fortress of virtue, and feel indebted to ignorance for the purity of + daughters and the fidelity of wives. These men think of priests as + detectives in disguise, and regard God as a policeman who prevents + elopements. Their opinions about religion are as correct as their estimate + of woman. + </p> + <p> + The church furnishes but little food for the mind. People of intelligence + are growing tired of the platitudes of the pulpit—the iterations of + the itinerants. The average sermon is "as tedious as a twice told tale + vexing the ears of a drowsy man." + </p> + <p> + One Sunday a gentleman, who is a great inventor, called at my house. Only + a few words had passed between us, when he arose, saying that he must go + as it was time for church. Wondering that a man of his mental wealth could + enjoy the intellectual poverty of the pulpit, I asked for an explanation, + and he gave me the following: "You know that I am an inventor. Well, the + moment my mind becomes absorbed in some difficult problem, I am afraid + that something may happen to distract my attention. Now, I know that I can + sit in church for an hour without the slightest danger of having the + current of my thought disturbed." + </p> + <p> + Most women cling to the Bible because they have been taught that to give + up that book is to give up all hope of another life—of ever meeting + again the loved and lost. They have also been taught that the Bible is + their friend, their defender, and the real civilizer of man. + </p> + <p> + Now, if they will only read this book—these three lectures, without + fear, and then read the Bible, they will see that the truth or falsity of + the dogma of inspiration has nothing to do with the question of + immortality. Certainly the Old Testament does not teach us that there is + another life, and upon that question even the New is obscure and vague. + The hunger of the heart finds only a few small and scattered crumbs. There + is nothing definite, solid, and satisfying. United with the idea of + immortality we find the absurdity of the resurrection. A prophecy that + depends for its fulfillment upon an impossibility, cannot satisfy the + brain or heart. + </p> + <p> + There are but few who do not long for a dawn beyond the night. And this + longing is born of and nourished by the heart. Love wrapped in shadow—bending + with tear-filled eyes above its dead, convulsively clasps the outstretched + hand of hope. + </p> + <p> + I had the pleasure of introducing Miss Gardener to her first audience, and + in that introduction said a few words that I will repeat. + </p> + <p> + "We do not know, we cannot say, whether death is a wall or a door; the + beginning or end of a day; the spreading of pinions to soar, or the + folding forever of wings; the rise or the set of a sun, or an endless life + that brings the rapture of love to every one. + </p> + <p> + "Under the seven-hued arch of hope let the dead sleep." + </p> + <p> + They will also discover, as they read the "Sacred Volume," that it is not + the friend of woman. They will find that the writers of that book, for the + most part, speak of woman as a poor beast of burden, a serf, a drudge, a + kind of necessary evil—as mere property. Surely, a book that upholds + polygamy is not the friend of wife and mother. + </p> + <p> + Even Christ did not place woman on an equality with man. He said not one + word about the sacredness of home, the duties of the husband to the wife—nothing + calculated to lighten the hearts of those who bear the saddest burdens of + this life. + </p> + <p> + They will also find that the Bible has not civilized mankind. A book that + establishes and defends slavery and wanton war is not calculated to soften + the hearts of those who believe implicitly that it is the work of God. A + book that not only permits, but commands, religious persecution, has not, + in my judgment, developed the affectional nature of man. Its influence has + been bad and bad only. It has filled the world with bitterness, revenge + and crime, and retarded in countless ways the progress of our race. + </p> + <p> + The writer of this volume has read the Bible with open eyes. The mist of + sentimentality has not clouded her vision. She has had the courage to tell + the result of her investigations. She has been quick to discover + contradictions. She appreciates the humorous side of the stupidly solemn. + Her heart protests against the cruel, and her brain rejects the childish, + the unnatural and absurd. There is no misunderstanding between her head + and heart. She says what she thinks, and feels what she says. + </p> + <p> + No human being can answer her arguments. There is no answer. All the + priests in the world cannot explain away her objections. There is no + explanation. They should remain dumb, unless they can show that the + impossible is the probable—that slavery is better than freedom—that + polygamy is the friend of woman—that the innocent can justly suffer + for the guilty, and that to persecute for opinion's sake is an act of love + and worship. + </p> + <p> + Wives who cease to learn—who simply forget and believe—will + fill the evening of their lives with barren sighs and bitter tears. + </p> + <p> + The mind should outlast youth. If when beauty fades, Thought, the deft and + unseen sculptor, hath not left his subtle lines upon the face, then all is + lost. No charm is left. The light is out. There is no flame within to + glorify the wrinkled clay. + </p> + <p> + Hoffman House, New York, July, 22, 1885. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkPREF3" id="linkPREF3"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE TO "FOR HER DAILY BREAD." + </h2> + <p> + I HAVE read, this story, this fragment of a life mingled with fragments of + other lives, and have been pleased, interested, and instructed. It is + filled with the pathos of truth, and has in it the humor that accompanies + actual experience. It has but little to do with the world of imagination; + certain feelings are not attributed to persons born of fancy, but it is + the history of a heart and brain interested in the common things of life. + There are no kings, no lords, no titled ladies, but there are real people, + the people of the shop and street whom every reader knows, and there are + lines intense and beautiful, and scenes that touch the heart. You will + find no theories of government, no hazy outlines of reform, nothing but + facts and folks, as they have been, as they are, and probably will be for + many centuries to come. + </p> + <p> + If you read this book you will be convinced that men and women are good or + bad, charitable or heartless, by reason of something within, and not by + virtue of any name they bear, or any trade or profession they follow, or + of any creed they may accept. You will also find that men sometimes are + honest and mean; that women may be very virtuous and very cruel; that + good, generous and sympathetic men are often disreputable, and that some + exceedingly worthy citizens are extremely mean and uncomfortable + neighbors. + </p> + <p> + It takes a great deal of genius and a good deal of selfdenial to be very + bad or to be very good. Few people understand the amount of energy, + industry, and self-denial it requires to be consistently vicious. People + who have a pride in being good and fail, and those who have a pride in + being bad and fail, in order to make their records consistent generally + rely upon hypocrisy. The people that live and hope and fear in this book, + are much like the people who live and hope and fear in the actual world. + The professor is much like the professor in the ordinary college. You will + find the conscientious, half-paid teacher, the hopeful poor, the anxious + rich, the true lover, the stingy philanthropist, who cares for people only + in the aggregate,—the individual atom being too small to attract his + notice or to enlist his heart; the sympathetic man who loves himself, and + gives, not for the sake of the beggar, but for the sake of getting rid of + the beggar, and you will also find the man generous to a fault—with + the money of others. And the reader will find these people described + naturally, truthfully and without exaggeration, and he will feel certain + that all these people have really lived. + </p> + <p> + The reader of this story will get some idea as to what is encountered by a + girl in an honest effort to gain her daily bread. He will find how steep, + how devious and how difficult is the path she treads. + </p> + <p> + There are so few occupations open to woman, so few things in which she can + hope for independence, that to be thrown upon her own resources is almost + equivalent to being cast away. Besides, she is an object of continual + suspicion, watched not only by men but by women. If she does anything that + other women are not doing, she is at once suspected, her reputation is + touched, and other women, for fear of being stained themselves, withdraw + not only the hand of help, but the smile of recognition. A young woman + cannot defend herself without telling the charge that has been made + against her. This, of itself, gives a kind of currency to slander. To + speak of the suspicion that has crawled across her path, is to plant the + seeds of doubt in other minds; to even deny it, admits that it exists. To + be suspected, that is enough. There is no way of destroying this + suspicion. There is no court in which suspicions are tried; no juries that + can render verdicts of not guilty. Most women are driven at last to the + needle, and this does not allow them to live; it simply keeps them from + dying. + </p> + <p> + It is hard to appreciate the dangers and difficulties that lie in wait for + woman. Even in this Christian country of ours, no girl is safe in the + streets of any city after the sun has gone down. After all, the sun is the + only god that has ever protected woman. In the darkness she has been the + prey of the wild beast in man. + </p> + <p> + Nearly all charitable people, so-called, imagine that nothing is easier + than to obtain work. They really feel that anybody, no matter what his + circumstances may be, can get work enough to do if he is only willing to + do the work. They cannot understand why any healthy human being should + lack food or clothes. Meeting the unfortunate and the wretched in the + streets of the great city, they ask them in a kind of wondering way, why + they do not go to the West, why they do not cultivate the soil, and why + they are so foolish, stupid, and reckless as to remain in the town. It + would be just as sensible to ask a beggar why he does not start a bank or + a line of steamships, as to ask him why he does not cultivate the soil, or + why he does not go to the West. The man has no money to pay his fare, and + if his fare were paid he would be, when he landed in the West, in + precisely the same condition as he was when he left the East. Societies + and institutions and individuals supply the immediate wants of the hungry + and the ragged, but they afford only the relief of the moment. + </p> + <p> + Articles by the thousand have been written for the purpose of showing that + women should become servants in houses, and the writers of these articles + are filled with astonishment that any girl should hesitate to enter + domestic service. They tell us that nearly every family needs a good cook, + a good chambermaid, a good sweeper of floors and washer of dishes, a good + stout girl to carry the baby and draw the wagon, and these good people + express the greatest astonishment that all girls are not anxious to become + domestics. They tell them that they will be supplied with good food, that + they will have comfortable beds and warm clothing, and they ask, "What + more do you want?" These people have not, however, solved the problem. If + girls, as a rule, keep away from kitchens and chambers, if they hate to be + controlled by other women, there must be a reason. When we see a young + woman prefer a clerkship in a store,—a business which keeps her upon + her feet all day, and sends her to her lonely room, filled with weariness + and despair, and when we see other girls who are willing to sew for a few + cents a day rather than become the maid of "my lady," there must be some + reason, and this reason must be deemed sufficient by the persons who are + actuated by it. What is it? + </p> + <p> + Every human being imagines that the future has something in store for him. + It is natural to build these castles in Spain. It is natural for a girl to + dream of being loved by the noble, by the superb, and it is natural for + the young man to dream of success, of a home, of a good, a beautiful and + loving wife. These dreams are the solace of poverty; they keep back the + tears in the eyes of the young and the hungry. To engage in any labor that + degrades, in any work that leaves a stain, in any business the mention of + which is liable to redden the cheek, seems to be a destruction of the + foundation of hope, a destruction of the future; it seems to be a + crucifixion of his or her better self. It assassinates the ideal. + </p> + <p> + It may be said that labor is noble, that work is a kind of religion, and + whoever says this tells the truth, But after all, what has the truth to do + with this question? What is the opinion of society?—What is the + result? It cures no wound to say that it was wrongfully inflicted. The + opinion of sensible people is one way, the action of society is + inconsistent with that opinion. Domestic servants are treated as though + their employment was and is a degradation. Bankers, merchants, + professional men, ministers of the gospel, do not want their sons to + become the husbands of chambermaids and cooks. Small hands are beautiful; + they do not tell of labor. + </p> + <p> + I have given one reason; there is another. The work of a domestic is never + done. She is liable to be called at any moment, day or night. She has no + time that she can call her own. A woman who works by the piece can take a + little rest; if she is a clerk she has certain hours of labor and the rest + of the day is her own. + </p> + <p> + And there is still another reason that I almost hate to give, and that is + this: As a rule, woman is exacting with woman. As a rule, woman does not + treat woman as well as man treats man, or as well as man treats woman. + There are many other reasons, but I have given enough. + </p> + <p> + For many years, women have been seeking employment other than that of + domestic service. They have so hated this occupation, that they have + sought in every possible direction for other ways to win their bread. At + last hundreds of employments are open to them, and, as a consequence, + domestic servants are those who can get nothing else to do. + </p> + <p> + In the olden time, servants sat at the table with the family; they were + treated something like human beings, harshly enough to be sure, but in + many cases almost as equals. Now the kitchen is far away from the parlor. + It is another world, occupied by individuals of a different race. There is + no bond of sympathy—no common ground. This is especially true in a + Republic. In the Old World, people occupying menial places account for + their positions by calling attention to the laws—to the hereditary + nobility and the universal spirit of caste. Here, there are no such + excuses. All are supposed to have equal opportunities, and those who are + compelled to labor for their daily bread, in avocations that require only + bodily strength, are regarded as failures. It is this fact that stabs like + a knife. And yet in the conclusion drawn, there is but little truth. Some + of the noblest and best pass their lives in daily drudgery and + unremunerative toil—while many of the mean, vicious and stupid reach + place and power. + </p> + <p> + This story is filled with sympathy for the destitute, for the struggling, + and tends to keep the star of hope above the horizon of the unfortunate. + After all, we know but little of the world, and have but a faint + conception of the burdens that are borne, and of the courage and heroism + displayed by the unregarded poor. Let the rich read these pages; they will + have a kinder feeling toward those who toil; let the workers read them, + and they will think better of themselves. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkPREF4" id="linkPREF4"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE TO "AGNOSTICISM AND OTHER ESSAYS." + </h2> + <p> + I. + </p> + <p> + EDGAR FAWCETT—a great poet, a metaphysician and logician—has + been for years engaged in exploring that strange world wherein are + supposed to be the springs of human action. He has sought for something + back of motives, reasons, fancies, passions, prejudices, and the countless + tides and tendencies that constitute the life of man. + </p> + <p> + He has found some of the limitations of mind, and knows that beginning at + that luminous centre called consciousness, a few short steps bring us to + the prison wall where vision fails and all light dies. Beyond this wall + the eternal darkness broods. This gloom is "the other world" of the + supernaturalist. With him, real vision begins where the sight fails. He + reverses the order of nature. Facts become illusions, and illusions the + only realities. He believes that the cause of the image, the reality, is + behind the mirror. + </p> + <p> + A few centuries ago the priests said to their followers: The other world + is above you; it is just beyond where you see. Afterward, the astronomer + with his telescope looked, and asked the priests: Where is the world of + which you speak? And the priests replied: It has receded—it is just + beyond where you see. + </p> + <p> + As long as there is "a beyond," there is room for the priests' world. + Theology is the geography of this beyond. + </p> + <p> + Between the Christian and the Agnostic there is the difference of + assertion and question—between "There is a God" and "Is there a + God?" The Agnostic has the arrogance to admit his ignorance, while the + Christian from the depths of humility impudently insists that he knows. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Fawcett has shown that at the root of religion lies the coiled serpent + of fear, and that ceremony, prayer, and worship are ways and means to gain + the assistance or soften the heart of a supposed deity. + </p> + <p> + He also shows that as man advances in knowledge he loses confidence in the + watchfulness of Providence and in the efficacy of prayer. + </p> + <p> + II. SCIENCE. + </p> + <p> + The savage is certain of those things that cannot be known. He is + acquainted with origin and destiny, and knows everything except that which + is useful. The civilized man, having outgrown the ignorance, the + arrogance, and the provincialism of savagery, abandons the vain search for + final causes, for the nature and origin of things. + </p> + <p> + In nearly every department of science man is allowed to investigate, and + the discovery of a new fact is welcomed, unless it threatens some creed. + </p> + <p> + Of course there can be no advance in a religion established by infinite + wisdom. The only progress possible is in the comprehension of this + religion. + </p> + <p> + For many generations, what is known under a vast number of disguises and + behind many masks as the Christian religion, has been propagated and + preserved by the sword and bayonet—that is to say, by force. The + credulity of man has been bribed and his reason punished. Those who + believed without the slightest question, and whose faith held evidence in + contempt, were saints; those who investigated were dangerous, and those + who denied were destroyed. + </p> + <p> + Every attack upon this religion has been made in the shadow of human and + divine hatred—in defiance of earth and heaven. At one time + Christendom was beneath the ignorant feet of one man, and those who denied + his infallibility were heretics and Atheists. At last, a protest was + uttered. The right of conscience was proclaimed, to the extent of making a + choice between the infallible man and the infallible book. Those who + rejected the man and accepted the book became in their turn as merciless, + as tyrannical and heartless, as the followers of the infallible man. The + Protestants insisted that an infinitely wise and good God would not allow + criminals and wretches to act as his infallible agents. + </p> + <p> + Afterward, a few protested against the infallibility of the book, using + the same arguments against the book that had formerly been used against + the pope. They said that an infinitely wise and good God could not be the + author of a cruel and ignorant book. But those who protested against the + book fell into substantially the same error that had been fallen into by + those who had protested against the man. While they denounced the book, + and insisted that an infinitely wise and good being could not have been + its author, they took the ground that an infinitely wise and good being + was the creator and governor of the world. + </p> + <p> + Then was used against them the same argument that had been used by the + Protestants against the pope and by the Deists against the Protestants. + Attention was called to the fact that Nature is as cruel as any pope or + any book—that it is just as easy to account for the destruction of + the Canaanites consistently with the goodness of Jehovah as to account for + pestilence, earthquake, and flood consistently with the goodness of the + God of Nature. + </p> + <p> + The Protestant and Deist both used arguments against the Catholic that + could in turn be used with equal force against themselves. So that there + is no question among intelligent people as to the infallibility of the + pope, as to the inspiration of the book, or as to the existence of the + Christian's God—for the conclusion has been reached that the human + mind is incapable of deciding as to the origin and destiny of the + universe. + </p> + <p> + For many generations the mind of man has been traveling in a circle. It + accepted without question the dogma of a First Cause—of the + existence of a Creator—of an Infinite Mind back of matter, and + sought in many ways to define its ignorance in this behalf. The most + sincere worshipers have declared that this being is incomprehensible,—that + he is "without body, parts, or passions"—that he is infinitely + beyond their grasp, and at the same time have insisted that it was + necessary for man not only to believe in the existence of this being, but + to love him with all his heart. + </p> + <p> + Christianity having always been in partnership with the state,—having + controlled kings and nobles, judges and legislators—having been in + partnership with armies and with every form of organized destruction,—it + was dangerous to discuss the foundation of its authority. To speak lightly + of any dogma was a crime punishable by death. Every absurdity has been + bastioned and barricaded by the power of the state. It has been protected + by fist, by club, by sword and cannon. + </p> + <p> + For many years Christianity succeeded in substantially closing the mouths + of its enemies, and lived and flourished only where investigation and + discussion were prevented by hypocrisy and bigotry. The church still talks + about "evidence," about "reason," about "freedom of conscience" and the + "liberty of speech," and yet denounces those who ask for evidence, who + appeal to reason, and who honestly express their thoughts. + </p> + <p> + To-day we know that the miracles of Christianity are as puerile and false + as those ascribed to the medicine-men of Central Africa or the Fiji + Islanders, and that the "sacred Scriptures" have the same claim to + inspiration that the Koran has, or the Book of Mormon—no less, no + more. These questions have been settled and laid aside by free and + intelligent people. They have ceased to excite interest; and the man who + now really believes in the truth of the Old Testament is regarded with a + smile— looked upon as an aged child—still satisfied with the + lullabys and toys of the cradle. + </p> + <p> + III. MORALITY. + </p> + <p> + It is contended that without religion—that is to say, without + Christianity—all ideas of morality must of necessity perish, and + that spirituality and reverence will be lost. + </p> + <p> + What is morality? + </p> + <p> + Is it to obey without question, or is it to act in accordance with + perceived obligation? Is it something with which intelligence has nothing + to do? Must the ignorant child carry out the command of the wise father—the + rude peasant rush to death at the request of the prince? + </p> + <p> + Is it impossible for morality to exist where the brain and heart are in + partnership? Is there no foundation for morality except punishment + threatened or reward promised by a superior to an inferior? If this be + true, how can the superior be virtuous? Cannot the reward and the threat + be in the nature of things? Can they not rest in consequences perceived by + the intellect? How can the existence or non-existence of a deity change my + obligation to keep my hands out of the fire? + </p> + <p> + The results of all actions are equally certain, but not equally known, not + equally perceived. If all men knew with perfect certainty that to steal + from another was to rob themselves, larceny would cease. It cannot be said + too often that actions are good or bad in the light of consequences, and + that a clear perception of consequences would control actions. That which + increases the sum of human happiness is moral; and that which diminishes + the sum of human happiness is immoral. Blind, unreasoning obedience is the + enemy of morality. Slavery is not the friend of virtue. Actions are + neither right nor wrong by virtue of what men or gods can say—the + right or wrong lives in results—in the nature of things, growing out + of relations violated or caused. + </p> + <p> + Accountability lives in the nature of consequences—in their absolute + certainty—in the fact that they cannot be placated, avoided, or + bribed. + </p> + <p> + The relations of human life are too complicated to be accurately and + clearly understood, and, as a consequence, rules of action vary from age + to age. The ideas of right and wrong change with the experience of the + race, and this change is wrought by the gradual ascertaining of + consequences—of results. For this reason the religion of one age + fails to meet the standard of another, precisely as the laws that + satisfied our ancestors are repealed by us; so that, in spite of all + efforts, religion itself is subject to gradual and perpetual change. + </p> + <p> + The miraculous is no longer the basis of morals. Man is a sentient being—he + suffers and enjoys. In order to be happy he must preserve the conditions + of well-being—must live in accordance with certain facts by which he + is surrounded. If he violates these conditions the result is unhappiness, + failure, disease, misery. + </p> + <p> + Man must have food, roof, raiment, fireside, friends—that is to say, + prosperity; and this he must earn—this he must deserve. He is no + longer satisfied with being a slave, even of the Infinite. He wishes to + perceive for himself, to understand, to investigate, to experiment; and he + has at last the courage to bear the consequences that he brings upon + himself. He has also found that those who are the most religious are not + always the kindest, and that those who have been and are the worshipers of + God enslave their fellow-men. He has found that there is no necessary + connection between religion and morality. + </p> + <p> + Morality needs no supernatural assistance—needs neither miracle nor + pretence. It has nothing to do with awe, reverence, credulity, or blind, + unreasoning faith. Morality is the highway perceived by the soul, the + direct road, leading to success, honor, and happiness. + </p> + <p> + The best thing to do under the circumstances is moral. + </p> + <p> + The highest possible standard is human. We put ourselves in the places of + others. We are made happy by the kindness of others, and we feel that a + fair exchange of good actions is the wisest and best commerce. We know + that others can make us miserable by acts of hatred and injustice, and we + shrink from inflicting the pain upon others that we have felt ourselves; + this is the foundation of conscience. + </p> + <p> + If man could not suffer, the words right and wrong could never have been + spoken. + </p> + <p> + The Agnostic, the Infidel, clearly perceives the true basis of morals, + and, so perceiving, he knows that the religious man, the superstitious + man, caring more for God than for his fellows, will sacrifice his fellows, + either at the supposed command of his God, or to win his approbation. He + also knows that the religionist has no basis for morals except these + supposed commands. The basis of morality with him lies not in the nature + of things, but in the caprice of some deity. He seems to think that, had + it not been for the Ten Commandments, larceny and murder might have been + virtues. + </p> + <p> + IV. SPIRITUALITY. + </p> + <p> + What is it to be spiritual? + </p> + <p> + Is this fine quality of the mind destroyed by the development of the + brain? As the domain wrested by science from ignorance increases—as + island after island and continent after continent are discovered—as + star after star and constellation after constellation in the intellectual + world burst upon the midnight of ignorance, does the spirituality of the + mind grow less and less? Like morality, is it only found in the company of + ignorance and superstition? Is the spiritual man honest, kind, candid?—or + dishonest, cruel and hypocritical? Does he say what he thinks? Is he + guided by reason? Is he the friend of the right?—the champion of the + truth? Must this splendid quality called spirituality be retained through + the loss of candor? Can we not truthfully say that absolute candor is the + beginning of wisdom? + </p> + <p> + To recognize the finer harmonies of conduct—to live to the ideal—to + separate the incidental, the evanescent, from the perpetual—to be + enchanted with the perfect melody of truth—open to the influences of + the artistic, the beautiful, the heroic—to shed kindness as the sun + sheds light—to recognize the good in others, and to include the + world in the idea of self—this is to be spiritual. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing spiritual in the worship of the unknown and unknowable, + in the self-denial of a slave at the command of a master whom he fears. + Fastings, prayings, mutilations, kneelings, and mortifications are either + the results of, or result in, insanity. + </p> + <p> + This is the spirituality of Bedlam, and is of no kindred with the soul + that finds its greatest joy in the discharge of obligation perceived. + </p> + <p> + V. REVERENCE. + </p> + <p> + What is reverence? + </p> + <p> + It is the feeling produced when we stand in the presence of our ideal, or + of that which most nearly approaches it—that which is produced by + what we consider the highest degree of excellence. + </p> + <p> + The highest is reverenced, praised, and admired without qualification. + </p> + <p> + Each man reverences according to his nature, his experience, his + intellectual development. He may reverence' Nero or Marcus Aurelius, + Jehovah or Buddha, the author of Leviticus or Shakespeare. Thousands of + men reverence John Calvin, Torquemada, and the Puritan fathers; and some + have greater respect for Jonathan Edwards than for Captain Kidd. + </p> + <p> + A vast number of people have great reverence for anything that is covered + by mould, or moss, or mildew. They bow low before rot and rust, and adore + the worthless things that have been saved by the negligence of oblivion. + </p> + <p> + They are enchanted with the dull and fading daubs of the old masters, and + hold in contempt those miracles of art, the paintings of to-day. + </p> + <p> + They worship the ancient, the shadowy, the mysterious, the wonderful. They + doubt the value of anything that they understand. + </p> + <p> + The creed of Christendom is the enemy of morality. It teaches that the + innocent can justly suffer for the guilty, that consequences can be + avoided by repentance, and that in the world of mind the great fact known + as cause and effect does not apply. + </p> + <p> + It is the enemy of spirituality, because it teaches that credulity is of + more value than conduct, and because it pours contempt upon human love by + raising far above it the adoration of a phantom. + </p> + <p> + It is the enemy of reverence. It makes ignorance the foundation of virtue. + It belittles the useful, and cheapens the noblest of! the virtues. It + teaches man to live on mental alms, and glorifies the intellectual pauper. + It holds candor in contempt, and is the malignant foe of mental manhood. + </p> + <p> + VI. EXISTENCE OF GOD. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Fawcett has shown conclusively that it is no easier to establish the + existence of an infinitely wise and good being by the existence of what we + call "good" than to establish the existence of an infinitely bad being by + what we call "bad." + </p> + <p> + Nothing can be surer than that the history of this world furnishes no + foundation on which to base an inference that it has been governed by + infinite wisdom and goodness. So terrible has been the condition of man, + that religionists in all ages have endeavored to excuse God by accounting + for the evils of the world by the wickedness of men. And the fathers of + the Christian Church were forced to take the ground that this world had + been filled with briers and thorns, with deadly serpents and with + poisonous weeds, with disease and crime and earthquake and pestilence and + storm, by the curse of God. + </p> + <p> + The probability is that no God has cursed, and that no God will bless, + this earth. Man suffers and enjoys according to conditions. The sun shines + without love, and the lightning blasts without hate. Man is the Providence + of man. + </p> + <p> + Nature gives to our eyes all they can see, to our ears all they can hear, + and to the mind what it can comprehend. The human race reaps the fruit of + every victory won on the fields of intellectual or physical conflict. We + have no right to expect something for nothing. Man will reap no harvest + the seeds of which he has not sown. + </p> + <p> + The race must be guided by intelligence, must be free to investigate, and + must have the courage and the candor not only to state what is known, but + to cheerfully admit the limitations of the mind. + </p> + <p> + No intelligent, honest man can read what Mr. Fawcett has written and then + say that he knows the origin and destiny of things—that he knows + whether an infinite Being exists or not, and that he knows whether the + soul of man is or is not immortal. + </p> + <p> + In the land of————, the geography of which is not + certainly known, there was for many years a great dispute among the + inhabitants as to which road led to the city of Miragia, the capital of + their country, and known to be the most delightful city on the earth. For + fifty generations the discussion as to which road led to the city had been + carried on with the greatest bitterness, until finally the people were + divided into a great number of parties, each party claiming that the road + leading to the city had been miraculously made known to the founder of + that particular sect. The various parties spent most of their time putting + up guide-boards on these roads and tearing down the guide-boards of + others. Hundreds of thousands had been killed, prisons were filled, and + the fields had been ravaged by the hosts of war. + </p> + <p> + One day, a wise man, a patriot, wishing to bring peace to his country, met + the leaders of the various sects and asked them whether it was absolutely + certain that the city of Miragia existed. He called their attention to the + facts that no resident of that city had ever visited them and that none of + their fellow-men who had started for the capital had ever returned, and + modestly asked whether it would not be better to satisfy themselves beyond + a doubt that there was such a city, adding that the location of the city + would determine which of all the roads was the right one. + </p> + <p> + The leaders heard these words with amazement. They denounced the speaker + as a wretch without morality, spirituality, or reverence, and thereupon he + was torn in pieces. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkPREF5" id="linkPREF5"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE TO "FAITH OR FACT." + </h2> + <p> + I LIKE to know the thoughts, theories and conclusions of an honest, + intelligent man; candor is always charming, and it is a delight to feel + that you have become acquainted with a sincere soul. + </p> + <p> + I have read this book with great pleasure, not only because I know, and + greatly esteem the author, not only because he is my unwavering friend, + but because it is full of good sense, of accurate statement, of sound + logic, of exalted thoughts happily expressed, and for the further reason + that it is against tyranny, superstition, bigotry, and every form of + injustice, and in favor of every virtue. + </p> + <p> + Henry M. Taber, the author, has for many years taken great interest in + religious questions. He was raised in an orthodox atmosphere, was + acquainted with many eminent clergymen from whom he endeavored to find out + what Christianity is—and the facts and evidence relied on to + establish the truth of the creeds. He found that the clergy of even the + same denomination did not agree—that some of them preached one way + and talked another, and that many of them seemed to regard the creed as + something to be accepted whether it was believed or not. He found that + each one gave his own construction to the dogmas that seemed heartless or + unreasonable. While some insisted that the Bible was absolutely true and + the creed without error, others admitted that there were mistakes in the + sacred volume and that the creed ought to be revised. Finding these + differences among the ministers, the shepherds, and also finding that no + one pretended to have any evidence except faith, or any facts but + assertions, he concluded to investigate the claims of Christianity for + himself. + </p> + <p> + For half a century he has watched the ebb and flow of public opinion, the + growth of science, the crumbling of creeds—the decay of the + theological spirit, the waning influence of the orthodox pulpit, the loss + of confidence in special providence and the efficacy of prayer. + </p> + <p> + He has lived to see the church on the defensive—to hear faith asking + for facts—and to see the shot and shell of science batter into + shapelessness the fortresses of superstition. He has lived to see + Infidels, blasphemers and Agnostics the leaders of the intellectual world. + In his time the supernaturalists have lost the sceptre and have taken + their places in the abject rear. + </p> + <p> + Fifty years ago the orthodox Christians believed their creeds. To them the + Bible was an actual revelation from God. Every word was true. Moses and + Joshua were regarded as philosophers and scientists. All the miracles and + impossibilities recorded in the Bible were accepted as facts. Credulity + was the greatest of virtues. Everything, except the reasonable, was + believed, and it was considered wickedly presumptuous to doubt anything + except facts. The reasonable things in the Bible could safely be doubted, + but to deny the miracles was like the sin against the Holy Ghost. In those + days the preachers were at the helm. They spoke with authority. They knew + the origin and destiny of the soul. They were on familiar terms with the + Trinity—the three-headed God. They knew the narrow path that led to + heaven and the great highway along which the multitude were traveling to + the Prison of Pain. + </p> + <p> + While these reverend gentlemen were busy trying to prevent the development + of the brain and to convince the people that the good in this life were + miserable, that virtue wore a crown of thorns and carried a cross, while + the wicked and ungodly walked in the sunshine of joy, yet that after death + the wicked would be eternally tortured and the good eternally rewarded. + According to the pious philosophy the good God punished virtue, and + rewarded vice, in this world—and in the next, rewarded virtue and + punished vice. These divine truths filled their hearts with holy peace—with + pious resignation. It would be difficult to determine which gave them the + greater joy—the hope of heaven for themselves, or the certainty of + hell for their enemies. For the grace of God they were fairly thankful, + but for his "justice" their gratitude was boundless. From the heights of + heaven they expected to witness the eternal tragedy in hell. + </p> + <p> + While these good divines, these doctors of divinity, were busy + misinterpreting the Scriptures, denying facts and describing the glories + and agonies of eternity, a good many other people were trying to find out + something about this world. They were busy with retort and crucible, + searching the heavens with the telescope, examining rocks and craters, + reefs and islands, studying plant and animal life, inventing ways to use + the forces of nature for the benefit of man, and in every direction + searching for the truth. They were not trying to destroy religion or to + injure the clergy. Many of them were members of churches and believed the + creeds. The facts they found were honestly given to the world. Of course + all facts are the enemies of superstition. The clergy, acting according to + the instinct of self-preservation, denounced these "facts" as dangerous + and the persons who found and published them, as Infidels and scoffers. + </p> + <p> + Theology was arrogant and bold. Science was timid. For some time the + churches seemed to have the best of the controversy. Many of the + scientists surrendered and did their best to belittle the facts and patch + up a cowardly compromise between Nature and Revelation—that is, + between the true and the false. + </p> + <p> + Day by day more facts were found that could not be reconciled with the + Scriptures, or the creeds. Neither was it possible to annihilate facts by + denial. The man who believed the Bible could not accept the facts, and the + man who believed the facts could not accept the Bible. At first, the Bible + was the standard, and all facts inconsistent with that standard were + denied. But in a little while science became the standard, and the + passages in the Bible contrary to the standard had to be explained or + given up. Great efforts were made to harmonize the mistakes in the Bible + with the demonstrations of science. It was difficult to be ingenious + enough to defend them both. The pious professors twisted and turned but + found it hard to reconcile the creation of Adam with the slow development + of man from lower forms. They were greatly troubled about the age of the + universe. It seemed incredible that until about six thousand years ago + there was nothing in existence but God—and nothing. And yet they + tried to save the Bible by giving new meanings to the inspired texts, and + casting a little suspicion on the facts. + </p> + <p> + This course has mostly been abandoned, although a few survivals, like Mr. + Gladstone, still insist there is no conflict between Revelation and + Science. But these champions of Holy Writ succeed only in causing the + laughter of the intelligent and the amazement of the honest. The more + intelligent theologians confessed that the inspired writers could not be + implicitly believed. As they personally know nothing of astronomy or + geology and were forced to rely entirely on inspiration, it is wonderful + that more mistakes were not made. So it was claimed that Jehovah cared + nothing about science, and allowed the blunders and mistakes of the + ignorant people concerning everything except religion, to appear in his + supernatural book as inspired truths. + </p> + <p> + The Bible, they said, was written to teach religion in its highest and + purest form—to make mankind fit to associate with God and his + angels. True, polygamy was tolerated and slavery established, yet Jehovah + believed in neither, but on account of the wickedness of the Jews was in + favor of both. + </p> + <p> + At the same time quite a number of real scholars were investigating other + religions, and in a little while they were enabled to show that these + religions had been manufactured by men—that their Christs and + apostles were myths and that all their sacred books were false and + foolish. This pleased the Christians. They knew that theirs was the only + true religion and that their Bible was the only inspired book. + </p> + <p> + The fact that there is nothing original in Christianity, that all the + dogmas, ceremonies and festivals had been borrowed, together with some + mouldy miracles used as witnesses, weakened the faith of some and sowed + the seeds of doubt in many minds. But the pious petrifactions, the fossils + of faith, still clung to their book and creed. While they were quick to + see the absurdities in other sacred books, they were either unconsciously + blind or maliciously shut their eyes to the same absurdities in the Bible. + They knew that Mohammed was an impostor, because the citizens of Mecca, + who knew him, said he was, and they knew that Christ was not an impostor, + because the people of Jerusalem who knew him, said he was. The same fact + was made to do double duty. When they attacked other religions it was a + sword and when their religion was attacked it became a shield. + </p> + <p> + The men who had investigated other religions turned their attention to + Christianity. They read our Bible as they had read other sacred books. + They were not blinded by faith or paralyzed by fear, and they found that + the same arguments they had used against other religions destroyed our + own. + </p> + <p> + But the real old-fashioned orthodox ministers denounced the investigators + as Infidels and denied every fact that was inconsistent with the creed. + They wanted to protect the young and feeble minded. They were anxious + about the souls of the "thoughtless." + </p> + <p> + Some ministers changed their views just a little, not enough to be driven + from their pulpits—but just enough to keep sensible people from + thinking them idiotic. These preachers talked about the "higher criticism" + and contended that it was not necessary to believe every word in the + Bible, that some of the miracles might be given up and some of the books + discarded. But the stupid doctors of divinity had the Bible and the creeds + on their side and the machinery of the churches was in their control. They + brought some of the offending clergymen to the bar, and had them tried for + heresy, made some recant and closed the mouths of others. Still, it was + not easy to put the heretics down. The congregations of ministers found + guilty, often followed the shepherds. Heresy grew popular, the liberal + preachers had good audiences, while the orthodox addressed a few bonnets, + bibs and benches. + </p> + <p> + For many years the pulpit has been losing influence and the sacred calling + no longer offers a career to young men of talent and ambition. + </p> + <p> + When people believed in "special providence," they also believed that + preachers had great influence with God. They were regarded as celestial + lobbyists and they were respected and feared because of their supposed + power. + </p> + <p> + Now no one who has the capacity to think, believes in special providence. + Of course there are some pious imbeciles who think that pestilence and + famine, cyclone and earthquake, flood and fire are the weapons of God, the + tools of his trade, and that with these weapons, these tools, he kills and + starves, rends and devours, drowns and burns countless thousands of the + human race. + </p> + <p> + If God governs this world, if he builds and destroys, if back of every + event is his will, then he is neither good nor wise, He is ignorant and + malicious. + </p> + <p> + A few days ago, in Paris, men and women had gathered together in the name + of Charity. The building in which they, were assembled took fire and many + of these men and women perished in the flames. + </p> + <p> + A French priest called this horror an act of God. + </p> + <p> + Is it not strange that Christians speak of their God as an assassin? + </p> + <p> + How can they love and worship this monster who murders, his children? + </p> + <p> + Intelligence seems to be leaving the orthodox church. The great divines + are growing smaller, weaker, day by day. Since the death of Henry Ward + Beecher no man of genius has stood in the orthodox pulpit. The ministers + of intelligence are found in the liberal churches where they are allowed + to express their thoughts and preserve their manhood. Some of these + preachers keep their faces toward the East and sincerely welcome the + light, while their orthodox brethren stand with their backs to the sunrise + and worship the sunset of the day before. + </p> + <p> + During these years of change, of decay and growth, the author of this book + looked and listened, became familiar with the questions raised, the + arguments offered and the results obtained. For his work a better man + could not have been found. He has no prejudice, no hatred. He is by nature + candid, conservative, kind and just. He does not attack persons. He knows + the difference between exchanging epithets and thoughts. He gives the + facts as they appear to him and draws the logical conclusions. He charges + and proves that Christianity has not always been the friend of morality, + of civil liberty, of wives and mothers, of free though and honest speech. + He shows that intolerance is its nature, that it always has, and always + will persecute to the extent of its power, and that Christianity will + always despise the doubter. + </p> + <p> + Yet we know that doubt must inhabit every finite mind. We know that doubt + is as natural as hope, and that man is no more responsible for his doubts + than for the beating of his heart. Every human being who knows the nature + of evidence, the limitations of the mind, must have "doubts" about gods + and devils, about heavens and hells, and must know that there is not the + slightest evidence tending to show that gods and devils ever existed. + </p> + <p> + God is a guess. + </p> + <p> + An undesigned designer, an uncaused cause, is as incomprehensible to the + human mind as a circle without a diameter. + </p> + <p> + The dogma of the Trinity multiplies the difficulty by three. + </p> + <p> + Theologians do not, and cannot believe that the authority to govern comes + from the consent of the governed. They regard God as the monarch, and + themselves as his agents. They always have been the enemies of liberty. + </p> + <p> + They claim to have a revelation from their God, a revelation that is the + rightful master of reason. As long as they believe this, they must be the + enemies of mental freedom. They do not ask man to think, but command him + to obey. + </p> + <p> + If the claims of the theologians are admitted, the church becomes the + ruler of the world, and to support and obey priests will be the business + of mankind. All these theologians claim to have a revelation from their + God, and yet they cannot agree as to what the revelation reveals. The + other day, looking from my window at the bay of New York, I saw many + vessels going in many directions, and yet all were moved by the same wind. + The direction in which they were going did not depend on the direction of + the breeze, but on the set of the sails. In this way the same Bible + furnishes creeds for all the Christian sects. But what would we say if the + captains of the boats I saw, should each swear that his boat was the only + one that moved in the same direction the wind was blowing? + </p> + <p> + I agree with Mr. Taber that all religions are founded on mistakes, + misconceptions and falsehoods, and that superstition is the warp and woof + of every creed. + </p> + <p> + This book will do great good. It will furnish arguments and facts against + the supernatural and absurd. It will drive phantoms from the brain, fear + from the heart, and many who read these pages will be emancipated, + enlightened and ennobled. + </p> + <p> + Christianity, with its ignorant and jealous God—its loving and + revengeful Christ—its childish legends—its grotesque miracles—its + "fall of man"—its atonement—its salvation by faith—its + heaven for stupidity and its hell for genius, does not and cannot satisfy + the free brain and the good heart. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0007" id="link0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE GRANT BANQUET. + </h2> + <h3> + Chicago, November 13, 1879. + </h3> + <p> + TWELFTH TOAST. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * The meteoric display predicted to take place last Thursday + night did not occur, but there did occur on that evening a + display of oratorical brilliancy at Chicago seldom if ever + surpassed. The speeches at the banquet of the Army of the + Tennessee, taken together, constitute one of the most + remarkable collections of extemporaneous eloquence on + record. The principal speakers of the evening were Gen. U. + S. Grant, Gen. John A. Logan Col. Win, F. Vilas, Gen. + Stewart L. Woodford, General Pope, Col. R. G. Ingersoll, + Gen. J. H. Wilson, and "Mark Twain." In an oratorical + tournament General Grant is, of course, better as a listener + than as a talker; he is a man of deeds rather than of words. + The same might be said of General Sherman, though, as + presiding officer and toast-master of the occasion, his + impromptu remarks were always pertinent and keen. His advice + to speakers not to talk longer than they could hold their + audience, and to the auditors not to drag out their applause + or to drawl out their laughter, would serve as a good + standing rule for all similar occasions Colonel Ingersoll + responded to the twelfth toast, "The Volunteer Soldiers of + the Union Army, whose Valor and Patriotism saved to the + world a Government of the People, by the People, and for the + people." + + Colonel Ingersoll's position was a difficult one. His + reputation as the first orator in America caused the + distinguished audience to expect a wonderful display of + oratory from him. He proved fully equal to the occasion and + delivered a speech of wonderful eloquence, brilliancy and + power. To say it was one of the best he ever delivered is + equivalent to saying it was one of the best ever delivered + by any man, for few greater orators have ever lived than + Colonel Ingersoll. The speech is both an oration and a poem. + It bristles with ideas and sparkles with epigrammatic + expressions. It is full of thoughts that breathe and words + that burn. The closing sentences read like blank verse. It + is wonderful oratory, marvelous eloquence. Colonel + Ingersoll fully sustained his reputation as the finest + orator In America. + + Editorial from The Journal Indianapolis, Ind., November + 17,1879. + + The Inter-Ocean remarked yesterday that the gathering and + exercises at the Palmer House banquet on Thursday evening + constituted one of the most remarkable occasions known in + the history of this country. This was not alone because of + the distinguished men who lent their presence to the scone; + they were indeed illustrious; but they only formed a part of + the grand picture that must endure while the memory of our + great conflict survives. To the eminent men assembled may be + traced the signal success of the affair, for they gave + inspiration to the minds and the tongues of others; but it + was the fruit of that inspiration that rolled like a glad + surprise across the banqueting sky, and made the 13th of + November renowned in the calendar of days... When Robert G. + Ingersoll rose after the speech of General Pope, to respond + to the toast, "The Volunteer Soldiers," a large part of the + audience rose with him, and the cheering was long and loud. + Colonel Ingersoll may fairly be regarded as the foremost + orator of America, and there was the keenest interest to + hear him after all the brilliant speeches that had preceded; + and this interest was not unnmixed with a fear that he would + not be able to successfully strive against both his own + great reputation and the fresh competitors who had leaped + suddenly into the oratorical arena like mighty gladiators + and astonished the audience by their unexpected eloquence. + But Ingersoll had not proceeded far when the old fire broke + out, and flashing metaphor, bold denunciation, and all the + rich imagery and poetical beauty which mark his great + efforts stood revealed before the delighted listeners: Long + before the last word was uttered, all doubt as to the + ability of the great orator to sustain himself had departed, + and rising to their feet, the audience cheered till the hall + rang with shouts. Like Henry, "The forest-born Demosthenes, + whose thunder shook the Philip of the seas," Ingersoll still + held the crown within his grasp. + + Editorial from The Inter-Ocean, Chicago, November 15, 1879. +</pre> + <p> + The Volunteer Soldiers of the Union Army, whose Valor and Patriotism saved + to the world "a Government of the People, by the People, and for the + People." + </p> + <p> + WHEN the savagery of the lash, the barbarism of the chain, and the + insanity of secession confronted the civilization of our country, the + question "Will the great Republic defend itself?" trembled on the lips of + every lover of mankind. + </p> + <p> + The North, filled with intelligence and wealth—children of liberty—marshaled + her hosts and asked only for a leader. From civil life a man, silent, + thoughtful, poised and calm, stepped forth, and with the lips of victory + voiced the Nation's first and last demand: "Unconditional and immediate + surrender." From that 'moment' the end was known. That utterance was the + first real declaration of real war, and, in accordance with the dramatic + unities of mighty events, the great soldier who made it, received the + final sword of the Rebellion. + </p> + <p> + The soldiers of the Republic were not seekers after vulgar glory. They + were not animated by the hope of plunder or the love of conquest. They + fought to preserve the homestead of liberty and that their children might + have peace. They were the defenders of humanity, the destroyers of + prejudice, the breakers of chains, and in the name of the future they slew + the monster of their time. They finished what the soldiers of the + Revolution commenced. They re-lighted the torch that fell from their + august hands and filled the world again with light. They blotted from the + statute-book laws that had been passed by hypocrites at the instigation of + robbers, and tore with indignant hands from the Constitution that infamous + clause that made men the catchers of their fellow-men. They made it + possible for judges to be just, for statesmen to be humane, and for + politicians to be honest. They broke the shackles from the limbs of + slaves, from the souls of masters, and from the Northern brain. They kept + our country on the map of the world, and our flag in heaven. They rolled + the stone from the sepulchre of progress, and found therein two angels + clad in shining garments—Nationality and Liberty. + </p> + <p> + The soldiers were the saviors of the Nation; they were the liberators of + men. In writing the Proclamation of Emancipation, Lincoln, greatest of our + mighty dead, whose memory is as gentle as the summer air when reapers, + sing amid the gathered sheaves, copied with the pen what Grant and his + brave comrades wrote with swords. + </p> + <p> + Grander than the Greek, nobler than the Roman, the soldiers of the + Republic, with patriotism as shoreless as the air, battled for the rights + of others, for the nobility of labor; fought that mothers might own their + babes, that arrogant idleness should not scar the back of patient toil, + and that our country should not be a many-headed monster made of warring + States, but a Nation, sovereign, great, and free. + </p> + <p> + Blood was water, money was leaves, and life, was only common air until one + flag floated over a Republic without a master and without a slave. + </p> + <p> + And then was asked the question: "Will a free, people tax themselves to + pay a Nation's debt?" + </p> + <p> + The soldiers went home to their waiting wives, to their glad children, and + to the girls they loved—they went back-to the fields, the shops, and + mines. They had not been demoralized. They had been ennobled. They were as + honest in peace as they had been brave in war. Mocking at poverty, + laughing at reverses, they made a friend of toil. They said: "We saved the + Nation's life, and what is life without honor?" They worked and wrought + with all of labor's royal sons that every pledge the Nation gave might be + redeemed. And their great leader, having put a shining band of friendship—a + girdle of clasped and happy hands—around the globe, comes home and + finds that every promise made in war has now the ring and gleam of gold. + </p> + <p> + There is another question still:—Will all the wounds of war be + healed? I answer, Yes. The Southern people must submit,—not to the + dictation of the North, but to the Nation's will and to the verdict of + mankind. They were wrong, and the time will come when they will say that + they are victors who have been vanquished by the right. Freedom conquered + them, and freedom will cultivate their fields, educate their children, + weave for them the robes of wealth, execute their laws, and fill their + land with happy homes. + </p> + <p> + The soldiers of the Union saved the South as well as the North. They made + us a Nation. Their victory made us free and rendered tyranny in every + other land as insecure as snow upon volcanoes' lips. + </p> + <p> + And now let us drink to the volunteers—to those who sleep in + unknown, sunken graves, whose names are only in the hearts of those they + loved and left—of those who only hear in happy dreams the footsteps + of return. Let us drink to those who died where lipless famine mocked at + want; to all the maimed whose scars give modesty a tongue; to all who + dared and gave to chance the care and keeping of their lives; to all the + living and to all the dead,—to Sherman, to Sheridan, and to Grant, + the laureled soldier of the world, and last, to Lincoln, whose loving + life, like a bow of peace, spans and arches all the clouds of war. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0008" id="link0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + THIRTEEN CLUB DINNER. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Response of Col. R. G. Ingersoll to the sentiment "The + Superstitions of Public Men," at the regular monthly dinner + of the Thirteen Club. Monday evening, December 18, 1886. +</pre> + <p> + New York, December 13, 1886, + </p> + <p> + THE SUPERSTITIONS OF PUBLIC MEN, + </p> + <p> + MR. CHIEF RULER-AND GENTLEMEN: I suppose that the superstition most + prevalent with public men, is the idea that they are of great importance + to the public. As a matter of fact, public men,—that is to say, men + in office,—reflect the average intelligence of the people, and no + more. A public man, to be successful, must not assert anything unless it + is exceedingly popular. And he need not deny anything unless everybody is + against it. Usually he has to be like the center of the earth,—draw + all things his way, without weighing anything himself. + </p> + <p> + One of the difficulties, or rather, one of the objections, to a government + republican in form, is this: Everybody imagines that he is everybody's: + master. And the result has been to make most of our public men exceedingly + conservative in the expression of their real opinions. A man, wishing to + be elected to an office, generally agrees with 'most everybody he meets. + If he meets a Prohibitionist, he says: "Of course I am a temperance man. I + am opposed to all excesses; my dear friend, and no one knows better than + myself the evils that have been caused by intemperance." The next man + happens to keep a saloon, and happens to be quite influential in that part + of the district, and the candidate immediately says to him:—"The + idea that these Prohibitionists can take away the personal liberty of the + citizen is simply monstrous!" In a moment after, he is greeted by a + Methodist, and he hastens to say, that while he does not belong to that + church himself, his wife does; that he would gladly be a member, but does + not feel that he is good enough. He tells a Presbyterian that his + grandfather was of that faith, and that he was a most excellent man, and + laments from the bottom of his heart that he himself is not within that + fold. A few moments after, on meeting a skeptic, he declares, with the + greatest fervor, that reason is the only guide, and that he looks forward + to the time when superstition will be dethroned. In other words, the + greatest superstition now entertained by public men is, that hypocrisy is + the royal road to success. + </p> + <p> + Of course, there are many other superstitions, and one is, that the + Democratic party has not outlived its usefulness. Another is, that the + Republican party should have power for what it has done, instead of what + it proposes to do. + </p> + <p> + In my judgment, these statesmen are mistaken. The people of the United + States, after all, admire intellectual honesty and have respect for moral + courage. The time has come for the old ideas and superstitions in politics + to be thrown away—not in phrase, not in pretence, but in fact; and + the time has come when a man can safely rely on the intelligence and + courage of the American people. + </p> + <p> + The most significant fact in this world to-day, is, that in nearly every + village under the American flag the school-house is larger than the + church. People are beginning to have a little confidence in intelligence + and in facts. Every public man and every private man, who is actuated in + his life by a belief in something that no one can prove,—that no one + can demonstrate,—is, to that extent, a superstitious man. + </p> + <p> + It may be that I go further than most of you, because if I have any + superstition, it is a superstition against superstition. It seems to me + that the first things for every man, whether in or out of office, to + believe in,—the first things to rely on, are demonstrated facts. + These are the corner stones,—these are the columns that nothing can + move,—these are the stars that no darkness can hide,—these are + the true and only foundations of belief. + </p> + <p> + Beyond the truths that have been demonstrated is the horizon of the + Probable, and in the world of the Probable every man has the right to + guess for himself. Beyond the region of the Probable is the Possible, and + beyond the Possible is the Impossible, and beyond the Impossible are the + religions of this world. My idea is this: Any man who acts in view of the + Improbable or of the Impossible—that is to say of the Supernatural—is + a superstitious man. Any man who believes that he can add to the happiness + of the Infinite, by depriving himself of innocent pleasure, is + superstitious. Any man who imagines that he can make some God happy, by + making himself miserable, is superstitious. Any one who thinks he can gain + happiness in another world, by raising hell with his fellow-men in this, + is simply superstitious. Any man who believes in a Being of infinite + wisdom and goodness, and yet belives that that Being has peopled a world + with failures, is superstitious. Any man who believes that an infinitely + wise and good God would take pains to make a man, intending at the time + that the man should be eternally damned, is absurdly superstitious. In + other words, he who believes that there is, or that there can be, any + other religious duty than to increase the happiness of mankind, in this + world, now and here, is superstitious. + </p> + <p> + I have known a great many private men who were not men of genius. I have + known some men of genius about whom it was kept private, and I have known + many public men, and my wonder increased the better I knew them, that they + occupied positions of trust and honor. + </p> + <p> + But, after all, it is the people's fault. They who demand hypocrisy must + be satisfied with mediocrity... Our public men will be better and greater, + and less superstitious, when the people become greater and better and less + superstitious. There is an old story, that we have all heard, about + Senator Nesmith. He was elected a Senator from Oregon. When he had been in + Washington a little while, one of the other Senators said to him: "How did + you feel when you found yourself sitting here in the United States + Senate?" He replied: "For the first two months, I just sat and wondered + how a damned fool like me ever, broke into the Senate. Since that, I have + done nothing but wonder how the other fools got here." + </p> + <p> + To-day the need of our civilization is public men who have the courage to + speak as they think. We need a man for President who will not publicly + thank God for earthquakes. We need somebody with the courage to say that + all that happens in nature happens without design, and without reference + to man; somebody who will say that the men and women killed are not + murdered by supernatural beings, and that everything that happens in + nature, happens without malice and without mercy. We want somebody who + will have courage enough not to charge, an infinitely good and wise Being + with all the cruelties and agonies and sufferings of this world. We want + such men in public places,—men who will appeal to the reason of + their fellows, to the highest intelligence of the people; men who will + have courage enough, in this the nineteenth century, to agree with the + conclusions of science. We want some man who will not pretend to believe, + and who does not in fact believe, the stories that Superstition has told + to Credulity. + </p> + <p> + The most important thing in this world is the destruction of superstition. + Superstition interferes with the happiness of mankind. Superstition is a + terrible serpent, reaching in frightful coils from heaven to earth and + thrusting its poisoned fangs into the hearts of men. While I live, I am + going to do what little I can for the destruction of this monster. + Whatever may happen in another world—and I will take my chances + there,—I am opposed to superstition in this. And if, when I reach + that other world, it needs reforming, I shall do what little I can there + for the destruction of the false. + </p> + <p> + Let me tell you one thing more, and I am done. The only way to have brave, + honest, intelligent, conscientious public men, men without superstition, + is to do what we can to make the average citizen brave, conscientious and + intelligent. If you wish to see courage in the presidential chair, + conscience upon the bench, intelligence of the highest order in Congress; + if you expect public men to be great enough to reflect honor upon the + Republic, private citizens must have the courage and the intelligence to + elect, and to sustain, such men. I have said, and I say it again, that + never while I live will I vote for any man to be President of the United + States, no matter if he does belong to my party, who has not won his spurs + on some field of intellectual conflict. We have had enough mediocrity, + enough policy, enough superstition, enough prejudice, enough + provincialism, and the time has come for the American citizen to say: + "Hereafter I will be represented by men who are worthy, not only of the + great Republic, but of the Nineteenth Century." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0009" id="link0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + ROBSON AND CRANE DINNER. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, November 21, 1887. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * The theatre party and supper given by Charles P. Palmer, + brother of Courtlandt Palmer, on Monday evening were + unusually attractive in many ways. Mr Palmer has recently + returned from Europe, and took this opportunity to gather + around him his old club associates and friends, and to show + his admiration of the acting of Messrs. Robson and Crane. + The appearance of Mr. Palmer's fifty guests in the theatre + excited much interest in all parts of the house. It is not + often that theatre-goers have the opportunity of seeing in a + single row, Channcey M. Depew, Gen. William T. Sherman, Gen. + Horace Porter and Robert G. Ingersoll, with Leonard Jerome + and his brother Lawrence, Murat Halstead and other well- + known men in close proximity + + The supper table at Delmonico's was decorated with a lavish + profusion of flowers rarely approached even at that famous + restaurant. + + Mr. Palmer was a charming host, full of humor, jollity and + attention to every guest. He opened the speaking with a few + apt words. Then Stuart Rodson made some witty remarks, and + called upon William H. Crane, whose well-rounded speech was + heartily applauded General Sherman, Chauncey M. Depew, + General Porter, Lawrence Jerome and Colonel Ingersoll were + all in their best moods, and the sallies of wit and the + abundance of genuine humor in their informal addresses kept + their hearers in almost continuous laughter. Lawrence Jerome + was in especially fine form. He sang songs, told stories and + said: "Depew and Ingersoll know so much that intelligence + has become a drag in the market, and it's no use to tell you + what a good speech I would have made." J. Seaver Page made + an uncommonly witty and effective speech. Murat Halstead + related some reminiscences of his last European tour and of + his experiences in London with Lawrence and Leonard Jerome, + which were received with shouts of laughter. Altogether the + supper was one to be long remembered by all present.—The + Tribune, New York, November 23, 1887; +</pre> + <p> + TOAST: COMEDY AND TRAGEDY. + </p> + <p> + I BELIEVE in the medicine of mirth, and in what I might call the longevity + of laughter. Every man who has caused real, true, honest mirth, has been a + benefactor of the human race. In a world like this, where there is so much + trouble—a world gotten up on such a poor plan—where sometimes + one is almost inclined to think that the Deity, if there be one, played a + practical joke—to find, I say, in such a world, something that for + the moment allows laughter to triumph over sorrow, is a great piece of + good fortune. I like the stage, not only because General Sherman likes it—and + I do not think I was ever at the theatre in my life but I saw him—I + not only like it because General Washington liked it, but because the + greatest man that ever touched this grain of sand and tear we call the + world, wrote for the stage, and poured out a very Mississippi of + philosophy and pathos and humor, and everything calculated to raise and + ennoble mankind. + </p> + <p> + I like to see the stage honored, because actors are the ministers, the + apostles, of the greatest man who ever lived, and because they put flesh + upon and blood and passion within the greatest characters that the + greatest man drew. This is the reason I like the stage. It makes us human. + A rascal never gained applause on the stage. A hypocrite never commanded + admiration, not even when he was acting a clergyman—except for the + naturalness of the acting. No one has ever yet seen any play in which, in + his heart, he did not applaud honesty, heroism, sincerity, fidelity, + courage, and self-denial. Never. No man ever heard a great play who did + not get up a better, wiser, and more humane man; and no man ever went to + the theatre and heard Robson and Crane, who did not go home + better-natured, and treat his family that night a little better than on a + night when he had not heard these actors. + </p> + <p> + I enjoy the stage; I always did enjoy it. I love the humanity of it. I + hate solemnity; it is the brother of stupidity—always. You never + knew a solemn man who was not stupid, and you never will. There never was + a man of true genius who had not the simplicity of a child, and over whose + lips had not rippled the river of laughter—never, and there never + will be. I like, I say, the stage for its wit and for its humor. I do not + like sarcasm; I do not like mean humor. There is as much difference + between humor and malicious wit as there is between a bee's honey and a + bee's sting, and the reason I like Robson and Crane is that they have the + honey without the sting. + </p> + <p> + Another thing that makes me glad is, that I live in an age and generation + and day that has sense enough to appreciate the stage; sense enough to + appreciate music; sense enough to appreciate everything that lightens the + burdens of this life. Only a few years ago our dear ancestors looked upon + the theatre as the vestibule of hell; and every actor was going "the + primrose way to the everlasting bonfire." In those good old days, our + fathers, for the sake of relaxation, talked about death and graves and + epitaphs and worms and shrouds and dust and hell. In those days, too, they + despised music, cared nothing for art; and yet I have lived long enough to + hear the world—that is, the civilized world—say that + Shakespeare wrote the greatest book that man has ever read. I have lived + long enough to see men like Beethoven and Wagner put side by side with the + world's greatest men—great in imagination—and we must remember + that imagination makes the great difference between men. I have lived long + enough to see actors placed with the grandest and noblest, side by side + with the greatest benefactors of the human race. + </p> + <p> + There is one thing in which I cannot quite agree with what has been said. + I like tragedy, because tragedy is only the other side of the shield and I + like both sides. I love to spend an evening on the twilight boundary line + between tears and smiles. There is nothing that pleases me better than + some scene, some act, where the smile catches the tears in the eyes; where + the eyes are almost surprised by the smile, and the smile touched and + softened by the tears. I like that. And the greatest comedians and the + greatest tragedians have that power; and, in conclusion, let me say, that + it gives me more than pleasure to acknowledge the debt of gratitude I owe, + not only to the stage, but to the actors whose health we drink to-night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0010" id="link0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE POLICE CAPTAINS' DINNER. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, January 24, 1888. + </h3> + <p> + TOAST: DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF THE PRESS. + </p> + <p> + ONLY a little while ago, the nations of the world were ignorant and + provincial. Between these nations there were the walls and barriers of + language, of prejudice, of custom, of race and of religion. Each little + nation had the only perfect form of government—the only genuine + religion—all others being adulterations or counterfeits. + </p> + <p> + These nations met only as enemies. They had nothing to exchange but blows—nothing + to give and take but wounds. + </p> + <p> + Movable type was invented, and "civilization was thrust into the brain of + Europe on the point of a Moorish lance." The Moors gave to our ancestors + paper, and nearly all valuable inventions that were made for a thousand + years. + </p> + <p> + In a little while, books began to be printed—the nations began to + exchange thoughts instead of blows. The classics were translated. These + were read, and those who read them began to imitate them—began to + write themselves; and in this way there was produced in each nation a + local literature. There came to be an exchange of facts, of theories, of + ideas. + </p> + <p> + For many years this was accomplished by books, but after a time the + newspaper was invented, and the exchange increased. + </p> + <p> + Before this, every peasant thought his king the greatest being in the + world. He compared this king—his splendor, his palace—with the + peasant neighbor, with his rags and with his hut. All his thoughts were + provincial, all his knowledge confined to his own neighborhood—the + great world was to him an unknown land. + </p> + <p> + Long after papers were published, the circulation was small, the means of + intercommunication slow, painful, few and costly. + </p> + <p> + The same was true in our own country, and here, too, was in a great + degree, the provincialism of the Old World. + </p> + <p> + Finally, the means of intercommunication increased, and they became + plentiful and cheap. + </p> + <p> + Then the peasant found that he must compare his king with the kings of + other nations—the statesmen of his country with the statesmen of + others—and these comparisons were not always favorable to the men of + his own country. + </p> + <p> + This enlarged his knowledge and his vision, and the tendency of this was + to make him a citizen of the world. + </p> + <p> + Here in our own country, a little while ago, the citizen of each State + regarded his State as the best of all. To love that State more than all + others, was considered the highest evidence of patriotism. + </p> + <p> + The Press finally informed him of the condition of other States. He found + that other States were superior to his in many ways—in climate, in + production, in men, in invention, in commerce and in influence. Slowly he + transferred the love of State, the prejudice of locality—what I call + mud patriotism—to the Nation, and he became an American in the best + and highest sense. + </p> + <p> + This, then, is one of the greatest things to be accomplished by the Press + in America—namely, the unification of the country—the + destruction of provincialism, and the creation of a patriotism broad as + the territory covered by our flag. + </p> + <p> + The same ideas, the same events, the same news, are carried to millions of + homes every day. The result of this is to fix the attention of all upon + the same things, the same thoughts and theories, the same facts—and + the result is to get the best judgment of a nation. + </p> + <p> + This is a great and splendid object, but not the greatest. + </p> + <p> + In Europe the same thing is taking place. The nations are becoming + acquainted with each other. The old prejudices are dying out. The people + cf each nation are beginning to find that they are not the enemies of any + other. They are also beginning to suspect that where they have no cause of + quarrel, they should neither be called upon to fight, nor to pay the + expenses of war. + </p> + <p> + Another thing: The kings and statesmen no longer act as they formerly did. + Once they were responsible only to their poor and wretched-subjects, whose + obedience they compelled at the point of the bayonet. Now a king knows, + and his minister knows, that they must give account for what they do to + the civilized world. They know that kings and rulers must be tried before + the great bar of public opinion—a public opinion that has been + formed by the facts given to them in the Press of the world. They do not + wish to be condemned at that great bar. They seek not only not to be + condemned—not only to be acquitted—but they seek to be + crowned. They seek the applause, not simply of their own nation, but of + the civilized world. + </p> + <p> + There was for uncounted centuries a conflict between civilization and + barbarism. Barbarism was almost universal, civilization local. The torch + of progress was then held by feeble hands, and barbarism extinguished it + in the blood of its founders. But civilizations arose, and kept rising, + one after another, until now the great Republic holds and is able to hold + that torch against a hostile world. + </p> + <p> + By its invention, by its weapons of war, by its intelligence, civilization + became capable of protecting itself, and there came a time when in the + struggle between civilization and barbarism the world passed midnight. + </p> + <p> + Then came another struggle,—the struggle between the people and + their rulers. + </p> + <p> + Most peoples sacrificed their liberty through gratitude to some great + soldier who rescued them from the arms of the barbarian. But there came a + time when the people said: "We have a right to govern ourselves." And that + conflict has been waged for centuries. + </p> + <p> + And I say, protected and corroborated by the flag of the greatest of all + Republics, that in that conflict the world has passed midnight. + </p> + <p> + Despotisms were softened by parliaments, by congresses—but at last + the world is beginning to say: "The right to govern rests upon the consent + of the governed. The power comes from the people—not from kings. It + belongs to man, and should be exercised by man." + </p> + <p> + In this conflict we have passed midnight. The world is destined to be + republican. Those who obey the laws will make the laws. + </p> + <p> + Our country—the United States—the great Republic—owns + the fairest portion of half the world. We have now sixty millions of free + people. Look upon the map of our country. Look upon the great valley of + the Mississippi—stretching from the Alleghenies to the Rockies. See + the great basin drained by that mighty river. There you will see a + territory large enough to feed and clothe and educate five hundred + millions of human beings. + </p> + <p> + This country is destined to remain as one. The Mississippi River is + Nature's protest against secession and against division. + </p> + <p> + We call that nation civilized when its subjects submit their differences + of opinion, in accordance with the forms of law, to fellow-citizens who + are disinterested and who accept the decision as final. + </p> + <p> + The nations, however, sustain no such relation to each other. Each nation + concludes for itself. Each nation defines its rights and its obligations; + and nations will not be civilized in respect of their relations to each + other, until there shall have been established a National Court to decide + differences between nations, to the judgment of which all shall bow. + </p> + <p> + It is for the Press—the Press that photographs the human activities + of every day—the Press that gives the news of the world to each + individual—to bend its mighty energies to the unification and the + civilization of mankind; to the destruction of provincialism, of prejudice—to + the extirpation of ignorance and to the creation of a great and splendid + patriotism that embraces the human race. + </p> + <p> + The Press presents the daily thoughts of men. It marks the progress of + each hour, and renders a relapse into ignorance and barbarism impossible. + No catastrophe can be great enough, no ruin wide-spread enough, to engulf + or blot out the wisdom of the world. + </p> + <p> + Feeling that it is called to this high destiny, the Press should appeal + only to the highest and to the noblest in the human heart. + </p> + <p> + It should not be the bat of suspicion, a raven, hoarse with croaking + disaster, a chattering jay of gossip, or a vampire fattening on the + reputations of men. + </p> + <p> + It should remain the eagle, rising and soaring high in the cloudless blue, + above all mean and sordid things, and grasping only the bolts and arrows + of justice. + </p> + <p> + Let the Press have the courage always to defend the right, always to + defend the people—and let it always have the power to clutch and + strangle any combination of men, however intellectual or cunning or rich, + that feeds and fattens on the flesh and blood of honest men. + </p> + <p> + In a little while, under our flag there will be five hundred millions of + people. The great Republic will then dictate to the world—that is to + say, it will succor the oppressed—it will see that justice is done—it + will say to the great nations that wish to trample upon the weak: "You + must not—you shall not—strike." It will be obeyed. + </p> + <p> + All I ask is—all I hope is—that the Press will always be + worthy of the great Republic. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0011" id="link0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + GENERAL GRANT'S BIRTHDAY DINNER + </h2> + <h3> + New York, April 27, 1888. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * The tribute at Delmonico's last night was to the man + Grant as a supreme type of the confidence of the American + Republic in its own strength and destiny. Soldiers over + whose lost cause the wheels of a thousand cannons rolled, + and whose doctrines were ground to dust under the heels of + conquering legions, poured out their souls at the feet of + the great commander. Magnanimity, mercy, faith—these were + the themes of every orator. Christian and Infidel, blue and + gray, Republican and Democrat talked of Grant almost as men + have come to talk of Washington. + + And, alas! In the midst of it all, with its soft glow of + lights, its sweet breath of flowers, its throb of music and + bewildering radiance of banners, there was a vacant chair. + Upon it hung a wreath of green, tied with a knot of white + ribbon. Soldier and statesman and orator walked past that + chair and seemed to reverence it. It was the seat intended + for the trumpet tongued advocate of Grant in war, Grant in + victory, Grant in peace, Grant in adversity—the seat of + Roscoe Conkling. A little later and a clergyman jostled into + the vacant chair and brushed the green circlet to the floor. + + Gray and grim old General Sherman presided. About the nine + round, flower heaped tables were grouped the long list of + distinguisned men from every walk or life and from every + section of the country. + + Among the speakers was Ex-Minister Edwards Pierrepont who + was one of Grant's cabinet and who made a long speech, part + of which was devoted to explaining the court etiquette of + dukes and earls and ministers in England, and how an ex- + President of the United States ranks in Europe when an + American Minister helps him out. The rest of the speech + seemed to be an attempt to get up a presidential boom for + the Prince of Wales. + + When Mr. Pierrepont sat down, General Sherman explained that + Col. Robert Ingersoll did not want to speak, but a group of + gentlemen lifted the orator up and carried him forward by + main force.—New York Herald, April 28,1888. +</pre> + <p> + TOAST: GENERAL GRANT + </p> + <p> + GEN. SHERMAN and Gentlemen: I firmly believe that any nation great enough + to produce and appreciate a great and splendid man is great enough to keep + his memory green. No man admires more than I do men who have struggled and + fought for what they believed to be right. I admire General Grant, as well + as every soldier who fought in the ranks of the Union,—not simply + because they were fighters, not simply because they were willing to march + to the mouth of the guns, but because they fought for the greatest cause + that can be expressed in human language—the liberty of man. And + to-night while General Mahone was speaking, I could not but think that the + North was just as responsible for the war as the South. The South upheld + and maintained what is known as human slavery, and the North did the same; + and do you know, I have always found in my heart a greater excuse for the + man who held the slave, and lived on his labor, and profited by the + rascality, than I did for a Northern man that went into partnership with + him with a distinct understanding that he was to have none of the profits + and half of the disgrace. So I say, that, in a larger sense—that is, + when we view the question from a philosophic height—the North was as + responsible as the South; and when I remember that in this very city, <i>in + this very city</i>, men were mobbed simply for advocating the abolition of + slavery, I cannot find it in my heart to lay a greater blame upon the + South than upon the North. If this had been a war of conquest, a war + simply for national aggrandizement, then I should not place General Grant + side by side with or in advance of the greatest commanders of the world. + But when I remember that every blow was to break a chain, when I remember + that the white man was to be civilized at the same time the black man was + made free, when I remember that this country was to be made absolutely + free, and the flag left without a stain, then I say that the great General + who commanded the greatest army ever marshaled in the defence of human + rights, stands at the head of the commanders of this world. + </p> + <p> + There is one other idea,—and it was touched upon and beautifully + illustrated by Mr. Depew. I do not believe that a more merciful general + than Grant ever drew his sword. All greatness is merciful. All greatness + longs to forgive. All true grandeur and nobility is capable of shedding + the divine tear of pity. + </p> + <p> + Let me say one more word in that direction. The man in the wrong defeated, + and who sees the justice of his defeat, is a victor; and in this view—and + I say it understanding my words fully—the South was as victorious as + the North. + </p> + <p> + No man, in my judgment, is more willing to do justice to all parts of this + country than I; but, after all, I have a little sentiment—a little. + I admire great and splendid deeds, the dramatic effect of great victories; + but even more than that I admire that "touch of nature which makes the + whole world kin." I know the names of Grant's victories. I know that they + shine like stars in the heaven of his fame. I know them all. But there is + one thing in the history of that great soldier that touched me nearer and + more deeply than any victory he ever won, and that is this: When about to + die, he insisted that his dust should be laid in no spot where his wife, + when she sleeps in death, could not lie by his side. That tribute to the + great and splendid institution that rises above all others, the + institution of the family, touched me even more than the glories won upon + the fields of war. + </p> + <p> + And now let me say, General Sherman, as the years go by, in America, as + long as her people are great, as long as her people are free, as long as + they admire patriotism and courage, as long as they admire deeds of + self-denial, as long as they can remember the sacred blood shed for the + good of the whole nation, the birthday of General Grant will be + celebrated. And allow me to say, gentlemen, that there is another with us + to-night whose birthday will be celebrated. Americans of the future, when + they read the history of General Sherman, will feel the throb and thrill + that all men feel in the presence of the patriotic and heroic. + </p> + <p> + One word more—when General Grant went to England, when he sat down + at the table with the Ministers of her Britannic Majesty, he conferred + honor upon them. There is one change I wish to see in the diplomatic + service—and I want the example to be set by the great Republic—I + want precedence given here in Washington to the representatives of + Republics. Let us have some backbone ourselves. Let the representatives of + Republics come first and the ambassadors of despots come in next day. In + other words, let America be proud of American institutions, proud of a + Government by the people. We at last have a history, we at last are a + civilized people, and on the pages of our annals are found as glorious + names as have been written in any language. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0012" id="link0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + LOTOS CLUB DINNER, TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, March 22, 1890. + </h3> + <p> + YOU have talked so much of old age and gray hairs and thin locks, so much + about the past, that I feel sad. Now, I want to destroy the impression + that baldness is a sign of age. The very youngest people I ever saw were + bald. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes I think, and especially when I am at a meeting where they have + what they call reminiscences, that a world with death in it is a mistake. + What would you think of a man who built a railroad, knowing that every + passenger was to be killed—knowing that there was no escape? What + would you think of the cheerfulness of the passengers if every one knew + that at some station, the name of which had not been called out, there was + a hearse waiting for him; backed up there, horses fighting flies, driver + whistling, waiting for you? Is it not wonderful that the passengers on + that train really enjoy themselves? Is it not magnificent that every one + of them, under perpetual sentence of death, after all, can dimple their + cheeks with laughter; that we, every one doomed to become dust, can yet + meet around this table as full of joy as spring is full of life, as full + of hope as the heavens are full of stars? + </p> + <p> + I tell you we have got a good deal of pluck. + </p> + <p> + And yet, after all, what would this world be without death? It may be from + the fact that we are all victims, from the fact that we are all bound by + common fate; it may be that friendship and love are born of that fact; but + Whatever the fact is, I am perfectly satisfied that the highest possible + philosophy is to enjoy to-day, not regretting yesterday, and not fearing + to-morrow. So, let us suck this orange of life dry, so that when death + does come, we can politely say to him, "You are welcome to the peelings. + What little there was we have enjoyed." + </p> + <p> + But there is one splendid thing about the play called Life. Suppose that + when you die, that is the end. The last thing that you will know is that + you are alive, and the last thing that will happen to you is the curtain, + not falling, but the curtain rising on another thought, so that as far as + your consciousness is concerned you will and must live forever. No man can + remember when he commenced, and no man can remember when he ends. As far + as we are concerned we live both eternities, the one past and the one to + come, and it is a delight to me to feel satisfied, and to feel in my own + heart, that I can never be certain that I have seen the faces I love for + the last time. + </p> + <p> + When I am at such a gathering as this, I almost wish I had had the making + of the world. What a world I would have made! In that world unhappiness + would have been the only sin; melancholy the only crime; joy the only + virtue. And whether there is another world, nobody knows. Nobody can + affirm it; nobody can deny it. Nobody can collect tolls from me, claiming + that he owns a turnpike, and nobody can certainly say that the crooked + path that I follow, beside which many roses are growing, does not lead to + that place. He doesn't know. But if there is such a place, I hope that all + good fellows will be welcome. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0013" id="link0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + MANHATTAN ATHLETIC CLUB DINNER. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, December 27, 1890. + </h3> + <p> + TOAST: ATHLETICS AMONG THE ANCIENTS. + </p> + <p> + THE first record of public games is found in the twentythird Book of the + Iliad. These games were performed at the funeral of Patroclus, and there + were: + </p> + <p> + First. A chariot race, and the first prize was: + </p> + <p> + "A woman fair, well skilled in household care." + </p> + <p> + Second. There was a pugilistic encounter, and the first prize, + appropriately enough, was a mule. + </p> + <p> + It gave me great pleasure to find that Homer did not hold in high esteem + the victor. I have reached this conclusion, because the poet put these + words in the mouth of Eppius, the great boxer winding up with the + following refined declaration concerning his opponent: + </p> + <p> + "I mean to pound his flesh and smash his bones." + </p> + <p> + After the battle, the defeated was helped from the field. He spit forth + clotted gore. His head rolled from side to side, until he fell + unconscious. + </p> + <p> + Third, wrestling; fourth, foot-race; fifth, fencing; sixth, throwing the + iron mass or bar; seventh, archery, and last, throwing the javelin. + </p> + <p> + All of these games were in honor of Patroclus. This is the same Patroclus + who, according to Shakespeare, addressed Achilles in these words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "In the battle-field I claim no special praise; + 'Tis not for man in all things to excel—" + + "Rouse yourself, and the weak wanton Cupid + Shall from your neck unloose his amorous fold, + And, like a dew-drop from the lion's mane, + Be shook to air." +</pre> + <p> + These games were all born of the instinct of self-defence. The chariot was + used in war. Man should know the use of his hands, to the end that he may + repel assault. He should know the use of the sword, to the end that he may + strike down his enemy. He should be skillful with the arrow, to the same + end. If overpowered, he seeks safety in flight—he should therefore + know how to run. So, too, he could preserve himself by the skillful + throwing of the javelin, and in the close encounter a knowledge of + wrestling might save his life. + </p> + <p> + Man has always been a fighting animal, and the art of self-defence is + nearly as important now as ever—and will be, until man rises to that + supreme height from which he will be able to see that no one can commit a + crime against another without injuring himself. + </p> + <p> + The Greeks knew that the body bears a certain relation to the soul—that + the better the body—other things being equal—the greater the + mind. They also knew that the body could be developed, and that such + development would give or add to the health, the courage, the endurance, + the self-confidence, the independence and the morality of the human race. + They knew, too, that health was the foundation, the corner-stone, of + happiness. + </p> + <p> + They knew that human beings should know something about themselves, + something of the capacities of body and mind, to the end that they might + ascertain the relation between conduct and happiness, between temperance + and health. + </p> + <p> + It is needless to say that the Greeks were the most intellectual of all + races, and that they were in love with beauty, with proportion, with the + splendor of the body and of mind; and so great was their admiration for + the harmoniously developed, that Sophocles had the honor of walking naked + at the head of a great procession. + </p> + <p> + The Greeks, through their love of physical and mental development, gave us + the statues—the most precious of all inanimate things—of far + more worth than all the diamonds and rubies and pearls that ever glittered + in crowns and tiaras, on altars or thrones, or, flashing, rose and fell on + woman's billowed breast. In these marbles we find the highest types of + life, of superb endeavor and supreme repose. In looking at them we feel + that blood flows, that hearts throb and souls aspire. These miracles of + art are the richest legacies the ancient world has left our race. + </p> + <p> + The nations in love with life, have games. To them existence is + exultation. They are fond of nature. They, seek the woods and streams. + They love the winds and waves of the sea. They enjoy the poem of the day, + the drama of the year. + </p> + <p> + Our Puritan fathers were oppressed with a sense of infinite + responsibility. They were disconsolate and sad, and no more thought of + sport, except the flogging of; Quakers, than shipwrecked wretches huddled + on a raft would turn their attention to amateur theatricals. + </p> + <p> + For many centuries the body was regarded as a decaying; casket, in which + had been placed the gem called the soul, and the nearer rotten the casket + the more brilliant the jewel. + </p> + <p> + In those blessed days, the diseased were sainted and insanity born of + fasting and self-denial and abuse of the body, was looked upon as evidence + of inspiration. Cleanliness was not next to godliness—it was the + opposite; and in those days, what was known as "the odor of sanctity" had + a substantial foundation. Diseased bodies produced all kinds of mental + maladies. There is a direct relation between sickness and superstition. + Everybody knows that Calvinism was the child of indigestion. + </p> + <p> + Spooks and phantoms hover about the undeveloped and diseased, as vultures + sail above the dead. + </p> + <p> + Our ancestors had the idea that they ought to be spiritual, and that good + health was inconsistent with the highest forms of piety. This heresy crept + into the minds even of secular writers, and the novelists described their + heroines as weak and languishing, pale as lilies, and in the place of + health's brave flag they put the hectic flush. + </p> + <p> + Weakness was interesting, and fainting captured the hearts of all. Nothing + was so attractive as a society belle with a drug-store attachment. + </p> + <p> + People became ashamed of labor, and consequently, of the evidences of + labor. They avoided "sun-burnt mirth"—were proud of pallor, and + regarded small, white hands as proof that they had noble blood within + their veins. It was a joy to be too weak to work, too languishing to + labor. + </p> + <p> + The tide has turned. People are becoming sensible enough to desire health, + to admire physical development, symmetry of form, and we now know that a + race with little feet and hands has passed the climax and is traveling + toward the eternal night. + </p> + <p> + When the central force is strong, men and women are full of life to the + finger tips. When the fires burn low, they begin to shrivel at the + extremities—the hands and feet grow small, and the mental flame + wavers and wanes. + </p> + <p> + To be self-respecting we must be self-supporting. + </p> + <p> + Nobility is a question of character, not of birth. + </p> + <p> + Honor cannot be received as alms—it must be earned. + </p> + <p> + It is the brow that makes the wreath of glory green. + </p> + <p> + All exercise should be for the sake of development—that is to say, + for the sake of health, and for the sake of the mind—all to the end + that the person may become better, greater, more useful. The gymnast or + the athelete should seek for health as the student should seek for truth; + but when athletics degenerate into mere personal contests, they become + dangerous, because the contestants lose sight of health, as in the + excitement of debate the students prefer personal victory to the + ascertainment of truth. + </p> + <p> + There is another thing to be avoided by all athletic clubs, and that is, + anything that tends to brutalize, destroy or dull the finer feelings. + Nothing is more disgusting, more disgraceful, than pugilism—nothing + more demoralizing than an exhibition of strength united with ferocity, and + where the very body developed by exercise is mutilated and disfigured. + </p> + <p> + Sports that can by no possibility give pleasure, except to the unfeeling, + the hardened and the really brainless, should be avoided. No gentleman + should countenance rabbit-coursing, fighting of dogs, the shooting of + pigeons, simply as an exhibition of skill. + </p> + <p> + All these things are calculated to demoralize and brutalize not only the + actors, but the lookers on. Such sports are savage, fit only to be + participated in and enjoyed by the cannibals of Central Africa or the + anthropoid apes. + </p> + <p> + Find what a man enjoys—what he laughs at—what he calls + diversion—and you know what he is. Think of a man calling himself + civilized, who is in raptures at a bull fight—who smiles when he + sees the hounds pursue and catch and tear in pieces the timid hare, and + who roars with laughter when he watches the pugilists pound each other's + faces, closing each other's eyes, breaking jaws and smashing noses. Such + men are beneath the animals they torture—on a level with the + pugilists they applaud. Gentlemen should hold such sports in unspeakable + contempt. No man finds pleasure in inflicting pain. + </p> + <p> + In every public school there should be a gymnasium. + </p> + <p> + It is useless to cram minds and deform bodies. Hands should be educated as + well as heads. All should be taught the sports and games that require + mind, muscle, nerve and judgment. + </p> + <p> + Even those who labor should take exercise, to the end that the whole body + may be developed. Those who work at one employment become deformed. + Proportion is lost. But where harmony is preserved by the proper exercise, + even old age is beautiful. + </p> + <p> + To the well developed, to the strong, life seems rich, obstacles small, + and success easy. They laugh at cold and storm. Whatever the season may be + their hearts are filled with summer. + </p> + <p> + Millions go from the cradle to the coffin without knowing what it is to + live. They simply succeed in postponing death. Without appetites, without + passions, without struggle, they slowly rot in a waveless pool. They never + know the glory of success, the rapture of the fight. + </p> + <p> + To become effeminate is to invite misery. In the most delicate bodies may + be found the most degraded souls. It was the Duchess Josiane whose + pampered flesh became so sensitive that she thought of hell as a place + where people were compelled to sleep between coarse sheets. + </p> + <p> + We need the open air—we need the experience of heat and cold. We + need not only the rewards and caresses, but the discipline of our mother + Nature. Life is not all sunshine, neither is it all storm, but man should + be enabled to enjoy the one and to withstand the other. + </p> + <p> + I believe in the religion of the body—of physical development—in + devotional exercise—in the beatitudes of cheerfulness, good health, + good food, good clothes, comradeship, generosity, and above all, in + happiness. I believe in salvation here and now. Salvation from deformity + and disease—from weakness and pain—from ennui and insanity. I + believe in heaven here and now—the heaven of health and good + digestion—of strength and long life—of usefulness and joy. I + believe in the builders and defenders of homes. + </p> + <p> + The gentlemen whom we honor to-night have done a great work. To their + energy we are indebted for the nearest perfect, for the grandest athletic + clubhouse in the world. Let these clubs multiply. Let the example be + followed, until our country is filled with physical and intellectual + athletes—superb fathers, perfect mothers, and every child an heir to + health and joy. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0014" id="link0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE LIEDERKRANZ CLUB, SEIDL-STANTON BANQUET. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, April 2, 1891 + </h3> + <p> + TOAST: MUSIC, NOBLEST OF THE ARTS. + </p> + <p> + IT is probable that I was selected to speak about music, because, not + knowing one note from another, I have no prejudice on the subject. + </p> + <p> + All I can say is, that I know what I like, and, to tell the truth, I like + every kind, enjoy it all, from the hand organ to the orchestra. + </p> + <p> + Knowing nothing of the science of music, I am not always looking for + defects, or listening for discords. As the young robin cheerfully swallows + whatever comes, I hear with gladness all that is played. + </p> + <p> + Music has been, I suppose, a gradual growth, subject to the law of + evolution; as nearly everything, with the possible exception of theology, + has been and is under this law. + </p> + <p> + Music may be divided into three kinds: First, the music of simple time, + without any particular emphasis—and this may be called the music of + the heels; second, music in which time is varied, in which there is the + eager haste and the delicious delay, that is, the fast and slow, in + accordance with our feelings, with our emotions—and this may be + called the music of the heart; third, the music that includes time and + emphasis, the hastening and the delay, and something in addition, that + produces not only states of feeling, but states of thought. This may be + called the music of the head,—the music of the brain. + </p> + <p> + Music expresses feeling and thought, without language. It was below and + before speech, and it is above and beyond all words. Beneath the waves is + the sea—above the clouds is the sky. + </p> + <p> + Before man found a name for any thought, or thing, he had hopes and fears + and passions, and these were rudely expressed in tones. + </p> + <p> + Of one thing, however, I am certain, and that is, that Music was born of + Love. Had there never been any human affection, there never could have + been uttered a strain of music. Possibly some mother, looking in the eyes + of her babe, gave the first melody to the enraptured air. + </p> + <p> + Language is not subtle enough, tender enough, to express all that we feel; + and when language fails, the highest and deepest longings are translated + into music. Music is the sunshine—the climate—of the soul, and + it floods the heart with a perfect June. + </p> + <p> + I am also satisfied that the greatest music is the most marvelous mingling + of Love and Death. Love is the greatest of all passions, and Death is its + shadow. Death gets all its terror from Love, and Love gets its intensity, + its radiance, its glory and its rapture, from the darkness of Death. Love + is a flower that grows on the edge of the grave. + </p> + <p> + The old music, for the most part, expresses emotion, or feeling-, through + time and emphasis, and what is known as melody. Most of the old operas + consist of a few melodies connected by unmeaning recitative. There should + be no unmeaning music. It is as though a writer should suddenly leave his + subject and write a paragraph consisting of nothing but a repetition of + one word like "the," "the," "the," or "if," "if." "if," varying the + repetition of these words, but without meaning,—and then resume the + subject of his article. + </p> + <p> + I am not saying that great music was not produced before Wagner, but I am + simply endeavoring to show-the steps that have been taken. It was + necessary that all the music should have been written, in order that the + greatest might be produced. The same is true of the drama, Thousands and + thousands prepared the way for the supreme dramatist, as millions prepared + the way for the supreme composer. + </p> + <p> + When I read Shakespeare, I am astonished that he has expressed so much + with common words, to which he gives new meaning; and so when I hear + Wagner, I exclaim: Is it possible that all this is done with common air? + </p> + <p> + In Wagner's music there is a touch of chaos that suggests the infinite. + The melodies seem strange and changing forms, like summer clouds, and + weird harmonies come like sounds from the sea brought by fitful winds, and + others moan like waves on desolate shores, and mingled with these, are + shouts of joy, with sighs and sobs and ripples of laughter, and the + wondrous voices of eternal love. + </p> + <p> + Wagner is the Shakespeare of Music. + </p> + <p> + The funeral march for Siegfried is the funeral music for all the dead; + Should all the gods die, this music would be perfectly appropriate. It is + elemental, universal, eternal. + </p> + <p> + The love-music in Tristan and Isolde is, like Romeo and Juliet, an + expression of the human heart for all time. So the love-duet in The Flying + Dutchman has in it the consecration, the infinite self-denial, of love. + The whole heart is given; every note has wings, and rises and poises like + an eagle in the heaven of sound. + </p> + <p> + When I listen to the music of Wagner, I see pictures, forms, glimpses of + the perfect, the swell of a hip, the wave of a breast, the glance of an + eye. I am in the midst of great galleries. Before me are passing, the + endless panoramas. I see vast landscapes with valleys of verdure and vine, + with soaring crags, snow-crowned. I am on the wide seas, where countless + billows burst into the white caps of joy. I am in the depths of caverns + roofed with mighty crags, while through some rent I see the eternal stars. + In a moment the music, becomes a river of melody, flowing through some + wondrous land; suddenly it falls in strange chasms, and the mighty + cataract is changed to seven-hued foam. . + </p> + <p> + Great music is always sad, because it tells us of the perfect; and such is + the difference between what we are and that which music suggests, that + even in the vase of joy we find some tears. + </p> + <p> + The music of Wagner has color, and when I hear the violins, the morning + seems to slowly come. A horn puts a star above the horizon. The night, in + the purple hum of the bass, wanders away like some enormous bee across + wide fields of dead clover. The light grows whiter as the violins + increase. Colors come from other instruments, and then the full orchestra + floods the world with day. + </p> + <p> + Wagner seems not only to have given us new tones, new combinations, but + the moment the orchestra begins to play his music, all the instruments are + transfigured. They seem to utter the sounds that they have been longing to + utter. The horns run riot; the drums and cymbals join in the general joy; + the old bass viols are alive with passion; the 'cellos throb with love; + the violins are seized with a divine fury, and the notes rush out as eager + for the air as pardoned prisoners for the roads and fields. + </p> + <p> + The music of Wagner is filled with landscapes. There are some strains, + like midnight, thick with constellations, and there are harmonies like + islands in the far seas, and others like palms on the desert's edge. His + music satisfies the heart and brain. It is not only for memory; not only + for the present, but for prophecy. + </p> + <p> + Wagner was a sculptor, a painter, in sound. When he died, the greatest + fountain of melody that ever enchanted the world, ceased. His music will + instruct and refine forever. + </p> + <p> + All that I know about the operas of Wagner I have learned from Anton + Seidl. I believe that he is the noblest, tenderest and the most artistic + interpreter of the great composer that has ever lived. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0015" id="link0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE FRANK B. CARPENTER DINNER. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, December 1, 1891 + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * There was a notable gathering of leading artists, authors, + scientists, journalists, lawyer, clergymen and other + professional men at Sherry's last evening. The occasion was + a dinner tendered to Mr. F. B. Carpenter, the famous + portrait and portrait group artist, by his immediate friends + to celebrate the completion of his new historical painting, + entitled "International Arbitration," which is to be sent to + Queen Victoria next week as the gift of a wealthy American + lady. No such tribute has ever been paid before to an artist + of-this country. Let us hope that the extraordinary + attention thus paid to Mr. Carpenter will give our "English + cousins" some idea of how he is prized and his work indorsed + at home. The dinner to Mr. Carpenter was a great success— + most enjoyable in every way. The table was laid in the form + ol a horse shoe with a train of smilax, and sweet flowers + extending the entire length of the table, amid pots of + chrysanthemums and roses. Ex-Minister Andrew D White + presided in the absence of John Russell + + Young..........Mr. White said: "During the entire course of + these proceedings we have been endeavoring to find a + representative of the great Fourth Estate who would present + its claims in relation to arbitration on this occasion. + There are present men whose names are household words in + connection with the press throughout this land. There is + certainly one distinguished as orator: there is another + distinguished as a scholar. But they prefer to be silent. We + will therefore consider that the toast of 'The Press in + Connection with War and Peace' has been duly honored + although it has not been responded to, and now there is one + subject which I think you will consider as coming strangely + at this late hour. It is a renewal of the subject with which + we began, and I am to ask to speak to it a man who is + admired and feared throughout the country. At one moment he + smashes the most cherished convictions of the country, and + at another he raises our highest aspirations for the future + of humanity. + + "It happened several years ago that I was crossing the + Atlantic, and when I had sufficiently recovered from + seasickness to sit out on the deck I came across Colonel + Ingersoll, and of all subjects of discussion you can imagine + we fell upon the subject of art, and we went at it hot and + heavy. So I said to him to-night that I had a rod in pickle + for him and that he was not to know anything about it until + it was displayed. + + "I now call upon him to talk to us about art, and if he + talks now as he talked on the deck of the steamer I do not + know whether it would clear the room, but it would make a + sensation in this State and country. I have great pleasure + in announcing Colonel Ingersoll, to speak on the subject of + art—or on any other subject, for no matter upon what he + speaks his words are always welcome." + + New York Press, December 2, 1891. +</pre> + <p> + TOAST: ART. + </p> + <p> + I PRESUME I take about as much interest in what that picture represents as + anybody else. I believe that it has been said this evening that the world + will never be civilized so long as differences between nations are settled + by gun or cannon or sword. Barbarians still settle their personal + differences with clubs or arms, and finally, when they agree to submit + their differences to their peers, to a court, we call them civilized. Now, + nations sustain the same relations to each other that barbarians sustain; + that is, they settle their differences by force; each nation being the + judge of the righteousness of its cause, and its judgment depending + entirely—or for the most part—on its strength; and the + strongest nation is the nearest right. Now, until nations submit their + differences to an international court—a court with the power to + carry its judgment into effect by having the armies and navies of all the + rest of the world pledged to support it—the world will not be + civilized. Our differences will not be settled by arbitration until more + of the great nations set the example, and until that is done, I am in + favor of the United States being armed. Until that is done it will give me + joy to know that another magnificent man-of-war has been launched upon our + waters. And I will tell you why. Look again at that picture. There is + another face; it is not painted there, and yet without it that picture + would not have been painted, and that is the face of U. S. Grant. The + olive branch, to be of any force, to be of any beneficent power, must be + offered by the mailed hand. It must be offered by a nation which has back + of the olive branch the force. It cannot be offered by weakness, because + then it will excite only ridicule. The powerful, the imperial, must offer + that branch. Then it will be accepted in the true spirit; otherwise not. + So, until the world is a little more civilized I am in favor of the + largest guns that can be made and the best navy that floats. I do not want + any navy unless we have the best, because if you have a poor one you will + simply make a present of it to the enemy as soon as war opens. We should + be ready to defend ourselves against the world. Not that I think there is + going to be any war, but because I think that is the best way to prevent + it. Until the whole world shall have entered into the same spirit as the + artist when he painted that picture, until that spirit becomes general we + have got to be prepared for war. And we cannot depend upon war suasion. If + a fleet of men-of-war should sail into our harbor, talk would not be of + any good; we must be ready to answer them in their own way. + </p> + <p> + I suppose I have been selected to speak on art because I can speak on that + subject without prejudice, knowing nothing about it. I have on this + subject no hobbies, no pet theories, and consequently will give you not + what I know, but what I think. I am an Agnostic in many things, and the + way I understand art is this: In the first place we are all invisible to + each other. There is something called soul; something that thinks and + hopes and loves. It is never seen. It occupies a world that we call the + brain, and is forever, so far as we know, invisible. Each soul lives in a + world of its own, and it endeavors to communicate with another soul living + in a world of its own, each invisible to the other, and it does this in a + variety of ways. That is the noblest art which expresses the noblest + thought, that gives to another the noblest emotions that this unseen soul + has. In order to do this we have to seize upon the seen, the visible. In + other words, nature is a vast dictionary that we use simply to convey from + one invisible world to another what happens in our invisible world. The + man that lives in the greatest world and succeeds in letting other worlds + know what happens in his world, is the greatest artist. + </p> + <p> + I believe that all arts have the same father and the same mother, and no + matter whether you express what happens in these unseen worlds in mere + words—because nearly all pictures have been made with words—or + whether you express it in marble, or form and color in what we call + painting, it is to carry on that commerce between these invisible worlds, + and he is the greatest artist who expresses the tenderest, noblest + thoughts to the unseen worlds about him. So that all art consists in this + commerce, every soul being an artist and every brain that is worth talking + about being an art gallery, and there is no gallery in this world, not in + the Vatican or the Louvre or any other place, comparable with the gallery + in every great brain. The millions of pictures that are in every brain + to-night; the landscapes, the faces, the groups, the millions of millions + of millions of things that are now living here in every brain, all unseen, + all invisible forever! Yet we communicate with each other by showing each + other these pictures, these studies, and by inviting others into our + galleries and showing them what we have, and the greatest artist is he who + has the most pictures to show to other artists. + </p> + <p> + I love anything in art that suggests the tender, the beautiful. What is + beauty? Of course there is no absolute beauty. All beauty is relative. + Probably the most beautiful thing to a frog is the speckled belly of + another frog, or to a snake the markings of another snake. So there is no + such thing as absolute beauty. But what I call beauty is what suggests to + me the highest and the tenderest thought; something that answers to + something in my world. So every work of art has to be born in some brain, + and it must be made by the unseen artist we call the soul. Now, if a man + simply copies what he sees, he is nothing but a copyist. That does not + require genius. That requires industry and the habit of observation. But + it is not genius; it is not art. Those little daubs and shreds and patches + we get by copying, are pieces of iron that need to be put into the flame + of genius to be molten and then cast in noble forms; otherwise there is no + genius. + </p> + <p> + The great picture should have, not only the technical part of art, which + is neither moral nor immoral, but in addition some great thought, some + great event. It should contain not only a history but a prophecy. There + should be in it soul, feeling, thought I love those little pictures of the + home, of the fireside, of the old lady, boiling the kettle, the vine + running over the cottage door, scenes suggesting to me happiness, + contentment. I think more of them than of the great war pieces, and I hope + I shall have a few years in some such scenes, during which I shall not + care what time it is, what day of the week or month it is. Just that + feeling of content when it is enough to live, to breathe, to have the blue + sky above you and to hear the music of the water. All art that gives us + that content, that delight, enriches this world and makes life better and + holier. + </p> + <p> + That, in a general kind of way, as I said before, is my idea of art, and I + hope that the artists of America—and they ought to be as good here + as in any place on earth—will grow day by day and year by year + independent of all other art in the world, and be true to the American or + republican spirit always. As to this picture, it is representative, it is + American. There is one word Mr. Daniel Dougherty said to which I would + like to refer. I have never said very much in my life in defence of + England, at the same time I have never blamed England for being against us + during our war, and I will tell you why. We had been a nation of + hypocrites. We pretended to be in favor of liberty and yet we had four or + five millions of our people enslaved. That was a very awkward position. We + had bloodhounds to hunt human beings and the apostles setting them on; and + while this was going on these poor wretches sought and found liberty on + British soil. Now, why not be honest about it? We were rather a + contemptible people, though Mr. Dougherty thinks the English were wholly + at fault. But England abolished the slave-trade in 1803; she abolished + slavery in her colonies in 1833. We were lagging behind. That is all there + is about it. No matter why, we put ourselves in the position of pretending + to be a free people while we had millions of slaves, and it was only + natural that England should dislike it. + </p> + <p> + I think the chairman said that there had been no great historic picture of + the signing of the Constitution. There never should be, never! It was fit, + it was proper, to have a picture of the signing of the Declaration of + Independence. That was an honest document. Our people wanted to give a + good reason for fighting Great Britain, and in order to do that they had + to dig down to the bed-rock of human rights, and then they said all men + are created equal. But just as soon as we got our independence we made a + Constitution that gave the lie to the Declaration of Independence, and + that is why the signing of the Constitution never ought to be painted. We + put in that Constitution a clause that the slave-trade should not be + interfered with for years, and another clause that this entire Government + was pledged to hand back to slavery any poor woman with a child at her + breast, seeking freedom by flight. It was a very poor document. A little + while ago they celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of that business + and talked about the Constitution being such a wonderful thing; yet what + was in that Constitution brought on the most terrible civil war ever + known, and during that war they said: "Give us the Constitution as it is + and the Union as it was." And I said then: "Curse the Constitution as it + is and the Union as it was. Don't talk to me about fighting for a + Constitution that has brought on a war like this; let us make a new one." + No, I am in favor of a painting that would celebrate the adoption of the + amendment to the Constitution that declares that there shall be no more + slavery on this soil. + </p> + <p> + I believe that we are getting a little more free every day—a little + more sensible all the time. A few years ago a woman in Germany made a + speech, in which she asked: "Why should the German mother in pain and + agony give birth to a child and rear that child through industry and + poverty, and teach him that when he arrives at the age of twenty-one it + will be his duty to kill the child of the French mother? And why should + the French mother teach her son, that it will be his duty sometime to kill + the child of the German mother?" There is more sense in that than in all + the diplomacy I ever read, and I think the time is coming when that + question will be asked by every mother—Why should she raise a child + to kill the child of another mother? + </p> + <p> + The time is coming when we will do away with all this. Man has been taught + that he ought to fight for the country where he was born; no matter about + that country being wrong, whether it supported him or not, whether it + enslaved him and trampled on every right he had, still it was his duty to + march up in support of that country. The time will come when the man will + make up his mind himself whether the country is worth while fighting for, + and he is the greatest patriot who seeks to make his country worth + fighting for, and not he who says, I am for it anyhow, whether it is right + or not. These patriots will be the force Mr. George was speaking about. If + war between this country and Great Britain were declared, and there were + men in both countries sufficient to take a right view of it, that would be + the end of war. The thing would be settled by arbitration—settled by + some court—and no one would dream of rushing to the field of battle. + So, that is my hope for the world; more policy, more good, solid, sound + sense and less mud patriotism. + </p> + <p> + I think that this country is going to grow. I think it will take in Mr. + Wiman's country. I do not mean that we are going to take any country. I + mean that they are going to come to us. I do not believe in conquest. + Canada will come just as soon as it is to her interest to come, and I + think she will come or be a great country to herself. I do not believe in + those people, intelligent as they are, sending three thousand miles for + information they have at home. I do not believe in their being governed by + anybody except themselves. So if they come we shall be glad to have them, + if they don't want to come I don't want them. + </p> + <p> + Yes, we are growing. I don't know how many millions of people we have now, + probably over sixty-two if they all get counted; and they are still + coming. I expect to live to see one hundred millions here. I know some say + that we are getting too many foreigners, but I say the more that come the + better. We have got to have somebody to take the places of the sons of our + rich people. So I say let them come. There is plenty of land here, + everywhere. I say to the people of every country, come; do your work here, + and we will protect you against other countries. We will give you all the + work to supply yourselves and your neighbors. + </p> + <p> + Then if we have differences with another country we shall have a strong + navy, big ships, big guns, magnificent men and plenty of them, and if we + put out the hand of fellowship and friendship they will know there is no + foolishness about it. They will know we are not asking any favor. We will + just say: We want peace, and we tell you over the glistening leaves of + this olive branch that if you don't compromise we will mop the earth with + you. + </p> + <p> + That is the sort of arbitration I believe in, and it is the only sort, in + my judgment, that will be effectual for all time. And I hope that we may + still grow, and grow more and more artistic, and more and more in favor of + peace, and I pray that we may finally arrive at being absolutely worthy of + having presented that picture, with all that it implies, to the most + warlike nation in the world—to the nation that first sends the + gospel and then the musket immediately after, and says: You have got to be + civilized, and the only evidence of civilization that you can give is to + buy our goods and to buy them now, and to pay for them. I wish us to be + worthy of the picture presented to such a nation, and my prayer is that + America may be worthy to have sent such a token in such a spirit, and my + second prayer is that England may be worthy to receive it and to keep it, + and that she may receive it in the same spirit that it is sent. + </p> + <p> + I am glad that it is to be sent by a woman. The gentleman who spoke to the + toast, "Woman as a Peacemaker," seemed to believe that woman brought all + the sorrows that ever happened, not only of war, but troubles of every + kind. I want to say to him that I would rather live with the woman I love + in a world of war, in a world full of troubles and sorrows, than to live + in heaven with nobody but men. I believe that woman is a peacemaker, and + so I am glad that a woman presents this token to another woman; and woman + is a far higher title than queen, in my judgment; far higher. There are no + higher titles than woman, mother, wife, sister, and when they come to + calling them countesses and duchesses and queens, that is all rot. That + adds nothing to that unseen artist who inhabits the world called the + brain. That unseen artist is great by nature and cannot be made greater by + the addition of titles. And so one woman gives to another woman the + picture that prophesies war is finally to cease, and the civilized nations + of the world will henceforth arbitrate their differences and no longer + strew the plains with corpses of brethren. That is the supreme lesson that + is taught by this picture, and I congratulate Mr. Carpenter that his name + is associated with it and also with the "Proclamation of Emancipation." In + the latter work he has associated his name with that of Lincoln, which is + the greatest name in history, and the gentlest memory in this world. Mr. + Carpenter has associated his name with that and with this and with that of + General Grant, for I say that this picture would never have been possible + had there not been behind it Grant; if there had not been behind it the + victorious armies of the North and the great armies of the South, that + would have united instantly to repel any foreign foe. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0016" id="link0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + UNITARIAN CLUB DINNER. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, January 15,1892. + </h3> + <p> + TOAST: THE IDEAL. + </p> + <p> + MR. PRESIDENT, Ladies and Gentlemen: In the first place, I wish to tender + my thanks to this club for having generosity and sense enough to invite me + to speak this evening. It is probably the best thing the club has ever + done. You have shown that you are not afraid of a man simply because he + does not happen to agree entirely with you, although in a very general way + it may be said that I come within one of you. + </p> + <p> + So I think, not only that you have honored me—that, I most + cheerfully and gratefully admit—but, upon my word, I think that you + have honored yourselves. And imagine the distance the religious world has + traveled in the last few years to make a thing of this kind possible! You + know—I presume every one of you knows—that I have no religion—not + enough to last a minute—none whatever—that is, in the ordinary + sense of that word. And yet you have become so nearly civilized that you + are willing to hear what I have to say; and I have become so nearly + civilized that I am willing to say what I think. + </p> + <p> + And, in the second place, let me say that I have great respect for the + Unitarian Church. I have great respect for the memory of Theodore Parker. + I have great respect for every man who has assisted in reaving the heavens + of an infinite monster. I have great respect for every man who has helped + to put out the fires of hell. In other words, I have great respect for + every man who has tried to civilize my race. + </p> + <p> + The Unitarian Church has done more than any other church—and may be + more than all other churches—to substitute character for creed, and + to say that a man should be judged by his spirit; by the climate of his + heart; by the autumn of his generosity; by the spring of his hope; that he + should be judged by what he does; by the influence that he exerts, rather + than by the mythology he may believe. And whether there be one God or a + million, I am perfectly satisfied that every duty that devolves upon me is + within my reach; it is something that I can do myself, without the help of + anybody else, either in this world or any other. + </p> + <p> + Now, in order to make myself plain on this subject—I think I was to + speak about the Ideal—I want to thank the Unitarian Church for what + it has done; and I want to thank the Universalist Church, too. They at + least believe in a God who is a gentleman; and that is much more than was + ever done by an orthodox church. They believe, at least, in a heavenly + father who will leave the latch string out until the last child gets home; + and as that lets me in—especially in reference to the "last"—I + have great respect for that church. + </p> + <p> + But now I am coming to the Ideal; and in what I may say you may not all + agree. I hope you won't, because that would be to me evidence that I am + wrong. You cannot expect everybody to agree in the right, and I cannot + expect to be always in the right myself. I have to judge with the standard + called my reason, and I do not know whether it is right or not; I will + admit that. But as opposed to any other man's, I will bet on mine. That is + to say, for home use. In the first place, I think it is said in some book—and + if I am wrong there are plenty here to correct me—that "the fear of + the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." I think a knowledge of the + limitations of the human mind is the beginning of wisdom, and, I may + almost say, the end of it—really to understand yourself. + </p> + <p> + Now, let me lay down this proposition. The imagination of man has the + horizon of experience; and beyond experience or nature man cannot go, even + in imagination. Man is not a creator. He combines; he adds together; he + divides; he subtracts; he does not create, even in the world of + imagination. Let me make myself a little plainer: Not one here—not + one in the wide, wide world can think of a color that he never saw. No + human being can imagine a sound that he has not heard, and no one can + think of a taste that he has not experienced. He can add to—that is + add together—combine; but he cannot, by any possibility, create. + </p> + <p> + Man originally, we will say—go back to the age of barbarism, and you + will not have to go far; our own childhood, probably, is as far as is + necessary—but go back to what is called the age of savagery; every + man was an idealist, as every man is to-day an idealist. Every man in + savage or civilized time, commencing with the first that ever crawled out + of a cave and pushed the hair back from his forehead to look at the sun—commence + with him and end with Judge Wright—the last expression on the God + question—and from that cave to the soul that lives in this temple, + everyone has been an idealist and has endeavored to account in some way + for what he saw and for what he felt; in other words, for the phenomena of + nature. The easiest way to account for it by the rudest savage, is the way + it has been accounted for to-night. What makes the river run? There's a + god in it. What makes the tree grow? There's a god in it. What makes the + star shine? There's a god in it. What makes the sun rise? Why, he is a god + himself. And what makes the nightingale sing until the air is faint with + melody? There's a god in it. + </p> + <p> + They commenced making gods to account for everything that happens; gods of + dreams and gods of love and friendship, and heroism and courage. Splendid! + They kept making more and more. The more they found out in nature, up to a + certain point, the more gods they needed; and they kept on making gods + until almost every wave of the sea bore a god. Gods on every mountain, and + in every vale and field, and by every stream! Gods in flowers, gods in + grass; gods everywhere! All accounting for this world and for what + happened in this world. + </p> + <p> + Then, when they had got about to the top, when their ingenuity had been + exhausted, they had not produced anything, and they did not produce + anything beyond their own experience. We are told that they were + idolaters. That is a mistake, except in the sense that we are all + idolaters. They said, "Here is a god; let us express our idea of him. He + is stronger than a man; let us give him the body of a lion. He is swifter + than a man; let us give him the wings of an eagle. He is wiser than a man"—and + when a man was very savage he said, "let us give him the head of a + serpent;" a serpent is wonderfully wise; he travels without feet; he + climbs without claws; he lives without food, and he is of the simplest + conceivable form. + </p> + <p> + And that was simply to represent their idea of power, of swiftness, of + wisdom. And yet this impossible monster was simply made of what man had + seen in nature, and he put the various attributes or parts together by his + imagination. He created nothing. He simply took these parts of certain + beasts, when beasts were supposed to be superior to man in some + particulars, and in that way expressed his thought. + </p> + <p> + You go into the territory of Arizona to-day, and you will find there + pictures of God. He was clothed in stone, through which no arrow could + pierce, and so they called God the Stone-Shirted whom no Indian could + kill. That was for the simple and only reason that it was impossible to + get an arrow through his armor. They got the idea from the armadillo. + </p> + <p> + Now, I am simply saying this to show that they were making gods for all + these centuries, and making them out of something they found in nature. + Then, after they got through with the beast business, they made gods after + the image of man; and they are the best gods, so far as I know, that have + been made. + </p> + <p> + The gods that were first made after the image of man were not made after + the pattern of very good men; but they were good men according to the + standard of that time, because, as I will show you in a moment, all these + things are relative. The qualities or things that we call mercy, justice, + charity and religion are all relative. There was a time when the victor on + the field of battle was exceedingly merciful if he failed to eat his + prisoner; he was regarded as a very charitable gentleman if he refused to + eat the man he had captured in battle. Afterward he was regarded as an + exceedingly benevolent person if he would spare a prisoner's life and make + him a slave. + </p> + <p> + So that—but you all know it as well as I do or you would not be + Unitarians—all this has been simply a growth from year to year, from + generation to generation, from age to age. And let me tell you the first + thing about these gods that they made after the image of men. After a time + there were men on the earth who were better than these gods in heaven. + </p> + <p> + Then those gods began to die, one after another, and dropped from their + thrones. The time will probably come in the history of this world when an + insurance company can calculate the average life of gods as well as they + do now of men; because all these gods have been made by folks. And, let me + say right here, the folks did the best they could. I do not blame them. + Everybody in the business has always done his best. I admit it. I admit + that man has traveled from the first conception up to Unitarianism by a + necessary road. Under the conditions he could have come up in no other + way. I admit all that. I blame nobody. But I am simply trying to tell, in + a very feeble manner, how it is. + </p> + <p> + Now, in a little while, I say, men got better than their gods. Then the + gods began to die. Then we began to find out a few things in nature, and + we found out that we were supporting more gods than were necessary—that + fewer gods could do the business—and that, from an economical point + of view, expenses ought to be cut down. There were too many temples, too + many priests, and you always had to give tithes of something to each one, + and these gods were about to eat up the substance of the world. + </p> + <p> + And there came a time when it got to that point that either the gods would + eat up the people or the people must destroy some gods, and of course they + destroyed the gods—one by one and in their places they put forces of + nature to do the business—forces of nature that needed no church, + that needed no theologians; forces of nature that you are under no + obligation to; that you do not have to pay anything to keep working. We + found that the attraction of gravitation would attend to its business, + night and day, at its own expense. There was a great saving. I wish it + were the same with all kinds of law, so that we could all go into some + useful business, including myself. + </p> + <p> + So day by day, they dispensed with this expense of deities; and the world + got along just as well—a good deal better. They used to think—a + community thought—that if a man was allowed to say a word against a + deity, the god would visit his vengeance upon the entire nation. But they + found out, after a while, that no harm came of it; so they went on + destroying the gods. Now, all these things are relative; and they made + gods a little better all the time—I admit that—till we struck + the Presbyterian, which is probably the worst ever made. The Presbyterians + seem to have bred back. + </p> + <p> + But no matter. As man became more just, or nearer just, as he became more + charitable, or nearer charitable, his god grew to be a little better and a + little better. He was very bad in Geneva—the three that we then had. + They were very bad in Scotland—horrible! Very bad in New England—infamous! + I might as well tell the truth about it—very bad! And then men went + to work, finally, to civilize their gods, to civilize heaven, to give + heaven the benefit of the freedom of this brave world. That's what we did. + We wanted to civilize religion—civilize what is known as + Christianity. And nothing on earth needed civilization more; and nothing + needs it more than that to-night. Civilization! I am not so much for the + freedom of religion as I am for the religion of freedom. + </p> + <p> + Now, there was a time when our ancestors—good people, away back, all + dead, no great regret expressed at this meeting on that account—there + was a time when our ancestors were happy in their belief that nearly + everybody was to be lost, and that a few, including themselves, were to be + saved. That religion, I say, fitted that time. It fitted their geology. It + was a very good running mate for their astronomy. It was a good match for + their chemistry. In other words, they were about equal in every department + of human ignorance. + </p> + <p> + And they insisted that there lived up there somewhere—generally up—exactly + where nobody has, I believe, yet said—a being, an infinite person + "without body, parts, or passions," and yet without passions he was angry + at the wicked every day; without body he inhabited a certain place; and + without parts he was, after all, in some strange and miraculous manner, + organized so that he thought. + </p> + <p> + And I don't know that it is possible for anyone here—I don't know + that anyone here is gifted with imagination enough—to conceive of + such a being. Our fathers had not imagination enough to do so, at least, + and so they said of this God, that he loves and he hates; he punishes and + he rewards; and that religion has been described perfectly tonight by + Judge Wright as really making God a monster, and men poor, helpless + victims. And the highest possible conception of the orthodox man was, + finally, to be a good servant—just lucky enough to get in—feathers + somewhat singed, but enough left to fly. That was the idea of our fathers. + And then came these divisions, simply because men began to think. + </p> + <p> + And why did they begin to think? Because in every direction, in all + departments, they were getting more and more information. And then the + religion did not fit. When they found out something of the history of this + globe they found out that the Scriptures were not true. I will not say not + inspired, because I do not know whether they are inspired or not. It is a + question, to me, of no possible importance, whether they are inspired or + not. The question is: Are they true? If they are true, they do not need + inspiration; and if they are not true, inspiration will not help them. So + that is a matter that I care nothing about. + </p> + <p> + On every hand, I say, they studied and thought. They began to grow—to + have new ideas of mercy, kindness, justice; new ideas of duty—new + ideas of life. The old gods, after we got past the civilization of the + Greeks, past their mythology—and it is the best mythology that man + has ever made—after we got past that, I say, the gods cared very + little about women. Women occupied no place in the state—no place by + the hearth, except one of subordination, and almost of slavery. So the + early churches made God after that image who held women in contempt. It + was only natural—I am not blaming anybody—they had to do it, + it was part of the <i>must!</i> + </p> + <p> + Now, I say that we have advanced up to the point that we demand not only + intelligence, but justice and mercy, in the sky; we demand that—that + idea of God. Then comes my trouble. I want to be honest about it. Here is + my trouble—and I want it also understood that if I should see a man + praying to a stone image or to a stuffed serpent, with that man's wife or + daughter or son lying at the point of death, and that poor savage on his + knees imploring that image or that stuffed serpent to save his child or + his wife, there is nothing in my heart that could suggest the slightest + scorn, or any other feeling than that of sympathy; any other feeling than + that of grief that the stuffed serpent could not answer the prayer and + that the stone image did not feel; I want that understood. And wherever + man prays for the right—no matter to whom or to what he prays; where + he prays for strength to conquer the wrong, I hope his prayer may be + heard; and if I think there is no one else to hear it I will hear it, and + I am willing to help answer it to the extent of my power. + </p> + <p> + So I want it distinctly understood that that is my feeling. But here is my + trouble: I find this world made on a very cruel plan. I do not say it is + wrong—I just say that that is the way it seems to me. I may be wrong + myself, because this is the only world I was ever in; I am provincial. + This grain of sand and tear they call the earth is the only world I have + ever lived in. And you have no idea how little I know about the rest of + this universe; you never will know how little I know about it until you + examine your own minds on the same subject. + </p> + <p> + The plan is this: Life feeds on life. Justice does not always triumph: + Innocence is not a perfect shield. There is my trouble. No matter now, + whether you agree with me or not; I beg of you to be honest and fair with + me in your thought, as I am toward you in mine. + </p> + <p> + I hope, as devoutly as you, that there is a power somewhere in this + universe that will finally bring everything as it should be. I take a + little consolation in the "perhaps"—in the guess that this is only + one scene of a great drama, and that when the curtain rises on the fifth + act, if I live that long, I may see the coherence and the relation of + things. But up to the present writing—or speaking—I do not. I + do not understand it—a God that has life feed on life; every joy in + the world born of some agony! I do not understand why in this world, over + the Niagara of cruelty, should run this ocean of blood. I do not + understand it. And, then, why does not justice always triumph? Why is not + innocence a perfect shield? These are my troubles. + </p> + <p> + Suppose a man had control of the atmosphere, knew enough of the secrets of + nature, had read enough in "nature's infinite book of secrecy" so that he + could control the wind and rain; suppose a man had that power, and suppose + that last year he kept the rain from Russia and did not allow the crops to + ripen when hundreds of thousands were famishing and when little babes were + found with their lips on the breasts of dead mothers! What would you think + of such a man? Now, there is my trouble. If there be a God he understood + this. He knew when he withheld his rain that the famine would come. He saw + the dead mothers, he saw the empty breasts of death, and he saw the + helpless babes. There is my trouble. I am perfectly frank with you and + honest. That is my trouble. + </p> + <p> + Now, understand me! I do not say there is no God. I do not know. As I told + you before, I have traveled but very little—only in this world. + </p> + <p> + I want it understood that I do not pretend to know. I say I think. And in + my mind the idea expressed by Judge Wright so eloquently and so + beautifully is not exactly true. I cannot conceive of the God he endeavors + to describe, because he gives to that God will, purpose, achievement, + benevolence, love, and no form—no organization—no wants. + There's the trouble. No wants. And let me say why that is a trouble. Man + acts only because he wants. You civilize man by increasing his wants, or, + as his wants increase he becomes civilized. You find a lazy savage who + would not hunt an elephant tusk to save your life. But let him have a few + tastes of whiskey and tobacco, and he will run his legs off for tusks. You + have given him another want and he is willing to work. And they nearly all + started on the road toward Unitarianism—that is to say, toward + civilization—in that way. You must increase their wants. + </p> + <p> + The question arises: Can an infinite being want anything? If he does and + cannot get it, he is not happy. If he does not want anything, I cannot + help him. I am under no obligation to do anything for anybody who does not + need anything and who does not want anything. Now, there is my trouble. I + may be wrong, and I may get paid for it some time, but that is my trouble. + </p> + <p> + I do not see—admitting that all is true that has been said about the + existence of God—I do not see what I can do for him; and I do not + see either what he can do for me, judging by what he has done for others. + </p> + <p> + And then I come to the other point, that religion so-called, explains our + duties to this supposed being, when we do not even know that he exists; + and no human being has got imagination enough to describe him, or to use + such words that you understand what he is trying to say. I have listened + with great pleasure to Judge Wright this evening, and I have heard a great + many other beautiful things on the same subject—none better than + his. But I never understood them—never. + </p> + <p> + Now, then, what is religion? I say, religion is all here in this world—right + here—and that all our duties are right here to our fellow-men; that + the man that builds a home; marries the girl that he loves; takes good + care of her; likes the family; stays home nights, as a general thing; pays + his debts; tries to find out what he can; gets all the ideas and beautiful + things that his mind will hold; turns a part of his brain into a gallery + of fine arts; has a host of paintings and statues there; then has another + niche devoted to music—a magnificent dome, filled with winged notes + that rise to glory—now, the man who does that gets all he can from + the great ones dead; swaps all the thoughts he can with the ones that are + alive; true to the ideal that he has here in his brain—he is what I + call a religious man, because he makes the world better, happier; he puts + the dimples of joy in the cheeks of the ones he loves, and he lets the + gods run heaven to suit themselves. And I am not saying that he is right; + I do not know. + </p> + <p> + This is all the religion that I have; to make somebody else happier if I + can. + </p> + <p> + I divide this world into two classes—the cruel and the kind; and I + think a thousand times more of a kind man than I do of an intelligent man. + I think more of kindness than I do of genius, I think more of real, good, + human nature in that way—of one who is willing to lend a helping + hand and who goes through the world with a face that looks as if its owner + were willing to answer a decent question—I think a thousand times + more of that than I do of being theologically right; because I do not care + whether I am theologically right or not. It is something that is not worth + talking about, because it is something that I never, never, never shall + understand; and every one of you will die and you won't understand it + either—until after you die at any rate. I do not know what will + happen then. + </p> + <p> + I am not denying anything. There is another ideal, and it is a beautiful + ideal. It is the greatest dream that ever entered the heart or brain of + man—the Dream of Immortality. It was born of human affection. It did + not come to us from heaven. It was born of the human heart. And when he + who loved, kissed the lips of her who was dead, there came into his heart + the dream: We may meet again. + </p> + <p> + And, let me tell you, that hope of immortality never came from any + religion. That hope of immortality has helped make religion. It has been + the great oak around which have climbed the poisonous vines of + superstition—that hope of immortality is the great oak. + </p> + <p> + And yet the moment a man expresses a doubt about the truth of Joshua or + Jonah or the other three fellows in a furnace, up hops some poor little + wretch and says, "Why, he doesn't want to live any more; he wants to die + and go down like a dog, and that is the end of him and his wife and + children." They really seem to think that the moment a man is what they + call an Infidel he has no affections, no heart, no feeling, no hope—nothing—nothing. + Just anxious to be annihilated! But, if the orthodox creed be true, I make + my choice to-night. I take hell. And if it is between hell and + annihilation, I take annihilation. + </p> + <p> + I will tell you why I take hell in making the first choice. We have heard + from both of those places—heaven and hell. According to the New + Testament there was a rich man in hell, and a poor man, Lazarus, in + heaven. And there was another gentleman by the name of Abraham. The rich + man in hell was in flames, and he called for water, and they told him they + couldn't give him any. No bridge! But they did not express the slightest + regret that they could not give him any water. Mr. Abraham was not decent + enough to say he would if he could; no, sir; nothing. It did not make any + difference to him. But this rich man in hell—in torment—his + heart was all right, for he remembered his brothers; and he said to this + Abraham, "If you cannot go, why, send a man to my five brethren, so that + they will not come to this place!" Good fellow, to think of his five + brothers when he was burning up. Good fellow. Best fellow we ever heard + from on the other side—in either world. + </p> + <p> + So, I say there is my place. And, incidentally, Abraham at that time gave + his judgment as to the value of miracles. He said, "Though one should + arise from the dead he wouldn't help your five brethren!" "There are Moses + and the prophets." No need of raising people from the dead. + </p> + <p> + That is my idea, in a general way, about religion; and I want the + imagination to go to work upon it, taking the perfections of one church, + of one school, of one system, and putting them together, just as the + sculptor makes a great statue by taking the eyes from one, the nose from + another, the limbs from another, and so on; just as they make a great + painting from a landscape by putting a river in this place, instead of + over there, changing the location of a tree and improving on what they + call nature—that is to say, simply by adding to, taking from; that + is all we can do. But let us go on doing that until there shall be a + church in sympathy with the best human heart and in harmony with the best + human brain. + </p> + <p> + And, what is more, let us have that religion for the world we live in. + Right here! Let us have that religion until it cannot be said that they + who do the most work have the least to eat. Let us have that religion here + until hundreds and thousands of women are not compelled to make a living + with the needle that has been called "the asp for the breast of the poor," + and to live in tenements, in filth, where modesty is impossible. + </p> + <p> + I say, let us preach that religion here until men will be ashamed to have + forty or fifty millions, or any more than they need, while their brethren + lack bread—while their sisters die from want. Let us preach that + religion here until man will have more ambition to become wise and good + than to become rich and powerful. Let us preach that religion here among + ourselves until there are no abused and beaten wives. Let us preach that + religion until children are no longer afraid of their own parents and + until there is no back of a child bearing the scars of a father's lash. + Let us preach it, I say, until we understand and know that every man does + as he must, and that, if we want better men and women, we must have better + conditions. + </p> + <p> + Let us preach this grand religion until everywhere, the world over, men + are just and kind to each other. And then, if there be another world, we + shall be prepared for it. And if I come into the presence of an infinite, + good, and wise being, he will say, "Well, you did the best you could. You + did very well, indeed. There is plenty of work for you to do here. Try and + get a little higher than you were before." Let us preach that one drop of + restitution is worth an ocean of repentance. + </p> + <p> + And if there is a life of eternal progress before us, I shall be as glad + as any other angel to find that out. + </p> + <p> + But I will not sacrifice the world I have for one I know not of. I will + not live here in fear, when I do not know that that which I fear lives. + </p> + <p> + I am going to live a perfectly free man. I am going to reap the harvest of + my mind, no matter how poor it is, whether it is wheat or corn or + worthless weeds. And I am going to scatter it. Some may "fall on stony + ground." But I think I have struck good soil to-night. + </p> + <p> + And so, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you a thousand times for your + attention. I beg that you will forgive the time that I have taken, and + allow me to say, once more, that this event marks an epoch in Religious + Liberty in the United States. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0017" id="link0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + WESTERN SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BANQUET. + </h2> + <h3> + Chicago, January 31, 1894. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Every soldier of the Army of the Potomac: remembers, the + colors that for two years floated over the headquarters of + Gen. Meade. Last night when one hundred and fifty men who + fought in that army gathered around the banquet board at the + Grand Pacific hotel a fac-simile of that flag floated over + them. It was a handsome guidon, on one side a field of + solferino red bearing a life-sized golden eagle surrounded + by a silver wreath of laurel; on the other were the national + colors with the names of the corps of the army. + + The fifth annual banquet of the Western Society of the Army + of the Potomac will be remembered on account of the presence + of many distinguished men. The cigars had not been lighted + when Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, escorted by Gen. Newberry and + Col. Burbanks, came in. The bald head and sparse gray hair + of the famous orator were recognized by all, and he was + given a mighty welcome. + + Save for the emblems of the Union and the fac-simile of Gen. + Meade's flag the decorations were simple. There were no + flowers, but the soldiers could read on little signs stuck + up around the tables such names as "Petersburg," "White + Oak," "Mine Run," "Cold Harbor," "Fair Oaks" and "South + Mountain." The exercises began and ended with bugle call and + military song, and the heroes of the Potomac showed that + they still remembered the words of the songs sung in camp. + + Col. Freeman Connor, the retiring president, acted as + toastmaster. Seated near him were Maj.-Gen. Nelson Miles, + United States army; Gen. Newberry, Col. Ingersoll, Thomas B. + Bryan, Col. James A.. Sexton, Maj. E. A. Blodgett, Fred W. + Spink, Col. Williston and Maj. Heyle. + + The exercises began with the singing of "America" by all + Col. Conner made a few remarks and then Col. C. S. McEntee + presented the new-comer to the society. When Colonel + Ingersoll was introduced, the veterans jumped up on chairs, + waved their handkerchiefs and greeted him with a mighty + shout. The Colonel spoke only fifteen minutes. + + At the conclusion of Colonel Ingersoll's speech he was again + cheered for several minutes. A motion was made to make him + an honorary member of the Western Society of the Army of the + Potomac. The toastmaster in putting the question said: "All + who are in favor will rise and yell," and every comrade + yelled. + + —Chicago Record, February 1, 1894. +</pre> + <p> + FIRST of all, I wish to thank you for allowing me to be present. Next, I + wish to congratulate you that you are all alive. I congratulate you that + you were born in this century, the greatest century in the world's + history, the greatest century of intellectual genius and of physical, + mental and moral progress that the world ever knew. I congratulate you all + that you are members of the Army of the Potomac. I believe that no better + army ever marched under the flag of any nation. There was no difficulty + that discouraged you; no defeat that disheartened you. For years you bore + the heat and burden of battle; for years you saw your comrades torn by + shot and shell, but wiping the tears, from your cheeks you marched on with + greater determination than ever to fight to the end. + </p> + <p> + To the Army of the Potomac belongs the eternal honor of having obtained + finally the sword of Rebellion. I congratulate you because you fought for + the Republic, and I thank you for your courage. For by you the United + States was kept on the map of the world, and our flag was kept floating. + If not for your work, neither would have been there. You removed from it + the only stain that was ever on it. You fought not only the battle of the + Union, but of the whole world. + </p> + <p> + I congratulate you that you live in a period when the North has attained a + higher moral altitude than was ever attained by any nation. You now live + in a country which believes in absolute freedom for all. In this country + any man may reap what he sows and may give his honest thought to his + fellow-men. It is wonderful to think what this Nation was before the Army + of the Potomac came into existence. It believed in liberty as the convict + believes in liberty. It was a country where men that had honest thoughts + were ostracized. I thank you and your courage for what we are. Nothing + ennobles a man so much as fighting for the right. Whoever fights for the + wrong wounds himself. I believe that every man who fought in the Union + army came out a stronger and a better and a nobler man. + </p> + <p> + I believe in this country. I am so young and so full of enthusiasm that I + am a believer in National growth. I want this country to be territorial + and to become larger than it is. I want a country worthy of Chicago. I + want to pick up the West Indies, take in the Bermudas, the Bahamas and + Barbadoes. They are our islands. They belong to this continent and it is a + piece of impudence for any other nation to think of owning them. We want + to grow. Such is the extravagance of my ambition that I even want the + Sandwich Islands. They say that these islands are too far away from us; + that they are two thousand miles from our shores. But they are nearer to + our shores than to any other. I want them. I want a naval station there. I + want America to be mistress of the Pacific. Then there is another thing in + my mind. I want to grow North and South. I want Canada—good people—good + land. I want that country. I do not want to steal it, but I want it. I + want to go South with this Nation. My idea is this: There is only air + enough between the Isthmus of Panama and the North Pole for one flag. A + country that guarantees liberty to all cannot be too large. If any of + these people are ignorant, we will educate them; give them the benefit of + our free schools. Another thing—I might as well sow a few seeds for + next fall. I have heard many reasons why the South failed in the + Rebellion, and why with the help of Northern dissensions and a European + hatred the South did not succeed. I will tell you. In my judgment, the + South failed, not on account of its army, but from other conditions. + Luckily for us, the South had always been in favor of free trade. + </p> + <p> + Secondly—The South raised and sold raw material, and when the war + came it had no foundries, no factories, and no looms to weave the cloth + for uniforms; no shops to make munitions of war, and it had to get what + supplies it could by running the blockade. We of the North had the cloth + to clothe our soldiers, shops to make our bayonets; we had all the curious + wheels that invention had produced, and had labor and genius, the power of + steam, and the water to make what we needed, and we did not require + anything from any other country. Suppose this whole country raised raw + material and shipped it out, we would be in the condition that the South + was. We want this Nation to be independent of the whole world. A nation to + be ready to settle questions of dispute by war should be in a condition of + absolute independence. For that reason I want all the wheels turning in + this country, all the chimneys full of fire, all the looms running, the + iron red hot everywhere. I want to see all mechanics having plenty of work + with good wages and good homes for their families, good food, schools for + their children, plenty of clothes, and enough to take care of a child if + it happens to take sick. I am for the independence of America, the growth + of America physically, mentally, and every other way. The time will come + when all nations combined cannot take that flag out of the sky. I want to + see this country so that if a deluge sweeps every other nation from the + face of the globe we would have all we want made right here by our + factories, by American brain and hand. + </p> + <p> + I thank you that the Republic still lives. I thank you that we are all + lovers of freedom. I thank you for having helped establish a Government + where every child has an opportunity, and where every avenue of + advancement if open to all. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0018" id="link0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF ANTON SEIDL. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, February 2, 1895. + </h3> + <p> + MR. PRESIDENT, Mr. Anton Seidl, and Gentlemen: I was enjoying myself with + music and song; why I should be troubled, why I should be called upon to + trouble you, is a question I can hardly answer. Still, as the president + has remarked, the American people like to hear speeches. Why, I don't + know. It has always been a matter of amazement that anybody wanted to hear + me. Talking is so universal; with few exceptions—the deaf and dumb—everybody + seems to be in the business. Why they should be so anxious to hear a rival + I never could understand. But, gentlemen, we are all pupils of nature; we + are taught by the countless things that touch us on every side; by field + and flower and star and cloud and river and sea, where the waves break + into whitecaps, and by the prairie, and by the mountain that lifts its + granite forehead to the sun; all things in nature touch us, educate us, + sharpen us, cause the heart to bud, to burst, it may be, into blossom; to + produce fruit. In common with the rest of the world I have been educated a + little that way; by the things I have seen and by the things I have heard + and by the people I have met. But there are a few things that stand out in + my recollection as having touched me more deeply than others, a few men to + whom I feel indebted for the little I know, and for the little I happen to + be. Those men, those things, are forever present in my mind. But I want to + tell you to-night that the first man that let up the curtain in my mind, + that ever opened a blind, that ever allowed a little sunshine to straggle + in, was Robert Burns. I went to get my shoes mended, and I had to go with + them. And I had to wait till they were done. I was like the fellow + standing by the stream naked washing his shirt. A lady and gentleman were + riding by in a carriage, and upon seeing him the man indignantly shouted, + "Why don't you put on another shirt when you are washing one?" The fellow + said, "I suppose you think I've got a hundred shirts!" + </p> + <p> + When I went into the shop of the old Scotch shoemaker he was reading a + book, and when he took my shoes in hand I took his book, which was "Robert + Burns." In a few days I had a copy; and, indeed, gentlemen, from that time + if "Burns" had been destroyed I could have restored more than half of it. + It was in my mind day and night. Burns you know is a little valley, not + very wide, but full of sunshine; a little stream runs down making music + over the rocks, and children play upon the banks; narrow roads overrun + with vines, covered with blossoms, happy children, the hum of bees, and + little birds pour out their hearts and enrich the air. That is Burns. + Then, you must know that I was raised respectably. Certain books were not + thought to be good for the young person; only such books as would start + you in the narrow road for the New Jerusalem. But one night I stopped at a + little hotel in Illinois, many years ago, when we were not quite + civilized, when the footsteps of the red man were still in the prairies. + While I was waiting for supper an old man was reading from a book, and + among others who were listening was myself. I was filled with wonder. I + had never heard anything like it. I was ashamed to ask him what he was + reading; I supposed that an intelligent boy ought to know. So I waited, + and when the little bell rang for supper I hung back and they went out. I + picked up the book; it was Sam Johnson's edition of Shakespeare. The next + day I bought a copy for four dollars. My God! more than the national debt. + You talk about the present straits of the Treasury! For days, for nights, + for months, for years, I read those books, two volumes, and I commenced + with the introduction. I haven't read that introduction for nearly fifty + years, certainly forty-five, but I remember it still. Other writers are + like a garden diligently planted and watered, but Shakespeare a forest + where the oaks and elms toss their branches to the storm, where the pine + towers, where the vine bursts into blossom at its foot. That book opened + to me a new world, another nature. While Burns was the valley, here was a + range of mountains with thousands of such valleys; while Burns was as + sweet a star as ever rose into the horizon, here was a heaven filled with + constellations. That book has been a source of perpetual joy to me from + that day to this; and whenever I read Shakespeare—if it ever happens + that I fail to find some new beauty, some new presentation of some + wonderful truth, or another word that bursts into blossom, I shall make up + my mind that my mental faculties are failing, that it is not the fault of + the book. Those, then, are two things that helped to educate me a little. + </p> + <p> + Afterward I saw a few paintings by Rembrandt, and all at once I was + overwhelmed with the genius of the man that could convey so much thought + in form and color. Then I saw a few landscapes by Corot, and I began to + think I knew something about art. During all my life, of course, like + other people, I had heard what they call music, and I had my favorite + pieces, most of those favorite pieces being favorites on account of + association; and nine-tenths of the music that is beautiful to the world + is beautiful because of the association, not because the music is good, + but because of association.. We cannot write a very poetic thing about a + pump or about water works; they are not old enough. + </p> + <p> + We can write a poetic thing about a well and a sweep and an old + moss-covered bucket, and you can write a poem about a spring, because a + spring seems a gift of nature, something that cost no trouble and no work, + something that will sing of nature under the quiet stars of June. So, it + is poetic on account of association. The stage coach is more poetic than + the car, but the time will come when cars will be poetic, because human + feelings, love's remembrances, will twine around them, and consequently + they will become beautiful. There are two pieces of music, "The Last Rose + of Summer," and "Home Sweet Home," with the music a little weak in the + back; but association makes them both beautiful. So, in the "Marseillaise" + is the French Revolution, that whirlwind and flame of war, of heroism the + highest possible, of generosity, of self-denial, of cruelty, of all of + which the human heart and brain are capable; so that music now sounds as + though its notes were made of stars, and it is beautiful mostly by + association. + </p> + <p> + Now, I always felt that there must be some greater music somewhere, + somehow. You know this little music that comes back with recurring + emphasis every two inches or every three-and-a-half inches; I thought + there ought to be music somewhere with a great sweep from horizon to + horizon, and that could fill the great dome of sound with winged notes + like the eagle; if there was not such music, somebody, sometime, would + make it, and I was waiting for it. One day I heard it, and I said, "What + music is that?" "Who wrote that?" I felt it everywhere. I was cold. I was + almost hysterical. It answered to my brain, to my heart; not only to + association, but to all there was of hope and aspiration, all my future; + and they said this is the music of Wagner. I never knew one note from + another—of course I would know it from a promissory note—and + was utterly and absolutely ignorant of music until I heard Wagner + interpreted by the greatest leader, in my judgment, in the world—Anton + Seidl. He not only understands Wagner in the brain, but he feels him in + the heart, and there is in his blood the same kind of wild and splendid + independence that was in the brain of Wagner. I want to say to-night, + because there are so many heresies, Mr. President, creeping into this + world, I want to say and say it with all my might, that Robert Burns was + not Scotch. He was far wider than Scotland: he had in him the universal + tide, and wherever it touches the shore of a human being it finds access. + Not Scotch, gentlemen, but a man, a man! I can swear to it, or rather + affirm, that Shakespeare was not English, but another man, kindred of all, + of all races and peoples, and who understood the universal brain and heart + of the human race, and who had imagination enough to put himself in the + place of all. + </p> + <p> + And so I want to say to-night, because I want to be consistent, Richard + Wagner was not a German, and his music is not German; and why? Germany + would not have it. Germany denied that it was music. The great German + critics said it was nothing in the world but noise. The best interpreter + of Wagner in the world is not German, and no man has to be German to + understand Richard Wagner. In the heart of nearly every man is an �?olian + harp, and when the breath of true genius touches that harp, every man that + has one, or that knows what music is or has the depth and height of + feeling necessary to appreciate it, appreciates Richard Wagner. To + understand that music, to hear it as interpreted by this great leader, is + an education. It develops the brain; it gives to the imagination wings; + the little earth grows larger; the people grow important; and not only + that, it civilizes the heart; and the man who understands that music can + love better and with greater intensity than he ever did before. The man + who understands and appreciates that music, becomes in the highest sense + spiritual—and I don't mean by spiritual, worshiping some phantom, or + dwelling upon what is going to happen to some of us—I mean spiritual + in the highest sense; when a perfume arises from the heart in gratitude, + and when you feel that you know what there is of beauty, of sublimity, of + heroism and honor and love in the human heart. This is what I mean by + being spiritual. I don't mean denying yourself here and living on a crust + with the expectation of eternal joy—that is not what I mean. By + spiritual I mean a man that has an ideal, a great ideal, and who is + splendid enough to live to that ideal; that is what I mean by spiritual. + And the man who has heard the music of Wagner, that music of love and + death, the greatest music, in my judgment, that ever issued from the human + brain, the man who has heard that and understands it has been civilized. + </p> + <p> + Another man to whom I feel under obligation whose name I do not know—I + know Burns, Shakespeare, Rembrandt and Wagner, but there are some other + fellows whose names I do not know—is he who chiseled the Venus de + Milo. This man helped to civilize the world; and there is nothing under + the sun so pathetic as the perfect. Whoever creates the perfect has + thought and labored and suffered; and no perfect thing has ever been done + except through suffering and except through the highest and holiest + thought, and among this class of men is Wagner. Let me tell you something + more. You know I am a great believer. There is no man in the world who + believes more in human nature than I do. No man believes more in the + nobility and splendor of humanity than I do; no man feels more grateful + than I to the self-denying, heroic, splendid souls who have made this + world fit for ladies and gentlemen to live in. But I believe that the + human mind has reached its top in three departments. I don't believe the + human race—no matter if it lives millions of years more upon this + wheeling world—I don't believe the human race will ever produce in + the world anything greater, sublimer, than the marbles of the Greeks. I do + not believe it. I believe they reach absolutely the perfection of form and + the expression of force and passion in stone. The Greeks made marble as + sensitive as flesh and as passionate as blood. I don't believe that any + human being of any coming race—no matter how many suns may rise and + set, or how many religions may rise and fall, or how many languages be + born and decay—I don't believe any human being will ever excel the + dramas of Shakespeare. Neither do I believe that the time will ever come + when any man with such instruments of music as we now have, and having + nothing but the common air that we now breathe, will ever produce greater + pictures in sound, greater music, than Wagner. Never! Never! And I don't + believe he will ever have a better interpreter than Anton Seidl. Seidl is + a poet in sound, a sculptor in sound. He is what you might call an + orchestral orator, and as such he expresses the deepest feelings, the + highest aspirations and the in-tensest and truest love of which the brain + and heart of man are capable. + </p> + <p> + Now, I am glad, I am delighted, that the people here in this city and in + various other cities of our great country are becoming civilized enough to + appreciate these harmonies; I am glad they are civilized at last enough to + know that the home of music is tone, not tune; that the home of music is + in harmonies where you braid them like rainbows; I am glad they are great + enough and civilized enough to appreciate the music of Wagner, the + greatest music in this world. Wagner sustains the same relation to other + composers that Shakespeare does to other dramatists, and any other + dramatist compared with Shakespeare is like one tree compared with an + immeasurable forest, or rather like one leaf compared with a forest; and + all the other composers of the world are embraced in the music of Wagner. + </p> + <p> + "Nobody has written anything more tender than he, nobody anything sublimer + than he. Whether it is the song of the deep, or the warble of the mated + bird, nobody has excelled Wagner; he has expressed all that the human + heart is capable of appreciating. And now, gentlemen, having troubled you + long enough, and saying long live Anton Seidl, I bid you good-night." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0019" id="link0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF REAR ADMIRAL SCHLEY. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, November 26, 1898. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * The Lotos Club did honor to Rear Admiral Winfield Scott + Schley, and incidentally, to the United States, at its + clubhouse in Fifth Avenue last night. All day long the + square, blue pennant, blazoned with the two stars of a Rear + Admiral, snapped in the wind, signifying to all who saw it + that the Lotos Clubhouse was for the time being the flagship + of the erstwhile Flying Squadron. + + Within the home of the club were gathered men who like the + guest of the evening were prominent in the war with Spain, + The navy was represented by Capt. Charles D. Sigs-Dee, Capt. + A. T. Mahan and Captain Goodrich. From the army there was + Brig. Gen. W F. Randolph, and from civil life many men + prominent in the business, professional and social life of + the city. The one impulse that led these men to brave the + storm was their desire to pay their respects to one of the + men who had done so much to win laurels for the American + arms. + + The parlors and dining rooms of the clubhouse wore thrown + into one in order to accommodate the three hundred men + present fit the dinner. Smilax covered the walls, save hero + and there where the American flag was draped in graceful + folds. From the archway under which the table of honor was + spread, hung a large National ensign and a Rear Admiral's + pennant. + + The menu was unique. Etched on a cream-tinted paper appeared + an open nook, and on the tops of the pages was inscribed, + "Logge of the Goode Ship Lotos." "Dinner to Rear Admiral + Winfield Scott Schley, given in the cabin of ye Shippe, Nov. + 26, l898, Lat. 40 degrees 42 minutes 43 seconds north; + longitude, 74 degrees 3 seconds west." + + On each side of the menu was stretched a string of signal + flags, giving the orders made famous by Admiral Schley in + the naval engagement of July 3, 1898. On the second page of + the menu was a fine etching of the Brooklyn, Admiral + Schley's flagship. The souvenir menu was inclosed in blue + paper, upon which were two white stars, the whole + representing Rear Admiral Schley's pennant. +</pre> + <p> + MR.PRESIDENT, Gentlemen of the Club—Boys: I congratulate all of you + and I congratulate myself, and I will tell you why. In the first place, we + were well born, and we were all born rich, all of us. We belong to a great + race. That is something; that is having a start, to feel that in your + veins flows heroic blood, blood that has accomplished great things and has + planted the flag of victory on the field of war. It is a great thing to + belong to a great race. + </p> + <p> + I congratulate you and myself on another thing; we were born in a great + nation, and you can't be much of a man without having a nation behind you, + with you; Just think about it! What would Shakespeare have been, if he had + been born in Labrador? I used to know an old lawyer in southern Illinois, + a smart old chap, who mourned his unfortunate surroundings. He lived in + Pinkneyville, and occasionally drank a little too freely of Illinois wine; + and when in his cups he sometimes grew philosophic and egotistic. He said + one day, "Boys, I have got more brains than you have, I have, but I have + never had a chance. I want you just to think of it. What would Daniel + Webster have been, by God, if he had settled in Pinkneyville?" + </p> + <p> + So I congratulate you all that you were born in a great nation, born rich; + and why do I say rich? Because you fell heir to a great, expressive, + flexible language; that is one thing. What could a man do who speaks a + poor language, a language of a few words that you could almost count on + your fingers? What could he do? You were born heirs to a great literature, + the greatest in the world—in all the world. All the literature of + Greece and Rome would not make one act of "Hamlet." All the literature of + the ancient world added to all of the modern world, except England, would + not equal the literature that we have. We were born to it, heirs to that + vast intellectual possession. + </p> + <p> + So I say you were all born rich, all. And then you were very fortunate in + being born in this country, where people have some rights, not as many as + they should have, not as many as they would have if it were not for the + preachers, may be, but where we have some; and no man yet was ever great + unless a great drama was being played on some great stage and he got a + part. Nature deals you a hand, and all she asks is for you to have the + sense to play it. If no hand is dealt to you, you win no money. You must + have the opportunity, must be on the stage, and some great drama must be + there. Take it in our own country. The Revolutionary war was a drama, and + a few great actors appeared; the War of 1812 was another, and a few + appeared; the Civil war another. Where would have been the heroes whose + brows we have crowned with laurel had there been no Civil war? What would + have become of Lincoln, a lawyer in a country town? What would have become + of Grant? He would have been covered with the mantle of absolute + obscurity, tucked in at all the edges, his name never heard of by any + human being not related to him. + </p> + <p> + Now, you have got to have the chance, and you cannot create it. I heard a + gentleman say here a few minutes ago that this war could have been + averted. That is not true. I am not doubting his veracity, but rather his + philosophy. Nothing ever happened beneath the dome of heaven that could + have been avoided. Everything that is possible happens. That may not suit + all the creeds, but it is true. And everything that is possible will + continue to happen. The war could not have been averted, and the thing + that makes me glad and proud is that it was not averted. I will tell you + why. + </p> + <p> + It was the first war in the history of this world that was waged + unselfishly for the good of others; the first war. Almost anybody will + fight for himself; a great many people will fight for their country, their + fellow-men, their fellow-citizens; but it requires something besides + courage to fight for the rights of aliens; it requires not only courage, + but principle and the highest morality. This war was waged to compel Spain + to take her bloody hands from the throat of Cuba. That is exactly what it + was waged for. Another great drama was put upon the boards, another play + was advertised, and the actors had their opportunity. Had there been no + such war, many of the actors would never have been heard of. + </p> + <p> + But the thing is to take advantage of the occasion when it arrives. In + this war we added to the greatness and the glory of our history. That is + another thing that we all fell heirs to—the history of our people, + the history of our Nation. We fell heirs to all the great and grand things + that had been accomplished, to all the great deeds, to the splendid + achievements either in the realm of mind or on the field of battle. + </p> + <p> + Then there was another great drama. The first thing we knew, a man in the + far Pacific, a gentleman from Vermont, sailed one May morning into the bay + of Manila, and the next news was that the Spanish fleet had been beached, + burned, destroyed, and nothing had happened to him. I have read a little + history, not much, and a good deal that I have read was not true. I have + read something about our own navy, not much. I recollect when I was a boy + my hero was John Paul Jones; he covered the ocean; and afterward I knew of + Hull and Perry and Decatur and Bainbridge and a good many others that I + don't remember now. And then came the Civil war, and I remember a little + about Farragut, a great Admiral, as great as ever trod a deck, in my + judgment. And I have also read about other admirals and sailors of the + world. I knew something of Drake and I have read the "Life of Nelson" and + several other sea dogs; but when I got the news from Manila I said, "There + is the most wonderful victory ever won upon the sea;" and I did not think + it would ever be paralleled. I thought such things come one in a box. But + a little while afterward another of Spain's fleets was heard from. Oh, + those Spaniards! They have got the courage of passion, but that is not the + highest courage. They have got plenty of that; but it is necessary to be + coolly courageous, and to have the brain working with the accuracy of an + engine—courageous, I don't care how mad you get, but there must not + be a cloud in the heaven of your judgment. That is Anglo-Saxon courage, + and there is no higher type. The Spaniards sprinkled the holy water on + their guns, then banged away and left it to the Holy Ghost to direct the + rest. + </p> + <p> + Another fleet, at Santiago, ventured out one day, and another great + victory was won by the American Navy. I don't know which victory was the + more wonderful, that at Manila Bay or that at Santiago. The Spanish ships + were, some of them, of the best class and type, and had fine guns, yet in + a few moments they were wrecks on the shore of defeat, gone, lost. + </p> + <p> + Now, when I used to read about these things in the olden times, what ideas + I had of the hero! I never expected to see one; and yet to-night I have + the happiness of dining with one, with one whose name is associated with + as great a victory, in my judgment, as was ever won; a victory that + required courage, intelligence, that power of will that holds itself firm + until the thing sought has been accomplished; and that has my greatest + admiration. I thank Admiral Schley for having enriched my country, for + having added a little to my own height, to my own pride, so that I utter + the word America with a little more unction than I ever did before, and + the old flag looks a little brighter, better, and has an added glory. When + I see it now, it looks as if the air had burst into blossom, and it stands + for all that he has accomplished. + </p> + <p> + Admiral Schley has added not only to our wealth, but to the wealth of the + children yet unborn that are going to come into the great heritage not + only of wealth, but of the highest possible riches, glory, honor, + achievement. That is the reason I congratulate you to-night. And I + congratulate you on another thing, that this country has entered upon the + great highway, I believe, of progress. I believe that the great nation has + the sentiment, the feeling of growth. The successful farmer wants to buy + the land adjoining him; the great nation loves to see its territory + increase. And what has been our history? Why, when we bought Louisiana + from Napoleon, in 1803, thousands of people were opposed to "imperialism," + to expansion; the poor old moss-backs were opposed to it. When we bought + Florida, it was the same. When we took the vast West from Mexico in 1848 + it was the same. When we took Alaska it was the same. Now, is anybody in + favor of modifying that sentiment? + </p> + <p> + We have annexed Hawaii, and we have got the biggest volcano in the + business. A man I know visited that volcano some years ago and came back + and told me about his visit. He said that at the little hotel they had a + guest-book in which the people wrote their feelings on seeing the volcano + in action. "Now," he said, "I will tell you this so that you may know how + you are spreading out yourself. One man had written in that book, 'if Bob + Ingersoll were here, I think he would change his mind about hell.'" + </p> + <p> + I want that volcano. I want the Philippines. It would be simply infamous + to hand those people back to the brutality of Spain. Spain has been + Christianizing them for about four hundred years. The first thing the poor + devils did was to sign a petition asking for the expulsion of the priests. + That was their idea of the commencement of liberty. They are not quite so + savage as some people imagine. I want those islands; I want all of them, + and I don't know that I disagree with the Rev. Mr. Slicer as to the use we + can put them to. I don't know that they will be of any use, but I want + them; they might come handy. And I wanted to pick up the small change, the + Ladrones and the Carolines. I am glad we have got Porto Rico. I don't know + as it will be of any use, but there's no harm in having the title. I want + Cuba whenever Cuba wants us, and I favor the idea of getting her in the + notion of wanting us. I want it in the interest, as I believe, of + humanity, of progress; in other words, of human liberty. That is what the + war was waged for, and the fact that it was waged for that, gives an + additional glory to these naval officers and to the officers in the army. + They fought in the first righteous war; I mean righteous in the sense that + we fought for the liberty of others. + </p> + <p> + Now, gentlemen, I feel that we have all honored ourselves to-night by + honoring Rear Admiral Schley. I want you to know that long after we are + dead and long after the Admiral has ceased to sail, he will be remembered, + and in the constellation of glory one of the brightest stars will stand + for the name of Winfield Scott Schley, as brave an officer as ever sailed + a ship. I am glad I am here to-night, and again, gentlemen, I congratulate + you all upon being here. I congratulate you that you belong to this race, + to this nation, and that you are equal heirs in the glory of the great + Republic. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0020" id="link0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + ADDRESS TO THE ACTORS' FUND OF AMERICA. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, June 5, 1888. + </h3> + <p> + MR. PRESIDENT, Ladies and Gentlemen: I have addressed, or annoyed, a great + many audiences in my life and I have not the slightest doubt that I stand + now before more ability, a greater variety of talent, and more real genius + than I ever addressed in my life. + </p> + <p> + I know all about respectable stupidity, and I am perfectly acquainted with + the brainless wealth and success of this life, and I know, after all, how + poor the world would be without that divine thing that we call genius—what + a worthless habitation, if you take from it all that genius has given. + </p> + <p> + I know also that all joy springs from a love of nature. I know that all + joy is what I call Pagan. The natural man takes delight in everything that + grows, in everything that shines, in everything that enjoys—he has + an immense sympathy with the whole human race. + </p> + <p> + Of that feeling, of that spirit, the drama is born. People must first be + in love with life before they can think it worth representing. They must + have sympathy with their fellows before they can enter into their feelings + and know what their heart throbs about. So, I say, back of the drama is + this love of life, this love of nature. And whenever a country becomes + prosperous—and this has been pointed cut many times—when a + wave of wealth runs over a land,—behind it you will see all the sons + and daughters of genius. When a man becomes of some account he is worth + painting. When by success and prosperity he gets the pose of a victor, the + sculptor is inspired; and when love is really in his heart, words burst + into blossom and the poet is born. When great virtues appear, when + magnificent things are done by heroines and heroes, then the stage is + built, and the life of a nation is compressed into a few hours, or—to + use the language of the greatest—"turning the accomplishment of many + years into an hour-glass"; the stage is born, and we love it because we + love life—and he who loves the stage has a kind of double life. + </p> + <p> + The drama is a crystallization of history, an epitome of the human heart. + The past is lived again and again, and we see upon the stage, love, + sacrifice, fidelity, courage—all the virtues mingled with all the + follies. + </p> + <p> + And what is the great thing that the stage does? It cultivates the + imagination. And let me say now, that the imagination constitutes the + great difference between human beings. + </p> + <p> + The imagination is the mother of pity, the mother of generosity, the + mother of every possible virtue. It is by the imagination that you are + enabled to put yourself in the place of another. Every dollar that has + been paid into your treasury came from an imagination vivid enough to + imagine himself or herself lying upon the lonely bed of pain, or as having + fallen by the wayside of life, dying alone. It is this imagination that + makes the difference in men. + </p> + <p> + Do you believe that a man would plunge the dagger into the heart of + another if he had imagination enough to see him dead—imagination + enough to see his widow throw her arms about the corpse and cover his face + with sacred tears—imagination enough to see them digging his grave, + and to see the funeral and to hear the clods fall upon the coffin and the + sobs of those who stood about—do you believe he would commit the + crime? Would any man be false who had imagination enough to see the woman + that he once loved, in the darkness of night, when the black clouds were + floating through the sky hurried by the blast as thoughts and memories + were hurrying through her poor brain—if he could see the white + flutter of her garment as she leaped to the eternal, blessed sleep of + death—do you believe that he would be false to her? I tell you that + he would be true. + </p> + <p> + So that, in my judgment, the great mission of the stage is to cultivate + the human imagination. That is the reason fiction has done so much good. + Compared with the stupid lies-called history, how beautiful are the + imagined things with painted wings. Everybody detests a thing that + pretends to be true and is not; but when it says, "I am about to create," + then it is beautiful in the proportion that it is artistic, in the + proportion that it is a success. + </p> + <p> + Imagination is the mother of enthusiasm. Imagination fans the little spark + into a flame great enough to warm the human race; and enthusiasm is to the + mind what spring is to the world. . + </p> + <p> + Now I am going to say a few words because I want to, and because I have + the chance. + </p> + <p> + What is known as "orthodox religion" has always been the enemy of the + theatre. It has been the enemy of every possible comfort, of every + rational joy—that is to say, of amusement. And there is a reason for + this. Because, if that religion be true, there should be no amusement. If + you believe that in every moment is the peril of eternal pain—do not + amuse yourself. Stop the orchestra, ring down the curtain, and be as + miserable as you can. That idea puts an infinite responsibility upon the + soul—an infinite responsibility—and how can there be any art, + how can there be any joy, after that? You might as well pile all the Alps + on one unfortunate ant, and then say, "Why don't you play? Enjoy + yourself." + </p> + <p> + If that doctrine be true, every one should regard time as a kind of dock, + a pier running out into the ocean of eternity, on which you sit on your + trunk and wait for the ship of death—solemn, lugubrious, melancholy + to the last degree. + </p> + <p> + And that is why I have said joy is Pagan. It comes from a love of nature, + from a love of this world, from a love of this life. According to the idea + of some good people, life is a kind of green-room, where you are getting + ready for a "play" in some other country. + </p> + <p> + You all remember the story of "Great Expectations," and I presume you have + all had them. That is another thing about this profession of acting that I + like—you do not know how it is coming out—and there is this + delightful uncertainty. + </p> + <p> + You have all read the book called "Great Expectations," written, in my + judgment, by the greatest novelist that ever wrote the English language—the + man who created a vast realm of joy. I love the joy-makers—not the + solemn, mournful wretches. And when I think of the church asking something + of the theatre, I remember that story of "Great Expectations." You + remember Miss Haversham—she was to have been married some fifty or + sixty years before that time—sitting there in the darkness, in all + of her wedding finery, the laces having turned yellow by time, the old + wedding cake crumbled, various insects having made it their palatial + residence—you remember that she sent for that poor little boy Pip, + and when he got there in the midst of all these horrors, she looked at him + and said, "Pip, play!" And if their doctrine be true, every actor is in + that situation. + </p> + <p> + I have always loved the theatre—loved the stage, simply because it + has added to the happiness of this life. "Oh, but," they say, "is it + moral?" A superstitious man suspects everything that is pleasant. It seems + inbred in his nature, and in the nature of most people. You let such a man + pull up a little weed and taste it, and if it is sweet and good, he says, + "I'll bet it is poison." But if it tastes awful, so that his face becomes + a mask of disgust, he says, "I'll bet you that it is good medicine." + </p> + <p> + Now, I believe that everything in the world that tends to make man happy, + is moral. That is my definition of morality. Anything that bursts into bud + and blossom, and bears the fruit of joy, is moral. + </p> + <p> + Some people expect to make the world good by destroying desire—by a + kind of pious petrifaction, feeling that if you do not want anything, you + will not want anything bad. In other words, you will be good and moral if + you will only stop growing, stop wishing, turn all your energies in the + direction of repression, and if from the tree of life you pull every leaf, + and then every bud—and if an apple happens to get ripe in spite of + you, don't touch it—snakes! + </p> + <p> + I insist that happiness is the end—virtue the means—and + anything that wipes a tear from the face of man is good. Everything that + gives laughter to the world—laughter springing from good nature, + that is the most wonderful music that has ever enriched the ears of man. + And let me say that nothing can be more immoral than to waste your own + life, and sour that of others. + </p> + <p> + Is the theatre moral? I suppose you have had an election to-day. They had + an election at the Metropolitan Opera House for bishops, and they voted + forged tickets; and after the election was over, I suppose they asked the + old question in the same solemn tone: "Is the theatre moral?" + </p> + <p> + At last, all the intelligence of the world admits that the theatre is a + great, a splendid instrumentality for increasing the well-being of man. + But only a few years ago our fathers were poor barbarians. They only + wanted the essentials of life, and through nearly all the centuries Genius + was a vagabond—Art was a servant. He was the companion of the clown. + Writers, poets, actors, either sat "below the salt" or devoured the + "remainder biscuit," and drank what drunkenness happened to leave, or + lived on crumbs, and they had less than the crumbs of respect. The painter + had to have a patron, and then in order to pay the patron, he took the + patron's wife for Venus—and the man, he was the Apollo! So the + writer had to have a patron, and he endeavored to immortalize him in a + preface of obsequious lies. The writer had no courage. The painter, the + sculptor—poor wretches—had "patrons." Some of the greatest of + the world were treated as servants, and yet they were the real kings of + the human race. + </p> + <p> + Now the public is the patron. The public has the intelligence to see what + it wants. The stage does not have to flatter any man. The actor now does + not enroll himself as the servant of duke or lord. He has the great + public, and if he is a great actor, he stands as high in the public + estimation as any other man in any other walk of life. + </p> + <p> + And these men of genius, these "vagabonds," these "sturdy vagrants" of the + old law—and let me say one thing right here: I do not believe that + there ever was a man of genius that had not a little touch of the vagabond + in him somewhere—just a little touch of chaos—that is to say, + he must have generosity enough now and then absolutely to forget himself—he + must be generous to that degree that he starts out without thinking of the + shore and without caring for the sea—and that is that touch of + chaos. And yet, through all those years the poets and the actors lacked + bread. Imagine the number of respectable dolts who felt above them. The + men of genius lived on the bounty of the few, grudgingly given. + </p> + <p> + Now, just think what would happen, what we would be, if you could blot + from this world what these men have done. If you could take from the walls + the pictures; from the niches the statues; from the memory of man the + songs that have been sung by "The Plowman"—take from the memory of + the world what has been done by the actors and play-writers, and this + great globe would be like a vast skull emptied of all thought. + </p> + <p> + And let me say one word more, and that is as to the dignity of your + profession. + </p> + <p> + The greatest genius of this world has produced your literature. I am not + now alluding simply to one—but there has been more genius lavished + upon the stage—more real genius, more creative talent, than upon any + other department of human effort. And when men and women belong to a + profession that can count Shakespeare in its number, they should feel + nothing but pride. + </p> + <p> + Nothing gives me more pleasure than to speak of Shakespeare—Shakespeare, + in whose brain were the fruits of all thoughts past, the seeds of all to + be—Shakespeare, an intellectual ocean toward which all rivers ran, + and from which now the isles and continents of thought receive their dew + and rain. + </p> + <p> + A profession that can boast that Shakespeare was one of its members, and + that from his brain poured out that mighty intellectual cataract—that + Mississippi that will enrich all coming generations—the man that + belongs to that profession—should feel that no other man by reason + of belonging to some other, can be his superior. + </p> + <p> + And such a man, when he dies—or the friend of such a man, when that + man dies—should not imagine that it is a very generous and liberal + thing for some minister to say a few words above the corpse—and I do + not want to see this profession cringe before any other. + </p> + <p> + One word more. I hope that you will sustain this splendid charity. I do + not believe that more generous people exist than actors. I hope you will + sustain this charity. And yet, there was one little thing I saw in your + report of last year, that I want to call attention to. You had "benefits" + all over this country, and of the amount raised, one hundred and + twenty-five thousand dollars were given to religious societies and twelve + thousand dollars to the Actors' Fund—and yet they say actors are not + Christians! Do you not love your enemies? After this, I hope that you will + also love your friends. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0021" id="link0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CHILDREN OF THE STAGE. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, March 23, 1899. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Col. Robert G. Ingersoll was the special star among stars + at the benefit given yesterday afternoon at the Fifth Avenue + Theatre for the Actors' Fund. There were a great many other + stars and a very long programme. The consequence was that + the performance began before one o'clock and was not over + until almost dinner time. + + Usually in such cases the least important performers are + placed at the beginning and the audience straggles in + leisurely without worrying a great deal over what it has + missed. Yesterday, however, it had been announced in advance + that Col. Ingersoll would start the ball a-rolling and the + result was that before the overture was finished the house + was packed to the doors. + + Col. Ingersoll's contribution was a short address delivered + in his characteristic style of florid eloquence.—The World, + New York, March 24, 1899. +</pre> + <p> + Disguise it as we may, we live in a frightful world, with evils, with + enemies, on every side. From the hedges along the path of life, leap the + bandits that murder and destroy; and every human being, no matter how + often he escapes, at last will fall beneath the assassin's knife. + </p> + <p> + To change the figure: We are all passengers on the train of life. The + tickets give the names of the stations where we boarded the car, but the + destination is unknown. At every station some passengers, pallid, + breathless, dead, are put away, and some with the light of morning in + their eyes, get on. + </p> + <p> + To change the figure again: On the wide sea of life we are all on ships or + rafts or spars, and some by friendly winds are borne to the fortunate + isles, and some by storms are wrecked on the cruel rocks. And yet upon the + isles the same as upon the rocks, death waits for all. And death alone can + truly say, "All things come to him who waits." + </p> + <p> + And yet, strangely enough, there is in this world of misery, of misfortune + and of death, the blessed spirit of mirth. The travelers on the path, on + the train, on the ships, the rafts and spars, sometimes forget their + perils and their doom. + </p> + <p> + All blessings on the man whose face was first illuminated by a smile! + </p> + <p> + All blessings on the man who first gave to the common air the music of + laughter—the music that for the moment drove fears from the heart, + tears from the eyes, and dimpled cheeks with joy! + </p> + <p> + All blessings on the man who sowed with merry hands the seeds of humor, + and at the lipless skull of death snapped the reckless fingers of disdain! + Laughter is the blessed boundary line between the brute and man. + </p> + <p> + Who are the friends of the human race? They who hide with vine and flower + the cruel rocks of fate—the children of genius, the sons and + daughters of mirth and laughter, of imagination, those whose thoughts, + like moths with painted wings, fill the heaven of the mind. + </p> + <p> + Among these sons and daughters are the children of the stage, the citizens + of the mimic world—the world enriched by all the wealth of genius—enriched + by painter, orator, composer and poet. The world of which Shakespeare, the + greatest of human beings, is still the unchallenged emperor. These + children of the stage have delighted the weary travelers on the thorny + path, amused the passengers on the fated train, and filled with joy the + hearts of the clingers to spars, and the floaters on rafts. + </p> + <p> + These, children of the stage, with fancy's wand rebuild the past. The dead + are brought to life and made to act again the parts they played. The + hearts and lips that long ago were dust, are made to beat and speak again. + The dead kings are crowned once more, and from the shadows of the past + emerge the queens, jeweled and sceptred as of yore. Lovers leave their + graves and breathe again their burning vows; and again the white breasts + rise and fall in passion's storm. The laughter that died away beneath the + touch of death is heard again and lips that fell to ashes long ago are + curved once more with mirth. Again the hero bares his breast to death; + again the patriot falls, and again the scaffold, stained with noble blood, + becomes a shrine. + </p> + <p> + The citizens of the real world gain joy and comfort from the stage. The + broker, the speculator ruined by rumor, the lawyer baffled by the + intelligence of a jury or the stupidity of a judge, the doctor who lost + his patience because he lost his patients, the merchant in the dark days + of depression, and all the children of misfortune, the victims of hope + deferred, forget their troubles for a little while when looking on the + mimic world. When the shaft of wit flies like the arrow of Ulysses through + all the rings and strikes the centre; when words of wisdom mingle with the + clown's conceits; when folly laughing shows her pearls, and mirth holds + carnival; when the villain fails and the right triumphs, the trials and + the griefs of life for the moment fade away. + </p> + <p> + And so the maiden longing to be loved, the young man waiting for the "Yes" + deferred; the unloved wife, hear the old, old story told again,—and + again within their hearts is the ecstasy of requited love. + </p> + <p> + The stage brings solace to the wounded, peace to the troubled, and with + the wizard's wand touches the tears of grief and they are changed to the + smiles of joy. + </p> + <p> + The stage has ever been the altar, the pulpit, the cathedral of the heart. + There the enslaved and the oppressed, the erring, the fallen, even the + outcast, find sympathy, and pity gives them all her tears—and there, + in spite of wealth and power, in spite of caste and cruel pride, true love + has ever triumphed over all. + </p> + <p> + The stage has taught the noblest lesson, the highest truth, and that is + this: It is better to deserve without receiving than to receive without + deserving. As a matter of fact, it is better to be the victim of villainy + than to be a villain. Better to be stolen from than to be a thief, and in + the last analysis the oppressed, the slave, is less unfortunate than the + oppressor, the master. + </p> + <p> + The children of the stage, these citizens of the mimic world, are not the + grasping, shrewd and prudent people of the mart; they are improvident + enough to enjoy the present and credulous enough to believe the promises + of the universal liar known as Hope. Their hearts and hands are open. As a + rule genius is generous, luxurious, lavish, reckless and royal. And so, + when they have reached the ladder's topmost round, they think the world is + theirs and that the heaven of the future can have no cloud. But from the + ranks of youth the rival steps. Upon the veteran brows the wreaths begin + to fade, the leaves to fall; and failure sadly sups on memory. They tread + the stage no more. They leave the mimic world, fair fancy's realm; they + leave their palaces and thrones; their crowns are gone, and from their + hands the sceptres fall. At last, in age and want, in lodgings small and + bare, they wait the prompter's call; and when the end is reached, maybe a + vision glorifies the closing scene. Again they are on the stage; again + their hearts throb high; again they utter perfect words; again the flowers + fall about their feet; and as the curtain falls, the last sound that + greets their ears, is the music of applause, the "bravos" for an encore. + </p> + <p> + And then the silence falls on darkness. + </p> + <p> + Some loving hands should close their eyes, some loving lips should leave + upon their pallid brows a kiss; some friends should lay the breathless + forms away, and on the graves drop blossoms jeweled with the tears of + love. + </p> + <p> + This is the work of the generous men and women who contribute to the + Actors' Fund. This is charity; and these generous men and women have + taught, and are teaching, a lesson that all the world should learn, and + that is this: The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0022" id="link0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + ADDRESS TO THE PRESS CLUB. + </h2> + <h3> + New Orleans, February 1, 1898. + </h3> + <p> + LADIES AND GENTLEMEN of the New Orleans + </p> + <p> + Press Club: I do not remember to have agreed or consented to make any + remarks about the press or anything else on the present occasion, but I am + glad of this opportunity to say a word or two. Of course, I have the very + greatest respect for this profession, the profession of the press, knowing + it, as I do, to be one of the greatest civilizers of the world. Above all + other institutions and all other influences, it is the greatest agency in + breaking down the hedges of provincialism. In olden times one nation had + no knowledge or understanding of another nation, and no insight or + understanding into its life; and, indeed, various parts of one nation held + the other parts of it somewhat in the attitude of hostility, because of a + lack of more thorough knowledge; and, curiously enough, we are prone to + look upon strangers more or less in the light of enemies. Indeed, enemy + and stranger in the old vocabularies are pretty much of the same + significance. A stranger was an enemy. I think it is Darwin who alludes to + the instinctive fear a child has of a stranger as one of the heritages of + centuries of instinctive cultivation, the handed-down instinct of years + ago. And even now it is a fact that we have very little sympathy with + people of a different country, even people speaking the same language, + having the same god with a different name, or another god with the same + name, recognizing the same principles of right and wrong. + </p> + <p> + But the moment people began to trade with each other, the moment they + began to enjoy the results of each other's industry and brain, the moment + that, through this medium, they began to get an insight into each other's + life, people began to see each other as they were; and so commerce became + the greatest of all missionaries of civilization, because, like the press, + it tended to do away with provincialism. + </p> + <p> + You know there is no one else in the world so egotistic as the man who + knows nothing. No man is more certain than the man who knows nothing. The + savage knows everything. The moment man begins to be civilized he begins + to appreciate how little he knows, how very circumscribed in its very + nature human knowledge is. + </p> + <p> + Now, after commerce came the press. From the Moors, I believe, we learned + the first rudiments of that art which has civilized the world. With the + invention of movable type came an easy and cheap method of preserving the + thoughts and history of one generation to another and transmitting the + life of one nation to another. Facts became immortal, and from that day to + this the intelligence of the world has rapidly and steadily increased. + </p> + <p> + And now, if we are provincial, it is our own fault, and if we are hateful + and odious and circumscribed and narrow and peevish and limited in the + light we get from the known universe, it is our own fault. + </p> + <p> + Day by day the world is growing smaller and men larger. But a few years + ago the State of New York was as large as the United States is to-day. It + required as much time to reach Albany from New York as it now requires to + reach San Francisco from the same city, and so far as the transmission of + thought goes the world is but a hamlet. + </p> + <p> + I count as one of the great good things of the modern press—as one + of the specific good things—that the same news, the same direction + of thought is transmitted to many millions of people each day. So that the + thoughts of multitudes of men are substantially tending at the same time + along the same direction. It tends more and more to make us citizens in + the highest sense of the term, and that is the reason that I have so much + respect for the press. + </p> + <p> + Of course I know that the news and opinions are written by folks liable to + the same percentage of error as characterizes all mankind. No one makes no + mistakes but the man who knows everything—no one makes no mistakes + but the hypocrite. + </p> + <p> + I must confess, however, that there are things about the press of to-day + that I would have changed—that I do not like. + </p> + <p> + I hate to see brain the slave of the material god. I hate to see money own + genius. So I think that every writer on every paper should be compelled to + sign his name to everything he writes. There are many reasons why he has a + right to the reputation he makes. His reputation is his property, his + capital, his stock in trade, and it is not just or fair or right that it + should be absorbed by the corporation which employs him. After giving + great thoughts to the world, after millions of people have read his + thoughts with delight, no one knows this lonely man or his solitary name. + If he loses the good will of his employer, he loses his place and with it + all that his labor and time and brain have earned for himself as his own + inalienable property, and his corporation or employer reaps the benefit of + it. + </p> + <p> + There is another reason establishing the absolute equity of this + proposition, a reason pointing in other directions than to the writer and + his rights. It is no more than right to the reader that the opinion or the + narrative should be that of Mr. Smith or Mr. Brown or Mr. So and So, and + not that of, say, the <i>Picayune</i>. That is too impersonal. It is no + more than right that a single man should have his honor at stake for what + is said, and not an impersonal something. I know that we are all liable to + believe it if the <i>Picayune</i> says it, and yet, after all, it is the + individual man who is saying it and it is in the interest of justice that + the reader be apprised of the fact. + </p> + <p> + I believe I have just a little fault to find with the tendency of the + modern press to go into personal affairs—into so-called private + affairs. In saying this, I have no complaint to lodge on my own behalf, + for I have no private affairs. I am not so much opposed to what is called + sensationalism, for that must exist as long as crime is considered news, + and believe me, when virtue becomes news it can only be when this will + have become an exceedingly bad world. At the same time I think that the + publication of crime may have more or less the tendency of increasing it. + </p> + <p> + I read not long ago that if some heavy piece of furniture were dropped in + a room in which there was a string instrument, the strings in harmony with + the vibrations of the air made by that noise would take up the sound. Now + a man with a tendency to crime would pick up that criminal feeling + inspiring the act which he sees blazoned forth in all its detail in the + press. In that view of the matter it seems to me better not to give + details of all offences. + </p> + <p> + Now, as to the matter of being too personal, I think that one of the + results of that sort of journalism is to drive a great many capable and + excellent men out of public life. I heard a little story quite recently of + a man who was being urged for the Legislature, and yet hesitated because + of his fear of newspaper criticism of this character. "I don't want to + run," said he to his wife, who urged that this was an opportunity to do + himself and his friends honor, and that it was a sort of duty in him. "I + would if I were you," said his wife. "Well, but there is no saying," he + responded, "what the newspapers might print about me." "Why, your life has + always been honorable," said she; "they could not say anything to your + disparagement." "But they might attack my father." "Well, there was + nothing in his career of which any one might feel ashamed. He was as + irreproachable as you." "Ay, but they might attack you and tell of some + devilment you went into before we were married." "Then you better not + run," said his wife promptly. I think this fear on the part of husband and + wife is identical with that which keeps many a great man out of public + service. + </p> + <p> + Now, there is another thing which every one ought to abhor. All men and + newspapers are entirely too apt to criticise the motives of men. It is a + fault common to all good men—except the clergy, of course—this + habit of attacking motives. And whenever we see a man do something which + is great and praiseworthy, let us talk about the act itself and not go + into a speculation or an attack upon the motive which prompted the act. + Attack what a man actually does. + </p> + <p> + But these are only small matters. The press is the most powerful of all + agencies for the dissemination of intelligence, and as such I hail it + always. It has nearly always been very friendly and kind to me and + certainly I have received at the hands of the New Orleans press a + treatment I shall never forget. + </p> + <p> + Our Sunday newspapers, to my mind, rank among the greatest institutions of + the present day. One finds in them matter that could not be found in + several hundreds of books,—beautiful thoughts, broad intelligence, a + range of information perfectly startling in its usefulness and perfectly + charming in its entertainment. Contrast, please, how we are enabled by + their good offices to spend the Sabbath, with the descriptions of hell + with all its terrors and all the gloom characterizing the Sabbaths our + forefathers had to spend. The Sunday newspaper is an absolute blessing to + the American people, a picture gallery, short stories, little poems, a + symposium of brain and intelligence and refinement and—divorce + proceedings. + </p> + <p> + As I have said, the good will and the fair treatment of the American press + have nearly always been my lot. There have been some misguided people who + have said harsh things, but when I remember all the misguided things I + have done, I am inclined to be charitable for their shortcomings. + </p> + <p> + I do not know that I have anything else to say, except that I wish you all + good luck and sunshine and prosperity, and enough of it to last you + through a long life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0023" id="link0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CIRCULATION OF OBSCENE LITERATURE. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * From "Ingersoll As He Is," by E. M. Macdonald. +</pre> + <p> + "ONE of the charges most persistently made against Colonel Ingersoll is + that during and after the trial of D. M. Bennett, persecuted by Anthony + Comstock, the Colonel endeavored to have the law against sending obscene + literature through the mail repealed. That the charge is maliciously false + is fully shown by the following brief history of events connected with the + prosecution of D. M. Bennett, and Mr. Ingersoll's efforts in his + behalf.... + </p> + <p> + "After Mr. Bennett's arrest in 1877, he printed a petition to Congress, + written by T. B. Wakeman, asking for the <i>repeal or modification</i> of + Comstock's law by which he expected to stamp out the publications of + Freethinkers.... + </p> + <p> + "The connection of Mr. Ingersoll with this petition is soon explained. Mr. + Ingersoll knew of Comstock's attempts to suppress heresy by means of this + law, and when called upon by the Washington committee in charge of the + petition, he allowed his name to go on the petition for modification, but + he told them distinctly and plainly that he was <i>not</i> in favor of the + <i>repeal</i> of the law, as he was willing and anxious that obscenity + should be suppressed by all legal means. His sentiments are best expressed + by himself in a letter to the <i>Boston Journal</i>. He says: + </p> + <p> + "'Washington, March 18, 1878. + </p> + <p> + "'To the Editor of the Boston Journal: + </p> + <p> + "'My attention has been called to the following article that recently + appeared in your paper: + </p> + <p> + "'Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, and others, feel aggrieved because Congress, + in 1873, enacted a law for the suppression of obscene literature, and, + believing it an infringement of the rights of certain citizens, and an + effort to muzzle the press and conscience, petition for its repeal. When a + man's conscience permits him to spread broadcast obscene literature, it is + time that conscience was muzzled. The law is a terror only to evil-doers." + </p> + <p> + "'No one wishes the repeal of any law for the suppression of obscene + literature. For my part, I wish all such laws rigidly enforced. The only + objection I have to the law of 1873 is, that it has been construed to + include books and pamphlets written against the religion of the day, + although containing nothing that can be called obscene or impure. Certain + religious fanatics, taking advantage of the word "immoral" in the law, + have claimed that all writings against what they are pleased to call + orthodox religion are immoral, and such books have been seized and their + authors arrested. To this, and this only, I object. + </p> + <p> + "'Your article does me great injustice, and I ask that you will have the + kindness to publish this note. + </p> + <p> + "'From the bottom of my heart I despise the publishers of obscene + literature. Below them there is no depth of filth. And I also despise + those, who, under the pretence of suppressing obscene literature, endeavor + to prevent honest and pure men from writing and publishing honest and pure + thoughts. Yours truly. + </p> + <p> + "'R. G. Ingersoll.' + </p> + <p> + "This is sufficiently easy of comprehension even for ministers, but of + course they misrepresented and lied about the writer. From that day to + this he has been accused of favoring the dissemination of obscene + literature. That the friends of Colonel Ingersoll may know just how + infamous this is, we will give a brief history of the repeal or + modification movement.... + </p> + <p> + "On October 26, the National Liberal League held its Congress in Syracuse. + At this Congress the League left the matter of repeal or modification of + the laws open, taking no action as an organization, either way, but + elected officers known to be in favor of repeal. On December 10, Mr. + Bennett was again arrested. He was tried, and found guilty; he appealed, + the conviction was affirmed, and he was sentenced to thirteen months' + imprisonment at hard labor. + </p> + <p> + "After the trial Colonel Ingersoll interposed, and endeavored to get a + pardon for Mr. Bennett, who was held in Ludlow street jail pending + President Hayes's reply. The man who occupied the President's office + promised to pardon the Infidel editor; then he went back on his word, and + Mr. Bennett served his term of imprisonment. + </p> + <p> + "Then preachers opened the sluiceways of vituperation and billingsgate + upon Colonel Ingersoll for having interceded for a man convicted of + mailing obscene literature. The charges were as infamously false then as + they are now, and to show it, it is only necessary to quote Colonel + Ingersoll's words during the year or two succeeding, when the Freethinkers + and the Christians were not only opposing each other vigorously, but the + Freethinkers themselves were divided on the question. In 1879, while Mr. + Bennett was in prison, a correspondent of the Nashville, Tenn., <i>Banner</i> + said that the National Liberal League and Colonel Ingersoll were in favor + of disseminating obscene literature. To this Colonel Ingersoll replied in + a letter to a friend: + </p> + <p> + "1417 G St., Washington, Aug. 21, 1879. + </p> + <p> + "'My Dear Sir: The article in the Nashville <i>Banner</i> by "J. L." is + utterly and maliciously false. + </p> + <p> + "'A petition was sent to Congress praying for the repeal or modification + of certain postal laws, to the end that the freedom of conscience and of + the press should not be abridged. + </p> + <p> + "'Nobody holds in greater contempt than I the writers, publishers, or + dealers in obscene literature. One of my objections to the Bible is that + it contains hundreds of grossly obscene passages not fit to be read by any + decent man, thousands of passages, in my judgment, calculated to corrupt + the minds of youth. I hope the time will soon come when the good sense of + the American people will demand a Bible with all obscene passages left + out. + </p> + <p> + "'The only reason a modification of the postal laws is necessary is that + at present, under color of those laws, books and pamphlets are excluded + from the mails simply because they are considered heterodox and + blasphemous. In other words, every man should be allowed to write, + publish, and send through the mails his thoughts upon any subject, + expressed in a decent and becoming manner. As to the propriety of giving + anybody authority to overhaul mails, break seals, and read private + correspondence, that is another question. + </p> + <p> + "'Every minister and every layman who charges me with directly or + indirectly favoring the dissemination of anything that is impure, retails + what he knows to be a wilful and malicious lie. I remain, Yours truly, + </p> + <p> + "'R. G. Ingersoll.' + </p> + <p> + "Three weeks after this letter was written the National Liberal League + held its third annual Congress at Cincinnati. Colonel Ingersoll was + chairman of the committee on resolutions and platform and unfinished + business of the League. One of the subjects to be dealt with was these + Comstock laws. The following are Colonel Ingersoll's remarks and the + resolutions he presented: + </p> + <p> + "'It may be proper, before presenting the resolutions of the committee, to + say a word in explanation. The committee were charged with the + consideration of the unfinished business of the League. It seems that at + Syracuse there was a division as to what course should be taken in regard + to the postal laws of the United States. These laws were used as an engine + of oppression against the free circulation of what we understand to be + scientific literature. Every honest man in this country is in favor of + allowing every other human being every right that he claims for himself. + The majority at Syracuse were at that time simply in favor of the absolute + repeal of those laws, believing them to be unconstitutional—not + because they were in favor of anything obscene, but because they were + opposed to the mails of the United States being under the espionage and + bigotry of the church. They therefore demanded an absolute repeal of the + law. Others, feeling that they might be misunderstood, and knowing that + theology can coin the meanest words to act as the vehicle of the lowest + lies, were afraid of being misunderstood, and therefore they said, Let us + amend these laws so that our literature shall be upon an equality with + that of theology. I know that there is not a Liberal here, or in the + United States, that is in favor of the dissemination of obscene + literature. One of the objections which we have to the book said to be + written by God is that it is obscene. + </p> + <p> + "'The Liberals of this country believe in purity, and they believe that + every fact in nature and in science is as pure as a star. We do not need + to ask for any more than we want. We simply want the laws of our country + so framed that we are not discriminated against. So, taking that view of + the vexed question, we want to put the boot upon the other foot. We want + to put the charge of obscenity where it belongs, and the committee, of + which I have the honor to be one of the members, have endeavored to do + just that thing. Men have no right to talk to me about obscenity who + regard the story of Lot and his daughters as a fit thing for men, women, + and children to read, and who worship a God in whom the violation of [<i>Cheers + drowned the conclusion of this sentence so the reporters could not hear + it.</i>] Such a God I hold in infinite contempt. + </p> + <p> + "'Now I will read you the resolutions recommended by the committee. + </p> + <p> + "'RESOLUTIONS. + </p> + <p> + "'Your committee have the honor to submit the following report: "'First, + As to the unfinished business of the League, your committee submits the + following resolutions: + </p> + <p> + "'Resolved., That we are in favor of such postal laws as will allow the + free transportation through the mails of the United States of all books, + pamphlets, and papers, irrespective of the religious, irreligious, + political, and scientific views they may contain, so that the literature + of science may be placed upon an equality with that of superstition. + </p> + <p> + "'Resolved, That we are utterly opposed to the dissemination, through the + mails, or by any other means, of obscene literature, whether "inspired" or + uninspired, and hold in measureless contempt its authors and + disseminators. + </p> + <p> + "'Resolved, That we call upon the Christian world to expunge from the + so-called "sacred" Bible every passage that cannot be read without + covering the cheek of modesty with the blush of shame; and until such + passages are expunged, we demand that the laws against the dissemination + of obscene literature be impartially enforced. '... + </p> + <p> + "We believe that lotteries and obscenity should be dealt with by State and + municipal legislation, and offenders punished in the county in which they + commit their offence. So in those days we argued for the repeal of the + Comstock laws, as did dozens of others—James Parton, Elizur Wright, + O. B. Frothingham, T. C. Leland, Courtlandt Palmer, and many more whose + names we do not recall. But Colonel Ingersoll did not, and when the + National Liberal League met the next year at Chicago (September 17, 1880), + he was opposed to the League's making a pledge to defend every case under + the Comstock laws, and he was opposed to a resolution demanding a repeal + of those laws. The following is what Colonel Ingersoll said upon the + subject: + </p> + <p> + "'Mr. Chairman, I wish to offer the following resolution in place and + instead of resolutions numbered 5 and 6: + </p> + <p> + "'Resolved, That the committee of defence, whenever a person has been + indicted for what he claims to have been an honest exercise of the freedom + of thought and expression, shall investigate the case, and if it appears + that such person has been guilty of no offence, then it shall be the duty + of said committee to defend such person if he is unable to defend + himself.' + </p> + <p> + "'Now, allow me one moment to state my reasons. I do not, I have not, I + never shall, accuse or suspect a solitary member of the Liberal League of + the United States of being in favor of doing any act under heaven that he + is not thoroughly convinced is right. We all claim freedom of speech, and + it is the gem of the human soul. We all claim a right to express our + honest thoughts. Did it ever occur to any Liberal that he wished to + express any thought honestly, truly, and legally that he considered + immoral? How does it happen that <i>we</i> have any interest in what is + known as immoral literature? I deny that the League has any interest in + that kind of literature. Whenever we mention it, whenever we speak of it, + we put ourselves in a false position. What do we want? We want to see to + it that the church party shall not smother the literature of Liberalism. + We want to see to it that the viper of intellectual slavery shall not + sting our cause. We want it so that every honest man, so that every honest + woman, can express his or her honest thought upon any subject in the + world. And the question, and the only question, as to whether they are + amenable to the law, in my mind, is, Were they honest? Was their effort to + benefit mankind? Was that their intention? And no man, no woman, should be + convicted of any offence that that man or woman did not intend to commit. + Now, then, suppose some person is arrested, and it is claimed that a work + written by him is immoral, is illegal. Then, I say, let our committee of + defence examine that case, and if our enemies are seeking to trample out + Freethought under the name of immorality, and under the cover and shield + of our criminal law, then let us defend that man to the last dollar we + have. But we do not wish to put ourselves in the position of general + defenders of all the slush that may be written in this or any other + country. You cannot afford to do it. You cannot afford to put into the + mouth of theology a perpetual and continual slur. You cannot afford to do + it. And this meeting is not the time to go into the question of what + authority the United States may have over the mails. It is a very wide + question. It embraces many others. Has the Government a right to say what + shall go into the mails? Why, in one sense, assuredly. Certainly they have + a right to say you shall not send a horse and wagon by mail. They have a + right to fix some limit; and the only thing we want is that the literature + of liberty, the literature of real Freethought, shall not be discriminated + against. And we know now as well as if it had been perfectly and + absolutely demonstrated, that the literature of Freethought will be + absolutely pure. We know it, We call upon the Christian world to expunge + obscenity from their book, and until that is expunged we demand that the + laws against obscene literature shall be executed. And how can we, in the + next resolution, say those laws ought all to be repealed? We cannot do + that. I have always been in favor of such an amendment of the law that by + no trick, by no device, by no judicial discretion, an honest, high, + pure-minded man should be subjected to punishment simply for giving his + best and his honest thought. What more do we need? What more can we ask? I + am as much opposed as my friend Mr. Wakeman can be to the assumption of + the church that it is the guardian of morality. If our morality is to be + guarded by that sentiment alone, then is the end come. The natural + instinct of self-defence in mankind and in all organized society is the + fortress of the morality in mankind. The church itself was at one time the + outgrowth of that same feeling, but now the feeling has outgrown the + church. Now, then, we will have a Committee of Defence. That committee + will examine every case. Suppose some man has been indicted, and suppose + he is guilty. Suppose he has endeavored to soil the human mind. Suppose he + has been willing to make money by pandering to the lowest passions in the + human breast. What will that committee do with him then? We will say, "Go + on; let the law take its course." But if, upon reading his book, we find + that he is all wrong, horribly wrong, idiotically wrong, but make up our + minds that he was honest in his error, I will give as much as any other + living man of my means to defend that man. And I believe you will all bear + me witness when I say that I have the cause of intellectual liberty at + heart as much as I am capable of having anything at heart. And I know + hundreds of others here just the same. I understand that. I understand + their motive. I believe it to be perfectly good, but I truly and honestly + think they are mistaken. + </p> + <p> + If we have an interest in the business, I would fight for it. If our cause + were assailed by law, then I say fight; and our cause is assailed, and I + say fight. They will not allow me, in many States of this Union, to + testify. I say fight until every one of those laws is repealed. They + discriminate against a man simply because he is honest. Repeal such laws. + The church, if it had the power to-day, would trample out every particle + of free literature in this land. And when they endeavor to do that, I say + fight. But there is a distinction wide as the Mississippi—yes, wider + than the Atlantic, wider than all the oceans—between the literature + of immorality and the literature of Freethought. One is a crawling, slimy + lizard, and the other an angel with wings of light. Now, let us draw this + distinction, let us understand ourselves, and do not give to the common + enemy a word covered with mire, a word stained with cloaca, to throw at + us. We thought we had settled that question a year ago. We buried it then, + and I say let it rot. + </p> + <p> + "'This question is of great importance. It is the most important one we + have here. I have fought this question; I am ever going to do so, and I + will not allow anybody to put a stain upon me. This question must be + understood if it takes all summer. Here is a case in point. Some lady has + written a work which, I am informed, is a good work, and that has nothing + wrong about it. Her opinions may be foolish or wise. Let this committee + examine that case. If they find that she is a good woman, that she had + good intentions, no matter how terrible the work may be, if her intentions + are good, she has committed no crime. I want the honest thought. I think I + have always been in favor of it. But we haven't the time to go into all + these questions. + </p> + <p> + "'Then comes the question for this house to decide in a moment whether + these cases should have been tried in the State or Federal court. I want + it understood that I have confidence in the Federal courts of the nation. + There may be some bad judges, there may be some idiotic jurors. I think + there was in that case [of Mr. Bennett]. But the Committee of Defence, if + I understand it, supplied means, for the defence of that man. They did, + but are we ready now to decide in a moment what courts shall have + jurisdiction? Are we ready to say that the Federal courts shall be denied + jurisdiction in any case arising about the mails? Suppose somebody robs + the mails? Before whom shall we try the robber? Try him before a Federal + judge. Why? Because he has violated a Federal law. We have not any time + for such an investigation as this. What we want to do is to defend free + speech everywhere. What we want to do is to defend the expression of + thought in papers, in pamphlets, in books. What we want to do is to see to + it that these books, papers, and pamphlets are on an equality with all + other books, papers, and pamphlets in the United States mails. And then + the next step we want to take, if any man is indicted under the pretence + that he is publishing immoral books, is to have our Committee of Defence + well examine the case; and if we believe the man to be innocent we will + help defend him if he is unable to defend himself; and if we find that the + law is wrong in that particular, we will go for the amendment of that law. + I beg of you to have some sense in this matter. We must have it. If we + don't, upon that rock we shall split—upon that rock we shall again + divide. Let us not do it. The cause of intellectual liberty is the highest + to the human mind. Let us stand by it, and we can help all these people by + this resolution. We can do justice everywhere with it, while if we agree + to the fifth and sixth resolutions that have been offered I say we lay + ourselves open to the charge, and it will be hurled against us, no matter + how unjustly, that we are in favor of widespread immorality. + </p> + <p> + "'Mr. Clarke: We are not afraid of it. + </p> + <p> + "'Colonel Ingersoll: You may say we are not afraid. I am not afraid. He + only is a fool who rushes into unnecessary danger. + </p> + <p> + "'Mr. Clarke: What are you talking about, anyway? + </p> + <p> + "'Colonel Ingersoll: I am talking with endeavor to put a little sense into + such men as you. Your very question shows that it was necessary that I + should talk. And now I move that my resolution be adopted. + </p> + <p> + "'Mr. Wakeman moved that it be added to that portion of the sixth + resolution which recommended the constitution of the Committee of Defence. + </p> + <p> + "'Col. Ingersoll: I cannot agree to the sixth resolution. I think nearly + every word of it is wrong in principle. I think it binds us to a course of + action that we shall not be willing to follow; and my resolution covers + every possible case. My resolution binds us to defend every honest man in + the exercise of his right. I can't be bound to say that the Government + hasn't control of its morals—that we cannot trust the Federal courts—that, + under any circumstances, at any time, I am bound to defend, either by word + or money, any man who violates the laws of this country. + </p> + <p> + "'Mr. Wakeman: We do not say that. + </p> + <p> + "'Colonel Ingersoll: I beg of you, I beseech you, not to pass the sixth + resolution. If you do, I wouldn't give that [snapping his fingers] for the + platform. A part of the Comstock law authorizes the vilest possible trick. + We are all opposed to that. + </p> + <p> + "'Mr. Leland: What is the question? + </p> + <p> + "'Colonel Ingersoll: Don't let us be silly. Don't let us say we are + opposed to what we are not opposed to. If any man here is opposed to + putting down the vilest of all possible trash he ought to go home. We are + opposed to only a part of the law—opposed to it whenever they + endeavor to trample Freethought under foot in the name of immorality. + </p> + <p> + Afterward, at the same session of the Congress, the following colloquy + took place between Colonel Ingersoll and T. B. Wakeman: + </p> + <p> + "'Colonel Ingersoll: You know as well as I that there are certain books + not fit to go through the mails—books and pictures not fit to be + delivered. + </p> + <p> + "'Mr. Wakeman: That is so. + </p> + <p> + "'Colonel Ingersoll: There is not a man here who is not in favor, when + these books and pictures come into the control of the United States, of + burning them up when they are manifestly obscene. You don't want any grand + jury there. + </p> + <p> + "'Mr. Wakeman: Yes, we do. + </p> + <p> + "'Colonel Ingersoll: No, we don't. When they are manifestly obscene, burn + them up. + </p> + <p> + "'A delegate: Who is to be judge of that? + </p> + <p> + "'Colonel Ingersoll: There are books that nobody differs about. There are + certain things about which we can use discretion. If that discretion is + abused, a man has his remedy. We stand for the free thought of this + country. We stand for the progressive spirit of the United States. We + can't afford to say that all these laws should be repealed. If we had time + to investigate them we could say in what they should be amended. Don't tie + us to this nonsense—to the idea that we have an interest in immoral + literature. Let us remember that Mr. Wakeman is sore. He had a case before + the Federal courts, and he imagines, having lost that case, you cannot + depend on them. I have lost hundreds of cases. I have as much confidence + in the Federal courts as in the State courts. I am not to be a party to + throwing a slur upon the Federal judiciary. All we want is fair play. We + want the same chance for our doctrines that others have for theirs. And + how this infernal question of obscenity ever got into the Liberal League I + could never understand. If an innocent man is convicted of larceny, should + we repeal all the laws on the subject? I don't pretend to be better than + other people. + </p> + <p> + It is easy to talk right—so easy to be right that I never care to + have the luxury of being wrong. I am advocating something that we can + stand upon. I do not misunderstand Mr. Wakeman's motives. I believe they + are perfectly good—that he is thoroughly honest. Why not just say we + will stand by freedom of thought and its expression? Why not say that we + are in favor of amending any law that is wrong? But do not make the + wholesale statement that all these laws ought to be repealed. They ought + not to be repealed. Some of them are good." The law against sending + instruments of vice in the mails is good, as is the law against sending + obscene books and pictures, and the law against letting ignorant hyenas + prey upon sick people, and the law which prevents the getters up of bogus + lotteries sending their letters through the mail.' + </p> + <p> + "At the evening session of the Congress, on the same day, Mr. Ingersoll + made this speech in opposition to the resolution demanding the repeal of + the Comstock laws: + </p> + <p> + "'I am not in favor of the repeal of those laws. I have never been, and I + never expect to be. But I do wish that every law providing for the + punishment of a criminal offence should distinctly define the offence. + That is the objection to this law, that it does not define the offence, so + that an American citizen can readily know when he is about to violate it + and consequently the law ought in all probability to be modified in that + regard. I am in favor of every law defining with perfect distinctness the + offence to be punished, but I cannot say by wholesale these laws should be + repealed. I have the cause of Freethought too much at heart. Neither will + I consent to the repeal simply because the church is in favor of those + laws. In so far as the church agrees with me, I congratulate the church. + In so far as superstition is willing to help me, good! I am willing to + accept it. I believe, also, that this League is upon a secular basis, and + there should be nothing in our platform that would prevent any Christian + from acting with us. What is our platform?—and we ought to leave it + as it is. It needs no amendment. Our platform is for a secular government. + Is it improper in a secular government to endeavor to prevent the spread + of obscene literature? It is the business of a secular government to do + it, but if that government attempts to stamp out Freethought in the name + of obscenity, it is then for the friends of Freethought to call for a + definition of the word, and such a definition as will allow Freethought to + go everywhere through all the mails of the United States. We are also in + favor of secular schools. Good! We are in favor of doing away with every + law that discriminates against a man on account of his belief. Good! We + are in favor of universal education. Good! We are in favor of the taxation + of church property. Good!—because the experience of the world shows + that where you allow superstition to own property without taxing it, it + will absorb the net profits. Is it time now that we should throw into the + scale, against all these splendid purposes, an effort to repeal some + postal laws against obscenity? As well might we turn the League into an + engine to do away with all laws against the sale of stale eggs. + </p> + <p> + "'What have we to do with those things? Is it possible that Freethought + can be charged with being obscene? Is it possible that, if the charge is + made, it can be substantiated? Can you not attack any superstition in the + world in perfectly pure language? Can you not attack anything you please + in perfectly pure language? And where a man intends right, no law should + find him guilty; and if the law is weak in that respect, let it be + modified. But I say to you that I cannot go with any body of men who + demand the unconditional repeal of these laws. I believe in liberty as + much as any man that breathes. I will do as much, according to my ability, + as any other man to make this an absolutely free and secular government I + will do as much as any other man of my strength and of my intellectual + power to give every human being every right that I claim for myself. But + this obscene law business is a stumbling block. Had it not been for this, + instead of the few people voting here—less than one hundred—we + would have had a Congress numbered by thousands. Had it not been for this + business, the Liberal League of the United States would to-night hold in + its hand the political destiny of the United States. Instead of that, we + have thrown away our power upon a question in which we are not interested. + Instead of that, we have wasted our resources and our brain for the repeal + of a law that we don't want repealed. If we want anything, we simply want + a modification. Now, then, don't stain this cause by such a course. And + don't understand that I am pretending, or am insinuating, that anyone here + is in favor of obscene literature. It is a question, not of principle, but + of means, and I beg pardon of this Convention if I have done anything so + horrible as has been described by Mr. Pillsbury. I regret it if I have + ever endeavored to trample upon the rights of this Convention. + </p> + <p> + "'There is one thing I have not done—I have not endeavored to cast + five votes when I didn't have a solitary vote. Let us be fair; let us be + fair. I have simply given my vote. I wish to trample upon the rights of no + one; and when Mr. Pillsbury gave those votes he supposed he had a right to + give them; and if he had a right, the votes would have been counted. I + attribute nothing wrong to him, but I say this: I have the right to make a + motion in this Congress, I have the right to argue that motion, but I have + no more rights than any other member, and I claim none. But I want to say + to you—and I want you to know and feel it—that I want to act + with every Liberal man and woman in this world. I want you to know and + feel it that I want to do everything I can to get every one of these + statutes off our books that discriminates against a man because of his + religious belief—that I am in favor of a secular government, and of + all these rights. But I cannot, and I will not, operate with any + organization that asks for the unconditional repeal of those laws. I will + stand alone, and I have stood alone. I can tell my thoughts to my + countrymen, and I will do it, and whatever position you take, whether I am + with you or not, you will find me battling everywhere for the absolute + freedom of the human mind. You will find me battling everywhere to make + this world better and grander; and whatever my personal conduct may be, I + shall endeavor to keep my theories right. I beg of you, I implore you, do + not pass the resolution No. 6. It is not for our interest; it will do us + no good. It will lose us hosts of honest, splendid friends. Do not do it; + it will be a mistake; and the only reason I offered the motion was to give + the members time to think this over. I am not pretending to know more than + other people. I am perfectly willing to say that in many things I know + less. But upon this subject I want you to think. No matter whether you are + afraid of your sons, your daughters, your wives, or your husbands, that + isn't it—I don't want the splendid prospects of this League put in + jeopardy upon such an issue as this. I have no more to say. But if that + resolution is passed, all I have to say is that, while I shall be for + liberty everywhere, I cannot act with this organization, and I will not.' + </p> + <p> + "The resolution was finally adopted, and Colonel Ingersoll resigned his + office of vice-president in the League, and never acted with it again + until the League dropped all side issues, and came back to first + principles—the enforcement of the Nine Demands of Liberalism." + </p> + <p> + In 1892, writing upon this subject in answer to a minister who had + repeated these absurd charges, Colonel Ingersoll made this offer: + </p> + <p> + "I will pay a premium of one thousand dollars a word for each and every + word I ever said or wrote in favor of sending obscene publications through + the mails." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0024" id="link0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL LIBERAL LEAGUE. + </h2> + <h3> + Cincinnati, O., September 14.1878. + </h3> + <p> + LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Allow me to say that the cause nearest my heart, and + to which I am willing to devote the remainder of my life, is the absolute, + the <i>absolute</i>, enfranchisement of the human mind. I believe that the + family is the unit of good government, and that every good government is + simply an aggregation of good families. I therefore not only believe in + perfect civil and religious liberty, but I believe in the one man loving + the one woman. I believe the real temple of the human heart is the + hearthstone, and that there is where the sacrifice of life should be made; + and just in proportion as we have that idea in this country, just in that + proportion we shall advance and become a great, glorious and splendid + nation. I do not want the church or the state to come between the man and + wife. I want to do what little I can while I live to strengthen and render + still more sacred the family relation. I am also in favor of granting + every right to every other human being that I claim for myself; and when I + look about upon the world and see how the children that are born to-day, + or this year, or this age, came into a world that has nearly all been + taken up before their arrival; when I see that they have not even an + opportunity to labor for bread; when I see that in our splendid country + some who do the most have the least, and others who do the least have the + most; I say to myself there is something wrong somewhere, and I hope the + time will come when every child that nature has invited to our feast will + have an equal right with all the others. There is only one way, in my + judgment, to bring that about; and that is, first, not simply by the + education of the head, but by the universal education of the heart. The + time will come when a man with millions in his possession will not be + respected unless with those millions he improves the condition of his + fellow-men. + </p> + <p> + The time will come when it will be utterly impossible for a man to go down + to death, grasping millions in the clutch of avarice. The time will come + when it will be impossible for such a man to exist, for he will be + followed by the scorn and execration of mankind. The time will come when + such a man when stricken by death, cannot purchase the favor of posterity + by leaving a portion of the gains which he has wrung from the poor, to + some church or Bible society for the glory of God. + </p> + <p> + Now, let me say that we have met together as a Liberal League. We have + passed the same platform again; but if you will read that platform you + will see that it covers nearly every word that I have spoken—universal + education—the laws of science included, not the guesses of + superstition—universal education, not for the next world but for + this—happiness, not so much for an unknown land beyond the clouds as + for this life in this world. I do not say that there is not another life. + If there is any God who has allowed his children to be oppressed in this + world he certainly needs another life to reform the blunders he has made + in this. + </p> + <p> + Now, let us all agree that we will stand by each other splendidly, + grandly; and when we come into convention let us pass resolutions that are + broad, kind, and genial, because, if you are true Liberals, you will hold + in a kind of tender pity the most outrageous superstitions in the world. I + have said some things in my time that were not altogether charitable; but, + after all, when I think it over, I see that men are as they are, because + they are the result of every thing that has ever been. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes I think the clergy a necessary evil; but I say, let us be genial + and kind, and let us know that every other person has the same right to be + a Catholic or a Presbyterian, and gather consolation from the doctrine of + reprobation, that he has the same right to be a Methodist or a Christian + Disciple or a Baptist; the same right to believe these phantasies and + follies and superstitions—[<i>A voice—"And to burn heretics?"</i>] + </p> + <p> + No—The same right that we have to believe that it is all + superstition. But when that Catholic or Baptist or Methodist endeavors to + put chains on the bodies or intellects of men, it is then the duty of + every Liberal to prevent it at all hazards. If we can do any good in our + day and generation, let us do it. + </p> + <p> + There is no office I want in this world. I will make up my mind as to the + next when I get there, because my motto is—and with that motto I + will close what I have to say—My motto is: One world at a time! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0025" id="link0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN SECULAR UNION. + </h2> + <h3> + Albany, N. Y., September 13, 1885. + </h3> + <p> + LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: While I have never sought any place in any + organization, and while I never intended to accept any place in any + organization, yet as you have done me the honor to elect me president of + the American Secular Union, I not only accept the place, but tender to you + each and all my sincere thanks. + </p> + <p> + This is a position that a man cannot obtain by repressing his honest + thought. Nearly all other positions he obtains in that way. But I am glad + that the time has come when men can afford to preserve their manhood in + this country. Maybe they cannot be elected to the Legislature, cannot + become errand boys in Congress, cannot be placed as weather-vanes in the + presidential chair, but the time has come when a man can express his + honest thought and be treated like a gentleman in the United States. We + have arrived at a point where priests do not govern, and have reached that + stage of our journey where we, as Harriet Martineau expressed it, are + "free rovers on the breezy common of the universe." Day by day we are + getting rid of the aristocracy of the air. We have been the slaves of + phantoms long enough, and a new day, a day of glory, has dawned upon this + new world—this new world which is far beyond the old in the real + freedom of thought. + </p> + <p> + In the selection of your officers, without referring to myself, I think + you have shown great good sense. The first man chosen as vice-president, + Mr. Charles Watts, is a gentleman of sound, logical mind; one who knows + what he wants to say and how to say it; who is familiar with the + organization of Secular societies, knows what we wish to accomplish and + the means to attain it. I am glad that he is about to make this country + his home, and I know of no man who, in my judgment, can do more for the + cause of intellectual liberty. + </p> + <p> + The next vice-president, Mr. Remsburg, has done splendid work all over the + country. He is an absolutely fearless man, and tells really and truly what + his mind produces. We need such men everywhere. + </p> + <p> + You know it is almost a rule, or at any rate the practice, in political + parties and in organizations generally, to be so anxious for success that + all the offices and places of honor are given to those who will come in at + the eleventh hour. The rule is to hold out these honors as bribes for + newcomers instead of conferring them upon those who have borne the heat + and burden of the day. I hope that the American Secular Union will not be + guilty of any such injustice. Bestow your honors upon the men who stood by + you when you had few friends, the men who enlisted for the war when the + cause needed soldiers. Give your places to them, and if others want to + join your ranks, welcome them heartily to the places of honor in the rear + and let them learn how to keep step. + </p> + <p> + In this particular, leaving out myself as I have said, you have done + magnificently well. Mrs. Mattie Krekel, another vice-president, is a woman + who has the courage to express her opinions, and she is all the more to be + commended because, as you know, women have to suffer a little more + punishment than men, being amenable to social laws that are more exacting + and tyrannical than those passed by Legislatures. + </p> + <p> + Of Mr. Wakeman it is not necessary to speak. You all know him to be an + able, thoughtful, and experienced man, capable in every respect; one who + has been in this organization from the beginning, and who is now president + of the New York society. Elizur Wright, one of the patriarchs of + Freethought, who was battling for liberty before I was born, and who will + be found in the front rank until he ceases to be. You have honored + yourselves by electing James Parton, a thoughtful man, a scholar, a + philosopher, and a philanthropist—honest, courageous, and logical—with + a mind as clear as a cloudless sky. Parker Pillsbury, who has always been + on the side of liberty, always willing, if need be, to stand alone—a + man who has been mobbed many times because he had the goodness and courage + to denounce the institution of slavery—a man possessed of the true + martyr spirit. Messrs. Algie and Adams, our friends from Canada, men of + the highest character, worthy of our fullest confidence and esteem—conscientious, + upright, and faithful. + </p> + <p> + And permit me to say that I know of no man of kinder heart, of gentler + disposition, with more real, good human feeling toward all the world, with + a more forgiving and tender spirit, than Horace Seaver. He and Mr. Mendum + are the editors of the <i>Investigator</i>, the first Infidel paper I ever + saw, and I guess the first that any one of you ever saw—a paper once + edited by Abner Kneeland, who was put in prison for saying, "The + Universalists believe in a God which I do not." The court decided that he + had denied the existence of a Supreme Being, and at that time it was not + thought safe to allow a remark of that kind to be made, and so, for the + purpose of keeping an infinite God from tumbling off his throne, Mr. + Kneeland was put in jail. But Horace Seaver and Mr. Mendum went on with + his work. They are pioneers in this cause, and they have been absolutely + true to the principles of Freethought from the first day until now. + </p> + <p> + If there is anybody belonging to our Secular Union more enthusiastic and + better calculated to impart something of his enthusiasm to others than + Samuel P. Putnam, our secretary, I do not know him. Courtlandt Palmer, + your treasurer, you all know, and you will presently know him better when + you hear the speech he is about to make, and that speech will speak better + for him than I possibly can. Wait until you hear him, as he is now waiting + for me to get through that you may hear him. He will give you the + definition of the true gentleman, and that definition will be a truthful + description of himself. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Reynolds is on our side if anybody is or ever was, and Mr. Macdonald, + editor of <i>The Truth Seeker</i>, aiming not only to seek the truth but + to expose error, has done and is doing incalculable good in the cause of + mental freedom. + </p> + <p> + All these men and women are men and women of character, of high purpose; + in favor of Freethought not as a peculiarity or as an eccentricity of the + hour, but with all their hearts, through and through, to the very center + and core of conviction, life, and purpose. + </p> + <p> + And so I can congratulate you on your choice, and believe that you have + entered upon the most prosperous year of your existence. I believe that + you will do all you can to have every law repealed that puts a hypocrite + above an honest mail. We know that no man is thoroughly honest who does + not tell his honest thought. We want the Sabbath day for ourselves and our + families. Let the gods have the heavens. Give us the earth. If the gods + want to stay at home Sundays and look solemn, let them do it; let us have + a little wholesome recreation and pleasure. If the gods wish to go out + with their wives and children, let them go. If they want to play billiards + with the stars, so they don't carom on us, let them play. + </p> + <p> + We want to do what we can to compel every church to pay taxes on its + property as other people pay on theirs. Do you know that if church + property is allowed to go without taxation, it is only a question of time + when they will own a large per cent, of the property of the civilized + world? It is the same as compound interest; only give it time. If you + allow it to increase without taxing it for its protection, its growth can + only be measured by the time in which it has to grow. The church builds an + edifice in some small town, gets several acres of land. In time a city + rises around it. The labor of others has added to the value of this + property, until it is worth millions. If this property is not taxed, the + churches will have so much in their hands that they will again become + dangerous to the liberties of mankind. There never will be real liberty in + this country until all property is put upon a perfect equality. If you + want to build a Joss house, pay taxes. If you want to build churches, pay + taxes. If you want to build a hall or temple in which Freethought and + science are to be taught, pay taxes. Let there be no property untaxed. + When you fail to tax any species of property, you increase the tax of + other people owning the rest. To that extent, you unite church and state. + You compel the Infidel to support the Catholic. I do not want to support + the Catholic Church. It is not worth supporting. It is an unadulterated + evil. Neither do I want to reform the Catholic Church. The only + reformation of which that church or any orthodox church is capable, is + destruction. I want to spend no more money on superstition. Neither should + our money be taken to support sectarian schools. We do not wish to employ + any chaplains in the navy, or in the army, or in the Legislatures, or in + Congress. It is useless to ask God to help the political party that + happens to be in power. We want no President, no Governor "clothed with a + little brief authority," to issue a proclamation as though he were an + agent of God, authorized to tell all his loving subjects to fast on a + certain day, or to enter their churches and pray for the accomplishment of + a certain object. It is none of his business. When they called on Thomas + Jefferson to issue a proclamation, he said he had no right to do it, that + religion was a personal, individual matter, and that the state had no + right, no power, to interfere. + </p> + <p> + I now have the pleasure of introducing Mr. Courtlandt Palmer, who will + speak to you on the "Aristocracy of Freethought," in my judgment the + aristocracy not only of the present, but the aristocracy of the future. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0026" id="link0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, May 28, 1896. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR MR. SEIP: I have carefully read your article on the religious + belief of Abraham Lincoln, and in accordance with your request I will not + only give you my opinion of the evidence upon which you rely, as set out + in your article, but my belief as to the religious opinions of Mr. + Lincoln, and the facts on which my belief rests. + </p> + <p> + You speak of a controversy between myself and General Collis upon this + subject. A few years ago I delivered a lecture on Mr. Lincoln, in this + city, and in that lecture said that Lincoln, so far as his religious + opinions were concerned, substantially agreed with Franklin, Jefferson, + Paine and Voltaire. Thereupon General Collis wrote me a note contradicting + what I had said and asserting that "Lincoln invoked the power of Almighty + God, not the Deist God, but the God whom he worshiped under the forms of + the Christian church of which he was a member." To this I replied saying + that Voltaire and Paine both believed in God, and that Lincoln was never a + member of any Christian church. + </p> + <p> + General Collis wrote another letter to which, I think, I made no reply, + for the reason that the General had demonstrated that he knew nothing + whatever on the subject. It was evident that he had never read the life of + Lincoln, because if he had, he would not have said that he was a member of + a church. It was also evident that he knew nothing about the religious + opinions of Franklin, Voltaire or Paine, or he would have known that they + were believers in the existence of a Supreme Being. It did not seem to me + that his letter was worthy of a reply. + </p> + <p> + Now as to your article: I find in what you have written very little that + is new. I do not remember ever to have seen anything about the statement + of the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Gurley in regard to Lincoln's letters. The + daughter, however, does not pretend to know the contents of the letters + and says that they were destroyed by fire; consequently these letters, so + far as this question is concerned, are of no possible importance. The only + thing in your article tending to show that Lincoln was a Christian is the + following: "I think I can say with sincerity that I hope I am a Christian. + I had lived until my Willie died without fully realizing these things. + That blow overwhelmed me. It showed me my weakness as I had never felt it + before, and I think I can safely say that I know something of a change of + heart, and I will further add that it has been my intention for some time, + at a suitable opportunity, to make a public religious profession." + </p> + <p> + Now, if you had given the name of the person to whom this was said, and if + that person had told you that Lincoln did utter these words, then the + evidence would have been good; but you are forced to say that this was + said to an eminent Christian lady. You do not give this lady's name. I + take it for granted that her name is unknown, and that the name of the + person to whom she told the story is also unknown, and that the name of + the man who gave the story to the world is unknown. This falsehood, + according to your own showing, is an orphan, a lonely lie without father + or mother. Such testimony cannot be accepted. It is not even good hearsay. + </p> + <p> + In the next point you make, you also bring forward the remarks claimed to + have been made by Mr. Lincoln when some colored people of Baltimore + presented him with a Bible. You say that he said that the Bible was God's + best gift to man, and but for the Bible we could not know right from + wrong. It is impossible that Lincoln should have uttered these words. He + certainly would not have said to some colored people that the book that + instituted human slavery was God's best gift to man; neither could he have + said that but for this book we could not know right from wrong. If he said + these things he was temporarily insane. Mr. Lincoln was familiar with the + lives of Socrates, Epictetus, Epicurus, Zeno, Confucius, Zoroaster and + Buddha, not one of whom ever heard of the Bible. Certainly these men knew + right from wrong. In my judgment they would compare favorably with + Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and the Jews that crucified Christ. These + pretended remarks must be thrown away; they could have been uttered only + by an ignorant and thoughtless zealot, not by a sensible, thoughtful man. + Neither can we rely on any new evidence given by the Rev. Mr. Gurley. If + Mr. Gurley at any time claimed that Lincoln was a Christian, such claim + was born of an afterthought. Mr. Gurley preached a funeral sermon over the + body of Lincoln at the White House, and in that sermon he did not claim + that Mr. Lincoln was in any sense a Christian. He said nothing about + Christ. So, the testimony of the Rev. Mr. Sunderland amounts to nothing. + Lincoln did not tell him that he was a Christian or that he believed in + Christ. Not one of the ministers that claim that Lincoln was a Christian, + not one, testifies that Lincoln so said in his hearing. So, the lives that + have been written of Lincoln by Holland and Arnold are of no possible + authority. Holland knew nothing about Lincoln; he relied on gossip, and + was exceedingly anxious to make Lincoln a Christian so that his Life would + sell. As a matter of fact, Mr. Arnold knew little of Lincoln, and knew no + more of his religious opinions than he seems to have known about the + opinions of Washington. + </p> + <p> + I find also in your article a claim that Lincoln said to somebody that + under certain conditions, that is to say, if a church had the Golden Rule + for its creed, he would join that church; but you do not give the name of + the friend to whom Lincoln made this declaration. Still, if he made it, it + does not tend to show that he was a Christian. A church founded on the + Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you," + would not in any sense be a Christian church. It would be an ethical + society. The testimony of Mr. Bateman has been changed by himself, he + having admitted that it was colored, that he was not properly reported; so + the night-walking scene given by James E. Murdoch, does not even tend to + show that Lincoln was a Christian. According to Mr. Murdoch he was praying + to the God of Solomon and he never mentioned the name of Christ. I think, + however, Mr. Murdoch's story is too theatrical, and my own opinion is that + it was a waking dream. I think Lincoln was a man of too much sense, too + much tact, to have said anything to God about Solomon. Lincoln knew that + what God did for Solomon ended in failure, and if he wanted God to do + something for him (Lincoln) he would not have called attention to the + other case. So Bishop Simpson, in his oration or funeral sermon, said + nothing about Lincoln's having been a Christian. + </p> + <p> + Now, what is the testimony that you present that Lincoln was a Christian? + </p> + <p> + First, Several of your witnesses say that he believed in God. + </p> + <p> + Second, Some say that he believed in the efficacy of prayer. + </p> + <p> + Third, Some say that he was a believer in Providence. + </p> + <p> + Fourth, An unknown person says that he said to another unknown person that + he was a Christian. + </p> + <p> + Fifth, You also claim that he said the Bible was the best gift of God to + man, and that without it we could not have known right from wrong. + </p> + <p> + The anonymous testimony has to be thrown away, so nothing is left except + the remarks claimed to have been made when the Bible was presented by the + colored people, and these remarks destroy themselves. It is absolutely + impossible that Lincoln could have uttered the words attributed to him on + that occasion. I know of no one who heard the words, I know of no witness + who says he heard them or that he knows anybody who did. These remarks + were not even heard by an "eminent Christian lady," and we are driven to + say that if Lincoln was a Christian he took great pains to keep it a + secret. + </p> + <p> + I believe that I am familiar with the material facts bearing upon the + religious belief of Mr. Lincoln, and that I know what he thought of + orthodox Christianity. I was somewhat acquainted with him and well + acquainted with many of his associates and friends, and I am familiar with + Mr. Lincoln's public utterances. Orthodox Christians have the habit of + claiming all great men, all men who have held important positions, men of + reputation, men of wealth. As soon as the funeral is over clergymen begin + to relate imaginary conversations with the deceased, and in a very little + while the great man is changed to a Christian—possibly to a saint. + </p> + <p> + All this happened in Mr. Lincoln's case. Many pious falsehoods were told, + conversations were manufactured, and suddenly the church claimed that the + great President was an orthodox Christian. The truth is that Lincoln in + his religious views agreed with Franklin, Jefferson, and Voltaire. He did + not believe in the inspiration of the Bible or the divinity of Christ or + the scheme of salvation, and he utterly repudiated the dogma of eternal + pain. + </p> + <p> + In making up my mind as to what Mr. Lincoln really believed, I do not take + into consideration the evidence of unnamed persons or the contents of + anonymous letters; I take the testimony of those who knew and loved him, + of those to whom he opened his heart and to whom he spoke in the freedom + of perfect confidence. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Herndon was his friend and partner for many years. I knew Mr. Herndon + well. I know that Lincoln never had a better, warmer, truer friend. + Herndon was an honest, thoughtful, able, studious man, respected by all + who knew him. He was as natural and sincere as Lincoln himself. On several + occasions Mr. Herndon told me what Lincoln believed and what he rejected + in the realm of religion. He told me again and again that Mr. Lincoln did + not believe in the inspiration of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, or in + the existence of a personal God. There was no possible reason for Mr. + Herndon to make a mistake or to color the facts. + </p> + <p> + Justice David Davis was a life-long friend and associate of Mr. Lincoln, + and Judge Davis knew Lincoln's religious opinions and knew Lincoln as well + as anybody did. Judge Davis told me that Lincoln was a Freethinker, that + he denied the inspiration of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, and all + miracles. Davis also told me that he had talked with Lincoln on these + subjects hundreds of times. + </p> + <p> + I was well acquainted with Col. Ward H. Lamon and had many conversations + with him about Mr. Lincoln's religious belief, before and after he wrote + his life of Lincoln. He told me that he had told the exact truth in his + life of Lincoln, that Lincoln never did believe in the Bible, or in the + divinity of Christ, or in the dogma of eternal pain; that Lincoln was a + Freethinker. + </p> + <p> + For many years I was well acquainted with the Hon. Jesse W. Fell, one of + Lincoln's warmest friends. Mr. Fell often came to my house and we had many + talks about the religious belief of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Fell told me that + Lincoln did not believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures, and that he + denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. Mr. Fell was very liberal in his own + ideas, a great admirer of Theodore Parker and a perfectly sincere and + honorable man. + </p> + <p> + For several years I was well acquainted with William G. Green, who was a + clerk with Lincoln at New Salem in the early days, and who admired and + loved Lincoln with all his heart. Green told me that Lincoln was always an + Infidel, and that he had heard him argue against the Bible hundreds of + times. Mr. Green knew Lincoln, and knew him well, up to the time of + Lincoln's death. + </p> + <p> + The Hon. James Tuttle of Illinois was a great friend of Lincoln, and he + is, if living, a friend of mine, and I am a friend of his. He knew Lincoln + well for many years, and he told me again and again that Lincoln was an + Infidel. Mr. Tuttle is a Freethinker himself and has always enjoyed the + respect of his neighbors. A man with purer motives does not live. + </p> + <p> + So I place great reliance on the testimony of Col. John G. Nicolay. Six + weeks after Mr. Lincoln's death Colonel Nicolay said that he did not in + any way change his religious ideas, opinions or belief from the time he + left Springfield until the day of his death. + </p> + <p> + In addition to all said by the persons I have mentioned, Mrs. Lincoln said + that her husband <i>was not a Christian</i>. There are many other + witnesses upon this question whose testimony can be found in a book + entitled "Abraham Lincoln, was he a Christian?" written by John E. + Remsburg, and published in 1893. In that book will be found all the + evidence on both sides. Mr. Remsburg states the case with great clearness + and demonstrates that Lincoln was not a Christian. + </p> + <p> + Now, what is a Christian? + </p> + <p> + First. He is a believer in the existence of God, the Creator and Governor + of the Universe. + </p> + <p> + Second. He believes in the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments. + </p> + <p> + Third. He believes in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ; that the Holy + Ghost was his father. + </p> + <p> + Fourth. He believes that this Christ was offered as a sacrifice for the + sins of men, that he was crucified, dead and buried, that he arose from + the dead and that he ascended into heaven. + </p> + <p> + Fifth. He believes in the "fall of man," in the scheme of redemption + through the atonement. + </p> + <p> + Sixth. He believes in salvation by faith, that the few are to be eternally + happy, and that the many are to be eternally damned. + </p> + <p> + Seventh. He believes in the Trinity, in God the Father, God the Son and + God the Holy Ghost. + </p> + <p> + Now, is there the slightest evidence to show that Lincoln believed in the + inspiration of the Old and New Testaments? + </p> + <p> + Has anybody said that he was heard to say that he so believed? + </p> + <p> + Does anybody testify that Lincoln believed in the miraculous birth of + Jesus Christ, that the Holy Ghost was the father or that Christ was or is + God? + </p> + <p> + Has anybody testified that Lincoln believed that Christ was raised from + the dead? + </p> + <p> + Did anyone ever hear him say that he believed in the ascension of Jesus + Christ? Did anyone ever hear him assert that he believed in the + forgiveness of sins, or in salvation by faith, or that belief was a virtue + and investigation a crime? + </p> + <p> + Where, then, is the evidence that he was a Christian? + </p> + <p> + There is another reason for thinking that Lincoln never became a + Christian. + </p> + <p> + All will admit that he was an honest man, that he discharged all + obligations perceived, and did what he believed to be his duty. If he had + become a Christian it was his duty publicly to say so. He was President; + he had the ear of the nation; every citizen, had he spoken, would have + listened. It was his duty to make a clear, explicit statement of his + conversion, and it was his duty to join some orthodox church, and he + should have given his reasons. He should have endeavored to reach the + heart and brain of the Republic. It was unmanly for him to keep his + "second birth" a secret and sneak into heaven leaving his old friends to + travel the road to hell. + </p> + <p> + Great pains have been taken to show that Mr. Lincoln believed in, and + worshiped the one true God. This by many is held to have been his greatest + virtue, the foundation of his character, and yet, the God he worshiped, + the God to whom he prayed, allowed him to be assassinated. + </p> + <p> + Is it possible that God will not protect his friends? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0027" id="link0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + ORGANIZED CHARITIES. + </h2> + <p> + I HAVE no great confidence in organized charities. Money is left and + buildings are erected and sinecures provided for a good many worthless + people. Those in immediate control are almost, or when they were appointed + were almost, in want themselves, and they naturally hate other beggars. + </p> + <p> + They regard persons who ask assistance as their enemies. There is an old + story of a tramp who begged a breakfast. After breakfast another tramp + came to the same place to beg his breakfast, and the first tramp with + blows and curses drove him away, saying at the same time: "I expect to get + dinner here myself." + </p> + <p> + This is the general attitude of beggar toward beggar. + </p> + <p> + Another trouble with organized charities is the machinery, the various + methods they have adopted to prevent what they call fraud. They are + exceedingly anxious that the needy, that those who ask help, who have been + without fault, shall be attended to, their rule apparently being to assist + only the unfortunate perfect. + </p> + <p> + The trouble is that Nature produces very few specimens of that kind. As a + rule, men come to want on account of their imperfections, on account of + their ignorance, on account of their vices, and their vices are born of + their lack of capacity, of their want of brain. In other words, they are + failures of Nature, and the fact that they need help is not their own + fault, but the fault of their construction, their surroundings. + </p> + <p> + Very few people have the opportunity of selecting their parents, and it is + exceedingly difficult in the matter of grandparents. Consequently, I do + not hold people responsible for hereditary tendencies, traits and vices. + Neither do I praise them for having hereditary virtues. + </p> + <p> + A man going to one of these various charitable establishments is + cross-examined. He must give his biography. And after he has answered all + the supercilious, impudent questions, he is asked for references. + </p> + <p> + Then the people referred to are sought out, to find whether the statements + made by the applicant are true. By the time the thing is settled the man + who asked aid has either gotten it somewhere else or has, in the language + of the Spiritualists, "passed over to the other side." + </p> + <p> + Of course this does not trouble the persons in charge of the organized + charities, because their salaries are going on. + </p> + <p> + As a rule, these charities were commenced by the best of people. Some + generous, philanthropic man or woman gave a life to establish a "home," it + may be, for aged women, for orphans, for the waifs of the pavements. + </p> + <p> + These generous people, filled with the spirit of charity, raised a little + money, succeeded in hiring or erecting a humble building, and the money + they collected, so honestly given, they honestly used to bind up the + wounds and wipe away the tears of the unfortunate, and to save, if + possible, some who had been wrecked on the rocks and reefs of crime. + </p> + <p> + Then some very rich man dies who had no charity and who would not have + left a dollar could he have taken his money with him. This rich man, who + hated his relatives and the people he actually knew, gives a large sum of + money to some particular charity—not that he had any charity, but + because he wanted to be remembered as a philanthropist. + </p> + <p> + Then the organized charity becomes rich, and the richer the meaner, the + richer the harder of heart and the closer of fist. + </p> + <p> + Now, I believe that Trinity Church, in this city, would be called an + organized charity. The church was started to save, if possible, a few + souls from eternal torment, and on the plea of saving these souls money + was given to the church. + </p> + <p> + Finally the church became rich. It is now a landlord—has many + buildings to rent. And if what I hear is true there is no harder landlord + in the city of New York. + </p> + <p> + So, I have heard it said of Dublin University, that it is about the + hardest landlord in Ireland. + </p> + <p> + I think you will find that all such institutions try to collect the very + last cent, and, in the name of pity, drive pity from their hearts. + </p> + <p> + I think it is Shakespeare who says, "Pity drives out pity," and he must + have had organized charities in his mind when he uttered this remark. Of + course a great many really good and philanthropic people leave vast sums + of money to charities. + </p> + <p> + I find that it is sometimes very difficult to get an injured man, or one + seized with some sudden illness, taken into a city hospital. There are so + many rules and so many regulations, so many things necessary to be done, + that while the rules are being complied with the soul of the sick or + injured man, weary of the waiting, takes its flight. And after the man is + dead, the doctors are kind enough to certify that he died of heart + failure. + </p> + <p> + So—in a general way—I speak of all the asylums, of all the + homes for orphans. When I see one of those buildings I feel that it is + full of petty tyranny, of what might be called pious meanness, devout + deviltry, where the object is to break the will of every recipient of + public favor. + </p> + <p> + I may be all wrong. I hope I am. At the same time I fear that I am + somewhere near right. + </p> + <p> + You may take our prisons; the treatment of prisoners is often infamous. + The Elmira Reformatory is a worthy successor of the Inquisition, a + disgrace, in my judgment, to the State of New York, to the civilization of + our day. Every little while something comes to light showing the cruelty, + the tyranny, the meanness, of these professional distributers of public + charity—of these professed reformers. + </p> + <p> + I know that they are visited now and then by committees from the + Legislature, and I know that the keepers of these places know when the + "committee" may be expected. + </p> + <p> + I know that everything is scoured and swept and burnished for the + occasion; and I know that the poor devils that have been abused or whipped + or starved, fear to open their mouths, knowing that if they do they may + not be believed and that they will be treated afterward as though they + were wild beasts. + </p> + <p> + I think these public institutions ought to be open to inspection at all + times. I think the very best men ought to be put in control of them. I + think only those doctors who have passed, and recently passed, + examinations as to their fitness, as to their intelligence and + professional acquirements, ought to be put in charge. + </p> + <p> + I do not think that hospitals should be places for young doctors to + practice sawing off the arms and legs of paupers or hunting in the + stomachs of old women for tumors. I think only the skillful, the + experienced, should be employed in such places. Neither do I think + hospitals should be places where medicine is distributed by students to + the poor. + </p> + <p> + Ignorance is a poor doctor, even for the poor, and if we pretend to be + charitable we ought to carry it out. + </p> + <p> + I would like to see tyranny done away with in prisons, in the + reformatories, and in all places under the government or supervision of + the State. + </p> + <p> + I would like to have all corporal punishment abolished, and I would also + like to see the money that is given to charity distributed by charity and + by intelligence. I hope all these institutions will be overhauled. + </p> + <p> + I hope all places where people are pretending to take care of the poor and + for which they collect money from the public, will be visited, and will be + visited unexpectedly and the truth told. + </p> + <p> + In my judgment there is some better way. I think every hospital, every + asylum, every home for waifs and orphans should be supported by taxation, + not by charity; should be under the care and control of the State + absolutely. + </p> + <p> + I do not believe in these institutions being managed by any individual or + by any society, religious or secular, but by the State. I would no more + have hospitals and asylums depend on charity than I would have the public + school depend on voluntary contributions. + </p> + <p> + I want the schools supported by taxation and to be controlled by the + State, and I want the hospitals and asylums and charitable institutions + founded and controlled and carried on in the same way. Let the property of + the State do it. + </p> + <p> + Let those pay the taxes who are able. And let us do away forever with the + idea that to take care of the sick, of the helpless, is a charity. It is + not a charity. It is a duty. It is something to be done for our own sakes. + It is no more a charity than it is to pave or light the streets, no more a + charity than it is to have a system of sewers. + </p> + <p> + It is all for the purpose of protecting society and of civilizing + ourselves. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0028" id="link0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS. + </h2> + <p> + SPAIN has always been exceedingly religious and exceedingly cruel. That + country had an unfortunate experience. The Spaniards fought the Moors for + about seven hundred or eight hundred years, and during that time + Catholicism and patriotism became synonymous. They were fighting the + Moslems. It was a religious war. For this reason they became intense in + their Catholicism, and they were fearful that if they should grant the + least concession to the Moor, God would destroy them. Their idea was that + the only way to secure divine aid was to have absolute faith, and this + faith was proved by their hatred of all ideas inconsistent with their own. + </p> + <p> + Spain has been and is the victim of superstition. The Spaniards expelled + the Jews, who at that time represented a good deal of wealth and + considerable intelligence. This expulsion was characterized by infinite + brutality and by cruelties that words can not express. They drove out the + Moors at last. Not satisfied with this, they drove out the Moriscoes. + These were Moors who had been converted to Catholicism. + </p> + <p> + The Spaniards, however, had no confidence in the honesty of the + conversion, and for the purpose of gaining the good will of God, they + drove them out. They had succeeded in getting rid of Jews, Moors and + Moriscoes; that is to say, of the intelligence and industry of Spain. + Nothing was left but Spaniards; that is to say, indolence, pride, cruelty + and infinite superstition. So Spain destroyed all freedom of thought + through the Inquisition, and for many years the sky was livid with the + flames of the <i>Auto da fe</i>; Spain was busy carrying fagots to the + feet of philosophy, busy in burning people for thinking, for + investigating, for expressing honest opinions. The result was that a great + darkness settled over Spain, pierced by no star and shone upon by no + rising sun. + </p> + <p> + At one time Spain was the greatest of powers, owner of half the world, and + now she has only a few islands, the small change of her great fortune, the + few pennies in the almost empty purse, souvenirs of departed wealth, of + vanished greatness. Now Spain is bankrupt, bankrupt not only in purse, but + in the higher faculties of the mind, a nation without progress, without + thought; still devoted to bull fights and superstition, still trying to + affright contagious diseases by religious processions. Spain is a part of + the mediæval ages, belongs to an ancient generation. It really has + no place in the nineteenth century. + </p> + <p> + Spain has always been cruel. S. S. Prentice, many years ago, speaking of + Spain said: "On the shore of discovery it leaped an armed robber, and + sought for gold even in the throats of its victims." The bloodiest pages + in the history of this world have been written by Spain. Spain in Peru, in + Mexico, Spain in the low countries—all possible cruelties come back + to the mind when we say Philip II., when we say the Duke of Alva, when we + pronounce the names of Ferdinand and Isabella. Spain has inflicted every + torture, has practiced every cruelty, has been guilty of every possible + outrage. There has been no break between Torquemada and Weyler, between + the Inquisition and the infamies committed in Cuba. + </p> + <p> + When Columbus found Cuba, the original inhabitants were the kindest and + gentlest of people. They practiced no inhuman rites, they were good, + contented people. The Spaniards enslaved them or sought to enslave them. + The people rising, they were hunted with dogs, they were tortured, they + were murdered, and finally exterminated. This was the commencement of + Spanish rule on the island of Cuba. The same spirit is in Spain to-day + that was in Spain then. The idea is not to conciliate, but to coerce, not + to treat justly, but to rob and enslave. No Spaniard regards a Cuban as + having equal rights with himself. He looks upon the island as property, + and upon the people as a part of that property, both equally belonging to + Spain. + </p> + <p> + Spain has kept no promises made to the Cubans and never will. At last the + Cubans know exactly what Spain is, and they have made up their minds to be + free or to be exterminated. There is nothing in history to equal the + atrocities and outrages that have been perpetrated by Spain upon Cuba. + What Spain does now, all know is only a repetition of what Spain has done, + and this is a prophecy of what Spain will do if she has the power. + </p> + <p> + So far as I am concerned, I have no idea that there is to be any war + between Spain and the United States. A country that can't conquer Cuba, + certainly has no very flattering chance of overwhelming the United States. + A man that cannot whip one of his own boys is foolish when he threatens to + clean out the whole neighborhood. Of course, there is some wisdom even in + Spain, and the Spaniards who know anything of this country know that it + would be absolute madness and the utmost extreme of folly to attack us. I + believe in treating even Spain with perfect fairness. I feel about the + country as Burns did about the Devil: "O wad ye tak' a thought an' mend!" + I know that nations, like people, do as they must, and I regard Spain as + the victim and result of conditions, the fruit of a tree that was planted + by ignorance and watered by superstition. + </p> + <p> + I believe that Cuba is to be free, and I want that island to give a new + flag to the air, whether it ever becomes a part of the United States or + not. My sympathies are all with those who are struggling for their rights, + trying to get the clutch of tyranny from their throats; for those who are + defending their homes, their firesides, against tyrants and robbers. + </p> + <p> + Whether the Maine was blown up by the Spaniards is still a question. I + suppose it will soon be decided. In my own opinion, the disaster came from + the outside, but I do not know, and not knowing, I am willing to wait for + the sake of human nature. I sincerely hope that it was an accident. I hate + to think that there are people base and cruel enough to commit such an + act. Still, I think that all these matters will be settled without war. + </p> + <p> + I am in favor of an international court, the members to be selected by the + ruling nations of the world; and before this court I think all questions + between nations should be decided, and the only army and the only navy + should be under its direction, and used only for the purpose of enforcing + its decrees. Were there such a court now, before which Cuba could appear + and tell the story of her wrongs, of the murders, the assassinations, the + treachery, the starvings, the cruelty, I think that the decision would + instantly be in her favor and that Spain would be driven from the island. + Until there is such a court there is no need of talking about the world + being civilized. + </p> + <p> + I am not a Christian, but I do believe in the religion of justice, of + kindness. I believe in humanity. I do believe that usefulness is the + highest possible form of worship. The useful man is the good man, the + useful man is the real saint. I care nothing about supernatural myths and + mysteries, but I do care for human beings. I have a little short creed of + my own, not very hard to understand, that has in it no contradictions, and + it is this: Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The + place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so. + </p> + <p> + I think this creed if adopted, would do away with war. I think it would + destroy superstition, and I think it would civilize even Spain. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0029" id="link0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. + </h2> + <p> + AS I understand it, the United States went into this war against Spain in + the cause of freedom. For three years Spain has been endeavoring to + conquer these people. The means employed were savage. Hundreds of + thousands were starved. Yet the Cubans, with great heroism, were + continuing the struggle. In spite of their burned homes, their wasted + fields, their dead comrades, the Cubans were not conquered and still waged + war. Under those circumstances we said to Spain, "You must withdraw from + the Western World. The Cubans have the right to be free!" They have been + robbed and enslaved by Spanish officers and soldiers. Undoubtedly they + were savages when first found, and undoubtedly they are worse now than + when discovered—more barbarous. They wouldn't make very good + citizens of the United States; they are probably incapable of + self-government, but no people can be ignorant enough to be justly robbed + or savage enough to be rightly enslaved. I think that we should keep the + islands, not for our own sake, but for the sake of these people. + </p> + <p> + It was understood and declared at the time, that we were not waging war + for the sake of territory, that we were not trying to annex Cuba, but that + we were moved by compassion—a compassion that became as stern as + justice. I did not think at the time there would be war. I supposed that + the Spanish people had some sense, that they knew their own condition and + the condition of this Republic. But the improbable happened, and now, + after the successes we have had, the end of the war appears to be in + sight, and the question arises: What shall we do with the Spanish islands + that we have taken already, or that we may take before peace comes? + </p> + <p> + Of course, we could not, without stultifying ourselves and committing the + greatest of crimes, hand back Cuba to Spain. But to do that would be no + more criminal, no more infamous, than to hand back the Philippines. In + those islands there are from eight to ten millions of people. + </p> + <p> + As far as the Philippines are concerned, I think that we should endeavor + to civilize them, and to do this we should send teachers, not preachers. + We should not endeavor to give them our superstition in place of Spanish + superstition. They have had superstition enough. They don't need churches, + they need schools. We should teach them our arts; how to cultivate the + soil, how to manufacture the things they need. In other words, we should + deal honestly with them, and try our best to make them a self-supporting + and a self-governing people. The eagle should spread its wings over those + islands for that and for no other purpose. We can not afford to give them + to other nations or to throw fragments of them to the wild beasts of + Europe. We can not say to Russia, "You may have a part," and to Germany, + "You may have a share," and to France, "You take something," and so divide + out these people as thieves divide plunder. That we will never do. + </p> + <p> + There is, moreover, in my mind, a little sentiment mixed with this matter. + Manila Bay has been filled with American glory. There was won one of our + greatest triumphs, one of the greatest naval victories of the world—won + by American courage and genius. We can not allow any other nation to + become the owner of the stage on which this American drama was played. I + know that we can be of great assistance to the inhabitants of the + Philippines. I know that we can be an unmixed blessing to them, and that + is the only ambition I have in regard to those islands. I would no more + think of handing them back to Spain than I would of butchering the entire + population in cold blood. Spain is unfit to govern. Spain has always been + a robber. She has never made an effort to civilize a human being. The + history of Spain, I think, is the darkest page in the history of the + world. + </p> + <p> + At the same time I have a kind of pity for the Spanish people. I feel that + they have been victims—victims of superstition. Their blood has been + sucked, their energies have been wasted and misdirected, and they excite + my sympathies. Of course, there are many good Spaniards, good men, good + women. Cervera appears to be a civilized man, a gentleman, and I feel + obliged to him for his treatment of Hobson. The great mass of the + Spaniards, however, must be exceedingly ignorant. Their so-called leaders + dare not tell them the truth about the progress of this war. They seem to + be afraid to state the facts. They always commence with a lie, then change + it a little, then change it a little more, and may be at last tell the + truth. They never seem to dare to tell the truth at first, if the truth is + bad. They put me in mind of the story of a man telegraphing to a wife + about the condition of her husband. The first dispatch was, "Your husband + is well, never better." The second was, "Your husband is sick, but not + very." The third was, "Your husband is much worse, but we still have + hope." The fourth was, "You may as well know the truth—we buried + your husband yesterday." That is about the way the Spanish people get + their war news. + </p> + <p> + That is why it may be incorrect to assume that peace is coming quickly. If + the Spaniards were a normal people, who acted as other folks do, we might + prophesy a speedy peace, but nobody has prophetic vision enough to tell + what such a people will do. In spite of all appearances, and all our + successes, and of all sense, the war may drag on. But I hope not, not only + for our own sake, but for the sake of the Spaniards themselves. I can't + help thinking of the poor peasants who will be killed, neither can I help + thinking of the poor peasants who will have to toil for many years on the + melancholy fields of Spain to pay the cost of this war. I am sorry for + them, and I am sorry also for the widows and orphans, and no one will be + more delighted when peace comes. + </p> + <p> + The argument has been advanced in the National Senate and elsewhere, that + the Federal Constitution makes no provision for the holding of colonies or + dependencies, such as the Philippines would be; that we can only acquire + them as territories, and eventually must take them in as States, with + their population of mixed and inferior races. That is hardly an effective + argument. + </p> + <p> + When this country was an infant, still in its cradle, George Washington + gave the child some very good advice; told him to beware of entangling + alliances, to stay at home and attend to his own business. Under the + circumstances this was all very good. But the infant has been growing, and + the Republic is now one of the most powerful nations in the world, and + yet, from its infant days until now, good, conservative people have been + repeating the advice of Washington. It was repeated again and again when + we were talking about purchasing Louisiana, and many Senators and + Congressmen became hysterical and predicted the fall of the Republic if + that was done. The same thing took place when we purchased Florida, and + again when we got one million square miles from Mexico, and still again + when we bought Alaska. These ideas about violating the Constitution and + wrecking the Republic were promulgated by our great and wise statesmen on + all these previous occasions, but, after all, the Constitution seems to + have borne the strain. There seems to be as much liberty now as there was + then, and, in fact, a great deal more. Our Territories have given us no + trouble, while they have greatly added to our population and vastly + increased our wealth. + </p> + <p> + Beside this, the statesmen of the olden time, the wise men with whom + wisdom was supposed to have perished, could not and did not imagine the + improvements that would take place after they were gone. In their time, + practically speaking, it was farther from New York to Buffalo than it is + now from New York to San Francisco, and so far as the transportation of + intelligence is concerned, San Francisco is as near New York as it would + have been in their day had it been just across the Harlem River. Taking + into consideration the railways, the telegraphs and the telephones, this + country now, with its area of three million five hundred thousand square + miles, is not so large as the thirteen original colonies were; that is to + say, the distances are more easily traveled and more easily overcome. In + those days it required months and months to cross the continent. Now it is + the work of four or five days. + </p> + <p> + Yet, when we came to talk about annexing the Hawaiian Islands, the advice + of George Washington was again repeated, and the older the Senator the + fonder he was of this advice. These Senators had the idea that the + Constitution, having nothing in favor of it, must contain something, at + least in spirit, against it. Of course, our fathers had no idea of the + growth of the Republic. We have, because with us it is a matter of + experience. I don't see that Alaska has imperiled any of the liberties of + New York. We need not admit Alaska as a State unless it has a population + entitling it to admission, and we are not bound to take in the Sandwich + Islands until the people are civilized, until they are fit companions of + free men and free women. It may be that a good many of our citizens will + go to the Sandwich Islands, and that, in a short time, the people there + will be ready to be admitted as a State. All this the Constitution can + stand, and in it there is no danger of imperialism. + </p> + <p> + I believe in national growth. As a rule, the prosperous farmer wants to + buy the land that adjoins him, and I think a prosperous nation has the + ambition of growth. It is better to expand than to shrivel; and, if our + Constitution is too narrow to spread over the territory that we have the + courage to acquire, why we can make a broader one. It is a very easy + matter to make a constitution, and no human happiness, no prosperity, no + progress should be sacrificed for the sake of a piece of paper with + writing on it; because there is plenty of paper and plenty of men to do + the writing, and plenty of people to say what the writing should be. I + take more interest in people than I do in constitutions. I regard + constitutions as secondary; they are means to an end, but the dear, old, + conservative gentlemen seem to regard constitutions as ends in themselves. + </p> + <p> + I have read what ex-President Cleveland had to say on this important + subject, and I am happy to say that I entirely disagree with him. So, too, + I disagree with Senator Edmunds, and with Mr. Bryan, and with Senator + Hoar, and with all the other gentlemen who wish to stop the growth of the + Republic. I want it to grow. + </p> + <p> + As to the final destiny of the island possessions won from Spain, my idea + is that the Philippine Islands will finally be free, protected, it may be + for a long time, by the United States. I think Cuba will come to us for + protection, naturally, and, so far as I am concerned, I want Cuba only + when Cuba wants us. I think that Porto Rico and some of those islands will + belong permanently to the United States, and I believe Cuba will finally + become a part of our Republic. + </p> + <p> + When the opponents of progress found that they couldn't make the American + people take the back track by holding up their hands over the + Constitution, they dragged in the Monroe doctrine. When we concluded not + to allow Spain any longer to enslave her colonists, or the people who had + been her colonists, in the New World, that was a very humane and wise + resolve, and it was strictly in accord with the Monroe doctrine. For the + purpose of conquering Spain, we attacked her fleet in Manila Bay, and + destroyed it. I can not conceive how that action of ours can be twisted + into a violation of the Monroe doctrine. The most that can be said is, + that it is an extension of that doctrine, and that we are now saying to + Spain, "You shall not enslave, you shall not rob, anywhere that we have + the power to prevent it." + </p> + <p> + Having taken the Philippines, the same humanity that dictated the + declaration of what is called the Monroe doctrine, will force us to act + there in accordance with the spirit of that doctrine. The other day I saw + in the paper an extract, I think, from Goldwin Smith, in which he says + that if we were to bombard Cadiz we would give up the Monroe doctrine. I + do not see the application. We are at war with Spain, and we have a right + to invade that country, and the invasion would have nothing whatever to do + with the Monroe doctrine. War being declared, we have the right to do + anything consistent with civilized warfare to gain the victory. The + bombardment of Cadiz would have no more to do with the Monroe doctrine + than with the attraction of gravitation. If, by the Monroe doctrine is + meant that we have agreed to stay in this hemisphere, and to prevent other + nations from interfering with any people on this hemisphere, and if it is + said that, growing out of this, is another doctrine, namely, that we are + pledged not to interfere with any people living on the other hemisphere, + then it might be called a violation of the Monroe doctrine for us to + bombard Cadiz. But such is not the Monroe doctrine. If, we being at war + with England, she should bombard the city of New York, or we should + bombard some city of England, would anybody say that either nation had + violated the Monroe doctrine? I do not see how that doctrine is involved, + whether we fight at sea or on the territory of the enemy. + </p> + <p> + This is the first war, so far as I know, in the history of the world that + has been waged absolutely in the interest of humanity; the only war born + of pity, of sympathy; and for that reason I have taken a deep interest in + it, and I must say that I was greatly astonished by the victory of Admiral + Dewey in Manila Bay. I think it one of the most wonderful in the history + of the world, and I think all that Dewey has done shows clearly that he is + a man of thought, of courage and of genius. So, too, the victory over the + fleet of Cervera by Commodore Schley, is one of the most marvelous and the + most brilliant in all the annals of the world. The marksmanship, the + courage, the absolute precision with which everything was done, is to my + mind astonishing. Neither should we forget Wainwright's heroic exploit, as + commander of the Gloucester, by which he demonstrated that torpedo + destroyers have no terrors for a yacht manned by American pluck. Manila + Bay and Santiago both are surpassingly wonderful. There are no words with + which to describe such deeds—deeds that leap like flames above the + clouds and glorify the whole heavens. + </p> + <p> + The Spanish have shown in this contest that they possess courage, and they + have displayed what you might call the heroism of desperation, but the + Anglo-Saxon has courage and coolness—courage not blinded by passion, + courage that is the absolute servant of intelligence. The Anglo-Saxon has + a fixedness of purpose that is never interfered with by feeling; he does + not become enraged—he becomes firm, unyielding, his mind is + absolutely made up, clasped, locked, and he carries out his will. With the + Spaniard it is excitement, nervousness; he becomes frantic. I think this + war has shown the superiority, not simply of our ships, or our armor, or + our guns, but the superiority of our men, of our officers, of our gunners. + The courage of our army about Santiago was splendid, the steadiness and + bravery of the volunteers magnificent. I think that what has already been + done has given us the admiration of the civilized world. + </p> + <p> + I know, of course, that some countries hate us. Germany is filled with + malice, and has been just on the crumbling edge of meanness for months, + wishing but not daring to interfere; hateful, hostile, but keeping just + within the overt act. We could teach Germany a lesson and her ships would + go down before ours just the same as the Spanish ships have done. + Sometimes I have almost wished that a hostile German shot might be fired. + But I think we will get even with Germany and with France—at least I + hope so. + </p> + <p> + And there is another thing I hope—that the good feeling now existing + between England and the United States may be eternal. In other words, I + hope it will be to the interests of both to be friends. I think the + English-speaking peoples are to rule this world. They are the kings of + invention, of manufactures, of commerce, of administration, and they have + a higher conception of human liberty than any other people. Of course, + they are not entirely free; they still have some of the rags and tatters + and ravelings of superstition; but they are tatters and they are rags and + they are ravelings, and the people know it. And, besides all this, the + English language holds the greatest literature of the world. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0030" id="link0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A FEW FRAGMENTS ON EXPANSION. + </h2> + <p> + A NATION rises from infancy to manhood and sinks from dotage to death. I + think that the great Republic is in the morning of her life—the sun + just above the horizon—the grass still wet with dew. + </p> + <p> + Our country has the courage and enthusiasm of youth—her blood flows + full—her heart beats strong and her brow is fair. We stand on the + threshold of a great, a sublime career. All the conditions are favorable—the + environment kind. The best part of this hemisphere is ours. We have a + thousand million acres of fertile land, vast forests, whole States + underlaid with coal; ranges of mountains filled with iron, silver and + gold, and we have seventy-five millions of the most energetic, active, + inventive, progressive and practical people in the world. The great + Republic is a happy combination of mind and muscle, of head and heart, of + courage and good nature. We are growing. We have the instinct of + expansion. We are full of life and health. We are about to take our + rightful place at the head of the nations. The great powers have been + struggling to obtain markets. They are fighting for the trade of the East. + They are contending for China. We watched, but we did not act. They paid + no attention to us or we to them. Conditions have changed. We own the + Hawaiian Islands. We will own the Philippines. + </p> + <p> + Japan and China will be our neighbors—our customers. Our interests + must be protected. In China we want the "open door," and we will see to it + that the door is kept open. The nation that tries to shut it, will get its + fingers pinched. We have taught the Old World that the Republic must be + consulted. We have entered on the great highway, and we are destined to + become the most powerful, the most successful and the most generous of + nations. I am for expansion. The more people beneath the flag the better. + Let the Republic grow.. + </p> + <p> + I BELIEVE in growth. Of course there are many moss-back conservatives who + fear expansion. Thousands opposed the purchase of Louisiana from Napoleon, + thousands were against the acquisition of Florida and of the vast + territory we obtained from Mexico. So, thousands were against the purchase + of Alaska, and some dear old mummies opposed the annexation of the + Sandwich Islands, and yet, I do not believe that there is an intelligent + American who would like to part with one acre that has been acquired by + the Government. Now, there are some timid, withered statesmen who do not + want Porto Rico—who beg us in a trembling, patriotic voice not to + keep the Philippines. But the sensible people feel exactly the other way. + They love to see our borders extended. They love to see the flag floating + over the islands of the tropics,—showering its blessings upon the + poor people who have been robbed and tortured by the Spanish. Let the + Republic grow! Let us spread the gospel of Freedom! In a few years I hope + that Canada will be ours—I want Mexico—in other words, I want + all of North America. I want to see our flag waving from the North Pole. + </p> + <p> + I think it was a mistake to appoint a peace commission. The President + should have demanded the unconditional surrender of Cuba, Porto Rico and + the Philippines. Spain was helpless. The war would have ended on our + terms, and all this commission nonsense would have been saved. Still, I + make no complaint. It will probably come out right, though it would have + been far better to have ended the business when we could—when Spain + was prostrate. It was foolish to let her get up and catch her breath and + hunt for friends. + </p> + <p> + ONLY a few days ago our President, by proclamation, thanked God for giving + us the victory at Santiago. He did not thank him for sending the yellow + fever. To be consistent the President should have thanked him equally for + both. Man should think; he should use all his senses; he should examine; + he should reason. The man who cannot think is less than man; the man who + will not think is a traitor to himself; the man who fears to think is + superstition's slave. I do not thank God for the splendid victory in + Manila Bay. I don't know whether he had anything to do with it; if I find + out that he did I will thank him readily. Meanwhile, I will thank Admiral + George Dewey and the brave fellows who were with him. + </p> + <p> + I do not thank God for the destruction of Cervera's fleet at Santiago. No, + I thank Schley and the men with the trained eyes and the nerves of steel, + who stood behind the guns. I do not thank God because we won the battle of + Santiago. I thank the Regular Army, black and white—the Volunteers—the + Rough Riders, and all the men who made the grand charge at San Juan Hill. + I have asked, "Why should God help us to whip Spain?" and have been + answered: "For the sake of the Cubans, who have been crushed and + ill-treated by their Spanish masters." Then why did not God help the + Cubans long before? Certainly, they were fighting long enough and needed + his help badly enough. But, I am told, God's ways are inscrutable. Suppose + Spain had whipped us; would the Christians then say that God did it? Very + likely they would, and would have as an excuse, that we broke the Sabbath + with our base-ball, our bicycles and bloomers. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0031" id="link0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + IS IT EVER RIGHT FOR HUSBAND OR WIFE TO KILL RIVAL? + </h2> + <p> + HOW far should a husband or wife go in defending the sanctity of home? + </p> + <p> + Is it right for the husband to kill the paramour of his wife? + </p> + <p> + Is it right for the wife to kill the paramour of her husband? + </p> + <p> + These three questions are in substance one, and one answer will be + sufficient for all. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, we should have an understanding of the real relation + that exists, or should exist, between husband and wife. + </p> + <p> + The real good orthodox people, those who admire St. Paul, look upon the + wife as the property of the husband. He owns, not only her body, but her + very soul. This being the case, no other man has the right to steal or try + to steal this property. The owner has the right to defend his possession, + even to the death. In the olden time the husband was never regarded as the + property of the wife. She had a claim on him for support, and there was + usually some way to enforce the claim. If the husband deserted the wife + for the sake of some other woman, or transferred his affections to + another, the wife, as a rule, suffered in silence. Sometimes she took her + revenge on the woman, but generally she did nothing. Men killed the + "destroyers" of their homes, but the women, having no homes, being only + wives, nothing but mothers—bearers of babes for masters—allowed + their destroyers to live. + </p> + <p> + In recent years women have advanced. They have stepped to the front. Wives + are no longer slaves. They are the equals of husbands. They have homes to + defend, husbands to protect and "destroyers" to kill. The rights of + husbands and wives are now equal. They live under the same moral code. + Their obligations to each other are mutual. Both are bound, and equally + bound, to live virtuous lives. + </p> + <p> + Now, if A falls in love with the wife of B, and she returns his love, has + B the right to kill him? Or if A falls in love with the husband of B, and + he returns her love, has B the right to kill her? + </p> + <p> + If the wronged husband has the right to kill, so has the wronged wife. + </p> + <p> + Suppose that a young man and woman are engaged to be married, and that she + falls in love with another and marries him, has the first lover a right to + kill the last? + </p> + <p> + This leads me to another question: What is marriage? Men and women cannot + truly be married by any set or form of words, or by any ceremonies however + solemn, or by contract signed, sealed and witnessed, or by the words or + declarations of priests or judges. All these put together do not + constitute marriage. At the very best they are only evidences of the fact + of marriage—something that really happened between the parties. + Without pure, honest, mutual love there can be no real marriage. Marriage + without love is only a form of prostitution. Marriage for the sake of + position or wealth is immoral. No good, sensible man wants to marry a + woman whose heart is not absolutely his, and no good, sensible woman wants + to marry a man whose heart is not absolutely hers. Now, if there can be no + real marriage without mutual love, does the marriage outlast the love? If + it is immoral for a woman to marry a man without loving him, is it moral + for her to live as the wife of a man whom she has ceased to love? Is she + bound by the words, by the ceremony, after the real marriage is dead? Is + she so bound that the man she hates has the right to be the father of her + babes? + </p> + <p> + If a girl is engaged and afterward meets her ideal, a young man whose + presence is joy, whose touch is ecstasy, is it her duty to fulfill her + engagement? Would it not be a thousand times nobler and purer for her to + say to the first lover: "I thought I loved you; I was mistaken. I belong + heart and soul to another, and if I married you I could not be yours." + </p> + <p> + So, if a young man is engaged and finds that he has made a mistake, is it + honorable for him to keep his contract? Would it not be far nobler for him + to tell her the truth? + </p> + <p> + The civilized man loves a woman not only for his own sake, but for her + sake. He longs to make her happy—to fill her life with joy. He is + willing to make sacrifices for her, but he does not want her to sacrifice + herself for him. The civilized husband wants his wife to be free—wants + the love that she cannot help giving him. He does not want her, from a + sense of duty, or because of the contract or ceremony, to act as though + she loved him, when in fact her heart is far away. He does not want her to + pollute her soul and live a lie for his sake. The civilized husband places + the happiness of his wife above his own. Her love is the wealth of his + heart, and to guard her from evil is the business of his life. + </p> + <p> + But the civilized husband knows when his wife ceases to love him that the + real marriage has also ceased. He knows that it is then infamous for him + to compel her to remain his wife. He knows that it is her right to be free—that + her body belongs to her, that her soul is her own. He knows, too, if he + knows anything, that her affection is not the slave of her will. + </p> + <p> + In a case like this, the civilized husband would, so far as he had the + power, release his wife from the contract of marriage, divide his property + fairly with her and do what he could for her welfare. Civilized love never + turns to hatred. + </p> + <p> + Suppose he should find that there was a man in the case, that another had + won her love, or that she had given her love to another, would it then be + his right or duty to kill that man? Would the killing do any good? Would + it bring back her love? Would it reunite the family? Would it annihilate + the disgrace or the memory of the shame? Would it lessen the husband's + loss? + </p> + <p> + Society says that the husband should kill the man because he led the woman + astray. + </p> + <p> + How do we know that he betrayed the woman? Mrs. Potiphar left many + daughters, and Joseph certainly had but few sons. How do we know that it + was not the husband's fault? She may for years have shivered in the winter + of his neglect. She may have borne his cruelties of word and deed until + her love w'as dead and buried side by side with hope. Another man comes + into her life. He pities her. She looks and loves. He lifts her from the + grave. Again she really lives, and her poor heart is rich with love's red + blood. Ought this man to be killed? He has robbed no husband, wronged no + man. He has rescued a victim, released an innocent prisoner and made a + life worth living. But the brutal husband says that the wife has been led + astray; that he has been wronged and dishonored, and that it is his right, + his duty, to shed the seducer's blood. He finds the facts himself. He is + witness, jury, judge and executioner. He forgets his neglect, his + cruelties, his faithlessness; forgets that he drove her from his heart, + remembers only that she loves another, and then in the name of justice he + takes the life of the one she loves. + </p> + <p> + A husband deserts his wife, leaves her without money, without the means to + live, with his babes in her arms. She cannot get a divorce; she must wait, + and in the meantime she must live. A man falls in love with her and she + with him. He takes care of her and the deserted children. The "wronged" + husband returns and kills the "betrayer" of his wife. He believes in the + sacredness of marriage, the holiness of home. + </p> + <p> + It may be admitted that the deserted wife did wrong, and that the man who + cared for her and her worse than fatherless children also did wrong, but + certainly he had done nothing for which he deserved to be murdered. + </p> + <p> + A woman finds that her husband is in love with another woman, that he is + false, and the question is whether it is her right to kill the other + woman. The wronged husband has always claimed that the man led his wife + astray, that he had crept and crawled into his Eden, but now the wronged + wife claims that the woman seduced her husband, that she spread the net, + wove the web and baited the trap in which the innocent husband was caught. + Thereupon she kills the other woman. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, how can she be sure of the facts? How does she know + whose fault it was? Possibly she was to blame herself. + </p> + <p> + But what good has the killing done? It will not give her back her + husband's love. It will not cool the fervor of her jealousy. It will not + give her better sleep or happier dreams. + </p> + <p> + It would have been far better if she had said to her husband: "Go with the + woman you love. I do not want your body without your heart, your presence + without your love." + </p> + <p> + So, it would be better for the wronged husband to say to the unfaithful + wife: "Go with the man you love. Your heart is his, I am not your master. + You are free." + </p> + <p> + After all, murder is a poor remedy. If you kill a man for one wrong, why + not for another? If you take the law into your own hands and kill a man + because he loves your wife and your wife loves him, why not kill him for + any injury he may inflict on you or yours?... + </p> + <p> + In a civilized nation the people are governed by law. They do not redress + their own wrongs. They submit their differences to courts. If they are + wronged they appeal to the law. Savages redress what they call their + wrongs. They appeal to knife or gun. They kill, they assassinate, they + murder; and they do this to preserve their honor. Admit that the seducer + of the wife deserves death, that the woman who leads the husband astray + deserves death, admit that both have justly forfeited their lives, the + question yet remains whether the wronged husband and the wronged wife have + the right to commit murder. + </p> + <p> + If they have this right, then there ought to be some way provided for + ascertaining the facts. Before the husband kills the "betrayer," the fact + that the wife was really led astray should be established, and the + "wronged" husband who claims the right to kill, should show that he had + been a good, loving and true husband. + </p> + <p> + As a rule, the wives of good and generous men are true and faithful. They + love their homes, they adore their children. In poverty and disaster they + cling the closer. But when husbands are indolent and mean, when they are + cruel and selfish, when they make a hell of home, why should we insist + that their wives should love them still? + </p> + <p> + When the civilized man finds that his wife loves another he does not kill, + he does not murder. He says to his wife, "You are free." + </p> + <p> + When the civilized woman finds that her husband loves another she does not + kill, she does not murder. She says to her husband, "I am free." This, in + my judgment, is the better way. It is in accordance with a far higher + philosophy of life, of the real rights of others. The civilized man is + governed by his reason, his intelligence; the savage by his passions. The + civilized, man seeks for the right, regardless of himself; the savage for + revenge, regardless of the rights of others. + </p> + <p> + I do not believe that murder guards the sacredness of home, the purity of + the fireside. I do not believe that crime wins victories for virtue. I + believe in liberty and I believe in law. That country is free where the + people make and honestly uphold the law. I am opposed to a redress of + grievances or the punishment of criminals by mobs and I am equally opposed + to giving the "wronged" husbands and the "wronged" wives the right to kill + the men and women they suspect. In other words, I believe in civilization. + </p> + <p> + A few years ago a merchant living in the West suspected that his wife and + bookkeeper were in love. One morning he started for a distant city, + pretending that he would be absent for a couple of weeks. He came back + that night and found the lovers occupying the same room. He did not kill + the man, but said to him: "Take her; she is yours. Treat her well and you + will not be troubled. Abuse or desert her and I will be her avenger." + </p> + <p> + He did not kill his wife, but said: "We part forever. You are entitled to + one-half of the property we have accumulated. You shall have it. + Farewell!" + </p> + <p> + The merchant was a civilized man—a philosopher. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0032" id="link0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + PROFESSOR BRIGGS. + </h2> + <p> + To the study of the Bible he has given the best years of his life. When he + commenced this study he was probably a devout believer in the plenary + inspiration of the Scripture—thought that the Bible was without an + error; that all the so-called contradictions could be easily explained. He + had been educated by Presbyterians and had confidence in his teachers. + </p> + <p> + In spite of his early training, in spite of his prejudices, he was led, in + some mysterious way, to rely a little on his own reason. This was a + dangerous thing to do. The moment a man talks about reason he is on + dangerous ground. He is liable to contradict the "Word of God." Then he + loses spirituality and begins to think more of truth than creed. This is a + step toward heresy—toward Infidelity. + </p> + <p> + Professor Briggs began to have doubts about some of the miracles. These + doubts, like rats, began to gnaw the foundations of his faith. He examined + these wonderful stories in the light of what is known to have happened, + and in the light of like miracles found in the other sacred books of the + world. And he concluded that they were not quite true. He was not ready to + say that they were actually false; that would be too brutally candid. + </p> + <p> + I once read of an English lord who had a very polite gamekeeper. The lord + wishing to show his skill with the rifle fired at a target. He and the + gamekeeper went to see where the bullet had struck. The gamekeeper was + first at the target, and the lord cried out: "Did I miss it?" + </p> + <p> + "I would not," said the gamekeeper, "go so far as to say that your + lordship missed it, but—but—you didn't hit it." + </p> + <p> + Professor Briggs saw clearly that the Bible was the product, the growth of + many centuries; that legends and facts, mistakes, contradictions, + miracles, myths and history, interpolations, prophecies and dreams, + wisdom, foolishness, justice, cruelty, poetry and bathos were mixed, + mingled and interwoven. In other words, that the gold of truth was + surrounded by meaner metals and worthless stones. + </p> + <p> + He saw that it was necessary to construct what might be called a sacred + smelter to divide the true from the false. + </p> + <p> + Undoubtedly he reached this conclusion in the interest of what he believed + to be the truth. He had the mistaken but honest idea that a Christian + should really think. Of course, we know that all heresy has been the + result of thought. It has always been dangerous to grow. Shrinking is + safe. + </p> + <p> + Studying the Bible was the first mistake that Professor Briggs made, + reasoning was the second, and publishing his conclusions was the third. If + he had read without studying, if he had believed without reasoning, he + would have remained a good, orthodox Presbyterian. He probably read the + works of Humboldt, Darwin and Haeckel, and found that the author of + Genesis was not a geologist, not a scientist. He seems to have his doubts + about the truth of the story of the deluge. Should he be blamed for this? + Is there a sensible man in the wide world who really believes in the + flood? + </p> + <p> + This flood business puts Jehovah in such an idiotic light. + </p> + <p> + Of course, he must have known, after the "fall" of Adam and Eve, that he + would have to drown their descendants. Certainly it would have been more + merciful to have killed Adam and Eve, made a new pair and kept the serpent + out of the Garden of Eden. If Jehovah had been an intelligent God he never + would have created the serpent. Then there would have been no fall, no + flood, no atonement, no hell. + </p> + <p> + Think of a God who drowned a world! What a merciless monster! The cruelty + of the flood is exceeded only by its stupidity. + </p> + <p> + Thousands of little theologians have tried to explain this miracle. This + is the very top of absurdity. To explain a miracle is to destroy it. Some + have said that the flood was local. How could water that rose over the + mountains remain local? + </p> + <p> + Why should we expect mercy from a God who drowned millions of men, women + and babes? I would no more think of softening the heart of such a God by + prayer than of protecting myself from a hungry tiger by repeating poetry. + </p> + <p> + Professor Briggs has sense enough to see that the story of the flood is + but an ignorant legend. He is trying to rescue Jehovah from the frightful + slander. After all, why should we believe the unreasonable? Must we be + foolish to be virtuous? The rain fell for forty days; this caused the + flood. The water was at least thirty thousand feet in depth. Seven hundred + and fifty feet a day—more than thirty feet an hour, six inches a + minute; the rain fell for forty days. Does any man with sense enough to + eat and breathe believe this idiotic lie? + </p> + <p> + Professor Briggs knows that the Jews got the story of the flood from the + Babylonians, and that it is no more inspired than the history of "Peter + Wilkins and His Flying Wife." The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is + another legend. + </p> + <p> + If those cities were destroyed sensible people believe the phenomenon was + as natural as the destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii. They do not + believe that in either case it was the result of the wickedness of the + people. + </p> + <p> + Neither does any thinking man believe that the wife of Lot was changed or + turned into a pillar of salt as a punishment for having looked back at her + burning home. How could flesh, bones and blood be changed to salt? This + presupposes two miracles. First, the annihilation of the woman, and + second, the creation of salt. A God cannot annihilate or create matter. + Annihilation and creation are both impossible—unthinkable. A grain + of sand can defy all the gods. What was Mrs. Lot turned to salt for? What + good was achieved? What useful lesson taught? What man with a head fertile + enough to raise one hair can believe a story like this? + </p> + <p> + Does a man who denies the truth of this childish absurdity weaken the + foundation of virtue? Does he discourage truth-telling by denouncing lies? + Should a man be true to himself? If reason is not the standard, what is? + Can a man think one way and believe another? Of course he can talk one way + and think another. If a man should be honest with himself he should be + honest with others. A man who conceals his doubts lives a dishonest life. + He defiles his own soul. + </p> + <p> + When a truth-loving man reads about the plagues of Egypt, should he reason + as he reads? Should he take into consideration the fact that like stories + have been told and believed by savages for thousands of years? Should he + ask himself whether Jehovah in his efforts to induce the Egyptian King to + free the Hebrews acted like a sensible God? Should he ask himself whether + a good God would kill the babes of the people on account of the sins of + the king? Whether he would torture, mangle and kill innocent cattle to get + even with a monarch? + </p> + <p> + Is it better to believe without thinking than to think without believing? + If there be a God can we please him by believing that he acted like a + fiend? + </p> + <p> + Probably Professor Briggs has a higher conception of God than the author + of Exodus. The writer of that book was a barbarian—an honest + barbarian, and he wrote what he supposed was the truth. I do not blame him + for having written falsehoods. Neither do I blame Professor Briggs for + having detected these falsehoods. In our day no man capable of reasoning + believes the miracles wrought for the Hebrews in their flight through the + wilderness. The opening of the sea, the cloud and pillar, the quails, the + manna, the serpents and hornets are no more believed than the miracles of + the Mormons when they crossed the plains. + </p> + <p> + The probability is that the Hebrews never were in Egypt. In the Hebrew + language there are no Egyptian words, and in the Egyptian no Hebrew. This + proves that the Hebrews could not have mingled with the Egyptians for four + hundred and thirty years. As a matter of fact, Moses is a myth. The + enslavement of the Hebrews, the flight, the journey through the wilderness + existed only in the imagination of ignorance. + </p> + <p> + So Professor Briggs has his doubts about the sun and moon having been + stopped for a day in order that Gen. Joshua might kill more heathen. + Theologians have gathered around this miracle like moths around a flame. + They have done their best to make it reasonable. They have talked about + refraction and reflection, about the nature of the air having been changed + so that the sun was visible all night. They have even gone so far as to + say that Joshua and his soldiers killed so many that afterward, when + thinking about it, they concluded that it must have taken them at least + two days. + </p> + <p> + This miracle can be accounted for only in one way. Jehovah must have + stopped the earth. The earth, turning over at about one thousand miles an + hour—weighing trillions of tons—had to be stopped. Now we know + that all arrested motion changes instantly to heat. It has been calculated + that to stop the earth would cause as much heat as could be produced by + burning three lumps of coal, each lump as large as this world. + </p> + <p> + Now, is it possible that a God in his right mind would waste all that + force? The Bible also tells us that at the same time God cast hailstones + from heaven on the poor heathen. If the writer had known something of + astronomy he would have had more hailstones and said nothing about the sun + and moon. + </p> + <p> + Is it wise for ministers to ask their congregations to believe this story? + Is it wise for congregations to ask their ministers to believe this story? + If Jehovah performed this miracle he must have been insane. There should + be some relation, some proportion, between means and ends. No sane general + would call into the field a million soldiers and a hundred batteries to + kill one insect. And yet the disproportion of means to the end sought + would be reasonable when compared with what Jehovah is claimed to have + done. + </p> + <p> + If Jehovah existed let us admit that he had some sense. + </p> + <p> + If it should be demonstrated that the book of Joshua is all false, what + harm could follow? There would remain the same reasons for living a useful + and virtuous life; the same reasons against theft and murder. Virtue would + lose no prop and vice would gain no crutch. Take all the miracles from the + Old Testament and the book would be improved. Throw away all its cruelties + and absurdities and its influence would be far better. + </p> + <p> + Professor Briggs seems to have doubts about the inspiration of Ruth. Is + there any harm in that? What difference does it make whether the story of + Ruth is fact or fiction; history or poetry? Its value is just the same. + Who cares whether Hamlet or Lear lived? Who cares whether Imogen and + Perdita were real women or the creation of Shakespeare's imagination? + </p> + <p> + The book of Esther is absurd and cruel. It has no ethical value. There is + not a line, a word in it calculated to make a human being better. The king + issued a decree to kill the Jews. Esther succeeded in getting this decree + set aside, and induced the king to issue another decree that the Jews + should kill the other folks, and so the Jews killed some seventy-five + thousand of the king's subjects. Is it really important to believe that + the book of Esther is inspired? Is it possible that Jehovah is proud of + having written this book? Does he guard his copyright with the fires of + hell? Why should the facts be kept from the people? Every intelligent + minister knows that Moses did not write the Pentateuch; that David did not + write the Psalms, and that Solomon was not the author of the song or the + book of Ecclesiastes. Why not say so? + </p> + <p> + No intelligent minister believes the story of Daniel in the Lion's den, or + of the three men who were cast into the furnace, or the story of Jonah. + These miracles seem to have done no good—seem to have convinced + nobody and to have had no consequences. Daniel w'as miraculously saved + from the lions, and then the king sent for the men who had accused Daniel, + for their wives and their children, and threw them all into the den of + lions and they were devoured by beasts almost as cruel as Jehovah. What a + beautiful story! How can any man be wicked enough to doubt its truth? + </p> + <p> + God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah ran away, took a boat for another + place. God raised a storm, the sailors became frightened, threw Jonah + overboard, and the poor wretch was swallowed and carried ashore by a fish + that God had prepared. Then he made his proclamation in Nineveh. Then the + people repented and Jonah was disappointed. Then he became malicious and + found fault with God. Then comes the story of the gourd, the worm and the + east wind, and the effect of the sun on a bald-headed prophet. Would not + this story be just as beautiful with the storm and fish left out? Could we + not dispense with the gourd, the worm and the east wind? + </p> + <p> + Professor Briggs does not believe this story. He does not reject it + because he is wicked or because he wishes to destroy religion, but + because, in his judgment, it is not true. This may not be religious, but + it is honest. It may not become a minister, but it certainly becomes a + man. + </p> + <p> + Professor Briggs wishes to free the Old Testament from interpolations, + from excrescences, from fungus growths, from mistakes and falsehoods. + </p> + <p> + I am satisfied that he is sincere, actuated by the noblest motives. + </p> + <p> + Suppose that all the interpolations in the Bible should be found and the + original be perfectly restored, what evidence would we have that it was + written by inspired men? How can the fact of inspiration be established? + When was it established? Did Jehovah furnish anybody with a list of books + he had inspired? Does anybody know that he ever said that he had inspired + anybody? Did the writer of Genesis claim that he was inspired? Did any + writer of any part of the Pentateuch make the claim? Did the authors of + Joshua, Judges, Kings or Chronicles pretend that they had obtained their + facts from Jehovah? Does the author of Job or of the Psalms pretend to + have received assistance from God? + </p> + <p> + There is not the slightest reference to God in Esther or in Solomon's + Song. Why should theologians say that those books were inspired? The dogma + of inspiration rests on no established fact. It rests only on assertion—the + assertion of those who have no knowledge on the subject. Professor Briggs + calls the Bible a "holy" book. He seems to think that much of it was + inspired; that it is in some sense a message from God. The reasons he has + for thinking so I cannot even guess. He seems also to have his doubts + about certain parts of the New Testament. He is not certain that the angel + who appeared to Joseph in a dream was entirely truthful, or he is not + certain that Joseph had the dream. + </p> + <p> + It seems clear that when the gospel according to Matthew was first written + the writer believed that Christ was a lineal descendant of David, through + his father, Joseph. The genealogy is given for the purpose of showing that + the blood of David flowed in the veins of Christ. The man who wrote that + genealogy had never heard that the Holy Ghost was the father of Christ. + That was an afterthought. + </p> + <p> + How is it possible to prove that the Holy Ghost was the father of Christ? + The Holy Ghost said nothing on the subject. Mary wrote nothing and we have + no evidence that Joseph had a dream. + </p> + <p> + The divinity of Christ rests upon a dream that somebody said Joseph had. + </p> + <p> + According to the New Testament, Mary herself called Joseph the father of + Christ. She told Christ that Joseph, his father, had been looking for him. + Her statement is better evidence than Joseph's dream—if he really + had it. If there are legends in Holy Scripture, as Professor Briggs + declares, certainly the divine parentage of Christ is one of them. The + story lacks even originality. Among the Greeks many persons had gods for + fathers. Among Hindoos and Egyptians these god-men were common. So in many + other countries the blood of gods was in the veins of men. Such wonders, + told in Sanscrit, are just as reasonable as when told in Hebrew—just + as reasonable in India as in Palestine. Of course, there is no evidence + that any human being had a god for a father, or a goddess for a mother. + Intelligent people have outgrown these myths. Centaurs, satyrs, nymphs and + god-men have faded away. Science murdered them all. + </p> + <p> + There are many contradictions in the gospels. They differ not only on + questions of fact, but as to Christianity itself. According to Matthew, + Mark and Luke, if you will forgive others God will forgive you. This is + the one condition of salvation. But in John we find an entirely different + religion. According to John you must be born again and believe in Jesus + Christ. There you find for the first time about the atonement—that + Christ died to save sinners. The gospel of John discloses a regular + theological system—a new one. To forgive others is not enough. You + must have faith. You must be born again. + </p> + <p> + The four gospels cannot be harmonized. If John is true the others are + false. If the others are true John is false. From this there is no escape. + I do not for a moment suppose that Professor Briggs agrees with me on + these questions. He probably regards me as a very bad and wicked man, and + my opinions as blasphemies. I find no fault with him for that. I believe + him to be an honest man; right in some things and wrong in many. He seems + to be true to his thought and I honor him for that. + </p> + <p> + He would like to get all the stumbling-blocks out of the Bible, so that a + really thoughtful man can "believe." If theologians cling to the miracles + recorded in the New Testament the entire book will be disparaged and + denied. The "Gospel ship" is overloaded. Somethings must be thrown + overboard or the boat will go down. If the churches try to save all they + will lose all. + </p> + <p> + They must throw the miracles away. They must admit that Christ did not + cast devils out of the bodies of men and women—that he did not cure + diseases with a word, or blindness with spittle and clay; that he had no + power over winds and waves; that he did not raise the dead; that he was + not raised from the dead himself, and that he did not ascend bodily to + heaven. These absurdities must be given up, or in a little while the + orthodox ministers will be preaching the "tidings of great joy" to + benches, bonnets and bibs. + </p> + <p> + Professor Briggs, as I understand him, is willing to give up the absurdest + absurdities, but wishes to keep all the miracles that can possibly be + believed. He is anxious to preserve the important miracles—the great + central falsehoods—but the little lies that were told just to + embellish the story—to furnish vines for the columns—he is + willing to cast aside. + </p> + <p> + But Professor Briggs was honest enough to say that we do not know the + authors of most of the books in the Bible; that we do not know who wrote + the Psalms or Job or Proverbs or the Song of Songs or Ecclesiastes or the + Epistle to the Hebrews. He also said that no translation can ever take the + place of the original Scriptures, because a translation is at best the + work of men. In other words, that God has not revealed to us the names of + the inspired books. That this must be determined by us. Professor Briggs + puts reason above revelation. By reason we are to decide what books are + inspired. By reason we are to decide whether anything has been improperly + added to those books. By reason we are to decide the real meaning of those + books. + </p> + <p> + It therefore follows that if the books are unreasonable they are + uninspired. It seems to me that this position is absolutely correct. There + is no other that can be defended. The Presbyterians who pretend to answer + Professor Briggs seem to be actuated by hatred. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Da Costa answers with vituperation and epithet. He answers no + argument; brings forward no fact; points out no mistake. He simply attacks + the man. He exhibits the ordinary malice of those who love their enemies. + </p> + <p> + President Patton, of Princeton, is a despiser of reason; a hater of + thought. Progress is the only thing that he fears. He knows that the Bible + is absolutely true. He knows that every word is inspired. According to + him, all questions have been settled, and criticism said its last word + when the King James Bible was printed. The Presbyterian Church is + infallible, and whoever doubts or denies will be damned. Morality is + worthless without the creed. This, is the religion, the philosophy, of Dr. + Patton. He fights with the ancient weapons, with stone and club. He is a + private in Captain Calvin's company, and he marches to defeat with the + courage of invincible ignorance. + </p> + <p> + I do not blame the Presbyterian Church for closing the mouth of Professor + Briggs. That church believes the Bible—all of it—and the + members did not feel like paying a man for showing that it was not all + inspired. Long ago the Presbyterians stopped growing. They have been + petrified for many years. Professor Briggs had been growing. He had to + leave the church or shrink. He left. Then he joined the Episcopal Church. + He probably supposed that that church preferred the living to the dead. He + knew about Colenso, Stanley, Temple, Heber Newton, Dr. Rainsford and + Farrar, and thought that the finger and thumb of authority would not + insist on plucking from the mind the buds of thought. + </p> + <p> + Whether he was mistaken or not remains to be seen. + </p> + <p> + The Episcopal Church may refuse to ordain him, and by such refusal put the + bigot brand upon its brow. + </p> + <p> + The refusal cannot injure Professor Briggs. It will leave him where it + found him—with too much science for a churchman and too much + superstition for a scientist; with his feet in the gutter and his head in + the clouds. + </p> + <p> + I admire every man who is true to himself, to his highest ideal, and who + preserves unstained the veracity of his soul. + </p> + <p> + I believe in growth. I prefer the living to the dead. Men are superior to + mummies. Cradles are more beautiful than coffins. Development is grander + than decay. I do not agree with Professor Briggs. I do not believe in + inspired books, or in the Holy Ghost, or that any God has ever appeared to + man. I deny the existence of the supernatural. I know of no religion that + is founded on facts. + </p> + <p> + But I cheerfully admit that Professor Briggs appears to be candid, good + tempered and conscientious—the opposite of those who attack him. He + is not a Freethinker, but he honestly thinks that he is free. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0033" id="link0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + FRAGMENTS. + </h2> + <p> + CLOVER. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * A letter written to Col. Thomas Donaldson, of Philadelphia, + declining an invitation to be a guest of the Clover Club of + that city. +</pre> + <p> + I regret that I cannot be "in clover" with you on the 28th instant. + </p> + <p> + A wonderful thing is clover! It means honey and cream,—that is to + say, industry and contentment,—that is to say, the happy bees in + perfumed fields, and at the cottage gate "bos" the bountiful serenely + chewing satisfaction's cud, in that blessed twilight pause that like a + benediction falls between all toil and sleep. + </p> + <p> + This clover makes me dream of happy hours; of childhood's rosy cheeks; of + dimpled babes; of wholesome, loving wives; of honest men; of springs and + brooks and violets and all there is of stainless joy in peaceful human + life. + </p> + <p> + A wonderful word is "clover"! Drop the "c," and you have the happiest of + mankind. Drop the "r," and "c," and you have left the only thing that + makes a heaven of this dull and barren earth. Drop the "r," and there + remains a warm, deceitful bud that sweetens breath and keeps the peace in + countless homes whose masters frequent clubs. After all, Bottom was right: + </p> + <p> + "Good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow." + </p> + <p> + Yours sincerely and regretfully, + </p> + <p> + R. G. INGERSOLL. + </p> + <p> + Washington, D. C., January 16, 1883. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + SUPERSTITION puts belief above goodness—credulity above virtue. + </p> + <p> + Here are two men. One is industrious, frugal, honest, generous. He has a + happy home—loves his wife and children—fills their lives with + sunshine. He enjoys study, thoughts, music, and all the subtleties of Art—but + he does not believe the creed—cares nothing for sacred books, + worships no god and fears no devil. + </p> + <p> + The other is ignorant, coarse, brutal, beats his wife and children—but + he believes—regards the Bible as inspired—bows to the priests, + counts his beads, says his prayers, confesses and contributes, and the + Catholic Church declares and the Protestant Churches declare that he is + the better man. + </p> + <p> + The ignorant believer, coarse and brutal as he is, is going to heaven. He + will be washed in the blood of the Lamb. He will have wings—a harp + and a halo. + </p> + <p> + The intelligent and generous man who loves his fellow-men—who + develops his brain, who enjoys the beautiful, is going to hell—to + the eternal prison. + </p> + <p> + Such is the justice of God—the mercy of Christ. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + WHILE reading the accounts of the coronation of the Czar, of the pageants, + processions and feasts, of the pomp and parade, of the barbaric splendor, + of cloth of gold and glittering gems, I could not help thinking of the + poor and melancholy peasants, of the toiling, half-fed millions, of the + sad and ignorant multitudes who belong body and soul to this Czar. + </p> + <p> + I thought of the backs that have been scarred by the knout, of the + thousands in prisons for having dared to say a whispered word for freedom, + of the great multitude who had been driven like cattle along the weary + roads that lead to the hell of Siberia. + </p> + <p> + The cannon at Moscow were not loud enough, nor the clang of the bells, nor + the blare of the trumpets, to drown the groans of the captives. + </p> + <p> + I thought of the fathers that had been torn from wives and children for + the crime of speaking like men. + </p> + <p> + And when the priests spoke of the Czar as the "God-selected man," the + "God-adorned man," my blood grew warm. + </p> + <p> + When I read of the coronation of the Czarina I thought of Siberia. I + thought of girls working in the mines, hauling ore from the pits with + chains about their waists; young girls, almost naked, at the mercy of + brutal officials; young girls weeping and moaning their lives away because + between their pure lips the word Liberty had burst into blossom. + </p> + <p> + Yet law neglects, forgets them, and crowns the Czarina. The injustice, the + agony and horror in this poor world are enough to make mankind insane. + </p> + <p> + Ignorance and superstition crown impudence and tyranny. Millions of money + squandered for the humiliation of man, to dishonor the people. + </p> + <p> + Back of the coronation, back of all the ceremonies, back of all the + hypocrisy there is nothing but a lie. + </p> + <p> + It is not true that God "selected" this Czar to rule and rob a hundred + millions of human beings. + </p> + <p> + It is all an ignorant, barbaric, superstitious lie—a lie that pomp + and pageant, and flaunting flags, and robed priests, and swinging censers, + cannot change to truth. + </p> + <p> + Those who are not blinded by the glare and glitter at Moscow see millions + of homes on which the shadows fall; see millions of weeping mothers, whose + children have been stolen by the Czar; see thousands of villages without + schools, millions of houses without books, millions and millions of men, + women and children in whose future there is no star and whose only friend + is death. + </p> + <p> + The coronation is an insult to the nineteenth century. + </p> + <p> + Long live the people of Russia! + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + MUSIC.—The savage enjoys noises—explosion—the imitation + of thunder. This noise expresses his feeling. He enjoys concussion. His + ear and brain are in harmony. So, he takes cognizance of but few colors. + The neutral tints make no impression on his eyes. He appreciates the + flames of red and yellow. That is to say, there is a harmony between his + brain and eye. As he advances, develops, progresses, his ear catches other + sounds, his eye other colors. He becomes a complex being, and there has + entered into his mind the idea of proportion. The music of the drum no + longer satisfies him. He sees that there is as much difference between + noises and melodies as between stones and statues. The strings in Corti's + Harp become sensitive and possibly new ones are developed. + </p> + <p> + The eye keeps pace with the ear, and the worlds of sound and sight + increase from age to age. + </p> + <p> + The first idea of music is the keeping of time—a recurring emphasis + at intervals of equal length or duration. This is afterward modified—the + music of joy being fast, the emphasis at short intervals, and that of + sorrow slow. + </p> + <p> + After all, this music of time corresponds to the action of the blood and + muscles. There is a rise and fall under excitement of both. In joy the + heart beats fast, and the music corresponding to such emotion is quick. In + grief—in sadness, the blood is delayed. In music the broad division + is one of time. In language, words of joy are born of light—that + which shines—words of grief of darkness and gloom. There is still + another division: The language of happiness comes also from heat, and that + of sadness from cold. + </p> + <p> + These ideas or divisions are universal. In all art are the light and + shadow—the heat and cold. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + OF COURSE ENGLAND has no love for America. By England I mean the governing + class. Why should monarchy be in love with republicanism, with democracy? + The monarch insists that he gets his right to rule from what he is pleased + to call the will of God, whereas in a republic the sovereign authority is + the will of the people. It is impossible that there should be any real + friendship between the two forms of government. + </p> + <p> + We must, however, remember one thing, and that is, that there is an + England within England—an England that does not belong to the titled + classes—an England that has not been bribed or demoralized by those + in authority; and that England has always been our friend, because that + England is the friend of liberty and of progress everywhere. But the + lackeys, the snobs, the flatterers of the titled, those who are willing to + crawl that they may rise, are now and always have been the enemies of the + great Republic. + </p> + <p> + It is a curious fact that in monarchical governments the highest and + lowest are generally friends. There may be a foundation for this + friendship in the fact that both are parasites—both live on the + labor of honest men. After all, there is a kinship between the prince and + the pauper. Both extend the hand for alms, and the fact that one is + jeweled and the other extremely dirty makes no difference in principle—and + the owners of these hands have always been fast friends, and, in + accordance with the great law of ingratitude, both have held in contempt + the people who supported them. + </p> + <p> + One thing we must not forget, and that is that the best people of England + are our friends. The best writers, the best thinkers are on our side. It + is only natural that all who visit America should find some fault. We find + fault ourselves, and to be thin-skinned is almost a plea of guilty. For my + part, I have no doubt about the future of America. It not only is, but is + to be for many, many generations, the greatest nation of the world. + </p> + <p> + I DO not care so much where, as with whom, I live. If the right folks are + with me I can manage to get a good deal of happiness in the city or in the + country. Cats love places and become attached to chimney-corners and all + sorts of nooks—but I have but little of the cat in me, and am not + particularly in love with places. After all, a palace without affection is + a poor hovel, and the meanest hut with love in it is a palace for the + soul. + </p> + <p> + If the time comes when poverty and want cease for the most part to exist, + then the city will be far better than the country. People are always + talking about the beauties of nature and the delights of solitude, but to + me some people are more interesting than rocks and trees. As to city and + country life I think that I substantially agree with Touchstone: + </p> + <p> + "In respect that it is solitary I like it very well; but in respect that + it is private it is a very vile life. Now, in respect it is in the fields + it pleaseth me well; but in respect it is not in the court it is tedious." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + WHAT do I think of the lynchings in Georgia? + </p> + <p> + I suppose these outrages—these frightful crimes—make the same + impression on my mind that they do on the minds of all civilized people. I + know of no words strong enough, bitter enough, to express my indignation + and horror. Men who belong to the "superior" race take a negro—a + criminal, a supposed murderer, one alleged to have assaulted a white woman—chain + him to a tree, saturate his clothing with kerosene, pile fagots about his + feet. This is the preparation for the festival. The people flock in from + the neighborhood—come in special trains from the towns. They are + going to enjoy themselves. + </p> + <p> + Laughing and cursing they gather about the victim. A man steps from the + crowd—a man who hates crime and loves virtue. He draws his knife, + and in a spirit of merry sport cuts off one of the victim's ears. This he + keeps for a trophy—a souvenir. Another gentlemen fond of a jest cuts + off the other ear. Another cuts off the nose of the chained and helpless + wretch. The victim suffered in silence. He uttered no groan, no word—the + one man of the two thousand who had courage. + </p> + <p> + Other white heroes cut and slashed his flesh. The crowd cheered. The + people were intoxicated with joy. Then the fagots were lighted and the + bleeding and mutilated man was clothed in flame. + </p> + <p> + The people were wild with hideous delight. With greedy eyes they watched + him burn; with hungry ears they listened for his shrieks—for the + music of his moans and cries. He did not shriek. The festival was not + quite perfect. + </p> + <p> + But they had their revenge. They trampled on the charred and burning + corpse. They divided among themselves the broken bones. They wanted + mementos—keepsakes that they could give to their loving wives and + gentle babes. + </p> + <p> + These horrors were perpetrated in the name of justice. The savages who did + these things belong to the superior race. They are citizens of the great + Republic. And yet, it does not seem possible that such fiends are human + beings. They are a disgrace to our country, our century and the human + race. + </p> + <p> + Ex-Governor Atkinson protested against this savagery. He was threatened + with death. The good people were helpless. While these lynchers murder the + blacks they will destroy their own country. No civilized man wishes to + live where the mob is supreme. He does not wish to be governed by + murderers. + </p> + <p> + Let me say that what I have said is flattery compared with what I feel. + When I think of the other lynching—of the poor man mutilated and + hanged without the slightest evidence, of the negro who said that these + murders would be avenged, and who was brutally murdered for the utterance + of a natural feeling—I am utterly at a loss for words. + </p> + <p> + Are the white people insane? Has mercy fled to beasts? Has the United + States no power to protect a citizen? A nation that cannot or will not + protect its citizens in time of peace has no right to ask its citizens to + protect it in time of War. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + OUR COUNTRY.—Our country is all we hope for—all we are. It is + the grave of our father, of our mother, of each and every one of the + sacred dead. + </p> + <p> + It is every glorious memory of our race. Every heroic deed. Every act of + self-sacrifice done by our blood. It is all the accomplishments of the + past—all the wise things said—all the kind things done—all + the poems written and all the poems lived—all the defeats sustained—all + the victories won—the girls we love—the wives we adore—the + children we carry in our hearts—all the firesides of home—all + the quiet springs, the babbling brooks, the rushing rivers, the mountains, + plains and woods—the dells and dales and vines and vales. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + GIFT GIVING.—I believe in the festival called Christmas—not in + the celebration of the birth of any man, but to celebrate the triumph of + light over darkness—the victory of the sun. + </p> + <p> + I believe in giving gifts on that day, and a real gift should be given to + those who cannot return it; gifts from the rich to the poor, from the + prosperous to the unfortunate, from parents to children. + </p> + <p> + There is no need of giving water to the sea or light to the sun. Let us + give to those who need, neither asking nor expecting return, not even + asking gratitude, only asking that the gift shall make the receiver happy—and + he who gives in that way increases his own joy. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + We have no right to enslave our children. We have no right to bequeath + chains and manacles to our heirs. We have no right to leave a legacy of + mental degradation. + </p> + <p> + Liberty is the birthright of all. Parents should not deprive their + children of the great gifts of nature. We cannot all leave lands and gold + to those we love; but we can leave Liberty, and that is of more value than + all the wealth of India. + </p> + <p> + The dead have no right to enslave the living. To worship ancestors is to + curse posterity. He who bows to the Past insults the Future; and allows, + so to speak, the dead to rob the unborn. The coffin is good enough in its + way, but the cradle is far better. With the bones of the fathers they beat + out the brains of the children. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + RANDOM THOUGHTS.—The road is short to anything we fear. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Joy lives in the house beyond the one we reach. + In youth the time is halting, slow and lame. + In age the time is winged and eager as a flame. + The sea seems narrow as we near the farther shore. +</pre> + <p> + Youth goes hand in hand with hope—old age with fear. . + </p> + <p> + Youth has a wish—old age a dread. + </p> + <p> + In youth the leaves and buds seem loath to grow. + </p> + <p> + Youth shakes the glass to speed the lingering sands. + </p> + <p> + Youth says to Time: O crutched and limping laggard, get thee wings. + </p> + <p> + The dawn comes slowly, but the Westering day leaps like a lover to the + dusky bosom of the Ethiop night. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I THINK that all days are substantially alike in the long run. It is no + worse to drink on Sunday than on Monday. The idea that one day in the week + is holy is wholly idiotic. Besides, these closing laws do no good. + </p> + <p> + Laws are not locks and keys. Saloon doors care nothing about laws. Law or + no law, people will slip in, and then, having had so much trouble getting + there, they will stay until they stagger out. These nasty, meddlesome, + Pharisaic, hypocritical laws make sneaks and hypocrites. The children of + these laws are like the fathers of the laws. Ever since I can remember, + people have been trying to make other people temperate by intemperate + laws. I have never known of the slightest success. It is a pity that + Christ manufactured wine, a pity that Paul took heart and thanked God when + he saw the sign of the Three Taverns; a pity that Jehovah put alcohol in + almost everything that grows; a great pity that prayer-meetings are not + more popular than saloons; a pity that our workingmen do not amuse + themselves reading religious papers and the genealogies in the Old + Testament. + </p> + <p> + Rum has caused many quarrels and many murders. + </p> + <p> + Religion has caused many wars and covered countless fields with dead. + </p> + <p> + Of course, all men should be temperate,—should avoid excess—should + keep the golden path between extremes—should gather roses, not + thorns. The only way to make men temperate is to develop the brain. + </p> + <p> + When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men are + savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the passions are + servants, men are civilized. The people need education—facts—philosophy. + Drunkenness is one form of intemperance, prohibition is another form. + Another trouble is that these little laws and ordinances can not be + enforced. + </p> + <p> + Both parties want votes, and to get votes they will allow unpopular laws + to sleep, neglected, and finally refuse to enforce them. These spasms of + virtue, these convulsions of conscience are soon over, and then comes a + long period of neglectful rest. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE OLD AND NEW YEAR.—For countless ages the old earth has been + making, in alternating light and shade, in gleam and gloom, the whirling + circuit of the sun, leaving the record of its flight in many forms—in + leaves of stone, in growth of tree and vine and flower, in glittering gems + of many hues, in curious forms of monstrous life, in ravages of flood and + flame, in fossil fragments stolen from decay by chance, in molten masses + hurled from lips of fire, in gorges worn by waveless, foamless cataracts + of ice, in coast lines beaten back by the imprisoned sea, in mountain + ranges and in ocean reefs, in islands lifted from the underworld—in + continents submerged and given back to light and life. + </p> + <p> + Another year has joined his shadowy fellows in the wide and voiceless + desert of the past, where, from the eternal hour-glass forever fall the + sands of time. Another year, with all its joy and grief, of birth and + death, of failure and success—of love and hate. And now, the first + day of the new o'er arches all. Standing between the buried and the babe, + we cry, "Farewell and Hail!"—January 1,1893. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + KNOWLEDGE consists in the perception of facts, their relations—conditions, + modes and results of action. Experience is the foundation of knowledge—without + experience it is impossible to know. It may be that experience can be + transmitted—inherited. Suppose that an infinite being existed in + infinite space. He being the only existence, what knowledge could he gain + by experience? He could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing. He would + have no use for what we call the senses. Could he use what we call the + faculties of the mind? He could not compare, remember, hope or fear. He + could not reason. How could he know that he existed? How could he use + force? There was in the universe nothing that would resist—nothing. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Most men are economical when dealing with abundance, hoarding gold and + wasting time—throwing away the sunshine of life—the few + remaining hours, and hugging to their shriveled hearts that which they do + not and cannot even expect to use. Old age should enjoy the luxury of + giving. How divine to live in the atmosphere, the climate of gratitude! + The men who clutch and fiercely hold and look at wife and children with + eyes dimmed by age and darkened by suspicion, giving naught until the end, + then give to death the gratitude that should have been their own. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + DEATH OF THE AGED. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * From a letter of condolence written to a friend on the + death of his mother. +</pre> + <p> + After all, there is something tenderly appropriate in the serene death of + the old. Nothing is more touching than the death of the young, the strong. + But when the duties of life have all been nobly done; when the sun touches + the horizon; when the purple twilight falls upon the past, the present, + and the future; when memory, with dim eyes, can scarcely spell the blurred + and faded records of the vanished days—then, surrounded by kindred + and by friends, death comes like a strain of music. The day has been long, + the road weary, and the traveler gladly stops at the welcome inn. + </p> + <p> + Nearly forty-eight years ago, under the snow, in the little town of + Cazenovia, my poor mother was buried. I was but two years old. I remember + her as she looked in death. That sweet, cold face has kept my heart warm + through all the changing years. + </p> + <hr /> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + There is no cunning art to trace + In any feature, form or face, + + Or wrinkled palm, with criss-cross lines + The good or bad in peoples' minds. + + Nor can we guess men's thoughts or aims + By seeing how they write their names. + + We could as well foretell their acts + By getting outlines of their tracks. + + Ourselves we do not know—how then + Can we find out our fellow-men? + + And yet—although the reason laughs— + + We like to look at autographs— + + And almost think that we can guess + What lines and dots of ink express. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * From the autograph collection of Miss Eva Ingersoll + Farrell. + + August 11, 1892. R. G. Ingersoll. +</pre> + <hr /> + <p> + The World is Growing Poor.—Darwin the naturalist, the observer, the + philosopher, is dead. Wagner the greatest composer the world has produced, + is silent. Hugo the poet, patriot and philanthropist, is at rest. Three + mighty rivers have ceased to flow. The smallest insect was made + interesting by Darwin's glance; the poor blind worm became the farmer's + friend—the maker of the farm,—and even weeds began to dream + and hope. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + But if we live beyond life's day and reach the dusk, and slowly travel in + the shadows of the night, the way seems long, and being weary we ask for + rest, and then, as in our youth, we chide the loitering hours. When eyes + are dim and memory fails to keep a record of events; when ears are dull + and muscles fail to obey the will; when the pulse is low and the tired + heart is weak, and the poor brain has hardly power to think, then comes + the dream, the hope of rest, the longing for the peace of dreamless sleep. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + SAINTS.—The saints have poisoned life with piety. They have soured + the mother's milk. They have insisted that joy is crime—that beauty + is a bait with which the Devil captures the souls of men—that + laughter leads to sin—that pleasure, in its every form, degrades, + and that love itself is but the loathsome serpent of unclean desire. They + have tried to compel men to love shadows rather than women—phantoms + rather than people. + </p> + <p> + The saints have been the assassins of sunshine,—the skeletons at + feasts. They have been the enemies of happiness. They have hated the + singing birds, the blossoming plants. They have loved the barren and the + desolate—the croaking raven and the hooting owl—tombstones, + rather than statues. + </p> + <p> + And yet, with a strange inconsistency, happiness was to be enjoyed + forever, in another world. There, pleasure, with all its corrupting + influences, was to be eternal. No one pretended that heaven was to be + filled with self-denial, with fastings and scourgings, with weepings and + regrets, with solemn and emaciated angels, with sad-eyed seraphim, with + lonely parsons, with mumbling monks, with shriveled nuns, with days of + penance and with nights of prayer. + </p> + <p> + Yet all this self-denial on the part of the saints was founded in the + purest selfishness. They were to be paid for all their sufferings in + another world. They were "laying up treasures in heaven." They had made a + bargain with God. He had offered eternal joy to those who would make + themselves miserable here. The saints gladly and cheerfully accepted the + terms. They expected pay for every pang of hunger, for every groan, for + every tear, for every temptation resisted; and this pay was to bean + eternity of joy. The selfishness of the saints was equaled only by the + stupidity of the saints. + </p> + <p> + It is not true that character is the aim of life. Happiness should be the + aim—and as a matter of fact is and always has been the aim, not only + of sinners, but of saints. The saints seemed to think that happiness was + better in another world than here, and they expected this happiness beyond + the clouds. They looked upon the sinner as foolish to enjoy himself for + the moment here, and in consequence thereof to suffer forever. Character + is not an end, it is a means to an end. The object of the saint is + happiness hereafter—the means, to make himself miserable here. The + object of the philosopher is happiness here and now, and hereafter,—if + there be another world. + </p> + <p> + If struggle and temptation, misery and misfortune, are essential to the + formation of what you call character, how do you account for the + perfection of your angels, or for the goodness of your God? Were the + angels perfected through misfortune? If happiness is the only good in + heaven, why should it not be considered the only good here? + </p> + <p> + In order to be happy, we must be in harmony with the conditions of + happiness. It cannot be obtained by prayer,—it does not come from + heaven—it must be found here, and nothing should be done, or left + undone, for the sake of any supernatural being, but for the sake of + ourselves and other natural beings. + </p> + <p> + The early Christians were preparing for the end of the world. In their + view, life was of no importance except as it gave them time to prepare for + "The Second Coming." They were crazed by fear. Since that time, the world + not coming to the expected end, they have been preparing for "The Day of + Judgment," and have, to the extent of their ability, filled the world with + horror. For centuries, it was, and still is, their business to destroy the + pleasures of this life. In the midst of prosperity they have prophesied + disaster. At every feast they have spoken of famine, and over the cradle + they have talked of death. They have held skulls before the faces of + terrified babes. On the cheeks of health they see the worms of the grave, + and in their eyes the white breasts of love are naught but corruption and + decay. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE WASTE FORCES OF NATURE.—For countless years the great cataracts, + as for instance, Niagara, have been singing their solemn songs, filling + the savage with terror, the civilized with awe; recording its achievements + in books of stone—useless and sublime; inspiring beholders with the + majesty of purposeless force and the wastefulness of nature. + </p> + <p> + Force great enough to turn the wheels of the world, lost, useless. + </p> + <p> + So with the great tides that rise and fall on all the shores of the world—lost + forces. And yet man is compelled to use to exhaustion's point the little + strength he has. + </p> + <p> + This will be changed. + </p> + <p> + The great cataracts and the great tides will submit to the genius of man. + They are to be for use. Niagara will not be allowed to remain a barren + roar. It must become the servant of man. It will weave robes for men and + women. It will fashion implements for the farmer and the mechanic. It will + propel coaches for rich and poor. It will fill streets and homes with + light, and the old barren roar will be changed to songs of success, to the + voices of love and content and joy. + </p> + <p> + Science at last has found that all forces are convertible into each other, + and that all are only different aspects of one fact. + </p> + <p> + So the flood is still a terror, but, in my judgment, the time will come + when the floods will be controlled by the genius of man, when the + tributaries of the great rivers and their tributaries will be dammed in + such a way as to collect the waters of every flood and give them out + gradually through all the year, maintaining an equal current at all times + in the great rivers. + </p> + <p> + We have at last found that force occupies a circle, that Niagara is a + child of the Sun—that the sun shines, the mist rises, clouds form, + the rain falls, the rivers flow to the lakes, and Niagara fills the + heavens with its song. Man will arrest the falling flood; he will change + its force to electricity; that is to say, to light, and then force will + have made the circuit from light to light. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + ARE Men's characters fully determined at the age of thirty? + </p> + <p> + It depends, first, on what their opportunities have been—that is to + say, on their surroundings, their education, their advantages; second, on + the shape, quality and quantity of brain they happen to possess; third, on + their mental and moral courage; and, fourth, on the character of the + people among whom they live. + </p> + <p> + The natural man continues to grow. The longer he lives, the more he ought + to know, and the more he knows, the more he changes the views and opinions + held by him in his youth. Every new fact results in a change of views more + or less radical. This growth of the mind may be hindered by the "tyrannous + north wind" of public opinion; by the bigotry of his associates; by the + fear that he cannot make a living if he becomes unpopular; and it is to + some extent affected by the ambition of the person; that is to say, if he + wishes to hold office the tendency is to agree with his neighbor, or at + least to round off and smooth the corners and angles of difference. If a + man wishes to ascertain the truth, regardless of the opinions of his + fellow-citizens, the probability is that he will change from day to day + and from year to year—that is, his intellectual horizon will widen—and + that what he once deemed of great importance will be regarded as an + exceedingly small segment of a greater circle. + </p> + <p> + Growth means change. If a man grows after thirty years he must necessarily + change. Many men probably reach their intellectual height long before they + have lived thirty years, and spend the balance of their lives in defending + the mistakes of their youth. A great man continues to grow until his + death, and growth—as I said before—means change. Darwin was + continually finding new facts, and kept his mind as open to a new truth as + the East is to the rising of another sun. Humboldt at the age of ninety + maintained the attitude of a pupil, and was, until the moment of his + death, willing to learn. + </p> + <p> + The more a man knows, the more willing he is to learn. The less a man + knows, the more positive, a? is that he knows everything. + </p> + <p> + The smallest minds mature the earliest. The less there is to a man the + quicker he attains his growth. I have known many people who reached their + intellectual height while in their mother's arms. I have known people who + were exceedingly smart babies to become excessively stupid people. It is + with men as with other things. The mullein needs only a year, but the oak + a century, and the greatest men are those who have continued to grow as + long as they have lived. Small people delight in what they call + consistency—that is, it gives them immense pleasure to say that they + believe now exactly as they did ten years ago. This simply amounts to a + certificate that they have not grown—that they have not developed—and + that they know just as little now as they ever did. The highest possible + conception of consistency is to be true to the knowledge of to-day, + without the slightest reference to what your opinion was years ago. + </p> + <p> + There is another view of this subject. Few men have settled opinions + before or at thirty. Of course, I do not include persons of genius. At + thirty the passions have, as a rule, too much influence; the intellect is + not the pilot. At thirty most men have prejudices rather than opinions—that + is to say, rather than judgments—and few men have lived to be sixty + without materially modifying the opinions they held at thirty. + </p> + <p> + As I said in the first place, much depends on the shape, quality and + quantity of brain; much depends on mental and moral courage. There are + many people with great physical courage who are afraid to express their + opinions; men who will meet death without a tremor and will yet hesitate + to express their views. + </p> + <p> + So, much depends on the character of the people among whom we live. A man + in the old times living in New England thought several times before he + expressed any opinion contrary to the views of the majority. But if the + people have intellectual hospitality, then men express their views—and + it may be that we change somewhat in proportion to the decency of our + neighbors. In the old times it was thought that God was opposed to any + change of opinion, and that nothing so excited the auger of the deity as + the expression of a new thought. That idea is fading away. + </p> + <p> + The real truth is that men change their opinions as long as they grow, and + only those remain of the same opinion still who have reached the + intellectual autumn of their lives; who have gone to seed, and who are + simply waiting for the winter of death. Now and then there is a brain in + which there is the climate of perpetual spring—men who never grow + old—and when such a one is found we say, "Here is a genius." + </p> + <p> + Talent has the four seasons: spring, that is to say, the sowing of the + seeds; summer, growth; autumn, the harvest; winter, intellectual death. + But there is now and then a genius who has no winter, and, no matter how + many years he may live, on the blossom of his thought no snow falls. + Genius has the climate of perpetual growth. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE MOIETY SYSTEM.—The Secretary of the Treasury recommends a + revival of the moiety system. Against this infamous step every honest + citizen ought to protest. + </p> + <p> + In this country, taxes cannot be collected through such instrumentalities. + An <i>informer</i> is not indigenous to our soil. He always has been and + always will be held in merited contempt. + </p> + <p> + Every inducement, by this system, is held out to the informer to become a + liar. The spy becomes an officer of the Government. He soon becomes the + terror of his superior. He is a sword without a hilt and without a + scabbard. Every taxpayer becomes the lawful prey of a detective whose + property depends upon the destruction of his prey. + </p> + <p> + These informers and spies are corrupters of public morals. They resort to + all known dishonest means for the accomplishment of what they pretend to + be an honest object. With them perjury becomes a fine art. Their words are + a commodity bought and sold in courts of justice. + </p> + <p> + This is the first phase. In a little while juries will refuse to believe + them, and every suit in which they are introduced will be lost by the + Government. Of this the real thieves will be quick to take advantage. So + many honest men will have been falsely charged by perjured informers and + moiety miscreants, that to convict the guilty will become impossible. If + the Government wishes to collect the taxes it must set an honorable + example. It must deal kindly and honestly with the people. It must not + inaugurate a vampire system of espionage. It must not take it for granted + that every manufacturer and importer is a thief, and that all spies and + informers are honest men. + </p> + <p> + The revenues of this country are as honestly paid as they are expended. + There has been as much fair dealing outside as inside of the Treasury + Department. + </p> + <p> + But, however that may be, the informer system will not make them honest + men, but will in all probability produce exactly the opposite result. If + our system of taxation is so unpopular that the revenues cannot be + collected without bribing men to tell the truth; if our officers must be + offered rewards beyond their salaries to state the facts; if it is + impossible to employ men to discharge their duties honestly, then let us + change the system. The moiety system makes the Treasury Department a vast + vampire sucking the blood of the people upon shares. Americans detest + informers, spies, detectives, turners of State's evidence, eavesdroppers, + paid listeners, hypocrites, public smellers, trackers, human hounds and + ferrets. They despise men who "suspect" for a living; they hate legal + lyers-in-wait and the highwaymen of the law. They abhor the betrayers of + friends and those who lead and tempt others to commit a crime in order + that they may detect it. In a monarchy, the detective system is a + necessity. The great thief has to be sustained by smaller ones.—December + 4,1877. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + LANGUAGE.—Most people imagine that men have always talked; that + language is as old as the race; and it is supposed that some language was + taught by some mythological god to the first pair. But we now know, if we + know anything, that language is a growth; that every word had to be + created by man, and that back of every word is some want, some wish, some + necessity of the body or mind, and also a genius to embody that want or + that wish, to express that thought in some sound that we call a word. + </p> + <p> + At first, the probability is that men uttered sounds of fear, of content, + of anger, or happiness. And the probability is that the first sounds or + cries expressed such feelings, and these sounds were nouns, adjectives, + and verbs. + </p> + <p> + After a time, man began to give his ideas to others by rude pictures, + drawings of animals and trees and the various other things with which he + could give rude thoughts. At first he would make a picture of the whole + animal. Afterward some part of the animal would stand for the whole, and + in some of the old picture-writings the curve of the nostril of a horse + stands for the animal. This was the shorthand of picture-writing. But it + was a long journey to where marks would stand, not for pictures, but for + sounds. And then think of the distance still to the alphabet. Then to + writing, so that marks took entirely the place of pictures. Then the + invention of movable type, and then the press, making it possible to save + the wealth of the brain; making it possible for a man to leave not simply + his property to his fellow-man, not houses and lands and dollars, but his + ideas, his thoughts, his theories, his dreams, the poetry and pathos of + his soul. Now each generation is heir to all the past. + </p> + <p> + If we had free thought, then we could collect the wealth of the + intellectual world. In the physical world, springs make the creeks and + brooks, and they the rivers, and the rivers empty into the great sea. So + each brain should add to the sum of human knowledge. If we deny freedom of + thought, the springs cease to gurgle, the rivers to run, and the great + ocean of knowledge becomes a desert of barren, ignorant sand. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THIS IS AN AGE OF MONEY-GETTING, of materialism, of cold, unfeeling + science. The question arises, Is the world growing less generous, less + heroic, less chivalric? + </p> + <p> + Let us answer this. The experience of the individual is much like the + experience of a generation, or of a race. An old man imagines that + everything was better when he was young; that the weather could then be + depended on; that sudden changes are recent inventions. So he will tell + you that people used to be honest; that the grocers gave full weight and + the merchants full measure, and that the bank cashier did not spend the + evening of his days in Canada. + </p> + <p> + He will also tell you that the women were handsome and virtuous. There + were no scandals then, no divorces, and that in religion all were orthodox—no + Infidels. Before he gets through, he will probably tell you that the art + of cooking has been lost—that nobody can make biscuit now, and that + he never expects to eat another slice of good bread. + </p> + <p> + He mistakes the twilight of his own life for the coming of the night of + universal decay and death. He imagines that that has happened to the + world, which has only happened to him. It does not occur to him that + millions at the moment he is talking are undergoing the experience of his + youth, and that when they become old they will praise the very days that + he denounces. + </p> + <p> + The Garden of Eden has always been behind us. The Golden Age, after all, + is the memory of youth—it is the result of remembered pleasure in + the midst of present pain. + </p> + <p> + To old age youth is divine, and the morning of life cloudless. + </p> + <p> + So now thousands and millions of people suppose that the age of true + chivalry has gone by and that honesty has about concluded to leave the + world. As a matter of fact, the age known as the age of chivalry was the + age of tyranny, of arrogance and cowardice. Men clad in complete armor cut + down the peasants that were covered with leather, and these soldiers of + the chivalric age armored themselves to that degree that if they fell in + battle they could not rise, held to the earth by the weight of iron that + their bravery had got itself entrenched within. Compare the difference in + courage between going to war in coats of mail against sword and spear, and + charging a battery of Krupp guns! + </p> + <p> + The ideas of justice have grown larger and nobler. Charity now does, + without a thought, what the average man a few centuries ago was incapable + of imagining. In the old times slavery was upheld, and imprisonment for + debt. Hundreds of crimes—or rather misdemeanors—were + punishable by death. Prisons were loathsome beyond description. Thousands + and thousands died in chains. The insane were treated like wild beasts; no + respect was paid to sex or age. Women were burned and beheaded and torn + asunder as though they had been hyenas, and children were butchered with + the greatest possible cheerfulness. + </p> + <p> + So it seems to me that the world is more chivalric, more generous, nearer + just and fair, more charitable, than ever before. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE COLORED MAN is doing well. He is hungry for knowledge. Their children + are going to school. Colored boys are taking prizes in the colleges. A + colored man was the orator of Harvard. They are industrious, and in the + South many are becoming rich. As the people, black and white, become + educated they become better friends. The old prejudice is the child of + ignorance. The colored man will succeed if the South succeeds. The South + is richer to-day than ever before, more prosperous, and both races are + really improving. The greatest danger in the South, and for that matter + all over the country, is the mob. It is the duty of every good citizen to + denounce the mob. Down with the mob. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + FREEDOM OF RELIGION is the destruction of religion. In Rome, after people + were allowed to worship their own gods, all gods fell into disrepute. It + will be so in America. Here is freedom of religion, and all devotees find + that the gods of other devotees are just as good as theirs. They find that + the prayers of others are answered precisely as their prayers are + answered. + </p> + <p> + The Protestant God is no better than the Catholic, and the Catholic is no + better than the Mormon, and the Mormon is no better than Nature for + answering prayers. In other words, all prayers die in the air which they + uselessly agitate. There is undoubtedly a tendency among the Protestant + denominations to unite. This tendency is born of weakness, not of + strength. In a few years, if all should unite, they would hardly have + power enough to obstruct, for any considerable time, the march of the + intellectual host destined to conquer the world. But let us all be good + natured; let us give to others all the rights that we claim for ourselves. + The future, I believe, has both hands full of blessings for the human + race. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE DEISTS AND NATURE.—We who deny the supernatural origin of the + Bible, must admit not only that it exists, but that it was naturally + produced. If it is not supernatural, it is natural. It will hardly do for + the worshipers of Nature to hold the Bible in contempt, simply because it + is not a supernatural book. + </p> + <p> + The Deists of the last century made a mistake. They proceeded to show that + the Bible is immoral, untrue, cruel and absurd, and therefore came to the + conclusion that it could not have been written by a being of infinite + wisdom and goodness,—the being whom they believed to be the author + of Nature. Could not infinite wisdom and goodness just as easily command + crime as to permit it? Is it really any worse to order the strong to slay + the weak, than to stand by and refuse to protect the weak? + </p> + <p> + After all, is Nature, taken together, any better than the Bible? If God + did not command the Jews to murder the Canaanites, Nature, to say the + least, did not prevent it. If God did not uphold the practice of polygamy, + Nature did. The moment we deny the supernatural origin of the Bible, we + declare that Nature wrote its every word, commanded all its cruelties, + told all its falsehoods. The Bible is, like Nature, a mixture of what we + call "good" and "bad,"—of what appears, and of what in reality is. + </p> + <p> + The Bible must have been a perfectly natural production not only, but a + necessary one. There was, and is, no power in the universe that could have + changed one word. All the mistakes in translation were necessarily made, + and not one, by any possibility, could have been avoided. That book, like + all other facts in Nature, could not have been otherwise than it is. The + fact being that Nature has produced all superstitions, all persecution, + all slavery, and every crime, ought to be sufficient to deter the average + man from imagining that this power, whatever it may be, is worthy of + worship. + </p> + <p> + There is good in Nature. It is the nature in us that perceives the evil, + that pursues the right. In man, Nature not only contemplates herself, but + approves or condemns her actions. Of course, "good" and "bad" are relative + terms, and things are "good" or "bad" as they affect man well or ill. + </p> + <p> + Infidels, skeptics,—that is to say, Freethinkers, have opposed the + Bible on account of the bad things in it, and Christians have upheld it, + not on account of the bad, but on account of the good. Throw away the + doctrine of inspiration, and the Bible will be more powerful for good and + far less for evil. Only a few years ago, Christians looked upon the Bible + as the bulwark of human slavery. It was the word of God, and for that + reason was superior to the reason of uninspired man. Had it been + considered simply as the work of man, it would not have been quoted to + establish that which the man of this age condemns. Throw away the idea of + inspiration, and all passages in conflict with liberty, with science, with + the experience of the intelligent part of the human race, instantly become + harmless. They are no longer guides for man. They are simply the opinions + of dead barbarians. The good passages not only remain, but their influence + is increased, because they are relieved of a burden. + </p> + <p> + No one cares whether the truth is inspired or not. The truth is + independent of man, not only, but of God. And by truth I do not mean the + absolute, I mean this: Truth is the relation between things and thoughts, + and between thoughts and thoughts. The perception of this relation bears + the same relation to the logical faculty in man, that music does to some + portion of the brain—that is to say, it is a mental melody. This + sublime strain has been heard by a few, and I am enthusiastic enough to + believe that it will be the music of the future. + </p> + <p> + For the good and for the true in the Old and New Testaments I have the + same regard that I have for the good and true, no matter where they may be + found. We who know how false the history of to-day is; we who know the + almost numberless mistakes that men make who are endeavoring to tell the + truth; we who know how hard it is, with all the facilities we now have—with + the daily press, the telegraph, the fact that nearly all can read and + write—to get a truthful report of the simplest occurrence, must see + that nothing short of inspiration (admitting for the moment the + possibility of such a thing,) could have prevented the Scriptures from + being filled with error. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + AT LAST, THE SCHOOLHOUSE is larger than the church. The common people + have, through education, become uncommon. They now know how little is + really known by kings, presidents, legislators, and professors. At last, + they are capable of not only understanding a few questions, but they have + acquired the art of discussing those that no one understands. With the + facility of the cultured, they can now hide behind phrases and make + barricades of statistics. They understand the sophistries of the upper + classes; and while the cultured have been turning their attention to the + classics, to the dead languages, and the dead ideas that they contain,—while + they have been giving their attention to ceramics, artistic decorations, + and compulsory prayers, the common people have been compelled to learn the + practical things. They are acquainted with facts, because they have done + the work of the world. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + CRUELTY.—Sometimes it has seemed to me that cruelty is the climate + of crime, and that generosity is the Spring, Summer and Autumn of virtue. + Every form of wickedness, of meanness, springs from selfishness, that is + to say, from cruelty. Every good man hates and despises the wretch who + abuses wife and child—who rules by curses and blows and makes his + home a kind of hell. So, no generous man wishes to associate with one who + overworks his horse and feeds the lean and fainting beast with blows. + </p> + <p> + The barbarian delights in inflicting pain. He loves to see his victim + bleed,—but the civilized man staunches blood, binds up wounds and + decreases pain. He pities the suffering animal as well as the suffering + man. + </p> + <p> + He would no more inflict wanton wounds upon a dog than on a man. The heart + of the civilized man speaks for the dumb and helpless. + </p> + <p> + A good man would no more think of flaying a living animal than of + murdering his mother. The man who cuts a hoof from the leg of a horse is + capable of committing any crime that does not require courage. Such an + experiment can be of no use. Under no circumstances are hoofs taken from + horses for the good of the horses any more than their heads would be cut + off. + </p> + <p> + Think of the pain inflicted by separating the hoof of a living horse from + the flesh! If the poor beast could speak what would he say? The same + knowledge could be obtained by cutting away the hoof of a dead horse. + Knowledge of every bone, ligament, artery and vein, of every cartilage and + joint can be obtained by the dissection of the dead. "But," says the + biologist, "we must dissect the living." + </p> + <p> + Well, millions of living animals have been cut in pieces; millions of + experiments have been tried; all the nerves have been touched; every + possible agony has been inflicted that ingenuity could invent and cruelty + accomplish. Many volumes have been published filled with accounts of these + experiments, giving all the details and the results. People who are + curious about such things can read these reports. There is no need of + repeating these savage experiments. It is now known how long a dog can + live with all the pores of his skin closed, how long he can survive the + loss of his skin, or one lobe of his brain, or both of his kidneys, or + part of his intestines, or without his liver, and there is no necessity of + mutilating and mangling thousands of other dogs to substantiate what is + already known. + </p> + <p> + Of what possible use is it to know just how long an animal can live + without water—at what time he becomes insane from thirst, or blind + or deaf? + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE WORLD'S FAIR will do great good. A great many thousand people of the + Old World will for the first time understand the new; will for the first + time appreciate what a free people can do. For the first time they will + know the value of free institutions, of individual independence, of a + country where people express their thoughts, are not afraid of each other, + not afraid to try—a people so accustomed to success that disaster is + not taken into calculation. Of course, we have great advantages. We have a + new half of the world. We have soil better than is found in other + countries, and the soil is new and generous and anxious to be cultivated. + So we have everything in hill and mountain that man can need—silver, + and gold, and iron beyond computation—and, in addition to all that, + our people are the most inventive. We sustain about the same relation to + invention that Italy in her palmy days did to art, or that Spain did to + superstition. + </p> + <p> + And right here it may be well enough to say that I think it was + exceedingly unfortunate that this country was discovered under the + auspices of Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella were a couple of wretches. The + same year that Columbus discovered America, these sovereigns expelled the + Jews from Spain, and the expulsion was accompanied by every outrage, by + every atrocity to which man—that is to say, savage man—that is + to say, the superstitious savage—is capable of inflicting. + </p> + <p> + The Spaniards came to America and destroyed two civilizations far better + than their own. They were natural robbers, buccaneers, and thought nothing + of murdering thousands for gold. I am perfectly willing to celebrate the + fact of discovery, but for the sovereigns of Spain I am not willing to + celebrate, except, perhaps their deaths. There is at least some joy to be + extracted from that. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the untoward circumstances under which the continent was + discovered and settled, there is one thing that counteracted to a certain + degree the influence of the Old World in the New. Possibly we owe our + liberty to the Indians. If there had been no hostile savages on this + continent, the kings and princes of the Old World would have taken + possession and would have divided it out among their favorites. They tried + to do that, but their favorites could not take possession. They had to + fight for the soil and in the conflict of centuries they found that a good + fighter was a good citizen, and the ideas of caste were slowly lost. + </p> + <p> + Then another thing was of benefit to us. The settlers felt that they had + earned the soil; that they had fought for it, gained it by their + sufferings, their courage, their selfdenial, and their labor; and the idea + crept into their heads that the kings in Europe, who had done nothing, had + no right to dictate to them. + </p> + <p> + Thus at first the spirit of caste was destroyed by respectability resting + on usefulness. The spirit of subserviency to the Old World also died, and + the people who had rescued the land made up their minds not only to own + it, but to control it. They were also firmly convinced that the profits + belonged to them. In this way manhood was recognized in the New World. In + this way grew up the feeling of nationality here. + </p> + <p> + What I wish to see celebrated in this great exposition are the triumphs + that have been achieved in this New World. These I wish to see above all. + At the same time I want the best that labor and thought have produced in + all countries. It seems to me that in the presence of the wonderful + machines, of those marvelous mechanical contrivances by which we take + advantage of the forces of nature, by which we make servants of the + elemental powers—in the presence, I say, of these, it seems to me + respect for labor must be born. We shall begin to appreciate the men of + use instead of those who have posed as decorations. All the beautiful + things, all the useful things, come from labor, and it is labor that has + made the world a fit habitation for the human race. + </p> + <p> + Take from the World's Fair what labor has produced—the work of the + great artists—and nothing will be left. What have the great + conquerors to show in this great exhibition? What shall we get from the + Caesars and the Napoleons? What shall we get from popes and cardinals? + What shall we get from the nobility? From princes and lords and dukes? + What excuse have they for having existence and for having lived on the + bread earned by honest men? They stand in the show-windows of history, lay + figures, on which fine goods are shown, but inside the raiment there is + nothing, and never was. This exposition will be the apotheosis of labor. + No man can attend it without losing, if he has any sense at all, the + spirit of caste; or, if he still maintains it, he will put the useful in + the highest class, and the useless, whether carrying sceptres or dishes + for alms, in the lowest.—October, 1892. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE SAVAGE made of the river, the tree, the mountain, a fetich. He put + within, or behind these things, a spirit—according to Mr. Spencer, + the spirit of a dead ancestor. This is considered by the modern Christian, + and in fact by the modern philosopher, as the lowest possible phase of the + religious idea. To put behind the river or the tree, or within them, a + spirit, a something, is considered the religion of savagery; but to put + behind the universe, or within it, the same kind of fetich, is considered + the height of philosophy. + </p> + <p> + For my part, I see no possible distinction in these systems, except that + the view of the savage is altogether the more poetic. The <i>fetich</i> of + the savage is the <i>noumenon</i> of the Greek, the <i>God</i> of the + theologian, the <i>First Cause</i> of the metaphysician, the <i>Unknowable</i> + of Spencer. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE UNTHINKABLE.—It is admitted by all who have thought upon the + question that a First Cause is unthinkable—that a creative power is + beyond the reach of human thought. It therefore follows that the + miraculous is unthinkable. There is no possible way in which the human + mind can even think of a miracle. It is infinitely beyond our power of + conception. We can conceive of the statement, but not of the thing. It is + impossible for the intellect to conceive of a clay pot producing oil. It + is impossible to conceive even, of human life being perpetuated in the + midst of fire. This is just as unthinkable as that twice two are + twenty-seven. A man can say that three times three are two, but it is + impossible to think of any such thing—that is, to think of such a + statement as true. A man may say that he heard a stone sing a song and + heard it afterward repeat a part of Milton's "Paradise Lost." Now, I can + conceive of a man telling such a falsehood, but I cannot conceive of the + thing having happened. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + CAN HUMAN TESTIMONY Overcome the Apparently Impossible Without + Explanation?—It can only be believed by a philosophic mind when + explained—that is to say, by being destroyed as a miracle, and + persisting simply as a fact. + </p> + <p> + Now, I say that a miracle is unthinkable because a power above Nature, a + power that created Nature, is unthinkable. And if a power above Nature be + unthinkable, the miracles claiming to be supernatural are unthinkable. In + other words, all consequences flowing from a belief in an infinite Creator + are necessarily unthinkable. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + EDOUARD REMENYI.—This week the great violinist, Edouard Remenyi, as + my guest, visited the Bass Rocks House, Cape Ann, Mass., and for three + days delighted and entranced the fortunate idlers of the beach. He played + nearly all the time, night and day, seemingly carried away with his own + music. Among the many selections given, were the andante from the Tenth + Sonata in E flat, also from the Twelfth Sonata in G minor, by Mozart. + Nothing could exceed the wonderful playing of the selections from the + Twelfth Sonata. A hush as of death fell upon the audience, and when he + ceased, tears fell upon applauding hands. Then followed the Elegie from + Ernst; then "The Ideal Dance" composed by himself—a fairy piece, + full of wings and glancing feet, moonlight and melody, where fountains + fall in showers of pearl, and waves of music die on sands of gold—then + came the "Barcarole" by Schubert, and he played this with infinite spirit, + in a kind of inspired frenzy, as though music itself were mad with joy; + then the grand Sonata in G, in three movements, by Beethoven.—August, + 1880. + </p> + <p> + Remenyi's Playing.—In my mind the old tones are still rising and + falling—still throbbing, pleading, beseeching, imploring, wailing + like the lost—rising winged and triumphant, superb and victorious—then + caressing, whispering every thought of love—intoxicated, delirious + with joy—panting with passion—fading to silence as softly and + imperceptibly as consciousness is lost in sleep. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE KINDERGARTEN is perfectly adapted to the natural needs and desires of + children. Most children dislike the old system and go "unwillingly to + school." They feel imprisoned and wait impatiently for their liberty. They + learn without understanding and take no interest in their lessons. In the + Kindergarten there is perfect liberty, and study is transformed into play. + To learn is a pleasure. There are no wearisome tasks—no mental + drudgery—nothing but enjoyment,—the enjoyment of natural + development in natural ways. Children do not have to be driven to the + Kindergarten. To be kept away is a punishment. + </p> + <p> + The experience in many towns and cities justifies our belief that the + Kindergarten is the only valuable school for little children. They are + brought in contact with actual things—with forms and colors—things + that can be seen and touched, and they are taught to use their hands and + senses—to understand qualities and relations, and all is done under + the guise of play. We agree with Froebel who said: "Let us live for our + children." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE METHODIST CHURCH STATISTICS.—First. In 1800, a resolution in + favor of gradual emancipation was defeated. + </p> + <p> + Second. In 1804, resolutions passed requiring ministers to exhort slaves + to be obedient to their masters. + </p> + <p> + Third. In 1808, everything about laymen owning slaves Stricken out. + </p> + <p> + Fourth. In 1820, a resolution that ministers should not hold slaves was + defeated. + </p> + <p> + Fifth. In 1836, a resolution passed that the Methodist Church opposed, + abolition of slavery—one hundred and twenty to fourteen. + </p> + <p> + Sixth. In 1845-1846, the Methodist Church divided—Bishop Andrews + owned slaves. + </p> + <p> + Seventh. As late as 1860 there were over ten thousand Methodists who were + slaveholders in the M. E. Church, North. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + 117 East 21st Str., N. Y. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Response to an invitation to a dinner and a billiard + tournament at the Manhattan Athletic Club, New York City. +</pre> + <p> + Feby. 18, 1899. + </p> + <p> + My Dear Dr. Ranney: + </p> + <p> + I go to Boston to-morrow. So, you see it is impossible for me to be with + you on the 22d inst. I would like to make a few remarks on "orthodox + billiards." The fact is that the whole world is a table, we are the balls + and Fate plays the game. We are knocked and whacked against each other,—followed + and drawn—whirled and twisted, pocketed and spotted, and all the + time we think that we are doing the playing. But no matter, we feel that + we are in the game, and a real good illusion is, after all, it may be, the + only reality that we know. At the same time, I feel that Fate is a + careless player—that he is always a little nervous and generally + forgets to chalk his cue. I know that he has made lots of mistakes with me—lots + of misses. + </p> + <p> + With many thanks, I remain, yours always. + </p> + <p> + R. G. Ingersoll. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THOUGHTS ON CHRISTMAS, 1891.—It is beautiful to give one day to the + ideal—to have one day apart; one day for generous deeds, for good + will, for gladness; one day to forget the shadows, the rains, the storms + of life; to remember the sunshine, the happiness of youth and health; one + day to forget the briers and thorns of the winding path, to remember the + fruits and flowers; one day in which to feed the hungry, to salute the + poor and lowly; one day to feel the brotherhood of man; one day to + remember the heroic and loving deeds of the dead; one day to get + acquainted with children, to remember the old, the unfortunate and the + imprisoned; one day in which to forget yourself and think lovingly of + others; one day for the family, for the fireside, for wife and children, + for the love and laughter, the joy and rapture, of home; one day in which + bonds and stocks and deeds and notes and interest and mortgages and all + kinds of business and trade are forgotten, and all stores and shops and + factories and offices and banks and ledgers and accounts and lawsuits are + cast aside, put away and locked up, and the weary heart and brain are + given a voyage to fairyland. + </p> + <p> + Let us hope that such a day is a prophecy of what all days will be. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE ORTHODOX PREACHERS are several centuries in the rear. They all love + the absurd, and glory in believing the impossible. They are also as + conservative as though they were dead—good people—the leaders + of those who are going backward. + </p> + <hr /> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The Man who builds a home erects a temple. + The flame upon the hearth is the sacred fire. + He who loves wife and children is the true worshiper. + Forms and ceremonies, kneelings and fastings are born of selfish fear. + A good deed is the best prayer. + A loving life is the best religion. + No one knows whether the Unknown is worthy of worship or not. +</pre> + <hr /> + <p> + WE TWO, THE DOUBTING BRAIN AND HOPING HEART, with somber thought and + radiant wish, in dusk and dawn, in light and shade 'neath star and sun, + together journeying toward the night. And then the end, sighs the doubting + brain—but there is no end, says the hoping heart. O Brain! if you + knew, you would not doubt. O Heart! if you knew, you would not hope. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + RIGHTS AND DUTIES spring from the same source. He who has no rights has no + duties. Without liberty there can be no responsibility and no conscience. + Man calls himself to an account for the use of his power, and passes + judgment upon himself. The standard of such judgment we call conscience. + In the proportion that man uses his liberty, his power, for the good of + all, he advances, becomes civilized. Civilization does not consist merely + in invention, discovery, material advancement, but in doing justice. By + civilization is meant all discoveries, facts, theories, agencies, that add + to the happiness of man. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + AT BAY.—Sometimes in the darkness of night I feel as though + surrounded by the great armies of effacement—that the horizon is + growing smaller every moment—that the final surrender is only + postponed—that everything is taking something from me—that + Nature robs me with her countless hands—that my heart grows weaker + with every beat—that even kisses wear me away, and that every + thought takes toll of my brief life. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY.*—One year of perfect health—of + countless smiles—of wonder and surprise—of growing thought and + love—was duly celebrated on this day, and all paid tribute to the + infant queen. There were whirling things that scattered music as they + turned—and boxes filled with tunes—and curious animals of + whittled wood—and ivory rings with tinkling bells—and little + dishes for a fairy-feast—horses that rocked, and bleating sheep and + monstrous elephants of painted tin. A baby-tender, for a tender babe, + garments of silk and cushions wrought with flowers, and pictures of her + mother when a babe—and silver dishes for another year—and + coach and four and train of cars—and bric-a-brac for a baby's house—and + last of all, a pearl, to mark her first round year of life and love. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Written on the first anniversary of his grandchild, Eva + Ingersoll-Brown, August 27, 1892. +</pre> + <hr /> + <p> + SHELLEY.—The light of morn beyond the purple hills—a palm that + lifts its coronet of leaves above the desert's sands—an isle of + green in some far sea—a spring that waits for lips of thirst—a + strain of music heard within some palace wrought of dreams—a cloud + of gold above a setting sun—a fragrance wafted from some unseen + shore. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + FATE.—Never hurried, never delayed, passionless, pitiless, patient, + keeping the tryst—neither early nor late—there, on the very + stroke and center of the instant fixed. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + QUIET, and introspective calm come with the afternoon. Toward evening the + mind grows satisfied and still. The flare and flicker of youth are gone, + and the soul is like the flame of a lamp where the air is at rest. Age + discards the superfluous, the immaterial, the straw and chaff, and hoards + the golden grain. The highway is known, and the paths no longer mislead. + Clouds are not mistaken for mountains. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE OLD MAN has been long at the fair. He is acquainted with the jugglers + at the booths. His curiosity has been satisfied. He no longer cares for + the exceptional, the monstrous, the marvelous and deformed. He looks + through and beyond the gilding, the glitter and gloss, not only of things, + but of conduct, of manners, theories, religions and philosophies. He sees + clearer. The light no longer shines in his eyes. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The time will come when even selfishness will be charitable for its own + sake, because at that time the man will have grown and developed to that + degree that selfishness demands generosity and kindness and justice. The + self becomes so noble that selfishness is a virtue. The lowest form of + selfishness is when one is willing to be happy, or wishes to be happy, at + the expense or the misery of another. The highest form of selfishness is + when a man becomes so noble that he finds his happiness in making others + so. This is the nobility of selfishness. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + CUBA fell upon her knees—stretched her thin hands toward the great + Republic. We saw her tear-filled eyes—her withered breasts—her + dead babes—her dying—her buried and unburied dead. We heard + her voice, and pity, roused to action by her grief, became as stern as + justice, and the great Republic cried to Spain: "Sheathe the dagger of + assassination; take your bloody hand from the throat of the helpless; and + take your flag from the heaven of the Western World." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Perhaps I have reached the years of discretion. But it may be that + discretion is the enemy of happiness. If the buds had discretion there + might be no fruit. So it may be that the follies committed in the spring + give autumn the harvest.—August 11,1892. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Dickens wrote for homes—Thackeray for clubs. Byron did not care for + the fireside—for the prattle of babes—for the smiles and tears + of humble life. He was touched by grandeur rather than goodness,—loved + storm and crag and the wild sea. But Burns lived in the valley, touched by + the joys and griefs of lowly lives. + </p> + <p> + Imagine amethysts, rubies, diamonds, emeralds and opals mingled as liquids—then + imagine these marvelous glories of light and color changed to a tone, and + you have the wondrous, the incomparable voice of Scalchi. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE ORGAN.—The beginnings—the timidities—the half + thoughts—blushes—suggestions—a phrase of grace and + feeling—a sustained note—the wing on the wind—confidence—the + flight—rising with many harmonies that unite in the voluptuous swell—in + the passionate tremor—rising still higher—flooding the great + dome with the soul of enraptured sound. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + NEW MEXICO is a most wonderful country. It is a ragged miser with billions + of buried treasure. It looks as if Nature had guarded her silver and gold + with enough desolation to deter all but the brave. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + WHY SHOULD THE INDIAN SUMMER of a life be lost—the long, serene, and + tender days when earth and sky are friends? The falling leaves disclose + the ripened fruit—and so the flight of youth with dreams and fancies + should show the wealth of bending bough. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Give milk to babes, and wine to youth. But for old age, when ghosts of + more than two-score years are wandering on the traveled road, the fragrant + tea, that loosens gossip's tongue, is best.—December 25,1892. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [From a letter thanking a friend for a Christmas present of + a chest of tea.] +</pre> + <hr /> + <p> + ON MEMORIAL DAY our hearts blossom in gratitude as we lovingly remember + the brave men upon whose brows Death, with fleshless hands, placed the + laurel wreath of fame. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE SOUL IS AN ARCHITECt—it builds a habitation for itself—and + as the soul is, is the habitation. Some live in dens and caves, and some + in lowly homes made rich with love, and overrun with vine and flower. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + SCIENCE at last holds with honest hand the scales wherein are weighed the + facts and fictions of the world. She neither kneels nor prays, she stands + erect and thinks. Her tongue is not a traitor to her brain. Her thought + and speech agree. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE NEGRO who can pass me in the race of life will receive my admiration, + and he can count on my friendship. No man ever lived who proved his + superiority by trampling on the weak. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + RELIGION is like a palm tree—it grows at the top. The dead leaves + are all orthodox, while the new ones and the buds are all heretics. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + MEMORY is the miser of the mind; forgetfulness the spendthrift. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + HOPE is the only bee that makes honey without flowers. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + THE FIRES OF THE NEXT WORLD sustain the same relation to churches that + those in this world sustain to insurance companies. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Now and then there arises a man who on peril's edge draws from the + scabbard of despair the sword of victory. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The falling leaf that tells of autumn's death is, in a subtler sense, a + prophecy of spring. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Vice lives either before Love is born, or after Love is dead. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Intellectual freedom is only the right to be honest. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I believe that finally man will go through the phase of religion before + birth. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + When shrill chanticleer pierces the dull ear of morn. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Orthodoxy is the refuge of mediocrity. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The ocean is the womb of all that will be, the tomb of all that has been. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Jealousy never knows the value of a fact. + </p> + <p> + Envy cannot reason, malice cannot prophesy. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Love has a kind of second sight. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I have never given to any one a sketch of my life. According to my idea a + life should not be written until it has been lived.—July 1, 1888. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0034" id="link0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + EFFECT OF THE WORLD'S FAIR ON THE HUMAN RACE. + </h2> + <p> + THE Great Fair should be for the intellectual, mechanical, artistic, + political and social advancement of the world. Nations, like small + communities, are in danger of becoming provincial, and must become so, + unless they exchange commodities, theories, thoughts, and ideals. + Isolation is the soil of ignorance, and ignorance is the soil of egotism; + and nations, like individuals who live apart, mistake provincialism for + perfection, and hatred of all other nations for patriotism. With most + people, strangers are not only enemies, but inferiors. They imagine that + they are progressive because they know little of others, and compare their + present, not with the present of other nations, but with their own past. + </p> + <p> + Few people have imagination enough to sympathize with those of a different + complexion, with those professing another religion or speaking another + language, or even wearing garments unlike their own. Most people regard + every difference between themselves and others as an evidence of the + inferiority of the others. They have not intelligence enough to put + themselves in the place of another if that other happens to be outwardly + unlike themselves. + </p> + <p> + Countless agencies have been at work for many years destroying the hedges + of thorn that have so long divided nations, and we at last are beginning + to see that other people do not differ from us, except in the same + particulars that we differ from them. At last, nations are becoming + acquainted with each other, and they now know that people everywhere are + substantially the same. We now know that while nations differ outwardly in + form and feature, somewhat in theory, philosophy and creed, still, + inwardly—that is to say, so far as hopes and passions are concerned—they + are much the same, having the same fears, experiencing the same joys and + sorrows. So we are beginning to find that the virtues belong exclusively + to no race, to no creed, and to no religion; that the humanities dwell in + the hearts of men, whomever and whatever they may happen to worship. We + have at last found that every creed is of necessity a provincialism, + destined to be lost in the universal. + </p> + <p> + At last, Science extends an invitation to all nations, and places at their + disposal its ships and its cars; and when these people meet—or + rather, the representatives of these people—they will find that, in + spite of the accidents of birth, they are, after all, about the same; that + their sympathies, their ideas' of right and wrong, of virtue and vice, of + heroism and honor, are substantially alike. They will find that in every + land honesty is honored, truth respected and admired, and that generosity + and charity touch all hearts. + </p> + <p> + So it is of the greatest importance that the inventions of the world + should be brought beneath one roof. These inventions, in my judgment, are + destined to be the liberators of mankind. They enslave forces and compel + the energies of nature to work for man. These forces have no backs to feel + the lash, no tears to shed, no hearts to break. + </p> + <p> + The history of the world demonstrates that man becomes What we call + civilized by increasing his wants. As his necessities increase, he becomes + industrious and energetic. If his heart does not keep pace with his brain, + he is cruel, and the physically or mentally strong enslave the physically + or mentally weak. At present these inventions, while they have greatly + increased the countless articles needed by man, have to a certain extent + enslaved mankind. In a savage state there are few failures. Almost any one + succeeds in hunting and fishing. The wants are few, and easily supplied. + As man becomes civilized, wants increase; or rather as wants increase, man + becomes civilized. Then the struggle for existence becomes complex; + failures increase. + </p> + <p> + The first result of the invention of machinery has been to increase the + wealth of the few. The hope of the world is that through invention man can + finally take such advantage of these forces of nature, of the weight of + water, of the force of wind, of steam, of electricity, that they will do + the work of the world; and it is the hope of the really civilized that + these inventions will finally cease to be the property of the few, to the + end that they may do the work of all for all. + </p> + <p> + When those who do the work own the machines, when those who toil control + the invention, then, and not till then, can the world be civilized or + free. When these forces shall do the bidding of the individual, when they + become the property of the mechanic instead of the monopoly, when they + belong to labor instead of what is called capital, when these great powers + are as free to the individual laborer as the air and light are now free to + all, then, and not until then, the individual will be restored and all + forms of slavery will disappear. + </p> + <p> + Another great benefit will come from the Fair. Other nations in some + directions are more artistic than we, but no other nation has made the + common as beautiful as we have. We have given beauty of form to machines, + to common utensils, to the things of every day, and have thus laid the + foundation for producing the artistic in its highest possible forms. It + will be of great benefit to us to look upon the paintings and marbles of + the Old World. To see them is an education. + </p> + <p> + The great Republic has lived a greater poem than the brain and heart of + man have as yet produced, and we have supplied material for artists and + poets yet unborn; material for form and color and song. The Republic is + to-day Art's greatest market. + </p> + <p> + Nothing else is so well calculated to make friends of all nations as + really to become acquainted with the best that each has produced. + </p> + <p> + The nation that has produced a great poet, a great artist, a great + statesman, a great thinker, takes its place on an equality with other + nations of the world, and transfers to all of its citizens some of the + genius of its most illustrious men. + </p> + <p> + This great Fair will be an object lesson to other nations. They will see + the result of a government, republican in form, where the people are the + source of authority, where governors and presidents are servants—not + rulers. We want all nations to see the great Republic as it is, to study + and understand its growth, development and destiny. We want them to know + that here, under our flag, are sixty-five millions of people and that they + are the best fed, the best clothed and the best housed in the world. We + want them to know that we are solving the great social problems, and that + we are going to demonstrate the right and power of man to govern himself. + We want the subjects of other nations to see aland filled with citizens—not + subjects; aland in which the pew is above the pulpit; where the people are + superior to the state; where legislators are representatives and where + authority means simply the duty to enforce the people's will. + </p> + <p> + Let us hope above all things that this Fair will bind the nations together + closer and stronger; and let us hope that this will result in the + settlement of all national difficulties by arbitration instead of war. In + a savage state, individuals settle their own difficulties by an appeal to + force. After a time these individuals agree that their difficulties shall + be settled by others. This is the first great step toward civilization. + The result is the establishment of courts. Nations at present sustain to + each other the same relation that savage does to savage. Each nation is + left to decide for itself, and it generally decides according to its + strength—not the strength of its side of the case, but the strength + of its army. The consequence is that what is called "the Law of Nations" + is a savage code. The world will never be civilized until there is an + international court. Savages begin to be civilized when they submit their + difficulties to their peers. Nations will become civilized when they + submit their difficulties to a great court, the judgments of which can be + carried out, all nations pledging the co-operation of their armies and + their navies for that purpose. + </p> + <p> + If the holding of the great Fair shall result in hastening the coming of + that time it will be a blessing to the whole world. + </p> + <p> + And here let me prophesy: The Fair will be worthy of Chicago, the most + wonderful city of the world—of Illinois, the best State in the Union—of + the United States, the best country on the earth. It will eclipse all + predecessors in every department. It will represent the progressive spirit + of the nineteenth century. Beneath its ample roofs will be gathered the + treasures of Art, and the accomplishments of Science. At the feet of the + Republic will be laid the triumphs of our race, the best of every land.—The + illustrated World's Fair, Chicago, November, 1891. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0035" id="link0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + SABBATH SUPERSTITION. + </h2> + <p> + THE idea that one day in the week is better than the others and should be + set apart for religious purposes; that it should be considered holy; that + no useful work should be done on that day; that it should be given over to + pious idleness and sad ceremonies connected with the worship of a supposed + Being, seems to have been originated by the Jews. + </p> + <p> + According to the Old Testament, the Sabbath was marvelously sacred for two + reasons; the first being, that Jehovah created the universe in six days + and rested on the seventh: and the second, because the Jews had been + delivered from the Egyptians. + </p> + <p> + The first of these reasons we now know to be false; and the second has + nothing, so far as we are concerned, to do with the question. + </p> + <p> + There is no reason for our keeping the seventh day because the Hebrews + were delivered from the Egyptians. + </p> + <p> + The Sabbath was a Jewish institution, and, according to the Bible, only + the Jews were commanded to keep that day. Jehovah said nothing to the + Egyptians on that subject; nothing to the Philistines, nothing to the + Gentiles. + </p> + <p> + The Jews kept that day with infinite strictness, and with them this space + of time known as the Sabbath became so holy that he who violated it by + working was put to death. Sabbath-breaking and murder were equal crimes. + On the Sabbath the pious Jew would not build a fire in his house. He ate + cold victuals and thanked God. The gates of the city were closed. No + business was done, and the traveler who arrived at the city on that day + remained outside until evening. If he happened to fall, he remained where + he fell until the sun had gone done. + </p> + <p> + The early Christians did not hold the seventh day in such veneration. As a + matter of fact, they ceased to regard it as holy, and changed the sacred + day from the seventh to the first. This change was really made by + Constantine, because the first day of the week was the Sunday of the + Pagans; and this day had been given to pleasure and recreation and to + religious ceremonies for many centuries. + </p> + <p> + After Constantine designated the first day to be kept and observed by + Christians, our Sunday became the sacred time. + </p> + <p> + The early Christians, however, kept the day much as it had been kept by + the Pagans. They attended church in the morning, and in the afternoon + enjoyed themselves as best they could.. + </p> + <p> + The Catholic Church fell in with the prevailing customs, and to + accommodate itself to Pagan ways and superstitions, it agreed, as far as + it could, with the ideas of the Pagan. + </p> + <p> + Up to the time of the Reformation, Sunday had been divided between the + discharge of religious duties and recreation. + </p> + <p> + Luther did not believe in the sacredness of the Sabbath. After church he + enjoyed himself by playing games, and wanted others to do the same. + </p> + <p> + Even John Calvin, whose view had been blurred by the "Five Points," + allowed the people to enjoy themselves on Sunday afternoon. + </p> + <p> + The reformers on the continent never had the Jewish idea of the sacredness + of the Sabbath. + </p> + <p> + In Geneva, Germany and France, all kinds of innocent amusement were + allowed on that day; and I believe the same was true of Holland. + </p> + <p> + But in Scotland the Jewish idea was adopted to the fullest extent. There + Sabbath-breaking was one of the blackest and one of the most terrible + crimes. Nothing was considered quite as sacred as the Sabbath. + </p> + <p> + The Scotch went so far as to take the ground that it was wrong to save + people who were drowning on Sunday, the drowning being a punishment + inflicted by God. Upon the question of keeping the Sabbath most of the + Scottish people became insane. + </p> + <p> + The same notions about the holy day were adopted by the Dissenters in + England, and it became the principal tenet in their creed. + </p> + <p> + The Puritans and Pilgrims were substantially crazy about the sacredness of + Sunday. With them the first day of the week was set apart for preaching, + praying, attending church, reading the Bible and studying the catechism. + Walking, riding, playing on musical instruments, boating, swimming and + courting, were all crimes. + </p> + <p> + No one had the right to be happy on that blessed day. It was a time of + gloom, sacred, solemn and religiously stupid. + </p> + <p> + They did their best to strip their religion of every redeeming feature. + They hated art and music—everything calculated to produce joy. They + despised everything except the Bible, the church, God, Sunday and the + creed. + </p> + <p> + The influence of these people has been felt in every part of our country. + The Sabbath superstition became almost universal. No laughter, no smiles + on that day; no games, no recreation, no riding, no walking through the + perfumed fields or by the winding streams or the shore of the sea. No + communion with the subtile beauties of nature; no wandering in the woods + with wife and children, no reading of poetry and fiction; nothing but + solemnity and gloom, listening to sermons, thinking about sin, death, + graves, coffins, shrouds, epitaphs and ceremonies and the marvelous truths + of sectarian religion, and the weaknesses of those who were natural enough + and sensible enough to enjoy themselves on the Sabbath day. + </p> + <p> + So universal became the Sabbath superstition that the Legislatures of all + the States, or nearly all, passed laws to prevent work and enjoyment on + that day, and declared all contracts void relating to business entered + into on Sunday. + </p> + <p> + The Germans gave us the first valuable lesson on this subject. They came + to this country in great numbers; they did not keep the American Sabbath. + They listened to music and they drank beer on that holy day. They took + their wives and children with them and enjoyed themselves; yet they were + good, kind, industrious people. They paid their debts and their credit was + the best. + </p> + <p> + Our people saw that men could be good and women virtuous without "keeping" + the Sabbath. + </p> + <p> + This did us great good, and changed the opinions of hundreds of thousands + of Americans. + </p> + <p> + But the churches insisted on the old way. Gradually our people began to + appreciate the fact that one-seventh of the time was being stolen by + superstition. They began to ask for the opening of libraries, for music in + the parks and to be allowed to visit museums and public places on the + Sabbath. + </p> + <p> + In several States these demands were granted, and the privileges have + never been abused. The people were orderly, polite to officials and to + each other. + </p> + <p> + In 1876, when the Centennial was held at Philadelphia, the Sabbatarians + had control. Philadelphia was a Sunday city, and so the gates of the + Centennial were closed on that day. + </p> + <p> + This was in Philadelphia where the Sabbath superstition had been so + virulent that chains had been put across the streets to prevent stages and + carriages from passing at that holy time. + </p> + <p> + At that time millions of Americans felt that a great wrong was done by + closing the Centennial to the laboring people; but the managers—most + of them being politicians—took care of themselves and kept the gates + closed. + </p> + <p> + In 1876 the Sabbatarians triumphed, and when it was determined to hold a + world's fair at Chicago they made up their minds that no one should look + upon the world's wonders on the Sabbath day. + </p> + <p> + To accomplish this pious and foolish purpose committees were appointed all + over the country; money was raised to make a campaign; persons were + employed to go about and arouse the enthusiasm of religious people; + petitions by the thousand were sent to Congress and to the officers of the + World's Fair, signed by thousands of people who never saw them; + resolutions were passed in favor of Sunday closing by conventions, + presbyteries, councils and associations. Lobbyists were employed to + influence members of Congress. Great bodies of Christians threatened to + boycott the fair and yet the World's Fair is open on Sunday. + </p> + <p> + What is the meaning of this? Let me tell you. It means that in this + country the Scotch New England Sabbath has ceased to be; it means that it + is dead. The last great effort for its salvation has been put forth, and + has failed. It belonged to the creed of Jonathan Edwards and the belief of + the witch-burners, and in this age it is out of place. + </p> + <p> + There was a time when the minister and priest were regarded as the + foundation of wisdom; when information came from the altar, from the + pulpit; and when the sheep were the property of the shepherd. + </p> + <p> + That day in intelligent communities has passed. We no longer go to the + minister or the church for information. The orthodox minister is losing + his power, and the Sabbath is now regarded as a day of rest, of recreation + and of pleasure. + </p> + <p> + The church must keep up with the people. The minister must take another + step. The multitude care but little about controversies in churches, but + they do care about the practical questions that directly affect their + daily lives. + </p> + <p> + Must we waste one day in seven; must we make ourselves unhappy or + melancholy one-seventh of the time? + </p> + <p> + These are important questions and for many years the church in our country + has answered them both in the affirmative, and a vast number of people not + Christians have also said "yes" because they wanted votes, or because they + feared to incite the hatred of the church. + </p> + <p> + Now in this year of 1893 a World's Fair answered this question in the + negative, and a large majority of the citizens of the Republic say that + the officers of the Fair have done right. + </p> + <p> + This marks an epoch in the history of the Sabbath. It is to be sacred in a + religious sense in this country no longer. Henceforth in the United States + the Sabbath is for the use of man. + </p> + <p> + Many of those who labored for the closing of the Fair on Sunday took the + ground that if the gates were opened, God would visit this nation with + famine, flood and fire. + </p> + <p> + It hardly seems possible that God will destroy thousands of women and + children who had nothing to do with the opening of the Fair; still, if he + is the same God described in the Christian Bible, he may destroy our babes + as he did those of the Egyptians. It is a little hard to tell in advance + what a God of that kind will do. + </p> + <p> + It was believed for many centuries that God punished the Sabbath-breaking + individual and the Sabbath-breaking nation. Of course facts never had + anything to do with this belief, and the prophecies of the pulpit were + never fulfilled. People who were drowned on Sunday, according to the + church, lost their lives by the will of God. Those drowned on other days + were the victims of storm or accident. The nations that kept the Sabbath + were no more prosperous than those that broke the sacred day. Certainly + France is as prosperous as Scotland. + </p> + <p> + Let us hope, however, that these zealous gentlemen who have predicted + calamities were mistaken; let us be glad that hundreds of thousands of + workingmen and women will be delighted and refined by looking at the + statues, the paintings, the machinery, and the countless articles of use + and beauty gathered together at the great Fair, and let us be glad that on + the one day that they can spare from toil, the gates will be open to them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0036" id="link0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE JACOB HOLYOAKE. + </h2> + <p> + TWO articles have recently appeared attacking the motives of George Jacob + Holyoake. He is spoken of as a man governed by a desire to please the rich + and powerful, as one afraid of public opinion and who in the perilous hour + denies or conceals his convictions. + </p> + <p> + In these attacks there is not one word of truth. They are based upon + mistakes and misconceptions. + </p> + <p> + There is not in this world a nobler, braver man. In England he has done + more for the great cause of intellectual liberty than any other man of + this generation. He has done more for the poor, for the children of toil, + for the homeless and wretched than any other living man. He has attacked + all abuses, all tyranny and all forms of hypocrisy. His weapons have been + reason, logic, facts, kindness, and above all, example. He has lived his + creed. He has won the admiration and respect of his bitterest antagonists. + He has the simplicity of childhood, the enthusiasm of youth and the wisdom + of age. He is not abusive, but he is clear and conclusive.. He is intense + without violence—firm without anger. He has the strength of perfect + kindness. He does not hate—he pities. He does not attack men and + women, but dogmas and creeds. And he does not attack them to get the + better of people, but to enable people to get the better of them. He gives + the light he has. He shares his intellectual wealth with the orthodox + poor. He assists without insulting, guides without arrogance, and + enlightens without outrage. Besides, he is eminent for the exercise of + plain common sense. He knows that there are wrongs besides those born of + superstition—that people are not necessarily happy because they have + renounced the Thirty-nine Articles—and that the priest is not the + only enemy of mankind. He has for forty years been preaching and + practicing industry, economy, self-reliance, and kindness. He has done all + within his power to give the workingman a better home, better food, better + wages, and better opportunities for the education of his children. He has + demonstrated the success of co-operation—of intelligent combination + for the common good. As a rule, his methods have been perfectly legal. In + some instances he has knowingly violated the law, and did so with the + intention to take the consequences. He would neither ask nor accept a + pardon, because to receive a pardon carries with it the implied promise to + keep the law, and an admission that you were in the wrong. He would not + agree to desist from doing what he believed ought to be done, neither + would he stain his past to brighten his future, nor imprison his soul to + free his body. He has that happy mingling of gentleness and firmness found + only in the highest type of moral heroes. He is an absolutely just man, + and will never do an act that he would condemn in another. He admits that + the most bigoted churchman has a perfect right to express his opinions not + only, but that he must be met with argument couched in kind and candid + terms. Mr. Holyoake is not only the enemy of a theological hierarchy, but + he is also opposed to mental mobs. He will not use the bludgeon of + epithet. + </p> + <p> + Perfect fairness is regarded by many as weakness. Some people have + altogether more confidence in their beliefs than in their own arguments. + They resort to assertion. If what they assert be denied, the "debate" + becomes a question of veracity. On both sides of most questions there are + plenty of persons who imagine that logic dwells only in adjectives, and + that to speak kindly of an opponent is a virtual surrender. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Holyoake attacks the church because it has been, is, and ever will be + the enemy of mental freedom, but he does not wish to deprive the church + even of its freedom to express its opinion against freedom. He is true to + his own creed, knowing that when we have freedom we can take care of all + its enemies. + </p> + <p> + In one of the articles to which I have referred it is charged that Mr. + Holyoake refused to sign a petition for the pardon of persons convicted of + blasphemy. If this is true, he undoubtedly had a reason satisfactory to + himself. You will find that his action, or his refusal to act, rests upon + a principle that he would not violate in his own behalf. + </p> + <p> + Why should we suspect the motives of this man who has given his life for + the good of others? I know of no one who is his mental or moral superior. + He is the most disinterested of men. His name is a synonym of candor. He + is a natural logician—an intellectual marksman. Like an unerring + arrow his thought flies to the heart and center. He is governed by + principle, and makes no exception in his own favor. He is intellectually + honest. He shows you the cracks and flaws in his own wares. He calls + attention to the open joints and to the weakest links. He does not want a + victory for himself, but for truth. He wishes to expose and oppose, not + men, but error. He is blessed with that cloudless mental vision that + appearances cannot deceive, that interest cannot darken, and that even + ingratitude cannot blur. Friends cannot induce and enemies cannot drive + this man to do an act that his heart and brain would not applaud. That + such a character was formed without the aid of the church, without the + hope of harp or fear of flame, is a demonstration against the necessity of + superstition. + </p> + <p> + Whoever is opposed to mental bondage, to the shackles wrought by cruelty + and worn by fear, should be the friend of this heroic and unselfish man. + </p> + <p> + I know something of his life—something of what he has suffered—of + what he has accomplished for his fellow-men. He has been maligned, + imprisoned and impoverished. "He bore the heat and burden of the + unregarded day" and "remembered the misery of the many." For years his + only recompense was ingratitude. At last he was understood. He was + recognized as an earnest, honest, gifted, generous, sterling man, loving + his country, sympathizing with the poor, honoring the useful, and holding + in supreme abhorrence tyranny and falsehood in all their forms. The idea + that this man could for a moment be controlled by any selfish motive, by + the hope of preferment, by the fear of losing a supposed annuity, is + simply absurd. The authors of these attacks are not acquainted with Mr. + Holyoake. Whoever dislikes him does not know him. + </p> + <p> + Read his "Trial of Theism"—his history of "Co-operation in England"—if + you wish to know his heart—to discover the motives of his life—the + depth and tenderness of his sympathy—the nobleness of his nature—the + subtlety of his thought—the beauty of his spirit—the force and + volume of his brain—the extent of his information—his candor, + his kindness, his genius, and the perfect integrity of his stainless soul. + </p> + <p> + There is no man for whom I have greater respect, greater reverence, + greater love, than George Jacob Holyoake.— + </p> + <p> + August 8, 1883. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0037" id="link0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + AT THE GRAVE OF BENJAMIN W. PARKER. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * This was the first tribute ever delivered by Colonel + Ingersoll at a grave. Mr. Parker himself was an Agnostic, + was the father of Mrs. Ingersoll, and was always a devoted + friend and admirer of the Colonel even before the latter's + marriage with his daughter. +</pre> + <p> + Peoria, Ill., May 24, 1876. + </p> + <p> + FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS: To fulfill a promise made many years ago, I wish to + say a word. + </p> + <p> + He whom we are about to lay in the earth, was gentle, kind and loving in + his life. He was ambitious only to live with those he loved. He was + hospitable, generous, and sincere. He loved his friends, and the friends + of his friends. He returned good for good. He lived the life of a child, + and died without leaving in the memory of his family the record of an + unkind act. Without assurance, and without fear, we give him back to + Nature, the source and mother of us all. + </p> + <p> + With morn, with noon, with night; with changing clouds and changeless + stars; with grass and trees and birds, with leaf and bud, with flower and + blossoming vine,—with all the sweet influences of nature, we leave + our dead. + </p> + <p> + Husband, father, friend, farewell. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0038" id="link0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO EBON C. INGERSOLL + </h2> + <h3> + Washington, D. C., May 31, 1879. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * The funeral of the Hon. E. C. Ingersoll took place + yesterday afternoon at four o'clock, from his late + residence, 1403 K Street The only ceremony at the house, + other than the viewing of the remains, was a most affecting + pathetic, and touching address by Col. Robert G. ingersoll, + brother of the deceased. Not only the speaker, but every one + of his hearers were deeply affected. When he began to read + his eloquent characterization of the dead man his eyes at + once filled with tears. He tried to hide them, but he could + not do it, and finally he bowed his head upon the dead man's + coffin in uncontrollable grief It was only after some delay, + and the greatest efforts a self-mastery, that Colonel + Ingersoll was able to finish reading his address. When he + had ceased speaking, the members of the bereaved family + approached the casket and looked upon the form which it + contained, for the last time. The scene was heartrending. + The devotion of all connected with the household excited + the sympathy of all and there was not a dry eye to be seen. + The pall-bearers—Senator William B. Allison, Senator James + G. Blaine, Senator David Davis, Senator Daniel W Voorhees. + Representative James A. Garfield, Senator A. S Paddock, + Representative Thomas Q. Boyd of Illinois, the Hon. Ward H. + Lermon, ex-Congressman Jere Wilson, and Representative Adlai + E. Stevenson of Illinois—then bore the remains to the + hearse, and the lengthy cortege proceeded to the Oak Hill + Cemetery, where the remains were interred, in the presence + of the family and friends, without further ceremony.— + National Republican, Washington, D. C., June 3, 1879. +</pre> + <p> + DEAR FRIENDS: I am going to do that which the dead oft promised he would + do for me. + </p> + <p> + The loved and loving brother, husband, father, friend, died where + manhood's morning almost touches noon, and while the shadows still were + falling toward the west. + </p> + <p> + He had not passed on life's highway the stone that marks the highest + point; but being weary for a moment, he lay down by the wayside, and using + his burden for a pillow, fell into that dreamless sleep that kisses down + his eyelids still. While yet in love with life and raptured with the + world, he passed to silence and pathetic dust. + </p> + <p> + Yet, after all, it may be best, just in the happiest, sunniest hour of all + the voyage, while eager winds are kissing every sail, to dash against the + unseen rock, and in an instant hear the billows roar above a sunken ship. + For whether in mid-sea or 'mong the breakers of the farther shore, a wreck + at last must mark the end of each and all. And every life, no matter if + its every hour is rich with love and every moment jeweled with a joy, + will, at its close, become a tragedy as sad and deep and dark as can be + woven of the warp and woof of mystery and death. + </p> + <p> + This brave and tender man in every storm of life was oak and rock; but in + the sunshine he was vine and flower. He was the friend of all heroic + souls. He climbed the heights, and left all superstitions far below, while + on his forehead fell the golden dawning of the grander day. + </p> + <p> + He loved the beautiful, and was with color, form, and music touched to + tears. He sided with the weak, the poor, and wronged, and lovingly gave + alms. With loyal heart and with the purest hands he faithfully discharged + all public trusts. + </p> + <p> + He was a worshiper of liberty, a friend of the oppressed. A thousand times + I have heard him quote these words: "<i>For Justice all place a temple, + and all season, summer</i>." He believed that happiness is the only good, + reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only + religion, and love the only priest. He added to the sum of human joy; and + were every one to whom he did some loving service to bring a blossom to + his grave, he would sleep tonight beneath a wilderness of flowers. + </p> + <p> + Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. + We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, and the only + answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless lips of the + unreplying dead there comes no word; but in the night of death hope sees a + star and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing. + </p> + <p> + He who sleeps here, when dying, mistaking the approach of death for the + return of health, whispered with his latest breath, "I am better now." Let + us believe, in spite of doubts and dogmas, of fears and tears, that these + dear words are true of all the countless dead. + </p> + <p> + The record of a generous life runs like a vine around the memory of our + dead, and every sweet, unselfish act is now a perfumed flower. + </p> + <p> + And now, to you, who have been chosen, from among the many men he loved, + to do the last sad office for the dead, we give his sacred dust. + </p> + <p> + Speech cannot contain our love. There was, there is, no gentler, stronger, + manlier man. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0039" id="link0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO THE REV. ALEXANDER CLARK. + </h2> + <h3> + Washington, D. C. July 13, 1879. + </h3> + <p> + UPON the grave of the Reverend Alexander Clark I wish to place one flower. + Utterly destitute of cold, dogmatic pride, that often passes for the love + of God; without the arrogance of the "elect;" simple, free, and kind—this + earnest man made me his friend by being mine. I forgot that he was a + Christian, and he seemed to forget that I was not, while each remembered + that the other was at least a man. + </p> + <p> + Frank, candid, and sincere, he practiced what he preached, and looked with + the holy eyes of charity upon the failings and mistakes of men. He + believed in the power of kindness, and spanned with divine sympathy the + hideous gulf that separates the fallen from the pure. + </p> + <p> + Giving freely to others the rights that he claimed for himself, it never + occurred to him that his God hated a brave and honest unbeliever. He + remembered that even an Infidel had rights that love respects; that hatred + has no saving power, and that in order to be a Christian it is not + necessary to become less than a human being. He knew that no one can be + maligned into kindness; that epithets cannot convince; that curses are not + arguments, and that the finger of scorn never points toward heaven. With + the generosity of an honest man, he accorded to all the fullest liberty of + thought, knowing, as he did, that in the realm of mind a chain is but a + curse. + </p> + <p> + For this man I felt the greatest possible regard. In spite of the taunts + and jeers of his brethren, he publicly proclaimed that he would treat + Infidels with fairness and respect; that he would endeavor to convince + them by argument and win them with love. He insisted that the God he + worshiped loved the well-being even of an Atheist. In this grand position + he stood almost alone. Tender, just, and loving where others were harsh, + vindictive, and cruel, he challenged the admiration of every honest man. A + few more such clergymen might drive calumny from the lips of faith and + render the pulpit worthy of esteem. + </p> + <p> + The heartiness and kindness with which this generous man treated me can + never be excelled. He admitted that I had not lost, and could not lose, a + single right by the expression of my honest thought. Neither did he + believe that a servant could win the respect of a generous master by + persecuting and maligning those whom the master would willingly forgive. + </p> + <p> + While this good man was living, his brethren blamed him for having treated + me with fairness. But, I trust, now that he has left the shore touched by + the mysterious sea that never yet has borne, on any wave, the image of a + homeward sail, this crime will be forgiven him by those who still remain + to preach the love of God. + </p> + <p> + His sympathies were not confined within the prison, of a creed, but ran + out and over the walls like vines, hiding the cruel rocks and rusted bars + with leaf and flower. He could not echo with his heart the fiendish + sentence of eternal fire. In spite of book and creed, he read "between the + lines" the words of tenderness and love, with promises for all the world.. + Above, beyond, the dogmas of his church—humane even to the verge of + heresy—causing some to doubt his love of God because he failed to + hate his unbelieving fellow-men, he labored for the welfare of mankind and + to his work gave up his life with all his heart. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0040" id="link0040"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + AT A CHILD'S GRAVE. + </h2> + <h3> + Washington, D. C., January 8, 1882. + </h3> + <p> + MY FRIENDS: I know how vain it is to gild a grief with words, and yet I + wish to take from every grave its fear. Here in this world, where life and + death are equal kings, all should be brave enough to meet what all the + dead have met. The future has been filled with fear, stained and polluted + by the heartless past. From the wondrous tree of life the buds and + blossoms fall with ripened fruit, and in the common bed of earth, + patriarchs and babes sleep side by side. + </p> + <p> + Why should we fear that which will come to all that is? We cannot tell, we + do not know, which is the greater blessing—life or death. We cannot + say that death is not a good. We do not know whether the grave is the end + of this life, or the door of another, or whether the night here is not + somewhere else a dawn. Neither can we tell which is the more fortunate—the + child dying in its mother's arms, before its lips have learned to form a + word, or he who journeys all the length of life's uneven road, painfully + taking the last slow steps with staff and crutch. + </p> + <p> + Every cradle asks us "Whence?" and every coffin "Whither?" The poor + barbarian, weeping above his dead, can answer these questions just as well + as the robed priest of the most authentic creed. The tearful ignorance of + the one, is as consoling as the learned and unmeaning words of the other. + No man, standing where the horizon of a life has touched a grave, has any + right to prophesy a future filled with pain and tears. + </p> + <p> + May be that death gives all there is of worth to life. If those we press + and strain within our arms could never die, perhaps that love would wither + from the earth. May be this common fate treads from out the paths between + our hearts the weeds of selfishness and hate. And I had rather live and + love where death is king, than have eternal life where love is not. + Another life is nought, unless we know and love again the ones who love us + here. + </p> + <p> + They who stand with breaking hearts around this little grave, need have no + fear. The larger and the nobler faith in all that is, and is to be, tells + us that death, even at its worst, is only perfect rest. We know that + through the common wants of life—the needs and duties of each hour—their + grief will lessen day by day, until at last this grave will be to them a + place of rest and peace—almost of joy. There is for them this + consolation: The dead do not suffer. If they live again, their lives will + surely be as good as ours. We have no fear. We are all children of the + same mother, and the same fate awaits us all. We, too, have our religion, + and it is this: Help for the living—Hope for the dead. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0041" id="link0041"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO JOHN G. MILLS. + </h2> + <h3> + Washington, D. C., April 15, 1883. + </h3> + <p> + MY FRIENDS: Again we are face to face with the great mystery that shrouds + this world. We question, but there is no reply. Out on the wide waste + seas, there drifts no spar. Over the desert of death the sphinx gazes + forever, but never speaks. + </p> + <p> + In the very May of life another heart has ceased to beat. Night has fallen + upon noon. But he lived, he loved, he was loved. Wife and children pressed + their kisses on his lips. This is enough. The longest life contains no + more. This fills the vase of joy. + </p> + <p> + He who lies here, clothed with the perfect peace of death, was a kind and + loving husband, a good father, a generous neighbor, an honest man,—and + these words build a monument of glory above the humblest grave. He was + always a child, sincere and frank, as full of hope as Spring. He divided + all time into to-day and to-morrow. To-morrow was without a cloud, and of + to-morrow he borrowed sunshine for to-day. He was my friend. He will + remain so. The living oft become estranged; the dead are true. He was not + a Christian. In the Eden of his hope there did not crawl and coil the + serpent of eternal pain. In many languages he sought the thoughts of men, + and for himself he solved the problems of the world. He accepted the + philosophy of Auguste Comte. Humanity was his God; the human race was his + Supreme Being. In that Supreme Being he put his trust. He believed that we + are indebted for what we enjoy to the labor, the self-denial, the heroism + of the human race, and that as we have plucked the fruit of what others + planted, we in thankfulness should plant for others yet to be. + </p> + <p> + With him immortality was the eternal consequences of his own acts. He + believed that every pure thought, every disinterested deed, hastens the + harvest of universal good. This is a religion that enriches poverty; that + enables us to bear the sorrows of the saddest life; that peoples even + solitude with the happy millions yet to live,—a religion born not of + selfishness and fear, but of love, of gratitude, and hope,—a + religion that digs wells to slake the thirst of others, and gladly bears + the burdens of the unborn. + </p> + <p> + But in the presence of death, how beliefs and dogmas wither and decay! How + loving words and deeds burst into blossom! Pluck from the tree of any life + these flowers, and there remain but the barren thorns of bigotry and + creed. + </p> + <p> + All wish for happiness beyond this life. All hope to meet again the loved + and lost. In every heart there grows this sacred flower. Immortality is a + word that Hope through all the ages has been whispering to Love. The + miracle of thought we cannot understand. The mystery of life and death we + cannot comprehend. This chaos called the world has never been explained. + The golden bridge of life from gloom emerges, and on shadow rests. Beyond + this we do not know. Fate is speechless, destiny is dumb, and the secret + of the future has never yet been told. We love; we wait; we hope. The more + we love, the more we fear. Upon the tenderest heart the deepest shadows + fall. All paths, whether filled with thorns or flowers, end here. Here + success and failure are the same. The rag of Wretchedness and the purple + robe of power all difference and distinction lose in this democracy of + death. Character survives; goodness lives; love is immortal. + </p> + <p> + And yet to all a time may come when the fevered lips of life will long for + the cool, delicious kiss of death—when tired of the dust and glare + of day we all shall hear with joy the rustling garments of the night. + </p> + <p> + What can we say of death? What can we say of the dead? Where they have + gone, reason cannot go, and from thence revelation has not come. But let + us believe that over the cradle Nature bends and smiles, and lovingly + above the dead in benediction holds her outstretched hands. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0042" id="link0042"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO ELIZUR WRIGHT. + </h2> + <h3> + New York. December 19, 1885. + </h3> + <p> + ANOTHER hero has fallen asleep—one who enriched the world with an + honest life. + </p> + <p> + Elizur Wright was one of the Titans who attacked the monsters, the Gods, + of his time—one of the few whose confidence in liberty was never + shaken, and who, with undimmed eyes, saw the atrocities and barbarisms of + his day and the glories of the future. + </p> + <p> + When New York was degraded enough to mob Arthur Tappan, the noblest of her + citizens; when Boston was sufficiently infamous to howl and hoot at + Harriet Martineau, the grandest Englishwoman that ever touched our soil; + when the North was dominated by theology and trade, by piety and piracy; + when we received our morals from merchants, and made merchandise of our + morals, Elizur Wright held principle above profit, and preserved his + manhood at the peril of his life. + </p> + <p> + When the rich, the cultured, and the respectable,—when church + members and ministers, who had been "called" to preach the "glad tidings," + and when statesmen like Webster joined with bloodhounds, and in the name + of God hunted men and mothers, this man rescued the fugitives and gave + asylum to the oppressed. + </p> + <p> + During those infamous years—years of cruelty and national + degradation—years of hypocrisy and greed and meanness beneath the + reach of any English word, Elizur Wright became acquainted with the + orthodox church. He found that a majority of Christians were willing to + enslave men and women for whom they said that Christ had died—that + they would steal the babe of a Christian mother, although they believed + that the mother would be their equal in heaven forever. He found that + those who loved their enemies would enslave their friends—that + people who when smitten on one cheek turned the other, were ready, willing + and anxious to mob and murder those who simply said: "The laborer is + worthy of his hire." + </p> + <p> + In those days the church was in favor of slavery, not only of the body but + of the mind. According to the creeds, God himself was an infinite master + and all his children serfs. He ruled with whip and chain, with pestilence + and fire. Devils were his bloodhounds, and hell his place of eternal + torture. + </p> + <p> + Elizur Wright said to himself, why should we take chains from bodies and + enslave minds—why fight to free the cage and leave the bird a + prisoner? He became an enemy of orthodox religion—that is to say, a + friend of intellectual liberty. + </p> + <p> + He lived to see the destruction of legalized larceny; to read the + Proclamation of Emancipation; to see a country without a slave, a flag + without a stain. He lived long enough to reap the reward for having been + an honest man; long enough for his "disgrace" to become a crown of glory; + long enough to see his views adopted and his course applauded by the + civilized world; long enough for the hated word "abolitionist" to become a + title of nobility, a certificate of manhood, courage and true patriotism. + </p> + <p> + Only a few years ago, the heretic was regarded as an enemy of the human + race. The man who denied the inspiration of the Jewish Scriptures was + looked upon as a moral leper, and the Atheist as the worst of criminals. + Even in that day, Elizur Wright was grand enough to speak his honest + thought, to deny the inspiration of the Bible; brave enough to defy the + God of the orthodox church—the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the + Eternal Jailer, the Everlasting Inquisitor. + </p> + <p> + He contended that a good God would not have upheld slavery and polygamy; + that a loving Father would not assist some of his children to enslave or + exterminate their brethren; that an infinite being would not be unjust, + irritable, jealous, revengeful, ignorant, and cruel. + </p> + <p> + And it was his great good fortune to live long enough to find the + intellectual world on his side; long enough to know that the greatest' + naturalists, philosophers, and scientists agreed with him; long enough to + see certain words change places, so that "heretic" was honorable and + "orthodox" an epithet. To-day, the heretic is known to be a man of + principle and courage—one blest with enough mental independence to + tell his thought. To-day, the thoroughly orthodox means the thoroughly + stupid. + </p> + <p> + Only a few years ago it was taken for granted that an "unbeliever" could + not be a moral man; that one who disputed the inspiration of the legends + of Judea could not be sympathetic and humane, and could not really love + his fellow-men. Had we no other evidence upon this subject, the noble life + of Elizur Wright would demonstrate the utter baselessness of these views. + </p> + <p> + His life was spent in doing good—in attacking the hurtful, in + defending what he believed to be the truth. Generous beyond his means; + helping others to help themselves; always hopeful, busy, just, cheerful; + filled with the spirit of reform; a model citizen—always thinking of + the public good, devising ways and means to save something for posterity, + feeling that what he had he held in trust; loving Nature, familiar with + the poetic side of things, touched to enthusiasm by the beautiful thought, + the brave word, and the generous deed; friendly in manner, candid and kind + in speech, modest but persistent; enjoying leisure as only the industrious + can; loving and gentle in his family; hospitable,—judging men and + women regardless of wealth, position or public clamor; physically + fearless, intellectually honest, thoroughly informed; unselfish, sincere, + and reliable as the attraction of gravitation. Such was Elizur Wright,—one + of the staunchest soldiers that ever faced and braved for freedom's sake + the wrath and scorn and lies of place and power. + </p> + <p> + A few days ago I met this genuine man. His interest in all human things + was just as deep and keen, his hatred of oppression, his love of freedom, + just as intense, just as fervid, as on the day I met him first. True, his + body was old, but his mind was young, and his heart, like a spring in the + desert, bubbled over as joyously as though it had the secret of eternal + youth. But it has ceased to beat, and the mysterious veil that hangs where + sight and blindness are the same—the veil that revelation has not + drawn aside—that science cannot lift, has fallen once again between + the living and the dead. + </p> + <p> + And yet we hope and dream. May be the longing for another life is but the + prophecy forever warm from Nature's lips, that love, disguised as death, + alone fulfills. We cannot tell. And yet perhaps this Hope is but an antic, + following the fortunes of an uncrowned king, beguiling grief with jest and + satisfying loss with pictured gain. We do not know. + </p> + <p> + But from the Christian's cruel hell, and from his heaven more heartless + still, the free and noble soul, if forced to choose, should loathing turn, + and cling with rapture to the thought of endless sleep. + </p> + <p> + But this we know: good deeds are never childless. A noble life is never + lost. A virtuous action does not die. Elizur Wright scattered with + generous hand the priceless seeds, and we shall reap the golden grain. His + words and acts are ours, and all he nobly did is living still. + </p> + <p> + Farewell, brave soul! Upon thy grave I lay this tribute of respect and + love. When last our hands were joined, I said these parting words: "Long + life!" And I repeat them now. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0043" id="link0043"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO MRS. IDA WHITING KNOWLES. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, Dec, 16, 1887. + </h3> + <p> + MY FRIENDS: Again we stand in the shadow of the great mystery—a + shadow as deep and dark as when the tears of the first mother fell upon + the pallid face of her lifeless babe—a mystery that has never yet + been solved. + </p> + <p> + We have met in the presence of the sacred dead, to speak a word of praise, + of hope, of consolation. + </p> + <p> + Another life of love is now a blessed memory—a lingering strain of + music. + </p> + <p> + The loving daughter, the pure and consecrated wife, the sincere friend, + who with tender faithfulness discharged the duties of a life, has reached + her journey's end. + </p> + <p> + A braver, a more serene, a more chivalric spirit—clasping the loved + and by them clasped—never passed from life to enrich the realm of + death. No field of war ever witnessed greater fortitude, more perfect, + smiling courage, than this poor, weak and helpless woman displayed upon + the bed of pain and death. + </p> + <p> + Her life was gentle and her death sublime. She loved the good and all the + good loved her. + </p> + <p> + There is this consolation: she can never suffer more; never feel again the + chill of death; never part again from those she loves. Her heart can break + no more. She has shed her last tear, and upon her stainless brow has been + set the wondrous seal of everlasting peace. + </p> + <p> + When the Angel of Death—the masked and voiceless—enters the + door of home, there come with her all the daughters of Compassion, and of + these Love and Hope remain forever. + </p> + <p> + You are about to take this dear dust home—to the home of her + girlhood, and to the place that was once my home. You will lay her with + neighbors whom I have loved, and who are now at rest. You will lay her + where my father sleeps. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Lay her i' the earth, + And from her fair and unpolluted flesh + May violets spring." +</pre> + <p> + I never knew, I never met, a braver spirit than the one that once + inhabited this silent form of dreamless clay. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0044" id="link0044"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO HENRY WARD BEECHER. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, June 26,1887. + </h3> + <p> + HENRY WARD BEECHER was born in a Puritan penitentiary, of which his father + was one of the wardens—a prison with very narrow and closely-grated + windows. Under its walls were the rayless, hopeless and measureless + dungeons of the damned, and on its roof fell the shadow of God's eternal + frown. In this prison the creed and catechism were primers for children, + and from a pure sense of duty their loving hearts were stained and scarred + with the religion of John Calvin. + </p> + <p> + In those days the home of an orthodox minister was an inquisition in which + babes were tortured for the good of their souls. Children then, as now, + rebelled against the infamous absurdities and cruelties of the creed. No + Calvinist was ever able, unless with blows, to answer the questions of his + child. Children were raised in what was called "the nurture and admonition + of the Lord"—that is to say, their wills were broken or subdued, + their natures were deformed and dwarfed, their desires defeated or + destroyed, and their development arrested or perverted. Life was robbed of + its Spring, its Summer and its Autumn. Children stepped from the cradle + into the snow. No laughter, no sunshine, no joyous, free, unburdened days. + God, an infinite detective, watched them from above, and Satan, with + malicious leer, was waiting for their souls below. Between these monsters + life was passed. Infinite consequences were predicated of the smallest + action, and a burden greater than a God could bear was placed upon the + heart and brain of every child. To think, to ask questions, to doubt, to + investigate, were acts of rebellion. To express pity for the lost, + writhing in the dungeons below, was simply to give evidence that the enemy + of souls had been at work within their hearts. + </p> + <p> + Among all the religions of this world—from the creed of cannibals + who devoured flesh, to that of Calvinists who polluted souls—there + is none, there has been none, there will be none, more utterly heartless + and inhuman than was the orthodox Congregationalism of New England in the + year of grace 1813. It despised every natural joy, hated pictures, + abhorred statues as lewd and lustful things, execrated music, regarded + nature as fallen and corrupt, man as totally depraved and woman as + somewhat worse. The theatre was the vestibule of perdition, actors the + servants of Satan, and Shakespeare a trifling wretch whose words were + seeds of death. And yet the virtues found a welcome, cordial and sincere; + duty was done as understood; obligations were discharged; truth was told; + self-denial was practiced for the sake of others, and many hearts were + good and true in spite of book and creed. + </p> + <p> + In this atmosphere of theological miasma, in this hideous dream of + superstition, in this penitentiary, moral and austere, this babe first saw + the imprisoned gloom. The natural desires ungratified, the laughter + suppressed, the logic brow-beaten by authority, the humor frozen by fear—of + many generations—were in this child, a child destined to rend and + wreck the prison's walls. + </p> + <p> + Through the grated windows of his cell, this child, this boy, this man, + caught glimpses of the outer world, of fields and skies. New thoughts were + in his brain, new hopes within his heart. Another heaven bent above his + life. There came a revelation of the beautiful and real. + </p> + <p> + Theology grew mean and small. Nature wooed and won and saved this mighty + soul. + </p> + <p> + Her countless hands were sowing seeds within his tropic brain. All sights + and sounds—all colors, forms and fragments—were stored within + the treasury of his mind. His thoughts were moulded by the graceful curves + of streams, by winding paths in woods, the charm of quiet country roads, + and lanes grown indistinct with weeds and grass—by vines that cling + and hide with leaf and flower the crumbling wall's decay—by cattle + standing in the summer pools like statues of content. + </p> + <p> + There was within his words the subtle spirit of the season's change—of + everything that is, of everything that lies between the slumbering seeds + that, half awakened by the April rain, have dreams of heaven's blue, and + feel the amorous kisses of the sun, and that strange tomb wherein the + alchemist doth give to death's cold dust the throb and thrill of life + again. He saw with loving eyes the willows of the meadow-streams grow red + beneath the glance of Spring—the grass along the marsh's edge—the + stir of life beneath the withered leaves—the moss below the drip of + snow—the flowers that give their bosoms to the first south wind that + wooes—the sad and timid violets that only bear the gaze of love from + eyes half closed—the ferns, where fancy gives a thousand forms with + but a single plan—the green and sunny slopes enriched with daisy's + silver and the cowslip's gold. + </p> + <p> + As in the leafless woods some tree, aflame with life, stands like a rapt + poet in the heedless crowd, so stood this man among his fellow-men. + </p> + <p> + All there is of leaf and bud, of flower and fruit, of painted insect life, + and all the winged and happy children of the air that Summer holds beneath + her dome of blue, were known and loved by him. He loved the yellow Autumn + fields, the golden stacks, the happy homes of men, the orchard's bending + boughs, the sumach's flags of flame, the maples with transfigured leaves, + the tender yellow of the beech, the wondrous harmonies of brown and gold—the + vines where hang the clustered spheres of wit and mirth. He loved the + winter days, the whirl and drift of snow—all forms of frost—the + rage and fury of the storm, when in the forest, desolate and stripped, the + brave old pine towers green and grand—a prophecy of Spring. He heard + the rhythmic sounds of Nature's busy strife, the hum of bees, the songs of + birds, the eagle's cry, the murmur of the streams, the sighs and + lamentations of the winds, and all the voices of the sea. He loved the + shores, the vales, the crags and cliffs, the city's busy streets, the + introspective, silent plain, the solemn splendors of the night, the silver + sea of dawn, and evening's clouds of molten gold. The love of nature freed + this loving man. + </p> + <p> + One by one the fetters fell; the gratings disappeared, the sunshine smote + the roof, and on the floors of stone, light streamed from open doors. He + realized the darkness and despair, the cruelty and hate, the starless + blackness of the old, malignant creed. The flower of pity grew and + blossomed in his heart. The selfish "consolation" filled his eyes with + tears. He saw that what is called the Christian's hope is, that, among the + countless billions wrecked and lost, a meagre few perhaps may reach the + eternal shore—a hope that, like the desert rain, gives neither leaf + nor bud—a hope that gives no joy, no peace, to any great and loving + soul. It is the dust on which the serpent feeds that coils in heartless + breasts. + </p> + <p> + Day by day the wrath and vengeance faded from the sky—the Jewish God + grew vague and dint—the threats of torture and eternal pain grew + vulgar and absurd, and all the miracles seemed strangely out of place. + They clad the Infinite in motley garb, and gave to aureoled heads the cap + and bells. + </p> + <p> + Touched by the pathos of all human life, knowing the shadows that fall on + every heart—the thorns in every path, the sighs, the sorrows, and + the tears that lie between a mother's arms and death's embrace—this + great and gifted man denounced, denied, and damned with all his heart the + fanged and frightful dogma that souls were made to feed the eternal hunger—ravenous + as famine—of a God's revenge. + </p> + <p> + Take out this fearful, fiendish, heartless lie—compared with which + all other lies are true—and the great arch of orthodox religion + crumbling falls. + </p> + <p> + To the average man the Christian hell and heaven are only words. He has no + scope of thought. He lives but in a dim, impoverished now. To him the past + is dead—the future still unborn. He occupies with downcast eyes that + narrow line of barren, shifting sand that lies between the flowing seas. + But Genius knows all time. For him the dead all live and breathe, and act + their countless parts again. All human life is in his now, and every + moment feels the thrill of all to be. + </p> + <p> + No one can overestimate the good accomplished by this marvelous, + many-sided man. He helped to slay the heart-devouring monster of the + Christian world. He tried to civilize the church, to humanize the creeds, + to soften pious breasts of stone, to take the fear from mothers' hearts, + the chains of creed from every brain, to put the star of hope in every sky + and over every grave. Attacked on every side, maligned by those who + preached the law of love, he wavered not, but fought whole-hearted to the + end. + </p> + <p> + Obstruction is but virtue's foil. From thwarted light leaps color's flame. + The stream impeded has a song. + </p> + <p> + He passed from harsh and cruel creeds to that serene philosophy that has + no place for pride or hate, that threatens no revenge, that looks on sin + as stumblings of the blind and pities those who fall, knowing that in the + souls of all there is a sacred yearning for the light. He ceased to think + of man as something thrust upon the world—an exile from some other + sphere. He felt at last that men are part of Nature's self—kindred + of all life—the gradual growth of countless years; that all the + sacred books were helps until outgrown, and all religions rough and + devious paths that man has worn with weary feet in sad and painful search + for truth and peace. To him these paths were wrong, and yet all gave the + promise of success. He knew that all the streams, no matter how they + wander, turn and curve amid the hills or rocks, or linger in the lakes and + pools, must some time reach the sea. These views enlarged his soul and + made him patient with the world, and while the wintry snows of age were + falling on his head, Spring, with all her wealth of bloom, was in his + heart. + </p> + <p> + The memory of this ample man is now a part of Nature's wealth. He battled + for the rights of men. His heart was with the slave. He stood against the + selfish greed of millions banded to protect the pirate's trade. His voice + was for the right when freedom's friends were few. He taught the church to + think and doubt. He did not fear to stand alone. His brain took counsel of + his heart. To every foe he offered reconciliation's hand. He loved this + land of ours, and added to its glory through the world. He was the + greatest orator that stood within the pulpit's narrow curve. He loved the + liberty of speech. There was no trace of bigot in his blood. He was a + brave and generous man. + </p> + <p> + With reverent hands, I place this tribute on his tomb. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0045" id="link0045"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO ROSCOE CONKLING. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Delivered before the New York State Legislature, at Albany, + N. Y, May 9,1888. +</pre> + <p> + ROSCOE CONKLING—a great man, an orator, a statesman, a lawyer, a + distinguished citizen of the Republic, in the zenith of his fame and power + has reached his journey's end; and we are met, here in the city of his + birth, to pay our tribute to his worth and work. He earned and held a + proud position in the public thought. He stood for independence, for + courage, and above all for absolute integrity, and his name was known and + honored by many millions of his fellow-men. + </p> + <p> + The literature of many lands is rich with the tributes that gratitude, + admiration and love have paid to the great and honored dead. These + tributes disclose the character of nations, the ideals of the human race. + In them we find the estimates of greatness—the deeds and lives that + challenged praise and thrilled the hearts of men. + </p> + <p> + In the presence of death, the good man judges as he would be judged. He + knows that men are only fragments—that the greatest walk in shadow, + and that faults and failures mingle with the lives of all. + </p> + <p> + In the grave should be buried the prejudices and passions born of + conflict. Charity should hold the scales in which are weighed the deeds of + men. Peculiarities, traits born of locality and surroundings—these + are but the dust of the race—these are accidents, drapery, clothes, + fashions, that have nothing to do with the man except to hide his + character. They are the clouds that cling to mountains. Time gives us + clearer vision. That which was merely local fades away. The words of envy + are forgotten, and all there is of sterling worth remains. He who was + called a partisan is a patriot. The revolutionist and the outlaw are the + founders of nations, and he who was regarded as a scheming, selfish + politician becomes a statesman, a philosopher, whose words and deeds shed + light. + </p> + <p> + Fortunate is that nation great enough to know the great. + </p> + <p> + When a great man dies—one who has nobly fought the battle of a life, + who has been faithful to every trust, and has uttered his highest, noblest + thought—one who has stood proudly by the right in spite of jeer and + taunt, neither stopped by foe nor swerved by friend—in honoring him, + in speaking words of praise and love above his dust, we pay a tribute to + ourselves. + </p> + <p> + How poor this world would be without its graves, without the memories of + its mighty dead. Only the voiceless speak forever. + </p> + <p> + Intelligence, integrity and courage are the great pillars that support the + State. + </p> + <p> + Above all, the citizens of a free nation should honor the brave and + independent man—the man of stainless integrity, of will and + intellectual force. Such men are the Atlases on whose mighty shoulders + rest the great fabric of the Republic. Flatterers, cringers, crawlers, + time-servers are the dangerous citizens of a democracy. They who gain + applause and power by pandering to the mistakes, the prejudices and + passions of the multitude, are the enemies of liberty. + </p> + <p> + When the intelligent submit to the clamor of the many, anarchy begins and + the Republic reaches the edge of chaos. Mediocrity, touched with ambition, + flatters the base and calumniates the great, while the true patriot, who + will do neither, is often sacrificed. + </p> + <p> + In a government of the people a leader should be a teacher—he should + carry the torch of truth. + </p> + <p> + Most people are the slaves of habit—followers of custom—believers + in the wisdom of the past—and were it not for brave and splendid + souls, "the dust of antique time would lie unswept, and mountainous error + be too highly heaped for truth to overpeer." Custom is a prison, locked + and barred by those who long ago were dust, the keys of which are in the + keeping of the dead. + </p> + <p> + Nothing is grander than when a strong, intrepid man breaks chains, levels + walls and breasts the many-headed mob like some great cliff that meets and + mocks the innumerable billows of the sea. + </p> + <p> + The politician hastens to agree with the majority—insists that their + prejudice is patriotism, that their ignorance is wisdom;—not that he + loves them, but because he loves himself. The statesman, the real + reformer, points out the mistakes of the multitude, attacks the prejudices + of his countrymen, laughs at their follies, denounces their cruelties, + enlightens and enlarges their minds and educates the conscience—not + because he loves himself, but because he loves and serves the right and + wishes to make his country great and free. + </p> + <p> + With him defeat is but a spur to further effort. He who refuses to stoop, + who cannot be bribed by the promise of success, or the fear of failure—who + walks the highway of the right, and in disaster stands erect, is the only + victor. Nothing is more despicable than to reach fame by crawling,—position + by cringing. + </p> + <p> + When real history shall be written by the truthful and the wise, these + men, these kneelers at the shrines of chance and fraud, these brazen idols + worshiped once as gods, will be the very food of scorn, while those who + bore the burden of defeat, who earned and kept their self-respect, who + would not bow to man or men for place or power, will wear upon their brows + the laurel mingled with the oak. + </p> + <p> + Roscoe Conkling was a man of superb courage. + </p> + <p> + He not only acted without fear, but he had that fortitude of soul that + bears the consequences of the course pursued without complaint. He was + charged with being proud. The charge was true—he was proud. His + knees were as inflexible as the "unwedgeable and gnarled oak," but he was + not vain. Vanity rests on the opinion of others—pride, on our own. + The source of vanity is from without—of pride, from within. Vanity + is a vane that turns, a willow that bends, with every breeze—pride + is the oak that defies the storm. One is cloud—the other rock. One + is weakness—the other strength. + </p> + <p> + This imperious man entered public life in the dawn of the reformation—at + a time when the country needed men of pride, of principle and courage. The + institution of slavery had poisoned all the springs of power. Before this + crime ambition fell upon its knees,—politicians, judges, clergymen, + and merchant-princes bowed low and humbly, with their hats in their hands. + The real friend of man was denounced as the enemy of his country—the + real enemy of the human race was called a statesman and a patriot. Slavery + was the bond and pledge of peace, of union, and national greatness. The + temple of American liberty was finished—the auction-block was the + corner-stone. + </p> + <p> + It is hard to conceive of the utter demoralization, of the political + blindness and immorality, of the patriotic dishonesty, of the cruelty and + degradation of a people who supplemented the incomparable Declaration of + Independence with the Fugitive Slave Law. + </p> + <p> + Think of the honored statesmen of that ignoble time who wallowed in this + mire and who, decorated with dripping filth, received the plaudits of + their fellow-men. The noble, the really patriotic, were the victims of + mobs, and the shameless were clad in the robes of office. + </p> + <p> + But let us speak no word of blame—let us feel that each one acted + according to his light—according to his darkness. + </p> + <p> + At last the conflict came. The hosts of light and darkness prepared to + meet upon the fields of war. The question was presented: Shall the + Republic be slave or free? The Republican party had triumphed at the + polls. The greatest man in our history was President elect. The victors + were appalled—they shrank from the great responsibility of success. + In the presence of rebellion they hesitated—they offered to return + the fruits of victory. Hoping to avert war they were willing that slavery + should become immortal. An amendment to the Constitution was proposed, to + the effect that no subsequent amendment should ever be made that in anyway + should interfere with the right of man to steal his fellow-men. + </p> + <p> + This, the most marvelous proposition ever submitted to a Congress of + civilized men, received in the House an overwhelming majority, and the + necessary two-thirds in the Senate. The Republican party, in the moment of + its triumph, deserted every principle for which it had so gallantly + contended, and with the trembling hands of fear laid its convictions on + the altar of compromise. + </p> + <p> + The Old Guard, numbering but sixty-five in the House, stood as firm as the + three hundred at Thermopylae. Thad-deus Stevens—as maliciously right + as any other man was ever wrong—refused to kneel. Owen Lovejoy, + remembering his brother's noble blood, refused to surrender, and on the + edge of disunion, in the shadow of civil war, with the air filled with + sounds of dreadful preparation, while the Republican party was retracing + its steps, Roscoe Conkling voted No. This puts a wreath of glory on his + tomb. From that vote to the last moment of his life he was a champion of + equal rights, staunch and stalwart. + </p> + <p> + From that moment he stood in the front rank. He never wavered and he never + swerved. By his devotion to principle—his courage, the splendor of + his diction,—by his varied and profound knowledge, his conscientious + devotion to the great cause, and by his intellectual scope and grasp, he + won and held the admiration of his fellow-men. + </p> + <p> + Disasters in the field, reverses at the polls, did not and could not shake + his courage or his faith. He knew the ghastly meaning of defeat. He knew + that the great ship that slavery sought to strand and wreck was freighted + with the world's sublimest hope. + </p> + <p> + He battled for a nation's life—for the rights of slaves—the + dignity of labor, and the liberty of all. He guarded with a father's care + the rights of the hunted, the hated and despised. He attacked the savage + statutes of the reconstructed States with a torrent of invective, scorn + and execration. He was not satisfied until the freedman was an American + Citizen—clothed with every civil right—until the Constitution + was his shield—until the ballot was his sword. + </p> + <p> + And long after we are dead, the colored man in this and other lands will + speak his name in reverence and love. Others wavered, but he stood firm; + some were false, but he was proudly true—fearlessly faithful unto + death. + </p> + <p> + He gladly, proudly grasped the hands of colored men who stood with him as + makers of our laws, and treated them as equals and as friends. The cry of + "social equality" coined and uttered by the cruel and the base, was to him + the expression of a great and splendid truth. He knew that no man can be + the equal of the one he robs—that the intelligent and unjust are not + the superiors of the ignorant and honest—and he also felt, and + proudly felt, that if he were not too great to reach the hand of help and + recognition to the slave, no other Senator could rightfully refuse. + </p> + <p> + We rise by raising others—and he who stoops above the fallen, stands + erect. + </p> + <p> + Nothing can be grander than to sow the seeds of noble thoughts and + virtuous deeds—to liberate the bodies and the souls of men—to + earn the grateful homage of a race—and then, in life's last shadowy + hour, to know that the historian of Liberty will be compelled to write + your name. + </p> + <p> + There are no words intense enough,—with heart enough—to + express my admiration for the great and gallant souls who have in every + age and every land upheld the right, and who have lived and died for + freedom's sake. + </p> + <p> + In our lives have been the grandest years that man has lived, that Time + has measured by the flight of worlds. + </p> + <p> + The history of that great Party that let the oppressed go free—that + lifted our nation from the depths of savagery to freedom's cloudless + heights, and tore with holy hands from every law the words that sanctified + the cruelty of man, is the most glorious in the annals of our race. Never + before was there such a moral exaltation—never a party with a + purpose so pure and high. It was the embodied conscience of a nation, the + enthusiasm of a people guided by wisdom, the impersonation of justice; and + the sublime victory achieved loaded even the conquered with all the rights + that freedom can bestow. + </p> + <p> + Roscoe Conkling was an absolutely honest man. Honesty is the oak around + which all other virtues cling. Without that they fall, and groveling die + in weeds and dust. He believed that a nation should discharge its + obligations. He knew that a promise could not be made often enough, or + emphatic enough, to take the place of payment. He felt that the promise of + the Government was the promise of every citizen—that a national + obligation was a personal debt, and that no possible combination of words + and pictures could take the place of coin. He uttered the splendid truth + that "the higher obligations among men are not set down in writing signed + and sealed, but reside in honor." He knew that repudiation was the + sacrifice of honor—the death of the national soul. He knew that + without character, without integrity, there is no wealth, and that below + poverty, below bankruptcy, is the rayless abyss of repudiation. He upheld + the sacredness of contracts, of plighted national faith, and helped to + save and keep the honor of his native land. This adds another laurel to + his brow. + </p> + <p> + He was the ideal representative, faithful and incorruptible. He believed + that his constituents and his country were entitled to the fruit of his + experience, to his best and highest thought. No man ever held the standard + of responsibility higher than he. He voted according to his judgment, his + conscience. He made no bargains—he neither bought nor sold. + </p> + <p> + To correct evils, abolish abuses and inaugurate reforms, he believed was + not only the duty, but the privilege, of a legislator. He neither sold nor + mortgaged himself. He was in Congress during the years of vast + expenditure, of war and waste—when the credit of the nation was + loaned to individuals—when claims were thick as leaves in June, when + the amendment of a statute, the change of a single word, meant millions, + and when empires were given to corporations. He stood at the summit of his + power—peer of the greatest—a leader tried and trusted. He had + the tastes of a prince, the fortune of a peasant, and yet he never + swerved. No corporation was great enough or rich enough to purchase him. + His vote could not be bought "for all the sun sees, or the close earth + wombs, or the profound seas hide." His hand was never touched by any + bribe, and on his soul there never was a sordid stain. Poverty was his + priceless crown. + </p> + <p> + Above his marvelous intellectual gifts—above all place he ever + reached,—above the ermine he refused,—rises his integrity like + some great mountain peak—and there it stands, firm as the earth + beneath, pure as the stars above. + </p> + <p> + He was a great lawyer. He understood the frame-work, the anatomy, the + foundations of law; was familiar with the great streams and currents and + tides of authority. + </p> + <p> + He knew the history of legislation—the principles that have been + settled upon the fields of war. He knew the maxims,—those + crystallizations of common sense, those hand-grenades of argument. He was + not a case-lawyer—a decision index, or an echo; he was original, + thoughtful and profound. He had breadth and scope, resource, learning, + logic, and above all, a sense of justice. He was painstaking and + conscientious—anxious to know the facts—preparing for every + attack, ready for every defence. He rested only when the end was reached. + During the contest, he neither sent nor received a flag of truce. He was + true to his clients—making their case his. Feeling responsibility, + he listened patiently to details, and to his industry there were only the + limits of time and strength. He was a student of the Constitution. He knew + the boundaries of State and Federal jurisdiction, and no man was more + familiar with those great decisions that are the peaks and promontories, + the headlands and the beacons, of the law. + </p> + <p> + He was an orator,—logical, earnest, intense and picturesque. He laid + the foundation with care, with accuracy and skill, and rose by "cold + gradation and well balanced form" from the corner-stone of statement to + the domed conclusion. He filled the stage. He satisfied the eye—the + audience was his. He had that indefinable thing called presence. Tall, + commanding, erect—ample in speech, graceful in compliment, Titanic + in denunciation, rich in illustration, prodigal of comparison and metaphor—and + his sentences, measured and rhythmical, fell like music on the enraptured + throng. + </p> + <p> + He abhorred the Pharisee, and loathed all conscientious fraud. He had a + profound aversion for those who insist on putting base motives back of the + good deeds of others. He wore no mask. He knew his friends—his + enemies knew him. + </p> + <p> + He had no patience with pretence—with patriotic reasons for unmanly + acts. He did his work and bravely spoke his thought. + </p> + <p> + Sensitive to the last degree, he keenly felt the blows and stabs of the + envious and obscure—of the smallest, of the weakest—but the + greatest could not drive him from conviction's field. He would not stoop + to ask or give an explanation. He left his words and deeds to justify + themselves. + </p> + <p> + He held in light esteem a friend who heard with half-believing ears the + slander of a foe. He walked a highway of his own, and kept the company of + his self-respect. He would not turn aside to avoid a foe—to greet or + gain a friend. + </p> + <p> + In his nature there was no compromise. To him there were but two paths—the + right and wrong. He was maligned, misrepresented and misunderstood—but + he would not answer. He knew that character speaks louder far than any + words. He was as silent then as he is now—and his silence, better + than any form of speech, refuted every charge. + </p> + <p> + He was an American—proud of his country, that was and ever will be + proud of him. He did not find perfection only in other lands. He did not + grow small and shrunken, withered and apologetic, in the presence of those + upon whom greatness had been thrust by chance. He could not be overawed by + dukes or lords, nor flattered into vertebrate-less subserviency by the + patronizing smiles of kings. In the midst of conventionalities he had the + feeling of suffocation. He believed in the royalty of man, in the + sovereignty of the citizen, and in the matchless greatness of this + Republic. + </p> + <p> + He was of the classic mould—a figure from the antique world. He had + the pose of the great statues—the pride and bearing of the + intellectual Greek, of the conquering Roman, and he stood in the wide free + air as though within his veins there flowed the blood of a hundred kings. + </p> + <p> + And as he lived he died. Proudly he entered the darkness—or the dawn—that + we call death. Unshrinkingly he passed beyond our horizon, beyond the + twilight's purple hills, beyond the utmost reach of human harm or help—to + that vast realm of silence or of joy where the innumerable dwell, and he + has left with us his wealth of thought and deed—the memory of a + brave, imperious, honest man, who bowed alone to death. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0046" id="link0046"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO RICHARD H. WHITING. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, May 24., 1888. + </h3> + <p> + MY FRIENDS: The river of another life has reached the sea. + </p> + <p> + Again we are in the presence of that eternal peace that we call death. + </p> + <p> + My life has been rich in friends, but I never had a better or a truer one + than he who lies in silence here. He was as steadfast, as faithful, as the + stars. + </p> + <p> + Richard H. Whiting was an absolutely honest man. His word was gold—his + promise was fulfillment—and there never has been, there never will + be, on this poor earth, any thing nobler than an honest, loving soul. + </p> + <p> + This man was as reliable as the attraction of gravitation—he knew no + shadow of turning. He was as generous as autumn, as hospitable as summer, + and as tender as a perfect day in June. He forgot only himself, and asked + favors only for others. He begged for the opportunity to do good—to + stand by a friend, to support a cause, to defend what he believed to be + right. + </p> + <p> + He was a lover of nature—of the woods, the fields and flowers. He + was a home-builder. He believed in the family and the fireside—in + the sacredness of the hearth. + </p> + <p> + He was a believer in the religion of deed, and his creed was to do good. + No man has ever slept in death who nearer lived his creed. + </p> + <p> + I have known him for many years, and have yet to hear a word spoken of him + except in praise. + </p> + <p> + His life was full of honor, of kindness and of helpful deeds. Besides all, + his soul was free. He feared nothing, except to do wrong. He was a + believer in the gospel of help and hope. He knew how much better, how much + more sacred, a kind act is than any theory the brain has wrought. + </p> + <p> + The good are the noble. His life filled the lives of others with sunshine. + He has left a legacy of glory to his children. They can truthfully say + that within their veins is right royal blood—the blood of an honest, + generous man, of a steadfast friend, of one who was true to the very gates + of death. + </p> + <p> + If there be another world, another life beyond the shore of this,—if + the great and good who died upon this orb are there,—then the + noblest and the best, with eager hands, have welcomed him—the equal + in honor, in generosity, of any one that ever passed beyond the veil. + </p> + <p> + To me this world is growing poor. New friends can never fill the places of + the old. + </p> + <p> + Farewell! If this is the end, then you have left to us the sacred memory + of a noble life. If this is not the end, there is no world in which you, + my friend, will not be loved and welcomed. Farewell! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0047" id="link0047"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO COURTLANDT PALMER. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, July 26, 1888. + </h3> + <p> + MY FRIENDS: A thinker of pure thoughts, a speaker of brave words, a doer + of generous deeds has reached the silent haven that all the dead have + reached, and where the voyage of every life must end; and we, his friends, + who even now are hastening after him, are met to do the last kind acts + that man may do for man—to tell his virtues and to lay with + tenderness and tears lay ashes in the sacred place of rest and peace. + </p> + <p> + Some one has said, that in the open hands of death we find only what they + gave away. + </p> + <p> + Let us believe that pure thoughts, brave words and generous deeds can + never die. Let us believe that they bear fruit and add forever to the + well-being of the human race. Let us believe that a noble, self-denying + life increases the moral wealth of man, and gives assurance that the + future will be grander than the past. + </p> + <p> + In the monotony of subservience, in the multitude of blind followers, + nothing is more inspiring than a free and independent man—one who + gives and asks reasons; one who demands freedom and gives what he demands; + one who refuses to be slave or master. Such a man was Courtlandt Palmer, + to whom we pay the tribute of respect and love. + </p> + <p> + He was an honest man—he gave the rights he claimed. This was the + foundation on which he built. To think for himself—to give his + thought to others; this was to him not only a privilege, not only a right, + but a duty. + </p> + <p> + He believed in self-preservation—in personal independence—that + is to say, in manhood. + </p> + <p> + He preserved the realm of mind from the invasion of brute force, and + protected the children of the brain from the Herod of authority. + </p> + <p> + He investigated for himself the questions, the problems and the mysteries + of life. Majorities were nothing to him. No error could be old enough—popular, + plausible or profitable enough—to bribe his judgment or to keep his + conscience still. + </p> + <p> + He knew that, next to finding truth, the greatest joy is honest search. + </p> + <p> + He was a believer in intellectual hospitality, in the fair exchange of + thought, in good mental manners, in the amenities of the soul, in the + chivalry of discussion. + </p> + <p> + He insisted that those who speak should hear; that those who question + should answer; that each should strive not for a victory over others, but + for the discovery of truth, and that truth when found should be welcomed + by every human soul. + </p> + <p> + He knew that truth has no fear of investigation—of being understood. + He knew that truth loves the day—that its enemies are ignorance, + prejudice, egotism, bigotry, hypocrisy, fear and darkness, and that + intelligence, candor, honesty, love and light are its eternal friends. + </p> + <p> + He believed in the morality of the useful—that the virtues are the + friends of man—the seeds of joy. + </p> + <p> + He knew that consequences determine the quality of actions, and "that + whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap." + </p> + <p> + In the positive philosophy of Auguste Comte he found the framework of his + creed. In the conclusions of that great, sublime and tender soul he found + the rest, the serenity and the certainty he sought. + </p> + <p> + The clouds had fallen from his life. He saw that the old faiths were but + phases in the growth of man—that out from the darkness, up from the + depths, the human race through countless ages and in every land had + struggled toward the ever-growing light. + </p> + <p> + He felt that the living are indebted to the noble dead, and that each + should pay his debt; that he should pay it by preserving to the extent of + his power the good he has, by destroying the hurtful, by adding to the + knowledge of the world, by giving better than he had received; and that + each should be the bearer of a torch, a giver of light for all that is, + for all to be. + </p> + <p> + This was the religion of duty perceived, of duty within the reach of man, + within the circumference of the known—a religion without mystery, + with experience for the foundation of belief—a religion understood + by the head and approved by the heart—a religion that appealed to + reason with a definite end in view—the civilization and development + of the human race by legitimate, adequate and natural means—that is + to say, by ascertaining the conditions of progress and by teaching each to + be noble enough to live for all. + </p> + <p> + This is the gospel of man; this is the gospel of this world; this is the + religion of humanity; this is a philosophy that comtemplates not with + scorn, but with pity, with admiration and with love all that man has done, + regarding, as it does, the past with all its faults and virtues, its + sufferings, its cruelties and crimes, as the only road by which the + perfect could be reached. + </p> + <p> + He denied the supernatural—the phantoms and the ghosts that fill the + twilight-land of fear. To him and for him there was but one religion—the + religion of pure thoughts, of noble words, of self-denying deeds, of + honest work for all the world—the religion of Help and Hope. + </p> + <p> + Facts were the foundation of his faith; history was his prophet; reason + his guide; duty his deity; happiness the end; intelligence the means. + </p> + <p> + He knew that man must be the providence of man. + </p> + <p> + He did not believe in Religion and Science, but in the Religion of Science—that + is to say, wisdom glorified by love, the Savior of our race—the + religion that conquers prejudice and hatred, that drives all superstition + from the mind, that ennobles, lengthens and enriches life, that drives + from every home the wolves of want, from every heart the fiends of + selfishness and fear, and from every brain the monsters of the night. + </p> + <p> + He lived and labored for his fellow-men. He sided with the weak and poor + against the strong and rich. He welcomed light. His face was ever toward + the East. + </p> + <p> + According to his light he lived. "The world was his country—to do + good his religion." There is no language to express a nobler creed than + this; nothing can be grander, more comprehensive, nearer perfect. This was + the creed that glorified his life and made his death sublime. + </p> + <p> + He was afraid to do wrong, and for that reason was not afraid to die. + </p> + <p> + He knew that the end was near. He knew that his work was done. He stood + within the twilight, within the deepening gloom, knowing that for the last + time the gold was fading from the West and that there could not fall again + within his eyes the trembling lustre of another dawn. He knew that night + had come, and yet his soul was filled with light, for in that night the + memory of his generous deeds shone out like stars. + </p> + <p> + What can we say? What words can solve the mystery of life, the mystery of + death? What words can justly pay a tribute to the man who lived to his + ideal, who spoke his honest thought, and who was turned aside neither by + envy, nor hatred, nor contumely, nor slander, nor scorn, nor fear? + </p> + <p> + What words will do that life the justice that we know and feel? + </p> + <p> + A heart breaks, a man dies, a leaf falls in the far forest, a babe is + born, and the great world sweeps on. + </p> + <p> + By the grave of man stands the angel of Silence. + </p> + <p> + No one can tell which is better—Life with its gleams and shadows, + its thrills and pangs, its ecstasy and tears, its wreaths and thorns, its + crowns, its glories and Golgothas, or Death, with its peace, its rest, its + cool and placid brow that hath within no memory or fear of grief or pain. + </p> + <p> + Farewell, dear friend. The world is better for your life—The world + is braver for your death. + </p> + <p> + Farewell! We loved you living, and we love you now. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0048" id="link0048"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO MRS. MARY H. FISKE. + </h2> + <h3> + At Scottish Rite Hall, New York, February 6, 1889. + </h3> + <p> + MY FRIENDS: In the presence of the two great mysteries, Life and Death, we + are met to say above this still, unconscious house of clay, a few words of + kindness, of regret, of love, and hope. + </p> + <p> + In this presence, let us speak of the goodness, the charity, the + generosity and the genius of the dead. + </p> + <p> + Only flowers should be laid upon the tomb. In life's last pillow there + should be no thorns. + </p> + <p> + Mary Fiske was like herself—she patterned after none. She was a + genius, and put her soul in all she did and wrote. She cared nothing for + roads, nothing for beaten paths, nothing for the footsteps of others—she + went across the fields and through the woods and by the winding streams, + and down the vales, or over crags, wherever fancy led. She wrote lines + that leaped with laughter and words that were wet with tears. She gave us + quaint thoughts, and sayings filled with the "pert and nimble spirit of + mirth." Her pages were flecked with sunshine and shadow, and in every word + were the pulse and breath of life. + </p> + <p> + Her heart went out to all the wretched in this weary world—and yet + she seemed as joyous as though grief and death were nought but words. She + wept where others wept, but in her own misfortunes found the food of hope. + She cared for the to-morrow of others, but not for her own. She lived for + to-day. + </p> + <p> + Some hearts are like a waveless pool, satisfied to hold the image of a + wondrous star—but hers was full of motion, life and light and storm. + </p> + <p> + She longed for freedom. Every limitation was a prison's wall. Rules were + shackles, and forms were made for serfs and slaves. + </p> + <p> + She gave her utmost thought. She praised all generous deeds; applauded the + struggling and even those who failed. + </p> + <p> + She pitied the poor, the forsaken, the friendless. No one could fall below + her pity, no one could wander beyond the circumference of her sympathy. To + her there were no outcasts—they were victims. She knew that the + inhabitants of palaces and penitentiaries might change places without + adding to the injustice of the world. She knew that circumstances and + conditions determine character—that the lowest and the worst of our + race were children once, as pure as light, whose cheeks dimpled with + smiles beneath the heaven of a mother's eyes. She thought of the road they + had traveled, of the thorns that had pierced their feet, of the deserts + they had crossed, and so, instead of words of scorn she gave the eager + hand of help. + </p> + <p> + No one appealed to her in vain. She listened to the story of the poor, and + all she had she gave. A god could do no more. + </p> + <p> + The destitute and suffering turned naturally to her. The maimed and hurt + sought for her open door, and the helpless put their hands in hers. + </p> + <p> + She shielded the weak—she attacked the strong. + </p> + <p> + Her heart was open as the gates of day. She shed kindness as the sun sheds + light. If all her deeds were flowers, the air would be faint with perfume. + If all her charities could change to melodies, a symphony would fill the + sky. + </p> + <p> + Mary Fiske had within her brain the divine fire called genius, and in her + heart the "touch of nature that makes the whole world kin." + </p> + <p> + She wrote as a stream runs, that winds and babbles through the shadowy + fields, that falls in foam of flight and haste and laughing joins the sea. + </p> + <p> + A little while ago a babe was found—one that had been abandoned by + its mother—left as a legacy to chance or fate. The warm heart of + Mary Fiske, now cold in death, was touched. She took the waif and held it + lovingly to her breast and made the child her own. + </p> + <p> + We pray thee, Mother Nature, that thou wilt take this woman and hold her + as tenderly in thy arms, as she held and pressed against her generous, + throbbing heart, the abandoned babe. + </p> + <p> + We ask no more. + </p> + <p> + In this presence, let us remember our faults, our frailties, and the + generous, helpful, self-denying, loving deeds of Mary Fiske. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0049" id="link0049"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO HORACE SEAVER. + </h2> + <h3> + At Paine Hall, Boston, August 25, 1889. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * The eulogy pronounced at the funeral of Horace Shaver In + Paine Hall last Sunday was the tribute of one great man to + another. To have Robert G. Ingersoll speak words of praise + above the silent form is fame; to deserve these words is + immortality.—The Boston Investigator, August 28, 1889. +</pre> + <p> + HORACE SEAVER was a pioneer, a torch-bearer, a toiler in that great field + we call the world—a worker for his fellow-men. At the end of his + task he has fallen asleep, and we are met to tell the story of his long + and useful life—to pay our tribute to his work and worth. + </p> + <p> + He was one who saw the dawn while others lived in night. He kept his face + toward the "purpling east" and watched the coming of the blessed day. + </p> + <p> + He always sought for light. His object was to know—to find a reason + for his faith—a fact on which to build. + </p> + <p> + In superstition's sands he sought the gems of truth; in superstition's + night he looked for stars. + </p> + <p> + Born in New England—reared amidst the cruel superstitions of his age + and time, he had the manhood and the courage to investigate, and he had + the goodness and the courage to tell his honest thoughts. + </p> + <p> + He was always kind, and sought to win the confidence of men by sympathy + and love. There was no taint or touch of malice in his blood. To him his + fellows did not seem depraved—they were not wholly bad—there + was within the heart of each the seeds of good. He knew that back of every + thought and act were forces uncontrolled. He wisely said: "Circumstances + furnish the seeds of good and evil, and man is but the soil in which they + grow." Horace Seaver was crowned with the wreath of his own deeds, woven + by the generous hand of a noble friend. He fought the creed, and loved the + man. He pitied those who feared and shuddered at the thought of death—who + dwelt in darkness and in dread. + </p> + <p> + The religion of his day filled his heart with horror. + </p> + <p> + He was kind, compassionate, and tender, and could not fall upon his knees + before a cruel and revengeful God—he could not bow to one who slew + with famine, sword and fire—to one pitiless as pestilence, + relentless as the lightning stroke. Jehovah had no attribute that he could + love. + </p> + <p> + He attacked the creed of New England—a creed that had within it the + ferocity of Knox, the malice of Calvin, the cruelty of Jonathan Edwards—a + religion that had a monster for a God—a religion whose dogmas would + have shocked cannibals feasting upon babes. + </p> + <p> + Horace Seaver followed the light of his brain—the impulse of his + heart. He was attacked, but he answered the insulter with a smile; and + even he who coined malignant lies was treated as a friend misled. He did + not ask God to forgive his enemies—he forgave them himself. He was + sincere. Sincerity is the true and perfect mirror of the mind. It reflects + the honest thought. It is the foundation of character, and without it + there is no moral grandeur. + </p> + <p> + Sacred are the lips from which has issued only truth. Over all wealth, + above all station, above the noble, the robed and crowned, rises the + sincere man. Happy is the man who neither paints nor patches, veils nor + veneers. Blessed is he who wears no mask. + </p> + <p> + The man who lies before us wrapped in perfect peace, practiced no art to + hide or half conceal his thought. He did not write or speak the double + words that might be useful in retreat. He gave a truthful transcript of + his mind, and sought to make his meaning clear as light. + </p> + <p> + To use his own words, he had "the courage which impels a man to do his + duty, to hold fast his integrity, to maintain a conscience void of + offence, at every hazard and at every sacrifice, in defiance of the + world." + </p> + <p> + He lived to his ideal. He sought the approbation of himself. He did not + build his character upon the opinions of others, and it was out of the + very depths of his nature that he asked this profound question: + </p> + <p> + "What is there in other men that makes us desire their approbation, and + fear their censure more than our own?" + </p> + <p> + Horace Seaver was a good and loyal citizen of the mental republic—a + believer in, intellectual hospitality, one who knew that bigotry is born + of ignorance and fear—the provincialisms of the brain. He did not + belong to the tribe, or to the nation, but to the human race. His sympathy + was wide as want, and, like the sky, bent above the suffering world. + </p> + <p> + This man had that superb thing called moral courage—courage in its + highest form. He knew that his thoughts were not the thoughts of others—that + he was with the few, and that where one would take his side, thousands + would be his eager foes. He knew that wealth would scorn and cultured + ignorance deride, and that believers in the creeds, buttressed by law and + custom, would hurl the missiles of revenge and hate. He knew that lies, + like snakes, would fill the pathway of his life—and yet he told his + honest thought—told it without hatred and without contempt—told + it as it really was. And so, through all his days, his heart was sound and + stainless to the core. + </p> + <p> + When he enlisted in the army whose banner is light, the honest + investigator was looked upon as lost and cursed, and even Christian + criminals held him in contempt. The believing embezzler, the orthodox + wife-beater, even the murderer, lifted his bloody hands and thanked God + that on his soul there was no stain of unbelief. + </p> + <p> + In nearly every State of our Republic, the man who denied the absurdities + and impossibilities lying at the foundation of what is called orthodox + religion, was denied his civil rights. He was not canopied by the ægis + of the law. He stood beyond the reach of sympathy. He was not allowed to + testify against the invader of his home, the seeker for his life—his + lips were closed. He was declared dishonorable, because he was honest. His + unbelief made him a social leper, a pariah, an outcast. He was the victim + of religious hate and scorn. Arrayed against him were all the prejudices + and all the forces and hypocrisies of society. All mistakes and lies were + his enemies. Even the Theist was denounced as a disturber of the peace, + although he told his thoughts in kind and candid words. He was called a + blasphemer, because he sought to rescue the reputation of his God from the + slanders of orthodox priests. + </p> + <p> + Such was the bigotry of the time, that natural love was lost. The + unbelieving son was hated by his pious sire, and even the mother's heart + was by her creed turned into stone. + </p> + <p> + Horace Seaver pursued his way. He worked and wrought as best he could, in + solitude and want. He knew the day would come. He lived to be rewarded for + his toil—to see most of the laws repealed that had made outcasts of + the noblest, the wisest, and the best. He lived to see the foremost + preachers of the world attack the sacred creeds. He lived to see the + sciences released from superstition's clutch. He lived to see the orthodox + theologian take his place with the professor of the black art, the + fortune-teller, and the astrologer. He lived to see the greatest of the + world accept his thought—to see the theologian displaced by the true + priests of Nature—by Humboldt and Darwin, by Huxley and Haeckel. + </p> + <p> + Within the narrow compass of his life the world was changed. The railway, + the steamship, and the telegraph made all nations neighbors. Countless + inventions have made the luxuries of the past the necessities of to-day. + Life has been enriched, and man ennobled. The geologist has read the + records of frost and flame, of wind and wave—the astronomer has told + the story of the stars—the biologist has sought the germ of life, + and in every department of knowledge the torch of science sheds its sacred + light. + </p> + <p> + The ancient creeds have grown absurd. The miracles are small and mean. The + inspired book is filled with fables told to please a childish world, and + the dogma of eternal pain now shocks the heart and brain. + </p> + <p> + He lived to see a monument unveiled to Bruno in the city of Rome—to + Giordano Bruno—that great man who two hundred and eighty-nine years + ago suffered death for having proclaimed the truths that since have filled + the world with joy. He lived to see the victim of the church a victor—lived + to see his memory honored by a nation freed from papal chains. + </p> + <p> + He worked knowing what the end must be—expecting little while he + lived—but knowing that every fact in the wide universe was on his + side. He knew that truth can wait, and so he worked patient as eternity. + </p> + <p> + He had the brain of a philosopher and the heart of a child. + </p> + <p> + Horace Seaver was a man of common sense. + </p> + <p> + By that I mean, one who knows the law of average. He denied the Bible, not + on account of what has been discovered in astronomy, or the length of time + it took to form the delta of the Nile—but he compared the things he + found with what he knew. + </p> + <p> + He knew that antiquity added nothing to probability—that lapse of + time can never take the place of cause, and that the dust can never gather + thick enough upon mistakes to make them equal with the truth. + </p> + <p> + He knew that the old, by no possibility, could have been more wonderful + than the new, and that the present is a perpetual torch by which we know + the past. + </p> + <p> + To him all miracles were mistakes, whose parents were cunning and + credulity. He knew that miracles were not, because they are not. + </p> + <p> + He believed in the sublime, unbroken, and eternal march of causes and + effects—denying the chaos of chance, and the caprice of power. + </p> + <p> + He tested the past by the now, and judged of all the men and races of the + world by those he knew. + </p> + <p> + He believed in the religion of free thought and good deed—of + character, of sincerity, of honest endeavor, of cheerful help—and + above all, in the religion of love and liberty—in a religion for + every day—for the world in which we live—for the present—the + religion of roof and raiment, of food, of intelligence, of intellectual + hospitality—the religion that gives health and happiness, freedom + and content—in the religion of work, and in the ceremonies of honest + labor. + </p> + <p> + He lived for this world; if there be another, he will live for that. + </p> + <p> + He did what he could for the destruction of fear—the destruction of + the imaginary monster who rewards the few in heaven—the monster who + tortures the many in perdition. + </p> + <p> + He was a friend of all the world, and sought to civilize the human race. + </p> + <p> + For more than fifty years he labored to free the bodies and the souls of + men—and many thousands have read his words with joy. He sought the + suffering and oppressed. He sat by those in pain—and his helping + hand was laid in pity on the brow of death. + </p> + <p> + He asked only to be treated as he treated others. He asked for only what + he earned, and had the manhood cheerfully to accept the consequences of + his actions. He expected no reward for the goodness of another. + </p> + <p> + But he has lived his life. We should shed no tears except the tears of + gratitude. We should rejoice that he lived so long. + </p> + <p> + In Nature's course, his time had come. The four seasons were complete in + him. The Spring could never come again. The measure of his years was full. + </p> + <p> + When the day is done—when the work of a life is finished—when + the gold of evening meets the dusk of night, beneath the silent stars the + tired laborer should fall asleep. To outlive usefulness is a double death. + "Let me not live after my flame lacks oil, to be the snuff of younger + spirits." + </p> + <p> + When the old oak is visited in vain by Spring—when light and rain no + longer thrill—it is not well to stand leafless, desolate, and alone. + It is better far to fall where Nature softly covers all with woven moss + and creeping vine. + </p> + <p> + How little, after all, we know of what is ill or well! How little of this + wondrous stream of cataracts and pools—this stream of life, that + rises in a world unknown, and flows to that mysterious sea whose shore the + foot of one who comes has never pressed! How little of this life we know—this + struggling ray of light 'twixt gloom and gloom—this strip of land by + verdure clad, between the unknown wastes—this throbbing moment + filled with love and pain—this dream that lies between the shadowy + shores of sleep and death! + </p> + <p> + We stand upon this verge of crumbling time. We love, we hope, we + disappear. Again we mingle with the dust, and the "knot intrinsicate" + forever falls apart. + </p> + <p> + But this we know: A noble life enriches all the world. + </p> + <p> + Horace Seaver lived for others. He accepted toil and hope deferred. + Poverty was his portion. Like Socrates, he did not seek to adorn his body, + but rather his soul with the jewels of charity, modesty, courage, and + above all, with a love of liberty. + </p> + <p> + Farewell, O brave and modest man! + </p> + <p> + Your lips, between which truths burst into blossom, are forever closed. + Your loving heart has ceased to beat. Your busy brain is still, and from + your hand has dropped the sacred torch. + </p> + <p> + Your noble, self-denying life has honored us, and we will honor you. + </p> + <p> + You were my friend, and I was yours. Above your silent clay I pay this + tribute to your worth. + </p> + <p> + Farewell! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0050" id="link0050"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO LAWRENCE BARRETT. + </h2> + <h3> + At the Broadway Theatre, New York, March 22, 1891. + </h3> + <p> + MY heart tells me that on the threshold of my address it will be + appropriate for me to say a few words about the great actor who has just + fallen into that sleep that we call death. Lawrence Barrett was my friend, + and I was his. He was an interpreter of Shakespeare, to whose creations he + gave flesh and blood. He began at the foundation of his profession, and + rose until he stood next to his friend—next to one who is regarded + as the greatest tragedian of our time—next to Edwin Booth. + </p> + <p> + The life of Lawrence Barrett was a success, because he honored himself and + added glory to the stage. + </p> + <p> + He did not seek for gain by pandering to the thoughtless, ignorant or + base. He gave the drama in its highest and most serious form. He shunned + the questionable, the vulgar and impure, and gave the intellectual, the + pathetic, the manly and the tragic. He did not stoop to conquer—he + soared. He was fitted for the stage. He had a thoughtful face, a vibrant + voice and the pose of chivalry, and besides he had patience, industry, + courage and the genius of success. + </p> + <p> + He was a graceful and striking Bassanio, a thoughtful Hamlet, an intense + Othello, a marvelous Harebell, and the best Cassius of his century. + </p> + <p> + In the drama of human life, all are actors, and no one knows his part. In + this great play the scenes are shifted by unknown forces, and the + commencement, plot and end are still unknown—are still unguessed. + One by one the players leave the stage, and others take their places. + There is no pause—the play goes on. No prompter's voice is heard, + and no one has the slightest clue to what the next scene is to be. + </p> + <p> + Will this great drama have an end? Will the curtain fall at last? Will it + rise again upon some other stage? Reason says perhaps, and Hope still + whispers yes. Sadly I bid my friend farewell, I admired the actor, and I + loved the man. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0051" id="link0051"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO WALT WHITMAN. + </h2> + <h3> + Camden, N. J., March 30, 1892. + </h3> + <p> + MY FRIENDS: Again we, in the mystery of Life, are brought face to face + with the mystery of Death. A great man, a great American, the most eminent + citizen of this Republic, lies dead before us, and we have met to pay a + tribute to his greatness and his worth. + </p> + <p> + I know he needs no words of mine. His fame is secure. He laid the + foundations of it deep in the human heart and brain. He was, above all I + have known, the poet of humanity, of sympathy. He was so great that he + rose above the greatest that he met without arrogance, and so great that + he stooped to the lowest without conscious condescension. He never claimed + to be lower or greater than any of the sous of men. + </p> + <p> + He came into our generation a free, untrammeled spirit, with sympathy for + all. His arm was beneath the form of the sick. He sympathized with the + imprisoned and despised, and even on the brow of crime he was great enough + to place the kiss of human sympathy. + </p> + <p> + One of the greatest lines in our literature is his, and the line is great + enough to do honor to the greatest genius that has ever lived. He said, + speaking of an outcast: "Not till the sun excludes you do I exclude you." + </p> + <p> + His charity was as wide as the sky, and wherever there was human + suffering, human misfortune, the sympathy of Whitman bent above it as the + firmament bends above the earth. + </p> + <p> + He was built on a broad and splendid plan—ample, without appearing + to have limitations—passing easily for a brother of mountains and + seas and constellations; caring nothing for the little maps and charts + with which timid pilots hug the shore, but giving himself freely with + recklessness of genius to winds and waves and tides; caring for nothing as + long as the stars were above him. He walked among men, among writers, + among verbal varnishers and veneerers, among literary milliners and + tailors, with the unconscious majesty of an antique god. + </p> + <p> + He was the poet of that divine democracy which gives equal rights to all + the sons and daughters of men. He uttered the great American voice; + uttered a song worthy of the great Republic. No man ever said more for the + rights of humanity, more in favor of real democracy, of real justice. He + neither scorned nor cringed, was neither tyrant nor slave. He asked only + to stand the equal of his fellows beneath the great flag of nature, the + blue and stars. + </p> + <p> + He was the poet of Life. It was a joy simply to breathe. He loved the + clouds; he enjoyed the breath of morning, the twilight, the wind, the + winding streams. He loved to look at the sea when the waves burst into the + whitecaps of joy. He loved the fields, the hills; he was acquainted with + the trees, with birds, with all the beautiful objects of the earth. He not + only saw these objects, but understood their meaning, and he used them + that he might exhibit his heart to his fellow-men. + </p> + <p> + He was the poet of Love. He was not ashamed of that divine passion that + has built every home in the world; that divine passion that has painted + every picture and given us every real work of art; that divine passion + that has made the world worth living in and has given some value to human + life. + </p> + <p> + He was the poet of the natural, and taught men not to be ashamed of that + which is natural. He was not only the poet of democracy, not only the poet + of the great Republic, but he was the poet of the human race. He was not + confined to the limits of this country, but his sympathy went out over the + seas to all the nations of the earth. + </p> + <p> + He stretched out his hand and felt himself the equal of all kings and of + all princes, and the brother of all men, no matter how high, no matter how + low. + </p> + <p> + He has uttered more supreme words than any writer of our century, possibly + of almost any other. He was, above all things, a man, and above genius, + above all the snow-capped peaks of intelligence, above all art, rises the + true man. Greater than all is the true man, and he walked among his + fellow-men as such. + </p> + <p> + He was the poet of Death. He accepted all life and all death, and he + justified all. He had the courage to meet all, and was great enough and + splendid enough to harmonize all and to accept all there is of life as a + divine melody. + </p> + <p> + You know better than I what his life has been, but let me say one thing. + Knowing, as he did, what others can know and what they cannot, he accepted + and absorbed all theories, all creeds, all religions, and believed in + none. His philosophy was a sky that embraced all clouds and accounted for + all clouds. He had a philosophy and a religion of his own, broader, as he + believed—and as I believe—than others. He accepted all, he + understood all, and he was above all. + </p> + <p> + He was absolutely true to himself. He had frankness and courage, and he + was as candid as light. He was willing that all the sons of men should be + absolutely acquainted with his heart and brain. He had nothing to conceal. + Frank, candid, pure, serene, noble, and yet for years he was maligned and + slandered, simply because he had the candor of nature. He will be + understood yet, and that for which he was condemned—his frankness, + his candor—will add to the glory and greatness of his fame. + </p> + <p> + He wrote a liturgy for mankind; he wrote a great and splendid psalm of + life, and he gave to us the gospel of humanity—the greatest gospel + that can be preached. + </p> + <p> + He was not afraid to live, not afraid to die. For many years he and death + were near neighbors. He was always willing and ready to meet and greet + this king called death, and for many months he sat in the deepening + twilight waiting for the night, waiting for the light. + </p> + <p> + He never lost his hope. When the mists filled the valleys, he looked upon + the mountain tops, and when the mountains in darkness disappeared, he + fixed his gaze upon the stars. + </p> + <p> + In his brain were the blessed memories of the day, and in his heart were + mingled the dawn and dusk of life. + </p> + <p> + He was not afraid; he was cheerful every moment. The laughing nymphs of + day did not desert him. They remained that they might clasp the hands and + greet with smiles the veiled and silent sisters of the night. And when + they did come, Walt Whitman stretched his hand to them. On one side were + the nymphs of the day, and on the other the silent sisters of the night, + and so, hand in hand, between smiles and tears, he reached his journey's + end. + </p> + <p> + From the frontier of life, from the western wave-kissed shore, he sent us + messages of content and hope, and these messages seem now like strains of + music blown by the "Mystic Trumpeter" from Death's pale realm. + </p> + <p> + To-day we give back to Mother Nature, to her clasp and kiss, one of the + bravest, sweetest souls that ever lived in human clay. + </p> + <p> + Charitable as the air and generous as Nature, he was negligent of all + except to do and say what he believed he should do and should say. + </p> + <p> + And I to-day thank him, not only for you but for myself, for all the brave + words he has uttered. I thank him for all the great and splendid words lie + has said in favor of liberty, in favor of man and woman, in favor of + motherhood, in favor of fathers, in favor of children, and I thank him for + the brave words that he has said of death. + </p> + <p> + He has lived, he has died, and death is less terrible than it was before. + Thousands and millions will walk down into the "dark valley of the shadow" + holding Walt Whitman by the hand. Long after we are dead the brave words + he has spoken will sound like trumpets to the dying. + </p> + <p> + And so I lay this little wreath upon this great mans tomb. I loved him + living, and I love him still. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0052" id="link0052"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO PHILO D. BECKWITH. + </h2> + <h3> + Dowagiac, Mich., January 25, 1893. + </h3> + <p> + LADIES and Gentlemen: Nothing is nobler than to plant the flower of + gratitude on the grave of a generous man—of one who labored for the + good of all—whose hands were open and whose heart was full. + </p> + <p> + Praise for the noble dead is an inspiration for the noble living. + </p> + <p> + Loving words sow seeds of love in every gentle heart. Appreciation is the + soil and climate of good and generous deeds. + </p> + <p> + We are met to-night not to pay, but to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to + one who lived and labored here—who was the friend of all and who for + many years was the providence of the poor. To one who left to those who + knew him best, the memory of countless loving deeds—the richest + legacy that man can leave to man. + </p> + <p> + We are here to dedicate this monument to the stainless memory of Philo D. + Beckwith—one of the kings of men. + </p> + <p> + This monument—this perfect theatre—this beautiful house of + cheerfulness and joy—this home and child of all the arts—this + temple where the architect, the sculptor and painter united to build and + decorate a stage whereon the drama with a thousand tongues will tell the + frailties and the virtues of the human race, and music with her thrilling + voice will touch the source of happy tears. + </p> + <p> + This is a fitting monument to the man whose memory we honor—to one, + who broadening with the years, outgrew the cruel creeds, the heartless + dogmas of his time—to one who passed from superstition to science—from + religion to reason—from theology to humanity—from slavery to + freedom—from the shadow of fear to the blessed light of love and + courage. To one who believed in intellectual hospitality—in the + perfect freedom of the soul, and hated tyranny, in every form, with all + his heart. + </p> + <p> + To one whose head and hands were in partnership constituting the firm of + Intelligence and Industry, and whose heart divided the profits with his + fellow-men. To one who fought the battle of life alone, without the aid of + place or wealth, and yet grew nobler and gentler with success. + </p> + <p> + To one who tried to make a heaven here and who believed in the blessed + gospel of cheerfulness and love—of happiness and hope. + </p> + <p> + And it is fitting, too, that this monument should be adorned with the + sublime faces, wrought in stone, of the immortal dead—of those who + battled for the rights of man—who broke the fetters of the slave—of + those who filled the minds of men with poetry, art, and light—of + Voltaire, who abolished torture in France and who did more for liberty + than any other of the sons of men—of Thomas Paine, whose pen did as + much as any sword to make the New World free—of Victor Hugo, who + wept for those who weep—of Emerson, a worshiper of the Ideal, who + filled the mind with suggestions of the perfect—of Goethe, the + poet-philosopher—of Whitman, the ample, wide as the sky—author + of the tenderest, the most pathetic, the sublimest poem that this + continent has produced—of Shakespeare, the King of all—of + Beethoven, the divine,—of Chopin and Verdi and of Wagner, grandest + of them all, whose music satisfies the heart and brain and fills + imagination's sky—of George Eliot, who wove within her brain the + purple robe her genius wears—of George Sand, subtle and sincere, + passionate and free—and with these—faces of those who, on the + stage, have made the mimic world as real as life and death. + </p> + <p> + Beneath the loftiest monuments may be found ambition's worthless dust, + while those who lived the loftiest lives are sleeping now in unknown + graves. + </p> + <p> + It may be that the bravest of the brave who ever fell upon the field of + ruthless war, was left without a grave to mingle slowly with the land he + saved. + </p> + <p> + But here and now the Man and Monument agree, and blend like sounds that + meet and melt in melody—a monument for the dead—a blessing for + the living—a memory of tears—a prophecy of joy. + </p> + <p> + Fortunate the people where this good man lived, for they are all his heirs—and + fortunate for me that I have had the privilege of laying this little + laurel leaf upon his unstained brow. + </p> + <p> + And now, speaking for those he loved—for those who represent the + honored dead—I dedicate this home of mirth and song—of poetry + and art—to the memory of Philo D. Beckwith—a true philosopher—a + real philanthropist. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0053" id="link0053"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO ANTON SEIDL. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + A telegram read at the funeral services in the Metropolitan + Opera House, New York City, March 31, 1898. +</pre> + <p> + IN the noon and zenith of his career, in the flush and glory of success, + Anton Seidl, the greatest orchestral leader of all time, the perfect + interpreter of Wagner, of all his subtlety and sympathy, his heroism and + grandeur, his intensity and limitless passion, his wondrous harmonies that + tell of all there is in life, and touch the longings and the hopes of + every heart, has passed from the shores of sound to the realm of silence, + borne by the mysterious and resistless tide that ever ebbs but never + flows. + </p> + <p> + All moods were his. Delicate as the perfume of the first violet, wild as + the storm, he knew the music of all sounds, from the rustle of leaves, the + whisper of hidden springs, to the voices of the sea. + </p> + <p> + He was the master of music, from the rhythmical strains of irresponsible + joy to the sob of the funeral march. + </p> + <p> + He stood like a king with his sceptre in his hand, and we knew that every + tone and harmony were in his brain, every passion in his breast, and yet + his sculptured face was as calm, as serene as perfect art. He mingled his + soul with the music and gave his heart to the enchanted air. + </p> + <p> + He appeared to have no limitations, no walls, no chains. He seemed to + follow the pathway of desire, and the marvelous melodies, the sublime + harmonies, were as free as eagles above the clouds with outstretched + wings. + </p> + <p> + He educated, refined, and gave unspeakable joy to many thousands of his + fellow-men. He added to the grace and glory of life. He spoke a language + deeper, more poetic than words—the language of the perfect, the + language of love and death. + </p> + <p> + But he is voiceless now; a fountain of harmony has ceased. Its inspired + strains have died away in night, and all its murmuring melodies are + strangely still. + </p> + <p> + We will mourn for him, we will honor him, not in words, but in the + language that he used. + </p> + <p> + Anton Seidl is dead. Play the great funeral march. Envelop him in music. + Let its wailing waves cover him. Let its wild and mournful winds sigh and + moan above him. Give his face to its kisses and its tears. + </p> + <p> + Play the great funeral march, music as profound as death. That will + express our sorrow—that will voice our love, our hope, and that will + tell of the life, the triumph, the genius, the death of Anton Seidl. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0054" id="link0054"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO DR. THOMAS SETON ROBERTSON. + </h2> + <h3> + New York September 8, 1898. + </h3> + <p> + IN the pulseless hush of death, silence seems more expressive, more + appropriate—than speech. In the presence of the Great Mystery, the + great mystery that waits to enshroud us all, we feel the uselessness of + words. But where a fellow-mortal has reached his journey's end—where + the darkness from which he emerged has received him again, it is but + natural for his friends to mingle with their grief, expressions of their + love and loss. + </p> + <p> + He who lies before us in the sleep of death was generous to his + fellow-men. His hands were always stretched to help, to save. He pitied + the friendless, the unfortunate, the hopeless—proud of his skill—of + his success. He was quick to decide—to act—prompt, tireless, + forgetful of self. He lengthened life and conquered pain—hundreds + are well and happy now because he lived. This is enough. This puts a star + above the gloom of death. + </p> + <p> + He was sensitive to the last degree—quick to feel a slight—to + resent a wrong—but in the warmth of kindness the thorn of hatred + blossomed. He was not quite fashioned for this world. The flints and + thorns on life's highway bruised and pierced his flesh, and for his wounds + he did not have the blessed balm of patience. He felt the manacles, the + limitations—the imprisonments of life and so within the walls and + bars he wore his very soul away. He could not bear the storms. The tides, + the winds, the waves, in the morning of his life, dashed his frail bark + against the rocks. + </p> + <p> + He fought as best he could, and that he failed was not his fault. + </p> + <p> + He was honest, generous and courageous. These three great virtues were + his. He was a true and steadfast friend, seeing only the goodness of the + ones he loved. Only a great and noble heart is capable of this. + </p> + <p> + But he has passed beyond the reach of praise or blame—passed to the + realm of rest—to the waveless calm of perfect peace. + </p> + <p> + The storm is spent—the winds are hushed—the waves have died + along the shore—the tides are still—the aching heart has + ceased to beat, and within the brain all thoughts, all hopes and fears—ambitions, + memories, rejoicings and regrets—all images and pictures of the + world, of life, are now as though they had not been. And yet Hope, the + child of Love—the deathless, beyond the darkness sees the dawn. And + we who knew and loved him, we, who now perform the last sad rites—the + last that friendship can suggest—"will keep his memory green." + </p> + <p> + Dear Friend, farewell! "If we do meet again we shall smile indeed—if + not, this parting is well made." Farewell! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0055" id="link0055"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO THOMAS CORWIN. + </h2> + <h3> + Lebanon, Ohio, March 5, 1899. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * An Impromptu preface to Colonel Ingersoll's lecture at + Lebanon, Ohio. +</pre> + <p> + LADIES and Gentlemen: Being for the first time where Thomas Corwin lived + and where his ashes rest, I cannot refrain from saying something of what I + feel. Thomas Corwin was a natural orator—armed with the sword of + attack and the shield of defence. + </p> + <p> + Nature filled his quiver with perfect arrows. He was the lord of logic and + laughter. He had the presence, the pose, the voice, the face that mirrored + thoughts, the unconscious gesture of the orator. He had intelligence—a + wide horizon—logic as unerring as mathematics—humor as rich as + autumn when the boughs and vines bend with the weight of ripened fruit, + while the forests flame with scarlet, brown and gold. He had wit as quick + and sharp as lightning, and like the lightning it filled the heavens with + sudden light. + </p> + <p> + In his laughter there was logic, in his wit wisdom, and in his humor + philosophy and philanthropy. He was a supreme artist. He painted pictures + with words. He knew the strength, the velocity of verbs, the color, the + light and shade of adjectives. + </p> + <p> + He was a sculptor in speech—changing stones to statues. He had in + his heart the sacred something that we call sympathy. He pitied the + unfortunate, the oppressed and the outcast His words were often wet with + tears—tears that in a moment after were glorified by the light of + smiles. All moods were his. He knew the heart, its tides and currents, its + calms and storms, and like a skillful pilot he sailed emotion's troubled + sea. He was neither solemn nor dignified, because he was neither stupid + nor egotistic. He was natural, and had the spontaneity of winds and waves. + He was the greatest orator of his time, the grandest that ever stood + beneath our flag. Reverently I lay this leaf upon his grave. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0056" id="link0056"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TRIBUTE TO ISAAC H. BAILEY. + </h2> + <h3> + New York, March 27, 1899. + </h3> + <p> + MY FRIENDS: When one whom we hold dear has reached the end of life and + laid his burden down, it is but natural for us, his friends, to pay the + tribute of respect and love; to tell his virtues, to express our sense of + loss and speak above the sculptured clay some word of hope. + </p> + <p> + Our friend, about whose bier we stand, was in the highest, noblest sense a + man. He was not born to wealth—he was his own providence, his own + teacher. With him work was worship and labor was his only prayer. He + depended on himself, and was as independent as it is possible for man to + be. He hated debt, and obligation was a chain that scarred his flesh. He + lived a long and useful life. In age he reaped with joy what he had cown + in youth. He did not linger "until his flame lacked oil," but with his + senses keen, his mind undimmed, and with his arms filled with gathered + sheaves, in an instant, painlessly, unconsciously, he passed from + happiness and health to the realm of perfect peace. We need not mourn for + him, but for ourselves, for those he loved. + </p> + <p> + He was an absolutely honest man—a man who kept his word, who + fulfilled his contracts, gave heaped and rounded measure and discharged + all obligations with the fabled chivalry of ancient knights. He was + absolutely honest, not only with others but with himself. To his last + moment his soul was stainless. He was true to his ideal—true to his + thought, and what his brain conceived his lips expressed. He refused to + pretend. He knew that to believe without evidence was impossible to the + sound and sane, and that to say you believed when you did not, was + possible only to the hypocrite or coward. He did not believe in the + supernatural. He was a natural man and lived a natural life. He had no + fear of fiends. He cared nothing for the guesses of inspired savages; + nothing for the threats or promises of the sainted and insane. + </p> + <p> + He enjoyed this life—the good things of this world—the clasp + and smile of friendship, the exchange of generous deeds, the reasonable + gratification of the senses—of the wants of the body and mind. He + was neither an insane ascetic nor a fool of pleasure, but walked the + golden path along the strip of verdure that lies between the deserts of + extremes. + </p> + <p> + With him to do right was not simply a duty, it was a pleasure. He had + philosophy enough to know that the quality of actions depends upon their + consequences, and that these consequences are the rewards and punishments + that no God can give, inflict, withhold or pardon. + </p> + <p> + He loved his country, he was proud of the heroic past, dissatisfied with + the present, and confident of the future. He stood on the rock of + principle. With him the wisest policy was to do right. He would not + compromise with wrong. He had no respect for political failures who became + reformers and decorated fraud with the pretence of philanthropy, or sought + to gain some private end in the name of public good. He despised + time-servers, trimmers, fawners and all sorts and kinds of pretenders. + </p> + <p> + He believed in national honesty; in the preservation of public faith. He + believed that the Government should discharge every obligation—the + implied as faithfully as the expressed. And I would be unjust to his + memory if I did not say that he believed in honest money, in the best + money in the world, in pure gold, and that he despised with all his heart + financial frauds, and regarded fifty cents that pretended to be a dollar, + as he would a thief in the uniform of a policeman, or a criminal in the + robe of a judge. + </p> + <p> + He believed in liberty, and liberty for all. He pitied the slave and hated + the master; that is to say, he was an honest man. In the dark days of the + Rebellion he stood for the right. He loved Lincoln with all his heart—loved + him for his genius, his courage and his goodness. He loved Conkling—loved + him for his independence, his manhood, for his unwavering courage, and + because he would not bow or bend—loved him because he accepted + defeat with the pride of a victor. He loved Grant, and in the temple of + his heart, over the altar, in the highest niche, stood the great soldier. + </p> + <p> + Nature was kind to our friend. She gave him the blessed gift of humor. + This filled his days with the climate of Autumn, so that to him even + disaster had its sunny side. On account of his humor he appreciated and + enjoyed the great literature of the world. He loved Shakespeare, his + clowns and heroes. He appreciated and enjoyed Dickens. The characters of + this great novelist were his acquaintances. He knew them all; some were + his friends and some he dearly loved. He had wit of the keenest and + quickest. The instant the steel of his logic smote the flint of absurdity + the spark glittered. And yet, his wit was always kind. The flower went + with the thorn. The targets of his wit were not made enemies, but + admirers. + </p> + <p> + He was social, and after the feast of serious conversation he loved the + wine of wit—the dessert of a good story that blossomed into mirth. + He enjoyed games—was delighted by the relations of chance—the + curious combinations of accident. He had the genius of friendship. In his + nature there was no suspicion. He could not be poisoned against a friend. + The arrows of slander never pierced the shield of his confidence. He + demanded demonstration. He defended a friend as he defended himself. + Against all comers he stood firm, and he never deserted the field until + the friend had fled. I have known many, many friends—have clasped + the hands of many that I loved, but in the journey of my life I have never + grasped the hand of a better, truer, more unselfish friend than he who + lies before us clothed in the perfect peace of death. He loved me living + and I love him now. + </p> + <p> + In youth we front the sun; we live in light without a fear, without a + thought of dusk or night. We glory in excess. There is no dread of loss + when all is growth and gain. With reckless hands we spend and waste and + chide the flying hours for loitering by the way. + </p> + <p> + The future holds the fruit of joy; the present keeps us from the feast, + and so, with hurrying feet we climb the heights and upward look with eager + eyes. But when the sun begins to sink and shadows fall in front, and + lengthen on the path, then falls upon the heart a sense of loss, and then + we hoard the shreds and crumbs and vainly long for what was cast away. And + then with miser care we save and spread thin hands before December's + half-fed flickering flames, while through the glass of time we moaning + watch the few remaining grains of sand that hasten to their end. In the + gathering gloom the fires slowly die, while memory dreams of youth, and + hope sometimes mistakes the glow of ashes for the coming of another morn. + </p> + <p> + But our friend was an exception. He lived in the present; he enjoyed the + sunshine of to-day. Although his feet had touched the limit of four-score, + he had not reached the time to stop, to turn and think: about the traveled + road. He was still full of life and hope, and had the interest of youth in + all the affairs of men. + </p> + <p> + He had no fear of the future—no dread. He was ready for the end. I + have often heard him repeat the words of Epicurus: "Why should I fear + death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear + that which cannot exist when I do?" + </p> + <p> + If there is, beyond the veil, beyond the night called death, another world + to which men carry all the failures and the triumphs of this life; if + above and over all there be a God who loves the right, an honest man has + naught to fear. If there be another world in which sincerity is a virtue, + in which fidelity is loved and courage honored, then all is well with the + dear friend whom we have lost. + </p> + <p> + But if the grave ends all; if all that was our friend is dead, the world + is better for the life he lived. Beyond the tomb we cannot see. We listen, + but from the lips of mystery there comes no word. Darkness and silence + brooding over all. And yet, because we love we hope. Farewell! And yet + again, Farewell! + </p> + <p> + And will there, sometime, be another world? We have our dream. The idea of + immortality, that like a sea has ebbed and flowed in the human heart, + beating with its countless waves against the sands and rocks of time and + fate, was not born of any book or of any creed. It was born of 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. We have our dream! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0057" id="link0057"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + JESUS CHRIST. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * An unfinished lecture which Colonel Ingersoll commenced a + few days before his death. +</pre> + <p> + FOR many centuries and by many millions of people, Christ has been + worshiped as God. Millions and millions of eulogies on his character have + been pronounced by priest and layman, in all of which his praises were + measured only by the limitations of language—words were regarded as + insufficient to paint his perfections. + </p> + <p> + In his praise it was impossible to be extravagant. Sculptor, poet and + painter exhausted their genius in the portrayal of the peasant, who was in + fact the creator of all worlds. + </p> + <p> + His wisdom excited the wonder, his sufferings the pity and his + resurrection and ascension the astonishment of the world. + </p> + <p> + He was regarded as perfect man and infinite God. It was believed that in + the gospels was found the perfect history of his life, his words and + works, his death, his triumph over the grave and his return to heaven. For + many centuries his perfection, his divinity—have been defended by + sword and fire. + </p> + <p> + By the altar was the scaffold—in the cathedral, the dungeon—the + chamber of torture. + </p> + <p> + The story of Christ was told by mothers to their babes. For the most part + his story was the beginning and end of education. It was wicked to doubt—infamous + to deny. + </p> + <p> + Heaven was the reward for belief and hell the destination of the denier. + </p> + <p> + All the forces of what we call society, were directed against + investigation. Every avenue to the mind was closed. On all the highways of + thought, Christians placed posts and boards, and on the boards were the + words "No Thoroughfare," "No Crossing." The windows of the soul were + darkened—the doors were barred. Light was regarded as the enemy of + mankind. + </p> + <p> + During these Christian years faith was rewarded with position, wealth and + power. Faith was the path to fame and honor. The man who investigated was + the enemy, the assassin of souls. The creed was barricaded on every side, + above it were the glories of heaven—below were the agonies of hell. + The soldiers of the cross were strangers to pity. Only traitors to God + were shocked by the murder of an unbeliever. The true Christian was a + savage. His virtues were ferocious, and compared with his vices were + beneficent. The drunkard was a better citizen than the saint. The + libertine and prostitute were far nearer human, nearer moral, than those + who pleased God by persecuting their fellows. + </p> + <p> + The man who thought, and expressed his thoughts, died in a dungeon—on + the scaffold or in flames. + </p> + <p> + The sincere Christian was insane. His one object was to save his soul. He + despised all the pleasures of sense. He believed that his nature was + depraved and that his desires were wicked. + </p> + <p> + He fasted and prayed—deserted his wife and children—inflicted + tortures on himself and sought by pain endured to gain the crown. * * * + </p> + <p> + <a name="link0058" id="link0058"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </div> + <h2> + LIFE. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Written for Mr. Harrison Grey Fiske, editor of The New + York Dramatic Mirror, December 18,1886. +</pre> + <p> + BORN of love and hope, of ecstasy and pain, of agony and fear, of tears + and joy—dowered with the wealth of two united hearts—held in + happy arms, with lips upon life's drifted font, blue-veined and fair, + where perfect peace finds perfect form—rocked by willing feet and + wooed to shadowy shores of sleep by siren mother singing soft and low—looking + with wonder's wide and startled eyes at common things of life and day—taught + by want and wish and contact with the things that touch the dimpled flesh + of babes—lured by light and flame, and charmed by color's wondrous + robes—learning the use of hands and feet, and by the love of mimicry + beguiled to utter speech—releasing prisoned thoughts from crabbed + and curious marks on soiled and tattered leaves—puzzling the brain + with crooked numbers and their changing, tangled worth—and so + through years of alternating day and night, until the captive grows + familiar with the chains and walls and limitations of a life. + </p> + <p> + And time runs on in sun and shade, until the one of all the world is wooed + and won, and all the lore of love is taught and learned again. Again a + home is built with the fair chamber wherein faint dreams, like cool and + shadowy vales, divide the billowed hours of love. Again the miracle of a + birth—the pain and joy, the kiss of welcome and the cradle-song + drowning the drowsy prattle of a babe. + </p> + <p> + And then the sense of obligation and of wrong—pity for those who + toil and weep—tears for the imprisoned and despised—love for + the generous dead, and in the heart the rapture of a high resolve. + </p> + <p> + And then ambition, with its lust of pelf and place and power, longing to + put upon its breast distinction's worthless badge. Then keener thoughts of + men, and eyes that see behind the smiling mask of craft—flattered no + more by the obsequious cringe of gain and greed—knowing the + uselessness of hoarded gold—of honor bought from those who charge + the usury of self-respect—of power that only bends a coward's knees + and forces from the lips of fear the lies of praise. Knowing at last the + unstudied gesture of esteem, the reverent eyes made rich with honest + thought, and holding high above all other things—high as hope's + great throbbing star above the darkness of the dead—the love of wife + and child and friend. + </p> + <p> + Then locks of gray, and growing love of other days and half-remembered + things—then holding withered hands of those who first held his, + while over dim and loving eyes death softly presses down the lids of rest. + </p> + <p> + And so, locking in marriage vows his children's hands and crossing others + on the breasts of peace, with daughters' babes upon his knees, the white + hair mingling with the gold, he journeys on from day to day to that + horizon where the dusk is waiting for the night.—At last, sitting by + the holy hearth of home as evening's embers change from red to gray, he + falls asleep within the arms of her he worshiped and adored, feeling upon + his pallid lips love's last and holiest kiss. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <img alt="letter1 (418K)" src="images/letter1.png" + height="714" width="952" /><br /> <img alt="lertter2 (445K)" + src="images/lertter2.png" height="695" width="920" /> <br /> Fac-simile of + the Last Letter written by Ingersoll <br /> <img alt="urn (281K)" + src="images/urn.png" height="829" width="506" /> <br /> Urn Containing the + Ashes of Ingersoll + </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> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. +12 (of 12), by Robert G. Ingersoll + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF INGERSOLL *** + +***** This file should be named 38812-h.htm or 38812-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/8/1/38812/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Ingersoll, Vol. 12 +(of 12), by Robert G. Ingersoll + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 12 (of 12) + Dresden Edition--Miscellany + +Author: Robert G. Ingersoll + +Release Date: February 9, 2012 [EBook #38812] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF INGERSOLL *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + + + +THE WORKS OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL + +By Robert G. Ingersoll + +"MY CREED IS THIS: HAPPINESS IS THE ONLY GOOD. THE PLACE TO BE HAPPY IS +HERE. THE TIME TO BE HAPPY IS NOW. THE WAY TO BE HAPPY IS TO HELP MAKE +OTHERS SO." + +IN TWELVE VOLUMES, VOLUME XII. + +MISCELLANY + +1900 + + +Dresden Edition + + + + +PROF. VAN BUREN DENSLOW'S "MODERN THINKERS." + + +IF others who read this book get as much information as I did from the +advance sheets, they will feel repaid a hundred times. It is perfectly +delightful to take advantage of the conscientious labors of those who go +through and through volume after volume, divide with infinite patience +the gold from the dross, and present us with the pure and shining coin. +Such men may be likened to bees who save us numberless journeys by +giving us the fruit of their own. + +While this book will greatly add to the information of all who read it, +it may not increase the happiness of some to find that Swedenborg was +really insane. But when they remember that he was raised by a bishop, +and disappointed in love, they will cease to wonder at his mental +condition. Certainly an admixture of theology and "dis-prized love" +is often sufficient to compel reason to abdicate the throne of the +mightiest soul. + +The trouble with Swedenborg was that he changed realities into dreams, +and then out of the dreams made facts upon which he built, and with +which he constructed his system. + +He regarded all realities as shadows cast by ideas. To him the material +was the unreal, and things were definitions of the ideas of God. He +seemed to think that he had made a discovery when he found that ideas +were back of words, and that language had a subjective as well as an +objective origin; that is that the interior meaning had been clothed +upon. Of course, a man capable of drawing the conclusion that natural +reason cannot harmonize with spiritual truth because in a dream, he had +seen a beetle that could not use its feet, is capable of any absurdity +of which the imagination can conceive. The fact is, that Swedenborg +believed the Bible. That was his misfortune. His mind had been +overpowered by the bishop, but the woman had not utterly destroyed his +heart. He was shocked by the liberal interpretation of the Scriptures, +and sought to avoid the difficulty by giving new meanings consistent +with the decency and goodness of God. He pointed out a way to preserve +the old Bible with a new interpretation. In this way Infidelity could +be avoided; and, in his day, that was almost a necessity. Had Swedenborg +taken the ground that the Bible was not inspired, the ears of the +world would have been stopped. His readers believed in the dogma of +inspiration, and asked, not how to destroy the Scriptures, but for some +way in which they might be preserved. He and his followers unconsciously +rendered immense service to the cause of intellectual enfranchisement +by their efforts to show the necessity of giving new meanings to the +barbarous laws, and cruel orders of Jehovah. For this purpose they +attacked with great fury the literal text, taking the ground that if the +old interpretation was right, the Bible was the work of savage men. They +heightened in every way the absurdities, cruelties and contradictions of +the Scriptures for the purpose of showing that a new interpretation must +be found, and that the way pointed out by Swedenborg was the only one by +which the Bible could be saved. + +Great men are, after all the instrumentalities of their time. The heart +of the civilized world was beginning to revolt at the cruelties ascribed +to God, and was seeking for some interpretation of the Bible that kind +and loving people could accept. The method of interpretation found by +Swedenborg was suitable for all. Each was permitted to construct his own +"science of correspondence" and gather such fruits as he might prefer. +In this way the ravings of revenge can instantly be changed to mercy's +melting tones, and murder's dagger to a smile of love. In this way and +in no other, can we explain the numberless mistakes and crimes ascribed +to God. Thousands of most excellent people, afraid to throw away the +idea of inspiration, hailed with joy a discovery that allowed them to +write a Bible for themselves. + +But, whether Swedenborg was right or not, every man who reads a book, +necessarily gets from that book all that he is capable of receiving. +Every man who walks in the forest, or gathers a flower, or looks at a +picture, or stands by the sea, gets all the intellectual wealth he is +capable of receiving. What the forest, the flower, the picture or the +sea is to him, depends upon his mind, and upon the stage of development +he has reached. So that after all, the Bible must be a different book to +each person who reads it, as the revelations of nature depend upon the +individual to whom they are revealed, or by whom they are discovered. +And the extent of the revelation or discovery depends absolutely upon +the intellectual and moral development of the person to whom, or by +whom, the revelation or discovery is made. So that the Bible cannot be +the same to any two people, but each one must necessarily interpret it +for himself. Now, the moment the doctrine is established that we can +give to this book such meanings as are consistent with our highest +ideals; that we can treat the old words as purses or old stockings +in which to put our gold, then, each one will, in effect, make a new +inspired Bible for himself, and throw the old away. If his mind is +narrow, if he has been raised by ignorance and nursed by fear, he +will believe in the literal truth of what he reads. If he has a little +courage he will doubt, and the doubt will with new interpretations +modify the literal text; but if his soul is free he will with scorn +reject it all. + +Swedenborg did one thing for which I feel almost grateful. He gave an +account of having met John Calvin in hell. Nothing connected with the +supernatural could be more perfectly natural than this. The only thing +detracting from the value of this report is, that if there is a hell, we +know without visiting the place that John Calvin must be there. + +All honest founders of religions have been the dreamers of dreams, the +sport of insanity, the prey of visions, the deceivers of others and of +themselves. All will admit that Swedenborg was a man of great intellect, +of vast acquirements and of honest intentions; and I think it equally +clear that upon one subject, at least, his mind was touched, shattered +and shaken. + +Misled by analogies, imposed upon by the bishop, deceived by the woman, +borne to other worlds upon the wings of dreams, living in the twilight +of reason and the dawn of insanity, he regarded every fact as a patched +and ragged garment with a lining of the costliest silk, and insisted +that the wrong side, even of the silk, was far more beautiful than the +right. + +Herbert Spencer is almost the opposite of Swedenborg. He relies upon +evidence, upon demonstration, upon experience, and occupies himself with +one world at a time. He perceives that there is a mental horizon that +we cannot pierce, and that beyond that is the unknown--possibly the +unknowable. He endeavors to examine only that which is capable of being +examined, and considers the theological method as not only useless, +but hurtful. After all, God is but a guess, throned and established by +arrogance and assertion. Turning his attention to those things that +have in some way affected the condition of mankind, Spencer leaves the +unknowable to priests and to the believers in the "moral government" of +the world. He sees only natural causes and natural results, and seeks to +induce man to give up gazing into void and empty space, that he may give +his entire attention to the world in which he lives. He sees that right +and wrong do not depend upon the arbitrary will of even an infinite +being, but upon the nature of things; that they are relations, not +entities, and that they cannot exist, so far as we know, apart from +human experience. + +It may be that men will finally see that selfishness and self-sacrifice +are both mistakes; that the first devours itself; that the second is +not demanded by the good, and that the bad are unworthy of it. It may be +that our race has never been, and never will be, deserving of a martyr. +Sometime we may see that justice is the highest possible form of mercy +and love, and that all should not only be allowed, but compelled to reap +exactly what they sow; that industry should not support idleness, and +that they who waste the spring and summer and autumn of their lives +should bear the winter when it comes. The fortunate should assist +the victims of accident; the strong should defend the weak, and the +intellectual should lead, with loving hands, the mental poor; but +Justice should remove the bandage from her eyes long enough to +distinguish between the vicious and the unfortunate. + +Mr. Spencer is wise enough to declare that "acts are called good or bad +according as they are well or ill adjusted to ends;" and he might have +added, that ends are good or bad according as they affect the happiness +of mankind. + +It would be hard to over-estimate the influence of this great man. From +an immense intellectual elevation he has surveyed the world of thought. +He has rendered absurd the idea of special providence, born of the +egotism of savagery. He has shown that the "will of God" is not a rule +for human conduct; that morality is not a cold and heartless tyrant; +that by the destruction of the individual will, a higher life cannot +be reached, and that after all, an intelligent love of self extends the +hand of help and kindness to all the human race. + +But had it not been for such men as Thomas Paine, Herbert Spencer could +not have existed for a century to come. Some one had to lead the way, +to raise the standard of revolt, and draw the sword of war. Thomas Paine +was a natural revolutionist. He was opposed to every government existing +in his day. Next to establishing a wise and just republic based upon +the equal rights of man, the best thing that can be done is to destroy a +monarchy. + +Paine had a sense of justice, and had imagination enough to put himself +in the place of the oppressed. He had, also, what in these pages is so +felicitously expressed, "a haughty intellectual pride, and a willingness +to pit his individual thought against the clamor of a world." + +I cannot believe that he wrote the letters of "Junius," although the two +critiques combined in this volume, entitled "Paine" and "Junius," make +by far the best argument upon that subject I have ever read. First, +Paine could have had no personal hatred against the men so bitterly +assailed by Junius. Second, He knew, at that time, but little of English +politicians, and certainly had never associated with men occupying the +highest positions, and could not have been personally acquainted with +the leading statesmen of England. Third., He was not an unjust man. He +was neither a coward, a calumniator, nor a sneak. All these delightful +qualities must have lovingly united in the character of Junius. Fourth, +Paine could have had no reason for keeping the secret after coming to +America. + +I have always believed that Junius, after having written his letters, +accepted office from the very men he had maligned, and at last became +a pensioner of the victims of his slander. "Had he as many mouths as +Hydra, such a course must have closed them all." Certainly the author +must have kept the secret to prevent the loss of his reputation. + +It cannot be denied that the style of Junius is much like that of Paine. +Should it be established that Paine wrote the letters of Junius, it +would not, in my judgment, add to his reputation as a writer. Regarded +as literary efforts they cannot be compared with "Common Sense," "The +Crisis," or "The Rights of Man." + +The claim that Paine was the real author of the Declaration of +Independence is much better founded. I am inclined to think that he +actually wrote it; but whether this is true or not, every idea contained +in it had been written by him long before. It is now claimed that the +original document is in Paine's handwriting. It certainly is not in +Jefferson's. Certain it is, that Jefferson could not have written +anything so manly, so striking, so comprehensive, so clear, so +convincing, and so faultless in rhetoric and rhythm as the Declaration +of Independence. + +Paine was the first man to write these words, "The United States of +America." He was the first great champion of absolute separation +from England. He was the first to urge the adoption of a Federal +Constitution; and, more clearly than any other man of his time, he +perceived the future greatness of this country. + +He has been blamed for his attack on Washington. The truth is, he was +in prison in France. He had committed the crime of voting, against the +execution of the king It was the grandest act of his life, but at that +time to be merciful was criminal. Paine; being an American citizen, +asked Washington, then President, to say a word to Robespierre in +his behalf. Washington remained silent. In the calmness of power, the +serenity, of fortune, Washington the President, read the request of +Paine, the prisoner, and with the complacency of assured fame, consigned +to the wastebasket of forgetfulness the patriot's cry for help. + + "Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, + Wherein he puts alms for oblivion, + A great-sized monster of ingratitudes. + Those scraps are good deeds past, which are devour'd + As fast as they are made, forgot as soon + As done." + +In this controversy, my sympathies are with the prisoner. + +Paine did more to free the mind, to destroy the power of ministers and +priests in the New World, than any other man. In order to answer his +arguments, the churches found it necessary to attack his character. +There was a general resort to falsehood. In trying to destroy the +reputation of Paine, the churches have demoralized themselves. Nearly +every minister has been a willing witness against the truth. Upon the +grave of Thomas Paine, the churches of America have sacrificed their +honor. The influence of the Hero author increases every day, and there +are more copies of the "Age of Reason" sold in the United States, than +of any work written in defence of the Christian religion. Hypocrisy, +with its forked tongue, its envious and malignant heart, lies coiled +upon the memory of Paine, ready to fasten its poisonous fangs in the +reputation of any man who dares defend the great and generous dead. + +Leaving the dust and glory of revolutions, let us spend a moment of +quiet with Adam Smith. I was glad to find that a man's ideas upon the +subject of protection and free trade depend almost entirely upon the +country in which he lives, or the business in which he happens to +be engaged, and that, after all, each man regards the universe as a +circumference of which he is the center. It gratified me to learn that +even Adam Smith was no exception to this rule, and that he regarded +all "protection as a hurtful and ignorant interference," except when +exercised for the good of Great Britain. Owing to the fact that his +nationality quarreled with his philosophy, he succeeded in writing +a book that is quoted with equal satisfaction by both parties. The +protectionists rely upon the exceptions he made for England, and the +free traders upon the doctrines laid down for other countries. + +He seems to have reasoned upon the question of money precisely as we +have, of late years, in the United States; and he has argued both sides +equally well. Poverty asks for inflation. Wealth is conservative, and +always says there is money enough. + +Upon the question of money, this volume contains the best thing I have +ever read: "The only mode of procuring the service of others, on any +large scale, in the absence of money, is by force, which is slavery. +Money, by constituting a medium in which the smallest services can be +paid for, substitutes wages for the lash, and renders the liberty of +the individual consistent with the maintenance and support of society." +There is more philosophy in that one paragraph than Adam Smith expresses +in his whole work. It may truthfully be said, that without money, +liberty is impossible. No one, whatever his views may be, can read the +article on Adam Smith without profit and delight. + +The discussion of the money question is in every respect admirable, and +is as candid as able. The world will sooner or later learn that there is +nothing miraculous in finance; that money is a real and tangible thing, +a product of labor, serving not merely as a medium of exchange but as +a basis of credit as well; that it cannot be created by an act of the +Legislature; that dreams cannot be coined, and that only labor, in some +form, can put, upon the hand of want, Alladin's magic ring. + +Adam Smith wrote upon the wealth of nations, while Charles Fourier +labored for the happiness of mankind. In this country, few seem +to understand communism. While here, it may be regarded as vicious +idleness, armed with the assassin's knife and the incendiary's torch, in +Europe, it is a different thing. There, it is a reaction from Feudalism. +Nobility is communism in its worst possible form. Nothing can be worse +than for idleness to eat the bread of industry. Communism in Europe +is not the "stand and deliver" of the robber, but the protest of the +robbed. Centuries ago, kings and priests, that is to say, thieves and +hypocrites, divided Europe among themselves. Under this arrangement, the +few were masters and the many slaves. Nearly every government in the +Old World rests upon simple brute force. It is hard for the many to +understand why the few should own the soil. Neither can they clearly +see why they should give their brain and blood to those who steal their +birthright and their bread. It has occurred to them that they who do the +most should not receive the least, and that, after all, an industrious +peasant is of far more value to the world than a vain and idle king. + +The Communists of France, blinded as they were, made the Republic +possible. Had they joined with their countrymen, the invaders would have +been repelled, and some Napoleon would still have occupied the throne. +Socialism perceives that Germany has been enslaved by victory, while +France found liberty in defeat. In Russia the Nihilists prefer chaos to +the government of the bayonet, Siberia and the knout, and these intrepid +men have kept upon the coast of despotism one beacon fire of hope. + +As a matter of fact, every society is a species of communism--a kind +of co-operation in which selfishness, in spite of itself, benefits the +community. Every industrious man adds to the wealth, not only of his +nation, but to that of the world. Every inventor increases human power, +and every sculptor, painter and poet adds to the value of human life. +Fourier, touched by the sufferings of the poor as well as by the barren +joys of hoarded wealth, and discovering the vast advantages of combined +effort, and the immense economy of co-operation, sought to find some way +for men to help themselves by helping each other. He endeavored to do +away with monopoly and competition, and to ascertain some method by +which the sensuous, the moral, and the intellectual passions of man +could be gratified. + +For my part I can place no confidence in any system that does away, or +tends to do away, with the institution of marriage. I can conceive of no +civilization of which the family must not be the unit. + +Societies cannot be made; they must grow. Philosophers may predict, but +they cannot create. They may point out as many ways as they please; but +after all, humanity will travel in paths of its own. + +Fourier sustained about the same relation to this world that Swedenborg +did to the other. There must be something wrong about the brain of one +who solemnly asserts that, "the elephant, the ox and the diamond, were +created by the sun; the horse, the lily and the ruby, by Saturn; the +cow, the jonquil and the topaz by Jupiter; and the dog, the violet and +the opal stones by the earth itself." + +And yet, forgetting these aberrations of the mind, this lunacy of a +great and loving soul, for one, I hold in tender-est regard the memory +of Charles Fourier, one of the best and noblest of our race. + +While Fourier was in his cradle, Jeremy Bentham, who read history when +three years old, played on the violin at five, "and at fifteen detected +the fallacies of Blackstone," was demonstrating that the good was the +useful; that a thing was right because it paid in the highest and best +sense; that utility was the basis of morals; that without allowing +interest to be paid upon money commerce could not exist; and that +the object of all human governments should be to secure the greatest +happiness of the greatest number. He read Hume and Helvetius, threw away +the Thirty-nine Articles, and endeavored to impress upon the English +Law the fact that its ancestor was a feudal savage. He held the past in +contempt, hated Westminster and despised Oxford. He combated the +idea that governments were originally founded on contract. Locke and +Blackstone talked as though men originally lived apart, and formed +societies by agreement. These writers probably imagined that at one time +the trees were separated like telegraph poles, and finally came together +and made groves by agreement. I believe that it was Pufendorf who said +that slavery was originally founded on contract. To which Voltaire +replied:--"If my lord Pufendorf will produce the original contract +_signed by the party who was to be the slave_, I will admit the truth of +his statement." + +A contract back of society is a myth manufactured by those in power to +serve as a title to place, and to impress the multitude with the +idea that they are, in some mysterious way, bound, fettered, and even +benefited by its terms. + +The glory of Bentham is, that he gave the true basis of morals, and +furnished statesmen with the star and compass of this sentence:--"The +greatest happiness of the greatest number." + +Most scientists have deferred to the theologians. They have admitted +that some questions could not, at present, be solved. These admissions +have been thankfully received by the clergy, who have always begged for +some curtain to be left, behind which their God could still exist. Men +calling themselves "scientific" have tried to harmonize the "apparent" +discrepancies between the Bible and the _other_ works of Jehovah. In +this way they have made reputations. They were at once quoted by +the ministers as wonderful examples of piety and learning. These men +discounted the future that they might enjoy the ignorant praise of the +present. Agassiz preferred the applause of Boston, while he lived, to +the reverence of a world after he was dead. Small men appear great only +when they agree with the multitude. + +The last Scientific Congress in America was opened with prayer. Think +of a science that depends upon the efficacy of words addressed to the +Unknown and Unknowable! + +In our country, most of the so-called scientists are professors in +sectarian colleges, in which Moses is considered a geologist, and +Joshua an astronomer. For the most part their salaries depend upon +the ingenuity with which they can explain away facts and dodge +demonstration. + +The situation is about the same in England. When Mr. Huxley saw fit to +attack the Mosaic account of the creation, he did not deem it advisable +to say plainly what he meant. He attacked the account of creation as +given by Milton, although he knew that the Mosaic and Miltonic were +substantially the same. Science has acted like a guest without a wedding +garment, and has continually apologized for existing. In the presence +of arrogant absurdity, overawed by the patronizing airs of a successful +charlatan, it has played the role of a "poor relation," and accepted, +while sitting below the salt, insults as honors. + +There can be no more pitiable sight than a scientist in the employ of +superstition dishonoring himself without assisting his master. But there +are a multitude of brave and tender men who give their honest thoughts, +who are true to nature, who give the facts and let consequences shirk +for themselves, who know the value and meaning of a truth, and who have +bravely tried the creeds by scientific tests. + +Among the bravest, side by side with the greatest of the world, in +Germany, the land of science, stands Ernst Haeckel, who may be said +to have not only demonstrated the theories of Darwin, but the Monistic +conception of the world. Rejecting all the puerile ideas of a personal +Creator, he has had the courage to adopt the noble words of Bruno:--"A +spirit exists in all things, and no body is so small but it contains a +part of the divine substance within itself, by which it is animated." He +has endeavored--and I think with complete success--to show that there is +not, and never was, and never can be the _Creator_ of anything. There +is no more a personal Creator than there is a personal destroyer. Matter +and force must have existed from eternity, all generation must have been +spontaneous, and the simplest organisms must have been the ancestors of +the most perfect and complex. + +Haeckel is one of the bitterest enemies of the church, and is, +therefore, one of the bravest friends of man. + +Catholicism was, at one time, the friend of education--of an education +sufficient to make a Catholic out of a barbarian. Protestantism was also +in favor of education--of an education sufficient to make a Protestant +out of a Catholic. But now, it having been demonstrated that real +education will make Freethinkers, Catholics and Protestants both are the +enemies of true learning. + +In all countries where human beings are held in bondage, it is a crime +to teach a slave to read and write. Masters know that education is an +abolitionist, and theologians know that science is the deadly foe of +every creed in Christendom. + +In the age of Faith, a personal god stood at the head of every +department of ignorance, and was supposed to be the King of kings, the +rewarder and punisher of individuals, and the governor of nations. + +The worshipers of this god have always regarded the men in love with +simple facts, as Atheists in disguise. And it must be admitted that +nothing is more Atheistic than a fact. Pure science is necessarily +godless, It is incapable of worship. It investigates, and cannot afford +to shut its eyes even long enough to pray. There was a time when those +who disputed the divine right of kings were denounced as blasphemous; +but the time came when liberty demanded that a personal god should be +retired from politics. In our country this was substantially done in +1776, when our fathers declared that all power to govern came from +the consent of the governed. The cloud-theory was abandoned, and one +government has been established for the benefit of mankind. Our fathers +did not keep God out of the Constitution from principle, but from +jealousy. Each church, in colonial times, preferred to live in single +blessedness rather than see some rival wedded to the state. Mutual +hatred planted our tree of religious liberty. A constitution without a +god has at last given us a nation without a slave. + +A personal god sustains the same relation to religion as to politics. +The Deity is a master, and man a serf; and this relation is inconsistent +with true progress. The Universe ought to be a pure democracy--an +infinite republic without a tyrant and without a chain. + +Auguste Comte endeavored to put humanity in the place of Jehovah, and no +conceivable change can be more desirable than this. This great man did +not, like some of his followers, put a mysterious something called law +in the place of God, which is simply giving the old master a new name. +Law is this side of phenomena, not the other. It is not the cause, +neither is it the result of phenomena. The fact of succession and +resemblance, that is to say, the same thing happening under the same +conditions, is all we mean by law. No one can conceive of a law +existing apart from matter, or controlling matter, any more than he can +understand the eternal procession of the Holy Ghost, or motion apart +from substance. We are beginning to see that law does not, and cannot +exist as an entity, but that it is only a conception of the mind to +express the fact that the same entities, under the same conditions, +produce the same results. Law does not produce the entities, the +conditions, or the results, or even the sameness of the results. +Neither does it affect the relations of entities, nor the result of such +relations, but it stands simply for the fact that the same causes, under +the same conditions, eternally have produced and eternally will produce +the same results. + +The metaphysicians are always giving us explanations of phenomena which +are as difficult to understand as the phenomena they seek to explain; +and the believers in God establish their dogmas by miracles, and then +substantiate the miracles by assertion. + +The Designer of the teleologist, the First Cause of the religious +philosopher, the Vital Force of the biologist, and the law of the +half-orthodox scientist, are all the shadowy children of ignorance and +fear. + +The Universe is all there is. It is both subject and object; +contemplator and contemplated; creator and created; destroyer and +destroyed; preserver and preserved; and within itself are all causes, +modes, motions and effects. + +Unable in some things to rise above the superstitions of his day, +Comte adopted not only the machinery, but some of the prejudices, of +Catholicism. He made the mistake of Luther. He tried to reform the +Church of Rome. Destruction is the only reformation of which that church +is capable. Every religion is based upon a misconception, not only of +the cause of phenomena, but of the real object of life; that is to say, +upon falsehood; and the moment the truth is known and understood, these +religions must fall. In the field of thought, they are briers, thorns, +and noxious weeds; on the shores of intellectual discovery, they are +sirens, and in the forests that the brave thinkers are now penetrating, +they are the wild beasts, fanged and monstrous. + +You cannot reform these weeds. Sirens cannot be changed into good +citizens; and such wild beasts, even when tamed, are of no possible use. +Destruction is the only remedy. Reformation is a hospital where the new +philosophy exhausts its strength nursing the old religion. + +There was, in the brain of the great Frenchman, the dawn of that happy +day in which humanity will be the only religion, good the only god, +happiness the only object, restitution the only atonement, mistake the +only sin, and affection, guided by intelligence, the only savior of +mankind. This dawn enriched his poverty, illuminated the darkness of +his life, peopled his loneliness with the happy millions yet to be, and +filled his eyes with proud and tender tears. + +A few years ago I asked the superintendent of Pere La Chaise if he knew +where I could find the tomb of Auguste Comte. He had never heard even +the name of the author of the "Positive Philosophy." I asked him if +he had ever heard of Napoleon Bonaparte. In a half-insulted tone, +he replied, "Of course I have, why do you ask me such a question?" +"Simply," was my answer, "that I might have the opportunity of saying, +that when everything connected with Napoleon, except his crimes, shall +have been forgotten, Auguste Comte will be lovingly remembered as a +benefactor of the human race." + +The Jewish God must be dethroned! A personal Deity must go back to +the darkness of barbarism from whence he came. The theologians must +abdicate, and popes, priests, and clergymen, labeled as "extinct +species," must occupy the mental museums of the future. + +In my judgment, this book, filled with original thought, will hasten the +coming of that blessed time. + +Washington, D. C., Nov. 29,1879. + + + + +PREFACE TO DR. EDGAR C. BEALL'S "THE BRAIN AND THE BIBLE." + + +THIS book, written by a brave and honest man, is filled with brave and +honest thoughts. The arguments it presents can not be answered by all +the theologians in the world. The author is convinced that the universe +is natural, that man is naturally produced, and that there is a +necessary relation between character and brain. He sees, and clearly +sees, that the theological explanation of phenomena is only a plausible +absurdity, and, at best, as great a mystery as it tries to solve. I +thank the man who breaks, or tries to break, the chains of custom, +creed, and church, and gives in plain, courageous words, the product of +his brain. + +It is almost impossible to investigate any subject without somewhere +touching the religious prejudices of ourselves or others. Most people +judge of the truth of a proposition by the consequences upon some +preconceived opinion. Certain things they take as truths, and with this +little standard in their minds, they measure all other theories. If +the new facts do not agree with the standard, they are instantly thrown +away, because it is much easier to dispose of the new facts than to +reconstruct an entire philosophy. + +A few years ago, when men began to say that character could be +determined by the form, quantity, and quality of the brain, the +religious world rushed to the conclusion that this fact might destroy +what they were pleased to call the free moral agency of man. They +admitted that all things in the physical world were links in the +infinite chain of causes and effects, and that not one atom of the +material universe could, by any possibility, be entirely exempt from +the action of every other. They insisted that, if the motions of the +spirit--the thoughts, dreams, and conclusions of the brain, were as +necessarily produced as stones and stars, virtue became necessity, and +morality the result of forces capable of mathematical calculation. +In other words, they insisted that, while there were causes for all +material phenomena, a something called the Will sat enthroned above +all law, and dominated the phenomena of the intellectual world. They +insisted that man was free; that he controlled his brain; that he was +responsible for thought as well as action; that the intellectual world +of each man was a universe in which his will was king. They were +afraid that phrenology might, in some way, interfere with the scheme of +salvation, or prevent the eternal torment of some erring soul. + +It is insisted that man is free, and is responsible, because he knows +right from wrong. But the compass does not navigate the ship; neither +does it, in any way, of itself, determine the direction that is taken. +When winds and waves are too powerful, the compass is of no importance. +The pilot may read it correctly, and may know the direction the ship +ought to take, but the compass is not a force. So men, blown by the +tempests of passion, may have the intellectual conviction that +they should go another way; but, of what use, of what force, is the +conviction? + +Thousands of persons have gathered curious statistics for the purpose of +showing that man is absolutely dominated by his surroundings. By these +statistics is discovered what is called "the law of average." They show +that there are about so many suicides in London every year, so many +letters misdirected at Paris, so many men uniting themselves In marriage +with women older than themselves in Belgium, so many burglaries to one +murder in France, or so many persons driven insane by religion in the +United States. It is asserted that these facts conclusively show +that man is acted upon; that behind each thought, each dream, is the +efficient cause, and that the doctrine of moral responsibility has been +destroyed by statistics. + +But, does the fact that about so many crimes are committed on the +average, in a given population, or that so many any things are done, +prove that there is no freedom in human action? + +Suppose a population of ten thousand persons; and suppose, further, that +they are free, and that they have the usual wants of mankind. Is it not +reasonable to say that they would act in some way? They certainly would +take measures to obtain food, clothing, and shelter. If these people +differed in intellect, in surroundings, in temperament, in strength, it +is reasonable to suppose that all would not be equally successful. Under +such circumstances, may we not safely infer that, in a little while, if +the statistics were properly taken, a law of average would appear? In +other words, free people would act; and, being different in mind, body, +and circumstances, would not all act exactly alike. All would not be +alike acted upon. The deviations from what might be thought wise, or +right, would sustain such a relation to time and numbers that they could +be expressed by a law of average. + +If this is true, the law of average does not establish necessity. + +But, in my supposed case, the people, after all, are not free. They have +wants. They are under the necessity of feeding, clothing, and sheltering +themselves. To the extent of their actual wants, they are not free. +Every limitation is a master. Every finite being is a prisoner, and no +man has ever yet looked above or beyond the prison walls. + +Our highest conception of liberty is to be free from the dictation of +fellow prisoners. + +To the extent that we have wants, we are not free. To the extent that we +do not have wants, we do not act. + +If we are responsible for our thoughts, we ought not only to know how +they are formed, but we ought to form them. If we are the masters of our +own minds, we ought to be able to tell what we are going to think at any +future time. Evidently, the food of thought--its very warp and woof--is +furnished through the medium of the senses. If we open our eyes, we +cannot help seeing. If we do not stop our ears, we cannot help hearing. +If anything touches us, we feel it. The heart beats in spite of us. +The lungs supply themselves with air without our knowledge. The blood +pursues its old accustomed rounds, and all our senses act without our +leave. As the heart beats, so the brain thinks. The will is not its +king. As the blood flows, as the lungs expand, as the eyes see, as the +ears hear, as the flesh is sensitive to touch, so the brain thinks. + +I had a dream, in which I debated a question with a friend. I thought +to myself: "This is a dream, and yet I can not tell what my opponent is +going to say. Yet, if it is a dream, I am doing the thinking for both +sides, and therefore ought to know in advance what my friend will urge." +But, in a dream, there is some one who seems to talk to us. Our own +brain tells us news, and presents an unexpected thought. Is it not +possible that each brain is a field where all the senses sow the seeds +of thought? Some of these fields are mostly barren, poor, and hard, +producing only worthless weeds; and some grow sturdy oaks and stately +palms; and some are like the tropic world, where plants and trees and +vines seem royal children of the soil and sun. + +Nothing seems more certain than that the capacity of a human being +depends, other things being equal, upon the amount, form, and quality +of his brain. We also know that health, disposition, temperament, +occupation, food, surroundings, ancestors, quality, form, and texture +of the brain, determine what we call character. Man is, collectively and +individually, what his surroundings have made him. Nations differ from +each other as greatly as individuals in the same nation. Nations depend +upon soil, climate, geographical position, and countless other facts. +Shakespeare would have been impossible without the climate of England. +There is a direct relation between Hamlet and the Gulf Stream. Dr. +Draper has shown that the great desert of Sahara made negroes possible +in Africa. If the Caribbean Sea had been a desert, negroes might have +been produced in America. + +Are the effects of climate upon man necessary effects? Is it possible +for man to escape them? Is he responsible for what he does as a +consequence of his surroundings? Is the mind dependent upon causes? +Does it act without cause? Is every thought a necessity? Can man choose +without reference to any quality in the thing chosen? + +No one will blame Mr. Brown or Mr. Jones for not writing like +Shakespeare. Should they be blamed for not acting like Christ? We say +that a great painter has genius. Is it not possible that a certain +genius is required to be what is called "good"? All men cannot be +great. All men cannot be successful. Can all men be kind? Can all men be +honest? + +It may be that a crime appears terrible in proportion as we realize +its consequences. If this is true, morality may depend largely upon the +imagination. Man cannot have imagination at will; that, certainly, is +a natural product. And yet, a man's action may depend largely upon the +want of imagination. One man may feel that he really wishes to kill +another. He may make preparations to commit the deed; and yet, his +imagination may present such pictures of horror and despair; he may so +vividly see the widow clasping the mangled corpse; he may so plainly +hear the cries and sobs of orphans, while the clods fall upon the +coffin, that his hand is stayed. Another, lacking imagination, thirsting +only for revenge, seeing nothing beyond the accomplishment of the deed, +buries, with blind-and thoughtless hate, the dagger in his victim's +heart. + +Morality, for the most part, is the verdict of the majority. +This verdict depends upon the intelligence of the people; and the +intelligence depends upon the amount, form, and quality of the average +brain. + +If the mind depends upon certain organs for the expression of its +thought, does it have thought independently of those organs? Is there +any mind without brain? Does the mind think apart from the brain, and +then express its thought through the instrumentality of the brain? +Theologians tell us that insanity is not a disease of the soul, but of +the brain; that the soul is perfectly untouched; but that the instrument +with which, and through which, it manifests itself, is impaired. The +fact, however, seems to be, that the mind, the something that is the +man, is unconscious of the fact that anything is out of order in the +brain. Insane people insist that they are sane. + +If we should find a locomotive off the track, and the engineer using the +proper appliances to put it back, we would say that the machine is +out of order, but the engineer is not. But, if we found the locomotive +upside down, with wheels in air, and the engineer insisting that it +was on the track, and never running better, we would then conclude +that something was wrong, not only with the locomotive, but with the +engineer. + +We are told in medical books of a girl, who, at about the age of nine +years, was attacked with some cerebral disease. When she recovered, she +had forgotten all she ever knew, and had to relearn the alphabet, and +the names of her parents and kindred. In this abnormal state, she was +not a good girl; in the normal state, she was. After having lived in the +second state for several years, she went back to the first; and all she +had learned in the second state was forgotten, and all she had learned +in the first was remembered. + +I believe she changed once more, and died in the abnormal state. In +which of these states was she responsible? Were her thoughts and +actions as free in one as in the other? It may be contended that, in her +diseased state, the mind or soul could not correctly express itself. If +this is so, it follows that, as no one is perfectly healthy, and as +no one has a perfect brain, it is impossible that the soul should ever +correctly express itself. Is the soul responsible for the defects of the +brain? Is it not altogether more rational to say, that what we call mind +depends upon the brain, and that the child--mind, inherits the defects +of its parent--brain? + +Are certain physical conditions necessary to the production of what +we call virtuous actions? Is it possible for anything to be produced +without what we call cause, and, if the cause was sufficient, was it not +necessarily produced? Do not most people mistake for freedom the right +to examine their own chains? If morality depends upon conditions, should +it not be the task of the great and good to discover such conditions? +May it not be possible so to understand the brain that we can stop +producing criminals? + +It may be insisted that there is something produced by the brain besides +thought--a something that takes cognizance of thoughts--a something +that weighs, compares, reflects and pronounces judgment. This something +cannot find the origin of itself. Does it exist independently of the +brain? Is it merely a looker-on? If it is a product of the brain, then +its power, perception, and judgment depend upon the quantity, form, and +quality of the brain. + +Man, including all his attributes, must have been necessarily produced, +and the product was the child of conditions. + +Most reformers have infinite confidence in creeds, resolutions, and +laws. They think of the common people as raw material, out of which +they propose to construct institutions and governments, like mechanical +contrivances, where each person will stand for a cog, rope, wheel, +pulley, bolt, or fuel, and the reformers will be the managers and +directors. They forget that these cogs and wheels have opinions of their +own; that they fall out with other cogs, and refuse to turn with other +wheels; that the pulleys and ropes have ideas peculiar to themselves, +and delight in mutiny and revolution. These reformers have theories that +can only be realized when other people have none. + +Some time, it will be found that people can be changed only by changing +their surroundings. It is alleged that, at least ninety-five per cent. +of the criminals transported from England to Australia and other penal +colonies, became good and useful citizens in a new world. Free from +former associates and associations, from the necessities of a hard, +cruel, and competitive civilization, they became, for the most part, +honest people. This immense fact throws more light upon social questions +than all the theories of the world. All people are not able to support +themselves. They lack intelligence, industry, cunning--in short, +capacity. They are continually falling by the way. In the midst of +plenty, they are hungry. Larceny is born of want and opportunity. In +passion's storm, the will is wrecked upon the reefs and rocks of crime. + +The complex, tangled web of thought and dream, of perception and memory, +of imagination and judgment, of wish and will and want--the woven wonder +of a life--has never yet been raveled back to simple threads. + +Shall we not become charitable and just, when we know that every act is +but condition's fruit; that Nature, with her countless hands, scatters +the seeds of tears and crimes--of every virtue and of every joy; that +all the base and vile are victims of the Blind, and that the good and +great have, in the lottery of life, by chance or fate, drawn heart and +brain? + +Washington, December 21, 1881. + + + + +PREFACE TO "MEN, WOMEN AND GODS." + + +NOTHING gives me more pleasure, nothing gives greater promise for the +future, than the fact that woman is achieving intellectual and physical +liberty. + +It is refreshing to know that here, in our country, there are thousands +of women who think, and express their thoughts--who are thoroughly +free and thoroughly conscientious--who have neither been narrowed nor +corrupted by a heartless creed--who do not worship a being in heaven +whom they would shudderingly loathe on earth--women who do not stand +before the altar of a cruel faith, with downcast eyes of timid +acquiescence, and pay to impudent authority the tribute of a thoughtless +yes. They are no longer satisfied with being told. They examine for +themselves. They have ceased to be the prisoners of society--the +satisfied serfs of husbands, or the echoes of priests. They demand the +rights that naturally belong to intelligent human beings. If wives, they +wish to be the equals of husbands. If mothers, they wish to rear their +children in the atmosphere of love, liberty and philosophy. They believe +that woman can discharge all her duties without the aid of superstition, +and preserve all that is true, pure, and tender, without sacrificing in +the temple of absurdity the convictions of the soul. + +Woman is not the intellectual inferior of man. She has lacked, not mind, +but opportunity. In the long night of barbarism, physical strength and +the cruelty to use it, were the badges of superiority. Muscle was more +than mind. In the ignorant age of Faith, the loving nature of woman was +abused. Her conscience was rendered morbid and diseased. It might almost +be said that she was betrayed by her own virtues. At best she secured, +not opportunity, but flattery--the preface to degradation. She was +deprived of liberty, and without that, nothing is worth the having. She +was taught to obey without question, and to believe without thought. +There were universities for men before the alphabet had been taught to +women. At the intellectual feast, there were no places for wives and +mothers. Even now they sit at the second table and eat the crusts and +crumbs. The schools for women, at the present time, are just far enough +behind those for men, to fall heirs to the discarded; on the same +principle that when a doctrine becomes too absurd for the pulpit, it is +given to the Sunday-school. + +The ages of muscle and miracle--of fists and faith--are passing away. +Minerva occupies at last a higher niche than Hercules. Now a word +is stronger than a blow. At last we see women who depend upon +themselves--who stand, self poised, the shocks of this sad world, +without leaning for support against a church--who do not go to the +literature of barbarism for consolation, or use the falsehoods and +mistakes of the past for the foundation of their hope--women brave +enough and tender enough to meet and bear the facts and fortunes of this +world. + +The men who declare that woman is the intellectual inferior of man, do +not, and cannot, by offering themselves in evidence, substantiate their +declaration. + +Yet, I must admit that there are thousands of wives who still have +faith in the saving power of superstition--who still insist on attending +church while husbands prefer the shores, the woods, or the fields. In +this way, families are divided. Parents grow apart, and unconsciously +the pearl of greatest price is thrown away. The wife ceases to be +the intellectual companion of the husband. She reads _The Christian +Register_, sermons in the Monday papers, and a little gossip about +folks and fashions, while he studies the works of Darwin, Haeckel, and +Humboldt. Their sympathies become estranged. They are no longer mental +friends. The husband smiles at the follies of the wife, and she weeps +for the supposed sins of the husband. Such wives should read this book. +They should not be satisfied to remain forever in the cradle of thought, +amused with the toys of superstition. + +The parasite of woman is the priest. + +It must also be admitted that there are thousands of men who believe +that superstition is good for women and children--who regard falsehood +as the fortress of virtue, and feel indebted to ignorance for the purity +of daughters and the fidelity of wives. These men think of priests +as detectives in disguise, and regard God as a policeman who prevents +elopements. Their opinions about religion are as correct as their +estimate of woman. + +The church furnishes but little food for the mind. People of +intelligence are growing tired of the platitudes of the pulpit--the +iterations of the itinerants. The average sermon is "as tedious as a +twice told tale vexing the ears of a drowsy man." + +One Sunday a gentleman, who is a great inventor, called at my house. +Only a few words had passed between us, when he arose, saying that he +must go as it was time for church. Wondering that a man of his mental +wealth could enjoy the intellectual poverty of the pulpit, I asked for +an explanation, and he gave me the following: "You know that I am an +inventor. Well, the moment my mind becomes absorbed in some difficult +problem, I am afraid that something may happen to distract my attention. +Now, I know that I can sit in church for an hour without the slightest +danger of having the current of my thought disturbed." + +Most women cling to the Bible because they have been taught that to give +up that book is to give up all hope of another life--of ever meeting +again the loved and lost. They have also been taught that the Bible is +their friend, their defender, and the real civilizer of man. + +Now, if they will only read this book--these three lectures, without +fear, and then read the Bible, they will see that the truth or falsity +of the dogma of inspiration has nothing to do with the question of +immortality. Certainly the Old Testament does not teach us that there is +another life, and upon that question even the New is obscure and vague. +The hunger of the heart finds only a few small and scattered crumbs. +There is nothing definite, solid, and satisfying. United with the idea +of immortality we find the absurdity of the resurrection. A prophecy +that depends for its fulfillment upon an impossibility, cannot satisfy +the brain or heart. + +There are but few who do not long for a dawn beyond the night. And +this longing is born of and nourished by the heart. Love wrapped in +shadow--bending with tear-filled eyes above its dead, convulsively +clasps the outstretched hand of hope. + +I had the pleasure of introducing Miss Gardener to her first audience, +and in that introduction said a few words that I will repeat. + +"We do not know, we cannot say, whether death is a wall or a door; the +beginning or end of a day; the spreading of pinions to soar, or the +folding forever of wings; the rise or the set of a sun, or an endless +life that brings the rapture of love to every one. + +"Under the seven-hued arch of hope let the dead sleep." + +They will also discover, as they read the "Sacred Volume," that it is +not the friend of woman. They will find that the writers of that book, +for the most part, speak of woman as a poor beast of burden, a serf, a +drudge, a kind of necessary evil--as mere property. Surely, a book that +upholds polygamy is not the friend of wife and mother. + +Even Christ did not place woman on an equality with man. He said not +one word about the sacredness of home, the duties of the husband to the +wife--nothing calculated to lighten the hearts of those who bear the +saddest burdens of this life. + +They will also find that the Bible has not civilized mankind. A book +that establishes and defends slavery and wanton war is not calculated to +soften the hearts of those who believe implicitly that it is the work of +God. A book that not only permits, but commands, religious persecution, +has not, in my judgment, developed the affectional nature of man. +Its influence has been bad and bad only. It has filled the world with +bitterness, revenge and crime, and retarded in countless ways the +progress of our race. + +The writer of this volume has read the Bible with open eyes. The mist +of sentimentality has not clouded her vision. She has had the courage +to tell the result of her investigations. She has been quick to discover +contradictions. She appreciates the humorous side of the stupidly +solemn. Her heart protests against the cruel, and her brain rejects the +childish, the unnatural and absurd. There is no misunderstanding between +her head and heart. She says what she thinks, and feels what she says. + +No human being can answer her arguments. There is no answer. All the +priests in the world cannot explain away her objections. There is no +explanation. They should remain dumb, unless they can show that the +impossible is the probable--that slavery is better than freedom--that +polygamy is the friend of woman--that the innocent can justly suffer for +the guilty, and that to persecute for opinion's sake is an act of love +and worship. + +Wives who cease to learn--who simply forget and believe--will fill the +evening of their lives with barren sighs and bitter tears. + +The mind should outlast youth. If when beauty fades, Thought, the deft +and unseen sculptor, hath not left his subtle lines upon the face, +then all is lost. No charm is left. The light is out. There is no flame +within to glorify the wrinkled clay. + +Hoffman House, New York, July, 22, 1885. + + + + +PREFACE TO "FOR HER DAILY BREAD." + + +I HAVE read, this story, this fragment of a life mingled with fragments +of other lives, and have been pleased, interested, and instructed. It +is filled with the pathos of truth, and has in it the humor that +accompanies actual experience. It has but little to do with the world +of imagination; certain feelings are not attributed to persons born +of fancy, but it is the history of a heart and brain interested in the +common things of life. There are no kings, no lords, no titled ladies, +but there are real people, the people of the shop and street whom every +reader knows, and there are lines intense and beautiful, and scenes +that touch the heart. You will find no theories of government, no hazy +outlines of reform, nothing but facts and folks, as they have been, as +they are, and probably will be for many centuries to come. + +If you read this book you will be convinced that men and women are good +or bad, charitable or heartless, by reason of something within, and not +by virtue of any name they bear, or any trade or profession they follow, +or of any creed they may accept. You will also find that men sometimes +are honest and mean; that women may be very virtuous and very cruel; +that good, generous and sympathetic men are often disreputable, and that +some exceedingly worthy citizens are extremely mean and uncomfortable +neighbors. + +It takes a great deal of genius and a good deal of selfdenial to be +very bad or to be very good. Few people understand the amount of energy, +industry, and self-denial it requires to be consistently vicious. People +who have a pride in being good and fail, and those who have a pride in +being bad and fail, in order to make their records consistent generally +rely upon hypocrisy. The people that live and hope and fear in this +book, are much like the people who live and hope and fear in the actual +world. The professor is much like the professor in the ordinary college. +You will find the conscientious, half-paid teacher, the hopeful poor, +the anxious rich, the true lover, the stingy philanthropist, who cares +for people only in the aggregate,--the individual atom being too small +to attract his notice or to enlist his heart; the sympathetic man who +loves himself, and gives, not for the sake of the beggar, but for +the sake of getting rid of the beggar, and you will also find the man +generous to a fault--with the money of others. And the reader will find +these people described naturally, truthfully and without exaggeration, +and he will feel certain that all these people have really lived. + +The reader of this story will get some idea as to what is encountered +by a girl in an honest effort to gain her daily bread. He will find how +steep, how devious and how difficult is the path she treads. + +There are so few occupations open to woman, so few things in which she +can hope for independence, that to be thrown upon her own resources +is almost equivalent to being cast away. Besides, she is an object of +continual suspicion, watched not only by men but by women. If she does +anything that other women are not doing, she is at once suspected, +her reputation is touched, and other women, for fear of being stained +themselves, withdraw not only the hand of help, but the smile of +recognition. A young woman cannot defend herself without telling the +charge that has been made against her. This, of itself, gives a kind of +currency to slander. To speak of the suspicion that has crawled across +her path, is to plant the seeds of doubt in other minds; to even deny +it, admits that it exists. To be suspected, that is enough. There is no +way of destroying this suspicion. There is no court in which suspicions +are tried; no juries that can render verdicts of not guilty. Most women +are driven at last to the needle, and this does not allow them to live; +it simply keeps them from dying. + +It is hard to appreciate the dangers and difficulties that lie in wait +for woman. Even in this Christian country of ours, no girl is safe in +the streets of any city after the sun has gone down. After all, the sun +is the only god that has ever protected woman. In the darkness she has +been the prey of the wild beast in man. + +Nearly all charitable people, so-called, imagine that nothing is easier +than to obtain work. They really feel that anybody, no matter what his +circumstances may be, can get work enough to do if he is only willing to +do the work. They cannot understand why any healthy human being should +lack food or clothes. Meeting the unfortunate and the wretched in the +streets of the great city, they ask them in a kind of wondering way, why +they do not go to the West, why they do not cultivate the soil, and why +they are so foolish, stupid, and reckless as to remain in the town. It +would be just as sensible to ask a beggar why he does not start a bank +or a line of steamships, as to ask him why he does not cultivate the +soil, or why he does not go to the West. The man has no money to pay his +fare, and if his fare were paid he would be, when he landed in the +West, in precisely the same condition as he was when he left the East. +Societies and institutions and individuals supply the immediate wants +of the hungry and the ragged, but they afford only the relief of the +moment. + +Articles by the thousand have been written for the purpose of showing +that women should become servants in houses, and the writers of these +articles are filled with astonishment that any girl should hesitate to +enter domestic service. They tell us that nearly every family needs a +good cook, a good chambermaid, a good sweeper of floors and washer of +dishes, a good stout girl to carry the baby and draw the wagon, and +these good people express the greatest astonishment that all girls +are not anxious to become domestics. They tell them that they will be +supplied with good food, that they will have comfortable beds and warm +clothing, and they ask, "What more do you want?" These people have +not, however, solved the problem. If girls, as a rule, keep away from +kitchens and chambers, if they hate to be controlled by other women, +there must be a reason. When we see a young woman prefer a clerkship in +a store,--a business which keeps her upon her feet all day, and sends +her to her lonely room, filled with weariness and despair, and when we +see other girls who are willing to sew for a few cents a day rather than +become the maid of "my lady," there must be some reason, and this reason +must be deemed sufficient by the persons who are actuated by it. What is +it? + +Every human being imagines that the future has something in store for +him. It is natural to build these castles in Spain. It is natural for +a girl to dream of being loved by the noble, by the superb, and it is +natural for the young man to dream of success, of a home, of a good, a +beautiful and loving wife. These dreams are the solace of poverty; they +keep back the tears in the eyes of the young and the hungry. To engage +in any labor that degrades, in any work that leaves a stain, in any +business the mention of which is liable to redden the cheek, seems to be +a destruction of the foundation of hope, a destruction of the future; it +seems to be a crucifixion of his or her better self. It assassinates the +ideal. + +It may be said that labor is noble, that work is a kind of religion, and +whoever says this tells the truth, But after all, what has the truth +to do with this question? What is the opinion of society?--What is the +result? It cures no wound to say that it was wrongfully inflicted. +The opinion of sensible people is one way, the action of society is +inconsistent with that opinion. Domestic servants are treated as +though their employment was and is a degradation. Bankers, merchants, +professional men, ministers of the gospel, do not want their sons +to become the husbands of chambermaids and cooks. Small hands are +beautiful; they do not tell of labor. + +I have given one reason; there is another. The work of a domestic is +never done. She is liable to be called at any moment, day or night. She +has no time that she can call her own. A woman who works by the piece +can take a little rest; if she is a clerk she has certain hours of labor +and the rest of the day is her own. + +And there is still another reason that I almost hate to give, and that +is this: As a rule, woman is exacting with woman. As a rule, woman does +not treat woman as well as man treats man, or as well as man treats +woman. There are many other reasons, but I have given enough. + +For many years, women have been seeking employment other than that of +domestic service. They have so hated this occupation, that they have +sought in every possible direction for other ways to win their bread. +At last hundreds of employments are open to them, and, as a consequence, +domestic servants are those who can get nothing else to do. + +In the olden time, servants sat at the table with the family; they were +treated something like human beings, harshly enough to be sure, but +in many cases almost as equals. Now the kitchen is far away from the +parlor. It is another world, occupied by individuals of a different +race. There is no bond of sympathy--no common ground. This is especially +true in a Republic. In the Old World, people occupying menial places +account for their positions by calling attention to the laws--to the +hereditary nobility and the universal spirit of caste. Here, there are +no such excuses. All are supposed to have equal opportunities, and those +who are compelled to labor for their daily bread, in avocations that +require only bodily strength, are regarded as failures. It is this fact +that stabs like a knife. And yet in the conclusion drawn, there is but +little truth. Some of the noblest and best pass their lives in daily +drudgery and unremunerative toil--while many of the mean, vicious and +stupid reach place and power. + +This story is filled with sympathy for the destitute, for the +struggling, and tends to keep the star of hope above the horizon of the +unfortunate. After all, we know but little of the world, and have but a +faint conception of the burdens that are borne, and of the courage and +heroism displayed by the unregarded poor. Let the rich read these pages; +they will have a kinder feeling toward those who toil; let the workers +read them, and they will think better of themselves. + + + + +PREFACE TO "AGNOSTICISM AND OTHER ESSAYS." + + +I. + +EDGAR FAWCETT--a great poet, a metaphysician and logician--has been for +years engaged in exploring that strange world wherein are supposed to +be the springs of human action. He has sought for something back of +motives, reasons, fancies, passions, prejudices, and the countless tides +and tendencies that constitute the life of man. + +He has found some of the limitations of mind, and knows that beginning +at that luminous centre called consciousness, a few short steps bring +us to the prison wall where vision fails and all light dies. Beyond this +wall the eternal darkness broods. This gloom is "the other world" of the +supernaturalist. With him, real vision begins where the sight fails. He +reverses the order of nature. Facts become illusions, and illusions the +only realities. He believes that the cause of the image, the reality, is +behind the mirror. + +A few centuries ago the priests said to their followers: The other world +is above you; it is just beyond where you see. Afterward, the astronomer +with his telescope looked, and asked the priests: Where is the world +of which you speak? And the priests replied: It has receded--it is just +beyond where you see. + +As long as there is "a beyond," there is room for the priests' world. +Theology is the geography of this beyond. + +Between the Christian and the Agnostic there is the difference of +assertion and question--between "There is a God" and "Is there a +God?" The Agnostic has the arrogance to admit his ignorance, while the +Christian from the depths of humility impudently insists that he knows. + +Mr. Fawcett has shown that at the root of religion lies the coiled +serpent of fear, and that ceremony, prayer, and worship are ways and +means to gain the assistance or soften the heart of a supposed deity. + +He also shows that as man advances in knowledge he loses confidence in +the watchfulness of Providence and in the efficacy of prayer. + + +II. + +SCIENCE. + +The savage is certain of those things that cannot be known. He is +acquainted with origin and destiny, and knows everything except that +which is useful. The civilized man, having outgrown the ignorance, the +arrogance, and the provincialism of savagery, abandons the vain search +for final causes, for the nature and origin of things. + +In nearly every department of science man is allowed to investigate, and +the discovery of a new fact is welcomed, unless it threatens some creed. + +Of course there can be no advance in a religion established by infinite +wisdom. The only progress possible is in the comprehension of this +religion. + +For many generations, what is known under a vast number of disguises +and behind many masks as the Christian religion, has been propagated +and preserved by the sword and bayonet--that is to say, by force. The +credulity of man has been bribed and his reason punished. Those who +believed without the slightest question, and whose faith held evidence +in contempt, were saints; those who investigated were dangerous, and +those who denied were destroyed. + +Every attack upon this religion has been made in the shadow of human and +divine hatred--in defiance of earth and heaven. At one time Christendom +was beneath the ignorant feet of one man, and those who denied his +infallibility were heretics and Atheists. At last, a protest was +uttered. The right of conscience was proclaimed, to the extent of making +a choice between the infallible man and the infallible book. Those +who rejected the man and accepted the book became in their turn +as merciless, as tyrannical and heartless, as the followers of the +infallible man. The Protestants insisted that an infinitely wise and +good God would not allow criminals and wretches to act as his infallible +agents. + +Afterward, a few protested against the infallibility of the book, using +the same arguments against the book that had formerly been used against +the pope. They said that an infinitely wise and good God could not be +the author of a cruel and ignorant book. But those who protested against +the book fell into substantially the same error that had been fallen +into by those who had protested against the man. While they denounced +the book, and insisted that an infinitely wise and good being could not +have been its author, they took the ground that an infinitely wise and +good being was the creator and governor of the world. + +Then was used against them the same argument that had been used by the +Protestants against the pope and by the Deists against the Protestants. +Attention was called to the fact that Nature is as cruel as any pope or +any book--that it is just as easy to account for the destruction of the +Canaanites consistently with the goodness of Jehovah as to account for +pestilence, earthquake, and flood consistently with the goodness of the +God of Nature. + +The Protestant and Deist both used arguments against the Catholic that +could in turn be used with equal force against themselves. So that there +is no question among intelligent people as to the infallibility of the +pope, as to the inspiration of the book, or as to the existence of the +Christian's God--for the conclusion has been reached that the human mind +is incapable of deciding as to the origin and destiny of the universe. + +For many generations the mind of man has been traveling in a circle. It +accepted without question the dogma of a First Cause--of the existence +of a Creator--of an Infinite Mind back of matter, and sought in many +ways to define its ignorance in this behalf. The most sincere worshipers +have declared that this being is incomprehensible,--that he is "without +body, parts, or passions"--that he is infinitely beyond their grasp, and +at the same time have insisted that it was necessary for man not only +to believe in the existence of this being, but to love him with all his +heart. + +Christianity having always been in partnership with the state,--having +controlled kings and nobles, judges and legislators--having been +in partnership with armies and with every form of organized +destruction,--it was dangerous to discuss the foundation of its +authority. To speak lightly of any dogma was a crime punishable by +death. Every absurdity has been bastioned and barricaded by the power of +the state. It has been protected by fist, by club, by sword and cannon. + +For many years Christianity succeeded in substantially closing the +mouths of its enemies, and lived and flourished only where investigation +and discussion were prevented by hypocrisy and bigotry. The church still +talks about "evidence," about "reason," about "freedom of conscience" +and the "liberty of speech," and yet denounces those who ask for +evidence, who appeal to reason, and who honestly express their thoughts. + +To-day we know that the miracles of Christianity are as puerile and +false as those ascribed to the medicine-men of Central Africa or the +Fiji Islanders, and that the "sacred Scriptures" have the same claim to +inspiration that the Koran has, or the Book of Mormon--no less, no more. +These questions have been settled and laid aside by free and intelligent +people. They have ceased to excite interest; and the man who now really +believes in the truth of the Old Testament is regarded with a smile-- +looked upon as an aged child--still satisfied with the lullabys and toys +of the cradle. + + +III. + +MORALITY. + +It is contended that without religion--that is to say, without +Christianity--all ideas of morality must of necessity perish, and that +spirituality and reverence will be lost. + +What is morality? + +Is it to obey without question, or is it to act in accordance with +perceived obligation? Is it something with which intelligence has +nothing to do? Must the ignorant child carry out the command of the wise +father--the rude peasant rush to death at the request of the prince? + +Is it impossible for morality to exist where the brain and heart are +in partnership? Is there no foundation for morality except punishment +threatened or reward promised by a superior to an inferior? If this be +true, how can the superior be virtuous? Cannot the reward and the threat +be in the nature of things? Can they not rest in consequences perceived +by the intellect? How can the existence or non-existence of a deity +change my obligation to keep my hands out of the fire? + +The results of all actions are equally certain, but not equally known, +not equally perceived. If all men knew with perfect certainty that to +steal from another was to rob themselves, larceny would cease. It +cannot be said too often that actions are good or bad in the light of +consequences, and that a clear perception of consequences would control +actions. That which increases the sum of human happiness is moral; and +that which diminishes the sum of human happiness is immoral. Blind, +unreasoning obedience is the enemy of morality. Slavery is not the +friend of virtue. Actions are neither right nor wrong by virtue of what +men or gods can say--the right or wrong lives in results--in the nature +of things, growing out of relations violated or caused. + +Accountability lives in the nature of consequences--in their absolute +certainty--in the fact that they cannot be placated, avoided, or bribed. + +The relations of human life are too complicated to be accurately and +clearly understood, and, as a consequence, rules of action vary from age +to age. The ideas of right and wrong change with the experience of +the race, and this change is wrought by the gradual ascertaining of +consequences--of results. For this reason the religion of one age fails +to meet the standard of another, precisely as the laws that satisfied +our ancestors are repealed by us; so that, in spite of all efforts, +religion itself is subject to gradual and perpetual change. + +The miraculous is no longer the basis of morals. Man is a sentient +being--he suffers and enjoys. In order to be happy he must preserve the +conditions of well-being--must live in accordance with certain facts by +which he is surrounded. If he violates these conditions the result is +unhappiness, failure, disease, misery. + +Man must have food, roof, raiment, fireside, friends--that is to say, +prosperity; and this he must earn--this he must deserve. He is no +longer satisfied with being a slave, even of the Infinite. He wishes to +perceive for himself, to understand, to investigate, to experiment; and +he has at last the courage to bear the consequences that he brings upon +himself. He has also found that those who are the most religious are not +always the kindest, and that those who have been and are the worshipers +of God enslave their fellow-men. He has found that there is no necessary +connection between religion and morality. + +Morality needs no supernatural assistance--needs neither miracle nor +pretence. It has nothing to do with awe, reverence, credulity, or blind, +unreasoning faith. Morality is the highway perceived by the soul, the +direct road, leading to success, honor, and happiness. + +The best thing to do under the circumstances is moral. + +The highest possible standard is human. We put ourselves in the places +of others. We are made happy by the kindness of others, and we feel that +a fair exchange of good actions is the wisest and best commerce. We know +that others can make us miserable by acts of hatred and injustice, +and we shrink from inflicting the pain upon others that we have felt +ourselves; this is the foundation of conscience. + +If man could not suffer, the words right and wrong could never have been +spoken. + +The Agnostic, the Infidel, clearly perceives the true basis of morals, +and, so perceiving, he knows that the religious man, the superstitious +man, caring more for God than for his fellows, will sacrifice his +fellows, either at the supposed command of his God, or to win his +approbation. He also knows that the religionist has no basis for morals +except these supposed commands. The basis of morality with him lies not +in the nature of things, but in the caprice of some deity. He seems to +think that, had it not been for the Ten Commandments, larceny and murder +might have been virtues. + + +IV. + +SPIRITUALITY. + +What is it to be spiritual? + +Is this fine quality of the mind destroyed by the development of the +brain? As the domain wrested by science from ignorance increases--as +island after island and continent after continent are discovered--as +star after star and constellation after constellation in the +intellectual world burst upon the midnight of ignorance, does the +spirituality of the mind grow less and less? Like morality, is it only +found in the company of ignorance and superstition? Is the spiritual man +honest, kind, candid?--or dishonest, cruel and hypocritical? Does he +say what he thinks? Is he guided by reason? Is he the friend of the +right?--the champion of the truth? Must this splendid quality called +spirituality be retained through the loss of candor? Can we not +truthfully say that absolute candor is the beginning of wisdom? + +To recognize the finer harmonies of conduct--to live to the ideal--to +separate the incidental, the evanescent, from the perpetual--to be +enchanted with the perfect melody of truth--open to the influences of +the artistic, the beautiful, the heroic--to shed kindness as the sun +sheds light--to recognize the good in others, and to include the world +in the idea of self--this is to be spiritual. + +There is nothing spiritual in the worship of the unknown and unknowable, +in the self-denial of a slave at the command of a master whom he fears. +Fastings, prayings, mutilations, kneelings, and mortifications are +either the results of, or result in, insanity. + +This is the spirituality of Bedlam, and is of no kindred with the soul +that finds its greatest joy in the discharge of obligation perceived. + + +V. + +REVERENCE. + +What is reverence? + +It is the feeling produced when we stand in the presence of our ideal, +or of that which most nearly approaches it--that which is produced by +what we consider the highest degree of excellence. + +The highest is reverenced, praised, and admired without qualification. + +Each man reverences according to his nature, his experience, his +intellectual development. He may reverence' Nero or Marcus Aurelius, +Jehovah or Buddha, the author of Leviticus or Shakespeare. Thousands of +men reverence John Calvin, Torquemada, and the Puritan fathers; and some +have greater respect for Jonathan Edwards than for Captain Kidd. + +A vast number of people have great reverence for anything that is +covered by mould, or moss, or mildew. They bow low before rot and rust, +and adore the worthless things that have been saved by the negligence of +oblivion. + +They are enchanted with the dull and fading daubs of the old masters, +and hold in contempt those miracles of art, the paintings of to-day. + +They worship the ancient, the shadowy, the mysterious, the wonderful. +They doubt the value of anything that they understand. + +The creed of Christendom is the enemy of morality. It teaches that the +innocent can justly suffer for the guilty, that consequences can be +avoided by repentance, and that in the world of mind the great fact +known as cause and effect does not apply. + +It is the enemy of spirituality, because it teaches that credulity is of +more value than conduct, and because it pours contempt upon human love +by raising far above it the adoration of a phantom. + +It is the enemy of reverence. It makes ignorance the foundation of +virtue. It belittles the useful, and cheapens the noblest of! the +virtues. It teaches man to live on mental alms, and glorifies the +intellectual pauper. It holds candor in contempt, and is the malignant +foe of mental manhood. + + +VI. + +EXISTENCE OF GOD. + +Mr. Fawcett has shown conclusively that it is no easier to establish the +existence of an infinitely wise and good being by the existence of what +we call "good" than to establish the existence of an infinitely bad +being by what we call "bad." + +Nothing can be surer than that the history of this world furnishes no +foundation on which to base an inference that it has been governed by +infinite wisdom and goodness. So terrible has been the condition of +man, that religionists in all ages have endeavored to excuse God by +accounting for the evils of the world by the wickedness of men. And the +fathers of the Christian Church were forced to take the ground that this +world had been filled with briers and thorns, with deadly serpents +and with poisonous weeds, with disease and crime and earthquake and +pestilence and storm, by the curse of God. + +The probability is that no God has cursed, and that no God will bless, +this earth. Man suffers and enjoys according to conditions. The sun +shines without love, and the lightning blasts without hate. Man is the +Providence of man. + +Nature gives to our eyes all they can see, to our ears all they can +hear, and to the mind what it can comprehend. The human race reaps the +fruit of every victory won on the fields of intellectual or physical +conflict. We have no right to expect something for nothing. Man will +reap no harvest the seeds of which he has not sown. + +The race must be guided by intelligence, must be free to investigate, +and must have the courage and the candor not only to state what is +known, but to cheerfully admit the limitations of the mind. + +No intelligent, honest man can read what Mr. Fawcett has written and +then say that he knows the origin and destiny of things--that he knows +whether an infinite Being exists or not, and that he knows whether the +soul of man is or is not immortal. + +In the land of--------, the geography of which is not certainly known, +there was for many years a great dispute among the inhabitants as to +which road led to the city of Miragia, the capital of their country, and +known to be the most delightful city on the earth. For fifty generations +the discussion as to which road led to the city had been carried on with +the greatest bitterness, until finally the people were divided into a +great number of parties, each party claiming that the road leading +to the city had been miraculously made known to the founder of that +particular sect. The various parties spent most of their time putting up +guide-boards on these roads and tearing down the guide-boards of others. +Hundreds of thousands had been killed, prisons were filled, and the +fields had been ravaged by the hosts of war. + +One day, a wise man, a patriot, wishing to bring peace to his country, +met the leaders of the various sects and asked them whether it was +absolutely certain that the city of Miragia existed. He called their +attention to the facts that no resident of that city had ever visited +them and that none of their fellow-men who had started for the capital +had ever returned, and modestly asked whether it would not be better +to satisfy themselves beyond a doubt that there was such a city, adding +that the location of the city would determine which of all the roads was +the right one. + +The leaders heard these words with amazement. They denounced the speaker +as a wretch without morality, spirituality, or reverence, and thereupon +he was torn in pieces. + + + + +PREFACE TO "FAITH OR FACT." + + +I LIKE to know the thoughts, theories and conclusions of an honest, +intelligent man; candor is always charming, and it is a delight to feel +that you have become acquainted with a sincere soul. + +I have read this book with great pleasure, not only because I know, and +greatly esteem the author, not only because he is my unwavering friend, +but because it is full of good sense, of accurate statement, of sound +logic, of exalted thoughts happily expressed, and for the further reason +that it is against tyranny, superstition, bigotry, and every form of +injustice, and in favor of every virtue. + +Henry M. Taber, the author, has for many years taken great interest +in religious questions. He was raised in an orthodox atmosphere, was +acquainted with many eminent clergymen from whom he endeavored to +find out what Christianity is--and the facts and evidence relied on to +establish the truth of the creeds. He found that the clergy of even the +same denomination did not agree--that some of them preached one way +and talked another, and that many of them seemed to regard the creed as +something to be accepted whether it was believed or not. He found that +each one gave his own construction to the dogmas that seemed heartless +or unreasonable. While some insisted that the Bible was absolutely true +and the creed without error, others admitted that there were mistakes in +the sacred volume and that the creed ought to be revised. Finding these +differences among the ministers, the shepherds, and also finding that +no one pretended to have any evidence except faith, or any facts but +assertions, he concluded to investigate the claims of Christianity for +himself. + +For half a century he has watched the ebb and flow of public opinion, +the growth of science, the crumbling of creeds--the decay of the +theological spirit, the waning influence of the orthodox pulpit, the +loss of confidence in special providence and the efficacy of prayer. + +He has lived to see the church on the defensive--to hear faith asking +for facts--and to see the shot and shell of science batter into +shapelessness the fortresses of superstition. He has lived to see +Infidels, blasphemers and Agnostics the leaders of the intellectual +world. In his time the supernaturalists have lost the sceptre and have +taken their places in the abject rear. + +Fifty years ago the orthodox Christians believed their creeds. To them +the Bible was an actual revelation from God. Every word was true. +Moses and Joshua were regarded as philosophers and scientists. All the +miracles and impossibilities recorded in the Bible were accepted as +facts. Credulity was the greatest of virtues. Everything, except the +reasonable, was believed, and it was considered wickedly presumptuous +to doubt anything except facts. The reasonable things in the Bible could +safely be doubted, but to deny the miracles was like the sin against +the Holy Ghost. In those days the preachers were at the helm. They spoke +with authority. They knew the origin and destiny of the soul. They were +on familiar terms with the Trinity--the three-headed God. They knew the +narrow path that led to heaven and the great highway along which the +multitude were traveling to the Prison of Pain. + +While these reverend gentlemen were busy trying to prevent the +development of the brain and to convince the people that the good in +this life were miserable, that virtue wore a crown of thorns and carried +a cross, while the wicked and ungodly walked in the sunshine of joy, +yet that after death the wicked would be eternally tortured and the +good eternally rewarded. According to the pious philosophy the good +God punished virtue, and rewarded vice, in this world--and in the next, +rewarded virtue and punished vice. These divine truths filled their +hearts with holy peace--with pious resignation. It would be difficult +to determine which gave them the greater joy--the hope of heaven for +themselves, or the certainty of hell for their enemies. For the grace of +God they were fairly thankful, but for his "justice" their gratitude +was boundless. From the heights of heaven they expected to witness the +eternal tragedy in hell. + +While these good divines, these doctors of divinity, were busy +misinterpreting the Scriptures, denying facts and describing the glories +and agonies of eternity, a good many other people were trying to find +out something about this world. They were busy with retort and crucible, +searching the heavens with the telescope, examining rocks and craters, +reefs and islands, studying plant and animal life, inventing ways to +use the forces of nature for the benefit of man, and in every direction +searching for the truth. They were not trying to destroy religion or to +injure the clergy. Many of them were members of churches and believed +the creeds. The facts they found were honestly given to the world. Of +course all facts are the enemies of superstition. The clergy, acting +according to the instinct of self-preservation, denounced these "facts" +as dangerous and the persons who found and published them, as Infidels +and scoffers. + +Theology was arrogant and bold. Science was timid. For some time +the churches seemed to have the best of the controversy. Many of the +scientists surrendered and did their best to belittle the facts and +patch up a cowardly compromise between Nature and Revelation--that is, +between the true and the false. + +Day by day more facts were found that could not be reconciled with the +Scriptures, or the creeds. Neither was it possible to annihilate facts +by denial. The man who believed the Bible could not accept the facts, +and the man who believed the facts could not accept the Bible. At +first, the Bible was the standard, and all facts inconsistent with that +standard were denied. But in a little while science became the standard, +and the passages in the Bible contrary to the standard had to be +explained or given up. Great efforts were made to harmonize the mistakes +in the Bible with the demonstrations of science. It was difficult to be +ingenious enough to defend them both. The pious professors twisted and +turned but found it hard to reconcile the creation of Adam with the slow +development of man from lower forms. They were greatly troubled about +the age of the universe. It seemed incredible that until about six +thousand years ago there was nothing in existence but God--and nothing. +And yet they tried to save the Bible by giving new meanings to the +inspired texts, and casting a little suspicion on the facts. + +This course has mostly been abandoned, although a few survivals, like +Mr. Gladstone, still insist there is no conflict between Revelation and +Science. But these champions of Holy Writ succeed only in causing the +laughter of the intelligent and the amazement of the honest. The more +intelligent theologians confessed that the inspired writers could not +be implicitly believed. As they personally know nothing of astronomy or +geology and were forced to rely entirely on inspiration, it is wonderful +that more mistakes were not made. So it was claimed that Jehovah cared +nothing about science, and allowed the blunders and mistakes of the +ignorant people concerning everything except religion, to appear in his +supernatural book as inspired truths. + +The Bible, they said, was written to teach religion in its highest and +purest form--to make mankind fit to associate with God and his angels. +True, polygamy was tolerated and slavery established, yet Jehovah +believed in neither, but on account of the wickedness of the Jews was in +favor of both. + +At the same time quite a number of real scholars were investigating +other religions, and in a little while they were enabled to show that +these religions had been manufactured by men--that their Christs and +apostles were myths and that all their sacred books were false and +foolish. This pleased the Christians. They knew that theirs was the only +true religion and that their Bible was the only inspired book. + +The fact that there is nothing original in Christianity, that all the +dogmas, ceremonies and festivals had been borrowed, together with some +mouldy miracles used as witnesses, weakened the faith of some and sowed +the seeds of doubt in many minds. But the pious petrifactions, the +fossils of faith, still clung to their book and creed. While they were +quick to see the absurdities in other sacred books, they were either +unconsciously blind or maliciously shut their eyes to the same +absurdities in the Bible. They knew that Mohammed was an impostor, +because the citizens of Mecca, who knew him, said he was, and they knew +that Christ was not an impostor, because the people of Jerusalem who +knew him, said he was. The same fact was made to do double duty. When +they attacked other religions it was a sword and when their religion was +attacked it became a shield. + +The men who had investigated other religions turned their attention to +Christianity. They read our Bible as they had read other sacred books. +They were not blinded by faith or paralyzed by fear, and they found that +the same arguments they had used against other religions destroyed our +own. + +But the real old-fashioned orthodox ministers denounced the +investigators as Infidels and denied every fact that was inconsistent +with the creed. They wanted to protect the young and feeble minded. They +were anxious about the souls of the "thoughtless." + +Some ministers changed their views just a little, not enough to be +driven from their pulpits--but just enough to keep sensible people +from thinking them idiotic. These preachers talked about the "higher +criticism" and contended that it was not necessary to believe every word +in the Bible, that some of the miracles might be given up and some of +the books discarded. But the stupid doctors of divinity had the Bible +and the creeds on their side and the machinery of the churches was in +their control. They brought some of the offending clergymen to the bar, +and had them tried for heresy, made some recant and closed the mouths +of others. Still, it was not easy to put the heretics down. The +congregations of ministers found guilty, often followed the shepherds. +Heresy grew popular, the liberal preachers had good audiences, while the +orthodox addressed a few bonnets, bibs and benches. + +For many years the pulpit has been losing influence and the sacred +calling no longer offers a career to young men of talent and ambition. + +When people believed in "special providence," they also believed that +preachers had great influence with God. They were regarded as celestial +lobbyists and they were respected and feared because of their supposed +power. + +Now no one who has the capacity to think, believes in special +providence. Of course there are some pious imbeciles who think that +pestilence and famine, cyclone and earthquake, flood and fire are the +weapons of God, the tools of his trade, and that with these weapons, +these tools, he kills and starves, rends and devours, drowns and burns +countless thousands of the human race. + +If God governs this world, if he builds and destroys, if back of every +event is his will, then he is neither good nor wise, He is ignorant and +malicious. + +A few days ago, in Paris, men and women had gathered together in the +name of Charity. The building in which they, were assembled took fire +and many of these men and women perished in the flames. + +A French priest called this horror an act of God. + +Is it not strange that Christians speak of their God as an assassin? + +How can they love and worship this monster who murders, his children? + +Intelligence seems to be leaving the orthodox church. The great divines +are growing smaller, weaker, day by day. Since the death of Henry Ward +Beecher no man of genius has stood in the orthodox pulpit. The ministers +of intelligence are found in the liberal churches where they are allowed +to express their thoughts and preserve their manhood. Some of these +preachers keep their faces toward the East and sincerely welcome the +light, while their orthodox brethren stand with their backs to the +sunrise and worship the sunset of the day before. + +During these years of change, of decay and growth, the author of this +book looked and listened, became familiar with the questions raised, the +arguments offered and the results obtained. For his work a better man +could not have been found. He has no prejudice, no hatred. He is by +nature candid, conservative, kind and just. He does not attack persons. +He knows the difference between exchanging epithets and thoughts. He +gives the facts as they appear to him and draws the logical conclusions. +He charges and proves that Christianity has not always been the friend +of morality, of civil liberty, of wives and mothers, of free though and +honest speech. He shows that intolerance is its nature, that it always +has, and always will persecute to the extent of its power, and that +Christianity will always despise the doubter. + +Yet we know that doubt must inhabit every finite mind. We know that +doubt is as natural as hope, and that man is no more responsible for his +doubts than for the beating of his heart. Every human being who knows +the nature of evidence, the limitations of the mind, must have "doubts" +about gods and devils, about heavens and hells, and must know that there +is not the slightest evidence tending to show that gods and devils ever +existed. + +God is a guess. + +An undesigned designer, an uncaused cause, is as incomprehensible to the +human mind as a circle without a diameter. + +The dogma of the Trinity multiplies the difficulty by three. + +Theologians do not, and cannot believe that the authority to govern +comes from the consent of the governed. They regard God as the monarch, +and themselves as his agents. They always have been the enemies of +liberty. + +They claim to have a revelation from their God, a revelation that is the +rightful master of reason. As long as they believe this, they must be +the enemies of mental freedom. They do not ask man to think, but command +him to obey. + +If the claims of the theologians are admitted, the church becomes the +ruler of the world, and to support and obey priests will be the business +of mankind. All these theologians claim to have a revelation from their +God, and yet they cannot agree as to what the revelation reveals. The +other day, looking from my window at the bay of New York, I saw many +vessels going in many directions, and yet all were moved by the same +wind. The direction in which they were going did not depend on the +direction of the breeze, but on the set of the sails. In this way the +same Bible furnishes creeds for all the Christian sects. But what would +we say if the captains of the boats I saw, should each swear that his +boat was the only one that moved in the same direction the wind was +blowing? + +I agree with Mr. Taber that all religions are founded on mistakes, +misconceptions and falsehoods, and that superstition is the warp and +woof of every creed. + +This book will do great good. It will furnish arguments and facts +against the supernatural and absurd. It will drive phantoms from the +brain, fear from the heart, and many who read these pages will be +emancipated, enlightened and ennobled. + +Christianity, with its ignorant and jealous God--its loving and +revengeful Christ--its childish legends--its grotesque miracles--its +"fall of man"--its atonement--its salvation by faith--its heaven for +stupidity and its hell for genius, does not and cannot satisfy the free +brain and the good heart. + + + + +THE GRANT BANQUET. + +Chicago, November 13, 1879. + + +TWELFTH TOAST. + + * The meteoric display predicted to take place last Thursday + night did not occur, but there did occur on that evening a + display of oratorical brilliancy at Chicago seldom if ever + surpassed. The speeches at the banquet of the Army of the + Tennessee, taken together, constitute one of the most + remarkable collections of extemporaneous eloquence on + record. The principal speakers of the evening were Gen. U. + S. Grant, Gen. John A. Logan Col. Win, F. Vilas, Gen. + Stewart L. Woodford, General Pope, Col. R. G. Ingersoll, + Gen. J. H. Wilson, and "Mark Twain." In an oratorical + tournament General Grant is, of course, better as a listener + than as a talker; he is a man of deeds rather than of words. + The same might be said of General Sherman, though, as + presiding officer and toast-master of the occasion, his + impromptu remarks were always pertinent and keen. His advice + to speakers not to talk longer than they could hold their + audience, and to the auditors not to drag out their applause + or to drawl out their laughter, would serve as a good + standing rule for all similar occasions Colonel Ingersoll + responded to the twelfth toast, "The Volunteer Soldiers of + the Union Army, whose Valor and Patriotism saved to the + world a Government of the People, by the People, and for the + people." + + Colonel Ingersoll's position was a difficult one. His + reputation as the first orator in America caused the + distinguished audience to expect a wonderful display of + oratory from him. He proved fully equal to the occasion and + delivered a speech of wonderful eloquence, brilliancy and + power. To say it was one of the best he ever delivered is + equivalent to saying it was one of the best ever delivered + by any man, for few greater orators have ever lived than + Colonel Ingersoll. The speech is both an oration and a poem. + It bristles with ideas and sparkles with epigrammatic + expressions. It is full of thoughts that breathe and words + that burn. The closing sentences read like blank verse. It + is wonderful oratory, marvelous eloquence. Colonel + Ingersoll fully sustained his reputation as the finest + orator In America. + + Editorial from The Journal Indianapolis, Ind., November + 17,1879. + + The Inter-Ocean remarked yesterday that the gathering and + exercises at the Palmer House banquet on Thursday evening + constituted one of the most remarkable occasions known in + the history of this country. This was not alone because of + the distinguished men who lent their presence to the scone; + they were indeed illustrious; but they only formed a part of + the grand picture that must endure while the memory of our + great conflict survives. To the eminent men assembled may be + traced the signal success of the affair, for they gave + inspiration to the minds and the tongues of others; but it + was the fruit of that inspiration that rolled like a glad + surprise across the banqueting sky, and made the 13th of + November renowned in the calendar of days... When Robert G. + Ingersoll rose after the speech of General Pope, to respond + to the toast, "The Volunteer Soldiers," a large part of the + audience rose with him, and the cheering was long and loud. + Colonel Ingersoll may fairly be regarded as the foremost + orator of America, and there was the keenest interest to + hear him after all the brilliant speeches that had preceded; + and this interest was not unnmixed with a fear that he would + not be able to successfully strive against both his own + great reputation and the fresh competitors who had leaped + suddenly into the oratorical arena like mighty gladiators + and astonished the audience by their unexpected eloquence. + But Ingersoll had not proceeded far when the old fire broke + out, and flashing metaphor, bold denunciation, and all the + rich imagery and poetical beauty which mark his great + efforts stood revealed before the delighted listeners: Long + before the last word was uttered, all doubt as to the + ability of the great orator to sustain himself had departed, + and rising to their feet, the audience cheered till the hall + rang with shouts. Like Henry, "The forest-born Demosthenes, + whose thunder shook the Philip of the seas," Ingersoll still + held the crown within his grasp. + + Editorial from The Inter-Ocean, Chicago, November 15, 1879. + + +The Volunteer Soldiers of the Union Army, whose Valor and Patriotism +saved to the world "a Government of the People, by the People, and for +the People." + +WHEN the savagery of the lash, the barbarism of the chain, and the +insanity of secession confronted the civilization of our country, the +question "Will the great Republic defend itself?" trembled on the lips +of every lover of mankind. + +The North, filled with intelligence and wealth--children of +liberty--marshaled her hosts and asked only for a leader. From civil +life a man, silent, thoughtful, poised and calm, stepped forth, and +with the lips of victory voiced the Nation's first and last demand: +"Unconditional and immediate surrender." From that 'moment' the end was +known. That utterance was the first real declaration of real war, and, +in accordance with the dramatic unities of mighty events, the great +soldier who made it, received the final sword of the Rebellion. + +The soldiers of the Republic were not seekers after vulgar glory. They +were not animated by the hope of plunder or the love of conquest. They +fought to preserve the homestead of liberty and that their children +might have peace. They were the defenders of humanity, the destroyers +of prejudice, the breakers of chains, and in the name of the future +they slew the monster of their time. They finished what the soldiers of +the Revolution commenced. They re-lighted the torch that fell from their +august hands and filled the world again with light. They blotted +from the statute-book laws that had been passed by hypocrites at +the instigation of robbers, and tore with indignant hands from the +Constitution that infamous clause that made men the catchers of their +fellow-men. They made it possible for judges to be just, for statesmen +to be humane, and for politicians to be honest. They broke the shackles +from the limbs of slaves, from the souls of masters, and from the +Northern brain. They kept our country on the map of the world, and our +flag in heaven. They rolled the stone from the sepulchre of progress, +and found therein two angels clad in shining garments--Nationality and +Liberty. + +The soldiers were the saviors of the Nation; they were the liberators of +men. In writing the Proclamation of Emancipation, Lincoln, greatest +of our mighty dead, whose memory is as gentle as the summer air when +reapers, sing amid the gathered sheaves, copied with the pen what Grant +and his brave comrades wrote with swords. + +Grander than the Greek, nobler than the Roman, the soldiers of the +Republic, with patriotism as shoreless as the air, battled for the +rights of others, for the nobility of labor; fought that mothers might +own their babes, that arrogant idleness should not scar the back of +patient toil, and that our country should not be a many-headed monster +made of warring States, but a Nation, sovereign, great, and free. + +Blood was water, money was leaves, and life, was only common air until +one flag floated over a Republic without a master and without a slave. + +And then was asked the question: "Will a free, people tax themselves to +pay a Nation's debt?" + +The soldiers went home to their waiting wives, to their glad children, +and to the girls they loved--they went back-to the fields, the shops, +and mines. They had not been demoralized. They had been ennobled. +They were as honest in peace as they had been brave in war. Mocking at +poverty, laughing at reverses, they made a friend of toil. They said: +"We saved the Nation's life, and what is life without honor?" They +worked and wrought with all of labor's royal sons that every pledge +the Nation gave might be redeemed. And their great leader, having put a +shining band of friendship--a girdle of clasped and happy hands--around +the globe, comes home and finds that every promise made in war has now +the ring and gleam of gold. + +There is another question still:--Will all the wounds of war be healed? +I answer, Yes. The Southern people must submit,--not to the dictation of +the North, but to the Nation's will and to the verdict of mankind. They +were wrong, and the time will come when they will say that they are +victors who have been vanquished by the right. Freedom conquered them, +and freedom will cultivate their fields, educate their children, weave +for them the robes of wealth, execute their laws, and fill their land +with happy homes. + +The soldiers of the Union saved the South as well as the North. They +made us a Nation. Their victory made us free and rendered tyranny in +every other land as insecure as snow upon volcanoes' lips. + +And now let us drink to the volunteers--to those who sleep in unknown, +sunken graves, whose names are only in the hearts of those they loved +and left--of those who only hear in happy dreams the footsteps of +return. Let us drink to those who died where lipless famine mocked at +want; to all the maimed whose scars give modesty a tongue; to all who +dared and gave to chance the care and keeping of their lives; to all the +living and to all the dead,--to Sherman, to Sheridan, and to Grant, the +laureled soldier of the world, and last, to Lincoln, whose loving life, +like a bow of peace, spans and arches all the clouds of war. + + + + +THIRTEEN CLUB DINNER. + + * Response of Col. R. G. Ingersoll to the sentiment "The + Superstitions of Public Men," at the regular monthly dinner + of the Thirteen Club. Monday evening, December 18, 1886. + +New York, December 13, 1886, + + +THE SUPERSTITIONS OF PUBLIC MEN, + +MR. CHIEF RULER-AND GENTLEMEN: I suppose that the superstition most +prevalent with public men, is the idea that they are of great importance +to the public. As a matter of fact, public men,--that is to say, men in +office,--reflect the average intelligence of the people, and no more. +A public man, to be successful, must not assert anything unless it is +exceedingly popular. And he need not deny anything unless everybody is +against it. Usually he has to be like the center of the earth,--draw all +things his way, without weighing anything himself. + +One of the difficulties, or rather, one of the objections, to a +government republican in form, is this: Everybody imagines that he is +everybody's: master. And the result has been to make most of our public +men exceedingly conservative in the expression of their real opinions. +A man, wishing to be elected to an office, generally agrees with 'most +everybody he meets. If he meets a Prohibitionist, he says: "Of course I +am a temperance man. I am opposed to all excesses; my dear friend, +and no one knows better than myself the evils that have been caused by +intemperance." The next man happens to keep a saloon, and happens to +be quite influential in that part of the district, and the candidate +immediately says to him:--"The idea that these Prohibitionists can take +away the personal liberty of the citizen is simply monstrous!" In a +moment after, he is greeted by a Methodist, and he hastens to say, that +while he does not belong to that church himself, his wife does; that he +would gladly be a member, but does not feel that he is good enough. He +tells a Presbyterian that his grandfather was of that faith, and that he +was a most excellent man, and laments from the bottom of his heart that +he himself is not within that fold. A few moments after, on meeting a +skeptic, he declares, with the greatest fervor, that reason is the only +guide, and that he looks forward to the time when superstition will be +dethroned. In other words, the greatest superstition now entertained by +public men is, that hypocrisy is the royal road to success. + +Of course, there are many other superstitions, and one is, that the +Democratic party has not outlived its usefulness. Another is, that the +Republican party should have power for what it has done, instead of what +it proposes to do. + +In my judgment, these statesmen are mistaken. The people of the United +States, after all, admire intellectual honesty and have respect for +moral courage. The time has come for the old ideas and superstitions in +politics to be thrown away--not in phrase, not in pretence, but in fact; +and the time has come when a man can safely rely on the intelligence and +courage of the American people. + +The most significant fact in this world to-day, is, that in nearly every +village under the American flag the school-house is larger than the +church. People are beginning to have a little confidence in intelligence +and in facts. Every public man and every private man, who is actuated +in his life by a belief in something that no one can prove,--that no one +can demonstrate,--is, to that extent, a superstitious man. + +It may be that I go further than most of you, because if I have any +superstition, it is a superstition against superstition. It seems to +me that the first things for every man, whether in or out of office, to +believe in,--the first things to rely on, are demonstrated facts. +These are the corner stones,--these are the columns that nothing can +move,--these are the stars that no darkness can hide,--these are the +true and only foundations of belief. + +Beyond the truths that have been demonstrated is the horizon of the +Probable, and in the world of the Probable every man has the right to +guess for himself. Beyond the region of the Probable is the Possible, +and beyond the Possible is the Impossible, and beyond the Impossible are +the religions of this world. My idea is this: Any man who acts in +view of the Improbable or of the Impossible--that is to say of the +Supernatural--is a superstitious man. Any man who believes that he can +add to the happiness of the Infinite, by depriving himself of innocent +pleasure, is superstitious. Any man who imagines that he can make some +God happy, by making himself miserable, is superstitious. Any one who +thinks he can gain happiness in another world, by raising hell with his +fellow-men in this, is simply superstitious. Any man who believes in a +Being of infinite wisdom and goodness, and yet belives that that +Being has peopled a world with failures, is superstitious. Any man who +believes that an infinitely wise and good God would take pains to make +a man, intending at the time that the man should be eternally damned, is +absurdly superstitious. In other words, he who believes that there is, +or that there can be, any other religious duty than to increase the +happiness of mankind, in this world, now and here, is superstitious. + +I have known a great many private men who were not men of genius. I +have known some men of genius about whom it was kept private, and I have +known many public men, and my wonder increased the better I knew them, +that they occupied positions of trust and honor. + +But, after all, it is the people's fault. They who demand hypocrisy +must be satisfied with mediocrity... Our public men will be better and +greater, and less superstitious, when the people become greater and +better and less superstitious. There is an old story, that we have all +heard, about Senator Nesmith. He was elected a Senator from Oregon. When +he had been in Washington a little while, one of the other Senators said +to him: "How did you feel when you found yourself sitting here in the +United States Senate?" He replied: "For the first two months, I just +sat and wondered how a damned fool like me ever, broke into the Senate. +Since that, I have done nothing but wonder how the other fools got +here." + +To-day the need of our civilization is public men who have the courage +to speak as they think. We need a man for President who will not +publicly thank God for earthquakes. We need somebody with the courage to +say that all that happens in nature happens without design, and without +reference to man; somebody who will say that the men and women killed +are not murdered by supernatural beings, and that everything that +happens in nature, happens without malice and without mercy. We want +somebody who will have courage enough not to charge, an infinitely good +and wise Being with all the cruelties and agonies and sufferings of this +world. We want such men in public places,--men who will appeal to the +reason of their fellows, to the highest intelligence of the people; men +who will have courage enough, in this the nineteenth century, to agree +with the conclusions of science. We want some man who will not +pretend to believe, and who does not in fact believe, the stories that +Superstition has told to Credulity. + +The most important thing in this world is the destruction of +superstition. Superstition interferes with the happiness of mankind. +Superstition is a terrible serpent, reaching in frightful coils from +heaven to earth and thrusting its poisoned fangs into the hearts of men. +While I live, I am going to do what little I can for the destruction of +this monster. Whatever may happen in another world--and I will take my +chances there,--I am opposed to superstition in this. And if, when I +reach that other world, it needs reforming, I shall do what little I can +there for the destruction of the false. + +Let me tell you one thing more, and I am done. The only way to have +brave, honest, intelligent, conscientious public men, men without +superstition, is to do what we can to make the average citizen brave, +conscientious and intelligent. If you wish to see courage in the +presidential chair, conscience upon the bench, intelligence of the +highest order in Congress; if you expect public men to be great enough +to reflect honor upon the Republic, private citizens must have the +courage and the intelligence to elect, and to sustain, such men. I have +said, and I say it again, that never while I live will I vote for any +man to be President of the United States, no matter if he does belong +to my party, who has not won his spurs on some field of intellectual +conflict. We have had enough mediocrity, enough policy, enough +superstition, enough prejudice, enough provincialism, and the time has +come for the American citizen to say: "Hereafter I will be represented +by men who are worthy, not only of the great Republic, but of the +Nineteenth Century." + + + + +ROBSON AND CRANE DINNER. + +New York, November 21, 1887. + + * The theatre party and supper given by Charles P. Palmer, + brother of Courtlandt Palmer, on Monday evening were + unusually attractive in many ways. Mr Palmer has recently + returned from Europe, and took this opportunity to gather + around him his old club associates and friends, and to show + his admiration of the acting of Messrs. Robson and Crane. + The appearance of Mr. Palmer's fifty guests in the theatre + excited much interest in all parts of the house. It is not + often that theatre-goers have the opportunity of seeing in a + single row, Channcey M. Depew, Gen. William T. Sherman, Gen. + Horace Porter and Robert G. Ingersoll, with Leonard Jerome + and his brother Lawrence, Murat Halstead and other well- + known men in close proximity + + The supper table at Delmonico's was decorated with a lavish + profusion of flowers rarely approached even at that famous + restaurant. + + Mr. Palmer was a charming host, full of humor, jollity and + attention to every guest. He opened the speaking with a few + apt words. Then Stuart Rodson made some witty remarks, and + called upon William H. Crane, whose well-rounded speech was + heartily applauded General Sherman, Chauncey M. Depew, + General Porter, Lawrence Jerome and Colonel Ingersoll were + all in their best moods, and the sallies of wit and the + abundance of genuine humor in their informal addresses kept + their hearers in almost continuous laughter. Lawrence Jerome + was in especially fine form. He sang songs, told stories and + said: "Depew and Ingersoll know so much that intelligence + has become a drag in the market, and it's no use to tell you + what a good speech I would have made." J. Seaver Page made + an uncommonly witty and effective speech. Murat Halstead + related some reminiscences of his last European tour and of + his experiences in London with Lawrence and Leonard Jerome, + which were received with shouts of laughter. Altogether the + supper was one to be long remembered by all present.--The + Tribune, New York, November 23, 1887; + + +TOAST: COMEDY AND TRAGEDY. + +I BELIEVE in the medicine of mirth, and in what I might call the +longevity of laughter. Every man who has caused real, true, honest +mirth, has been a benefactor of the human race. In a world like this, +where there is so much trouble--a world gotten up on such a poor +plan--where sometimes one is almost inclined to think that the Deity, if +there be one, played a practical joke--to find, I say, in such a world, +something that for the moment allows laughter to triumph over sorrow, +is a great piece of good fortune. I like the stage, not only because +General Sherman likes it--and I do not think I was ever at the theatre +in my life but I saw him--I not only like it because General Washington +liked it, but because the greatest man that ever touched this grain of +sand and tear we call the world, wrote for the stage, and poured out +a very Mississippi of philosophy and pathos and humor, and everything +calculated to raise and ennoble mankind. + +I like to see the stage honored, because actors are the ministers, the +apostles, of the greatest man who ever lived, and because they put +flesh upon and blood and passion within the greatest characters that +the greatest man drew. This is the reason I like the stage. It makes us +human. A rascal never gained applause on the stage. A hypocrite never +commanded admiration, not even when he was acting a clergyman--except +for the naturalness of the acting. No one has ever yet seen any play +in which, in his heart, he did not applaud honesty, heroism, sincerity, +fidelity, courage, and self-denial. Never. No man ever heard a great +play who did not get up a better, wiser, and more humane man; and no man +ever went to the theatre and heard Robson and Crane, who did not go home +better-natured, and treat his family that night a little better than on +a night when he had not heard these actors. + +I enjoy the stage; I always did enjoy it. I love the humanity of it. I +hate solemnity; it is the brother of stupidity--always. You never knew a +solemn man who was not stupid, and you never will. There never was a +man of true genius who had not the simplicity of a child, and over whose +lips had not rippled the river of laughter--never, and there never will +be. I like, I say, the stage for its wit and for its humor. I do not +like sarcasm; I do not like mean humor. There is as much difference +between humor and malicious wit as there is between a bee's honey and +a bee's sting, and the reason I like Robson and Crane is that they have +the honey without the sting. + +Another thing that makes me glad is, that I live in an age and +generation and day that has sense enough to appreciate the stage; sense +enough to appreciate music; sense enough to appreciate everything +that lightens the burdens of this life. Only a few years ago our dear +ancestors looked upon the theatre as the vestibule of hell; and every +actor was going "the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire." In those +good old days, our fathers, for the sake of relaxation, talked about +death and graves and epitaphs and worms and shrouds and dust and hell. +In those days, too, they despised music, cared nothing for art; and +yet I have lived long enough to hear the world--that is, the civilized +world--say that Shakespeare wrote the greatest book that man has ever +read. I have lived long enough to see men like Beethoven and Wagner put +side by side with the world's greatest men--great in imagination--and we +must remember that imagination makes the great difference between men. +I have lived long enough to see actors placed with the grandest and +noblest, side by side with the greatest benefactors of the human race. + +There is one thing in which I cannot quite agree with what has been +said. I like tragedy, because tragedy is only the other side of the +shield and I like both sides. I love to spend an evening on the twilight +boundary line between tears and smiles. There is nothing that pleases me +better than some scene, some act, where the smile catches the tears +in the eyes; where the eyes are almost surprised by the smile, and the +smile touched and softened by the tears. I like that. And the greatest +comedians and the greatest tragedians have that power; and, in +conclusion, let me say, that it gives me more than pleasure to +acknowledge the debt of gratitude I owe, not only to the stage, but to +the actors whose health we drink to-night. + + + + +THE POLICE CAPTAINS' DINNER. + +New York, January 24, 1888. + + +TOAST: DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF THE PRESS. + +ONLY a little while ago, the nations of the world were ignorant and +provincial. Between these nations there were the walls and barriers of +language, of prejudice, of custom, of race and of religion. Each +little nation had the only perfect form of government--the only genuine +religion--all others being adulterations or counterfeits. + +These nations met only as enemies. They had nothing to exchange but +blows--nothing to give and take but wounds. + +Movable type was invented, and "civilization was thrust into the brain +of Europe on the point of a Moorish lance." The Moors gave to our +ancestors paper, and nearly all valuable inventions that were made for a +thousand years. + +In a little while, books began to be printed--the nations began to +exchange thoughts instead of blows. The classics were translated. These +were read, and those who read them began to imitate them--began to write +themselves; and in this way there was produced in each nation a local +literature. There came to be an exchange of facts, of theories, of +ideas. + +For many years this was accomplished by books, but after a time the +newspaper was invented, and the exchange increased. + +Before this, every peasant thought his king the greatest being in the +world. He compared this king--his splendor, his palace--with the +peasant neighbor, with his rags and with his hut. All his thoughts were +provincial, all his knowledge confined to his own neighborhood--the +great world was to him an unknown land. + +Long after papers were published, the circulation was small, the means +of intercommunication slow, painful, few and costly. + +The same was true in our own country, and here, too, was in a great +degree, the provincialism of the Old World. + +Finally, the means of intercommunication increased, and they became +plentiful and cheap. + +Then the peasant found that he must compare his king with the kings +of other nations--the statesmen of his country with the statesmen of +others--and these comparisons were not always favorable to the men of +his own country. + +This enlarged his knowledge and his vision, and the tendency of this was +to make him a citizen of the world. + +Here in our own country, a little while ago, the citizen of each State +regarded his State as the best of all. To love that State more than all +others, was considered the highest evidence of patriotism. + +The Press finally informed him of the condition of other States. He +found that other States were superior to his in many ways--in climate, +in production, in men, in invention, in commerce and in influence. +Slowly he transferred the love of State, the prejudice of locality--what +I call mud patriotism--to the Nation, and he became an American in the +best and highest sense. + +This, then, is one of the greatest things to be accomplished by +the Press in America--namely, the unification of the country--the +destruction of provincialism, and the creation of a patriotism broad as +the territory covered by our flag. + +The same ideas, the same events, the same news, are carried to millions +of homes every day. The result of this is to fix the attention of +all upon the same things, the same thoughts and theories, the same +facts--and the result is to get the best judgment of a nation. + +This is a great and splendid object, but not the greatest. + +In Europe the same thing is taking place. The nations are becoming +acquainted with each other. The old prejudices are dying out. The people +cf each nation are beginning to find that they are not the enemies of +any other. They are also beginning to suspect that where they have no +cause of quarrel, they should neither be called upon to fight, nor to +pay the expenses of war. + +Another thing: The kings and statesmen no longer act as they +formerly did. Once they were responsible only to their poor and +wretched-subjects, whose obedience they compelled at the point of the +bayonet. Now a king knows, and his minister knows, that they must give +account for what they do to the civilized world. They know that kings +and rulers must be tried before the great bar of public opinion--a +public opinion that has been formed by the facts given to them in the +Press of the world. They do not wish to be condemned at that great bar. +They seek not only not to be condemned--not only to be acquitted--but +they seek to be crowned. They seek the applause, not simply of their own +nation, but of the civilized world. + +There was for uncounted centuries a conflict between civilization and +barbarism. Barbarism was almost universal, civilization local. The torch +of progress was then held by feeble hands, and barbarism extinguished it +in the blood of its founders. But civilizations arose, and kept rising, +one after another, until now the great Republic holds and is able to +hold that torch against a hostile world. + +By its invention, by its weapons of war, by its intelligence, +civilization became capable of protecting itself, and there came a time +when in the struggle between civilization and barbarism the world passed +midnight. + +Then came another struggle,--the struggle between the people and their +rulers. + +Most peoples sacrificed their liberty through gratitude to some great +soldier who rescued them from the arms of the barbarian. But there came +a time when the people said: "We have a right to govern ourselves." And +that conflict has been waged for centuries. + +And I say, protected and corroborated by the flag of the greatest of all +Republics, that in that conflict the world has passed midnight. + +Despotisms were softened by parliaments, by congresses--but at last the +world is beginning to say: "The right to govern rests upon the consent +of the governed. The power comes from the people--not from kings. It +belongs to man, and should be exercised by man." + +In this conflict we have passed midnight. The world is destined to be +republican. Those who obey the laws will make the laws. + +Our country--the United States--the great Republic--owns the fairest +portion of half the world. We have now sixty millions of free people. +Look upon the map of our country. Look upon the great valley of the +Mississippi--stretching from the Alleghenies to the Rockies. See the +great basin drained by that mighty river. There you will see a territory +large enough to feed and clothe and educate five hundred millions of +human beings. + +This country is destined to remain as one. The Mississippi River is +Nature's protest against secession and against division. + +We call that nation civilized when its subjects submit their differences +of opinion, in accordance with the forms of law, to fellow-citizens who +are disinterested and who accept the decision as final. + +The nations, however, sustain no such relation to each other. Each +nation concludes for itself. Each nation defines its rights and its +obligations; and nations will not be civilized in respect of their +relations to each other, until there shall have been established a +National Court to decide differences between nations, to the judgment of +which all shall bow. + +It is for the Press--the Press that photographs the human activities +of every day--the Press that gives the news of the world to each +individual--to bend its mighty energies to the unification and the +civilization of mankind; to the destruction of provincialism, of +prejudice--to the extirpation of ignorance and to the creation of a +great and splendid patriotism that embraces the human race. + +The Press presents the daily thoughts of men. It marks the progress +of each hour, and renders a relapse into ignorance and barbarism +impossible. No catastrophe can be great enough, no ruin wide-spread +enough, to engulf or blot out the wisdom of the world. + +Feeling that it is called to this high destiny, the Press should appeal +only to the highest and to the noblest in the human heart. + +It should not be the bat of suspicion, a raven, hoarse with croaking +disaster, a chattering jay of gossip, or a vampire fattening on the +reputations of men. + +It should remain the eagle, rising and soaring high in the cloudless +blue, above all mean and sordid things, and grasping only the bolts and +arrows of justice. + +Let the Press have the courage always to defend the right, always +to defend the people--and let it always have the power to clutch and +strangle any combination of men, however intellectual or cunning or +rich, that feeds and fattens on the flesh and blood of honest men. + +In a little while, under our flag there will be five hundred millions +of people. The great Republic will then dictate to the world--that is to +say, it will succor the oppressed--it will see that justice is done--it +will say to the great nations that wish to trample upon the weak: "You +must not--you shall not--strike." It will be obeyed. + +All I ask is--all I hope is--that the Press will always be worthy of the +great Republic. + + + + +GENERAL GRANT'S BIRTHDAY DINNER + +New York, April 27, 1888. + + + * The tribute at Delmonico's last night was to the man + Grant as a supreme type of the confidence of the American + Republic in its own strength and destiny. Soldiers over + whose lost cause the wheels of a thousand cannons rolled, + and whose doctrines were ground to dust under the heels of + conquering legions, poured out their souls at the feet of + the great commander. Magnanimity, mercy, faith--these were + the themes of every orator. Christian and Infidel, blue and + gray, Republican and Democrat talked of Grant almost as men + have come to talk of Washington. + + And, alas! In the midst of it all, with its soft glow of + lights, its sweet breath of flowers, its throb of music and + bewildering radiance of banners, there was a vacant chair. + Upon it hung a wreath of green, tied with a knot of white + ribbon. Soldier and statesman and orator walked past that + chair and seemed to reverence it. It was the seat intended + for the trumpet tongued advocate of Grant in war, Grant in + victory, Grant in peace, Grant in adversity--the seat of + Roscoe Conkling. A little later and a clergyman jostled into + the vacant chair and brushed the green circlet to the floor. + + Gray and grim old General Sherman presided. About the nine + round, flower heaped tables were grouped the long list of + distinguisned men from every walk or life and from every + section of the country. + + Among the speakers was Ex-Minister Edwards Pierrepont who + was one of Grant's cabinet and who made a long speech, part + of which was devoted to explaining the court etiquette of + dukes and earls and ministers in England, and how an ex- + President of the United States ranks in Europe when an + American Minister helps him out. The rest of the speech + seemed to be an attempt to get up a presidential boom for + the Prince of Wales. + + When Mr. Pierrepont sat down, General Sherman explained that + Col. Robert Ingersoll did not want to speak, but a group of + gentlemen lifted the orator up and carried him forward by + main force.--New York Herald, April 28,1888. + + +TOAST: GENERAL GRANT + +GEN. SHERMAN and Gentlemen: I firmly believe that any nation great +enough to produce and appreciate a great and splendid man is great +enough to keep his memory green. No man admires more than I do men who +have struggled and fought for what they believed to be right. I admire +General Grant, as well as every soldier who fought in the ranks of the +Union,--not simply because they were fighters, not simply because they +were willing to march to the mouth of the guns, but because they fought +for the greatest cause that can be expressed in human language--the +liberty of man. And to-night while General Mahone was speaking, I could +not but think that the North was just as responsible for the war as the +South. The South upheld and maintained what is known as human slavery, +and the North did the same; and do you know, I have always found in my +heart a greater excuse for the man who held the slave, and lived on his +labor, and profited by the rascality, than I did for a Northern man that +went into partnership with him with a distinct understanding that he was +to have none of the profits and half of the disgrace. So I say, that, +in a larger sense--that is, when we view the question from a philosophic +height--the North was as responsible as the South; and when I remember +that in this very city, _in this very city_, men were mobbed simply for +advocating the abolition of slavery, I cannot find it in my heart to lay +a greater blame upon the South than upon the North. If this had been a +war of conquest, a war simply for national aggrandizement, then I should +not place General Grant side by side with or in advance of the greatest +commanders of the world. But when I remember that every blow was to +break a chain, when I remember that the white man was to be civilized +at the same time the black man was made free, when I remember that this +country was to be made absolutely free, and the flag left without a +stain, then I say that the great General who commanded the greatest army +ever marshaled in the defence of human rights, stands at the head of the +commanders of this world. + +There is one other idea,--and it was touched upon and beautifully +illustrated by Mr. Depew. I do not believe that a more merciful general +than Grant ever drew his sword. All greatness is merciful. All greatness +longs to forgive. All true grandeur and nobility is capable of shedding +the divine tear of pity. + +Let me say one more word in that direction. The man in the wrong +defeated, and who sees the justice of his defeat, is a victor; and in +this view--and I say it understanding my words fully--the South was as +victorious as the North. + +No man, in my judgment, is more willing to do justice to all parts +of this country than I; but, after all, I have a little sentiment--a +little. I admire great and splendid deeds, the dramatic effect of great +victories; but even more than that I admire that "touch of nature which +makes the whole world kin." I know the names of Grant's victories. I +know that they shine like stars in the heaven of his fame. I know them +all. But there is one thing in the history of that great soldier that +touched me nearer and more deeply than any victory he ever won, and that +is this: When about to die, he insisted that his dust should be laid in +no spot where his wife, when she sleeps in death, could not lie by his +side. That tribute to the great and splendid institution that rises +above all others, the institution of the family, touched me even more +than the glories won upon the fields of war. + +And now let me say, General Sherman, as the years go by, in America, as +long as her people are great, as long as her people are free, as long +as they admire patriotism and courage, as long as they admire deeds of +self-denial, as long as they can remember the sacred blood shed for +the good of the whole nation, the birthday of General Grant will be +celebrated. And allow me to say, gentlemen, that there is another with +us to-night whose birthday will be celebrated. Americans of the future, +when they read the history of General Sherman, will feel the throb and +thrill that all men feel in the presence of the patriotic and heroic. + +One word more--when General Grant went to England, when he sat down +at the table with the Ministers of her Britannic Majesty, he conferred +honor upon them. There is one change I wish to see in the diplomatic +service--and I want the example to be set by the great Republic--I want +precedence given here in Washington to the representatives of Republics. +Let us have some backbone ourselves. Let the representatives of +Republics come first and the ambassadors of despots come in next day. In +other words, let America be proud of American institutions, proud of a +Government by the people. We at last have a history, we at last are a +civilized people, and on the pages of our annals are found as glorious +names as have been written in any language. + + + + +LOTOS CLUB DINNER, TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY. + +New York, March 22, 1890. + +YOU have talked so much of old age and gray hairs and thin locks, +so much about the past, that I feel sad. Now, I want to destroy the +impression that baldness is a sign of age. The very youngest people I +ever saw were bald. + +Sometimes I think, and especially when I am at a meeting where they +have what they call reminiscences, that a world with death in it is a +mistake. What would you think of a man who built a railroad, knowing +that every passenger was to be killed--knowing that there was no escape? +What would you think of the cheerfulness of the passengers if every one +knew that at some station, the name of which had not been called out, +there was a hearse waiting for him; backed up there, horses fighting +flies, driver whistling, waiting for you? Is it not wonderful that the +passengers on that train really enjoy themselves? Is it not magnificent +that every one of them, under perpetual sentence of death, after all, +can dimple their cheeks with laughter; that we, every one doomed to +become dust, can yet meet around this table as full of joy as spring is +full of life, as full of hope as the heavens are full of stars? + +I tell you we have got a good deal of pluck. + +And yet, after all, what would this world be without death? It may be +from the fact that we are all victims, from the fact that we are all +bound by common fate; it may be that friendship and love are born of +that fact; but Whatever the fact is, I am perfectly satisfied that +the highest possible philosophy is to enjoy to-day, not regretting +yesterday, and not fearing to-morrow. So, let us suck this orange of +life dry, so that when death does come, we can politely say to him, "You +are welcome to the peelings. What little there was we have enjoyed." + +But there is one splendid thing about the play called Life. Suppose that +when you die, that is the end. The last thing that you will know is +that you are alive, and the last thing that will happen to you is the +curtain, not falling, but the curtain rising on another thought, so +that as far as your consciousness is concerned you will and must live +forever. No man can remember when he commenced, and no man can remember +when he ends. As far as we are concerned we live both eternities, +the one past and the one to come, and it is a delight to me to feel +satisfied, and to feel in my own heart, that I can never be certain that +I have seen the faces I love for the last time. + +When I am at such a gathering as this, I almost wish I had had the +making of the world. What a world I would have made! In that world +unhappiness would have been the only sin; melancholy the only crime; +joy the only virtue. And whether there is another world, nobody knows. +Nobody can affirm it; nobody can deny it. Nobody can collect tolls from +me, claiming that he owns a turnpike, and nobody can certainly say that +the crooked path that I follow, beside which many roses are growing, +does not lead to that place. He doesn't know. But if there is such a +place, I hope that all good fellows will be welcome. + + + + +MANHATTAN ATHLETIC CLUB DINNER. + +New York, December 27, 1890. + + +TOAST: ATHLETICS AMONG THE ANCIENTS. + +THE first record of public games is found in the twentythird Book of the +Iliad. These games were performed at the funeral of Patroclus, and there +were: + +First. A chariot race, and the first prize was: + +"A woman fair, well skilled in household care." + +Second. There was a pugilistic encounter, and the first prize, +appropriately enough, was a mule. + +It gave me great pleasure to find that Homer did not hold in high esteem +the victor. I have reached this conclusion, because the poet put these +words in the mouth of Eppius, the great boxer winding up with the +following refined declaration concerning his opponent: + +"I mean to pound his flesh and smash his bones." + +After the battle, the defeated was helped from the field. He spit +forth clotted gore. His head rolled from side to side, until he fell +unconscious. + +Third, wrestling; fourth, foot-race; fifth, fencing; sixth, throwing the +iron mass or bar; seventh, archery, and last, throwing the javelin. + +All of these games were in honor of Patroclus. This is the same +Patroclus who, according to Shakespeare, addressed Achilles in these +words: + + "In the battle-field I claim no special praise; + 'Tis not for man in all things to excel--" + + "Rouse yourself, and the weak wanton Cupid + Shall from your neck unloose his amorous fold, + And, like a dew-drop from the lion's mane, + Be shook to air." + +These games were all born of the instinct of self-defence. The chariot +was used in war. Man should know the use of his hands, to the end that +he may repel assault. He should know the use of the sword, to the end +that he may strike down his enemy. He should be skillful with the arrow, +to the same end. If overpowered, he seeks safety in flight--he should +therefore know how to run. So, too, he could preserve himself by the +skillful throwing of the javelin, and in the close encounter a knowledge +of wrestling might save his life. + +Man has always been a fighting animal, and the art of self-defence is +nearly as important now as ever--and will be, until man rises to that +supreme height from which he will be able to see that no one can commit +a crime against another without injuring himself. + +The Greeks knew that the body bears a certain relation to the soul--that +the better the body--other things being equal--the greater the +mind. They also knew that the body could be developed, and that such +development would give or add to the health, the courage, the endurance, +the self-confidence, the independence and the morality of the human +race. They knew, too, that health was the foundation, the corner-stone, +of happiness. + +They knew that human beings should know something about themselves, +something of the capacities of body and mind, to the end that they might +ascertain the relation between conduct and happiness, between temperance +and health. + +It is needless to say that the Greeks were the most intellectual of all +races, and that they were in love with beauty, with proportion, with the +splendor of the body and of mind; and so great was their admiration +for the harmoniously developed, that Sophocles had the honor of walking +naked at the head of a great procession. + +The Greeks, through their love of physical and mental development, gave +us the statues--the most precious of all inanimate things--of far more +worth than all the diamonds and rubies and pearls that ever glittered in +crowns and tiaras, on altars or thrones, or, flashing, rose and fell on +woman's billowed breast. In these marbles we find the highest types of +life, of superb endeavor and supreme repose. In looking at them we feel +that blood flows, that hearts throb and souls aspire. These miracles of +art are the richest legacies the ancient world has left our race. + +The nations in love with life, have games. To them existence is +exultation. They are fond of nature. They, seek the woods and streams. +They love the winds and waves of the sea. They enjoy the poem of the +day, the drama of the year. + +Our Puritan fathers were oppressed with a sense of infinite +responsibility. They were disconsolate and sad, and no more thought +of sport, except the flogging of; Quakers, than shipwrecked wretches +huddled on a raft would turn their attention to amateur theatricals. + +For many centuries the body was regarded as a decaying; casket, in +which had been placed the gem called the soul, and the nearer rotten the +casket the more brilliant the jewel. + +In those blessed days, the diseased were sainted and insanity born +of fasting and self-denial and abuse of the body, was looked upon as +evidence of inspiration. Cleanliness was not next to godliness--it +was the opposite; and in those days, what was known as "the odor of +sanctity" had a substantial foundation. Diseased bodies produced all +kinds of mental maladies. There is a direct relation between sickness +and superstition. Everybody knows that Calvinism was the child of +indigestion. + +Spooks and phantoms hover about the undeveloped and diseased, as +vultures sail above the dead. + +Our ancestors had the idea that they ought to be spiritual, and that +good health was inconsistent with the highest forms of piety. This +heresy crept into the minds even of secular writers, and the novelists +described their heroines as weak and languishing, pale as lilies, and in +the place of health's brave flag they put the hectic flush. + +Weakness was interesting, and fainting captured the hearts of all. +Nothing was so attractive as a society belle with a drug-store +attachment. + +People became ashamed of labor, and consequently, of the evidences +of labor. They avoided "sun-burnt mirth"--were proud of pallor, and +regarded small, white hands as proof that they had noble blood within +their veins. It was a joy to be too weak to work, too languishing to +labor. + +The tide has turned. People are becoming sensible enough to desire +health, to admire physical development, symmetry of form, and we now +know that a race with little feet and hands has passed the climax and is +traveling toward the eternal night. + +When the central force is strong, men and women are full of life to +the finger tips. When the fires burn low, they begin to shrivel at the +extremities--the hands and feet grow small, and the mental flame wavers +and wanes. + +To be self-respecting we must be self-supporting. + +Nobility is a question of character, not of birth. + +Honor cannot be received as alms--it must be earned. + +It is the brow that makes the wreath of glory green. + +All exercise should be for the sake of development--that is to say, for +the sake of health, and for the sake of the mind--all to the end that +the person may become better, greater, more useful. The gymnast or the +athelete should seek for health as the student should seek for truth; +but when athletics degenerate into mere personal contests, they become +dangerous, because the contestants lose sight of health, as in the +excitement of debate the students prefer personal victory to the +ascertainment of truth. + +There is another thing to be avoided by all athletic clubs, and that is, +anything that tends to brutalize, destroy or dull the finer feelings. +Nothing is more disgusting, more disgraceful, than pugilism--nothing +more demoralizing than an exhibition of strength united with ferocity, +and where the very body developed by exercise is mutilated and +disfigured. + +Sports that can by no possibility give pleasure, except to the +unfeeling, the hardened and the really brainless, should be avoided. +No gentleman should countenance rabbit-coursing, fighting of dogs, the +shooting of pigeons, simply as an exhibition of skill. + +All these things are calculated to demoralize and brutalize not only +the actors, but the lookers on. Such sports are savage, fit only to be +participated in and enjoyed by the cannibals of Central Africa or the +anthropoid apes. + +Find what a man enjoys--what he laughs at--what he calls diversion--and +you know what he is. Think of a man calling himself civilized, who is in +raptures at a bull fight--who smiles when he sees the hounds pursue and +catch and tear in pieces the timid hare, and who roars with laughter +when he watches the pugilists pound each other's faces, closing each +other's eyes, breaking jaws and smashing noses. Such men are beneath +the animals they torture--on a level with the pugilists they applaud. +Gentlemen should hold such sports in unspeakable contempt. No man finds +pleasure in inflicting pain. + +In every public school there should be a gymnasium. + +It is useless to cram minds and deform bodies. Hands should be educated +as well as heads. All should be taught the sports and games that require +mind, muscle, nerve and judgment. + +Even those who labor should take exercise, to the end that the whole +body may be developed. Those who work at one employment become deformed. +Proportion is lost. But where harmony is preserved by the proper +exercise, even old age is beautiful. + +To the well developed, to the strong, life seems rich, obstacles small, +and success easy. They laugh at cold and storm. Whatever the season may +be their hearts are filled with summer. + +Millions go from the cradle to the coffin without knowing what it is +to live. They simply succeed in postponing death. Without appetites, +without passions, without struggle, they slowly rot in a waveless pool. +They never know the glory of success, the rapture of the fight. + +To become effeminate is to invite misery. In the most delicate bodies +may be found the most degraded souls. It was the Duchess Josiane whose +pampered flesh became so sensitive that she thought of hell as a place +where people were compelled to sleep between coarse sheets. + +We need the open air--we need the experience of heat and cold. We need +not only the rewards and caresses, but the discipline of our mother +Nature. Life is not all sunshine, neither is it all storm, but man +should be enabled to enjoy the one and to withstand the other. + +I believe in the religion of the body--of physical development--in +devotional exercise--in the beatitudes of cheerfulness, good health, +good food, good clothes, comradeship, generosity, and above all, in +happiness. I believe in salvation here and now. Salvation from deformity +and disease--from weakness and pain--from ennui and insanity. I believe +in heaven here and now--the heaven of health and good digestion--of +strength and long life--of usefulness and joy. I believe in the builders +and defenders of homes. + +The gentlemen whom we honor to-night have done a great work. To their +energy we are indebted for the nearest perfect, for the grandest +athletic clubhouse in the world. Let these clubs multiply. Let the +example be followed, until our country is filled with physical and +intellectual athletes--superb fathers, perfect mothers, and every child +an heir to health and joy. + + + + +THE LIEDERKRANZ CLUB, SEIDL-STANTON BANQUET. + +New York, April 2, 1891 + + +TOAST: MUSIC, NOBLEST OF THE ARTS. + +IT is probable that I was selected to speak about music, because, not +knowing one note from another, I have no prejudice on the subject. + +All I can say is, that I know what I like, and, to tell the truth, I +like every kind, enjoy it all, from the hand organ to the orchestra. + +Knowing nothing of the science of music, I am not always looking for +defects, or listening for discords. As the young robin cheerfully +swallows whatever comes, I hear with gladness all that is played. + +Music has been, I suppose, a gradual growth, subject to the law +of evolution; as nearly everything, with the possible exception of +theology, has been and is under this law. + +Music may be divided into three kinds: First, the music of simple time, +without any particular emphasis--and this may be called the music of +the heels; second, music in which time is varied, in which there is +the eager haste and the delicious delay, that is, the fast and slow, in +accordance with our feelings, with our emotions--and this may be +called the music of the heart; third, the music that includes time and +emphasis, the hastening and the delay, and something in addition, that +produces not only states of feeling, but states of thought. This may be +called the music of the head,--the music of the brain. + +Music expresses feeling and thought, without language. It was below and +before speech, and it is above and beyond all words. Beneath the waves +is the sea--above the clouds is the sky. + +Before man found a name for any thought, or thing, he had hopes and +fears and passions, and these were rudely expressed in tones. + +Of one thing, however, I am certain, and that is, that Music was born of +Love. Had there never been any human affection, there never could have +been uttered a strain of music. Possibly some mother, looking in the +eyes of her babe, gave the first melody to the enraptured air. + +Language is not subtle enough, tender enough, to express all that we +feel; and when language fails, the highest and deepest longings are +translated into music. Music is the sunshine--the climate--of the soul, +and it floods the heart with a perfect June. + +I am also satisfied that the greatest music is the most marvelous +mingling of Love and Death. Love is the greatest of all passions, and +Death is its shadow. Death gets all its terror from Love, and Love +gets its intensity, its radiance, its glory and its rapture, from the +darkness of Death. Love is a flower that grows on the edge of the grave. + +The old music, for the most part, expresses emotion, or feeling-, +through time and emphasis, and what is known as melody. Most of the +old operas consist of a few melodies connected by unmeaning recitative. +There should be no unmeaning music. It is as though a writer should +suddenly leave his subject and write a paragraph consisting of nothing +but a repetition of one word like "the," "the," "the," or "if," "if." +"if," varying the repetition of these words, but without meaning,--and +then resume the subject of his article. + +I am not saying that great music was not produced before Wagner, but +I am simply endeavoring to show-the steps that have been taken. It was +necessary that all the music should have been written, in order that the +greatest might be produced. The same is true of the drama, Thousands +and thousands prepared the way for the supreme dramatist, as millions +prepared the way for the supreme composer. + +When I read Shakespeare, I am astonished that he has expressed so much +with common words, to which he gives new meaning; and so when I hear +Wagner, I exclaim: Is it possible that all this is done with common air? + +In Wagner's music there is a touch of chaos that suggests the infinite. +The melodies seem strange and changing forms, like summer clouds, and +weird harmonies come like sounds from the sea brought by fitful winds, +and others moan like waves on desolate shores, and mingled with these, +are shouts of joy, with sighs and sobs and ripples of laughter, and the +wondrous voices of eternal love. + +Wagner is the Shakespeare of Music. + +The funeral march for Siegfried is the funeral music for all the dead; +Should all the gods die, this music would be perfectly appropriate. It +is elemental, universal, eternal. + +The love-music in Tristan and Isolde is, like Romeo and Juliet, an +expression of the human heart for all time. So the love-duet in The +Flying Dutchman has in it the consecration, the infinite self-denial, +of love. The whole heart is given; every note has wings, and rises and +poises like an eagle in the heaven of sound. + +When I listen to the music of Wagner, I see pictures, forms, glimpses of +the perfect, the swell of a hip, the wave of a breast, the glance of +an eye. I am in the midst of great galleries. Before me are passing, +the endless panoramas. I see vast landscapes with valleys of verdure +and vine, with soaring crags, snow-crowned. I am on the wide seas, where +countless billows burst into the white caps of joy. I am in the depths +of caverns roofed with mighty crags, while through some rent I see the +eternal stars. In a moment the music, becomes a river of melody, flowing +through some wondrous land; suddenly it falls in strange chasms, and the +mighty cataract is changed to seven-hued foam. . + +Great music is always sad, because it tells us of the perfect; and such +is the difference between what we are and that which music suggests, +that even in the vase of joy we find some tears. + +The music of Wagner has color, and when I hear the violins, the morning +seems to slowly come. A horn puts a star above the horizon. The night, +in the purple hum of the bass, wanders away like some enormous bee +across wide fields of dead clover. The light grows whiter as the +violins increase. Colors come from other instruments, and then the full +orchestra floods the world with day. + +Wagner seems not only to have given us new tones, new combinations, but +the moment the orchestra begins to play his music, all the instruments +are transfigured. They seem to utter the sounds that they have been +longing to utter. The horns run riot; the drums and cymbals join in +the general joy; the old bass viols are alive with passion; the 'cellos +throb with love; the violins are seized with a divine fury, and the +notes rush out as eager for the air as pardoned prisoners for the roads +and fields. + +The music of Wagner is filled with landscapes. There are some strains, +like midnight, thick with constellations, and there are harmonies like +islands in the far seas, and others like palms on the desert's edge. His +music satisfies the heart and brain. It is not only for memory; not only +for the present, but for prophecy. + +Wagner was a sculptor, a painter, in sound. When he died, the greatest +fountain of melody that ever enchanted the world, ceased. His music will +instruct and refine forever. + +All that I know about the operas of Wagner I have learned from Anton +Seidl. I believe that he is the noblest, tenderest and the most artistic +interpreter of the great composer that has ever lived. + + + + +THE FRANK B. CARPENTER DINNER. + +New York, December 1, 1891 + + * There was a notable gathering of leading artists, authors, + scientists, journalists, lawyer, clergymen and other + professional men at Sherry's last evening. The occasion was + a dinner tendered to Mr. F. B. Carpenter, the famous + portrait and portrait group artist, by his immediate friends + to celebrate the completion of his new historical painting, + entitled "International Arbitration," which is to be sent to + Queen Victoria next week as the gift of a wealthy American + lady. No such tribute has ever been paid before to an artist + of-this country. Let us hope that the extraordinary + attention thus paid to Mr. Carpenter will give our "English + cousins" some idea of how he is prized and his work indorsed + at home. The dinner to Mr. Carpenter was a great success-- + most enjoyable in every way. The table was laid in the form + ol a horse shoe with a train of smilax, and sweet flowers + extending the entire length of the table, amid pots of + chrysanthemums and roses. Ex-Minister Andrew D White + presided in the absence of John Russell + + Young..........Mr. White said: "During the entire course of + these proceedings we have been endeavoring to find a + representative of the great Fourth Estate who would present + its claims in relation to arbitration on this occasion. + There are present men whose names are household words in + connection with the press throughout this land. There is + certainly one distinguished as orator: there is another + distinguished as a scholar. But they prefer to be silent. We + will therefore consider that the toast of 'The Press in + Connection with War and Peace' has been duly honored + although it has not been responded to, and now there is one + subject which I think you will consider as coming strangely + at this late hour. It is a renewal of the subject with which + we began, and I am to ask to speak to it a man who is + admired and feared throughout the country. At one moment he + smashes the most cherished convictions of the country, and + at another he raises our highest aspirations for the future + of humanity. + + "It happened several years ago that I was crossing the + Atlantic, and when I had sufficiently recovered from + seasickness to sit out on the deck I came across Colonel + Ingersoll, and of all subjects of discussion you can imagine + we fell upon the subject of art, and we went at it hot and + heavy. So I said to him to-night that I had a rod in pickle + for him and that he was not to know anything about it until + it was displayed. + + "I now call upon him to talk to us about art, and if he + talks now as he talked on the deck of the steamer I do not + know whether it would clear the room, but it would make a + sensation in this State and country. I have great pleasure + in announcing Colonel Ingersoll, to speak on the subject of + art--or on any other subject, for no matter upon what he + speaks his words are always welcome." + + New York Press, December 2, 1891. + + +TOAST: ART. + +I PRESUME I take about as much interest in what that picture represents +as anybody else. I believe that it has been said this evening that the +world will never be civilized so long as differences between nations +are settled by gun or cannon or sword. Barbarians still settle their +personal differences with clubs or arms, and finally, when they agree +to submit their differences to their peers, to a court, we call them +civilized. Now, nations sustain the same relations to each other that +barbarians sustain; that is, they settle their differences by force; +each nation being the judge of the righteousness of its cause, and its +judgment depending entirely--or for the most part--on its strength; and +the strongest nation is the nearest right. Now, until nations submit +their differences to an international court--a court with the power to +carry its judgment into effect by having the armies and navies of all +the rest of the world pledged to support it--the world will not be +civilized. Our differences will not be settled by arbitration until more +of the great nations set the example, and until that is done, I am in +favor of the United States being armed. Until that is done it will give +me joy to know that another magnificent man-of-war has been launched +upon our waters. And I will tell you why. Look again at that picture. +There is another face; it is not painted there, and yet without it +that picture would not have been painted, and that is the face of U. +S. Grant. The olive branch, to be of any force, to be of any beneficent +power, must be offered by the mailed hand. It must be offered by a +nation which has back of the olive branch the force. It cannot be +offered by weakness, because then it will excite only ridicule. The +powerful, the imperial, must offer that branch. Then it will be accepted +in the true spirit; otherwise not. So, until the world is a little more +civilized I am in favor of the largest guns that can be made and the +best navy that floats. I do not want any navy unless we have the best, +because if you have a poor one you will simply make a present of it to +the enemy as soon as war opens. We should be ready to defend ourselves +against the world. Not that I think there is going to be any war, but +because I think that is the best way to prevent it. Until the whole +world shall have entered into the same spirit as the artist when he +painted that picture, until that spirit becomes general we have got to +be prepared for war. And we cannot depend upon war suasion. If a fleet +of men-of-war should sail into our harbor, talk would not be of any +good; we must be ready to answer them in their own way. + +I suppose I have been selected to speak on art because I can speak on +that subject without prejudice, knowing nothing about it. I have on this +subject no hobbies, no pet theories, and consequently will give you not +what I know, but what I think. I am an Agnostic in many things, and the +way I understand art is this: In the first place we are all invisible +to each other. There is something called soul; something that thinks and +hopes and loves. It is never seen. It occupies a world that we call the +brain, and is forever, so far as we know, invisible. Each soul lives in +a world of its own, and it endeavors to communicate with another soul +living in a world of its own, each invisible to the other, and it does +this in a variety of ways. That is the noblest art which expresses the +noblest thought, that gives to another the noblest emotions that this +unseen soul has. In order to do this we have to seize upon the seen, the +visible. In other words, nature is a vast dictionary that we use simply +to convey from one invisible world to another what happens in our +invisible world. The man that lives in the greatest world and succeeds +in letting other worlds know what happens in his world, is the greatest +artist. + +I believe that all arts have the same father and the same mother, and no +matter whether you express what happens in these unseen worlds in mere +words--because nearly all pictures have been made with words--or whether +you express it in marble, or form and color in what we call painting, it +is to carry on that commerce between these invisible worlds, and he is +the greatest artist who expresses the tenderest, noblest thoughts to +the unseen worlds about him. So that all art consists in this commerce, +every soul being an artist and every brain that is worth talking about +being an art gallery, and there is no gallery in this world, not in the +Vatican or the Louvre or any other place, comparable with the gallery +in every great brain. The millions of pictures that are in every +brain to-night; the landscapes, the faces, the groups, the millions of +millions of millions of things that are now living here in every brain, +all unseen, all invisible forever! Yet we communicate with each other by +showing each other these pictures, these studies, and by inviting others +into our galleries and showing them what we have, and the greatest +artist is he who has the most pictures to show to other artists. + +I love anything in art that suggests the tender, the beautiful. What is +beauty? Of course there is no absolute beauty. All beauty is relative. +Probably the most beautiful thing to a frog is the speckled belly of +another frog, or to a snake the markings of another snake. So there +is no such thing as absolute beauty. But what I call beauty is what +suggests to me the highest and the tenderest thought; something that +answers to something in my world. So every work of art has to be born in +some brain, and it must be made by the unseen artist we call the soul. +Now, if a man simply copies what he sees, he is nothing but a copyist. +That does not require genius. That requires industry and the habit of +observation. But it is not genius; it is not art. Those little daubs and +shreds and patches we get by copying, are pieces of iron that need to be +put into the flame of genius to be molten and then cast in noble forms; +otherwise there is no genius. + +The great picture should have, not only the technical part of art, which +is neither moral nor immoral, but in addition some great thought, some +great event. It should contain not only a history but a prophecy. There +should be in it soul, feeling, thought I love those little pictures of +the home, of the fireside, of the old lady, boiling the kettle, the +vine running over the cottage door, scenes suggesting to me happiness, +contentment. I think more of them than of the great war pieces, and I +hope I shall have a few years in some such scenes, during which I shall +not care what time it is, what day of the week or month it is. Just that +feeling of content when it is enough to live, to breathe, to have the +blue sky above you and to hear the music of the water. All art that +gives us that content, that delight, enriches this world and makes life +better and holier. + +That, in a general kind of way, as I said before, is my idea of art, and +I hope that the artists of America--and they ought to be as good here as +in any place on earth--will grow day by day and year by year independent +of all other art in the world, and be true to the American or republican +spirit always. As to this picture, it is representative, it is American. +There is one word Mr. Daniel Dougherty said to which I would like to +refer. I have never said very much in my life in defence of England, at +the same time I have never blamed England for being against us during +our war, and I will tell you why. We had been a nation of hypocrites. We +pretended to be in favor of liberty and yet we had four or five millions +of our people enslaved. That was a very awkward position. We had +bloodhounds to hunt human beings and the apostles setting them on; and +while this was going on these poor wretches sought and found liberty +on British soil. Now, why not be honest about it? We were rather a +contemptible people, though Mr. Dougherty thinks the English were wholly +at fault. But England abolished the slave-trade in 1803; she abolished +slavery in her colonies in 1833. We were lagging behind. That is all +there is about it. No matter why, we put ourselves in the position of +pretending to be a free people while we had millions of slaves, and it +was only natural that England should dislike it. + +I think the chairman said that there had been no great historic picture +of the signing of the Constitution. There never should be, never! It was +fit, it was proper, to have a picture of the signing of the Declaration +of Independence. That was an honest document. Our people wanted to give +a good reason for fighting Great Britain, and in order to do that they +had to dig down to the bed-rock of human rights, and then they said all +men are created equal. But just as soon as we got our independence +we made a Constitution that gave the lie to the Declaration of +Independence, and that is why the signing of the Constitution never +ought to be painted. We put in that Constitution a clause that the +slave-trade should not be interfered with for years, and another clause +that this entire Government was pledged to hand back to slavery any poor +woman with a child at her breast, seeking freedom by flight. It was a +very poor document. A little while ago they celebrated the one hundredth +anniversary of that business and talked about the Constitution being +such a wonderful thing; yet what was in that Constitution brought on the +most terrible civil war ever known, and during that war they said: "Give +us the Constitution as it is and the Union as it was." And I said then: +"Curse the Constitution as it is and the Union as it was. Don't talk +to me about fighting for a Constitution that has brought on a war like +this; let us make a new one." No, I am in favor of a painting that +would celebrate the adoption of the amendment to the Constitution that +declares that there shall be no more slavery on this soil. + +I believe that we are getting a little more free every day--a little +more sensible all the time. A few years ago a woman in Germany made a +speech, in which she asked: "Why should the German mother in pain and +agony give birth to a child and rear that child through industry and +poverty, and teach him that when he arrives at the age of twenty-one it +will be his duty to kill the child of the French mother? And why should +the French mother teach her son, that it will be his duty sometime to +kill the child of the German mother?" There is more sense in that than +in all the diplomacy I ever read, and I think the time is coming when +that question will be asked by every mother--Why should she raise a +child to kill the child of another mother? + +The time is coming when we will do away with all this. Man has been +taught that he ought to fight for the country where he was born; no +matter about that country being wrong, whether it supported him or not, +whether it enslaved him and trampled on every right he had, still it was +his duty to march up in support of that country. The time will come when +the man will make up his mind himself whether the country is worth +while fighting for, and he is the greatest patriot who seeks to make +his country worth fighting for, and not he who says, I am for it anyhow, +whether it is right or not. These patriots will be the force Mr. George +was speaking about. If war between this country and Great Britain were +declared, and there were men in both countries sufficient to take a +right view of it, that would be the end of war. The thing would be +settled by arbitration--settled by some court--and no one would dream of +rushing to the field of battle. So, that is my hope for the world; more +policy, more good, solid, sound sense and less mud patriotism. + +I think that this country is going to grow. I think it will take in Mr. +Wiman's country. I do not mean that we are going to take any country. +I mean that they are going to come to us. I do not believe in conquest. +Canada will come just as soon as it is to her interest to come, and I +think she will come or be a great country to herself. I do not believe +in those people, intelligent as they are, sending three thousand miles +for information they have at home. I do not believe in their being +governed by anybody except themselves. So if they come we shall be glad +to have them, if they don't want to come I don't want them. + +Yes, we are growing. I don't know how many millions of people we have +now, probably over sixty-two if they all get counted; and they are still +coming. I expect to live to see one hundred millions here. I know some +say that we are getting too many foreigners, but I say the more that +come the better. We have got to have somebody to take the places of the +sons of our rich people. So I say let them come. There is plenty of land +here, everywhere. I say to the people of every country, come; do your +work here, and we will protect you against other countries. We will give +you all the work to supply yourselves and your neighbors. + +Then if we have differences with another country we shall have a strong +navy, big ships, big guns, magnificent men and plenty of them, and if we +put out the hand of fellowship and friendship they will know there is +no foolishness about it. They will know we are not asking any favor. We +will just say: We want peace, and we tell you over the glistening leaves +of this olive branch that if you don't compromise we will mop the earth +with you. + +That is the sort of arbitration I believe in, and it is the only sort, +in my judgment, that will be effectual for all time. And I hope that we +may still grow, and grow more and more artistic, and more and more +in favor of peace, and I pray that we may finally arrive at being +absolutely worthy of having presented that picture, with all that it +implies, to the most warlike nation in the world--to the nation that +first sends the gospel and then the musket immediately after, and says: +You have got to be civilized, and the only evidence of civilization that +you can give is to buy our goods and to buy them now, and to pay for +them. I wish us to be worthy of the picture presented to such a nation, +and my prayer is that America may be worthy to have sent such a token +in such a spirit, and my second prayer is that England may be worthy +to receive it and to keep it, and that she may receive it in the same +spirit that it is sent. + +I am glad that it is to be sent by a woman. The gentleman who spoke to +the toast, "Woman as a Peacemaker," seemed to believe that woman brought +all the sorrows that ever happened, not only of war, but troubles of +every kind. I want to say to him that I would rather live with the woman +I love in a world of war, in a world full of troubles and sorrows, +than to live in heaven with nobody but men. I believe that woman is a +peacemaker, and so I am glad that a woman presents this token to another +woman; and woman is a far higher title than queen, in my judgment; far +higher. There are no higher titles than woman, mother, wife, sister, and +when they come to calling them countesses and duchesses and queens, that +is all rot. That adds nothing to that unseen artist who inhabits the +world called the brain. That unseen artist is great by nature and cannot +be made greater by the addition of titles. And so one woman gives to +another woman the picture that prophesies war is finally to cease, +and the civilized nations of the world will henceforth arbitrate their +differences and no longer strew the plains with corpses of brethren. +That is the supreme lesson that is taught by this picture, and I +congratulate Mr. Carpenter that his name is associated with it and +also with the "Proclamation of Emancipation." In the latter work he has +associated his name with that of Lincoln, which is the greatest name +in history, and the gentlest memory in this world. Mr. Carpenter has +associated his name with that and with this and with that of General +Grant, for I say that this picture would never have been possible had +there not been behind it Grant; if there had not been behind it the +victorious armies of the North and the great armies of the South, that +would have united instantly to repel any foreign foe. + + + + +UNITARIAN CLUB DINNER. + +New York, January 15,1892. + + +TOAST: THE IDEAL. + +MR. PRESIDENT, Ladies and Gentlemen: In the first place, I wish to +tender my thanks to this club for having generosity and sense enough to +invite me to speak this evening. It is probably the best thing the club +has ever done. You have shown that you are not afraid of a man simply +because he does not happen to agree entirely with you, although in a +very general way it may be said that I come within one of you. + +So I think, not only that you have honored me--that, I most cheerfully +and gratefully admit--but, upon my word, I think that you have honored +yourselves. And imagine the distance the religious world has traveled +in the last few years to make a thing of this kind possible! You know--I +presume every one of you knows--that I have no religion--not enough to +last a minute--none whatever--that is, in the ordinary sense of that +word. And yet you have become so nearly civilized that you are willing +to hear what I have to say; and I have become so nearly civilized that I +am willing to say what I think. + +And, in the second place, let me say that I have great respect for +the Unitarian Church. I have great respect for the memory of Theodore +Parker. I have great respect for every man who has assisted in reaving +the heavens of an infinite monster. I have great respect for every man +who has helped to put out the fires of hell. In other words, I have +great respect for every man who has tried to civilize my race. + +The Unitarian Church has done more than any other church--and may be +more than all other churches--to substitute character for creed, and +to say that a man should be judged by his spirit; by the climate of his +heart; by the autumn of his generosity; by the spring of his hope; that +he should be judged by what he does; by the influence that he exerts, +rather than by the mythology he may believe. And whether there be one +God or a million, I am perfectly satisfied that every duty that devolves +upon me is within my reach; it is something that I can do myself, +without the help of anybody else, either in this world or any other. + +Now, in order to make myself plain on this subject--I think I was to +speak about the Ideal--I want to thank the Unitarian Church for what +it has done; and I want to thank the Universalist Church, too. They at +least believe in a God who is a gentleman; and that is much more than +was ever done by an orthodox church. They believe, at least, in a +heavenly father who will leave the latch string out until the last +child gets home; and as that lets me in--especially in reference to the +"last"--I have great respect for that church. + +But now I am coming to the Ideal; and in what I may say you may not all +agree. I hope you won't, because that would be to me evidence that I am +wrong. You cannot expect everybody to agree in the right, and I cannot +expect to be always in the right myself. I have to judge with the +standard called my reason, and I do not know whether it is right or +not; I will admit that. But as opposed to any other man's, I will bet +on mine. That is to say, for home use. In the first place, I think it +is said in some book--and if I am wrong there are plenty here to correct +me--that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." I think +a knowledge of the limitations of the human mind is the beginning of +wisdom, and, I may almost say, the end of it--really to understand +yourself. + +Now, let me lay down this proposition. The imagination of man has the +horizon of experience; and beyond experience or nature man cannot +go, even in imagination. Man is not a creator. He combines; he adds +together; he divides; he subtracts; he does not create, even in the +world of imagination. Let me make myself a little plainer: Not one +here--not one in the wide, wide world can think of a color that he never +saw. No human being can imagine a sound that he has not heard, and +no one can think of a taste that he has not experienced. He can add +to--that is add together--combine; but he cannot, by any possibility, +create. + +Man originally, we will say--go back to the age of barbarism, and you +will not have to go far; our own childhood, probably, is as far as is +necessary--but go back to what is called the age of savagery; every man +was an idealist, as every man is to-day an idealist. Every man in savage +or civilized time, commencing with the first that ever crawled out of +a cave and pushed the hair back from his forehead to look at the +sun--commence with him and end with Judge Wright--the last expression +on the God question--and from that cave to the soul that lives in this +temple, everyone has been an idealist and has endeavored to account in +some way for what he saw and for what he felt; in other words, for the +phenomena of nature. The easiest way to account for it by the rudest +savage, is the way it has been accounted for to-night. What makes the +river run? There's a god in it. What makes the tree grow? There's a god +in it. What makes the star shine? There's a god in it. What makes the +sun rise? Why, he is a god himself. And what makes the nightingale sing +until the air is faint with melody? There's a god in it. + +They commenced making gods to account for everything that happens; gods +of dreams and gods of love and friendship, and heroism and courage. +Splendid! They kept making more and more. The more they found out in +nature, up to a certain point, the more gods they needed; and they kept +on making gods until almost every wave of the sea bore a god. Gods on +every mountain, and in every vale and field, and by every stream! Gods +in flowers, gods in grass; gods everywhere! All accounting for this +world and for what happened in this world. + +Then, when they had got about to the top, when their ingenuity had been +exhausted, they had not produced anything, and they did not produce +anything beyond their own experience. We are told that they were +idolaters. That is a mistake, except in the sense that we are all +idolaters. They said, "Here is a god; let us express our idea of him. +He is stronger than a man; let us give him the body of a lion. He is +swifter than a man; let us give him the wings of an eagle. He is wiser +than a man"--and when a man was very savage he said, "let us give +him the head of a serpent;" a serpent is wonderfully wise; he travels +without feet; he climbs without claws; he lives without food, and he is +of the simplest conceivable form. + +And that was simply to represent their idea of power, of swiftness, of +wisdom. And yet this impossible monster was simply made of what man had +seen in nature, and he put the various attributes or parts together +by his imagination. He created nothing. He simply took these parts of +certain beasts, when beasts were supposed to be superior to man in some +particulars, and in that way expressed his thought. + +You go into the territory of Arizona to-day, and you will find there +pictures of God. He was clothed in stone, through which no arrow could +pierce, and so they called God the Stone-Shirted whom no Indian could +kill. That was for the simple and only reason that it was impossible to +get an arrow through his armor. They got the idea from the armadillo. + +Now, I am simply saying this to show that they were making gods for all +these centuries, and making them out of something they found in nature. +Then, after they got through with the beast business, they made gods +after the image of man; and they are the best gods, so far as I know, +that have been made. + +The gods that were first made after the image of man were not made after +the pattern of very good men; but they were good men according to the +standard of that time, because, as I will show you in a moment, all +these things are relative. The qualities or things that we call mercy, +justice, charity and religion are all relative. There was a time when +the victor on the field of battle was exceedingly merciful if he failed +to eat his prisoner; he was regarded as a very charitable gentleman if +he refused to eat the man he had captured in battle. Afterward he +was regarded as an exceedingly benevolent person if he would spare a +prisoner's life and make him a slave. + +So that--but you all know it as well as I do or you would not be +Unitarians--all this has been simply a growth from year to year, from +generation to generation, from age to age. And let me tell you the first +thing about these gods that they made after the image of men. After +a time there were men on the earth who were better than these gods in +heaven. + +Then those gods began to die, one after another, and dropped from their +thrones. The time will probably come in the history of this world when +an insurance company can calculate the average life of gods as well as +they do now of men; because all these gods have been made by folks. And, +let me say right here, the folks did the best they could. I do not blame +them. Everybody in the business has always done his best. I admit it. I +admit that man has traveled from the first conception up to Unitarianism +by a necessary road. Under the conditions he could have come up in no +other way. I admit all that. I blame nobody. But I am simply trying to +tell, in a very feeble manner, how it is. + +Now, in a little while, I say, men got better than their gods. Then the +gods began to die. Then we began to find out a few things in nature, and +we found out that we were supporting more gods than were necessary--that +fewer gods could do the business--and that, from an economical point of +view, expenses ought to be cut down. There were too many temples, too +many priests, and you always had to give tithes of something to each +one, and these gods were about to eat up the substance of the world. + +And there came a time when it got to that point that either the gods +would eat up the people or the people must destroy some gods, and of +course they destroyed the gods--one by one and in their places they put +forces of nature to do the business--forces of nature that needed no +church, that needed no theologians; forces of nature that you are under +no obligation to; that you do not have to pay anything to keep working. +We found that the attraction of gravitation would attend to its +business, night and day, at its own expense. There was a great saving. +I wish it were the same with all kinds of law, so that we could all go +into some useful business, including myself. + +So day by day, they dispensed with this expense of deities; and the +world got along just as well--a good deal better. They used to think--a +community thought--that if a man was allowed to say a word against a +deity, the god would visit his vengeance upon the entire nation. But +they found out, after a while, that no harm came of it; so they went on +destroying the gods. Now, all these things are relative; and they made +gods a little better all the time--I admit that--till we struck the +Presbyterian, which is probably the worst ever made. The Presbyterians +seem to have bred back. + +But no matter. As man became more just, or nearer just, as he became +more charitable, or nearer charitable, his god grew to be a little +better and a little better. He was very bad in Geneva--the three that +we then had. They were very bad in Scotland--horrible! Very bad in New +England--infamous! I might as well tell the truth about it--very bad! +And then men went to work, finally, to civilize their gods, to civilize +heaven, to give heaven the benefit of the freedom of this brave world. +That's what we did. We wanted to civilize religion--civilize what is +known as Christianity. And nothing on earth needed civilization more; +and nothing needs it more than that to-night. Civilization! I am not so +much for the freedom of religion as I am for the religion of freedom. + +Now, there was a time when our ancestors--good people, away back, all +dead, no great regret expressed at this meeting on that account--there +was a time when our ancestors were happy in their belief that nearly +everybody was to be lost, and that a few, including themselves, were +to be saved. That religion, I say, fitted that time. It fitted their +geology. It was a very good running mate for their astronomy. It was a +good match for their chemistry. In other words, they were about equal in +every department of human ignorance. + +And they insisted that there lived up there somewhere--generally +up--exactly where nobody has, I believe, yet said--a being, an infinite +person "without body, parts, or passions," and yet without passions he +was angry at the wicked every day; without body he inhabited a certain +place; and without parts he was, after all, in some strange and +miraculous manner, organized so that he thought. + +And I don't know that it is possible for anyone here--I don't know that +anyone here is gifted with imagination enough--to conceive of such a +being. Our fathers had not imagination enough to do so, at least, and +so they said of this God, that he loves and he hates; he punishes and he +rewards; and that religion has been described perfectly tonight by Judge +Wright as really making God a monster, and men poor, helpless victims. +And the highest possible conception of the orthodox man was, finally, +to be a good servant--just lucky enough to get in--feathers somewhat +singed, but enough left to fly. That was the idea of our fathers. And +then came these divisions, simply because men began to think. + +And why did they begin to think? Because in every direction, in all +departments, they were getting more and more information. And then the +religion did not fit. When they found out something of the history of +this globe they found out that the Scriptures were not true. I will not +say not inspired, because I do not know whether they are inspired or +not. It is a question, to me, of no possible importance, whether they +are inspired or not. The question is: Are they true? If they are true, +they do not need inspiration; and if they are not true, inspiration will +not help them. So that is a matter that I care nothing about. + +On every hand, I say, they studied and thought. They began to grow--to +have new ideas of mercy, kindness, justice; new ideas of duty--new ideas +of life. The old gods, after we got past the civilization of the Greeks, +past their mythology--and it is the best mythology that man has ever +made--after we got past that, I say, the gods cared very little about +women. Women occupied no place in the state--no place by the hearth, +except one of subordination, and almost of slavery. So the early +churches made God after that image who held women in contempt. It was +only natural--I am not blaming anybody--they had to do it, it was part +of the _must!_ + +Now, I say that we have advanced up to the point that we demand not only +intelligence, but justice and mercy, in the sky; we demand that--that +idea of God. Then comes my trouble. I want to be honest about it. Here +is my trouble--and I want it also understood that if I should see a man +praying to a stone image or to a stuffed serpent, with that man's wife +or daughter or son lying at the point of death, and that poor savage on +his knees imploring that image or that stuffed serpent to save his +child or his wife, there is nothing in my heart that could suggest the +slightest scorn, or any other feeling than that of sympathy; any other +feeling than that of grief that the stuffed serpent could not answer the +prayer and that the stone image did not feel; I want that understood. +And wherever man prays for the right--no matter to whom or to what he +prays; where he prays for strength to conquer the wrong, I hope his +prayer may be heard; and if I think there is no one else to hear it I +will hear it, and I am willing to help answer it to the extent of my +power. + +So I want it distinctly understood that that is my feeling. But here is +my trouble: I find this world made on a very cruel plan. I do not say it +is wrong--I just say that that is the way it seems to me. I may be wrong +myself, because this is the only world I was ever in; I am provincial. +This grain of sand and tear they call the earth is the only world I have +ever lived in. And you have no idea how little I know about the rest of +this universe; you never will know how little I know about it until you +examine your own minds on the same subject. + +The plan is this: Life feeds on life. Justice does not always triumph: +Innocence is not a perfect shield. There is my trouble. No matter now, +whether you agree with me or not; I beg of you to be honest and fair +with me in your thought, as I am toward you in mine. + +I hope, as devoutly as you, that there is a power somewhere in this +universe that will finally bring everything as it should be. I take a +little consolation in the "perhaps"--in the guess that this is only one +scene of a great drama, and that when the curtain rises on the fifth +act, if I live that long, I may see the coherence and the relation of +things. But up to the present writing--or speaking--I do not. I do not +understand it--a God that has life feed on life; every joy in the world +born of some agony! I do not understand why in this world, over the +Niagara of cruelty, should run this ocean of blood. I do not understand +it. And, then, why does not justice always triumph? Why is not innocence +a perfect shield? These are my troubles. + +Suppose a man had control of the atmosphere, knew enough of the secrets +of nature, had read enough in "nature's infinite book of secrecy" so +that he could control the wind and rain; suppose a man had that power, +and suppose that last year he kept the rain from Russia and did not +allow the crops to ripen when hundreds of thousands were famishing and +when little babes were found with their lips on the breasts of dead +mothers! What would you think of such a man? Now, there is my trouble. +If there be a God he understood this. He knew when he withheld his rain +that the famine would come. He saw the dead mothers, he saw the empty +breasts of death, and he saw the helpless babes. There is my trouble. I +am perfectly frank with you and honest. That is my trouble. + +Now, understand me! I do not say there is no God. I do not know. As I +told you before, I have traveled but very little--only in this world. + +I want it understood that I do not pretend to know. I say I think. +And in my mind the idea expressed by Judge Wright so eloquently and +so beautifully is not exactly true. I cannot conceive of the God he +endeavors to describe, because he gives to that God will, purpose, +achievement, benevolence, love, and no form--no organization--no wants. +There's the trouble. No wants. And let me say why that is a trouble. Man +acts only because he wants. You civilize man by increasing his wants, +or, as his wants increase he becomes civilized. You find a lazy savage +who would not hunt an elephant tusk to save your life. But let him have +a few tastes of whiskey and tobacco, and he will run his legs off for +tusks. You have given him another want and he is willing to work. And +they nearly all started on the road toward Unitarianism--that is to say, +toward civilization--in that way. You must increase their wants. + +The question arises: Can an infinite being want anything? If he does and +cannot get it, he is not happy. If he does not want anything, I cannot +help him. I am under no obligation to do anything for anybody who does +not need anything and who does not want anything. Now, there is my +trouble. I may be wrong, and I may get paid for it some time, but that +is my trouble. + +I do not see--admitting that all is true that has been said about the +existence of God--I do not see what I can do for him; and I do not see +either what he can do for me, judging by what he has done for others. + +And then I come to the other point, that religion so-called, explains +our duties to this supposed being, when we do not even know that he +exists; and no human being has got imagination enough to describe him, +or to use such words that you understand what he is trying to say. I +have listened with great pleasure to Judge Wright this evening, and I +have heard a great many other beautiful things on the same subject--none +better than his. But I never understood them--never. + +Now, then, what is religion? I say, religion is all here in this +world--right here--and that all our duties are right here to our +fellow-men; that the man that builds a home; marries the girl that he +loves; takes good care of her; likes the family; stays home nights, as +a general thing; pays his debts; tries to find out what he can; gets all +the ideas and beautiful things that his mind will hold; turns a part +of his brain into a gallery of fine arts; has a host of paintings and +statues there; then has another niche devoted to music--a magnificent +dome, filled with winged notes that rise to glory--now, the man who does +that gets all he can from the great ones dead; swaps all the thoughts he +can with the ones that are alive; true to the ideal that he has here in +his brain--he is what I call a religious man, because he makes the world +better, happier; he puts the dimples of joy in the cheeks of the ones he +loves, and he lets the gods run heaven to suit themselves. And I am not +saying that he is right; I do not know. + +This is all the religion that I have; to make somebody else happier if I +can. + +I divide this world into two classes--the cruel and the kind; and I +think a thousand times more of a kind man than I do of an intelligent +man. I think more of kindness than I do of genius, I think more of real, +good, human nature in that way--of one who is willing to lend a helping +hand and who goes through the world with a face that looks as if its +owner were willing to answer a decent question--I think a thousand times +more of that than I do of being theologically right; because I do not +care whether I am theologically right or not. It is something that is +not worth talking about, because it is something that I never, never, +never shall understand; and every one of you will die and you won't +understand it either--until after you die at any rate. I do not know +what will happen then. + +I am not denying anything. There is another ideal, and it is a beautiful +ideal. It is the greatest dream that ever entered the heart or brain of +man--the Dream of Immortality. It was born of human affection. It did +not come to us from heaven. It was born of the human heart. And when +he who loved, kissed the lips of her who was dead, there came into his +heart the dream: We may meet again. + +And, let me tell you, that hope of immortality never came from any +religion. That hope of immortality has helped make religion. It has +been the great oak around which have climbed the poisonous vines of +superstition--that hope of immortality is the great oak. + +And yet the moment a man expresses a doubt about the truth of Joshua or +Jonah or the other three fellows in a furnace, up hops some poor little +wretch and says, "Why, he doesn't want to live any more; he wants to +die and go down like a dog, and that is the end of him and his wife and +children." They really seem to think that the moment a man is what +they call an Infidel he has no affections, no heart, no feeling, no +hope--nothing--nothing. Just anxious to be annihilated! But, if the +orthodox creed be true, I make my choice to-night. I take hell. And if +it is between hell and annihilation, I take annihilation. + +I will tell you why I take hell in making the first choice. We have +heard from both of those places--heaven and hell. According to the New +Testament there was a rich man in hell, and a poor man, Lazarus, in +heaven. And there was another gentleman by the name of Abraham. The rich +man in hell was in flames, and he called for water, and they told him +they couldn't give him any. No bridge! But they did not express the +slightest regret that they could not give him any water. Mr. Abraham was +not decent enough to say he would if he could; no, sir; nothing. It +did not make any difference to him. But this rich man in hell--in +torment--his heart was all right, for he remembered his brothers; and +he said to this Abraham, "If you cannot go, why, send a man to my five +brethren, so that they will not come to this place!" Good fellow, to +think of his five brothers when he was burning up. Good fellow. Best +fellow we ever heard from on the other side--in either world. + +So, I say there is my place. And, incidentally, Abraham at that time +gave his judgment as to the value of miracles. He said, "Though one +should arise from the dead he wouldn't help your five brethren!" "There +are Moses and the prophets." No need of raising people from the dead. + +That is my idea, in a general way, about religion; and I want the +imagination to go to work upon it, taking the perfections of one church, +of one school, of one system, and putting them together, just as the +sculptor makes a great statue by taking the eyes from one, the nose from +another, the limbs from another, and so on; just as they make a great +painting from a landscape by putting a river in this place, instead of +over there, changing the location of a tree and improving on what they +call nature--that is to say, simply by adding to, taking from; that is +all we can do. But let us go on doing that until there shall be a church +in sympathy with the best human heart and in harmony with the best human +brain. + +And, what is more, let us have that religion for the world we live in. +Right here! Let us have that religion until it cannot be said that they +who do the most work have the least to eat. Let us have that religion +here until hundreds and thousands of women are not compelled to make a +living with the needle that has been called "the asp for the breast +of the poor," and to live in tenements, in filth, where modesty is +impossible. + +I say, let us preach that religion here until men will be ashamed to +have forty or fifty millions, or any more than they need, while their +brethren lack bread--while their sisters die from want. Let us preach +that religion here until man will have more ambition to become wise and +good than to become rich and powerful. Let us preach that religion +here among ourselves until there are no abused and beaten wives. Let us +preach that religion until children are no longer afraid of their own +parents and until there is no back of a child bearing the scars of a +father's lash. Let us preach it, I say, until we understand and know +that every man does as he must, and that, if we want better men and +women, we must have better conditions. + +Let us preach this grand religion until everywhere, the world over, men +are just and kind to each other. And then, if there be another world, +we shall be prepared for it. And if I come into the presence of an +infinite, good, and wise being, he will say, "Well, you did the best you +could. You did very well, indeed. There is plenty of work for you to do +here. Try and get a little higher than you were before." Let us preach +that one drop of restitution is worth an ocean of repentance. + +And if there is a life of eternal progress before us, I shall be as glad +as any other angel to find that out. + +But I will not sacrifice the world I have for one I know not of. I will +not live here in fear, when I do not know that that which I fear lives. + +I am going to live a perfectly free man. I am going to reap the harvest +of my mind, no matter how poor it is, whether it is wheat or corn or +worthless weeds. And I am going to scatter it. Some may "fall on stony +ground." But I think I have struck good soil to-night. + +And so, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you a thousand times for your +attention. I beg that you will forgive the time that I have taken, and +allow me to say, once more, that this event marks an epoch in Religious +Liberty in the United States. + + + + +WESTERN SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BANQUET. + +Chicago, January 31, 1894. + + * Every soldier of the Army of the Potomac: remembers, the + colors that for two years floated over the headquarters of + Gen. Meade. Last night when one hundred and fifty men who + fought in that army gathered around the banquet board at the + Grand Pacific hotel a fac-simile of that flag floated over + them. It was a handsome guidon, on one side a field of + solferino red bearing a life-sized golden eagle surrounded + by a silver wreath of laurel; on the other were the national + colors with the names of the corps of the army. + + The fifth annual banquet of the Western Society of the Army + of the Potomac will be remembered on account of the presence + of many distinguished men. The cigars had not been lighted + when Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, escorted by Gen. Newberry and + Col. Burbanks, came in. The bald head and sparse gray hair + of the famous orator were recognized by all, and he was + given a mighty welcome. + + Save for the emblems of the Union and the fac-simile of Gen. + Meade's flag the decorations were simple. There were no + flowers, but the soldiers could read on little signs stuck + up around the tables such names as "Petersburg," "White + Oak," "Mine Run," "Cold Harbor," "Fair Oaks" and "South + Mountain." The exercises began and ended with bugle call and + military song, and the heroes of the Potomac showed that + they still remembered the words of the songs sung in camp. + + Col. Freeman Connor, the retiring president, acted as + toastmaster. Seated near him were Maj.-Gen. Nelson Miles, + United States army; Gen. Newberry, Col. Ingersoll, Thomas B. + Bryan, Col. James A.. Sexton, Maj. E. A. Blodgett, Fred W. + Spink, Col. Williston and Maj. Heyle. + + The exercises began with the singing of "America" by all + Col. Conner made a few remarks and then Col. C. S. McEntee + presented the new-comer to the society. When Colonel + Ingersoll was introduced, the veterans jumped up on chairs, + waved their handkerchiefs and greeted him with a mighty + shout. The Colonel spoke only fifteen minutes. + + At the conclusion of Colonel Ingersoll's speech he was again + cheered for several minutes. A motion was made to make him + an honorary member of the Western Society of the Army of the + Potomac. The toastmaster in putting the question said: "All + who are in favor will rise and yell," and every comrade + yelled. + + --Chicago Record, February 1, 1894. + + +FIRST of all, I wish to thank you for allowing me to be present. Next, I +wish to congratulate you that you are all alive. I congratulate you +that you were born in this century, the greatest century in the world's +history, the greatest century of intellectual genius and of physical, +mental and moral progress that the world ever knew. I congratulate you +all that you are members of the Army of the Potomac. I believe that +no better army ever marched under the flag of any nation. There was no +difficulty that discouraged you; no defeat that disheartened you. For +years you bore the heat and burden of battle; for years you saw your +comrades torn by shot and shell, but wiping the tears, from your cheeks +you marched on with greater determination than ever to fight to the end. + +To the Army of the Potomac belongs the eternal honor of having obtained +finally the sword of Rebellion. I congratulate you because you fought +for the Republic, and I thank you for your courage. For by you the +United States was kept on the map of the world, and our flag was kept +floating. If not for your work, neither would have been there. You +removed from it the only stain that was ever on it. You fought not only +the battle of the Union, but of the whole world. + +I congratulate you that you live in a period when the North has attained +a higher moral altitude than was ever attained by any nation. You now +live in a country which believes in absolute freedom for all. In this +country any man may reap what he sows and may give his honest thought to +his fellow-men. It is wonderful to think what this Nation was before the +Army of the Potomac came into existence. It believed in liberty as the +convict believes in liberty. It was a country where men that had honest +thoughts were ostracized. I thank you and your courage for what we are. +Nothing ennobles a man so much as fighting for the right. Whoever fights +for the wrong wounds himself. I believe that every man who fought in the +Union army came out a stronger and a better and a nobler man. + +I believe in this country. I am so young and so full of enthusiasm +that I am a believer in National growth. I want this country to be +territorial and to become larger than it is. I want a country worthy of +Chicago. I want to pick up the West Indies, take in the Bermudas, +the Bahamas and Barbadoes. They are our islands. They belong to this +continent and it is a piece of impudence for any other nation to think +of owning them. We want to grow. Such is the extravagance of my ambition +that I even want the Sandwich Islands. They say that these islands are +too far away from us; that they are two thousand miles from our shores. +But they are nearer to our shores than to any other. I want them. I want +a naval station there. I want America to be mistress of the Pacific. +Then there is another thing in my mind. I want to grow North and South. +I want Canada--good people--good land. I want that country. I do not +want to steal it, but I want it. I want to go South with this Nation. My +idea is this: There is only air enough between the Isthmus of Panama and +the North Pole for one flag. A country that guarantees liberty to +all cannot be too large. If any of these people are ignorant, we +will educate them; give them the benefit of our free schools. Another +thing--I might as well sow a few seeds for next fall. I have heard many +reasons why the South failed in the Rebellion, and why with the help of +Northern dissensions and a European hatred the South did not succeed. I +will tell you. In my judgment, the South failed, not on account of its +army, but from other conditions. Luckily for us, the South had always +been in favor of free trade. + +Secondly--The South raised and sold raw material, and when the war came +it had no foundries, no factories, and no looms to weave the cloth for +uniforms; no shops to make munitions of war, and it had to get what +supplies it could by running the blockade. We of the North had the +cloth to clothe our soldiers, shops to make our bayonets; we had all the +curious wheels that invention had produced, and had labor and genius, +the power of steam, and the water to make what we needed, and we did +not require anything from any other country. Suppose this whole country +raised raw material and shipped it out, we would be in the condition +that the South was. We want this Nation to be independent of the whole +world. A nation to be ready to settle questions of dispute by war should +be in a condition of absolute independence. For that reason I want all +the wheels turning in this country, all the chimneys full of fire, +all the looms running, the iron red hot everywhere. I want to see all +mechanics having plenty of work with good wages and good homes for their +families, good food, schools for their children, plenty of clothes, and +enough to take care of a child if it happens to take sick. I am for the +independence of America, the growth of America physically, mentally, +and every other way. The time will come when all nations combined cannot +take that flag out of the sky. I want to see this country so that if +a deluge sweeps every other nation from the face of the globe we would +have all we want made right here by our factories, by American brain and +hand. + +I thank you that the Republic still lives. I thank you that we are all +lovers of freedom. I thank you for having helped establish a Government +where every child has an opportunity, and where every avenue of +advancement if open to all. + + + + +LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF ANTON SEIDL. + +New York, February 2, 1895. + + +MR. PRESIDENT, Mr. Anton Seidl, and Gentlemen: I was enjoying myself +with music and song; why I should be troubled, why I should be called +upon to trouble you, is a question I can hardly answer. Still, as the +president has remarked, the American people like to hear speeches. Why, +I don't know. It has always been a matter of amazement that anybody +wanted to hear me. Talking is so universal; with few exceptions--the +deaf and dumb--everybody seems to be in the business. Why they should be +so anxious to hear a rival I never could understand. But, gentlemen, +we are all pupils of nature; we are taught by the countless things that +touch us on every side; by field and flower and star and cloud and river +and sea, where the waves break into whitecaps, and by the prairie, and +by the mountain that lifts its granite forehead to the sun; all things +in nature touch us, educate us, sharpen us, cause the heart to bud, to +burst, it may be, into blossom; to produce fruit. In common with the +rest of the world I have been educated a little that way; by the things +I have seen and by the things I have heard and by the people I have met. +But there are a few things that stand out in my recollection as having +touched me more deeply than others, a few men to whom I feel indebted +for the little I know, and for the little I happen to be. Those men, +those things, are forever present in my mind. But I want to tell you +to-night that the first man that let up the curtain in my mind, that +ever opened a blind, that ever allowed a little sunshine to straggle in, +was Robert Burns. I went to get my shoes mended, and I had to go with +them. And I had to wait till they were done. I was like the fellow +standing by the stream naked washing his shirt. A lady and gentleman +were riding by in a carriage, and upon seeing him the man indignantly +shouted, "Why don't you put on another shirt when you are washing one?" +The fellow said, "I suppose you think I've got a hundred shirts!" + +When I went into the shop of the old Scotch shoemaker he was reading +a book, and when he took my shoes in hand I took his book, which was +"Robert Burns." In a few days I had a copy; and, indeed, gentlemen, from +that time if "Burns" had been destroyed I could have restored more than +half of it. It was in my mind day and night. Burns you know is a little +valley, not very wide, but full of sunshine; a little stream runs down +making music over the rocks, and children play upon the banks; narrow +roads overrun with vines, covered with blossoms, happy children, the hum +of bees, and little birds pour out their hearts and enrich the air. That +is Burns. Then, you must know that I was raised respectably. Certain +books were not thought to be good for the young person; only such books +as would start you in the narrow road for the New Jerusalem. But one +night I stopped at a little hotel in Illinois, many years ago, when we +were not quite civilized, when the footsteps of the red man were still +in the prairies. While I was waiting for supper an old man was reading +from a book, and among others who were listening was myself. I was +filled with wonder. I had never heard anything like it. I was ashamed to +ask him what he was reading; I supposed that an intelligent boy ought to +know. So I waited, and when the little bell rang for supper I hung back +and they went out. I picked up the book; it was Sam Johnson's edition of +Shakespeare. The next day I bought a copy for four dollars. My God! +more than the national debt. You talk about the present straits of the +Treasury! For days, for nights, for months, for years, I read those +books, two volumes, and I commenced with the introduction. I haven't +read that introduction for nearly fifty years, certainly forty-five, but +I remember it still. Other writers are like a garden diligently planted +and watered, but Shakespeare a forest where the oaks and elms toss their +branches to the storm, where the pine towers, where the vine bursts into +blossom at its foot. That book opened to me a new world, another nature. +While Burns was the valley, here was a range of mountains with thousands +of such valleys; while Burns was as sweet a star as ever rose into the +horizon, here was a heaven filled with constellations. That book has +been a source of perpetual joy to me from that day to this; and whenever +I read Shakespeare--if it ever happens that I fail to find some new +beauty, some new presentation of some wonderful truth, or another +word that bursts into blossom, I shall make up my mind that my mental +faculties are failing, that it is not the fault of the book. Those, +then, are two things that helped to educate me a little. + +Afterward I saw a few paintings by Rembrandt, and all at once I was +overwhelmed with the genius of the man that could convey so much thought +in form and color. Then I saw a few landscapes by Corot, and I began to +think I knew something about art. During all my life, of course, like +other people, I had heard what they call music, and I had my favorite +pieces, most of those favorite pieces being favorites on account of +association; and nine-tenths of the music that is beautiful to the world +is beautiful because of the association, not because the music is good, +but because of association.. We cannot write a very poetic thing about a +pump or about water works; they are not old enough. + +We can write a poetic thing about a well and a sweep and an old +moss-covered bucket, and you can write a poem about a spring, because +a spring seems a gift of nature, something that cost no trouble and no +work, something that will sing of nature under the quiet stars of June. +So, it is poetic on account of association. The stage coach is more +poetic than the car, but the time will come when cars will be poetic, +because human feelings, love's remembrances, will twine around them, and +consequently they will become beautiful. There are two pieces of music, +"The Last Rose of Summer," and "Home Sweet Home," with the music a +little weak in the back; but association makes them both beautiful. So, +in the "Marseillaise" is the French Revolution, that whirlwind and flame +of war, of heroism the highest possible, of generosity, of self-denial, +of cruelty, of all of which the human heart and brain are capable; so +that music now sounds as though its notes were made of stars, and it is +beautiful mostly by association. + +Now, I always felt that there must be some greater music somewhere, +somehow. You know this little music that comes back with recurring +emphasis every two inches or every three-and-a-half inches; I thought +there ought to be music somewhere with a great sweep from horizon to +horizon, and that could fill the great dome of sound with winged notes +like the eagle; if there was not such music, somebody, sometime, would +make it, and I was waiting for it. One day I heard it, and I said, "What +music is that?" "Who wrote that?" I felt it everywhere. I was cold. I +was almost hysterical. It answered to my brain, to my heart; not only to +association, but to all there was of hope and aspiration, all my future; +and they said this is the music of Wagner. I never knew one note from +another--of course I would know it from a promissory note--and +was utterly and absolutely ignorant of music until I heard Wagner +interpreted by the greatest leader, in my judgment, in the world--Anton +Seidl. He not only understands Wagner in the brain, but he feels him in +the heart, and there is in his blood the same kind of wild and splendid +independence that was in the brain of Wagner. I want to say to-night, +because there are so many heresies, Mr. President, creeping into this +world, I want to say and say it with all my might, that Robert Burns was +not Scotch. He was far wider than Scotland: he had in him the universal +tide, and wherever it touches the shore of a human being it finds +access. Not Scotch, gentlemen, but a man, a man! I can swear to it, +or rather affirm, that Shakespeare was not English, but another man, +kindred of all, of all races and peoples, and who understood the +universal brain and heart of the human race, and who had imagination +enough to put himself in the place of all. + +And so I want to say to-night, because I want to be consistent, Richard +Wagner was not a German, and his music is not German; and why? Germany +would not have it. Germany denied that it was music. The great German +critics said it was nothing in the world but noise. The best interpreter +of Wagner in the world is not German, and no man has to be German to +understand Richard Wagner. In the heart of nearly every man is an AEolian +harp, and when the breath of true genius touches that harp, every man +that has one, or that knows what music is or has the depth and height +of feeling necessary to appreciate it, appreciates Richard Wagner. To +understand that music, to hear it as interpreted by this great leader, +is an education. It develops the brain; it gives to the imagination +wings; the little earth grows larger; the people grow important; and +not only that, it civilizes the heart; and the man who understands +that music can love better and with greater intensity than he ever did +before. The man who understands and appreciates that music, becomes in +the highest sense spiritual--and I don't mean by spiritual, worshiping +some phantom, or dwelling upon what is going to happen to some of us--I +mean spiritual in the highest sense; when a perfume arises from the +heart in gratitude, and when you feel that you know what there is of +beauty, of sublimity, of heroism and honor and love in the human heart. +This is what I mean by being spiritual. I don't mean denying yourself +here and living on a crust with the expectation of eternal joy--that is +not what I mean. By spiritual I mean a man that has an ideal, a great +ideal, and who is splendid enough to live to that ideal; that is what I +mean by spiritual. And the man who has heard the music of Wagner, that +music of love and death, the greatest music, in my judgment, that ever +issued from the human brain, the man who has heard that and understands +it has been civilized. + +Another man to whom I feel under obligation whose name I do not know--I +know Burns, Shakespeare, Rembrandt and Wagner, but there are some other +fellows whose names I do not know--is he who chiseled the Venus de Milo. +This man helped to civilize the world; and there is nothing under the +sun so pathetic as the perfect. Whoever creates the perfect has thought +and labored and suffered; and no perfect thing has ever been done except +through suffering and except through the highest and holiest thought, +and among this class of men is Wagner. Let me tell you something +more. You know I am a great believer. There is no man in the world who +believes more in human nature than I do. No man believes more in the +nobility and splendor of humanity than I do; no man feels more grateful +than I to the self-denying, heroic, splendid souls who have made this +world fit for ladies and gentlemen to live in. But I believe that the +human mind has reached its top in three departments. I don't believe +the human race--no matter if it lives millions of years more upon this +wheeling world--I don't believe the human race will ever produce in the +world anything greater, sublimer, than the marbles of the Greeks. I do +not believe it. I believe they reach absolutely the perfection of form +and the expression of force and passion in stone. The Greeks made marble +as sensitive as flesh and as passionate as blood. I don't believe that +any human being of any coming race--no matter how many suns may rise and +set, or how many religions may rise and fall, or how many languages +be born and decay--I don't believe any human being will ever excel the +dramas of Shakespeare. Neither do I believe that the time will ever come +when any man with such instruments of music as we now have, and having +nothing but the common air that we now breathe, will ever produce +greater pictures in sound, greater music, than Wagner. Never! Never! And +I don't believe he will ever have a better interpreter than Anton Seidl. +Seidl is a poet in sound, a sculptor in sound. He is what you might call +an orchestral orator, and as such he expresses the deepest feelings, +the highest aspirations and the in-tensest and truest love of which the +brain and heart of man are capable. + +Now, I am glad, I am delighted, that the people here in this city and in +various other cities of our great country are becoming civilized enough +to appreciate these harmonies; I am glad they are civilized at last +enough to know that the home of music is tone, not tune; that the home +of music is in harmonies where you braid them like rainbows; I am glad +they are great enough and civilized enough to appreciate the music +of Wagner, the greatest music in this world. Wagner sustains the same +relation to other composers that Shakespeare does to other dramatists, +and any other dramatist compared with Shakespeare is like one tree +compared with an immeasurable forest, or rather like one leaf compared +with a forest; and all the other composers of the world are embraced in +the music of Wagner. + +"Nobody has written anything more tender than he, nobody anything +sublimer than he. Whether it is the song of the deep, or the warble of +the mated bird, nobody has excelled Wagner; he has expressed all that +the human heart is capable of appreciating. And now, gentlemen, having +troubled you long enough, and saying long live Anton Seidl, I bid you +good-night." + + + + +LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF REAR ADMIRAL SCHLEY. + +New York, November 26, 1898. + + * The Lotos Club did honor to Rear Admiral Winfield Scott + Schley, and incidentally, to the United States, at its + clubhouse in Fifth Avenue last night. All day long the + square, blue pennant, blazoned with the two stars of a Rear + Admiral, snapped in the wind, signifying to all who saw it + that the Lotos Clubhouse was for the time being the flagship + of the erstwhile Flying Squadron. + + Within the home of the club were gathered men who like the + guest of the evening were prominent in the war with Spain, + The navy was represented by Capt. Charles D. Sigs-Dee, Capt. + A. T. Mahan and Captain Goodrich. From the army there was + Brig. Gen. W F. Randolph, and from civil life many men + prominent in the business, professional and social life of + the city. The one impulse that led these men to brave the + storm was their desire to pay their respects to one of the + men who had done so much to win laurels for the American + arms. + + The parlors and dining rooms of the clubhouse wore thrown + into one in order to accommodate the three hundred men + present fit the dinner. Smilax covered the walls, save hero + and there where the American flag was draped in graceful + folds. From the archway under which the table of honor was + spread, hung a large National ensign and a Rear Admiral's + pennant. + + The menu was unique. Etched on a cream-tinted paper appeared + an open nook, and on the tops of the pages was inscribed, + "Logge of the Goode Ship Lotos." "Dinner to Rear Admiral + Winfield Scott Schley, given in the cabin of ye Shippe, Nov. + 26, l898, Lat. 40 degrees 42 minutes 43 seconds north; + longitude, 74 degrees 3 seconds west." + + On each side of the menu was stretched a string of signal + flags, giving the orders made famous by Admiral Schley in + the naval engagement of July 3, 1898. On the second page of + the menu was a fine etching of the Brooklyn, Admiral + Schley's flagship. The souvenir menu was inclosed in blue + paper, upon which were two white stars, the whole + representing Rear Admiral Schley's pennant. + + +MR.PRESIDENT, Gentlemen of the Club--Boys: I congratulate all of you and +I congratulate myself, and I will tell you why. In the first place, we +were well born, and we were all born rich, all of us. We belong to a +great race. That is something; that is having a start, to feel that in +your veins flows heroic blood, blood that has accomplished great things +and has planted the flag of victory on the field of war. It is a great +thing to belong to a great race. + +I congratulate you and myself on another thing; we were born in a great +nation, and you can't be much of a man without having a nation behind +you, with you; Just think about it! What would Shakespeare have been, if +he had been born in Labrador? I used to know an old lawyer in southern +Illinois, a smart old chap, who mourned his unfortunate surroundings. +He lived in Pinkneyville, and occasionally drank a little too freely of +Illinois wine; and when in his cups he sometimes grew philosophic and +egotistic. He said one day, "Boys, I have got more brains than you have, +I have, but I have never had a chance. I want you just to think of +it. What would Daniel Webster have been, by God, if he had settled in +Pinkneyville?" + +So I congratulate you all that you were born in a great nation, +born rich; and why do I say rich? Because you fell heir to a great, +expressive, flexible language; that is one thing. What could a man do +who speaks a poor language, a language of a few words that you could +almost count on your fingers? What could he do? You were born heirs to +a great literature, the greatest in the world--in all the world. All the +literature of Greece and Rome would not make one act of "Hamlet." All +the literature of the ancient world added to all of the modern world, +except England, would not equal the literature that we have. We were +born to it, heirs to that vast intellectual possession. + +So I say you were all born rich, all. And then you were very fortunate +in being born in this country, where people have some rights, not as +many as they should have, not as many as they would have if it were not +for the preachers, may be, but where we have some; and no man yet was +ever great unless a great drama was being played on some great stage and +he got a part. Nature deals you a hand, and all she asks is for you to +have the sense to play it. If no hand is dealt to you, you win no money. +You must have the opportunity, must be on the stage, and some great +drama must be there. Take it in our own country. The Revolutionary +war was a drama, and a few great actors appeared; the War of 1812 was +another, and a few appeared; the Civil war another. Where would have +been the heroes whose brows we have crowned with laurel had there been +no Civil war? What would have become of Lincoln, a lawyer in a country +town? What would have become of Grant? He would have been covered with +the mantle of absolute obscurity, tucked in at all the edges, his name +never heard of by any human being not related to him. + +Now, you have got to have the chance, and you cannot create it. I heard +a gentleman say here a few minutes ago that this war could have been +averted. That is not true. I am not doubting his veracity, but rather +his philosophy. Nothing ever happened beneath the dome of heaven that +could have been avoided. Everything that is possible happens. That may +not suit all the creeds, but it is true. And everything that is possible +will continue to happen. The war could not have been averted, and the +thing that makes me glad and proud is that it was not averted. I will +tell you why. + +It was the first war in the history of this world that was waged +unselfishly for the good of others; the first war. Almost anybody will +fight for himself; a great many people will fight for their country, +their fellow-men, their fellow-citizens; but it requires something +besides courage to fight for the rights of aliens; it requires not only +courage, but principle and the highest morality. This war was waged to +compel Spain to take her bloody hands from the throat of Cuba. That +is exactly what it was waged for. Another great drama was put upon +the boards, another play was advertised, and the actors had their +opportunity. Had there been no such war, many of the actors would never +have been heard of. + +But the thing is to take advantage of the occasion when it arrives. In +this war we added to the greatness and the glory of our history. That is +another thing that we all fell heirs to--the history of our people, the +history of our Nation. We fell heirs to all the great and grand things +that had been accomplished, to all the great deeds, to the splendid +achievements either in the realm of mind or on the field of battle. + +Then there was another great drama. The first thing we knew, a man in +the far Pacific, a gentleman from Vermont, sailed one May morning into +the bay of Manila, and the next news was that the Spanish fleet had been +beached, burned, destroyed, and nothing had happened to him. I have read +a little history, not much, and a good deal that I have read was not +true. I have read something about our own navy, not much. I recollect +when I was a boy my hero was John Paul Jones; he covered the ocean; and +afterward I knew of Hull and Perry and Decatur and Bainbridge and a good +many others that I don't remember now. And then came the Civil war, and +I remember a little about Farragut, a great Admiral, as great as ever +trod a deck, in my judgment. And I have also read about other admirals +and sailors of the world. I knew something of Drake and I have read the +"Life of Nelson" and several other sea dogs; but when I got the news +from Manila I said, "There is the most wonderful victory ever won upon +the sea;" and I did not think it would ever be paralleled. I thought +such things come one in a box. But a little while afterward another of +Spain's fleets was heard from. Oh, those Spaniards! They have got the +courage of passion, but that is not the highest courage. They have got +plenty of that; but it is necessary to be coolly courageous, and to have +the brain working with the accuracy of an engine--courageous, I don't +care how mad you get, but there must not be a cloud in the heaven of +your judgment. That is Anglo-Saxon courage, and there is no higher type. +The Spaniards sprinkled the holy water on their guns, then banged away +and left it to the Holy Ghost to direct the rest. + +Another fleet, at Santiago, ventured out one day, and another great +victory was won by the American Navy. I don't know which victory was +the more wonderful, that at Manila Bay or that at Santiago. The Spanish +ships were, some of them, of the best class and type, and had fine guns, +yet in a few moments they were wrecks on the shore of defeat, gone, +lost. + +Now, when I used to read about these things in the olden times, what +ideas I had of the hero! I never expected to see one; and yet to-night I +have the happiness of dining with one, with one whose name is associated +with as great a victory, in my judgment, as was ever won; a victory that +required courage, intelligence, that power of will that holds itself +firm until the thing sought has been accomplished; and that has my +greatest admiration. I thank Admiral Schley for having enriched my +country, for having added a little to my own height, to my own pride, so +that I utter the word America with a little more unction than I ever +did before, and the old flag looks a little brighter, better, and has +an added glory. When I see it now, it looks as if the air had burst into +blossom, and it stands for all that he has accomplished. + +Admiral Schley has added not only to our wealth, but to the wealth of +the children yet unborn that are going to come into the great heritage +not only of wealth, but of the highest possible riches, glory, honor, +achievement. That is the reason I congratulate you to-night. And I +congratulate you on another thing, that this country has entered upon +the great highway, I believe, of progress. I believe that the great +nation has the sentiment, the feeling of growth. The successful farmer +wants to buy the land adjoining him; the great nation loves to see its +territory increase. And what has been our history? Why, when we bought +Louisiana from Napoleon, in 1803, thousands of people were opposed to +"imperialism," to expansion; the poor old moss-backs were opposed to it. +When we bought Florida, it was the same. When we took the vast West from +Mexico in 1848 it was the same. When we took Alaska it was the same. +Now, is anybody in favor of modifying that sentiment? + +We have annexed Hawaii, and we have got the biggest volcano in the +business. A man I know visited that volcano some years ago and came back +and told me about his visit. He said that at the little hotel they had +a guest-book in which the people wrote their feelings on seeing the +volcano in action. "Now," he said, "I will tell you this so that you +may know how you are spreading out yourself. One man had written in +that book, 'if Bob Ingersoll were here, I think he would change his mind +about hell.'" + +I want that volcano. I want the Philippines. It would be simply infamous +to hand those people back to the brutality of Spain. Spain has been +Christianizing them for about four hundred years. The first thing the +poor devils did was to sign a petition asking for the expulsion of the +priests. That was their idea of the commencement of liberty. They are +not quite so savage as some people imagine. I want those islands; I want +all of them, and I don't know that I disagree with the Rev. Mr. Slicer +as to the use we can put them to. I don't know that they will be of any +use, but I want them; they might come handy. And I wanted to pick up +the small change, the Ladrones and the Carolines. I am glad we have got +Porto Rico. I don't know as it will be of any use, but there's no harm +in having the title. I want Cuba whenever Cuba wants us, and I favor +the idea of getting her in the notion of wanting us. I want it in the +interest, as I believe, of humanity, of progress; in other words, of +human liberty. That is what the war was waged for, and the fact that it +was waged for that, gives an additional glory to these naval officers +and to the officers in the army. They fought in the first righteous war; +I mean righteous in the sense that we fought for the liberty of others. + +Now, gentlemen, I feel that we have all honored ourselves to-night by +honoring Rear Admiral Schley. I want you to know that long after we +are dead and long after the Admiral has ceased to sail, he will be +remembered, and in the constellation of glory one of the brightest stars +will stand for the name of Winfield Scott Schley, as brave an officer as +ever sailed a ship. I am glad I am here to-night, and again, gentlemen, +I congratulate you all upon being here. I congratulate you that you +belong to this race, to this nation, and that you are equal heirs in the +glory of the great Republic. + + + + +ADDRESS TO THE ACTORS' FUND OF AMERICA. + +New York, June 5, 1888. + + +MR. PRESIDENT, Ladies and Gentlemen: I have addressed, or annoyed, a +great many audiences in my life and I have not the slightest doubt that +I stand now before more ability, a greater variety of talent, and more +real genius than I ever addressed in my life. + +I know all about respectable stupidity, and I am perfectly acquainted +with the brainless wealth and success of this life, and I know, after +all, how poor the world would be without that divine thing that we call +genius--what a worthless habitation, if you take from it all that genius +has given. + +I know also that all joy springs from a love of nature. I know that all +joy is what I call Pagan. The natural man takes delight in everything +that grows, in everything that shines, in everything that enjoys--he has +an immense sympathy with the whole human race. + +Of that feeling, of that spirit, the drama is born. People must first be +in love with life before they can think it worth representing. They +must have sympathy with their fellows before they can enter into their +feelings and know what their heart throbs about. So, I say, back of the +drama is this love of life, this love of nature. And whenever a country +becomes prosperous--and this has been pointed cut many times--when a +wave of wealth runs over a land,--behind it you will see all the sons +and daughters of genius. When a man becomes of some account he is worth +painting. When by success and prosperity he gets the pose of a victor, +the sculptor is inspired; and when love is really in his heart, words +burst into blossom and the poet is born. When great virtues appear, when +magnificent things are done by heroines and heroes, then the stage is +built, and the life of a nation is compressed into a few hours, or--to +use the language of the greatest--"turning the accomplishment of many +years into an hour-glass"; the stage is born, and we love it because we +love life--and he who loves the stage has a kind of double life. + +The drama is a crystallization of history, an epitome of the human +heart. The past is lived again and again, and we see upon the stage, +love, sacrifice, fidelity, courage--all the virtues mingled with all the +follies. + +And what is the great thing that the stage does? It cultivates the +imagination. And let me say now, that the imagination constitutes the +great difference between human beings. + +The imagination is the mother of pity, the mother of generosity, the +mother of every possible virtue. It is by the imagination that you are +enabled to put yourself in the place of another. Every dollar that has +been paid into your treasury came from an imagination vivid enough +to imagine himself or herself lying upon the lonely bed of pain, or +as having fallen by the wayside of life, dying alone. It is this +imagination that makes the difference in men. + +Do you believe that a man would plunge the dagger into the heart of +another if he had imagination enough to see him dead--imagination enough +to see his widow throw her arms about the corpse and cover his face with +sacred tears--imagination enough to see them digging his grave, and to +see the funeral and to hear the clods fall upon the coffin and the sobs +of those who stood about--do you believe he would commit the crime? +Would any man be false who had imagination enough to see the woman that +he once loved, in the darkness of night, when the black clouds were +floating through the sky hurried by the blast as thoughts and memories +were hurrying through her poor brain--if he could see the white flutter +of her garment as she leaped to the eternal, blessed sleep of death--do +you believe that he would be false to her? I tell you that he would be +true. + +So that, in my judgment, the great mission of the stage is to cultivate +the human imagination. That is the reason fiction has done so much good. +Compared with the stupid lies-called history, how beautiful are the +imagined things with painted wings. Everybody detests a thing that +pretends to be true and is not; but when it says, "I am about to +create," then it is beautiful in the proportion that it is artistic, in +the proportion that it is a success. + +Imagination is the mother of enthusiasm. Imagination fans the little +spark into a flame great enough to warm the human race; and enthusiasm +is to the mind what spring is to the world. . + +Now I am going to say a few words because I want to, and because I have +the chance. + +What is known as "orthodox religion" has always been the enemy of the +theatre. It has been the enemy of every possible comfort, of every +rational joy--that is to say, of amusement. And there is a reason for +this. Because, if that religion be true, there should be no amusement. +If you believe that in every moment is the peril of eternal pain--do +not amuse yourself. Stop the orchestra, ring down the curtain, and be as +miserable as you can. That idea puts an infinite responsibility upon the +soul--an infinite responsibility--and how can there be any art, how can +there be any joy, after that? You might as well pile all the Alps on one +unfortunate ant, and then say, "Why don't you play? Enjoy yourself." + +If that doctrine be true, every one should regard time as a kind of +dock, a pier running out into the ocean of eternity, on which you sit +on your trunk and wait for the ship of death--solemn, lugubrious, +melancholy to the last degree. + +And that is why I have said joy is Pagan. It comes from a love of +nature, from a love of this world, from a love of this life. According +to the idea of some good people, life is a kind of green-room, where you +are getting ready for a "play" in some other country. + +You all remember the story of "Great Expectations," and I presume you +have all had them. That is another thing about this profession of acting +that I like--you do not know how it is coming out--and there is this +delightful uncertainty. + +You have all read the book called "Great Expectations," written, in +my judgment, by the greatest novelist that ever wrote the English +language--the man who created a vast realm of joy. I love the +joy-makers--not the solemn, mournful wretches. And when I think of the +church asking something of the theatre, I remember that story of "Great +Expectations." You remember Miss Haversham--she was to have been +married some fifty or sixty years before that time--sitting there in the +darkness, in all of her wedding finery, the laces having turned yellow +by time, the old wedding cake crumbled, various insects having made +it their palatial residence--you remember that she sent for that poor +little boy Pip, and when he got there in the midst of all these horrors, +she looked at him and said, "Pip, play!" And if their doctrine be true, +every actor is in that situation. + +I have always loved the theatre--loved the stage, simply because it has +added to the happiness of this life. "Oh, but," they say, "is it moral?" +A superstitious man suspects everything that is pleasant. It seems +inbred in his nature, and in the nature of most people. You let such a +man pull up a little weed and taste it, and if it is sweet and good, he +says, "I'll bet it is poison." But if it tastes awful, so that his +face becomes a mask of disgust, he says, "I'll bet you that it is good +medicine." + +Now, I believe that everything in the world that tends to make man +happy, is moral. That is my definition of morality. Anything that bursts +into bud and blossom, and bears the fruit of joy, is moral. + +Some people expect to make the world good by destroying desire--by a +kind of pious petrifaction, feeling that if you do not want anything, +you will not want anything bad. In other words, you will be good +and moral if you will only stop growing, stop wishing, turn all your +energies in the direction of repression, and if from the tree of life +you pull every leaf, and then every bud--and if an apple happens to get +ripe in spite of you, don't touch it--snakes! + +I insist that happiness is the end--virtue the means--and anything +that wipes a tear from the face of man is good. Everything that gives +laughter to the world--laughter springing from good nature, that is the +most wonderful music that has ever enriched the ears of man. And let me +say that nothing can be more immoral than to waste your own life, and +sour that of others. + +Is the theatre moral? I suppose you have had an election to-day. They +had an election at the Metropolitan Opera House for bishops, and they +voted forged tickets; and after the election was over, I suppose they +asked the old question in the same solemn tone: "Is the theatre moral?" + +At last, all the intelligence of the world admits that the theatre is a +great, a splendid instrumentality for increasing the well-being of man. +But only a few years ago our fathers were poor barbarians. They only +wanted the essentials of life, and through nearly all the centuries +Genius was a vagabond--Art was a servant. He was the companion of the +clown. Writers, poets, actors, either sat "below the salt" or devoured +the "remainder biscuit," and drank what drunkenness happened to leave, +or lived on crumbs, and they had less than the crumbs of respect. The +painter had to have a patron, and then in order to pay the patron, he +took the patron's wife for Venus--and the man, he was the Apollo! So the +writer had to have a patron, and he endeavored to immortalize him in a +preface of obsequious lies. The writer had no courage. The painter, +the sculptor--poor wretches--had "patrons." Some of the greatest of the +world were treated as servants, and yet they were the real kings of the +human race. + +Now the public is the patron. The public has the intelligence to see +what it wants. The stage does not have to flatter any man. The actor now +does not enroll himself as the servant of duke or lord. He has the great +public, and if he is a great actor, he stands as high in the public +estimation as any other man in any other walk of life. + +And these men of genius, these "vagabonds," these "sturdy vagrants" of +the old law--and let me say one thing right here: I do not believe +that there ever was a man of genius that had not a little touch of the +vagabond in him somewhere--just a little touch of chaos--that is to +say, he must have generosity enough now and then absolutely to forget +himself--he must be generous to that degree that he starts out without +thinking of the shore and without caring for the sea--and that is that +touch of chaos. And yet, through all those years the poets and the +actors lacked bread. Imagine the number of respectable dolts who felt +above them. The men of genius lived on the bounty of the few, grudgingly +given. + +Now, just think what would happen, what we would be, if you could blot +from this world what these men have done. If you could take from the +walls the pictures; from the niches the statues; from the memory of man +the songs that have been sung by "The Plowman"--take from the memory of +the world what has been done by the actors and play-writers, and this +great globe would be like a vast skull emptied of all thought. + +And let me say one word more, and that is as to the dignity of your +profession. + +The greatest genius of this world has produced your literature. I am not +now alluding simply to one--but there has been more genius lavished upon +the stage--more real genius, more creative talent, than upon any +other department of human effort. And when men and women belong to a +profession that can count Shakespeare in its number, they should feel +nothing but pride. + +Nothing gives me more pleasure than to speak of +Shakespeare--Shakespeare, in whose brain were the fruits of all thoughts +past, the seeds of all to be--Shakespeare, an intellectual ocean toward +which all rivers ran, and from which now the isles and continents of +thought receive their dew and rain. + +A profession that can boast that Shakespeare was one of its members, and +that from his brain poured out that mighty intellectual cataract--that +Mississippi that will enrich all coming generations--the man that +belongs to that profession--should feel that no other man by reason of +belonging to some other, can be his superior. + +And such a man, when he dies--or the friend of such a man, when that man +dies--should not imagine that it is a very generous and liberal thing +for some minister to say a few words above the corpse--and I do not want +to see this profession cringe before any other. + +One word more. I hope that you will sustain this splendid charity. I do +not believe that more generous people exist than actors. I hope you will +sustain this charity. And yet, there was one little thing I saw in +your report of last year, that I want to call attention to. You had +"benefits" all over this country, and of the amount raised, one hundred +and twenty-five thousand dollars were given to religious societies and +twelve thousand dollars to the Actors' Fund--and yet they say actors are +not Christians! Do you not love your enemies? After this, I hope that +you will also love your friends. + + + + +THE CHILDREN OF THE STAGE. + +New York, March 23, 1899. + + * Col. Robert G. Ingersoll was the special star among stars + at the benefit given yesterday afternoon at the Fifth Avenue + Theatre for the Actors' Fund. There were a great many other + stars and a very long programme. The consequence was that + the performance began before one o'clock and was not over + until almost dinner time. + + Usually in such cases the least important performers are + placed at the beginning and the audience straggles in + leisurely without worrying a great deal over what it has + missed. Yesterday, however, it had been announced in advance + that Col. Ingersoll would start the ball a-rolling and the + result was that before the overture was finished the house + was packed to the doors. + + Col. Ingersoll's contribution was a short address delivered + in his characteristic style of florid eloquence.--The World, + New York, March 24, 1899. + + +Disguise it as we may, we live in a frightful world, with evils, with +enemies, on every side. From the hedges along the path of life, leap the +bandits that murder and destroy; and every human being, no matter how +often he escapes, at last will fall beneath the assassin's knife. + +To change the figure: We are all passengers on the train of life. The +tickets give the names of the stations where we boarded the car, but +the destination is unknown. At every station some passengers, pallid, +breathless, dead, are put away, and some with the light of morning in +their eyes, get on. + +To change the figure again: On the wide sea of life we are all on ships +or rafts or spars, and some by friendly winds are borne to the fortunate +isles, and some by storms are wrecked on the cruel rocks. And yet upon +the isles the same as upon the rocks, death waits for all. And death +alone can truly say, "All things come to him who waits." + +And yet, strangely enough, there is in this world of misery, of +misfortune and of death, the blessed spirit of mirth. The travelers on +the path, on the train, on the ships, the rafts and spars, sometimes +forget their perils and their doom. + +All blessings on the man whose face was first illuminated by a smile! + +All blessings on the man who first gave to the common air the music +of laughter--the music that for the moment drove fears from the heart, +tears from the eyes, and dimpled cheeks with joy! + +All blessings on the man who sowed with merry hands the seeds of humor, +and at the lipless skull of death snapped the reckless fingers of +disdain! Laughter is the blessed boundary line between the brute and +man. + +Who are the friends of the human race? They who hide with vine and +flower the cruel rocks of fate--the children of genius, the sons and +daughters of mirth and laughter, of imagination, those whose thoughts, +like moths with painted wings, fill the heaven of the mind. + +Among these sons and daughters are the children of the stage, the +citizens of the mimic world--the world enriched by all the wealth of +genius--enriched by painter, orator, composer and poet. The world +of which Shakespeare, the greatest of human beings, is still the +unchallenged emperor. These children of the stage have delighted the +weary travelers on the thorny path, amused the passengers on the fated +train, and filled with joy the hearts of the clingers to spars, and the +floaters on rafts. + +These, children of the stage, with fancy's wand rebuild the past. The +dead are brought to life and made to act again the parts they played. +The hearts and lips that long ago were dust, are made to beat and speak +again. The dead kings are crowned once more, and from the shadows of the +past emerge the queens, jeweled and sceptred as of yore. Lovers leave +their graves and breathe again their burning vows; and again the white +breasts rise and fall in passion's storm. The laughter that died away +beneath the touch of death is heard again and lips that fell to ashes +long ago are curved once more with mirth. Again the hero bares his +breast to death; again the patriot falls, and again the scaffold, +stained with noble blood, becomes a shrine. + +The citizens of the real world gain joy and comfort from the stage. +The broker, the speculator ruined by rumor, the lawyer baffled by the +intelligence of a jury or the stupidity of a judge, the doctor who lost +his patience because he lost his patients, the merchant in the dark days +of depression, and all the children of misfortune, the victims of hope +deferred, forget their troubles for a little while when looking on +the mimic world. When the shaft of wit flies like the arrow of Ulysses +through all the rings and strikes the centre; when words of wisdom +mingle with the clown's conceits; when folly laughing shows her pearls, +and mirth holds carnival; when the villain fails and the right triumphs, +the trials and the griefs of life for the moment fade away. + +And so the maiden longing to be loved, the young man waiting for +the "Yes" deferred; the unloved wife, hear the old, old story told +again,--and again within their hearts is the ecstasy of requited love. + +The stage brings solace to the wounded, peace to the troubled, and with +the wizard's wand touches the tears of grief and they are changed to the +smiles of joy. + +The stage has ever been the altar, the pulpit, the cathedral of the +heart. There the enslaved and the oppressed, the erring, the fallen, +even the outcast, find sympathy, and pity gives them all her tears--and +there, in spite of wealth and power, in spite of caste and cruel pride, +true love has ever triumphed over all. + +The stage has taught the noblest lesson, the highest truth, and that is +this: It is better to deserve without receiving than to receive without +deserving. As a matter of fact, it is better to be the victim of +villainy than to be a villain. Better to be stolen from than to be +a thief, and in the last analysis the oppressed, the slave, is less +unfortunate than the oppressor, the master. + +The children of the stage, these citizens of the mimic world, are +not the grasping, shrewd and prudent people of the mart; they are +improvident enough to enjoy the present and credulous enough to believe +the promises of the universal liar known as Hope. Their hearts and hands +are open. As a rule genius is generous, luxurious, lavish, reckless and +royal. And so, when they have reached the ladder's topmost round, they +think the world is theirs and that the heaven of the future can have +no cloud. But from the ranks of youth the rival steps. Upon the veteran +brows the wreaths begin to fade, the leaves to fall; and failure sadly +sups on memory. They tread the stage no more. They leave the mimic +world, fair fancy's realm; they leave their palaces and thrones; their +crowns are gone, and from their hands the sceptres fall. At last, in age +and want, in lodgings small and bare, they wait the prompter's call; +and when the end is reached, maybe a vision glorifies the closing scene. +Again they are on the stage; again their hearts throb high; again they +utter perfect words; again the flowers fall about their feet; and as the +curtain falls, the last sound that greets their ears, is the music of +applause, the "bravos" for an encore. + +And then the silence falls on darkness. + +Some loving hands should close their eyes, some loving lips should leave +upon their pallid brows a kiss; some friends should lay the breathless +forms away, and on the graves drop blossoms jeweled with the tears of +love. + +This is the work of the generous men and women who contribute to the +Actors' Fund. This is charity; and these generous men and women have +taught, and are teaching, a lesson that all the world should learn, and +that is this: The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray. + + + + +ADDRESS TO THE PRESS CLUB. + +New Orleans, February 1, 1898. + + +LADIES AND GENTLEMEN of the New Orleans + +Press Club: I do not remember to have agreed or consented to make any +remarks about the press or anything else on the present occasion, but I +am glad of this opportunity to say a word or two. Of course, I have the +very greatest respect for this profession, the profession of the press, +knowing it, as I do, to be one of the greatest civilizers of the +world. Above all other institutions and all other influences, it is the +greatest agency in breaking down the hedges of provincialism. In olden +times one nation had no knowledge or understanding of another nation, +and no insight or understanding into its life; and, indeed, various +parts of one nation held the other parts of it somewhat in the attitude +of hostility, because of a lack of more thorough knowledge; and, +curiously enough, we are prone to look upon strangers more or less in +the light of enemies. Indeed, enemy and stranger in the old vocabularies +are pretty much of the same significance. A stranger was an enemy. I +think it is Darwin who alludes to the instinctive fear a child has of +a stranger as one of the heritages of centuries of instinctive +cultivation, the handed-down instinct of years ago. And even now it is +a fact that we have very little sympathy with people of a different +country, even people speaking the same language, having the same god +with a different name, or another god with the same name, recognizing +the same principles of right and wrong. + +But the moment people began to trade with each other, the moment they +began to enjoy the results of each other's industry and brain, the +moment that, through this medium, they began to get an insight into +each other's life, people began to see each other as they were; and +so commerce became the greatest of all missionaries of civilization, +because, like the press, it tended to do away with provincialism. + +You know there is no one else in the world so egotistic as the man who +knows nothing. No man is more certain than the man who knows nothing. +The savage knows everything. The moment man begins to be civilized he +begins to appreciate how little he knows, how very circumscribed in its +very nature human knowledge is. + +Now, after commerce came the press. From the Moors, I believe, we +learned the first rudiments of that art which has civilized the world. +With the invention of movable type came an easy and cheap method of +preserving the thoughts and history of one generation to another and +transmitting the life of one nation to another. Facts became immortal, +and from that day to this the intelligence of the world has rapidly and +steadily increased. + +And now, if we are provincial, it is our own fault, and if we are +hateful and odious and circumscribed and narrow and peevish and limited +in the light we get from the known universe, it is our own fault. + +Day by day the world is growing smaller and men larger. But a few years +ago the State of New York was as large as the United States is to-day. +It required as much time to reach Albany from New York as it now +requires to reach San Francisco from the same city, and so far as the +transmission of thought goes the world is but a hamlet. + +I count as one of the great good things of the modern press--as one +of the specific good things--that the same news, the same direction of +thought is transmitted to many millions of people each day. So that the +thoughts of multitudes of men are substantially tending at the same time +along the same direction. It tends more and more to make us citizens +in the highest sense of the term, and that is the reason that I have so +much respect for the press. + +Of course I know that the news and opinions are written by folks liable +to the same percentage of error as characterizes all mankind. No one +makes no mistakes but the man who knows everything--no one makes no +mistakes but the hypocrite. + +I must confess, however, that there are things about the press of to-day +that I would have changed--that I do not like. + +I hate to see brain the slave of the material god. I hate to see money +own genius. So I think that every writer on every paper should be +compelled to sign his name to everything he writes. There are many +reasons why he has a right to the reputation he makes. His reputation +is his property, his capital, his stock in trade, and it is not just +or fair or right that it should be absorbed by the corporation which +employs him. After giving great thoughts to the world, after millions of +people have read his thoughts with delight, no one knows this lonely +man or his solitary name. If he loses the good will of his employer, he +loses his place and with it all that his labor and time and brain have +earned for himself as his own inalienable property, and his corporation +or employer reaps the benefit of it. + +There is another reason establishing the absolute equity of this +proposition, a reason pointing in other directions than to the writer +and his rights. It is no more than right to the reader that the opinion +or the narrative should be that of Mr. Smith or Mr. Brown or Mr. So and +So, and not that of, say, the _Picayune_. That is too impersonal. It is +no more than right that a single man should have his honor at stake for +what is said, and not an impersonal something. I know that we are all +liable to believe it if the _Picayune_ says it, and yet, after all, +it is the individual man who is saying it and it is in the interest of +justice that the reader be apprised of the fact. + +I believe I have just a little fault to find with the tendency of +the modern press to go into personal affairs--into so-called private +affairs. In saying this, I have no complaint to lodge on my own behalf, +for I have no private affairs. I am not so much opposed to what +is called sensationalism, for that must exist as long as crime is +considered news, and believe me, when virtue becomes news it can only be +when this will have become an exceedingly bad world. At the same time I +think that the publication of crime may have more or less the tendency +of increasing it. + +I read not long ago that if some heavy piece of furniture were dropped +in a room in which there was a string instrument, the strings in harmony +with the vibrations of the air made by that noise would take up the +sound. Now a man with a tendency to crime would pick up that criminal +feeling inspiring the act which he sees blazoned forth in all its detail +in the press. In that view of the matter it seems to me better not to +give details of all offences. + +Now, as to the matter of being too personal, I think that one of the +results of that sort of journalism is to drive a great many capable and +excellent men out of public life. I heard a little story quite recently +of a man who was being urged for the Legislature, and yet hesitated +because of his fear of newspaper criticism of this character. "I +don't want to run," said he to his wife, who urged that this was an +opportunity to do himself and his friends honor, and that it was a sort +of duty in him. "I would if I were you," said his wife. "Well, but there +is no saying," he responded, "what the newspapers might print about me." +"Why, your life has always been honorable," said she; "they could not +say anything to your disparagement." "But they might attack my father." +"Well, there was nothing in his career of which any one might feel +ashamed. He was as irreproachable as you." "Ay, but they might attack +you and tell of some devilment you went into before we were married." +"Then you better not run," said his wife promptly. I think this fear on +the part of husband and wife is identical with that which keeps many a +great man out of public service. + +Now, there is another thing which every one ought to abhor. All men and +newspapers are entirely too apt to criticise the motives of men. It is +a fault common to all good men--except the clergy, of course--this habit +of attacking motives. And whenever we see a man do something which is +great and praiseworthy, let us talk about the act itself and not go +into a speculation or an attack upon the motive which prompted the act. +Attack what a man actually does. + +But these are only small matters. The press is the most powerful of all +agencies for the dissemination of intelligence, and as such I hail +it always. It has nearly always been very friendly and kind to me +and certainly I have received at the hands of the New Orleans press a +treatment I shall never forget. + +Our Sunday newspapers, to my mind, rank among the greatest institutions +of the present day. One finds in them matter that could not be found in +several hundreds of books,--beautiful thoughts, broad intelligence, a +range of information perfectly startling in its usefulness and perfectly +charming in its entertainment. Contrast, please, how we are enabled by +their good offices to spend the Sabbath, with the descriptions of hell +with all its terrors and all the gloom characterizing the Sabbaths our +forefathers had to spend. The Sunday newspaper is an absolute blessing +to the American people, a picture gallery, short stories, little poems, +a symposium of brain and intelligence and refinement and--divorce +proceedings. + +As I have said, the good will and the fair treatment of the American +press have nearly always been my lot. There have been some misguided +people who have said harsh things, but when I remember all the +misguided things I have done, I am inclined to be charitable for their +shortcomings. + +I do not know that I have anything else to say, except that I wish you +all good luck and sunshine and prosperity, and enough of it to last you +through a long life. + + + + +THE CIRCULATION OF OBSCENE LITERATURE. + + * From "Ingersoll As He Is," by E. M. Macdonald. + +"ONE of the charges most persistently made against Colonel Ingersoll is +that during and after the trial of D. M. Bennett, persecuted by Anthony +Comstock, the Colonel endeavored to have the law against sending obscene +literature through the mail repealed. That the charge is maliciously +false is fully shown by the following brief history of events connected +with the prosecution of D. M. Bennett, and Mr. Ingersoll's efforts in +his behalf.... + +"After Mr. Bennett's arrest in 1877, he printed a petition to Congress, +written by T. B. Wakeman, asking for the _repeal or modification_ of +Comstock's law by which he expected to stamp out the publications of +Freethinkers.... + +"The connection of Mr. Ingersoll with this petition is soon explained. +Mr. Ingersoll knew of Comstock's attempts to suppress heresy by means of +this law, and when called upon by the Washington committee in charge +of the petition, he allowed his name to go on the petition for +modification, but he told them distinctly and plainly that he was _not_ +in favor of the _repeal_ of the law, as he was willing and anxious that +obscenity should be suppressed by all legal means. His sentiments are +best expressed by himself in a letter to the _Boston Journal_. He says: + +"'Washington, March 18, 1878. + +"'To the Editor of the Boston Journal: + +"'My attention has been called to the following article that recently +appeared in your paper: + +"'Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, and others, feel aggrieved because Congress, +in 1873, enacted a law for the suppression of obscene literature, and, +believing it an infringement of the rights of certain citizens, and an +effort to muzzle the press and conscience, petition for its repeal. When +a man's conscience permits him to spread broadcast obscene literature, +it is time that conscience was muzzled. The law is a terror only to +evil-doers." + +"'No one wishes the repeal of any law for the suppression of obscene +literature. For my part, I wish all such laws rigidly enforced. The only +objection I have to the law of 1873 is, that it has been construed to +include books and pamphlets written against the religion of the day, +although containing nothing that can be called obscene or impure. +Certain religious fanatics, taking advantage of the word "immoral" in +the law, have claimed that all writings against what they are pleased to +call orthodox religion are immoral, and such books have been seized and +their authors arrested. To this, and this only, I object. + +"'Your article does me great injustice, and I ask that you will have the +kindness to publish this note. + +"'From the bottom of my heart I despise the publishers of obscene +literature. Below them there is no depth of filth. And I also despise +those, who, under the pretence of suppressing obscene literature, +endeavor to prevent honest and pure men from writing and publishing +honest and pure thoughts. Yours truly. + +"'R. G. Ingersoll.' + + +"This is sufficiently easy of comprehension even for ministers, but of +course they misrepresented and lied about the writer. From that day +to this he has been accused of favoring the dissemination of obscene +literature. That the friends of Colonel Ingersoll may know just +how infamous this is, we will give a brief history of the repeal or +modification movement.... + +"On October 26, the National Liberal League held its Congress in +Syracuse. At this Congress the League left the matter of repeal or +modification of the laws open, taking no action as an organization, +either way, but elected officers known to be in favor of repeal. On +December 10, Mr. Bennett was again arrested. He was tried, and found +guilty; he appealed, the conviction was affirmed, and he was sentenced +to thirteen months' imprisonment at hard labor. + +"After the trial Colonel Ingersoll interposed, and endeavored to get +a pardon for Mr. Bennett, who was held in Ludlow street jail pending +President Hayes's reply. The man who occupied the President's office +promised to pardon the Infidel editor; then he went back on his word, +and Mr. Bennett served his term of imprisonment. + +"Then preachers opened the sluiceways of vituperation and billingsgate +upon Colonel Ingersoll for having interceded for a man convicted of +mailing obscene literature. The charges were as infamously false then +as they are now, and to show it, it is only necessary to quote +Colonel Ingersoll's words during the year or two succeeding, when +the Freethinkers and the Christians were not only opposing each +other vigorously, but the Freethinkers themselves were divided on the +question. In 1879, while Mr. Bennett was in prison, a correspondent of +the Nashville, Tenn., _Banner_ said that the National Liberal League and +Colonel Ingersoll were in favor of disseminating obscene literature. To +this Colonel Ingersoll replied in a letter to a friend: + +"1417 G St., Washington, Aug. 21, 1879. + +"'My Dear Sir: The article in the Nashville _Banner_ by "J. L." is +utterly and maliciously false. + +"'A petition was sent to Congress praying for the repeal or modification +of certain postal laws, to the end that the freedom of conscience and of +the press should not be abridged. + +"'Nobody holds in greater contempt than I the writers, publishers, or +dealers in obscene literature. One of my objections to the Bible is that +it contains hundreds of grossly obscene passages not fit to be read by +any decent man, thousands of passages, in my judgment, calculated to +corrupt the minds of youth. I hope the time will soon come when the +good sense of the American people will demand a Bible with all obscene +passages left out. + +"'The only reason a modification of the postal laws is necessary is that +at present, under color of those laws, books and pamphlets are excluded +from the mails simply because they are considered heterodox and +blasphemous. In other words, every man should be allowed to write, +publish, and send through the mails his thoughts upon any subject, +expressed in a decent and becoming manner. As to the propriety of giving +anybody authority to overhaul mails, break seals, and read private +correspondence, that is another question. + +"'Every minister and every layman who charges me with directly or +indirectly favoring the dissemination of anything that is impure, +retails what he knows to be a wilful and malicious lie. I remain, Yours +truly, + +"'R. G. Ingersoll.' + + +"Three weeks after this letter was written the National Liberal League +held its third annual Congress at Cincinnati. Colonel Ingersoll was +chairman of the committee on resolutions and platform and unfinished +business of the League. One of the subjects to be dealt with was these +Comstock laws. The following are Colonel Ingersoll's remarks and the +resolutions he presented: + +"'It may be proper, before presenting the resolutions of the committee, +to say a word in explanation. The committee were charged with the +consideration of the unfinished business of the League. It seems that +at Syracuse there was a division as to what course should be taken in +regard to the postal laws of the United States. These laws were used +as an engine of oppression against the free circulation of what we +understand to be scientific literature. Every honest man in this country +is in favor of allowing every other human being every right that he +claims for himself. The majority at Syracuse were at that time simply +in favor of the absolute repeal of those laws, believing them to be +unconstitutional--not because they were in favor of anything obscene, +but because they were opposed to the mails of the United States being +under the espionage and bigotry of the church. They therefore demanded +an absolute repeal of the law. Others, feeling that they might be +misunderstood, and knowing that theology can coin the meanest words +to act as the vehicle of the lowest lies, were afraid of being +misunderstood, and therefore they said, Let us amend these laws so that +our literature shall be upon an equality with that of theology. I know +that there is not a Liberal here, or in the United States, that is in +favor of the dissemination of obscene literature. One of the objections +which we have to the book said to be written by God is that it is +obscene. + +"'The Liberals of this country believe in purity, and they believe that +every fact in nature and in science is as pure as a star. We do not need +to ask for any more than we want. We simply want the laws of our country +so framed that we are not discriminated against. So, taking that view of +the vexed question, we want to put the boot upon the other foot. We want +to put the charge of obscenity where it belongs, and the committee, of +which I have the honor to be one of the members, have endeavored to do +just that thing. Men have no right to talk to me about obscenity who +regard the story of Lot and his daughters as a fit thing for men, women, +and children to read, and who worship a God in whom the violation of +[_Cheers drowned the conclusion of this sentence so the reporters could +not hear it._] Such a God I hold in infinite contempt. + +"'Now I will read you the resolutions recommended by the committee. + +"'RESOLUTIONS. + +"'Your committee have the honor to submit the following report: "'First, +As to the unfinished business of the League, your committee submits the +following resolutions: + +"'Resolved., That we are in favor of such postal laws as will allow the +free transportation through the mails of the United States of all books, +pamphlets, and papers, irrespective of the religious, irreligious, +political, and scientific views they may contain, so that the literature +of science may be placed upon an equality with that of superstition. + +"'Resolved, That we are utterly opposed to the dissemination, through +the mails, or by any other means, of obscene literature, whether +"inspired" or uninspired, and hold in measureless contempt its authors +and disseminators. + +"'Resolved, That we call upon the Christian world to expunge from the +so-called "sacred" Bible every passage that cannot be read without +covering the cheek of modesty with the blush of shame; and until such +passages are expunged, we demand that the laws against the dissemination +of obscene literature be impartially enforced. '... + +"We believe that lotteries and obscenity should be dealt with by State +and municipal legislation, and offenders punished in the county in which +they commit their offence. So in those days we argued for the repeal of +the Comstock laws, as did dozens of others--James Parton, Elizur Wright, +O. B. Frothingham, T. C. Leland, Courtlandt Palmer, and many more whose +names we do not recall. But Colonel Ingersoll did not, and when the +National Liberal League met the next year at Chicago (September 17, +1880), he was opposed to the League's making a pledge to defend every +case under the Comstock laws, and he was opposed to a resolution +demanding a repeal of those laws. The following is what Colonel +Ingersoll said upon the subject: + +"'Mr. Chairman, I wish to offer the following resolution in place and +instead of resolutions numbered 5 and 6: + +"'Resolved, That the committee of defence, whenever a person has been +indicted for what he claims to have been an honest exercise of the +freedom of thought and expression, shall investigate the case, and if it +appears that such person has been guilty of no offence, then it shall +be the duty of said committee to defend such person if he is unable to +defend himself.' + +"'Now, allow me one moment to state my reasons. I do not, I have not, I +never shall, accuse or suspect a solitary member of the Liberal League +of the United States of being in favor of doing any act under heaven +that he is not thoroughly convinced is right. We all claim freedom of +speech, and it is the gem of the human soul. We all claim a right to +express our honest thoughts. Did it ever occur to any Liberal that +he wished to express any thought honestly, truly, and legally that he +considered immoral? How does it happen that _we_ have any interest in +what is known as immoral literature? I deny that the League has any +interest in that kind of literature. Whenever we mention it, whenever we +speak of it, we put ourselves in a false position. What do we want? We +want to see to it that the church party shall not smother the literature +of Liberalism. We want to see to it that the viper of intellectual +slavery shall not sting our cause. We want it so that every honest man, +so that every honest woman, can express his or her honest thought upon +any subject in the world. And the question, and the only question, as to +whether they are amenable to the law, in my mind, is, Were they honest? +Was their effort to benefit mankind? Was that their intention? And no +man, no woman, should be convicted of any offence that that man or woman +did not intend to commit. Now, then, suppose some person is arrested, +and it is claimed that a work written by him is immoral, is illegal. +Then, I say, let our committee of defence examine that case, and if +our enemies are seeking to trample out Freethought under the name of +immorality, and under the cover and shield of our criminal law, then let +us defend that man to the last dollar we have. But we do not wish to put +ourselves in the position of general defenders of all the slush that may +be written in this or any other country. You cannot afford to do it. +You cannot afford to put into the mouth of theology a perpetual and +continual slur. You cannot afford to do it. And this meeting is not the +time to go into the question of what authority the United States may +have over the mails. It is a very wide question. It embraces many +others. Has the Government a right to say what shall go into the mails? +Why, in one sense, assuredly. Certainly they have a right to say you +shall not send a horse and wagon by mail. They have a right to fix some +limit; and the only thing we want is that the literature of liberty, the +literature of real Freethought, shall not be discriminated against. +And we know now as well as if it had been perfectly and absolutely +demonstrated, that the literature of Freethought will be absolutely +pure. We know it, We call upon the Christian world to expunge obscenity +from their book, and until that is expunged we demand that the laws +against obscene literature shall be executed. And how can we, in the +next resolution, say those laws ought all to be repealed? We cannot do +that. I have always been in favor of such an amendment of the law that +by no trick, by no device, by no judicial discretion, an honest, high, +pure-minded man should be subjected to punishment simply for giving his +best and his honest thought. What more do we need? What more can we ask? +I am as much opposed as my friend Mr. Wakeman can be to the assumption +of the church that it is the guardian of morality. If our morality is +to be guarded by that sentiment alone, then is the end come. The natural +instinct of self-defence in mankind and in all organized society is the +fortress of the morality in mankind. The church itself was at one time +the outgrowth of that same feeling, but now the feeling has outgrown the +church. Now, then, we will have a Committee of Defence. That committee +will examine every case. Suppose some man has been indicted, and suppose +he is guilty. Suppose he has endeavored to soil the human mind. Suppose +he has been willing to make money by pandering to the lowest passions +in the human breast. What will that committee do with him then? We will +say, "Go on; let the law take its course." But if, upon reading his +book, we find that he is all wrong, horribly wrong, idiotically wrong, +but make up our minds that he was honest in his error, I will give +as much as any other living man of my means to defend that man. And I +believe you will all bear me witness when I say that I have the cause of +intellectual liberty at heart as much as I am capable of having anything +at heart. And I know hundreds of others here just the same. I understand +that. I understand their motive. I believe it to be perfectly good, but +I truly and honestly think they are mistaken. + +If we have an interest in the business, I would fight for it. If our +cause were assailed by law, then I say fight; and our cause is assailed, +and I say fight. They will not allow me, in many States of this Union, +to testify. I say fight until every one of those laws is repealed. They +discriminate against a man simply because he is honest. Repeal such +laws. The church, if it had the power to-day, would trample out every +particle of free literature in this land. And when they endeavor to +do that, I say fight. But there is a distinction wide as the +Mississippi--yes, wider than the Atlantic, wider than all the +oceans--between the literature of immorality and the literature of +Freethought. One is a crawling, slimy lizard, and the other an +angel with wings of light. Now, let us draw this distinction, let us +understand ourselves, and do not give to the common enemy a word covered +with mire, a word stained with cloaca, to throw at us. We thought we had +settled that question a year ago. We buried it then, and I say let it +rot. + +"'This question is of great importance. It is the most important one we +have here. I have fought this question; I am ever going to do so, and +I will not allow anybody to put a stain upon me. This question must be +understood if it takes all summer. Here is a case in point. Some lady +has written a work which, I am informed, is a good work, and that has +nothing wrong about it. Her opinions may be foolish or wise. Let this +committee examine that case. If they find that she is a good woman, that +she had good intentions, no matter how terrible the work may be, if +her intentions are good, she has committed no crime. I want the honest +thought. I think I have always been in favor of it. But we haven't the +time to go into all these questions. + +"'Then comes the question for this house to decide in a moment whether +these cases should have been tried in the State or Federal court. I +want it understood that I have confidence in the Federal courts of the +nation. There may be some bad judges, there may be some idiotic jurors. +I think there was in that case [of Mr. Bennett]. But the Committee of +Defence, if I understand it, supplied means, for the defence of that +man. They did, but are we ready now to decide in a moment what courts +shall have jurisdiction? Are we ready to say that the Federal courts +shall be denied jurisdiction in any case arising about the mails? +Suppose somebody robs the mails? Before whom shall we try the robber? +Try him before a Federal judge. Why? Because he has violated a Federal +law. We have not any time for such an investigation as this. What we +want to do is to defend free speech everywhere. What we want to do is to +defend the expression of thought in papers, in pamphlets, in books. What +we want to do is to see to it that these books, papers, and pamphlets +are on an equality with all other books, papers, and pamphlets in the +United States mails. And then the next step we want to take, if any man +is indicted under the pretence that he is publishing immoral books, +is to have our Committee of Defence well examine the case; and if we +believe the man to be innocent we will help defend him if he is +unable to defend himself; and if we find that the law is wrong in that +particular, we will go for the amendment of that law. I beg of you to +have some sense in this matter. We must have it. If we don't, upon that +rock we shall split--upon that rock we shall again divide. Let us not do +it. The cause of intellectual liberty is the highest to the human mind. +Let us stand by it, and we can help all these people by this resolution. +We can do justice everywhere with it, while if we agree to the fifth and +sixth resolutions that have been offered I say we lay ourselves open to +the charge, and it will be hurled against us, no matter how unjustly, +that we are in favor of widespread immorality. + +"'Mr. Clarke: We are not afraid of it. + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: You may say we are not afraid. I am not afraid. He +only is a fool who rushes into unnecessary danger. + +"'Mr. Clarke: What are you talking about, anyway? + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: I am talking with endeavor to put a little sense +into such men as you. Your very question shows that it was necessary +that I should talk. And now I move that my resolution be adopted. + +"'Mr. Wakeman moved that it be added to that portion of the sixth +resolution which recommended the constitution of the Committee of +Defence. + +"'Col. Ingersoll: I cannot agree to the sixth resolution. I think nearly +every word of it is wrong in principle. I think it binds us to a course +of action that we shall not be willing to follow; and my resolution +covers every possible case. My resolution binds us to defend every +honest man in the exercise of his right. I can't be bound to say that +the Government hasn't control of its morals--that we cannot trust the +Federal courts--that, under any circumstances, at any time, I am bound +to defend, either by word or money, any man who violates the laws of +this country. + +"'Mr. Wakeman: We do not say that. + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: I beg of you, I beseech you, not to pass the sixth +resolution. If you do, I wouldn't give that [snapping his fingers] for +the platform. A part of the Comstock law authorizes the vilest possible +trick. We are all opposed to that. + +"'Mr. Leland: What is the question? + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: Don't let us be silly. Don't let us say we are +opposed to what we are not opposed to. If any man here is opposed to +putting down the vilest of all possible trash he ought to go home. +We are opposed to only a part of the law--opposed to it whenever they +endeavor to trample Freethought under foot in the name of immorality. + +Afterward, at the same session of the Congress, the following colloquy +took place between Colonel Ingersoll and T. B. Wakeman: + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: You know as well as I that there are certain +books not fit to go through the mails--books and pictures not fit to be +delivered. + +"'Mr. Wakeman: That is so. + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: There is not a man here who is not in favor, when +these books and pictures come into the control of the United States, +of burning them up when they are manifestly obscene. You don't want any +grand jury there. + +"'Mr. Wakeman: Yes, we do. + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: No, we don't. When they are manifestly obscene, +burn them up. + +"'A delegate: Who is to be judge of that? + +"'Colonel Ingersoll: There are books that nobody differs about. There +are certain things about which we can use discretion. If that discretion +is abused, a man has his remedy. We stand for the free thought of this +country. We stand for the progressive spirit of the United States. We +can't afford to say that all these laws should be repealed. If we had +time to investigate them we could say in what they should be amended. +Don't tie us to this nonsense--to the idea that we have an interest in +immoral literature. Let us remember that Mr. Wakeman is sore. He had a +case before the Federal courts, and he imagines, having lost that case, +you cannot depend on them. I have lost hundreds of cases. I have as much +confidence in the Federal courts as in the State courts. I am not to be +a party to throwing a slur upon the Federal judiciary. All we want is +fair play. We want the same chance for our doctrines that others have +for theirs. And how this infernal question of obscenity ever got into +the Liberal League I could never understand. If an innocent man is +convicted of larceny, should we repeal all the laws on the subject? I +don't pretend to be better than other people. + +It is easy to talk right--so easy to be right that I never care to have +the luxury of being wrong. I am advocating something that we can stand +upon. I do not misunderstand Mr. Wakeman's motives. I believe they are +perfectly good--that he is thoroughly honest. Why not just say we will +stand by freedom of thought and its expression? Why not say that we +are in favor of amending any law that is wrong? But do not make the +wholesale statement that all these laws ought to be repealed. They ought +not to be repealed. Some of them are good." The law against sending +instruments of vice in the mails is good, as is the law against sending +obscene books and pictures, and the law against letting ignorant hyenas +prey upon sick people, and the law which prevents the getters up of +bogus lotteries sending their letters through the mail.' + +"At the evening session of the Congress, on the same day, Mr. Ingersoll +made this speech in opposition to the resolution demanding the repeal of +the Comstock laws: + +"'I am not in favor of the repeal of those laws. I have never been, and +I never expect to be. But I do wish that every law providing for the +punishment of a criminal offence should distinctly define the offence. +That is the objection to this law, that it does not define the offence, +so that an American citizen can readily know when he is about to violate +it and consequently the law ought in all probability to be modified +in that regard. I am in favor of every law defining with perfect +distinctness the offence to be punished, but I cannot say by wholesale +these laws should be repealed. I have the cause of Freethought too much +at heart. Neither will I consent to the repeal simply because the church +is in favor of those laws. In so far as the church agrees with me, I +congratulate the church. In so far as superstition is willing to help +me, good! I am willing to accept it. I believe, also, that this League +is upon a secular basis, and there should be nothing in our platform +that would prevent any Christian from acting with us. What is our +platform?--and we ought to leave it as it is. It needs no amendment. +Our platform is for a secular government. Is it improper in a secular +government to endeavor to prevent the spread of obscene literature? It +is the business of a secular government to do it, but if that government +attempts to stamp out Freethought in the name of obscenity, it is then +for the friends of Freethought to call for a definition of the word, and +such a definition as will allow Freethought to go everywhere through all +the mails of the United States. We are also in favor of secular schools. +Good! We are in favor of doing away with every law that discriminates +against a man on account of his belief. Good! We are in favor of +universal education. Good! We are in favor of the taxation of church +property. Good!--because the experience of the world shows that where +you allow superstition to own property without taxing it, it will absorb +the net profits. Is it time now that we should throw into the scale, +against all these splendid purposes, an effort to repeal some postal +laws against obscenity? As well might we turn the League into an engine +to do away with all laws against the sale of stale eggs. + +"'What have we to do with those things? Is it possible that Freethought +can be charged with being obscene? Is it possible that, if the charge +is made, it can be substantiated? Can you not attack any superstition +in the world in perfectly pure language? Can you not attack anything you +please in perfectly pure language? And where a man intends right, no law +should find him guilty; and if the law is weak in that respect, let it +be modified. But I say to you that I cannot go with any body of men who +demand the unconditional repeal of these laws. I believe in liberty +as much as any man that breathes. I will do as much, according to my +ability, as any other man to make this an absolutely free and secular +government I will do as much as any other man of my strength and of my +intellectual power to give every human being every right that I claim +for myself. But this obscene law business is a stumbling block. Had it +not been for this, instead of the few people voting here--less than one +hundred--we would have had a Congress numbered by thousands. Had it not +been for this business, the Liberal League of the United States would +to-night hold in its hand the political destiny of the United States. +Instead of that, we have thrown away our power upon a question in which +we are not interested. Instead of that, we have wasted our resources +and our brain for the repeal of a law that we don't want repealed. If +we want anything, we simply want a modification. Now, then, don't stain +this cause by such a course. And don't understand that I am pretending, +or am insinuating, that anyone here is in favor of obscene literature. +It is a question, not of principle, but of means, and I beg pardon +of this Convention if I have done anything so horrible as has been +described by Mr. Pillsbury. I regret it if I have ever endeavored to +trample upon the rights of this Convention. + +"'There is one thing I have not done--I have not endeavored to cast +five votes when I didn't have a solitary vote. Let us be fair; let us be +fair. I have simply given my vote. I wish to trample upon the rights +of no one; and when Mr. Pillsbury gave those votes he supposed he had +a right to give them; and if he had a right, the votes would have been +counted. I attribute nothing wrong to him, but I say this: I have the +right to make a motion in this Congress, I have the right to argue that +motion, but I have no more rights than any other member, and I claim +none. But I want to say to you--and I want you to know and feel it--that +I want to act with every Liberal man and woman in this world. I want you +to know and feel it that I want to do everything I can to get every one +of these statutes off our books that discriminates against a man because +of his religious belief--that I am in favor of a secular government, +and of all these rights. But I cannot, and I will not, operate with any +organization that asks for the unconditional repeal of those laws. I +will stand alone, and I have stood alone. I can tell my thoughts to my +countrymen, and I will do it, and whatever position you take, whether +I am with you or not, you will find me battling everywhere for the +absolute freedom of the human mind. You will find me battling everywhere +to make this world better and grander; and whatever my personal conduct +may be, I shall endeavor to keep my theories right. I beg of you, +I implore you, do not pass the resolution No. 6. It is not for our +interest; it will do us no good. It will lose us hosts of honest, +splendid friends. Do not do it; it will be a mistake; and the only +reason I offered the motion was to give the members time to think this +over. I am not pretending to know more than other people. I am perfectly +willing to say that in many things I know less. But upon this subject I +want you to think. No matter whether you are afraid of your sons, your +daughters, your wives, or your husbands, that isn't it--I don't want the +splendid prospects of this League put in jeopardy upon such an issue +as this. I have no more to say. But if that resolution is passed, all I +have to say is that, while I shall be for liberty everywhere, I cannot +act with this organization, and I will not.' + +"The resolution was finally adopted, and Colonel Ingersoll resigned his +office of vice-president in the League, and never acted with it again +until the League dropped all side issues, and came back to first +principles--the enforcement of the Nine Demands of Liberalism." + +In 1892, writing upon this subject in answer to a minister who had +repeated these absurd charges, Colonel Ingersoll made this offer: + +"I will pay a premium of one thousand dollars a word for each and every +word I ever said or wrote in favor of sending obscene publications +through the mails." + + + + +CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL LIBERAL LEAGUE. + +Cincinnati, O., September 14.1878. + +LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Allow me to say that the cause nearest my heart, +and to which I am willing to devote the remainder of my life, is the +absolute, the _absolute_, enfranchisement of the human mind. I believe +that the family is the unit of good government, and that every good +government is simply an aggregation of good families. I therefore not +only believe in perfect civil and religious liberty, but I believe in +the one man loving the one woman. I believe the real temple of the human +heart is the hearthstone, and that there is where the sacrifice of life +should be made; and just in proportion as we have that idea in this +country, just in that proportion we shall advance and become a great, +glorious and splendid nation. I do not want the church or the state to +come between the man and wife. I want to do what little I can while I +live to strengthen and render still more sacred the family relation. I +am also in favor of granting every right to every other human being that +I claim for myself; and when I look about upon the world and see how the +children that are born to-day, or this year, or this age, came into a +world that has nearly all been taken up before their arrival; when I see +that they have not even an opportunity to labor for bread; when I see +that in our splendid country some who do the most have the least, +and others who do the least have the most; I say to myself there is +something wrong somewhere, and I hope the time will come when every +child that nature has invited to our feast will have an equal right with +all the others. There is only one way, in my judgment, to bring that +about; and that is, first, not simply by the education of the head, but +by the universal education of the heart. The time will come when a man +with millions in his possession will not be respected unless with those +millions he improves the condition of his fellow-men. + +The time will come when it will be utterly impossible for a man to go +down to death, grasping millions in the clutch of avarice. The time will +come when it will be impossible for such a man to exist, for he will be +followed by the scorn and execration of mankind. The time will come +when such a man when stricken by death, cannot purchase the favor of +posterity by leaving a portion of the gains which he has wrung from the +poor, to some church or Bible society for the glory of God. + +Now, let me say that we have met together as a Liberal League. We have +passed the same platform again; but if you will read that platform you +will see that it covers nearly every word that I have spoken--universal +education--the laws of science included, not the guesses of +superstition--universal education, not for the next world but for +this--happiness, not so much for an unknown land beyond the clouds as +for this life in this world. I do not say that there is not another +life. If there is any God who has allowed his children to be oppressed +in this world he certainly needs another life to reform the blunders he +has made in this. + +Now, let us all agree that we will stand by each other splendidly, +grandly; and when we come into convention let us pass resolutions that +are broad, kind, and genial, because, if you are true Liberals, you will +hold in a kind of tender pity the most outrageous superstitions in +the world. I have said some things in my time that were not altogether +charitable; but, after all, when I think it over, I see that men are as +they are, because they are the result of every thing that has ever been. + +Sometimes I think the clergy a necessary evil; but I say, let us be +genial and kind, and let us know that every other person has the same +right to be a Catholic or a Presbyterian, and gather consolation +from the doctrine of reprobation, that he has the same right to be +a Methodist or a Christian Disciple or a Baptist; the same right to +believe these phantasies and follies and superstitions--[_A voice--"And +to burn heretics?"_] + +No--The same right that we have to believe that it is all superstition. +But when that Catholic or Baptist or Methodist endeavors to put chains +on the bodies or intellects of men, it is then the duty of every Liberal +to prevent it at all hazards. If we can do any good in our day and +generation, let us do it. + +There is no office I want in this world. I will make up my mind as to +the next when I get there, because my motto is--and with that motto I +will close what I have to say--My motto is: One world at a time! + + + + +CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN SECULAR UNION. + +Albany, N. Y., September 13, 1885. + +LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: While I have never sought any place in any +organization, and while I never intended to accept any place in any +organization, yet as you have done me the honor to elect me president of +the American Secular Union, I not only accept the place, but tender to +you each and all my sincere thanks. + +This is a position that a man cannot obtain by repressing his honest +thought. Nearly all other positions he obtains in that way. But I +am glad that the time has come when men can afford to preserve +their manhood in this country. Maybe they cannot be elected to the +Legislature, cannot become errand boys in Congress, cannot be placed as +weather-vanes in the presidential chair, but the time has come when a +man can express his honest thought and be treated like a gentleman +in the United States. We have arrived at a point where priests do not +govern, and have reached that stage of our journey where we, as Harriet +Martineau expressed it, are "free rovers on the breezy common of the +universe." Day by day we are getting rid of the aristocracy of the air. +We have been the slaves of phantoms long enough, and a new day, a day +of glory, has dawned upon this new world--this new world which is far +beyond the old in the real freedom of thought. + +In the selection of your officers, without referring to myself, I think +you have shown great good sense. The first man chosen as vice-president, +Mr. Charles Watts, is a gentleman of sound, logical mind; one who +knows what he wants to say and how to say it; who is familiar with the +organization of Secular societies, knows what we wish to accomplish and +the means to attain it. I am glad that he is about to make this country +his home, and I know of no man who, in my judgment, can do more for the +cause of intellectual liberty. + +The next vice-president, Mr. Remsburg, has done splendid work all over +the country. He is an absolutely fearless man, and tells really and +truly what his mind produces. We need such men everywhere. + +You know it is almost a rule, or at any rate the practice, in political +parties and in organizations generally, to be so anxious for success +that all the offices and places of honor are given to those who will +come in at the eleventh hour. The rule is to hold out these honors as +bribes for newcomers instead of conferring them upon those who have +borne the heat and burden of the day. I hope that the American Secular +Union will not be guilty of any such injustice. Bestow your honors upon +the men who stood by you when you had few friends, the men who enlisted +for the war when the cause needed soldiers. Give your places to them, +and if others want to join your ranks, welcome them heartily to the +places of honor in the rear and let them learn how to keep step. + +In this particular, leaving out myself as I have said, you have done +magnificently well. Mrs. Mattie Krekel, another vice-president, is a +woman who has the courage to express her opinions, and she is all the +more to be commended because, as you know, women have to suffer a little +more punishment than men, being amenable to social laws that are more +exacting and tyrannical than those passed by Legislatures. + +Of Mr. Wakeman it is not necessary to speak. You all know him to be an +able, thoughtful, and experienced man, capable in every respect; one +who has been in this organization from the beginning, and who is now +president of the New York society. Elizur Wright, one of the patriarchs +of Freethought, who was battling for liberty before I was born, and who +will be found in the front rank until he ceases to be. You have honored +yourselves by electing James Parton, a thoughtful man, a scholar, a +philosopher, and a philanthropist--honest, courageous, and logical--with +a mind as clear as a cloudless sky. Parker Pillsbury, who has always +been on the side of liberty, always willing, if need be, to stand +alone--a man who has been mobbed many times because he had the goodness +and courage to denounce the institution of slavery--a man possessed +of the true martyr spirit. Messrs. Algie and Adams, our friends from +Canada, men of the highest character, worthy of our fullest confidence +and esteem--conscientious, upright, and faithful. + +And permit me to say that I know of no man of kinder heart, of gentler +disposition, with more real, good human feeling toward all the world, +with a more forgiving and tender spirit, than Horace Seaver. He and Mr. +Mendum are the editors of the _Investigator_, the first Infidel paper +I ever saw, and I guess the first that any one of you ever saw--a paper +once edited by Abner Kneeland, who was put in prison for saying, "The +Universalists believe in a God which I do not." The court decided that +he had denied the existence of a Supreme Being, and at that time it was +not thought safe to allow a remark of that kind to be made, and so, for +the purpose of keeping an infinite God from tumbling off his throne, Mr. +Kneeland was put in jail. But Horace Seaver and Mr. Mendum went on with +his work. They are pioneers in this cause, and they have been absolutely +true to the principles of Freethought from the first day until now. + +If there is anybody belonging to our Secular Union more enthusiastic and +better calculated to impart something of his enthusiasm to others than +Samuel P. Putnam, our secretary, I do not know him. Courtlandt Palmer, +your treasurer, you all know, and you will presently know him better +when you hear the speech he is about to make, and that speech will speak +better for him than I possibly can. Wait until you hear him, as he is +now waiting for me to get through that you may hear him. He will give +you the definition of the true gentleman, and that definition will be a +truthful description of himself. + +Mr. Reynolds is on our side if anybody is or ever was, and Mr. +Macdonald, editor of _The Truth Seeker_, aiming not only to seek the +truth but to expose error, has done and is doing incalculable good in +the cause of mental freedom. + +All these men and women are men and women of character, of high purpose; +in favor of Freethought not as a peculiarity or as an eccentricity of +the hour, but with all their hearts, through and through, to the very +center and core of conviction, life, and purpose. + +And so I can congratulate you on your choice, and believe that you have +entered upon the most prosperous year of your existence. I believe that +you will do all you can to have every law repealed that puts a hypocrite +above an honest mail. We know that no man is thoroughly honest who does +not tell his honest thought. We want the Sabbath day for ourselves and +our families. Let the gods have the heavens. Give us the earth. If the +gods want to stay at home Sundays and look solemn, let them do it; let +us have a little wholesome recreation and pleasure. If the gods wish to +go out with their wives and children, let them go. If they want to play +billiards with the stars, so they don't carom on us, let them play. + +We want to do what we can to compel every church to pay taxes on its +property as other people pay on theirs. Do you know that if church +property is allowed to go without taxation, it is only a question +of time when they will own a large per cent, of the property of the +civilized world? It is the same as compound interest; only give it time. +If you allow it to increase without taxing it for its protection, its +growth can only be measured by the time in which it has to grow. The +church builds an edifice in some small town, gets several acres of land. +In time a city rises around it. The labor of others has added to the +value of this property, until it is worth millions. If this property is +not taxed, the churches will have so much in their hands that they will +again become dangerous to the liberties of mankind. There never will be +real liberty in this country until all property is put upon a perfect +equality. If you want to build a Joss house, pay taxes. If you want +to build churches, pay taxes. If you want to build a hall or temple in +which Freethought and science are to be taught, pay taxes. Let there be +no property untaxed. When you fail to tax any species of property, you +increase the tax of other people owning the rest. To that extent, you +unite church and state. You compel the Infidel to support the +Catholic. I do not want to support the Catholic Church. It is not worth +supporting. It is an unadulterated evil. Neither do I want to reform +the Catholic Church. The only reformation of which that church or any +orthodox church is capable, is destruction. I want to spend no more +money on superstition. Neither should our money be taken to support +sectarian schools. We do not wish to employ any chaplains in the navy, +or in the army, or in the Legislatures, or in Congress. It is useless to +ask God to help the political party that happens to be in power. We want +no President, no Governor "clothed with a little brief authority," to +issue a proclamation as though he were an agent of God, authorized to +tell all his loving subjects to fast on a certain day, or to enter their +churches and pray for the accomplishment of a certain object. It is +none of his business. When they called on Thomas Jefferson to issue +a proclamation, he said he had no right to do it, that religion was a +personal, individual matter, and that the state had no right, no power, +to interfere. + +I now have the pleasure of introducing Mr. Courtlandt Palmer, who will +speak to you on the "Aristocracy of Freethought," in my judgment the +aristocracy not only of the present, but the aristocracy of the future. + + + + +THE RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + +New York, May 28, 1896. + + +MY DEAR MR. SEIP: I have carefully read your article on the religious +belief of Abraham Lincoln, and in accordance with your request I will +not only give you my opinion of the evidence upon which you rely, as set +out in your article, but my belief as to the religious opinions of Mr. +Lincoln, and the facts on which my belief rests. + +You speak of a controversy between myself and General Collis upon this +subject. A few years ago I delivered a lecture on Mr. Lincoln, in this +city, and in that lecture said that Lincoln, so far as his religious +opinions were concerned, substantially agreed with Franklin, +Jefferson, Paine and Voltaire. Thereupon General Collis wrote me a note +contradicting what I had said and asserting that "Lincoln invoked the +power of Almighty God, not the Deist God, but the God whom he worshiped +under the forms of the Christian church of which he was a member." To +this I replied saying that Voltaire and Paine both believed in God, and +that Lincoln was never a member of any Christian church. + +General Collis wrote another letter to which, I think, I made no reply, +for the reason that the General had demonstrated that he knew nothing +whatever on the subject. It was evident that he had never read the life +of Lincoln, because if he had, he would not have said that he was a +member of a church. It was also evident that he knew nothing about the +religious opinions of Franklin, Voltaire or Paine, or he would have +known that they were believers in the existence of a Supreme Being. It +did not seem to me that his letter was worthy of a reply. + +Now as to your article: I find in what you have written very little that +is new. I do not remember ever to have seen anything about the statement +of the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Gurley in regard to Lincoln's letters. +The daughter, however, does not pretend to know the contents of the +letters and says that they were destroyed by fire; consequently these +letters, so far as this question is concerned, are of no possible +importance. The only thing in your article tending to show that Lincoln +was a Christian is the following: "I think I can say with sincerity that +I hope I am a Christian. I had lived until my Willie died without +fully realizing these things. That blow overwhelmed me. It showed me +my weakness as I had never felt it before, and I think I can safely say +that I know something of a change of heart, and I will further add that +it has been my intention for some time, at a suitable opportunity, to +make a public religious profession." + +Now, if you had given the name of the person to whom this was said, and +if that person had told you that Lincoln did utter these words, then the +evidence would have been good; but you are forced to say that this was +said to an eminent Christian lady. You do not give this lady's name. I +take it for granted that her name is unknown, and that the name of the +person to whom she told the story is also unknown, and that the name +of the man who gave the story to the world is unknown. This falsehood, +according to your own showing, is an orphan, a lonely lie without +father or mother. Such testimony cannot be accepted. It is not even good +hearsay. + +In the next point you make, you also bring forward the remarks claimed +to have been made by Mr. Lincoln when some colored people of Baltimore +presented him with a Bible. You say that he said that the Bible was +God's best gift to man, and but for the Bible we could not know right +from wrong. It is impossible that Lincoln should have uttered these +words. He certainly would not have said to some colored people that the +book that instituted human slavery was God's best gift to man; neither +could he have said that but for this book we could not know right from +wrong. If he said these things he was temporarily insane. Mr. Lincoln +was familiar with the lives of Socrates, Epictetus, Epicurus, Zeno, +Confucius, Zoroaster and Buddha, not one of whom ever heard of the +Bible. Certainly these men knew right from wrong. In my judgment they +would compare favorably with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and the Jews +that crucified Christ. These pretended remarks must be thrown away; they +could have been uttered only by an ignorant and thoughtless zealot, not +by a sensible, thoughtful man. Neither can we rely on any new evidence +given by the Rev. Mr. Gurley. If Mr. Gurley at any time claimed that +Lincoln was a Christian, such claim was born of an afterthought. Mr. +Gurley preached a funeral sermon over the body of Lincoln at the White +House, and in that sermon he did not claim that Mr. Lincoln was in any +sense a Christian. He said nothing about Christ. So, the testimony of +the Rev. Mr. Sunderland amounts to nothing. Lincoln did not tell him +that he was a Christian or that he believed in Christ. Not one of the +ministers that claim that Lincoln was a Christian, not one, testifies +that Lincoln so said in his hearing. So, the lives that have been +written of Lincoln by Holland and Arnold are of no possible authority. +Holland knew nothing about Lincoln; he relied on gossip, and was +exceedingly anxious to make Lincoln a Christian so that his Life would +sell. As a matter of fact, Mr. Arnold knew little of Lincoln, and knew +no more of his religious opinions than he seems to have known about the +opinions of Washington. + +I find also in your article a claim that Lincoln said to somebody that +under certain conditions, that is to say, if a church had the Golden +Rule for its creed, he would join that church; but you do not give the +name of the friend to whom Lincoln made this declaration. Still, if +he made it, it does not tend to show that he was a Christian. A church +founded on the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would that others +should do unto you," would not in any sense be a Christian church. +It would be an ethical society. The testimony of Mr. Bateman has been +changed by himself, he having admitted that it was colored, that he +was not properly reported; so the night-walking scene given by James +E. Murdoch, does not even tend to show that Lincoln was a Christian. +According to Mr. Murdoch he was praying to the God of Solomon and he +never mentioned the name of Christ. I think, however, Mr. Murdoch's +story is too theatrical, and my own opinion is that it was a waking +dream. I think Lincoln was a man of too much sense, too much tact, to +have said anything to God about Solomon. Lincoln knew that what God did +for Solomon ended in failure, and if he wanted God to do something for +him (Lincoln) he would not have called attention to the other case. So +Bishop Simpson, in his oration or funeral sermon, said nothing about +Lincoln's having been a Christian. + +Now, what is the testimony that you present that Lincoln was a +Christian? + +First, Several of your witnesses say that he believed in God. + +Second, Some say that he believed in the efficacy of prayer. + +Third, Some say that he was a believer in Providence. + +Fourth, An unknown person says that he said to another unknown person +that he was a Christian. + +Fifth, You also claim that he said the Bible was the best gift of God to +man, and that without it we could not have known right from wrong. + +The anonymous testimony has to be thrown away, so nothing is left except +the remarks claimed to have been made when the Bible was presented +by the colored people, and these remarks destroy themselves. It +is absolutely impossible that Lincoln could have uttered the words +attributed to him on that occasion. I know of no one who heard the +words, I know of no witness who says he heard them or that he knows +anybody who did. These remarks were not even heard by an "eminent +Christian lady," and we are driven to say that if Lincoln was a +Christian he took great pains to keep it a secret. + +I believe that I am familiar with the material facts bearing upon the +religious belief of Mr. Lincoln, and that I know what he thought of +orthodox Christianity. I was somewhat acquainted with him and well +acquainted with many of his associates and friends, and I am familiar +with Mr. Lincoln's public utterances. Orthodox Christians have the habit +of claiming all great men, all men who have held important positions, +men of reputation, men of wealth. As soon as the funeral is over +clergymen begin to relate imaginary conversations with the deceased, and +in a very little while the great man is changed to a Christian--possibly +to a saint. + +All this happened in Mr. Lincoln's case. Many pious falsehoods were +told, conversations were manufactured, and suddenly the church claimed +that the great President was an orthodox Christian. The truth is that +Lincoln in his religious views agreed with Franklin, Jefferson, and +Voltaire. He did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible or the +divinity of Christ or the scheme of salvation, and he utterly repudiated +the dogma of eternal pain. + +In making up my mind as to what Mr. Lincoln really believed, I do not +take into consideration the evidence of unnamed persons or the contents +of anonymous letters; I take the testimony of those who knew and loved +him, of those to whom he opened his heart and to whom he spoke in the +freedom of perfect confidence. + +Mr. Herndon was his friend and partner for many years. I knew Mr. +Herndon well. I know that Lincoln never had a better, warmer, truer +friend. Herndon was an honest, thoughtful, able, studious man, respected +by all who knew him. He was as natural and sincere as Lincoln himself. +On several occasions Mr. Herndon told me what Lincoln believed and what +he rejected in the realm of religion. He told me again and again +that Mr. Lincoln did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible, the +divinity of Christ, or in the existence of a personal God. There was no +possible reason for Mr. Herndon to make a mistake or to color the facts. + +Justice David Davis was a life-long friend and associate of Mr. Lincoln, +and Judge Davis knew Lincoln's religious opinions and knew Lincoln as +well as anybody did. Judge Davis told me that Lincoln was a Freethinker, +that he denied the inspiration of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, +and all miracles. Davis also told me that he had talked with Lincoln on +these subjects hundreds of times. + +I was well acquainted with Col. Ward H. Lamon and had many conversations +with him about Mr. Lincoln's religious belief, before and after he wrote +his life of Lincoln. He told me that he had told the exact truth in his +life of Lincoln, that Lincoln never did believe in the Bible, or in the +divinity of Christ, or in the dogma of eternal pain; that Lincoln was a +Freethinker. + +For many years I was well acquainted with the Hon. Jesse W. Fell, one +of Lincoln's warmest friends. Mr. Fell often came to my house and we had +many talks about the religious belief of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Fell told me +that Lincoln did not believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures, and +that he denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. Mr. Fell was very liberal +in his own ideas, a great admirer of Theodore Parker and a perfectly +sincere and honorable man. + +For several years I was well acquainted with William G. Green, who was +a clerk with Lincoln at New Salem in the early days, and who admired and +loved Lincoln with all his heart. Green told me that Lincoln was always +an Infidel, and that he had heard him argue against the Bible hundreds +of times. Mr. Green knew Lincoln, and knew him well, up to the time of +Lincoln's death. + +The Hon. James Tuttle of Illinois was a great friend of Lincoln, and +he is, if living, a friend of mine, and I am a friend of his. He knew +Lincoln well for many years, and he told me again and again that Lincoln +was an Infidel. Mr. Tuttle is a Freethinker himself and has always +enjoyed the respect of his neighbors. A man with purer motives does not +live. + +So I place great reliance on the testimony of Col. John G. Nicolay. Six +weeks after Mr. Lincoln's death Colonel Nicolay said that he did not in +any way change his religious ideas, opinions or belief from the time he +left Springfield until the day of his death. + +In addition to all said by the persons I have mentioned, Mrs. Lincoln +said that her husband _was not a Christian_. There are many other +witnesses upon this question whose testimony can be found in a book +entitled "Abraham Lincoln, was he a Christian?" written by John E. +Remsburg, and published in 1893. In that book will be found all +the evidence on both sides. Mr. Remsburg states the case with great +clearness and demonstrates that Lincoln was not a Christian. + +Now, what is a Christian? + +First. He is a believer in the existence of God, the Creator and +Governor of the Universe. + +Second. He believes in the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments. + +Third. He believes in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ; that the +Holy Ghost was his father. + +Fourth. He believes that this Christ was offered as a sacrifice for the +sins of men, that he was crucified, dead and buried, that he arose from +the dead and that he ascended into heaven. + +Fifth. He believes in the "fall of man," in the scheme of redemption +through the atonement. + +Sixth. He believes in salvation by faith, that the few are to be +eternally happy, and that the many are to be eternally damned. + +Seventh. He believes in the Trinity, in God the Father, God the Son and +God the Holy Ghost. + +Now, is there the slightest evidence to show that Lincoln believed in +the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments? + +Has anybody said that he was heard to say that he so believed? + +Does anybody testify that Lincoln believed in the miraculous birth of +Jesus Christ, that the Holy Ghost was the father or that Christ was or +is God? + +Has anybody testified that Lincoln believed that Christ was raised from +the dead? + +Did anyone ever hear him say that he believed in the ascension of +Jesus Christ? Did anyone ever hear him assert that he believed in the +forgiveness of sins, or in salvation by faith, or that belief was a +virtue and investigation a crime? + +Where, then, is the evidence that he was a Christian? + +There is another reason for thinking that Lincoln never became a +Christian. + +All will admit that he was an honest man, that he discharged all +obligations perceived, and did what he believed to be his duty. If +he had become a Christian it was his duty publicly to say so. He was +President; he had the ear of the nation; every citizen, had he spoken, +would have listened. It was his duty to make a clear, explicit statement +of his conversion, and it was his duty to join some orthodox church, and +he should have given his reasons. He should have endeavored to reach +the heart and brain of the Republic. It was unmanly for him to keep his +"second birth" a secret and sneak into heaven leaving his old friends to +travel the road to hell. + +Great pains have been taken to show that Mr. Lincoln believed in, +and worshiped the one true God. This by many is held to have been his +greatest virtue, the foundation of his character, and yet, the God he +worshiped, the God to whom he prayed, allowed him to be assassinated. + +Is it possible that God will not protect his friends? + + + + +ORGANIZED CHARITIES. + +I HAVE no great confidence in organized charities. Money is left and +buildings are erected and sinecures provided for a good many worthless +people. Those in immediate control are almost, or when they were +appointed were almost, in want themselves, and they naturally hate other +beggars. + +They regard persons who ask assistance as their enemies. There is an old +story of a tramp who begged a breakfast. After breakfast another tramp +came to the same place to beg his breakfast, and the first tramp with +blows and curses drove him away, saying at the same time: "I expect to +get dinner here myself." + +This is the general attitude of beggar toward beggar. + +Another trouble with organized charities is the machinery, the various +methods they have adopted to prevent what they call fraud. They are +exceedingly anxious that the needy, that those who ask help, who have +been without fault, shall be attended to, their rule apparently being to +assist only the unfortunate perfect. + +The trouble is that Nature produces very few specimens of that kind. As +a rule, men come to want on account of their imperfections, on account +of their ignorance, on account of their vices, and their vices are born +of their lack of capacity, of their want of brain. In other words, they +are failures of Nature, and the fact that they need help is not their +own fault, but the fault of their construction, their surroundings. + +Very few people have the opportunity of selecting their parents, and it +is exceedingly difficult in the matter of grandparents. Consequently, +I do not hold people responsible for hereditary tendencies, traits and +vices. Neither do I praise them for having hereditary virtues. + +A man going to one of these various charitable establishments is +cross-examined. He must give his biography. And after he has answered +all the supercilious, impudent questions, he is asked for references. + +Then the people referred to are sought out, to find whether the +statements made by the applicant are true. By the time the thing is +settled the man who asked aid has either gotten it somewhere else or +has, in the language of the Spiritualists, "passed over to the other +side." + +Of course this does not trouble the persons in charge of the organized +charities, because their salaries are going on. + +As a rule, these charities were commenced by the best of people. Some +generous, philanthropic man or woman gave a life to establish a "home," +it may be, for aged women, for orphans, for the waifs of the pavements. + +These generous people, filled with the spirit of charity, raised a +little money, succeeded in hiring or erecting a humble building, and the +money they collected, so honestly given, they honestly used to bind up +the wounds and wipe away the tears of the unfortunate, and to save, if +possible, some who had been wrecked on the rocks and reefs of crime. + +Then some very rich man dies who had no charity and who would not have +left a dollar could he have taken his money with him. This rich man, who +hated his relatives and the people he actually knew, gives a large sum +of money to some particular charity--not that he had any charity, but +because he wanted to be remembered as a philanthropist. + +Then the organized charity becomes rich, and the richer the meaner, the +richer the harder of heart and the closer of fist. + +Now, I believe that Trinity Church, in this city, would be called an +organized charity. The church was started to save, if possible, a few +souls from eternal torment, and on the plea of saving these souls money +was given to the church. + +Finally the church became rich. It is now a landlord--has many buildings +to rent. And if what I hear is true there is no harder landlord in the +city of New York. + +So, I have heard it said of Dublin University, that it is about the +hardest landlord in Ireland. + +I think you will find that all such institutions try to collect the very +last cent, and, in the name of pity, drive pity from their hearts. + +I think it is Shakespeare who says, "Pity drives out pity," and he must +have had organized charities in his mind when he uttered this remark. Of +course a great many really good and philanthropic people leave vast sums +of money to charities. + +I find that it is sometimes very difficult to get an injured man, or one +seized with some sudden illness, taken into a city hospital. There are +so many rules and so many regulations, so many things necessary to be +done, that while the rules are being complied with the soul of the sick +or injured man, weary of the waiting, takes its flight. And after the +man is dead, the doctors are kind enough to certify that he died of +heart failure. + +So--in a general way--I speak of all the asylums, of all the homes for +orphans. When I see one of those buildings I feel that it is full of +petty tyranny, of what might be called pious meanness, devout deviltry, +where the object is to break the will of every recipient of public +favor. + +I may be all wrong. I hope I am. At the same time I fear that I am +somewhere near right. + +You may take our prisons; the treatment of prisoners is often infamous. +The Elmira Reformatory is a worthy successor of the Inquisition, a +disgrace, in my judgment, to the State of New York, to the civilization +of our day. Every little while something comes to light showing the +cruelty, the tyranny, the meanness, of these professional distributers +of public charity--of these professed reformers. + +I know that they are visited now and then by committees from the +Legislature, and I know that the keepers of these places know when the +"committee" may be expected. + +I know that everything is scoured and swept and burnished for the +occasion; and I know that the poor devils that have been abused or +whipped or starved, fear to open their mouths, knowing that if they +do they may not be believed and that they will be treated afterward as +though they were wild beasts. + +I think these public institutions ought to be open to inspection at all +times. I think the very best men ought to be put in control of them. +I think only those doctors who have passed, and recently passed, +examinations as to their fitness, as to their intelligence and +professional acquirements, ought to be put in charge. + +I do not think that hospitals should be places for young doctors to +practice sawing off the arms and legs of paupers or hunting in the +stomachs of old women for tumors. I think only the skillful, the +experienced, should be employed in such places. Neither do I think +hospitals should be places where medicine is distributed by students to +the poor. + +Ignorance is a poor doctor, even for the poor, and if we pretend to be +charitable we ought to carry it out. + +I would like to see tyranny done away with in prisons, in the +reformatories, and in all places under the government or supervision of +the State. + +I would like to have all corporal punishment abolished, and I would also +like to see the money that is given to charity distributed by charity +and by intelligence. I hope all these institutions will be overhauled. + +I hope all places where people are pretending to take care of the poor +and for which they collect money from the public, will be visited, and +will be visited unexpectedly and the truth told. + +In my judgment there is some better way. I think every hospital, +every asylum, every home for waifs and orphans should be supported by +taxation, not by charity; should be under the care and control of the +State absolutely. + +I do not believe in these institutions being managed by any individual +or by any society, religious or secular, but by the State. I would no +more have hospitals and asylums depend on charity than I would have the +public school depend on voluntary contributions. + +I want the schools supported by taxation and to be controlled by the +State, and I want the hospitals and asylums and charitable institutions +founded and controlled and carried on in the same way. Let the property +of the State do it. + +Let those pay the taxes who are able. And let us do away forever with +the idea that to take care of the sick, of the helpless, is a charity. +It is not a charity. It is a duty. It is something to be done for our +own sakes. It is no more a charity than it is to pave or light the +streets, no more a charity than it is to have a system of sewers. + +It is all for the purpose of protecting society and of civilizing +ourselves. + + + + +SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS. + + +SPAIN has always been exceedingly religious and exceedingly cruel. That +country had an unfortunate experience. The Spaniards fought the Moors +for about seven hundred or eight hundred years, and during that time +Catholicism and patriotism became synonymous. They were fighting the +Moslems. It was a religious war. For this reason they became intense in +their Catholicism, and they were fearful that if they should grant the +least concession to the Moor, God would destroy them. Their idea was +that the only way to secure divine aid was to have absolute faith, and +this faith was proved by their hatred of all ideas inconsistent with +their own. + +Spain has been and is the victim of superstition. The Spaniards expelled +the Jews, who at that time represented a good deal of wealth and +considerable intelligence. This expulsion was characterized by infinite +brutality and by cruelties that words can not express. They drove +out the Moors at last. Not satisfied with this, they drove out the +Moriscoes. These were Moors who had been converted to Catholicism. + +The Spaniards, however, had no confidence in the honesty of the +conversion, and for the purpose of gaining the good will of God, they +drove them out. They had succeeded in getting rid of Jews, Moors and +Moriscoes; that is to say, of the intelligence and industry of Spain. +Nothing was left but Spaniards; that is to say, indolence, pride, +cruelty and infinite superstition. So Spain destroyed all freedom of +thought through the Inquisition, and for many years the sky was livid +with the flames of the _Auto da fe_; Spain was busy carrying fagots +to the feet of philosophy, busy in burning people for thinking, for +investigating, for expressing honest opinions. The result was that a +great darkness settled over Spain, pierced by no star and shone upon by +no rising sun. + +At one time Spain was the greatest of powers, owner of half the world, +and now she has only a few islands, the small change of her great +fortune, the few pennies in the almost empty purse, souvenirs of +departed wealth, of vanished greatness. Now Spain is bankrupt, bankrupt +not only in purse, but in the higher faculties of the mind, a nation +without progress, without thought; still devoted to bull fights and +superstition, still trying to affright contagious diseases by religious +processions. Spain is a part of the mediaeval ages, belongs to an ancient +generation. It really has no place in the nineteenth century. + +Spain has always been cruel. S. S. Prentice, many years ago, speaking +of Spain said: "On the shore of discovery it leaped an armed robber, and +sought for gold even in the throats of its victims." The bloodiest pages +in the history of this world have been written by Spain. Spain in Peru, +in Mexico, Spain in the low countries--all possible cruelties come back +to the mind when we say Philip II., when we say the Duke of Alva, when +we pronounce the names of Ferdinand and Isabella. Spain has inflicted +every torture, has practiced every cruelty, has been guilty of every +possible outrage. There has been no break between Torquemada and +Weyler, between the Inquisition and the infamies committed in Cuba. + +When Columbus found Cuba, the original inhabitants were the kindest and +gentlest of people. They practiced no inhuman rites, they were good, +contented people. The Spaniards enslaved them or sought to enslave them. +The people rising, they were hunted with dogs, they were tortured, they +were murdered, and finally exterminated. This was the commencement of +Spanish rule on the island of Cuba. The same spirit is in Spain to-day +that was in Spain then. The idea is not to conciliate, but to coerce, +not to treat justly, but to rob and enslave. No Spaniard regards a +Cuban as having equal rights with himself. He looks upon the island as +property, and upon the people as a part of that property, both equally +belonging to Spain. + +Spain has kept no promises made to the Cubans and never will. At last +the Cubans know exactly what Spain is, and they have made up their minds +to be free or to be exterminated. There is nothing in history to equal +the atrocities and outrages that have been perpetrated by Spain upon +Cuba. What Spain does now, all know is only a repetition of what Spain +has done, and this is a prophecy of what Spain will do if she has the +power. + +So far as I am concerned, I have no idea that there is to be any war +between Spain and the United States. A country that can't conquer Cuba, +certainly has no very flattering chance of overwhelming the United +States. A man that cannot whip one of his own boys is foolish when he +threatens to clean out the whole neighborhood. Of course, there is +some wisdom even in Spain, and the Spaniards who know anything of this +country know that it would be absolute madness and the utmost extreme +of folly to attack us. I believe in treating even Spain with perfect +fairness. I feel about the country as Burns did about the Devil: "O wad +ye tak' a thought an' mend!" I know that nations, like people, do as +they must, and I regard Spain as the victim and result of conditions, +the fruit of a tree that was planted by ignorance and watered by +superstition. + +I believe that Cuba is to be free, and I want that island to give a new +flag to the air, whether it ever becomes a part of the United States +or not. My sympathies are all with those who are struggling for their +rights, trying to get the clutch of tyranny from their throats; for +those who are defending their homes, their firesides, against tyrants +and robbers. + +Whether the Maine was blown up by the Spaniards is still a question. I +suppose it will soon be decided. In my own opinion, the disaster came +from the outside, but I do not know, and not knowing, I am willing +to wait for the sake of human nature. I sincerely hope that it was an +accident. I hate to think that there are people base and cruel enough +to commit such an act. Still, I think that all these matters will be +settled without war. + +I am in favor of an international court, the members to be selected +by the ruling nations of the world; and before this court I think all +questions between nations should be decided, and the only army and the +only navy should be under its direction, and used only for the purpose +of enforcing its decrees. Were there such a court now, before which +Cuba could appear and tell the story of her wrongs, of the murders, the +assassinations, the treachery, the starvings, the cruelty, I think that +the decision would instantly be in her favor and that Spain would be +driven from the island. Until there is such a court there is no need of +talking about the world being civilized. + +I am not a Christian, but I do believe in the religion of justice, of +kindness. I believe in humanity. I do believe that usefulness is the +highest possible form of worship. The useful man is the good man, the +useful man is the real saint. I care nothing about supernatural myths +and mysteries, but I do care for human beings. I have a little short +creed of my own, not very hard to understand, that has in it no +contradictions, and it is this: Happiness is the only good. The time to +be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is +to make others so. + +I think this creed if adopted, would do away with war. I think it would +destroy superstition, and I think it would civilize even Spain. + + + + +OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. + + +AS I understand it, the United States went into this war against Spain +in the cause of freedom. For three years Spain has been endeavoring +to conquer these people. The means employed were savage. Hundreds +of thousands were starved. Yet the Cubans, with great heroism, were +continuing the struggle. In spite of their burned homes, their wasted +fields, their dead comrades, the Cubans were not conquered and still +waged war. Under those circumstances we said to Spain, "You must +withdraw from the Western World. The Cubans have the right to be free!" +They have been robbed and enslaved by Spanish officers and soldiers. +Undoubtedly they were savages when first found, and undoubtedly they are +worse now than when discovered--more barbarous. They wouldn't make +very good citizens of the United States; they are probably incapable +of self-government, but no people can be ignorant enough to be justly +robbed or savage enough to be rightly enslaved. I think that we should +keep the islands, not for our own sake, but for the sake of these +people. + +It was understood and declared at the time, that we were not waging war +for the sake of territory, that we were not trying to annex Cuba, but +that we were moved by compassion--a compassion that became as stern as +justice. I did not think at the time there would be war. I supposed that +the Spanish people had some sense, that they knew their own condition +and the condition of this Republic. But the improbable happened, and +now, after the successes we have had, the end of the war appears to be +in sight, and the question arises: What shall we do with the Spanish +islands that we have taken already, or that we may take before peace +comes? + +Of course, we could not, without stultifying ourselves and committing +the greatest of crimes, hand back Cuba to Spain. But to do that would be +no more criminal, no more infamous, than to hand back the Philippines. +In those islands there are from eight to ten millions of people. + +As far as the Philippines are concerned, I think that we should endeavor +to civilize them, and to do this we should send teachers, not preachers. +We should not endeavor to give them our superstition in place of +Spanish superstition. They have had superstition enough. They don't +need churches, they need schools. We should teach them our arts; how to +cultivate the soil, how to manufacture the things they need. In other +words, we should deal honestly with them, and try our best to make them +a self-supporting and a self-governing people. The eagle should spread +its wings over those islands for that and for no other purpose. We can +not afford to give them to other nations or to throw fragments of them +to the wild beasts of Europe. We can not say to Russia, "You may have a +part," and to Germany, "You may have a share," and to France, "You take +something," and so divide out these people as thieves divide plunder. +That we will never do. + +There is, moreover, in my mind, a little sentiment mixed with this +matter. Manila Bay has been filled with American glory. There was won +one of our greatest triumphs, one of the greatest naval victories of the +world--won by American courage and genius. We can not allow any other +nation to become the owner of the stage on which this American drama was +played. I know that we can be of great assistance to the inhabitants of +the Philippines. I know that we can be an unmixed blessing to them, and +that is the only ambition I have in regard to those islands. I would no +more think of handing them back to Spain than I would of butchering the +entire population in cold blood. Spain is unfit to govern. Spain has +always been a robber. She has never made an effort to civilize a human +being. The history of Spain, I think, is the darkest page in the history +of the world. + +At the same time I have a kind of pity for the Spanish people. I feel +that they have been victims--victims of superstition. Their blood has +been sucked, their energies have been wasted and misdirected, and they +excite my sympathies. Of course, there are many good Spaniards, good +men, good women. Cervera appears to be a civilized man, a gentleman, and +I feel obliged to him for his treatment of Hobson. The great mass of +the Spaniards, however, must be exceedingly ignorant. Their so-called +leaders dare not tell them the truth about the progress of this war. +They seem to be afraid to state the facts. They always commence with a +lie, then change it a little, then change it a little more, and may be +at last tell the truth. They never seem to dare to tell the truth at +first, if the truth is bad. They put me in mind of the story of a man +telegraphing to a wife about the condition of her husband. The first +dispatch was, "Your husband is well, never better." The second was, +"Your husband is sick, but not very." The third was, "Your husband is +much worse, but we still have hope." The fourth was, "You may as well +know the truth--we buried your husband yesterday." That is about the way +the Spanish people get their war news. + +That is why it may be incorrect to assume that peace is coming quickly. +If the Spaniards were a normal people, who acted as other folks do, we +might prophesy a speedy peace, but nobody has prophetic vision enough +to tell what such a people will do. In spite of all appearances, and all +our successes, and of all sense, the war may drag on. But I hope not, +not only for our own sake, but for the sake of the Spaniards themselves. +I can't help thinking of the poor peasants who will be killed, neither +can I help thinking of the poor peasants who will have to toil for many +years on the melancholy fields of Spain to pay the cost of this war. I +am sorry for them, and I am sorry also for the widows and orphans, and +no one will be more delighted when peace comes. + +The argument has been advanced in the National Senate and elsewhere, +that the Federal Constitution makes no provision for the holding of +colonies or dependencies, such as the Philippines would be; that we can +only acquire them as territories, and eventually must take them in +as States, with their population of mixed and inferior races. That is +hardly an effective argument. + +When this country was an infant, still in its cradle, George Washington +gave the child some very good advice; told him to beware of entangling +alliances, to stay at home and attend to his own business. Under the +circumstances this was all very good. But the infant has been growing, +and the Republic is now one of the most powerful nations in the world, +and yet, from its infant days until now, good, conservative people have +been repeating the advice of Washington. It was repeated again and again +when we were talking about purchasing Louisiana, and many Senators and +Congressmen became hysterical and predicted the fall of the Republic if +that was done. The same thing took place when we purchased Florida, and +again when we got one million square miles from Mexico, and still again +when we bought Alaska. These ideas about violating the Constitution and +wrecking the Republic were promulgated by our great and wise statesmen +on all these previous occasions, but, after all, the Constitution seems +to have borne the strain. There seems to be as much liberty now as there +was then, and, in fact, a great deal more. Our Territories have given us +no trouble, while they have greatly added to our population and vastly +increased our wealth. + +Beside this, the statesmen of the olden time, the wise men with whom +wisdom was supposed to have perished, could not and did not imagine the +improvements that would take place after they were gone. In their time, +practically speaking, it was farther from New York to Buffalo than it is +now from New York to San Francisco, and so far as the transportation of +intelligence is concerned, San Francisco is as near New York as it would +have been in their day had it been just across the Harlem River. Taking +into consideration the railways, the telegraphs and the telephones, this +country now, with its area of three million five hundred thousand square +miles, is not so large as the thirteen original colonies were; that is +to say, the distances are more easily traveled and more easily overcome. +In those days it required months and months to cross the continent. Now +it is the work of four or five days. + +Yet, when we came to talk about annexing the Hawaiian Islands, the +advice of George Washington was again repeated, and the older the +Senator the fonder he was of this advice. These Senators had the idea +that the Constitution, having nothing in favor of it, must contain +something, at least in spirit, against it. Of course, our fathers had +no idea of the growth of the Republic. We have, because with us it is a +matter of experience. I don't see that Alaska has imperiled any of the +liberties of New York. We need not admit Alaska as a State unless it has +a population entitling it to admission, and we are not bound to take in +the Sandwich Islands until the people are civilized, until they are fit +companions of free men and free women. It may be that a good many of our +citizens will go to the Sandwich Islands, and that, in a short time, +the people there will be ready to be admitted as a State. All this the +Constitution can stand, and in it there is no danger of imperialism. + +I believe in national growth. As a rule, the prosperous farmer wants to +buy the land that adjoins him, and I think a prosperous nation has the +ambition of growth. It is better to expand than to shrivel; and, if our +Constitution is too narrow to spread over the territory that we have +the courage to acquire, why we can make a broader one. It is a very easy +matter to make a constitution, and no human happiness, no prosperity, +no progress should be sacrificed for the sake of a piece of paper with +writing on it; because there is plenty of paper and plenty of men to do +the writing, and plenty of people to say what the writing should be. +I take more interest in people than I do in constitutions. I regard +constitutions as secondary; they are means to an end, but the dear, +old, conservative gentlemen seem to regard constitutions as ends in +themselves. + +I have read what ex-President Cleveland had to say on this important +subject, and I am happy to say that I entirely disagree with him. So, +too, I disagree with Senator Edmunds, and with Mr. Bryan, and with +Senator Hoar, and with all the other gentlemen who wish to stop the +growth of the Republic. I want it to grow. + +As to the final destiny of the island possessions won from Spain, my +idea is that the Philippine Islands will finally be free, protected, it +may be for a long time, by the United States. I think Cuba will come to +us for protection, naturally, and, so far as I am concerned, I want +Cuba only when Cuba wants us. I think that Porto Rico and some of those +islands will belong permanently to the United States, and I believe Cuba +will finally become a part of our Republic. + +When the opponents of progress found that they couldn't make the +American people take the back track by holding up their hands over the +Constitution, they dragged in the Monroe doctrine. When we concluded not +to allow Spain any longer to enslave her colonists, or the people who +had been her colonists, in the New World, that was a very humane and +wise resolve, and it was strictly in accord with the Monroe doctrine. +For the purpose of conquering Spain, we attacked her fleet in Manila +Bay, and destroyed it. I can not conceive how that action of ours can +be twisted into a violation of the Monroe doctrine. The most that can be +said is, that it is an extension of that doctrine, and that we are now +saying to Spain, "You shall not enslave, you shall not rob, anywhere +that we have the power to prevent it." + +Having taken the Philippines, the same humanity that dictated the +declaration of what is called the Monroe doctrine, will force us to act +there in accordance with the spirit of that doctrine. The other day I +saw in the paper an extract, I think, from Goldwin Smith, in which +he says that if we were to bombard Cadiz we would give up the Monroe +doctrine. I do not see the application. We are at war with Spain, and we +have a right to invade that country, and the invasion would have nothing +whatever to do with the Monroe doctrine. War being declared, we have +the right to do anything consistent with civilized warfare to gain the +victory. The bombardment of Cadiz would have no more to do with the +Monroe doctrine than with the attraction of gravitation. If, by the +Monroe doctrine is meant that we have agreed to stay in this hemisphere, +and to prevent other nations from interfering with any people +on this hemisphere, and if it is said that, growing out of this, is +another doctrine, namely, that we are pledged not to interfere with +any people living on the other hemisphere, then it might be called a +violation of the Monroe doctrine for us to bombard Cadiz. But such is +not the Monroe doctrine. If, we being at war with England, she should +bombard the city of New York, or we should bombard some city of England, +would anybody say that either nation had violated the Monroe doctrine? I +do not see how that doctrine is involved, whether we fight at sea or on +the territory of the enemy. + +This is the first war, so far as I know, in the history of the world +that has been waged absolutely in the interest of humanity; the only +war born of pity, of sympathy; and for that reason I have taken a deep +interest in it, and I must say that I was greatly astonished by the +victory of Admiral Dewey in Manila Bay. I think it one of the most +wonderful in the history of the world, and I think all that Dewey +has done shows clearly that he is a man of thought, of courage and of +genius. So, too, the victory over the fleet of Cervera by Commodore +Schley, is one of the most marvelous and the most brilliant in all +the annals of the world. The marksmanship, the courage, the absolute +precision with which everything was done, is to my mind astonishing. +Neither should we forget Wainwright's heroic exploit, as commander of +the Gloucester, by which he demonstrated that torpedo destroyers have +no terrors for a yacht manned by American pluck. Manila Bay and Santiago +both are surpassingly wonderful. There are no words with which to +describe such deeds--deeds that leap like flames above the clouds and +glorify the whole heavens. + +The Spanish have shown in this contest that they possess courage, and +they have displayed what you might call the heroism of desperation, +but the Anglo-Saxon has courage and coolness--courage not blinded by +passion, courage that is the absolute servant of intelligence. The +Anglo-Saxon has a fixedness of purpose that is never interfered with by +feeling; he does not become enraged--he becomes firm, unyielding, his +mind is absolutely made up, clasped, locked, and he carries out his +will. With the Spaniard it is excitement, nervousness; he becomes +frantic. I think this war has shown the superiority, not simply of our +ships, or our armor, or our guns, but the superiority of our men, of +our officers, of our gunners. The courage of our army about Santiago was +splendid, the steadiness and bravery of the volunteers magnificent. I +think that what has already been done has given us the admiration of the +civilized world. + +I know, of course, that some countries hate us. Germany is filled with +malice, and has been just on the crumbling edge of meanness for months, +wishing but not daring to interfere; hateful, hostile, but keeping just +within the overt act. We could teach Germany a lesson and her ships +would go down before ours just the same as the Spanish ships have done. +Sometimes I have almost wished that a hostile German shot might be +fired. But I think we will get even with Germany and with France--at +least I hope so. + +And there is another thing I hope--that the good feeling now existing +between England and the United States may be eternal. In other words, +I hope it will be to the interests of both to be friends. I think the +English-speaking peoples are to rule this world. They are the kings of +invention, of manufactures, of commerce, of administration, and they +have a higher conception of human liberty than any other people. Of +course, they are not entirely free; they still have some of the rags and +tatters and ravelings of superstition; but they are tatters and they are +rags and they are ravelings, and the people know it. And, besides all +this, the English language holds the greatest literature of the world. + + + + +A FEW FRAGMENTS ON EXPANSION. + + +A NATION rises from infancy to manhood and sinks from dotage to death. +I think that the great Republic is in the morning of her life--the sun +just above the horizon--the grass still wet with dew. + +Our country has the courage and enthusiasm of youth--her blood flows +full--her heart beats strong and her brow is fair. We stand on +the threshold of a great, a sublime career. All the conditions are +favorable--the environment kind. The best part of this hemisphere is +ours. We have a thousand million acres of fertile land, vast forests, +whole States underlaid with coal; ranges of mountains filled with +iron, silver and gold, and we have seventy-five millions of the most +energetic, active, inventive, progressive and practical people in the +world. The great Republic is a happy combination of mind and muscle, of +head and heart, of courage and good nature. We are growing. We have the +instinct of expansion. We are full of life and health. We are about to +take our rightful place at the head of the nations. The great powers +have been struggling to obtain markets. They are fighting for the trade +of the East. They are contending for China. We watched, but we did +not act. They paid no attention to us or we to them. Conditions have +changed. We own the Hawaiian Islands. We will own the Philippines. + +Japan and China will be our neighbors--our customers. Our interests must +be protected. In China we want the "open door," and we will see to it +that the door is kept open. The nation that tries to shut it, will get +its fingers pinched. We have taught the Old World that the Republic must +be consulted. We have entered on the great highway, and we are destined +to become the most powerful, the most successful and the most generous +of nations. I am for expansion. The more people beneath the flag the +better. Let the Republic grow.. + + +I BELIEVE in growth. Of course there are many moss-back conservatives +who fear expansion. Thousands opposed the purchase of Louisiana from +Napoleon, thousands were against the acquisition of Florida and of the +vast territory we obtained from Mexico. So, thousands were against the +purchase of Alaska, and some dear old mummies opposed the annexation +of the Sandwich Islands, and yet, I do not believe that there is an +intelligent American who would like to part with one acre that has +been acquired by the Government. Now, there are some timid, withered +statesmen who do not want Porto Rico--who beg us in a trembling, +patriotic voice not to keep the Philippines. But the sensible people +feel exactly the other way. They love to see our borders extended. +They love to see the flag floating over the islands of the +tropics,--showering its blessings upon the poor people who have been +robbed and tortured by the Spanish. Let the Republic grow! Let us spread +the gospel of Freedom! In a few years I hope that Canada will be ours--I +want Mexico--in other words, I want all of North America. I want to see +our flag waving from the North Pole. + +I think it was a mistake to appoint a peace commission. The President +should have demanded the unconditional surrender of Cuba, Porto Rico +and the Philippines. Spain was helpless. The war would have ended on our +terms, and all this commission nonsense would have been saved. Still, I +make no complaint. It will probably come out right, though it would have +been far better to have ended the business when we could--when Spain +was prostrate. It was foolish to let her get up and catch her breath and +hunt for friends. + +ONLY a few days ago our President, by proclamation, thanked God for +giving us the victory at Santiago. He did not thank him for sending the +yellow fever. To be consistent the President should have thanked him +equally for both. Man should think; he should use all his senses; he +should examine; he should reason. The man who cannot think is less than +man; the man who will not think is a traitor to himself; the man who +fears to think is superstition's slave. I do not thank God for the +splendid victory in Manila Bay. I don't know whether he had anything +to do with it; if I find out that he did I will thank him readily. +Meanwhile, I will thank Admiral George Dewey and the brave fellows who +were with him. + +I do not thank God for the destruction of Cervera's fleet at Santiago. +No, I thank Schley and the men with the trained eyes and the nerves of +steel, who stood behind the guns. I do not thank God because we won +the battle of Santiago. I thank the Regular Army, black and white--the +Volunteers--the Rough Riders, and all the men who made the grand charge +at San Juan Hill. I have asked, "Why should God help us to whip Spain?" +and have been answered: "For the sake of the Cubans, who have been +crushed and ill-treated by their Spanish masters." Then why did not God +help the Cubans long before? Certainly, they were fighting long enough +and needed his help badly enough. But, I am told, God's ways are +inscrutable. Suppose Spain had whipped us; would the Christians then say +that God did it? Very likely they would, and would have as an excuse, +that we broke the Sabbath with our base-ball, our bicycles and bloomers. + + + + +IS IT EVER RIGHT FOR HUSBAND OR WIFE TO KILL RIVAL? + + +HOW far should a husband or wife go in defending the sanctity of home? + +Is it right for the husband to kill the paramour of his wife? + +Is it right for the wife to kill the paramour of her husband? + +These three questions are in substance one, and one answer will be +sufficient for all. + +In the first place, we should have an understanding of the real relation +that exists, or should exist, between husband and wife. + +The real good orthodox people, those who admire St. Paul, look upon the +wife as the property of the husband. He owns, not only her body, but her +very soul. This being the case, no other man has the right to steal +or try to steal this property. The owner has the right to defend his +possession, even to the death. In the olden time the husband was +never regarded as the property of the wife. She had a claim on him for +support, and there was usually some way to enforce the claim. If +the husband deserted the wife for the sake of some other woman, or +transferred his affections to another, the wife, as a rule, suffered in +silence. Sometimes she took her revenge on the woman, but generally she +did nothing. Men killed the "destroyers" of their homes, but the women, +having no homes, being only wives, nothing but mothers--bearers of babes +for masters--allowed their destroyers to live. + +In recent years women have advanced. They have stepped to the front. +Wives are no longer slaves. They are the equals of husbands. They have +homes to defend, husbands to protect and "destroyers" to kill. The +rights of husbands and wives are now equal. They live under the same +moral code. Their obligations to each other are mutual. Both are bound, +and equally bound, to live virtuous lives. + +Now, if A falls in love with the wife of B, and she returns his love, +has B the right to kill him? Or if A falls in love with the husband of +B, and he returns her love, has B the right to kill her? + +If the wronged husband has the right to kill, so has the wronged wife. + +Suppose that a young man and woman are engaged to be married, and that +she falls in love with another and marries him, has the first lover a +right to kill the last? + +This leads me to another question: What is marriage? Men and women +cannot truly be married by any set or form of words, or by any +ceremonies however solemn, or by contract signed, sealed and witnessed, +or by the words or declarations of priests or judges. All these put +together do not constitute marriage. At the very best they are only +evidences of the fact of marriage--something that really happened +between the parties. Without pure, honest, mutual love there can be no +real marriage. Marriage without love is only a form of prostitution. +Marriage for the sake of position or wealth is immoral. No good, +sensible man wants to marry a woman whose heart is not absolutely his, +and no good, sensible woman wants to marry a man whose heart is not +absolutely hers. Now, if there can be no real marriage without mutual +love, does the marriage outlast the love? If it is immoral for a woman +to marry a man without loving him, is it moral for her to live as the +wife of a man whom she has ceased to love? Is she bound by the words, by +the ceremony, after the real marriage is dead? Is she so bound that the +man she hates has the right to be the father of her babes? + +If a girl is engaged and afterward meets her ideal, a young man whose +presence is joy, whose touch is ecstasy, is it her duty to fulfill her +engagement? Would it not be a thousand times nobler and purer for her to +say to the first lover: "I thought I loved you; I was mistaken. I belong +heart and soul to another, and if I married you I could not be yours." + +So, if a young man is engaged and finds that he has made a mistake, is +it honorable for him to keep his contract? Would it not be far nobler +for him to tell her the truth? + +The civilized man loves a woman not only for his own sake, but for +her sake. He longs to make her happy--to fill her life with joy. He +is willing to make sacrifices for her, but he does not want her to +sacrifice herself for him. The civilized husband wants his wife to be +free--wants the love that she cannot help giving him. He does not want +her, from a sense of duty, or because of the contract or ceremony, to +act as though she loved him, when in fact her heart is far away. He +does not want her to pollute her soul and live a lie for his sake. The +civilized husband places the happiness of his wife above his own. Her +love is the wealth of his heart, and to guard her from evil is the +business of his life. + +But the civilized husband knows when his wife ceases to love him that +the real marriage has also ceased. He knows that it is then infamous for +him to compel her to remain his wife. He knows that it is her right +to be free--that her body belongs to her, that her soul is her own. He +knows, too, if he knows anything, that her affection is not the slave of +her will. + +In a case like this, the civilized husband would, so far as he had +the power, release his wife from the contract of marriage, divide his +property fairly with her and do what he could for her welfare. Civilized +love never turns to hatred. + +Suppose he should find that there was a man in the case, that another +had won her love, or that she had given her love to another, would it +then be his right or duty to kill that man? Would the killing do any +good? Would it bring back her love? Would it reunite the family? Would +it annihilate the disgrace or the memory of the shame? Would it lessen +the husband's loss? + +Society says that the husband should kill the man because he led the +woman astray. + +How do we know that he betrayed the woman? Mrs. Potiphar left many +daughters, and Joseph certainly had but few sons. How do we know that +it was not the husband's fault? She may for years have shivered in the +winter of his neglect. She may have borne his cruelties of word and deed +until her love w'as dead and buried side by side with hope. Another man +comes into her life. He pities her. She looks and loves. He lifts her +from the grave. Again she really lives, and her poor heart is rich with +love's red blood. Ought this man to be killed? He has robbed no husband, +wronged no man. He has rescued a victim, released an innocent prisoner +and made a life worth living. But the brutal husband says that the wife +has been led astray; that he has been wronged and dishonored, and that +it is his right, his duty, to shed the seducer's blood. He finds the +facts himself. He is witness, jury, judge and executioner. He forgets +his neglect, his cruelties, his faithlessness; forgets that he drove her +from his heart, remembers only that she loves another, and then in the +name of justice he takes the life of the one she loves. + +A husband deserts his wife, leaves her without money, without the means +to live, with his babes in her arms. She cannot get a divorce; she must +wait, and in the meantime she must live. A man falls in love with her +and she with him. He takes care of her and the deserted children. The +"wronged" husband returns and kills the "betrayer" of his wife. He +believes in the sacredness of marriage, the holiness of home. + +It may be admitted that the deserted wife did wrong, and that the man +who cared for her and her worse than fatherless children also did wrong, +but certainly he had done nothing for which he deserved to be murdered. + +A woman finds that her husband is in love with another woman, that he +is false, and the question is whether it is her right to kill the other +woman. The wronged husband has always claimed that the man led his wife +astray, that he had crept and crawled into his Eden, but now the wronged +wife claims that the woman seduced her husband, that she spread the +net, wove the web and baited the trap in which the innocent husband was +caught. Thereupon she kills the other woman. + +In the first place, how can she be sure of the facts? How does she know +whose fault it was? Possibly she was to blame herself. + +But what good has the killing done? It will not give her back her +husband's love. It will not cool the fervor of her jealousy. It will not +give her better sleep or happier dreams. + +It would have been far better if she had said to her husband: "Go with +the woman you love. I do not want your body without your heart, your +presence without your love." + +So, it would be better for the wronged husband to say to the unfaithful +wife: "Go with the man you love. Your heart is his, I am not your +master. You are free." + +After all, murder is a poor remedy. If you kill a man for one wrong, why +not for another? If you take the law into your own hands and kill a man +because he loves your wife and your wife loves him, why not kill him for +any injury he may inflict on you or yours?... + +In a civilized nation the people are governed by law. They do not +redress their own wrongs. They submit their differences to courts. If +they are wronged they appeal to the law. Savages redress what they call +their wrongs. They appeal to knife or gun. They kill, they assassinate, +they murder; and they do this to preserve their honor. Admit that the +seducer of the wife deserves death, that the woman who leads the husband +astray deserves death, admit that both have justly forfeited their +lives, the question yet remains whether the wronged husband and the +wronged wife have the right to commit murder. + +If they have this right, then there ought to be some way provided for +ascertaining the facts. Before the husband kills the "betrayer," the +fact that the wife was really led astray should be established, and the +"wronged" husband who claims the right to kill, should show that he had +been a good, loving and true husband. + +As a rule, the wives of good and generous men are true and faithful. +They love their homes, they adore their children. In poverty and +disaster they cling the closer. But when husbands are indolent and mean, +when they are cruel and selfish, when they make a hell of home, why +should we insist that their wives should love them still? + +When the civilized man finds that his wife loves another he does not +kill, he does not murder. He says to his wife, "You are free." + +When the civilized woman finds that her husband loves another she does +not kill, she does not murder. She says to her husband, "I am free." +This, in my judgment, is the better way. It is in accordance with a far +higher philosophy of life, of the real rights of others. The civilized +man is governed by his reason, his intelligence; the savage by his +passions. The civilized, man seeks for the right, regardless of himself; +the savage for revenge, regardless of the rights of others. + +I do not believe that murder guards the sacredness of home, the purity +of the fireside. I do not believe that crime wins victories for virtue. +I believe in liberty and I believe in law. That country is free where +the people make and honestly uphold the law. I am opposed to a redress +of grievances or the punishment of criminals by mobs and I am equally +opposed to giving the "wronged" husbands and the "wronged" wives the +right to kill the men and women they suspect. In other words, I believe +in civilization. + +A few years ago a merchant living in the West suspected that his wife +and bookkeeper were in love. One morning he started for a distant city, +pretending that he would be absent for a couple of weeks. He came back +that night and found the lovers occupying the same room. He did not kill +the man, but said to him: "Take her; she is yours. Treat her well +and you will not be troubled. Abuse or desert her and I will be her +avenger." + +He did not kill his wife, but said: "We part forever. You are entitled +to one-half of the property we have accumulated. You shall have it. +Farewell!" + +The merchant was a civilized man--a philosopher. + + + + +PROFESSOR BRIGGS. + +To the study of the Bible he has given the best years of his life. When +he commenced this study he was probably a devout believer in the plenary +inspiration of the Scripture--thought that the Bible was without an +error; that all the so-called contradictions could be easily explained. +He had been educated by Presbyterians and had confidence in his +teachers. + +In spite of his early training, in spite of his prejudices, he was led, +in some mysterious way, to rely a little on his own reason. This was +a dangerous thing to do. The moment a man talks about reason he is on +dangerous ground. He is liable to contradict the "Word of God." Then he +loses spirituality and begins to think more of truth than creed. This is +a step toward heresy--toward Infidelity. + +Professor Briggs began to have doubts about some of the miracles. +These doubts, like rats, began to gnaw the foundations of his faith. He +examined these wonderful stories in the light of what is known to have +happened, and in the light of like miracles found in the other sacred +books of the world. And he concluded that they were not quite true. He +was not ready to say that they were actually false; that would be too +brutally candid. + +I once read of an English lord who had a very polite gamekeeper. The +lord wishing to show his skill with the rifle fired at a target. He and +the gamekeeper went to see where the bullet had struck. The gamekeeper +was first at the target, and the lord cried out: "Did I miss it?" + +"I would not," said the gamekeeper, "go so far as to say that your +lordship missed it, but--but--you didn't hit it." + +Professor Briggs saw clearly that the Bible was the product, the growth +of many centuries; that legends and facts, mistakes, contradictions, +miracles, myths and history, interpolations, prophecies and dreams, +wisdom, foolishness, justice, cruelty, poetry and bathos were mixed, +mingled and interwoven. In other words, that the gold of truth was +surrounded by meaner metals and worthless stones. + +He saw that it was necessary to construct what might be called a sacred +smelter to divide the true from the false. + +Undoubtedly he reached this conclusion in the interest of what he +believed to be the truth. He had the mistaken but honest idea that a +Christian should really think. Of course, we know that all heresy +has been the result of thought. It has always been dangerous to grow. +Shrinking is safe. + +Studying the Bible was the first mistake that Professor Briggs made, +reasoning was the second, and publishing his conclusions was the third. +If he had read without studying, if he had believed without reasoning, +he would have remained a good, orthodox Presbyterian. He probably read +the works of Humboldt, Darwin and Haeckel, and found that the author +of Genesis was not a geologist, not a scientist. He seems to have his +doubts about the truth of the story of the deluge. Should he be blamed +for this? Is there a sensible man in the wide world who really believes +in the flood? + +This flood business puts Jehovah in such an idiotic light. + +Of course, he must have known, after the "fall" of Adam and Eve, that he +would have to drown their descendants. Certainly it would have been +more merciful to have killed Adam and Eve, made a new pair and kept the +serpent out of the Garden of Eden. If Jehovah had been an intelligent +God he never would have created the serpent. Then there would have been +no fall, no flood, no atonement, no hell. + +Think of a God who drowned a world! What a merciless monster! The +cruelty of the flood is exceeded only by its stupidity. + +Thousands of little theologians have tried to explain this miracle. This +is the very top of absurdity. To explain a miracle is to destroy it. +Some have said that the flood was local. How could water that rose over +the mountains remain local? + +Why should we expect mercy from a God who drowned millions of men, women +and babes? I would no more think of softening the heart of such a God +by prayer than of protecting myself from a hungry tiger by repeating +poetry. + +Professor Briggs has sense enough to see that the story of the flood +is but an ignorant legend. He is trying to rescue Jehovah from the +frightful slander. After all, why should we believe the unreasonable? +Must we be foolish to be virtuous? The rain fell for forty days; this +caused the flood. The water was at least thirty thousand feet in depth. +Seven hundred and fifty feet a day--more than thirty feet an hour, six +inches a minute; the rain fell for forty days. Does any man with sense +enough to eat and breathe believe this idiotic lie? + +Professor Briggs knows that the Jews got the story of the flood from the +Babylonians, and that it is no more inspired than the history of "Peter +Wilkins and His Flying Wife." The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is +another legend. + +If those cities were destroyed sensible people believe the phenomenon +was as natural as the destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii. They do +not believe that in either case it was the result of the wickedness of +the people. + +Neither does any thinking man believe that the wife of Lot was changed +or turned into a pillar of salt as a punishment for having looked back +at her burning home. How could flesh, bones and blood be changed to +salt? This presupposes two miracles. First, the annihilation +of the woman, and second, the creation of salt. A God cannot +annihilate or create matter. Annihilation and creation are both +impossible--unthinkable. A grain of sand can defy all the gods. What was +Mrs. Lot turned to salt for? What good was achieved? What useful lesson +taught? What man with a head fertile enough to raise one hair can +believe a story like this? + +Does a man who denies the truth of this childish absurdity weaken the +foundation of virtue? Does he discourage truth-telling by denouncing +lies? Should a man be true to himself? If reason is not the standard, +what is? Can a man think one way and believe another? Of course he can +talk one way and think another. If a man should be honest with himself +he should be honest with others. A man who conceals his doubts lives a +dishonest life. He defiles his own soul. + +When a truth-loving man reads about the plagues of Egypt, should he +reason as he reads? Should he take into consideration the fact that like +stories have been told and believed by savages for thousands of years? +Should he ask himself whether Jehovah in his efforts to induce the +Egyptian King to free the Hebrews acted like a sensible God? Should he +ask himself whether a good God would kill the babes of the people on +account of the sins of the king? Whether he would torture, mangle and +kill innocent cattle to get even with a monarch? + +Is it better to believe without thinking than to think without +believing? If there be a God can we please him by believing that he +acted like a fiend? + +Probably Professor Briggs has a higher conception of God than the author +of Exodus. The writer of that book was a barbarian--an honest barbarian, +and he wrote what he supposed was the truth. I do not blame him for +having written falsehoods. Neither do I blame Professor Briggs for +having detected these falsehoods. In our day no man capable of reasoning +believes the miracles wrought for the Hebrews in their flight through +the wilderness. The opening of the sea, the cloud and pillar, the +quails, the manna, the serpents and hornets are no more believed than +the miracles of the Mormons when they crossed the plains. + +The probability is that the Hebrews never were in Egypt. In the Hebrew +language there are no Egyptian words, and in the Egyptian no Hebrew. +This proves that the Hebrews could not have mingled with the Egyptians +for four hundred and thirty years. As a matter of fact, Moses is a myth. +The enslavement of the Hebrews, the flight, the journey through the +wilderness existed only in the imagination of ignorance. + +So Professor Briggs has his doubts about the sun and moon having been +stopped for a day in order that Gen. Joshua might kill more heathen. +Theologians have gathered around this miracle like moths around a flame. +They have done their best to make it reasonable. They have talked about +refraction and reflection, about the nature of the air having been +changed so that the sun was visible all night. They have even gone +so far as to say that Joshua and his soldiers killed so many that +afterward, when thinking about it, they concluded that it must have +taken them at least two days. + +This miracle can be accounted for only in one way. Jehovah must have +stopped the earth. The earth, turning over at about one thousand miles +an hour--weighing trillions of tons--had to be stopped. Now we know that +all arrested motion changes instantly to heat. It has been calculated +that to stop the earth would cause as much heat as could be produced by +burning three lumps of coal, each lump as large as this world. + +Now, is it possible that a God in his right mind would waste all that +force? The Bible also tells us that at the same time God cast hailstones +from heaven on the poor heathen. If the writer had known something of +astronomy he would have had more hailstones and said nothing about the +sun and moon. + +Is it wise for ministers to ask their congregations to believe this +story? Is it wise for congregations to ask their ministers to believe +this story? If Jehovah performed this miracle he must have been insane. +There should be some relation, some proportion, between means and ends. +No sane general would call into the field a million soldiers and a +hundred batteries to kill one insect. And yet the disproportion of means +to the end sought would be reasonable when compared with what Jehovah is +claimed to have done. + +If Jehovah existed let us admit that he had some sense. + +If it should be demonstrated that the book of Joshua is all false, what +harm could follow? There would remain the same reasons for living a +useful and virtuous life; the same reasons against theft and murder. +Virtue would lose no prop and vice would gain no crutch. Take all the +miracles from the Old Testament and the book would be improved. Throw +away all its cruelties and absurdities and its influence would be far +better. + +Professor Briggs seems to have doubts about the inspiration of Ruth. Is +there any harm in that? What difference does it make whether the story +of Ruth is fact or fiction; history or poetry? Its value is just the +same. Who cares whether Hamlet or Lear lived? Who cares whether +Imogen and Perdita were real women or the creation of Shakespeare's +imagination? + +The book of Esther is absurd and cruel. It has no ethical value. There +is not a line, a word in it calculated to make a human being better. The +king issued a decree to kill the Jews. Esther succeeded in getting this +decree set aside, and induced the king to issue another decree that +the Jews should kill the other folks, and so the Jews killed some +seventy-five thousand of the king's subjects. Is it really important to +believe that the book of Esther is inspired? Is it possible that Jehovah +is proud of having written this book? Does he guard his copyright with +the fires of hell? Why should the facts be kept from the people? Every +intelligent minister knows that Moses did not write the Pentateuch; that +David did not write the Psalms, and that Solomon was not the author of +the song or the book of Ecclesiastes. Why not say so? + +No intelligent minister believes the story of Daniel in the Lion's den, +or of the three men who were cast into the furnace, or the story of +Jonah. These miracles seem to have done no good--seem to have convinced +nobody and to have had no consequences. Daniel w'as miraculously saved +from the lions, and then the king sent for the men who had accused +Daniel, for their wives and their children, and threw them all into +the den of lions and they were devoured by beasts almost as cruel as +Jehovah. What a beautiful story! How can any man be wicked enough to +doubt its truth? + +God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah ran away, took a boat for another +place. God raised a storm, the sailors became frightened, threw Jonah +overboard, and the poor wretch was swallowed and carried ashore by a +fish that God had prepared. Then he made his proclamation in Nineveh. +Then the people repented and Jonah was disappointed. Then he became +malicious and found fault with God. Then comes the story of the gourd, +the worm and the east wind, and the effect of the sun on a bald-headed +prophet. Would not this story be just as beautiful with the storm and +fish left out? Could we not dispense with the gourd, the worm and the +east wind? + +Professor Briggs does not believe this story. He does not reject it +because he is wicked or because he wishes to destroy religion, but +because, in his judgment, it is not true. This may not be religious, but +it is honest. It may not become a minister, but it certainly becomes a +man. + +Professor Briggs wishes to free the Old Testament from interpolations, +from excrescences, from fungus growths, from mistakes and falsehoods. + +I am satisfied that he is sincere, actuated by the noblest motives. + +Suppose that all the interpolations in the Bible should be found and the +original be perfectly restored, what evidence would we have that it was +written by inspired men? How can the fact of inspiration be established? +When was it established? Did Jehovah furnish anybody with a list of +books he had inspired? Does anybody know that he ever said that he had +inspired anybody? Did the writer of Genesis claim that he was inspired? +Did any writer of any part of the Pentateuch make the claim? Did the +authors of Joshua, Judges, Kings or Chronicles pretend that they had +obtained their facts from Jehovah? Does the author of Job or of the +Psalms pretend to have received assistance from God? + +There is not the slightest reference to God in Esther or in Solomon's +Song. Why should theologians say that those books were inspired? The +dogma of inspiration rests on no established fact. It rests only on +assertion--the assertion of those who have no knowledge on the subject. +Professor Briggs calls the Bible a "holy" book. He seems to think that +much of it was inspired; that it is in some sense a message from God. +The reasons he has for thinking so I cannot even guess. He seems also to +have his doubts about certain parts of the New Testament. He is not +certain that the angel who appeared to Joseph in a dream was entirely +truthful, or he is not certain that Joseph had the dream. + +It seems clear that when the gospel according to Matthew was first +written the writer believed that Christ was a lineal descendant of +David, through his father, Joseph. The genealogy is given for the +purpose of showing that the blood of David flowed in the veins of +Christ. The man who wrote that genealogy had never heard that the Holy +Ghost was the father of Christ. That was an afterthought. + +How is it possible to prove that the Holy Ghost was the father of +Christ? The Holy Ghost said nothing on the subject. Mary wrote nothing +and we have no evidence that Joseph had a dream. + +The divinity of Christ rests upon a dream that somebody said Joseph had. + +According to the New Testament, Mary herself called Joseph the father +of Christ. She told Christ that Joseph, his father, had been looking for +him. Her statement is better evidence than Joseph's dream--if he really +had it. If there are legends in Holy Scripture, as Professor Briggs +declares, certainly the divine parentage of Christ is one of them. The +story lacks even originality. Among the Greeks many persons had gods for +fathers. Among Hindoos and Egyptians these god-men were common. So in +many other countries the blood of gods was in the veins of men. Such +wonders, told in Sanscrit, are just as reasonable as when told in +Hebrew--just as reasonable in India as in Palestine. Of course, there +is no evidence that any human being had a god for a father, or a goddess +for a mother. Intelligent people have outgrown these myths. Centaurs, +satyrs, nymphs and god-men have faded away. Science murdered them all. + +There are many contradictions in the gospels. They differ not only on +questions of fact, but as to Christianity itself. According to Matthew, +Mark and Luke, if you will forgive others God will forgive you. This +is the one condition of salvation. But in John we find an entirely +different religion. According to John you must be born again and +believe in Jesus Christ. There you find for the first time about +the atonement--that Christ died to save sinners. The gospel of John +discloses a regular theological system--a new one. To forgive others is +not enough. You must have faith. You must be born again. + +The four gospels cannot be harmonized. If John is true the others are +false. If the others are true John is false. From this there is no +escape. I do not for a moment suppose that Professor Briggs agrees with +me on these questions. He probably regards me as a very bad and wicked +man, and my opinions as blasphemies. I find no fault with him for that. +I believe him to be an honest man; right in some things and wrong in +many. He seems to be true to his thought and I honor him for that. + +He would like to get all the stumbling-blocks out of the Bible, so +that a really thoughtful man can "believe." If theologians cling to +the miracles recorded in the New Testament the entire book will be +disparaged and denied. The "Gospel ship" is overloaded. Somethings must +be thrown overboard or the boat will go down. If the churches try to +save all they will lose all. + +They must throw the miracles away. They must admit that Christ did not +cast devils out of the bodies of men and women--that he did not cure +diseases with a word, or blindness with spittle and clay; that he had no +power over winds and waves; that he did not raise the dead; that he was +not raised from the dead himself, and that he did not ascend bodily to +heaven. These absurdities must be given up, or in a little while the +orthodox ministers will be preaching the "tidings of great joy" to +benches, bonnets and bibs. + +Professor Briggs, as I understand him, is willing to give up the +absurdest absurdities, but wishes to keep all the miracles that +can possibly be believed. He is anxious to preserve the important +miracles--the great central falsehoods--but the little lies that were +told just to embellish the story--to furnish vines for the columns--he +is willing to cast aside. + +But Professor Briggs was honest enough to say that we do not know the +authors of most of the books in the Bible; that we do not know who wrote +the Psalms or Job or Proverbs or the Song of Songs or Ecclesiastes or +the Epistle to the Hebrews. He also said that no translation can ever +take the place of the original Scriptures, because a translation is at +best the work of men. In other words, that God has not revealed to us +the names of the inspired books. That this must be determined by us. +Professor Briggs puts reason above revelation. By reason we are to +decide what books are inspired. By reason we are to decide whether +anything has been improperly added to those books. By reason we are to +decide the real meaning of those books. + +It therefore follows that if the books are unreasonable they are +uninspired. It seems to me that this position is absolutely correct. +There is no other that can be defended. The Presbyterians who pretend to +answer Professor Briggs seem to be actuated by hatred. + +Dr. Da Costa answers with vituperation and epithet. He answers no +argument; brings forward no fact; points out no mistake. He simply +attacks the man. He exhibits the ordinary malice of those who love their +enemies. + +President Patton, of Princeton, is a despiser of reason; a hater of +thought. Progress is the only thing that he fears. He knows that +the Bible is absolutely true. He knows that every word is inspired. +According to him, all questions have been settled, and criticism said +its last word when the King James Bible was printed. The Presbyterian +Church is infallible, and whoever doubts or denies will be damned. +Morality is worthless without the creed. This, is the religion, the +philosophy, of Dr. Patton. He fights with the ancient weapons, with +stone and club. He is a private in Captain Calvin's company, and he +marches to defeat with the courage of invincible ignorance. + +I do not blame the Presbyterian Church for closing the mouth of +Professor Briggs. That church believes the Bible--all of it--and the +members did not feel like paying a man for showing that it was not all +inspired. Long ago the Presbyterians stopped growing. They have been +petrified for many years. Professor Briggs had been growing. He had +to leave the church or shrink. He left. Then he joined the Episcopal +Church. He probably supposed that that church preferred the living to +the dead. He knew about Colenso, Stanley, Temple, Heber Newton, Dr. +Rainsford and Farrar, and thought that the finger and thumb of authority +would not insist on plucking from the mind the buds of thought. + +Whether he was mistaken or not remains to be seen. + +The Episcopal Church may refuse to ordain him, and by such refusal put +the bigot brand upon its brow. + +The refusal cannot injure Professor Briggs. It will leave him where +it found him--with too much science for a churchman and too much +superstition for a scientist; with his feet in the gutter and his head +in the clouds. + +I admire every man who is true to himself, to his highest ideal, and who +preserves unstained the veracity of his soul. + +I believe in growth. I prefer the living to the dead. Men are superior +to mummies. Cradles are more beautiful than coffins. Development is +grander than decay. I do not agree with Professor Briggs. I do not +believe in inspired books, or in the Holy Ghost, or that any God has +ever appeared to man. I deny the existence of the supernatural. I know +of no religion that is founded on facts. + +But I cheerfully admit that Professor Briggs appears to be candid, good +tempered and conscientious--the opposite of those who attack him. He is +not a Freethinker, but he honestly thinks that he is free. + + + + +FRAGMENTS. + + +CLOVER. + + * A letter written to Col. Thomas Donaldson, of Philadelphia, + declining an invitation to be a guest of the Clover Club of + that city. + +I regret that I cannot be "in clover" with you on the 28th instant. + +A wonderful thing is clover! It means honey and cream,--that is to say, +industry and contentment,--that is to say, the happy bees in perfumed +fields, and at the cottage gate "bos" the bountiful serenely chewing +satisfaction's cud, in that blessed twilight pause that like a +benediction falls between all toil and sleep. + +This clover makes me dream of happy hours; of childhood's rosy cheeks; +of dimpled babes; of wholesome, loving wives; of honest men; of springs +and brooks and violets and all there is of stainless joy in peaceful +human life. + +A wonderful word is "clover"! Drop the "c," and you have the happiest +of mankind. Drop the "r," and "c," and you have left the only thing that +makes a heaven of this dull and barren earth. Drop the "r," and there +remains a warm, deceitful bud that sweetens breath and keeps the peace +in countless homes whose masters frequent clubs. After all, Bottom was +right: + +"Good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow." + +Yours sincerely and regretfully, + +R. G. INGERSOLL. + +Washington, D. C., January 16, 1883. + +***** + +SUPERSTITION puts belief above goodness--credulity above virtue. + +Here are two men. One is industrious, frugal, honest, generous. He has +a happy home--loves his wife and children--fills their lives with +sunshine. He enjoys study, thoughts, music, and all the subtleties of +Art--but he does not believe the creed--cares nothing for sacred books, +worships no god and fears no devil. + +The other is ignorant, coarse, brutal, beats his wife and children--but +he believes--regards the Bible as inspired--bows to the priests, counts +his beads, says his prayers, confesses and contributes, and the Catholic +Church declares and the Protestant Churches declare that he is the +better man. + +The ignorant believer, coarse and brutal as he is, is going to heaven. +He will be washed in the blood of the Lamb. He will have wings--a harp +and a halo. + +The intelligent and generous man who loves his fellow-men--who develops +his brain, who enjoys the beautiful, is going to hell--to the eternal +prison. + +Such is the justice of God--the mercy of Christ. + +***** + +WHILE reading the accounts of the coronation of the Czar, of the +pageants, processions and feasts, of the pomp and parade, of the +barbaric splendor, of cloth of gold and glittering gems, I could not +help thinking of the poor and melancholy peasants, of the toiling, +half-fed millions, of the sad and ignorant multitudes who belong body +and soul to this Czar. + +I thought of the backs that have been scarred by the knout, of the +thousands in prisons for having dared to say a whispered word for +freedom, of the great multitude who had been driven like cattle along +the weary roads that lead to the hell of Siberia. + +The cannon at Moscow were not loud enough, nor the clang of the bells, +nor the blare of the trumpets, to drown the groans of the captives. + +I thought of the fathers that had been torn from wives and children for +the crime of speaking like men. + +And when the priests spoke of the Czar as the "God-selected man," the +"God-adorned man," my blood grew warm. + +When I read of the coronation of the Czarina I thought of Siberia. I +thought of girls working in the mines, hauling ore from the pits with +chains about their waists; young girls, almost naked, at the mercy +of brutal officials; young girls weeping and moaning their lives away +because between their pure lips the word Liberty had burst into blossom. + +Yet law neglects, forgets them, and crowns the Czarina. The injustice, +the agony and horror in this poor world are enough to make mankind +insane. + +Ignorance and superstition crown impudence and tyranny. Millions of +money squandered for the humiliation of man, to dishonor the people. + +Back of the coronation, back of all the ceremonies, back of all the +hypocrisy there is nothing but a lie. + +It is not true that God "selected" this Czar to rule and rob a hundred +millions of human beings. + +It is all an ignorant, barbaric, superstitious lie--a lie that pomp and +pageant, and flaunting flags, and robed priests, and swinging censers, +cannot change to truth. + +Those who are not blinded by the glare and glitter at Moscow see +millions of homes on which the shadows fall; see millions of weeping +mothers, whose children have been stolen by the Czar; see thousands of +villages without schools, millions of houses without books, millions and +millions of men, women and children in whose future there is no star and +whose only friend is death. + +The coronation is an insult to the nineteenth century. + +Long live the people of Russia! + +***** + +MUSIC.--The savage enjoys noises--explosion--the imitation of thunder. +This noise expresses his feeling. He enjoys concussion. His ear and +brain are in harmony. So, he takes cognizance of but few colors. The +neutral tints make no impression on his eyes. He appreciates the flames +of red and yellow. That is to say, there is a harmony between his brain +and eye. As he advances, develops, progresses, his ear catches other +sounds, his eye other colors. He becomes a complex being, and there has +entered into his mind the idea of proportion. The music of the drum no +longer satisfies him. He sees that there is as much difference between +noises and melodies as between stones and statues. The strings in +Corti's Harp become sensitive and possibly new ones are developed. + +The eye keeps pace with the ear, and the worlds of sound and sight +increase from age to age. + +The first idea of music is the keeping of time--a recurring emphasis at +intervals of equal length or duration. This is afterward modified--the +music of joy being fast, the emphasis at short intervals, and that of +sorrow slow. + +After all, this music of time corresponds to the action of the blood and +muscles. There is a rise and fall under excitement of both. In joy the +heart beats fast, and the music corresponding to such emotion is quick. +In grief--in sadness, the blood is delayed. In music the broad division +is one of time. In language, words of joy are born of light--that which +shines--words of grief of darkness and gloom. There is still another +division: The language of happiness comes also from heat, and that of +sadness from cold. + +These ideas or divisions are universal. In all art are the light and +shadow--the heat and cold. + +***** + +OF COURSE ENGLAND has no love for America. By England I mean the +governing class. Why should monarchy be in love with republicanism, with +democracy? The monarch insists that he gets his right to rule from +what he is pleased to call the will of God, whereas in a republic the +sovereign authority is the will of the people. It is impossible that +there should be any real friendship between the two forms of government. + +We must, however, remember one thing, and that is, that there is an +England within England--an England that does not belong to the titled +classes--an England that has not been bribed or demoralized by those +in authority; and that England has always been our friend, because that +England is the friend of liberty and of progress everywhere. But the +lackeys, the snobs, the flatterers of the titled, those who are willing +to crawl that they may rise, are now and always have been the enemies of +the great Republic. + +It is a curious fact that in monarchical governments the highest +and lowest are generally friends. There may be a foundation for this +friendship in the fact that both are parasites--both live on the labor +of honest men. After all, there is a kinship between the prince and the +pauper. Both extend the hand for alms, and the fact that one is jeweled +and the other extremely dirty makes no difference in principle--and the +owners of these hands have always been fast friends, and, in accordance +with the great law of ingratitude, both have held in contempt the people +who supported them. + +One thing we must not forget, and that is that the best people of +England are our friends. The best writers, the best thinkers are on our +side. It is only natural that all who visit America should find some +fault. We find fault ourselves, and to be thin-skinned is almost a plea +of guilty. For my part, I have no doubt about the future of America. +It not only is, but is to be for many, many generations, the greatest +nation of the world. + +I DO not care so much where, as with whom, I live. If the right folks +are with me I can manage to get a good deal of happiness in the city or +in the country. Cats love places and become attached to chimney-corners +and all sorts of nooks--but I have but little of the cat in me, and +am not particularly in love with places. After all, a palace without +affection is a poor hovel, and the meanest hut with love in it is a +palace for the soul. + +If the time comes when poverty and want cease for the most part to +exist, then the city will be far better than the country. People +are always talking about the beauties of nature and the delights of +solitude, but to me some people are more interesting than rocks and +trees. As to city and country life I think that I substantially agree +with Touchstone: + +"In respect that it is solitary I like it very well; but in respect +that it is private it is a very vile life. Now, in respect it is in the +fields it pleaseth me well; but in respect it is not in the court it is +tedious." + +***** + +WHAT do I think of the lynchings in Georgia? + +I suppose these outrages--these frightful crimes--make the same +impression on my mind that they do on the minds of all civilized +people. I know of no words strong enough, bitter enough, to express my +indignation and horror. Men who belong to the "superior" race take a +negro--a criminal, a supposed murderer, one alleged to have assaulted a +white woman--chain him to a tree, saturate his clothing with kerosene, +pile fagots about his feet. This is the preparation for the festival. +The people flock in from the neighborhood--come in special trains from +the towns. They are going to enjoy themselves. + +Laughing and cursing they gather about the victim. A man steps from the +crowd--a man who hates crime and loves virtue. He draws his knife, and +in a spirit of merry sport cuts off one of the victim's ears. This he +keeps for a trophy--a souvenir. Another gentlemen fond of a jest cuts +off the other ear. Another cuts off the nose of the chained and +helpless wretch. The victim suffered in silence. He uttered no groan, no +word--the one man of the two thousand who had courage. + +Other white heroes cut and slashed his flesh. The crowd cheered. The +people were intoxicated with joy. Then the fagots were lighted and the +bleeding and mutilated man was clothed in flame. + +The people were wild with hideous delight. With greedy eyes they watched +him burn; with hungry ears they listened for his shrieks--for the music +of his moans and cries. He did not shriek. The festival was not quite +perfect. + +But they had their revenge. They trampled on the charred and burning +corpse. They divided among themselves the broken bones. They wanted +mementos--keepsakes that they could give to their loving wives and +gentle babes. + +These horrors were perpetrated in the name of justice. The savages who +did these things belong to the superior race. They are citizens of the +great Republic. And yet, it does not seem possible that such fiends are +human beings. They are a disgrace to our country, our century and the +human race. + +Ex-Governor Atkinson protested against this savagery. He was threatened +with death. The good people were helpless. While these lynchers murder +the blacks they will destroy their own country. No civilized man wishes +to live where the mob is supreme. He does not wish to be governed by +murderers. + +Let me say that what I have said is flattery compared with what I feel. +When I think of the other lynching--of the poor man mutilated and hanged +without the slightest evidence, of the negro who said that these murders +would be avenged, and who was brutally murdered for the utterance of a +natural feeling--I am utterly at a loss for words. + +Are the white people insane? Has mercy fled to beasts? Has the United +States no power to protect a citizen? A nation that cannot or will not +protect its citizens in time of peace has no right to ask its citizens +to protect it in time of War. + +***** + +OUR COUNTRY.--Our country is all we hope for--all we are. It is the +grave of our father, of our mother, of each and every one of the sacred +dead. + +It is every glorious memory of our race. Every heroic deed. Every act of +self-sacrifice done by our blood. It is all the accomplishments of the +past--all the wise things said--all the kind things done--all the poems +written and all the poems lived--all the defeats sustained--all the +victories won--the girls we love--the wives we adore--the children we +carry in our hearts--all the firesides of home--all the quiet springs, +the babbling brooks, the rushing rivers, the mountains, plains and +woods--the dells and dales and vines and vales. + +***** + +GIFT GIVING.--I believe in the festival called Christmas--not in the +celebration of the birth of any man, but to celebrate the triumph of +light over darkness--the victory of the sun. + +I believe in giving gifts on that day, and a real gift should be given +to those who cannot return it; gifts from the rich to the poor, from the +prosperous to the unfortunate, from parents to children. + +There is no need of giving water to the sea or light to the sun. Let us +give to those who need, neither asking nor expecting return, not even +asking gratitude, only asking that the gift shall make the receiver +happy--and he who gives in that way increases his own joy. + +***** + +We have no right to enslave our children. We have no right to bequeath +chains and manacles to our heirs. We have no right to leave a legacy of +mental degradation. + +Liberty is the birthright of all. Parents should not deprive their +children of the great gifts of nature. We cannot all leave lands and +gold to those we love; but we can leave Liberty, and that is of more +value than all the wealth of India. + +The dead have no right to enslave the living. To worship ancestors is to +curse posterity. He who bows to the Past insults the Future; and allows, +so to speak, the dead to rob the unborn. The coffin is good enough in +its way, but the cradle is far better. With the bones of the fathers +they beat out the brains of the children. + +***** + +RANDOM THOUGHTS.--The road is short to anything we fear. + + Joy lives in the house beyond the one we reach. + In youth the time is halting, slow and lame. + In age the time is winged and eager as a flame. + The sea seems narrow as we near the farther shore. + +Youth goes hand in hand with hope--old age with fear. . + +Youth has a wish--old age a dread. + +In youth the leaves and buds seem loath to grow. + +Youth shakes the glass to speed the lingering sands. + +Youth says to Time: O crutched and limping laggard, get thee wings. + +The dawn comes slowly, but the Westering day leaps like a lover to the +dusky bosom of the Ethiop night. + +***** + +I THINK that all days are substantially alike in the long run. It is no +worse to drink on Sunday than on Monday. The idea that one day in the +week is holy is wholly idiotic. Besides, these closing laws do no good. + +Laws are not locks and keys. Saloon doors care nothing about laws. Law +or no law, people will slip in, and then, having had so much trouble +getting there, they will stay until they stagger out. These nasty, +meddlesome, Pharisaic, hypocritical laws make sneaks and hypocrites. The +children of these laws are like the fathers of the laws. Ever since I +can remember, people have been trying to make other people temperate by +intemperate laws. I have never known of the slightest success. It is +a pity that Christ manufactured wine, a pity that Paul took heart and +thanked God when he saw the sign of the Three Taverns; a pity that +Jehovah put alcohol in almost everything that grows; a great pity that +prayer-meetings are not more popular than saloons; a pity that our +workingmen do not amuse themselves reading religious papers and the +genealogies in the Old Testament. + +Rum has caused many quarrels and many murders. + +Religion has caused many wars and covered countless fields with dead. + +Of course, all men should be temperate,--should avoid excess--should +keep the golden path between extremes--should gather roses, not thorns. +The only way to make men temperate is to develop the brain. + +When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men are +savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the +passions are servants, men are civilized. The people need +education--facts--philosophy. Drunkenness is one form of intemperance, +prohibition is another form. Another trouble is that these little laws +and ordinances can not be enforced. + +Both parties want votes, and to get votes they will allow unpopular laws +to sleep, neglected, and finally refuse to enforce them. These spasms of +virtue, these convulsions of conscience are soon over, and then comes a +long period of neglectful rest. + +***** + +THE OLD AND NEW YEAR.--For countless ages the old earth has been making, +in alternating light and shade, in gleam and gloom, the whirling circuit +of the sun, leaving the record of its flight in many forms--in leaves of +stone, in growth of tree and vine and flower, in glittering gems of many +hues, in curious forms of monstrous life, in ravages of flood and flame, +in fossil fragments stolen from decay by chance, in molten masses hurled +from lips of fire, in gorges worn by waveless, foamless cataracts of +ice, in coast lines beaten back by the imprisoned sea, in mountain +ranges and in ocean reefs, in islands lifted from the underworld--in +continents submerged and given back to light and life. + +Another year has joined his shadowy fellows in the wide and voiceless +desert of the past, where, from the eternal hour-glass forever fall the +sands of time. Another year, with all its joy and grief, of birth and +death, of failure and success--of love and hate. And now, the first day +of the new o'er arches all. Standing between the buried and the babe, we +cry, "Farewell and Hail!"--January 1,1893. + +***** + +KNOWLEDGE consists in the perception of facts, their +relations--conditions, modes and results of action. Experience is the +foundation of knowledge--without experience it is impossible to know. +It may be that experience can be transmitted--inherited. Suppose that an +infinite being existed in infinite space. He being the only existence, +what knowledge could he gain by experience? He could see nothing, hear +nothing, feel nothing. He would have no use for what we call the senses. +Could he use what we call the faculties of the mind? He could not +compare, remember, hope or fear. He could not reason. How could he +know that he existed? How could he use force? There was in the universe +nothing that would resist--nothing. + +***** + +Most men are economical when dealing with abundance, hoarding gold and +wasting time--throwing away the sunshine of life--the few remaining +hours, and hugging to their shriveled hearts that which they do not and +cannot even expect to use. Old age should enjoy the luxury of giving. +How divine to live in the atmosphere, the climate of gratitude! The men +who clutch and fiercely hold and look at wife and children with eyes +dimmed by age and darkened by suspicion, giving naught until the end, +then give to death the gratitude that should have been their own. + +***** + +DEATH OF THE AGED. + + * From a letter of condolence written to a friend on the + death of his mother. + +After all, there is something tenderly appropriate in the serene death +of the old. Nothing is more touching than the death of the young, the +strong. But when the duties of life have all been nobly done; when the +sun touches the horizon; when the purple twilight falls upon the past, +the present, and the future; when memory, with dim eyes, can scarcely +spell the blurred and faded records of the vanished days--then, +surrounded by kindred and by friends, death comes like a strain of +music. The day has been long, the road weary, and the traveler gladly +stops at the welcome inn. + +Nearly forty-eight years ago, under the snow, in the little town +of Cazenovia, my poor mother was buried. I was but two years old. I +remember her as she looked in death. That sweet, cold face has kept my +heart warm through all the changing years. + +***** + + There is no cunning art to trace + In any feature, form or face, + + Or wrinkled palm, with criss-cross lines + The good or bad in peoples' minds. + + Nor can we guess men's thoughts or aims + By seeing how they write their names. + + We could as well foretell their acts + By getting outlines of their tracks. + + Ourselves we do not know--how then + Can we find out our fellow-men? + + And yet--although the reason laughs-- + + We like to look at autographs-- + + And almost think that we can guess + What lines and dots of ink express. + + + * From the autograph collection of Miss Eva Ingersoll + Farrell. + + August 11, 1892. R. G. Ingersoll. + +***** + +The World is Growing Poor.--Darwin the naturalist, the observer, +the philosopher, is dead. Wagner the greatest composer the world has +produced, is silent. Hugo the poet, patriot and philanthropist, is at +rest. Three mighty rivers have ceased to flow. The smallest insect was +made interesting by Darwin's glance; the poor blind worm became the +farmer's friend--the maker of the farm,--and even weeds began to dream +and hope. + +***** + +But if we live beyond life's day and reach the dusk, and slowly travel +in the shadows of the night, the way seems long, and being weary we ask +for rest, and then, as in our youth, we chide the loitering hours. When +eyes are dim and memory fails to keep a record of events; when ears are +dull and muscles fail to obey the will; when the pulse is low and the +tired heart is weak, and the poor brain has hardly power to think, +then comes the dream, the hope of rest, the longing for the peace of +dreamless sleep. + +***** + +SAINTS.--The saints have poisoned life with piety. They have soured the +mother's milk. They have insisted that joy is crime--that beauty is a +bait with which the Devil captures the souls of men--that laughter leads +to sin--that pleasure, in its every form, degrades, and that love itself +is but the loathsome serpent of unclean desire. They have tried to +compel men to love shadows rather than women--phantoms rather than +people. + +The saints have been the assassins of sunshine,--the skeletons at +feasts. They have been the enemies of happiness. They have hated the +singing birds, the blossoming plants. They have loved the barren and +the desolate--the croaking raven and the hooting owl--tombstones, rather +than statues. + +And yet, with a strange inconsistency, happiness was to be enjoyed +forever, in another world. There, pleasure, with all its corrupting +influences, was to be eternal. No one pretended that heaven was to be +filled with self-denial, with fastings and scourgings, with weepings and +regrets, with solemn and emaciated angels, with sad-eyed seraphim, with +lonely parsons, with mumbling monks, with shriveled nuns, with days of +penance and with nights of prayer. + +Yet all this self-denial on the part of the saints was founded in the +purest selfishness. They were to be paid for all their sufferings in +another world. They were "laying up treasures in heaven." They had made +a bargain with God. He had offered eternal joy to those who would make +themselves miserable here. The saints gladly and cheerfully accepted the +terms. They expected pay for every pang of hunger, for every groan, +for every tear, for every temptation resisted; and this pay was to bean +eternity of joy. The selfishness of the saints was equaled only by the +stupidity of the saints. + +It is not true that character is the aim of life. Happiness should be +the aim--and as a matter of fact is and always has been the aim, +not only of sinners, but of saints. The saints seemed to think that +happiness was better in another world than here, and they expected this +happiness beyond the clouds. They looked upon the sinner as foolish to +enjoy himself for the moment here, and in consequence thereof to suffer +forever. Character is not an end, it is a means to an end. The object of +the saint is happiness hereafter--the means, to make himself miserable +here. The object of the philosopher is happiness here and now, and +hereafter,--if there be another world. + +If struggle and temptation, misery and misfortune, are essential to +the formation of what you call character, how do you account for the +perfection of your angels, or for the goodness of your God? Were the +angels perfected through misfortune? If happiness is the only good in +heaven, why should it not be considered the only good here? + +In order to be happy, we must be in harmony with the conditions of +happiness. It cannot be obtained by prayer,--it does not come from +heaven--it must be found here, and nothing should be done, or left +undone, for the sake of any supernatural being, but for the sake of +ourselves and other natural beings. + +The early Christians were preparing for the end of the world. In their +view, life was of no importance except as it gave them time to prepare +for "The Second Coming." They were crazed by fear. Since that time, the +world not coming to the expected end, they have been preparing for "The +Day of Judgment," and have, to the extent of their ability, filled the +world with horror. For centuries, it was, and still is, their business +to destroy the pleasures of this life. In the midst of prosperity they +have prophesied disaster. At every feast they have spoken of famine, and +over the cradle they have talked of death. They have held skulls before +the faces of terrified babes. On the cheeks of health they see the worms +of the grave, and in their eyes the white breasts of love are naught but +corruption and decay. + +***** + +THE WASTE FORCES OF NATURE.--For countless years the great cataracts, as +for instance, Niagara, have been singing their solemn songs, filling the +savage with terror, the civilized with awe; recording its achievements +in books of stone--useless and sublime; inspiring beholders with the +majesty of purposeless force and the wastefulness of nature. + +Force great enough to turn the wheels of the world, lost, useless. + +So with the great tides that rise and fall on all the shores of the +world--lost forces. And yet man is compelled to use to exhaustion's +point the little strength he has. + +This will be changed. + +The great cataracts and the great tides will submit to the genius of +man. They are to be for use. Niagara will not be allowed to remain a +barren roar. It must become the servant of man. It will weave robes +for men and women. It will fashion implements for the farmer and the +mechanic. It will propel coaches for rich and poor. It will fill streets +and homes with light, and the old barren roar will be changed to songs +of success, to the voices of love and content and joy. + +Science at last has found that all forces are convertible into each +other, and that all are only different aspects of one fact. + +So the flood is still a terror, but, in my judgment, the time will +come when the floods will be controlled by the genius of man, when the +tributaries of the great rivers and their tributaries will be dammed +in such a way as to collect the waters of every flood and give them +out gradually through all the year, maintaining an equal current at all +times in the great rivers. + +We have at last found that force occupies a circle, that Niagara is a +child of the Sun--that the sun shines, the mist rises, clouds form, the +rain falls, the rivers flow to the lakes, and Niagara fills the heavens +with its song. Man will arrest the falling flood; he will change its +force to electricity; that is to say, to light, and then force will have +made the circuit from light to light. + +***** + +ARE Men's characters fully determined at the age of thirty? + +It depends, first, on what their opportunities have been--that is to +say, on their surroundings, their education, their advantages; second, +on the shape, quality and quantity of brain they happen to possess; +third, on their mental and moral courage; and, fourth, on the character +of the people among whom they live. + +The natural man continues to grow. The longer he lives, the more he +ought to know, and the more he knows, the more he changes the views and +opinions held by him in his youth. Every new fact results in a change of +views more or less radical. This growth of the mind may be hindered +by the "tyrannous north wind" of public opinion; by the bigotry of +his associates; by the fear that he cannot make a living if he becomes +unpopular; and it is to some extent affected by the ambition of the +person; that is to say, if he wishes to hold office the tendency is to +agree with his neighbor, or at least to round off and smooth the corners +and angles of difference. If a man wishes to ascertain the truth, +regardless of the opinions of his fellow-citizens, the probability is +that he will change from day to day and from year to year--that is, his +intellectual horizon will widen--and that what he once deemed of great +importance will be regarded as an exceedingly small segment of a greater +circle. + +Growth means change. If a man grows after thirty years he must +necessarily change. Many men probably reach their intellectual height +long before they have lived thirty years, and spend the balance of their +lives in defending the mistakes of their youth. A great man continues to +grow until his death, and growth--as I said before--means change. Darwin +was continually finding new facts, and kept his mind as open to a new +truth as the East is to the rising of another sun. Humboldt at the age +of ninety maintained the attitude of a pupil, and was, until the moment +of his death, willing to learn. + +The more a man knows, the more willing he is to learn. The less a man +knows, the more positive, a? is that he knows everything. + +The smallest minds mature the earliest. The less there is to a man the +quicker he attains his growth. I have known many people who reached +their intellectual height while in their mother's arms. I have known +people who were exceedingly smart babies to become excessively stupid +people. It is with men as with other things. The mullein needs only a +year, but the oak a century, and the greatest men are those who have +continued to grow as long as they have lived. Small people delight in +what they call consistency--that is, it gives them immense pleasure to +say that they believe now exactly as they did ten years ago. This simply +amounts to a certificate that they have not grown--that they have not +developed--and that they know just as little now as they ever did. +The highest possible conception of consistency is to be true to the +knowledge of to-day, without the slightest reference to what your +opinion was years ago. + +There is another view of this subject. Few men have settled opinions +before or at thirty. Of course, I do not include persons of genius. At +thirty the passions have, as a rule, too much influence; the intellect +is not the pilot. At thirty most men have prejudices rather than +opinions--that is to say, rather than judgments--and few men have lived +to be sixty without materially modifying the opinions they held at +thirty. + +As I said in the first place, much depends on the shape, quality and +quantity of brain; much depends on mental and moral courage. There are +many people with great physical courage who are afraid to express their +opinions; men who will meet death without a tremor and will yet hesitate +to express their views. + +So, much depends on the character of the people among whom we live. A +man in the old times living in New England thought several times before +he expressed any opinion contrary to the views of the majority. But +if the people have intellectual hospitality, then men express their +views--and it may be that we change somewhat in proportion to the +decency of our neighbors. In the old times it was thought that God was +opposed to any change of opinion, and that nothing so excited the auger +of the deity as the expression of a new thought. That idea is fading +away. + +The real truth is that men change their opinions as long as they grow, +and only those remain of the same opinion still who have reached the +intellectual autumn of their lives; who have gone to seed, and who are +simply waiting for the winter of death. Now and then there is a brain +in which there is the climate of perpetual spring--men who never grow +old--and when such a one is found we say, "Here is a genius." + +Talent has the four seasons: spring, that is to say, the sowing of the +seeds; summer, growth; autumn, the harvest; winter, intellectual death. +But there is now and then a genius who has no winter, and, no matter +how many years he may live, on the blossom of his thought no snow falls. +Genius has the climate of perpetual growth. + +***** + +THE MOIETY SYSTEM.--The Secretary of the Treasury recommends a revival +of the moiety system. Against this infamous step every honest citizen +ought to protest. + +In this country, taxes cannot be collected through such +instrumentalities. An _informer_ is not indigenous to our soil. He +always has been and always will be held in merited contempt. + +Every inducement, by this system, is held out to the informer to become +a liar. The spy becomes an officer of the Government. He soon becomes +the terror of his superior. He is a sword without a hilt and without a +scabbard. Every taxpayer becomes the lawful prey of a detective whose +property depends upon the destruction of his prey. + +These informers and spies are corrupters of public morals. They resort +to all known dishonest means for the accomplishment of what they pretend +to be an honest object. With them perjury becomes a fine art. Their +words are a commodity bought and sold in courts of justice. + +This is the first phase. In a little while juries will refuse to believe +them, and every suit in which they are introduced will be lost by the +Government. Of this the real thieves will be quick to take advantage. So +many honest men will have been falsely charged by perjured informers and +moiety miscreants, that to convict the guilty will become impossible. +If the Government wishes to collect the taxes it must set an honorable +example. It must deal kindly and honestly with the people. It must +not inaugurate a vampire system of espionage. It must not take it for +granted that every manufacturer and importer is a thief, and that all +spies and informers are honest men. + +The revenues of this country are as honestly paid as they are expended. +There has been as much fair dealing outside as inside of the Treasury +Department. + +But, however that may be, the informer system will not make them honest +men, but will in all probability produce exactly the opposite result. +If our system of taxation is so unpopular that the revenues cannot be +collected without bribing men to tell the truth; if our officers must +be offered rewards beyond their salaries to state the facts; if it is +impossible to employ men to discharge their duties honestly, then let +us change the system. The moiety system makes the Treasury Department +a vast vampire sucking the blood of the people upon shares. Americans +detest informers, spies, detectives, turners of State's evidence, +eavesdroppers, paid listeners, hypocrites, public smellers, trackers, +human hounds and ferrets. They despise men who "suspect" for a living; +they hate legal lyers-in-wait and the highwaymen of the law. They abhor +the betrayers of friends and those who lead and tempt others to commit +a crime in order that they may detect it. In a monarchy, the detective +system is a necessity. The great thief has to be sustained by smaller +ones.--December 4,1877. + +***** + +LANGUAGE.--Most people imagine that men have always talked; that +language is as old as the race; and it is supposed that some language +was taught by some mythological god to the first pair. But we now know, +if we know anything, that language is a growth; that every word had to +be created by man, and that back of every word is some want, some wish, +some necessity of the body or mind, and also a genius to embody that +want or that wish, to express that thought in some sound that we call a +word. + +At first, the probability is that men uttered sounds of fear, of +content, of anger, or happiness. And the probability is that the first +sounds or cries expressed such feelings, and these sounds were nouns, +adjectives, and verbs. + +After a time, man began to give his ideas to others by rude pictures, +drawings of animals and trees and the various other things with which he +could give rude thoughts. At first he would make a picture of the whole +animal. Afterward some part of the animal would stand for the whole, and +in some of the old picture-writings the curve of the nostril of a horse +stands for the animal. This was the shorthand of picture-writing. But it +was a long journey to where marks would stand, not for pictures, but for +sounds. And then think of the distance still to the alphabet. Then to +writing, so that marks took entirely the place of pictures. Then the +invention of movable type, and then the press, making it possible to +save the wealth of the brain; making it possible for a man to leave not +simply his property to his fellow-man, not houses and lands and dollars, +but his ideas, his thoughts, his theories, his dreams, the poetry and +pathos of his soul. Now each generation is heir to all the past. + +If we had free thought, then we could collect the wealth of the +intellectual world. In the physical world, springs make the creeks and +brooks, and they the rivers, and the rivers empty into the great sea. So +each brain should add to the sum of human knowledge. If we deny freedom +of thought, the springs cease to gurgle, the rivers to run, and the +great ocean of knowledge becomes a desert of barren, ignorant sand. + +***** + +THIS IS AN AGE OF MONEY-GETTING, of materialism, of cold, unfeeling +science. The question arises, Is the world growing less generous, less +heroic, less chivalric? + +Let us answer this. The experience of the individual is much like the +experience of a generation, or of a race. An old man imagines that +everything was better when he was young; that the weather could then be +depended on; that sudden changes are recent inventions. So he will tell +you that people used to be honest; that the grocers gave full weight and +the merchants full measure, and that the bank cashier did not spend the +evening of his days in Canada. + +He will also tell you that the women were handsome and virtuous. There +were no scandals then, no divorces, and that in religion all were +orthodox--no Infidels. Before he gets through, he will probably tell you +that the art of cooking has been lost--that nobody can make biscuit now, +and that he never expects to eat another slice of good bread. + +He mistakes the twilight of his own life for the coming of the night +of universal decay and death. He imagines that that has happened to the +world, which has only happened to him. It does not occur to him that +millions at the moment he is talking are undergoing the experience of +his youth, and that when they become old they will praise the very days +that he denounces. + +The Garden of Eden has always been behind us. The Golden Age, after all, +is the memory of youth--it is the result of remembered pleasure in the +midst of present pain. + +To old age youth is divine, and the morning of life cloudless. + +So now thousands and millions of people suppose that the age of true +chivalry has gone by and that honesty has about concluded to leave the +world. As a matter of fact, the age known as the age of chivalry was the +age of tyranny, of arrogance and cowardice. Men clad in complete armor +cut down the peasants that were covered with leather, and these soldiers +of the chivalric age armored themselves to that degree that if they fell +in battle they could not rise, held to the earth by the weight of +iron that their bravery had got itself entrenched within. Compare the +difference in courage between going to war in coats of mail against +sword and spear, and charging a battery of Krupp guns! + +The ideas of justice have grown larger and nobler. Charity now does, +without a thought, what the average man a few centuries ago was +incapable of imagining. In the old times slavery was upheld, and +imprisonment for debt. Hundreds of crimes--or rather misdemeanors--were +punishable by death. Prisons were loathsome beyond description. +Thousands and thousands died in chains. The insane were treated like +wild beasts; no respect was paid to sex or age. Women were burned and +beheaded and torn asunder as though they had been hyenas, and children +were butchered with the greatest possible cheerfulness. + +So it seems to me that the world is more chivalric, more generous, +nearer just and fair, more charitable, than ever before. + +***** + +THE COLORED MAN is doing well. He is hungry for knowledge. Their +children are going to school. Colored boys are taking prizes in the +colleges. A colored man was the orator of Harvard. They are industrious, +and in the South many are becoming rich. As the people, black and white, +become educated they become better friends. The old prejudice is the +child of ignorance. The colored man will succeed if the South succeeds. +The South is richer to-day than ever before, more prosperous, and both +races are really improving. The greatest danger in the South, and for +that matter all over the country, is the mob. It is the duty of every +good citizen to denounce the mob. Down with the mob. + +***** + +FREEDOM OF RELIGION is the destruction of religion. In Rome, after +people were allowed to worship their own gods, all gods fell into +disrepute. It will be so in America. Here is freedom of religion, and +all devotees find that the gods of other devotees are just as good as +theirs. They find that the prayers of others are answered precisely as +their prayers are answered. + +The Protestant God is no better than the Catholic, and the Catholic is +no better than the Mormon, and the Mormon is no better than Nature for +answering prayers. In other words, all prayers die in the air which they +uselessly agitate. There is undoubtedly a tendency among the Protestant +denominations to unite. This tendency is born of weakness, not of +strength. In a few years, if all should unite, they would hardly have +power enough to obstruct, for any considerable time, the march of the +intellectual host destined to conquer the world. But let us all be +good natured; let us give to others all the rights that we claim for +ourselves. The future, I believe, has both hands full of blessings for +the human race. + +***** + +THE DEISTS AND NATURE.--We who deny the supernatural origin of the +Bible, must admit not only that it exists, but that it was naturally +produced. If it is not supernatural, it is natural. It will hardly +do for the worshipers of Nature to hold the Bible in contempt, simply +because it is not a supernatural book. + +The Deists of the last century made a mistake. They proceeded to show +that the Bible is immoral, untrue, cruel and absurd, and therefore came +to the conclusion that it could not have been written by a being of +infinite wisdom and goodness,--the being whom they believed to be the +author of Nature. Could not infinite wisdom and goodness just as easily +command crime as to permit it? Is it really any worse to order the +strong to slay the weak, than to stand by and refuse to protect the +weak? + +After all, is Nature, taken together, any better than the Bible? If God +did not command the Jews to murder the Canaanites, Nature, to say +the least, did not prevent it. If God did not uphold the practice of +polygamy, Nature did. The moment we deny the supernatural origin of the +Bible, we declare that Nature wrote its every word, commanded all its +cruelties, told all its falsehoods. The Bible is, like Nature, a mixture +of what we call "good" and "bad,"--of what appears, and of what in +reality is. + +The Bible must have been a perfectly natural production not only, but +a necessary one. There was, and is, no power in the universe that could +have changed one word. All the mistakes in translation were necessarily +made, and not one, by any possibility, could have been avoided. That +book, like all other facts in Nature, could not have been otherwise than +it is. The fact being that Nature has produced all superstitions, all +persecution, all slavery, and every crime, ought to be sufficient to +deter the average man from imagining that this power, whatever it may +be, is worthy of worship. + +There is good in Nature. It is the nature in us that perceives the evil, +that pursues the right. In man, Nature not only contemplates herself, +but approves or condemns her actions. Of course, "good" and "bad" are +relative terms, and things are "good" or "bad" as they affect man well +or ill. + +Infidels, skeptics,--that is to say, Freethinkers, have opposed the +Bible on account of the bad things in it, and Christians have upheld it, +not on account of the bad, but on account of the good. Throw away the +doctrine of inspiration, and the Bible will be more powerful for good +and far less for evil. Only a few years ago, Christians looked upon the +Bible as the bulwark of human slavery. It was the word of God, and for +that reason was superior to the reason of uninspired man. Had it been +considered simply as the work of man, it would not have been quoted to +establish that which the man of this age condemns. Throw away the idea +of inspiration, and all passages in conflict with liberty, with science, +with the experience of the intelligent part of the human race, instantly +become harmless. They are no longer guides for man. They are simply +the opinions of dead barbarians. The good passages not only remain, but +their influence is increased, because they are relieved of a burden. + +No one cares whether the truth is inspired or not. The truth is +independent of man, not only, but of God. And by truth I do not mean +the absolute, I mean this: Truth is the relation between things and +thoughts, and between thoughts and thoughts. The perception of this +relation bears the same relation to the logical faculty in man, that +music does to some portion of the brain--that is to say, it is a +mental melody. This sublime strain has been heard by a few, and I am +enthusiastic enough to believe that it will be the music of the future. + +For the good and for the true in the Old and New Testaments I have the +same regard that I have for the good and true, no matter where they may +be found. We who know how false the history of to-day is; we who know +the almost numberless mistakes that men make who are endeavoring to tell +the truth; we who know how hard it is, with all the facilities we now +have--with the daily press, the telegraph, the fact that nearly all can +read and write--to get a truthful report of the simplest occurrence, +must see that nothing short of inspiration (admitting for the moment the +possibility of such a thing,) could have prevented the Scriptures from +being filled with error. + +***** + +AT LAST, THE SCHOOLHOUSE is larger than the church. The common people +have, through education, become uncommon. They now know how little is +really known by kings, presidents, legislators, and professors. At last, +they are capable of not only understanding a few questions, but they +have acquired the art of discussing those that no one understands. With +the facility of the cultured, they can now hide behind phrases and make +barricades of statistics. They understand the sophistries of the upper +classes; and while the cultured have been turning their attention to +the classics, to the dead languages, and the dead ideas that they +contain,--while they have been giving their attention to ceramics, +artistic decorations, and compulsory prayers, the common people have +been compelled to learn the practical things. They are acquainted with +facts, because they have done the work of the world. + +***** + +CRUELTY.--Sometimes it has seemed to me that cruelty is the climate of +crime, and that generosity is the Spring, Summer and Autumn of virtue. +Every form of wickedness, of meanness, springs from selfishness, that is +to say, from cruelty. Every good man hates and despises the wretch who +abuses wife and child--who rules by curses and blows and makes his home +a kind of hell. So, no generous man wishes to associate with one who +overworks his horse and feeds the lean and fainting beast with blows. + +The barbarian delights in inflicting pain. He loves to see his victim +bleed,--but the civilized man staunches blood, binds up wounds and +decreases pain. He pities the suffering animal as well as the suffering +man. + +He would no more inflict wanton wounds upon a dog than on a man. The +heart of the civilized man speaks for the dumb and helpless. + +A good man would no more think of flaying a living animal than of +murdering his mother. The man who cuts a hoof from the leg of a horse is +capable of committing any crime that does not require courage. Such an +experiment can be of no use. Under no circumstances are hoofs taken from +horses for the good of the horses any more than their heads would be cut +off. + +Think of the pain inflicted by separating the hoof of a living horse +from the flesh! If the poor beast could speak what would he say? The +same knowledge could be obtained by cutting away the hoof of a dead +horse. Knowledge of every bone, ligament, artery and vein, of every +cartilage and joint can be obtained by the dissection of the dead. +"But," says the biologist, "we must dissect the living." + +Well, millions of living animals have been cut in pieces; millions of +experiments have been tried; all the nerves have been touched; every +possible agony has been inflicted that ingenuity could invent and +cruelty accomplish. Many volumes have been published filled with +accounts of these experiments, giving all the details and the results. +People who are curious about such things can read these reports. There +is no need of repeating these savage experiments. It is now known how +long a dog can live with all the pores of his skin closed, how long he +can survive the loss of his skin, or one lobe of his brain, or both of +his kidneys, or part of his intestines, or without his liver, and there +is no necessity of mutilating and mangling thousands of other dogs to +substantiate what is already known. + +Of what possible use is it to know just how long an animal can live +without water--at what time he becomes insane from thirst, or blind or +deaf? + +***** + +THE WORLD'S FAIR will do great good. A great many thousand people of the +Old World will for the first time understand the new; will for the first +time appreciate what a free people can do. For the first time they will +know the value of free institutions, of individual independence, of +a country where people express their thoughts, are not afraid of +each other, not afraid to try--a people so accustomed to success +that disaster is not taken into calculation. Of course, we have great +advantages. We have a new half of the world. We have soil better than is +found in other countries, and the soil is new and generous and anxious +to be cultivated. So we have everything in hill and mountain that +man can need--silver, and gold, and iron beyond computation--and, in +addition to all that, our people are the most inventive. We sustain +about the same relation to invention that Italy in her palmy days did to +art, or that Spain did to superstition. + +And right here it may be well enough to say that I think it was +exceedingly unfortunate that this country was discovered under the +auspices of Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella were a couple of wretches. The +same year that Columbus discovered America, these sovereigns expelled +the Jews from Spain, and the expulsion was accompanied by every outrage, +by every atrocity to which man--that is to say, savage man--that is to +say, the superstitious savage--is capable of inflicting. + +The Spaniards came to America and destroyed two civilizations far better +than their own. They were natural robbers, buccaneers, and thought +nothing of murdering thousands for gold. I am perfectly willing to +celebrate the fact of discovery, but for the sovereigns of Spain I am +not willing to celebrate, except, perhaps their deaths. There is at +least some joy to be extracted from that. + +In spite of the untoward circumstances under which the continent was +discovered and settled, there is one thing that counteracted to a +certain degree the influence of the Old World in the New. Possibly we +owe our liberty to the Indians. If there had been no hostile savages on +this continent, the kings and princes of the Old World would have taken +possession and would have divided it out among their favorites. They +tried to do that, but their favorites could not take possession. They +had to fight for the soil and in the conflict of centuries they found +that a good fighter was a good citizen, and the ideas of caste were +slowly lost. + +Then another thing was of benefit to us. The settlers felt that they +had earned the soil; that they had fought for it, gained it by their +sufferings, their courage, their selfdenial, and their labor; and the +idea crept into their heads that the kings in Europe, who had done +nothing, had no right to dictate to them. + +Thus at first the spirit of caste was destroyed by respectability +resting on usefulness. The spirit of subserviency to the Old World also +died, and the people who had rescued the land made up their minds not +only to own it, but to control it. They were also firmly convinced that +the profits belonged to them. In this way manhood was recognized in the +New World. In this way grew up the feeling of nationality here. + +What I wish to see celebrated in this great exposition are the triumphs +that have been achieved in this New World. These I wish to see above +all. At the same time I want the best that labor and thought have +produced in all countries. It seems to me that in the presence of the +wonderful machines, of those marvelous mechanical contrivances by which +we take advantage of the forces of nature, by which we make servants of +the elemental powers--in the presence, I say, of these, it seems to me +respect for labor must be born. We shall begin to appreciate the men of +use instead of those who have posed as decorations. All the beautiful +things, all the useful things, come from labor, and it is labor that has +made the world a fit habitation for the human race. + +Take from the World's Fair what labor has produced--the work of the +great artists--and nothing will be left. What have the great conquerors +to show in this great exhibition? What shall we get from the Caesars and +the Napoleons? What shall we get from popes and cardinals? What shall +we get from the nobility? From princes and lords and dukes? What excuse +have they for having existence and for having lived on the bread earned +by honest men? They stand in the show-windows of history, lay figures, +on which fine goods are shown, but inside the raiment there is nothing, +and never was. This exposition will be the apotheosis of labor. No man +can attend it without losing, if he has any sense at all, the spirit +of caste; or, if he still maintains it, he will put the useful in the +highest class, and the useless, whether carrying sceptres or dishes for +alms, in the lowest.--October, 1892. + +***** + +THE SAVAGE made of the river, the tree, the mountain, a fetich. He put +within, or behind these things, a spirit--according to Mr. Spencer, the +spirit of a dead ancestor. This is considered by the modern Christian, +and in fact by the modern philosopher, as the lowest possible phase of +the religious idea. To put behind the river or the tree, or within them, +a spirit, a something, is considered the religion of savagery; but +to put behind the universe, or within it, the same kind of fetich, is +considered the height of philosophy. + +For my part, I see no possible distinction in these systems, except that +the view of the savage is altogether the more poetic. The _fetich_ of +the savage is the _noumenon_ of the Greek, the _God_ of the theologian, +the _First Cause_ of the metaphysician, the _Unknowable_ of Spencer. + +***** + +THE UNTHINKABLE.--It is admitted by all who have thought upon the +question that a First Cause is unthinkable--that a creative power +is beyond the reach of human thought. It therefore follows that the +miraculous is unthinkable. There is no possible way in which the human +mind can even think of a miracle. It is infinitely beyond our power of +conception. We can conceive of the statement, but not of the thing. It +is impossible for the intellect to conceive of a clay pot producing oil. +It is impossible to conceive even, of human life being perpetuated in +the midst of fire. This is just as unthinkable as that twice two are +twenty-seven. A man can say that three times three are two, but it +is impossible to think of any such thing--that is, to think of such a +statement as true. A man may say that he heard a stone sing a song and +heard it afterward repeat a part of Milton's "Paradise Lost." Now, I can +conceive of a man telling such a falsehood, but I cannot conceive of the +thing having happened. + +***** + +CAN HUMAN TESTIMONY Overcome the Apparently Impossible Without +Explanation?--It can only be believed by a philosophic mind when +explained--that is to say, by being destroyed as a miracle, and +persisting simply as a fact. + +Now, I say that a miracle is unthinkable because a power above Nature, +a power that created Nature, is unthinkable. And if a power above +Nature be unthinkable, the miracles claiming to be supernatural are +unthinkable. In other words, all consequences flowing from a belief in +an infinite Creator are necessarily unthinkable. + +***** + +EDOUARD REMENYI.--This week the great violinist, Edouard Remenyi, as my +guest, visited the Bass Rocks House, Cape Ann, Mass., and for three days +delighted and entranced the fortunate idlers of the beach. He played +nearly all the time, night and day, seemingly carried away with his own +music. Among the many selections given, were the andante from the Tenth +Sonata in E flat, also from the Twelfth Sonata in G minor, by Mozart. +Nothing could exceed the wonderful playing of the selections from the +Twelfth Sonata. A hush as of death fell upon the audience, and when he +ceased, tears fell upon applauding hands. Then followed the Elegie from +Ernst; then "The Ideal Dance" composed by himself--a fairy piece, full +of wings and glancing feet, moonlight and melody, where fountains fall +in showers of pearl, and waves of music die on sands of gold--then came +the "Barcarole" by Schubert, and he played this with infinite spirit, +in a kind of inspired frenzy, as though music itself were mad with joy; +then the grand Sonata in G, in three movements, by Beethoven.--August, +1880. + +Remenyi's Playing.--In my mind the old tones are still rising and +falling--still throbbing, pleading, beseeching, imploring, wailing like +the lost--rising winged and triumphant, superb and victorious--then +caressing, whispering every thought of love--intoxicated, delirious with +joy--panting with passion--fading to silence as softly and imperceptibly +as consciousness is lost in sleep. + +***** + +THE KINDERGARTEN is perfectly adapted to the natural needs and desires +of children. Most children dislike the old system and go "unwillingly +to school." They feel imprisoned and wait impatiently for their liberty. +They learn without understanding and take no interest in their lessons. +In the Kindergarten there is perfect liberty, and study is transformed +into play. To learn is a pleasure. There are no wearisome tasks--no +mental drudgery--nothing but enjoyment,--the enjoyment of natural +development in natural ways. Children do not have to be driven to the +Kindergarten. To be kept away is a punishment. + +The experience in many towns and cities justifies our belief that the +Kindergarten is the only valuable school for little children. They are +brought in contact with actual things--with forms and colors--things +that can be seen and touched, and they are taught to use their hands and +senses--to understand qualities and relations, and all is done under +the guise of play. We agree with Froebel who said: "Let us live for our +children." + +***** + +THE METHODIST CHURCH STATISTICS.--First. In 1800, a resolution in favor +of gradual emancipation was defeated. + +Second. In 1804, resolutions passed requiring ministers to exhort slaves +to be obedient to their masters. + +Third. In 1808, everything about laymen owning slaves Stricken out. + +Fourth. In 1820, a resolution that ministers should not hold slaves was +defeated. + +Fifth. In 1836, a resolution passed that the Methodist Church opposed, +abolition of slavery--one hundred and twenty to fourteen. + +Sixth. In 1845-1846, the Methodist Church divided--Bishop Andrews owned +slaves. + +Seventh. As late as 1860 there were over ten thousand Methodists who +were slaveholders in the M. E. Church, North. + +***** + +117 East 21st Str., N. Y. + + * Response to an invitation to a dinner and a billiard + tournament at the Manhattan Athletic Club, New York City. + +Feby. 18, 1899. + +My Dear Dr. Ranney: + +I go to Boston to-morrow. So, you see it is impossible for me to be with +you on the 22d inst. I would like to make a few remarks on "orthodox +billiards." The fact is that the whole world is a table, we are the +balls and Fate plays the game. We are knocked and whacked against each +other,--followed and drawn--whirled and twisted, pocketed and spotted, +and all the time we think that we are doing the playing. But no matter, +we feel that we are in the game, and a real good illusion is, after all, +it may be, the only reality that we know. At the same time, I feel +that Fate is a careless player--that he is always a little nervous and +generally forgets to chalk his cue. I know that he has made lots of +mistakes with me--lots of misses. + +With many thanks, I remain, yours always. + +R. G. Ingersoll. + +***** + +THOUGHTS ON CHRISTMAS, 1891.--It is beautiful to give one day to the +ideal--to have one day apart; one day for generous deeds, for good will, +for gladness; one day to forget the shadows, the rains, the storms of +life; to remember the sunshine, the happiness of youth and health; one +day to forget the briers and thorns of the winding path, to remember the +fruits and flowers; one day in which to feed the hungry, to salute +the poor and lowly; one day to feel the brotherhood of man; one day +to remember the heroic and loving deeds of the dead; one day to get +acquainted with children, to remember the old, the unfortunate and the +imprisoned; one day in which to forget yourself and think lovingly of +others; one day for the family, for the fireside, for wife and children, +for the love and laughter, the joy and rapture, of home; one day in +which bonds and stocks and deeds and notes and interest and mortgages +and all kinds of business and trade are forgotten, and all stores and +shops and factories and offices and banks and ledgers and accounts and +lawsuits are cast aside, put away and locked up, and the weary heart and +brain are given a voyage to fairyland. + +Let us hope that such a day is a prophecy of what all days will be. + +***** + +THE ORTHODOX PREACHERS are several centuries in the rear. They all love +the absurd, and glory in believing the impossible. They are also as +conservative as though they were dead--good people--the leaders of those +who are going backward. + +***** + + The Man who builds a home erects a temple. + The flame upon the hearth is the sacred fire. + He who loves wife and children is the true worshiper. + Forms and ceremonies, kneelings and fastings are born of selfish fear. + A good deed is the best prayer. + A loving life is the best religion. + No one knows whether the Unknown is worthy of worship or not. + +***** + +WE TWO, THE DOUBTING BRAIN AND HOPING HEART, with somber thought and +radiant wish, in dusk and dawn, in light and shade 'neath star and +sun, together journeying toward the night. And then the end, sighs the +doubting brain--but there is no end, says the hoping heart. O Brain! if +you knew, you would not doubt. O Heart! if you knew, you would not hope. + +***** + +RIGHTS AND DUTIES spring from the same source. He who has no rights +has no duties. Without liberty there can be no responsibility and no +conscience. Man calls himself to an account for the use of his power, +and passes judgment upon himself. The standard of such judgment we call +conscience. In the proportion that man uses his liberty, his power, for +the good of all, he advances, becomes civilized. Civilization does not +consist merely in invention, discovery, material advancement, but +in doing justice. By civilization is meant all discoveries, facts, +theories, agencies, that add to the happiness of man. + +***** + +AT BAY.--Sometimes in the darkness of night I feel as though surrounded +by the great armies of effacement--that the horizon is growing +smaller every moment--that the final surrender is only postponed--that +everything is taking something from me--that Nature robs me with her +countless hands--that my heart grows weaker with every beat--that even +kisses wear me away, and that every thought takes toll of my brief life. + +***** + +THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY.*--One year of perfect health--of countless +smiles--of wonder and surprise--of growing thought and love--was duly +celebrated on this day, and all paid tribute to the infant queen. There +were whirling things that scattered music as they turned--and boxes +filled with tunes--and curious animals of whittled wood--and ivory rings +with tinkling bells--and little dishes for a fairy-feast--horses that +rocked, and bleating sheep and monstrous elephants of painted tin. A +baby-tender, for a tender babe, garments of silk and cushions wrought +with flowers, and pictures of her mother when a babe--and silver dishes +for another year--and coach and four and train of cars--and bric-a-brac +for a baby's house--and last of all, a pearl, to mark her first round +year of life and love. + + * Written on the first anniversary of his grandchild, Eva + Ingersoll-Brown, August 27, 1892. + +***** + +SHELLEY.--The light of morn beyond the purple hills--a palm that lifts +its coronet of leaves above the desert's sands--an isle of green in some +far sea--a spring that waits for lips of thirst--a strain of music heard +within some palace wrought of dreams--a cloud of gold above a setting +sun--a fragrance wafted from some unseen shore. + +***** + +FATE.--Never hurried, never delayed, passionless, pitiless, patient, +keeping the tryst--neither early nor late--there, on the very stroke and +center of the instant fixed. + +***** + +QUIET, and introspective calm come with the afternoon. Toward evening +the mind grows satisfied and still. The flare and flicker of youth are +gone, and the soul is like the flame of a lamp where the air is at rest. +Age discards the superfluous, the immaterial, the straw and chaff, and +hoards the golden grain. The highway is known, and the paths no longer +mislead. Clouds are not mistaken for mountains. + +***** + +THE OLD MAN has been long at the fair. He is acquainted with the +jugglers at the booths. His curiosity has been satisfied. He no longer +cares for the exceptional, the monstrous, the marvelous and deformed. He +looks through and beyond the gilding, the glitter and gloss, not only +of things, but of conduct, of manners, theories, religions and +philosophies. He sees clearer. The light no longer shines in his eyes. + +***** + +The time will come when even selfishness will be charitable for its own +sake, because at that time the man will have grown and developed to that +degree that selfishness demands generosity and kindness and justice. The +self becomes so noble that selfishness is a virtue. The lowest form of +selfishness is when one is willing to be happy, or wishes to be happy, +at the expense or the misery of another. The highest form of selfishness +is when a man becomes so noble that he finds his happiness in making +others so. This is the nobility of selfishness. + +***** + +CUBA fell upon her knees--stretched her thin hands toward the great +Republic. We saw her tear-filled eyes--her withered breasts--her dead +babes--her dying--her buried and unburied dead. We heard her voice, and +pity, roused to action by her grief, became as stern as justice, and +the great Republic cried to Spain: "Sheathe the dagger of assassination; +take your bloody hand from the throat of the helpless; and take your +flag from the heaven of the Western World." + +***** + +Perhaps I have reached the years of discretion. But it may be that +discretion is the enemy of happiness. If the buds had discretion there +might be no fruit. So it may be that the follies committed in the spring +give autumn the harvest.--August 11,1892. + +***** + +Dickens wrote for homes--Thackeray for clubs. Byron did not care for the +fireside--for the prattle of babes--for the smiles and tears of humble +life. He was touched by grandeur rather than goodness,--loved storm and +crag and the wild sea. But Burns lived in the valley, touched by the +joys and griefs of lowly lives. + +Imagine amethysts, rubies, diamonds, emeralds and opals mingled as +liquids--then imagine these marvelous glories of light and color changed +to a tone, and you have the wondrous, the incomparable voice of Scalchi. + +***** + +THE ORGAN.--The beginnings--the timidities--the half +thoughts--blushes--suggestions--a phrase of grace and feeling--a +sustained note--the wing on the wind--confidence--the flight--rising +with many harmonies that unite in the voluptuous swell--in the +passionate tremor--rising still higher--flooding the great dome with the +soul of enraptured sound. + +***** + +NEW MEXICO is a most wonderful country. It is a ragged miser with +billions of buried treasure. It looks as if Nature had guarded her +silver and gold with enough desolation to deter all but the brave. + +***** + +WHY SHOULD THE INDIAN SUMMER of a life be lost--the long, serene, and +tender days when earth and sky are friends? The falling leaves disclose +the ripened fruit--and so the flight of youth with dreams and fancies +should show the wealth of bending bough. + +***** + +Give milk to babes, and wine to youth. But for old age, when ghosts +of more than two-score years are wandering on the traveled road, the +fragrant tea, that loosens gossip's tongue, is best.--December 25,1892. + + [From a letter thanking a friend for a Christmas present of + a chest of tea.] + +***** + +ON MEMORIAL DAY our hearts blossom in gratitude as we lovingly remember +the brave men upon whose brows Death, with fleshless hands, placed the +laurel wreath of fame. + +***** + +THE SOUL IS AN ARCHITECt--it builds a habitation for itself--and as the +soul is, is the habitation. Some live in dens and caves, and some in +lowly homes made rich with love, and overrun with vine and flower. + +***** + +SCIENCE at last holds with honest hand the scales wherein are weighed +the facts and fictions of the world. She neither kneels nor prays, she +stands erect and thinks. Her tongue is not a traitor to her brain. Her +thought and speech agree. + +***** + +THE NEGRO who can pass me in the race of life will receive my +admiration, and he can count on my friendship. No man ever lived who +proved his superiority by trampling on the weak. + +***** + +RELIGION is like a palm tree--it grows at the top. The dead leaves are +all orthodox, while the new ones and the buds are all heretics. + +***** + +MEMORY is the miser of the mind; forgetfulness the spendthrift. + +***** + +HOPE is the only bee that makes honey without flowers. + +***** + +THE FIRES OF THE NEXT WORLD sustain the same relation to churches that +those in this world sustain to insurance companies. + +***** + +Now and then there arises a man who on peril's edge draws from the +scabbard of despair the sword of victory. + +***** + +The falling leaf that tells of autumn's death is, in a subtler sense, a +prophecy of spring. + +***** + +Vice lives either before Love is born, or after Love is dead. + +***** + +Intellectual freedom is only the right to be honest. + +***** + +I believe that finally man will go through the phase of religion before +birth. + +***** + +When shrill chanticleer pierces the dull ear of morn. + +***** + +Orthodoxy is the refuge of mediocrity. + +***** + +The ocean is the womb of all that will be, the tomb of all that has +been. + +***** + +Jealousy never knows the value of a fact. + +Envy cannot reason, malice cannot prophesy. + +***** + +Love has a kind of second sight. + +***** + +I have never given to any one a sketch of my life. According to my idea +a life should not be written until it has been lived.--July 1, 1888. + + + + +EFFECT OF THE WORLD'S FAIR ON THE HUMAN RACE. + + +THE Great Fair should be for the intellectual, mechanical, artistic, +political and social advancement of the world. Nations, like small +communities, are in danger of becoming provincial, and must become +so, unless they exchange commodities, theories, thoughts, and ideals. +Isolation is the soil of ignorance, and ignorance is the soil of +egotism; and nations, like individuals who live apart, mistake +provincialism for perfection, and hatred of all other nations for +patriotism. With most people, strangers are not only enemies, but +inferiors. They imagine that they are progressive because they know +little of others, and compare their present, not with the present of +other nations, but with their own past. + +Few people have imagination enough to sympathize with those of a +different complexion, with those professing another religion or speaking +another language, or even wearing garments unlike their own. Most people +regard every difference between themselves and others as an evidence of +the inferiority of the others. They have not intelligence enough to put +themselves in the place of another if that other happens to be outwardly +unlike themselves. + +Countless agencies have been at work for many years destroying the +hedges of thorn that have so long divided nations, and we at last are +beginning to see that other people do not differ from us, except in the +same particulars that we differ from them. At last, nations are becoming +acquainted with each other, and they now know that people everywhere are +substantially the same. We now know that while nations differ outwardly +in form and feature, somewhat in theory, philosophy and creed, +still, inwardly--that is to say, so far as hopes and passions are +concerned--they are much the same, having the same fears, experiencing +the same joys and sorrows. So we are beginning to find that the virtues +belong exclusively to no race, to no creed, and to no religion; that the +humanities dwell in the hearts of men, whomever and whatever they +may happen to worship. We have at last found that every creed is of +necessity a provincialism, destined to be lost in the universal. + +At last, Science extends an invitation to all nations, and places at +their disposal its ships and its cars; and when these people meet--or +rather, the representatives of these people--they will find that, in +spite of the accidents of birth, they are, after all, about the same; +that their sympathies, their ideas' of right and wrong, of virtue and +vice, of heroism and honor, are substantially alike. They will find that +in every land honesty is honored, truth respected and admired, and that +generosity and charity touch all hearts. + +So it is of the greatest importance that the inventions of the world +should be brought beneath one roof. These inventions, in my judgment, +are destined to be the liberators of mankind. They enslave forces and +compel the energies of nature to work for man. These forces have no +backs to feel the lash, no tears to shed, no hearts to break. + +The history of the world demonstrates that man becomes What we call +civilized by increasing his wants. As his necessities increase, he +becomes industrious and energetic. If his heart does not keep pace with +his brain, he is cruel, and the physically or mentally strong enslave +the physically or mentally weak. At present these inventions, while they +have greatly increased the countless articles needed by man, have to +a certain extent enslaved mankind. In a savage state there are few +failures. Almost any one succeeds in hunting and fishing. The wants are +few, and easily supplied. As man becomes civilized, wants increase; or +rather as wants increase, man becomes civilized. Then the struggle for +existence becomes complex; failures increase. + +The first result of the invention of machinery has been to increase the +wealth of the few. The hope of the world is that through invention man +can finally take such advantage of these forces of nature, of the weight +of water, of the force of wind, of steam, of electricity, that they will +do the work of the world; and it is the hope of the really civilized +that these inventions will finally cease to be the property of the few, +to the end that they may do the work of all for all. + +When those who do the work own the machines, when those who toil control +the invention, then, and not till then, can the world be civilized or +free. When these forces shall do the bidding of the individual, when +they become the property of the mechanic instead of the monopoly, when +they belong to labor instead of what is called capital, when these great +powers are as free to the individual laborer as the air and light +are now free to all, then, and not until then, the individual will be +restored and all forms of slavery will disappear. + +Another great benefit will come from the Fair. Other nations in some +directions are more artistic than we, but no other nation has made +the common as beautiful as we have. We have given beauty of form to +machines, to common utensils, to the things of every day, and have thus +laid the foundation for producing the artistic in its highest possible +forms. It will be of great benefit to us to look upon the paintings and +marbles of the Old World. To see them is an education. + +The great Republic has lived a greater poem than the brain and heart of +man have as yet produced, and we have supplied material for artists and +poets yet unborn; material for form and color and song. The Republic is +to-day Art's greatest market. + +Nothing else is so well calculated to make friends of all nations as +really to become acquainted with the best that each has produced. + +The nation that has produced a great poet, a great artist, a great +statesman, a great thinker, takes its place on an equality with other +nations of the world, and transfers to all of its citizens some of the +genius of its most illustrious men. + +This great Fair will be an object lesson to other nations. They will see +the result of a government, republican in form, where the people are the +source of authority, where governors and presidents are servants--not +rulers. We want all nations to see the great Republic as it is, to study +and understand its growth, development and destiny. We want them to know +that here, under our flag, are sixty-five millions of people and that +they are the best fed, the best clothed and the best housed in the +world. We want them to know that we are solving the great social +problems, and that we are going to demonstrate the right and power of +man to govern himself. We want the subjects of other nations to see +aland filled with citizens--not subjects; aland in which the pew is +above the pulpit; where the people are superior to the state; where +legislators are representatives and where authority means simply the +duty to enforce the people's will. + +Let us hope above all things that this Fair will bind the nations +together closer and stronger; and let us hope that this will result in +the settlement of all national difficulties by arbitration instead of +war. In a savage state, individuals settle their own difficulties by +an appeal to force. After a time these individuals agree that their +difficulties shall be settled by others. This is the first great step +toward civilization. The result is the establishment of courts. Nations +at present sustain to each other the same relation that savage does +to savage. Each nation is left to decide for itself, and it generally +decides according to its strength--not the strength of its side of the +case, but the strength of its army. The consequence is that what is +called "the Law of Nations" is a savage code. The world will never be +civilized until there is an international court. Savages begin to be +civilized when they submit their difficulties to their peers. Nations +will become civilized when they submit their difficulties to a great +court, the judgments of which can be carried out, all nations pledging +the co-operation of their armies and their navies for that purpose. + +If the holding of the great Fair shall result in hastening the coming of +that time it will be a blessing to the whole world. + +And here let me prophesy: The Fair will be worthy of Chicago, the +most wonderful city of the world--of Illinois, the best State in the +Union--of the United States, the best country on the earth. It will +eclipse all predecessors in every department. It will represent the +progressive spirit of the nineteenth century. Beneath its ample roofs +will be gathered the treasures of Art, and the accomplishments of +Science. At the feet of the Republic will be laid the triumphs of our +race, the best of every land.--The illustrated World's Fair, Chicago, +November, 1891. + + + + +SABBATH SUPERSTITION. + + +THE idea that one day in the week is better than the others and should +be set apart for religious purposes; that it should be considered holy; +that no useful work should be done on that day; that it should be given +over to pious idleness and sad ceremonies connected with the worship of +a supposed Being, seems to have been originated by the Jews. + +According to the Old Testament, the Sabbath was marvelously sacred for +two reasons; the first being, that Jehovah created the universe in six +days and rested on the seventh: and the second, because the Jews had +been delivered from the Egyptians. + +The first of these reasons we now know to be false; and the second has +nothing, so far as we are concerned, to do with the question. + +There is no reason for our keeping the seventh day because the Hebrews +were delivered from the Egyptians. + +The Sabbath was a Jewish institution, and, according to the Bible, only +the Jews were commanded to keep that day. Jehovah said nothing to the +Egyptians on that subject; nothing to the Philistines, nothing to the +Gentiles. + +The Jews kept that day with infinite strictness, and with them this +space of time known as the Sabbath became so holy that he who violated +it by working was put to death. Sabbath-breaking and murder were equal +crimes. On the Sabbath the pious Jew would not build a fire in his +house. He ate cold victuals and thanked God. The gates of the city were +closed. No business was done, and the traveler who arrived at the city +on that day remained outside until evening. If he happened to fall, he +remained where he fell until the sun had gone done. + +The early Christians did not hold the seventh day in such veneration. +As a matter of fact, they ceased to regard it as holy, and changed the +sacred day from the seventh to the first. This change was really made +by Constantine, because the first day of the week was the Sunday of the +Pagans; and this day had been given to pleasure and recreation and to +religious ceremonies for many centuries. + +After Constantine designated the first day to be kept and observed by +Christians, our Sunday became the sacred time. + +The early Christians, however, kept the day much as it had been kept by +the Pagans. They attended church in the morning, and in the afternoon +enjoyed themselves as best they could.. + +The Catholic Church fell in with the prevailing customs, and to +accommodate itself to Pagan ways and superstitions, it agreed, as far as +it could, with the ideas of the Pagan. + +Up to the time of the Reformation, Sunday had been divided between the +discharge of religious duties and recreation. + +Luther did not believe in the sacredness of the Sabbath. After church he +enjoyed himself by playing games, and wanted others to do the same. + +Even John Calvin, whose view had been blurred by the "Five Points," +allowed the people to enjoy themselves on Sunday afternoon. + +The reformers on the continent never had the Jewish idea of the +sacredness of the Sabbath. + +In Geneva, Germany and France, all kinds of innocent amusement were +allowed on that day; and I believe the same was true of Holland. + +But in Scotland the Jewish idea was adopted to the fullest extent. There +Sabbath-breaking was one of the blackest and one of the most terrible +crimes. Nothing was considered quite as sacred as the Sabbath. + +The Scotch went so far as to take the ground that it was wrong to save +people who were drowning on Sunday, the drowning being a punishment +inflicted by God. Upon the question of keeping the Sabbath most of the +Scottish people became insane. + +The same notions about the holy day were adopted by the Dissenters in +England, and it became the principal tenet in their creed. + +The Puritans and Pilgrims were substantially crazy about the sacredness +of Sunday. With them the first day of the week was set apart for +preaching, praying, attending church, reading the Bible and studying +the catechism. Walking, riding, playing on musical instruments, boating, +swimming and courting, were all crimes. + +No one had the right to be happy on that blessed day. It was a time of +gloom, sacred, solemn and religiously stupid. + +They did their best to strip their religion of every redeeming feature. +They hated art and music--everything calculated to produce joy. They +despised everything except the Bible, the church, God, Sunday and the +creed. + +The influence of these people has been felt in every part of our +country. The Sabbath superstition became almost universal. No laughter, +no smiles on that day; no games, no recreation, no riding, no walking +through the perfumed fields or by the winding streams or the shore of +the sea. No communion with the subtile beauties of nature; no wandering +in the woods with wife and children, no reading of poetry and fiction; +nothing but solemnity and gloom, listening to sermons, thinking about +sin, death, graves, coffins, shrouds, epitaphs and ceremonies and the +marvelous truths of sectarian religion, and the weaknesses of those +who were natural enough and sensible enough to enjoy themselves on the +Sabbath day. + +So universal became the Sabbath superstition that the Legislatures of +all the States, or nearly all, passed laws to prevent work and enjoyment +on that day, and declared all contracts void relating to business +entered into on Sunday. + +The Germans gave us the first valuable lesson on this subject. They +came to this country in great numbers; they did not keep the American +Sabbath. They listened to music and they drank beer on that holy day. +They took their wives and children with them and enjoyed themselves; +yet they were good, kind, industrious people. They paid their debts and +their credit was the best. + +Our people saw that men could be good and women virtuous without +"keeping" the Sabbath. + +This did us great good, and changed the opinions of hundreds of +thousands of Americans. + +But the churches insisted on the old way. Gradually our people began +to appreciate the fact that one-seventh of the time was being stolen by +superstition. They began to ask for the opening of libraries, for music +in the parks and to be allowed to visit museums and public places on the +Sabbath. + +In several States these demands were granted, and the privileges have +never been abused. The people were orderly, polite to officials and to +each other. + +In 1876, when the Centennial was held at Philadelphia, the Sabbatarians +had control. Philadelphia was a Sunday city, and so the gates of the +Centennial were closed on that day. + +This was in Philadelphia where the Sabbath superstition had been so +virulent that chains had been put across the streets to prevent stages +and carriages from passing at that holy time. + +At that time millions of Americans felt that a great wrong was done by +closing the Centennial to the laboring people; but the managers--most +of them being politicians--took care of themselves and kept the gates +closed. + +In 1876 the Sabbatarians triumphed, and when it was determined to hold a +world's fair at Chicago they made up their minds that no one should look +upon the world's wonders on the Sabbath day. + +To accomplish this pious and foolish purpose committees were appointed +all over the country; money was raised to make a campaign; persons were +employed to go about and arouse the enthusiasm of religious people; +petitions by the thousand were sent to Congress and to the officers +of the World's Fair, signed by thousands of people who never saw them; +resolutions were passed in favor of Sunday closing by conventions, +presbyteries, councils and associations. Lobbyists were employed to +influence members of Congress. Great bodies of Christians threatened to +boycott the fair and yet the World's Fair is open on Sunday. + +What is the meaning of this? Let me tell you. It means that in this +country the Scotch New England Sabbath has ceased to be; it means that +it is dead. The last great effort for its salvation has been put forth, +and has failed. It belonged to the creed of Jonathan Edwards and the +belief of the witch-burners, and in this age it is out of place. + +There was a time when the minister and priest were regarded as the +foundation of wisdom; when information came from the altar, from the +pulpit; and when the sheep were the property of the shepherd. + +That day in intelligent communities has passed. We no longer go to the +minister or the church for information. The orthodox minister is +losing his power, and the Sabbath is now regarded as a day of rest, of +recreation and of pleasure. + +The church must keep up with the people. The minister must take another +step. The multitude care but little about controversies in churches, but +they do care about the practical questions that directly affect their +daily lives. + +Must we waste one day in seven; must we make ourselves unhappy or +melancholy one-seventh of the time? + +These are important questions and for many years the church in our +country has answered them both in the affirmative, and a vast number of +people not Christians have also said "yes" because they wanted votes, or +because they feared to incite the hatred of the church. + +Now in this year of 1893 a World's Fair answered this question in the +negative, and a large majority of the citizens of the Republic say that +the officers of the Fair have done right. + +This marks an epoch in the history of the Sabbath. It is to be sacred +in a religious sense in this country no longer. Henceforth in the United +States the Sabbath is for the use of man. + +Many of those who labored for the closing of the Fair on Sunday took the +ground that if the gates were opened, God would visit this nation with +famine, flood and fire. + +It hardly seems possible that God will destroy thousands of women and +children who had nothing to do with the opening of the Fair; still, if +he is the same God described in the Christian Bible, he may destroy our +babes as he did those of the Egyptians. It is a little hard to tell in +advance what a God of that kind will do. + +It was believed for many centuries that God punished the +Sabbath-breaking individual and the Sabbath-breaking nation. Of course +facts never had anything to do with this belief, and the prophecies +of the pulpit were never fulfilled. People who were drowned on Sunday, +according to the church, lost their lives by the will of God. Those +drowned on other days were the victims of storm or accident. The nations +that kept the Sabbath were no more prosperous than those that broke the +sacred day. Certainly France is as prosperous as Scotland. + +Let us hope, however, that these zealous gentlemen who have predicted +calamities were mistaken; let us be glad that hundreds of thousands of +workingmen and women will be delighted and refined by looking at the +statues, the paintings, the machinery, and the countless articles of use +and beauty gathered together at the great Fair, and let us be glad that +on the one day that they can spare from toil, the gates will be open to +them. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE JACOB HOLYOAKE. + + +TWO articles have recently appeared attacking the motives of George +Jacob Holyoake. He is spoken of as a man governed by a desire to please +the rich and powerful, as one afraid of public opinion and who in the +perilous hour denies or conceals his convictions. + +In these attacks there is not one word of truth. They are based upon +mistakes and misconceptions. + +There is not in this world a nobler, braver man. In England he has done +more for the great cause of intellectual liberty than any other man +of this generation. He has done more for the poor, for the children of +toil, for the homeless and wretched than any other living man. He has +attacked all abuses, all tyranny and all forms of hypocrisy. His weapons +have been reason, logic, facts, kindness, and above all, example. He has +lived his creed. He has won the admiration and respect of his bitterest +antagonists. He has the simplicity of childhood, the enthusiasm of +youth and the wisdom of age. He is not abusive, but he is clear and +conclusive.. He is intense without violence--firm without anger. He has +the strength of perfect kindness. He does not hate--he pities. He does +not attack men and women, but dogmas and creeds. And he does not attack +them to get the better of people, but to enable people to get the better +of them. He gives the light he has. He shares his intellectual wealth +with the orthodox poor. He assists without insulting, guides without +arrogance, and enlightens without outrage. Besides, he is eminent for +the exercise of plain common sense. He knows that there are wrongs +besides those born of superstition--that people are not necessarily +happy because they have renounced the Thirty-nine Articles--and that +the priest is not the only enemy of mankind. He has for forty years been +preaching and practicing industry, economy, self-reliance, and kindness. +He has done all within his power to give the workingman a better home, +better food, better wages, and better opportunities for the education +of his children. He has demonstrated the success of co-operation--of +intelligent combination for the common good. As a rule, his methods have +been perfectly legal. In some instances he has knowingly violated the +law, and did so with the intention to take the consequences. He would +neither ask nor accept a pardon, because to receive a pardon carries +with it the implied promise to keep the law, and an admission that +you were in the wrong. He would not agree to desist from doing what he +believed ought to be done, neither would he stain his past to brighten +his future, nor imprison his soul to free his body. He has that happy +mingling of gentleness and firmness found only in the highest type of +moral heroes. He is an absolutely just man, and will never do an act +that he would condemn in another. He admits that the most bigoted +churchman has a perfect right to express his opinions not only, but +that he must be met with argument couched in kind and candid terms. Mr. +Holyoake is not only the enemy of a theological hierarchy, but he is +also opposed to mental mobs. He will not use the bludgeon of epithet. + +Perfect fairness is regarded by many as weakness. Some people have +altogether more confidence in their beliefs than in their own arguments. +They resort to assertion. If what they assert be denied, the "debate" +becomes a question of veracity. On both sides of most questions there +are plenty of persons who imagine that logic dwells only in adjectives, +and that to speak kindly of an opponent is a virtual surrender. + +Mr. Holyoake attacks the church because it has been, is, and ever will +be the enemy of mental freedom, but he does not wish to deprive the +church even of its freedom to express its opinion against freedom. He +is true to his own creed, knowing that when we have freedom we can take +care of all its enemies. + +In one of the articles to which I have referred it is charged that Mr. +Holyoake refused to sign a petition for the pardon of persons convicted +of blasphemy. If this is true, he undoubtedly had a reason satisfactory +to himself. You will find that his action, or his refusal to act, rests +upon a principle that he would not violate in his own behalf. + +Why should we suspect the motives of this man who has given his life +for the good of others? I know of no one who is his mental or moral +superior. He is the most disinterested of men. His name is a synonym +of candor. He is a natural logician--an intellectual marksman. Like an +unerring arrow his thought flies to the heart and center. He is +governed by principle, and makes no exception in his own favor. He is +intellectually honest. He shows you the cracks and flaws in his own +wares. He calls attention to the open joints and to the weakest links. +He does not want a victory for himself, but for truth. He wishes to +expose and oppose, not men, but error. He is blessed with that cloudless +mental vision that appearances cannot deceive, that interest cannot +darken, and that even ingratitude cannot blur. Friends cannot induce +and enemies cannot drive this man to do an act that his heart and brain +would not applaud. That such a character was formed without the aid +of the church, without the hope of harp or fear of flame, is a +demonstration against the necessity of superstition. + +Whoever is opposed to mental bondage, to the shackles wrought by cruelty +and worn by fear, should be the friend of this heroic and unselfish man. + +I know something of his life--something of what he has suffered--of what +he has accomplished for his fellow-men. He has been maligned, imprisoned +and impoverished. "He bore the heat and burden of the unregarded day" +and "remembered the misery of the many." For years his only recompense +was ingratitude. At last he was understood. He was recognized as an +earnest, honest, gifted, generous, sterling man, loving his country, +sympathizing with the poor, honoring the useful, and holding in supreme +abhorrence tyranny and falsehood in all their forms. The idea that this +man could for a moment be controlled by any selfish motive, by the +hope of preferment, by the fear of losing a supposed annuity, is +simply absurd. The authors of these attacks are not acquainted with Mr. +Holyoake. Whoever dislikes him does not know him. + +Read his "Trial of Theism"--his history of "Co-operation in England"--if +you wish to know his heart--to discover the motives of his life--the +depth and tenderness of his sympathy--the nobleness of his nature--the +subtlety of his thought--the beauty of his spirit--the force and volume +of his brain--the extent of his information--his candor, his kindness, +his genius, and the perfect integrity of his stainless soul. + +There is no man for whom I have greater respect, greater reverence, +greater love, than George Jacob Holyoake.-- + +August 8, 1883. + + + + +AT THE GRAVE OF BENJAMIN W. PARKER. + + * This was the first tribute ever delivered by Colonel + Ingersoll at a grave. Mr. Parker himself was an Agnostic, + was the father of Mrs. Ingersoll, and was always a devoted + friend and admirer of the Colonel even before the latter's + marriage with his daughter. + + +Peoria, Ill., May 24, 1876. + +FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS: To fulfill a promise made many years ago, I wish +to say a word. + +He whom we are about to lay in the earth, was gentle, kind and loving +in his life. He was ambitious only to live with those he loved. He was +hospitable, generous, and sincere. He loved his friends, and the friends +of his friends. He returned good for good. He lived the life of a child, +and died without leaving in the memory of his family the record of an +unkind act. Without assurance, and without fear, we give him back to +Nature, the source and mother of us all. + +With morn, with noon, with night; with changing clouds and changeless +stars; with grass and trees and birds, with leaf and bud, with flower +and blossoming vine,--with all the sweet influences of nature, we leave +our dead. + +Husband, father, friend, farewell. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO EBON C. INGERSOLL + +Washington, D. C., May 31, 1879. + + * The funeral of the Hon. E. C. Ingersoll took place + yesterday afternoon at four o'clock, from his late + residence, 1403 K Street The only ceremony at the house, + other than the viewing of the remains, was a most affecting + pathetic, and touching address by Col. Robert G. ingersoll, + brother of the deceased. Not only the speaker, but every one + of his hearers were deeply affected. When he began to read + his eloquent characterization of the dead man his eyes at + once filled with tears. He tried to hide them, but he could + not do it, and finally he bowed his head upon the dead man's + coffin in uncontrollable grief It was only after some delay, + and the greatest efforts a self-mastery, that Colonel + Ingersoll was able to finish reading his address. When he + had ceased speaking, the members of the bereaved family + approached the casket and looked upon the form which it + contained, for the last time. The scene was heartrending. + The devotion of all connected with the household excited + the sympathy of all and there was not a dry eye to be seen. + The pall-bearers--Senator William B. Allison, Senator James + G. Blaine, Senator David Davis, Senator Daniel W Voorhees. + Representative James A. Garfield, Senator A. S Paddock, + Representative Thomas Q. Boyd of Illinois, the Hon. Ward H. + Lermon, ex-Congressman Jere Wilson, and Representative Adlai + E. Stevenson of Illinois--then bore the remains to the + hearse, and the lengthy cortege proceeded to the Oak Hill + Cemetery, where the remains were interred, in the presence + of the family and friends, without further ceremony.-- + National Republican, Washington, D. C., June 3, 1879. + + +DEAR FRIENDS: I am going to do that which the dead oft promised he would +do for me. + +The loved and loving brother, husband, father, friend, died where +manhood's morning almost touches noon, and while the shadows still were +falling toward the west. + +He had not passed on life's highway the stone that marks the highest +point; but being weary for a moment, he lay down by the wayside, and +using his burden for a pillow, fell into that dreamless sleep that +kisses down his eyelids still. While yet in love with life and raptured +with the world, he passed to silence and pathetic dust. + +Yet, after all, it may be best, just in the happiest, sunniest hour +of all the voyage, while eager winds are kissing every sail, to dash +against the unseen rock, and in an instant hear the billows roar above a +sunken ship. For whether in mid-sea or 'mong the breakers of the farther +shore, a wreck at last must mark the end of each and all. And every +life, no matter if its every hour is rich with love and every moment +jeweled with a joy, will, at its close, become a tragedy as sad and deep +and dark as can be woven of the warp and woof of mystery and death. + +This brave and tender man in every storm of life was oak and rock; but +in the sunshine he was vine and flower. He was the friend of all heroic +souls. He climbed the heights, and left all superstitions far below, +while on his forehead fell the golden dawning of the grander day. + +He loved the beautiful, and was with color, form, and music touched to +tears. He sided with the weak, the poor, and wronged, and lovingly +gave alms. With loyal heart and with the purest hands he faithfully +discharged all public trusts. + +He was a worshiper of liberty, a friend of the oppressed. A thousand +times I have heard him quote these words: "_For Justice all place a +temple, and all season, summer_." He believed that happiness is the only +good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only +religion, and love the only priest. He added to the sum of human joy; +and were every one to whom he did some loving service to bring a blossom +to his grave, he would sleep tonight beneath a wilderness of flowers. + +Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two +eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, +and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless +lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word; but in the night of +death hope sees a star and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing. + +He who sleeps here, when dying, mistaking the approach of death for the +return of health, whispered with his latest breath, "I am better now." +Let us believe, in spite of doubts and dogmas, of fears and tears, that +these dear words are true of all the countless dead. + +The record of a generous life runs like a vine around the memory of our +dead, and every sweet, unselfish act is now a perfumed flower. + +And now, to you, who have been chosen, from among the many men he loved, +to do the last sad office for the dead, we give his sacred dust. + +Speech cannot contain our love. There was, there is, no gentler, +stronger, manlier man. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO THE REV. ALEXANDER CLARK. + +Washington, D. C. July 13, 1879. + + +UPON the grave of the Reverend Alexander Clark I wish to place one +flower. Utterly destitute of cold, dogmatic pride, that often passes for +the love of God; without the arrogance of the "elect;" simple, free, and +kind--this earnest man made me his friend by being mine. I forgot that +he was a Christian, and he seemed to forget that I was not, while each +remembered that the other was at least a man. + +Frank, candid, and sincere, he practiced what he preached, and looked +with the holy eyes of charity upon the failings and mistakes of men. He +believed in the power of kindness, and spanned with divine sympathy the +hideous gulf that separates the fallen from the pure. + +Giving freely to others the rights that he claimed for himself, it never +occurred to him that his God hated a brave and honest unbeliever. He +remembered that even an Infidel had rights that love respects; that +hatred has no saving power, and that in order to be a Christian it is +not necessary to become less than a human being. He knew that no one can +be maligned into kindness; that epithets cannot convince; that curses +are not arguments, and that the finger of scorn never points toward +heaven. With the generosity of an honest man, he accorded to all the +fullest liberty of thought, knowing, as he did, that in the realm of +mind a chain is but a curse. + +For this man I felt the greatest possible regard. In spite of the taunts +and jeers of his brethren, he publicly proclaimed that he would treat +Infidels with fairness and respect; that he would endeavor to convince +them by argument and win them with love. He insisted that the God +he worshiped loved the well-being even of an Atheist. In this grand +position he stood almost alone. Tender, just, and loving where others +were harsh, vindictive, and cruel, he challenged the admiration of every +honest man. A few more such clergymen might drive calumny from the lips +of faith and render the pulpit worthy of esteem. + +The heartiness and kindness with which this generous man treated me can +never be excelled. He admitted that I had not lost, and could not lose, +a single right by the expression of my honest thought. Neither did he +believe that a servant could win the respect of a generous master by +persecuting and maligning those whom the master would willingly forgive. + +While this good man was living, his brethren blamed him for having +treated me with fairness. But, I trust, now that he has left the shore +touched by the mysterious sea that never yet has borne, on any wave, the +image of a homeward sail, this crime will be forgiven him by those who +still remain to preach the love of God. + +His sympathies were not confined within the prison, of a creed, but ran +out and over the walls like vines, hiding the cruel rocks and rusted +bars with leaf and flower. He could not echo with his heart the fiendish +sentence of eternal fire. In spite of book and creed, he read "between +the lines" the words of tenderness and love, with promises for all the +world.. Above, beyond, the dogmas of his church--humane even to the +verge of heresy--causing some to doubt his love of God because he +failed to hate his unbelieving fellow-men, he labored for the welfare of +mankind and to his work gave up his life with all his heart. + + + + +AT A CHILD'S GRAVE. + +Washington, D. C., January 8, 1882. + + +MY FRIENDS: I know how vain it is to gild a grief with words, and yet I +wish to take from every grave its fear. Here in this world, where life +and death are equal kings, all should be brave enough to meet what all +the dead have met. The future has been filled with fear, stained and +polluted by the heartless past. From the wondrous tree of life the buds +and blossoms fall with ripened fruit, and in the common bed of earth, +patriarchs and babes sleep side by side. + +Why should we fear that which will come to all that is? We cannot tell, +we do not know, which is the greater blessing--life or death. We cannot +say that death is not a good. We do not know whether the grave is the +end of this life, or the door of another, or whether the night here +is not somewhere else a dawn. Neither can we tell which is the more +fortunate--the child dying in its mother's arms, before its lips have +learned to form a word, or he who journeys all the length of life's +uneven road, painfully taking the last slow steps with staff and crutch. + +Every cradle asks us "Whence?" and every coffin "Whither?" The poor +barbarian, weeping above his dead, can answer these questions just +as well as the robed priest of the most authentic creed. The tearful +ignorance of the one, is as consoling as the learned and unmeaning words +of the other. No man, standing where the horizon of a life has touched a +grave, has any right to prophesy a future filled with pain and tears. + +May be that death gives all there is of worth to life. If those we press +and strain within our arms could never die, perhaps that love would +wither from the earth. May be this common fate treads from out the paths +between our hearts the weeds of selfishness and hate. And I had rather +live and love where death is king, than have eternal life where love is +not. Another life is nought, unless we know and love again the ones who +love us here. + +They who stand with breaking hearts around this little grave, need have +no fear. The larger and the nobler faith in all that is, and is to be, +tells us that death, even at its worst, is only perfect rest. We know +that through the common wants of life--the needs and duties of each +hour--their grief will lessen day by day, until at last this grave will +be to them a place of rest and peace--almost of joy. There is for them +this consolation: The dead do not suffer. If they live again, their +lives will surely be as good as ours. We have no fear. We are all +children of the same mother, and the same fate awaits us all. We, too, +have our religion, and it is this: Help for the living--Hope for the +dead. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO JOHN G. MILLS. + +Washington, D. C., April 15, 1883. + + +MY FRIENDS: Again we are face to face with the great mystery that +shrouds this world. We question, but there is no reply. Out on the wide +waste seas, there drifts no spar. Over the desert of death the sphinx +gazes forever, but never speaks. + +In the very May of life another heart has ceased to beat. Night has +fallen upon noon. But he lived, he loved, he was loved. Wife and +children pressed their kisses on his lips. This is enough. The longest +life contains no more. This fills the vase of joy. + +He who lies here, clothed with the perfect peace of death, was a kind +and loving husband, a good father, a generous neighbor, an honest +man,--and these words build a monument of glory above the humblest +grave. He was always a child, sincere and frank, as full of hope as +Spring. He divided all time into to-day and to-morrow. To-morrow was +without a cloud, and of to-morrow he borrowed sunshine for to-day. He +was my friend. He will remain so. The living oft become estranged; the +dead are true. He was not a Christian. In the Eden of his hope there +did not crawl and coil the serpent of eternal pain. In many languages +he sought the thoughts of men, and for himself he solved the problems of +the world. He accepted the philosophy of Auguste Comte. Humanity was his +God; the human race was his Supreme Being. In that Supreme Being he put +his trust. He believed that we are indebted for what we enjoy to the +labor, the self-denial, the heroism of the human race, and that as we +have plucked the fruit of what others planted, we in thankfulness should +plant for others yet to be. + +With him immortality was the eternal consequences of his own acts. He +believed that every pure thought, every disinterested deed, hastens the +harvest of universal good. This is a religion that enriches poverty; +that enables us to bear the sorrows of the saddest life; that peoples +even solitude with the happy millions yet to live,--a religion born +not of selfishness and fear, but of love, of gratitude, and hope,--a +religion that digs wells to slake the thirst of others, and gladly bears +the burdens of the unborn. + +But in the presence of death, how beliefs and dogmas wither and decay! +How loving words and deeds burst into blossom! Pluck from the tree +of any life these flowers, and there remain but the barren thorns of +bigotry and creed. + +All wish for happiness beyond this life. All hope to meet again +the loved and lost. In every heart there grows this sacred flower. +Immortality is a word that Hope through all the ages has been whispering +to Love. The miracle of thought we cannot understand. The mystery of +life and death we cannot comprehend. This chaos called the world has +never been explained. The golden bridge of life from gloom emerges, and +on shadow rests. Beyond this we do not know. Fate is speechless, destiny +is dumb, and the secret of the future has never yet been told. We love; +we wait; we hope. The more we love, the more we fear. Upon the tenderest +heart the deepest shadows fall. All paths, whether filled with thorns +or flowers, end here. Here success and failure are the same. The rag of +Wretchedness and the purple robe of power all difference and distinction +lose in this democracy of death. Character survives; goodness lives; +love is immortal. + +And yet to all a time may come when the fevered lips of life will long +for the cool, delicious kiss of death--when tired of the dust and glare +of day we all shall hear with joy the rustling garments of the night. + +What can we say of death? What can we say of the dead? Where they have +gone, reason cannot go, and from thence revelation has not come. But let +us believe that over the cradle Nature bends and smiles, and lovingly +above the dead in benediction holds her outstretched hands. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO ELIZUR WRIGHT. + +New York. December 19, 1885. + + +ANOTHER hero has fallen asleep--one who enriched the world with an +honest life. + +Elizur Wright was one of the Titans who attacked the monsters, the +Gods, of his time--one of the few whose confidence in liberty was never +shaken, and who, with undimmed eyes, saw the atrocities and barbarisms +of his day and the glories of the future. + +When New York was degraded enough to mob Arthur Tappan, the noblest of +her citizens; when Boston was sufficiently infamous to howl and hoot at +Harriet Martineau, the grandest Englishwoman that ever touched our soil; +when the North was dominated by theology and trade, by piety and piracy; +when we received our morals from merchants, and made merchandise of our +morals, Elizur Wright held principle above profit, and preserved his +manhood at the peril of his life. + +When the rich, the cultured, and the respectable,--when church members +and ministers, who had been "called" to preach the "glad tidings," and +when statesmen like Webster joined with bloodhounds, and in the name +of God hunted men and mothers, this man rescued the fugitives and gave +asylum to the oppressed. + +During those infamous years--years of cruelty and national +degradation--years of hypocrisy and greed and meanness beneath the reach +of any English word, Elizur Wright became acquainted with the orthodox +church. He found that a majority of Christians were willing to enslave +men and women for whom they said that Christ had died--that they would +steal the babe of a Christian mother, although they believed that the +mother would be their equal in heaven forever. He found that those who +loved their enemies would enslave their friends--that people who when +smitten on one cheek turned the other, were ready, willing and anxious +to mob and murder those who simply said: "The laborer is worthy of his +hire." + +In those days the church was in favor of slavery, not only of the body +but of the mind. According to the creeds, God himself was an infinite +master and all his children serfs. He ruled with whip and chain, with +pestilence and fire. Devils were his bloodhounds, and hell his place of +eternal torture. + +Elizur Wright said to himself, why should we take chains from bodies and +enslave minds--why fight to free the cage and leave the bird a prisoner? +He became an enemy of orthodox religion--that is to say, a friend of +intellectual liberty. + +He lived to see the destruction of legalized larceny; to read the +Proclamation of Emancipation; to see a country without a slave, a flag +without a stain. He lived long enough to reap the reward for having +been an honest man; long enough for his "disgrace" to become a crown of +glory; long enough to see his views adopted and his course applauded by +the civilized world; long enough for the hated word "abolitionist" to +become a title of nobility, a certificate of manhood, courage and true +patriotism. + +Only a few years ago, the heretic was regarded as an enemy of the human +race. The man who denied the inspiration of the Jewish Scriptures was +looked upon as a moral leper, and the Atheist as the worst of criminals. +Even in that day, Elizur Wright was grand enough to speak his honest +thought, to deny the inspiration of the Bible; brave enough to defy +the God of the orthodox church--the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the +Eternal Jailer, the Everlasting Inquisitor. + +He contended that a good God would not have upheld slavery and polygamy; +that a loving Father would not assist some of his children to enslave or +exterminate their brethren; that an infinite being would not be unjust, +irritable, jealous, revengeful, ignorant, and cruel. + +And it was his great good fortune to live long enough to find the +intellectual world on his side; long enough to know that the greatest' +naturalists, philosophers, and scientists agreed with him; long enough +to see certain words change places, so that "heretic" was honorable +and "orthodox" an epithet. To-day, the heretic is known to be a man of +principle and courage--one blest with enough mental independence to +tell his thought. To-day, the thoroughly orthodox means the thoroughly +stupid. + +Only a few years ago it was taken for granted that an "unbeliever" could +not be a moral man; that one who disputed the inspiration of the legends +of Judea could not be sympathetic and humane, and could not really love +his fellow-men. Had we no other evidence upon this subject, the noble +life of Elizur Wright would demonstrate the utter baselessness of these +views. + +His life was spent in doing good--in attacking the hurtful, in defending +what he believed to be the truth. Generous beyond his means; helping +others to help themselves; always hopeful, busy, just, cheerful; filled +with the spirit of reform; a model citizen--always thinking of the +public good, devising ways and means to save something for posterity, +feeling that what he had he held in trust; loving Nature, familiar +with the poetic side of things, touched to enthusiasm by the beautiful +thought, the brave word, and the generous deed; friendly in manner, +candid and kind in speech, modest but persistent; enjoying leisure +as only the industrious can; loving and gentle in his family; +hospitable,--judging men and women regardless of wealth, position or +public clamor; physically fearless, intellectually honest, thoroughly +informed; unselfish, sincere, and reliable as the attraction of +gravitation. Such was Elizur Wright,--one of the staunchest soldiers +that ever faced and braved for freedom's sake the wrath and scorn and +lies of place and power. + +A few days ago I met this genuine man. His interest in all human +things was just as deep and keen, his hatred of oppression, his love of +freedom, just as intense, just as fervid, as on the day I met him first. +True, his body was old, but his mind was young, and his heart, like +a spring in the desert, bubbled over as joyously as though it had the +secret of eternal youth. But it has ceased to beat, and the mysterious +veil that hangs where sight and blindness are the same--the veil that +revelation has not drawn aside--that science cannot lift, has fallen +once again between the living and the dead. + +And yet we hope and dream. May be the longing for another life is but +the prophecy forever warm from Nature's lips, that love, disguised as +death, alone fulfills. We cannot tell. And yet perhaps this Hope is but +an antic, following the fortunes of an uncrowned king, beguiling grief +with jest and satisfying loss with pictured gain. We do not know. + +But from the Christian's cruel hell, and from his heaven more heartless +still, the free and noble soul, if forced to choose, should loathing +turn, and cling with rapture to the thought of endless sleep. + +But this we know: good deeds are never childless. A noble life is never +lost. A virtuous action does not die. Elizur Wright scattered with +generous hand the priceless seeds, and we shall reap the golden grain. +His words and acts are ours, and all he nobly did is living still. + +Farewell, brave soul! Upon thy grave I lay this tribute of respect and +love. When last our hands were joined, I said these parting words: "Long +life!" And I repeat them now. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO MRS. IDA WHITING KNOWLES. + +New York, Dec, 16, 1887. + + +MY FRIENDS: Again we stand in the shadow of the great mystery--a shadow +as deep and dark as when the tears of the first mother fell upon the +pallid face of her lifeless babe--a mystery that has never yet been +solved. + +We have met in the presence of the sacred dead, to speak a word of +praise, of hope, of consolation. + +Another life of love is now a blessed memory--a lingering strain of +music. + +The loving daughter, the pure and consecrated wife, the sincere friend, +who with tender faithfulness discharged the duties of a life, has +reached her journey's end. + +A braver, a more serene, a more chivalric spirit--clasping the loved and +by them clasped--never passed from life to enrich the realm of death. +No field of war ever witnessed greater fortitude, more perfect, smiling +courage, than this poor, weak and helpless woman displayed upon the bed +of pain and death. + +Her life was gentle and her death sublime. She loved the good and all +the good loved her. + +There is this consolation: she can never suffer more; never feel again +the chill of death; never part again from those she loves. Her heart can +break no more. She has shed her last tear, and upon her stainless brow +has been set the wondrous seal of everlasting peace. + +When the Angel of Death--the masked and voiceless--enters the door of +home, there come with her all the daughters of Compassion, and of these +Love and Hope remain forever. + +You are about to take this dear dust home--to the home of her girlhood, +and to the place that was once my home. You will lay her with neighbors +whom I have loved, and who are now at rest. You will lay her where my +father sleeps. + + "Lay her i' the earth, + And from her fair and unpolluted flesh + May violets spring." + +I never knew, I never met, a braver spirit than the one that once +inhabited this silent form of dreamless clay. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO HENRY WARD BEECHER. + +New York, June 26,1887. + + +HENRY WARD BEECHER was born in a Puritan penitentiary, of which +his father was one of the wardens--a prison with very narrow and +closely-grated windows. Under its walls were the rayless, hopeless and +measureless dungeons of the damned, and on its roof fell the shadow of +God's eternal frown. In this prison the creed and catechism were primers +for children, and from a pure sense of duty their loving hearts were +stained and scarred with the religion of John Calvin. + +In those days the home of an orthodox minister was an inquisition in +which babes were tortured for the good of their souls. Children then, +as now, rebelled against the infamous absurdities and cruelties of the +creed. No Calvinist was ever able, unless with blows, to answer the +questions of his child. Children were raised in what was called "the +nurture and admonition of the Lord"--that is to say, their wills were +broken or subdued, their natures were deformed and dwarfed, their +desires defeated or destroyed, and their development arrested or +perverted. Life was robbed of its Spring, its Summer and its Autumn. +Children stepped from the cradle into the snow. No laughter, no +sunshine, no joyous, free, unburdened days. God, an infinite detective, +watched them from above, and Satan, with malicious leer, was waiting +for their souls below. Between these monsters life was passed. Infinite +consequences were predicated of the smallest action, and a burden +greater than a God could bear was placed upon the heart and brain of +every child. To think, to ask questions, to doubt, to investigate, +were acts of rebellion. To express pity for the lost, writhing in the +dungeons below, was simply to give evidence that the enemy of souls had +been at work within their hearts. + +Among all the religions of this world--from the creed of cannibals who +devoured flesh, to that of Calvinists who polluted souls--there is none, +there has been none, there will be none, more utterly heartless and +inhuman than was the orthodox Congregationalism of New England in the +year of grace 1813. It despised every natural joy, hated pictures, +abhorred statues as lewd and lustful things, execrated music, regarded +nature as fallen and corrupt, man as totally depraved and woman as +somewhat worse. The theatre was the vestibule of perdition, actors the +servants of Satan, and Shakespeare a trifling wretch whose words +were seeds of death. And yet the virtues found a welcome, cordial and +sincere; duty was done as understood; obligations were discharged; truth +was told; self-denial was practiced for the sake of others, and many +hearts were good and true in spite of book and creed. + +In this atmosphere of theological miasma, in this hideous dream of +superstition, in this penitentiary, moral and austere, this babe first +saw the imprisoned gloom. The natural desires ungratified, the laughter +suppressed, the logic brow-beaten by authority, the humor frozen by +fear--of many generations--were in this child, a child destined to rend +and wreck the prison's walls. + +Through the grated windows of his cell, this child, this boy, this man, +caught glimpses of the outer world, of fields and skies. New thoughts +were in his brain, new hopes within his heart. Another heaven bent above +his life. There came a revelation of the beautiful and real. + +Theology grew mean and small. Nature wooed and won and saved this mighty +soul. + +Her countless hands were sowing seeds within his tropic brain. All +sights and sounds--all colors, forms and fragments--were stored within +the treasury of his mind. His thoughts were moulded by the graceful +curves of streams, by winding paths in woods, the charm of quiet country +roads, and lanes grown indistinct with weeds and grass--by vines that +cling and hide with leaf and flower the crumbling wall's decay--by +cattle standing in the summer pools like statues of content. + +There was within his words the subtle spirit of the season's change--of +everything that is, of everything that lies between the slumbering seeds +that, half awakened by the April rain, have dreams of heaven's blue, and +feel the amorous kisses of the sun, and that strange tomb wherein the +alchemist doth give to death's cold dust the throb and thrill of life +again. He saw with loving eyes the willows of the meadow-streams grow +red beneath the glance of Spring--the grass along the marsh's edge--the +stir of life beneath the withered leaves--the moss below the drip of +snow--the flowers that give their bosoms to the first south wind that +wooes--the sad and timid violets that only bear the gaze of love from +eyes half closed--the ferns, where fancy gives a thousand forms with but +a single plan--the green and sunny slopes enriched with daisy's silver +and the cowslip's gold. + +As in the leafless woods some tree, aflame with life, stands like a rapt +poet in the heedless crowd, so stood this man among his fellow-men. + +All there is of leaf and bud, of flower and fruit, of painted insect +life, and all the winged and happy children of the air that Summer holds +beneath her dome of blue, were known and loved by him. He loved the +yellow Autumn fields, the golden stacks, the happy homes of men, the +orchard's bending boughs, the sumach's flags of flame, the maples +with transfigured leaves, the tender yellow of the beech, the wondrous +harmonies of brown and gold--the vines where hang the clustered spheres +of wit and mirth. He loved the winter days, the whirl and drift of +snow--all forms of frost--the rage and fury of the storm, when in the +forest, desolate and stripped, the brave old pine towers green and +grand--a prophecy of Spring. He heard the rhythmic sounds of Nature's +busy strife, the hum of bees, the songs of birds, the eagle's cry, the +murmur of the streams, the sighs and lamentations of the winds, and all +the voices of the sea. He loved the shores, the vales, the crags and +cliffs, the city's busy streets, the introspective, silent plain, the +solemn splendors of the night, the silver sea of dawn, and evening's +clouds of molten gold. The love of nature freed this loving man. + +One by one the fetters fell; the gratings disappeared, the sunshine +smote the roof, and on the floors of stone, light streamed from open +doors. He realized the darkness and despair, the cruelty and hate, the +starless blackness of the old, malignant creed. The flower of pity grew +and blossomed in his heart. The selfish "consolation" filled his eyes +with tears. He saw that what is called the Christian's hope is, that, +among the countless billions wrecked and lost, a meagre few perhaps +may reach the eternal shore--a hope that, like the desert rain, gives +neither leaf nor bud--a hope that gives no joy, no peace, to any great +and loving soul. It is the dust on which the serpent feeds that coils in +heartless breasts. + +Day by day the wrath and vengeance faded from the sky--the Jewish God +grew vague and dint--the threats of torture and eternal pain grew vulgar +and absurd, and all the miracles seemed strangely out of place. They +clad the Infinite in motley garb, and gave to aureoled heads the cap and +bells. + +Touched by the pathos of all human life, knowing the shadows that fall +on every heart--the thorns in every path, the sighs, the sorrows, and +the tears that lie between a mother's arms and death's embrace--this +great and gifted man denounced, denied, and damned with all his heart +the fanged and frightful dogma that souls were made to feed the eternal +hunger--ravenous as famine--of a God's revenge. + +Take out this fearful, fiendish, heartless lie--compared with which all +other lies are true--and the great arch of orthodox religion crumbling +falls. + +To the average man the Christian hell and heaven are only words. He has +no scope of thought. He lives but in a dim, impoverished now. To him the +past is dead--the future still unborn. He occupies with downcast eyes +that narrow line of barren, shifting sand that lies between the flowing +seas. But Genius knows all time. For him the dead all live and breathe, +and act their countless parts again. All human life is in his now, and +every moment feels the thrill of all to be. + +No one can overestimate the good accomplished by this marvelous, +many-sided man. He helped to slay the heart-devouring monster of the +Christian world. He tried to civilize the church, to humanize the +creeds, to soften pious breasts of stone, to take the fear from mothers' +hearts, the chains of creed from every brain, to put the star of hope +in every sky and over every grave. Attacked on every side, maligned +by those who preached the law of love, he wavered not, but fought +whole-hearted to the end. + +Obstruction is but virtue's foil. From thwarted light leaps color's +flame. The stream impeded has a song. + +He passed from harsh and cruel creeds to that serene philosophy that has +no place for pride or hate, that threatens no revenge, that looks on sin +as stumblings of the blind and pities those who fall, knowing that in +the souls of all there is a sacred yearning for the light. He ceased +to think of man as something thrust upon the world--an exile from +some other sphere. He felt at last that men are part of Nature's +self--kindred of all life--the gradual growth of countless years; that +all the sacred books were helps until outgrown, and all religions rough +and devious paths that man has worn with weary feet in sad and painful +search for truth and peace. To him these paths were wrong, and yet all +gave the promise of success. He knew that all the streams, no matter how +they wander, turn and curve amid the hills or rocks, or linger in the +lakes and pools, must some time reach the sea. These views enlarged his +soul and made him patient with the world, and while the wintry snows of +age were falling on his head, Spring, with all her wealth of bloom, was +in his heart. + +The memory of this ample man is now a part of Nature's wealth. He +battled for the rights of men. His heart was with the slave. He stood +against the selfish greed of millions banded to protect the pirate's +trade. His voice was for the right when freedom's friends were few. He +taught the church to think and doubt. He did not fear to stand +alone. His brain took counsel of his heart. To every foe he offered +reconciliation's hand. He loved this land of ours, and added to its +glory through the world. He was the greatest orator that stood within +the pulpit's narrow curve. He loved the liberty of speech. There was no +trace of bigot in his blood. He was a brave and generous man. + +With reverent hands, I place this tribute on his tomb. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO ROSCOE CONKLING. + + Delivered before the New York State Legislature, at Albany, + N. Y, May 9,1888. + + +ROSCOE CONKLING--a great man, an orator, a statesman, a lawyer, a +distinguished citizen of the Republic, in the zenith of his fame and +power has reached his journey's end; and we are met, here in the city of +his birth, to pay our tribute to his worth and work. He earned and held +a proud position in the public thought. He stood for independence, for +courage, and above all for absolute integrity, and his name was known +and honored by many millions of his fellow-men. + +The literature of many lands is rich with the tributes that gratitude, +admiration and love have paid to the great and honored dead. These +tributes disclose the character of nations, the ideals of the human +race. In them we find the estimates of greatness--the deeds and lives +that challenged praise and thrilled the hearts of men. + +In the presence of death, the good man judges as he would be judged. He +knows that men are only fragments--that the greatest walk in shadow, and +that faults and failures mingle with the lives of all. + +In the grave should be buried the prejudices and passions born of +conflict. Charity should hold the scales in which are weighed the deeds +of men. Peculiarities, traits born of locality and surroundings--these +are but the dust of the race--these are accidents, drapery, clothes, +fashions, that have nothing to do with the man except to hide his +character. They are the clouds that cling to mountains. Time gives us +clearer vision. That which was merely local fades away. The words of +envy are forgotten, and all there is of sterling worth remains. He who +was called a partisan is a patriot. The revolutionist and the outlaw are +the founders of nations, and he who was regarded as a scheming, selfish +politician becomes a statesman, a philosopher, whose words and deeds +shed light. + +Fortunate is that nation great enough to know the great. + +When a great man dies--one who has nobly fought the battle of a life, +who has been faithful to every trust, and has uttered his highest, +noblest thought--one who has stood proudly by the right in spite of jeer +and taunt, neither stopped by foe nor swerved by friend--in honoring +him, in speaking words of praise and love above his dust, we pay a +tribute to ourselves. + +How poor this world would be without its graves, without the memories of +its mighty dead. Only the voiceless speak forever. + +Intelligence, integrity and courage are the great pillars that support +the State. + +Above all, the citizens of a free nation should honor the brave +and independent man--the man of stainless integrity, of will and +intellectual force. Such men are the Atlases on whose mighty shoulders +rest the great fabric of the Republic. Flatterers, cringers, crawlers, +time-servers are the dangerous citizens of a democracy. They who gain +applause and power by pandering to the mistakes, the prejudices and +passions of the multitude, are the enemies of liberty. + +When the intelligent submit to the clamor of the many, anarchy begins +and the Republic reaches the edge of chaos. Mediocrity, touched with +ambition, flatters the base and calumniates the great, while the true +patriot, who will do neither, is often sacrificed. + +In a government of the people a leader should be a teacher--he should +carry the torch of truth. + +Most people are the slaves of habit--followers of custom--believers in +the wisdom of the past--and were it not for brave and splendid souls, +"the dust of antique time would lie unswept, and mountainous error be +too highly heaped for truth to overpeer." Custom is a prison, locked +and barred by those who long ago were dust, the keys of which are in the +keeping of the dead. + +Nothing is grander than when a strong, intrepid man breaks chains, +levels walls and breasts the many-headed mob like some great cliff that +meets and mocks the innumerable billows of the sea. + +The politician hastens to agree with the majority--insists that their +prejudice is patriotism, that their ignorance is wisdom;--not that +he loves them, but because he loves himself. The statesman, the +real reformer, points out the mistakes of the multitude, attacks the +prejudices of his countrymen, laughs at their follies, denounces +their cruelties, enlightens and enlarges their minds and educates the +conscience--not because he loves himself, but because he loves and +serves the right and wishes to make his country great and free. + +With him defeat is but a spur to further effort. He who refuses to +stoop, who cannot be bribed by the promise of success, or the fear of +failure--who walks the highway of the right, and in disaster stands +erect, is the only victor. Nothing is more despicable than to reach fame +by crawling,--position by cringing. + +When real history shall be written by the truthful and the wise, these +men, these kneelers at the shrines of chance and fraud, these brazen +idols worshiped once as gods, will be the very food of scorn, while +those who bore the burden of defeat, who earned and kept their +self-respect, who would not bow to man or men for place or power, will +wear upon their brows the laurel mingled with the oak. + +Roscoe Conkling was a man of superb courage. + +He not only acted without fear, but he had that fortitude of soul that +bears the consequences of the course pursued without complaint. He was +charged with being proud. The charge was true--he was proud. His knees +were as inflexible as the "unwedgeable and gnarled oak," but he was +not vain. Vanity rests on the opinion of others--pride, on our own. The +source of vanity is from without--of pride, from within. Vanity is a +vane that turns, a willow that bends, with every breeze--pride is +the oak that defies the storm. One is cloud--the other rock. One is +weakness--the other strength. + +This imperious man entered public life in the dawn of the +reformation--at a time when the country needed men of pride, of +principle and courage. The institution of slavery had poisoned all +the springs of power. Before this crime ambition fell upon its +knees,--politicians, judges, clergymen, and merchant-princes bowed low +and humbly, with their hats in their hands. The real friend of man was +denounced as the enemy of his country--the real enemy of the human race +was called a statesman and a patriot. Slavery was the bond and pledge of +peace, of union, and national greatness. The temple of American liberty +was finished--the auction-block was the corner-stone. + +It is hard to conceive of the utter demoralization, of the political +blindness and immorality, of the patriotic dishonesty, of the +cruelty and degradation of a people who supplemented the incomparable +Declaration of Independence with the Fugitive Slave Law. + +Think of the honored statesmen of that ignoble time who wallowed in this +mire and who, decorated with dripping filth, received the plaudits of +their fellow-men. The noble, the really patriotic, were the victims of +mobs, and the shameless were clad in the robes of office. + +But let us speak no word of blame--let us feel that each one acted +according to his light--according to his darkness. + +At last the conflict came. The hosts of light and darkness prepared +to meet upon the fields of war. The question was presented: Shall the +Republic be slave or free? The Republican party had triumphed at the +polls. The greatest man in our history was President elect. The victors +were appalled--they shrank from the great responsibility of success. In +the presence of rebellion they hesitated--they offered to return the +fruits of victory. Hoping to avert war they were willing that slavery +should become immortal. An amendment to the Constitution was proposed, +to the effect that no subsequent amendment should ever be made that in +anyway should interfere with the right of man to steal his fellow-men. + +This, the most marvelous proposition ever submitted to a Congress of +civilized men, received in the House an overwhelming majority, and the +necessary two-thirds in the Senate. The Republican party, in the moment +of its triumph, deserted every principle for which it had so gallantly +contended, and with the trembling hands of fear laid its convictions on +the altar of compromise. + +The Old Guard, numbering but sixty-five in the House, stood as firm +as the three hundred at Thermopylae. Thad-deus Stevens--as maliciously +right as any other man was ever wrong--refused to kneel. Owen Lovejoy, +remembering his brother's noble blood, refused to surrender, and on the +edge of disunion, in the shadow of civil war, with the air filled with +sounds of dreadful preparation, while the Republican party was retracing +its steps, Roscoe Conkling voted No. This puts a wreath of glory on his +tomb. From that vote to the last moment of his life he was a champion of +equal rights, staunch and stalwart. + +From that moment he stood in the front rank. He never wavered and he +never swerved. By his devotion to principle--his courage, the splendor +of his diction,--by his varied and profound knowledge, his conscientious +devotion to the great cause, and by his intellectual scope and grasp, he +won and held the admiration of his fellow-men. + +Disasters in the field, reverses at the polls, did not and could not +shake his courage or his faith. He knew the ghastly meaning of defeat. +He knew that the great ship that slavery sought to strand and wreck was +freighted with the world's sublimest hope. + +He battled for a nation's life--for the rights of slaves--the dignity +of labor, and the liberty of all. He guarded with a father's care the +rights of the hunted, the hated and despised. He attacked the savage +statutes of the reconstructed States with a torrent of invective, scorn +and execration. He was not satisfied until the freedman was an American +Citizen--clothed with every civil right--until the Constitution was his +shield--until the ballot was his sword. + +And long after we are dead, the colored man in this and other lands will +speak his name in reverence and love. Others wavered, but he stood +firm; some were false, but he was proudly true--fearlessly faithful unto +death. + +He gladly, proudly grasped the hands of colored men who stood with him +as makers of our laws, and treated them as equals and as friends. The +cry of "social equality" coined and uttered by the cruel and the base, +was to him the expression of a great and splendid truth. He knew that no +man can be the equal of the one he robs--that the intelligent and unjust +are not the superiors of the ignorant and honest--and he also felt, and +proudly felt, that if he were not too great to reach the hand of help +and recognition to the slave, no other Senator could rightfully refuse. + +We rise by raising others--and he who stoops above the fallen, stands +erect. + +Nothing can be grander than to sow the seeds of noble thoughts and +virtuous deeds--to liberate the bodies and the souls of men--to earn +the grateful homage of a race--and then, in life's last shadowy hour, +to know that the historian of Liberty will be compelled to write your +name. + +There are no words intense enough,--with heart enough--to express my +admiration for the great and gallant souls who have in every age and +every land upheld the right, and who have lived and died for freedom's +sake. + +In our lives have been the grandest years that man has lived, that Time +has measured by the flight of worlds. + +The history of that great Party that let the oppressed go free--that +lifted our nation from the depths of savagery to freedom's cloudless +heights, and tore with holy hands from every law the words that +sanctified the cruelty of man, is the most glorious in the annals of our +race. Never before was there such a moral exaltation--never a party with +a purpose so pure and high. It was the embodied conscience of a nation, +the enthusiasm of a people guided by wisdom, the impersonation of +justice; and the sublime victory achieved loaded even the conquered with +all the rights that freedom can bestow. + +Roscoe Conkling was an absolutely honest man. Honesty is the oak around +which all other virtues cling. Without that they fall, and groveling +die in weeds and dust. He believed that a nation should discharge its +obligations. He knew that a promise could not be made often enough, or +emphatic enough, to take the place of payment. He felt that the promise +of the Government was the promise of every citizen--that a national +obligation was a personal debt, and that no possible combination of +words and pictures could take the place of coin. He uttered the splendid +truth that "the higher obligations among men are not set down in writing +signed and sealed, but reside in honor." He knew that repudiation was +the sacrifice of honor--the death of the national soul. He knew that +without character, without integrity, there is no wealth, and that +below poverty, below bankruptcy, is the rayless abyss of repudiation. +He upheld the sacredness of contracts, of plighted national faith, and +helped to save and keep the honor of his native land. This adds another +laurel to his brow. + +He was the ideal representative, faithful and incorruptible. He believed +that his constituents and his country were entitled to the fruit of +his experience, to his best and highest thought. No man ever held the +standard of responsibility higher than he. He voted according to his +judgment, his conscience. He made no bargains--he neither bought nor +sold. + +To correct evils, abolish abuses and inaugurate reforms, he believed was +not only the duty, but the privilege, of a legislator. He neither sold +nor mortgaged himself. He was in Congress during the years of vast +expenditure, of war and waste--when the credit of the nation was loaned +to individuals--when claims were thick as leaves in June, when the +amendment of a statute, the change of a single word, meant millions, and +when empires were given to corporations. He stood at the summit of his +power--peer of the greatest--a leader tried and trusted. He had the +tastes of a prince, the fortune of a peasant, and yet he never swerved. +No corporation was great enough or rich enough to purchase him. His vote +could not be bought "for all the sun sees, or the close earth wombs, or +the profound seas hide." His hand was never touched by any bribe, and +on his soul there never was a sordid stain. Poverty was his priceless +crown. + +Above his marvelous intellectual gifts--above all place he ever +reached,--above the ermine he refused,--rises his integrity like some +great mountain peak--and there it stands, firm as the earth beneath, +pure as the stars above. + +He was a great lawyer. He understood the frame-work, the anatomy, the +foundations of law; was familiar with the great streams and currents and +tides of authority. + +He knew the history of legislation--the principles that have +been settled upon the fields of war. He knew the maxims,--those +crystallizations of common sense, those hand-grenades of argument. He +was not a case-lawyer--a decision index, or an echo; he was original, +thoughtful and profound. He had breadth and scope, resource, learning, +logic, and above all, a sense of justice. He was painstaking and +conscientious--anxious to know the facts--preparing for every attack, +ready for every defence. He rested only when the end was reached. During +the contest, he neither sent nor received a flag of truce. He was +true to his clients--making their case his. Feeling responsibility, he +listened patiently to details, and to his industry there were only the +limits of time and strength. He was a student of the Constitution. He +knew the boundaries of State and Federal jurisdiction, and no man +was more familiar with those great decisions that are the peaks and +promontories, the headlands and the beacons, of the law. + +He was an orator,--logical, earnest, intense and picturesque. He laid +the foundation with care, with accuracy and skill, and rose by "cold +gradation and well balanced form" from the corner-stone of statement +to the domed conclusion. He filled the stage. He satisfied the eye--the +audience was his. He had that indefinable thing called presence. Tall, +commanding, erect--ample in speech, graceful in compliment, Titanic +in denunciation, rich in illustration, prodigal of comparison and +metaphor--and his sentences, measured and rhythmical, fell like music on +the enraptured throng. + +He abhorred the Pharisee, and loathed all conscientious fraud. He had a +profound aversion for those who insist on putting base motives back +of the good deeds of others. He wore no mask. He knew his friends--his +enemies knew him. + +He had no patience with pretence--with patriotic reasons for unmanly +acts. He did his work and bravely spoke his thought. + +Sensitive to the last degree, he keenly felt the blows and stabs of the +envious and obscure--of the smallest, of the weakest--but the greatest +could not drive him from conviction's field. He would not stoop to +ask or give an explanation. He left his words and deeds to justify +themselves. + +He held in light esteem a friend who heard with half-believing ears the +slander of a foe. He walked a highway of his own, and kept the company +of his self-respect. He would not turn aside to avoid a foe--to greet or +gain a friend. + +In his nature there was no compromise. To him there were but two +paths--the right and wrong. He was maligned, misrepresented and +misunderstood--but he would not answer. He knew that character speaks +louder far than any words. He was as silent then as he is now--and his +silence, better than any form of speech, refuted every charge. + +He was an American--proud of his country, that was and ever will be +proud of him. He did not find perfection only in other lands. He did +not grow small and shrunken, withered and apologetic, in the presence +of those upon whom greatness had been thrust by chance. He could not +be overawed by dukes or lords, nor flattered into vertebrate-less +subserviency by the patronizing smiles of kings. In the midst of +conventionalities he had the feeling of suffocation. He believed in the +royalty of man, in the sovereignty of the citizen, and in the matchless +greatness of this Republic. + +He was of the classic mould--a figure from the antique world. He had +the pose of the great statues--the pride and bearing of the intellectual +Greek, of the conquering Roman, and he stood in the wide free air as +though within his veins there flowed the blood of a hundred kings. + +And as he lived he died. Proudly he entered the darkness--or the +dawn--that we call death. Unshrinkingly he passed beyond our horizon, +beyond the twilight's purple hills, beyond the utmost reach of human +harm or help--to that vast realm of silence or of joy where the +innumerable dwell, and he has left with us his wealth of thought and +deed--the memory of a brave, imperious, honest man, who bowed alone to +death. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO RICHARD H. WHITING. + +New York, May 24., 1888. + + +MY FRIENDS: The river of another life has reached the sea. + +Again we are in the presence of that eternal peace that we call death. + +My life has been rich in friends, but I never had a better or a truer +one than he who lies in silence here. He was as steadfast, as faithful, +as the stars. + +Richard H. Whiting was an absolutely honest man. His word was gold--his +promise was fulfillment--and there never has been, there never will be, +on this poor earth, any thing nobler than an honest, loving soul. + +This man was as reliable as the attraction of gravitation--he knew +no shadow of turning. He was as generous as autumn, as hospitable as +summer, and as tender as a perfect day in June. He forgot only himself, +and asked favors only for others. He begged for the opportunity to +do good--to stand by a friend, to support a cause, to defend what he +believed to be right. + +He was a lover of nature--of the woods, the fields and flowers. He was +a home-builder. He believed in the family and the fireside--in the +sacredness of the hearth. + +He was a believer in the religion of deed, and his creed was to do good. +No man has ever slept in death who nearer lived his creed. + +I have known him for many years, and have yet to hear a word spoken of +him except in praise. + +His life was full of honor, of kindness and of helpful deeds. Besides +all, his soul was free. He feared nothing, except to do wrong. He was +a believer in the gospel of help and hope. He knew how much better, how +much more sacred, a kind act is than any theory the brain has wrought. + +The good are the noble. His life filled the lives of others with +sunshine. He has left a legacy of glory to his children. They can +truthfully say that within their veins is right royal blood--the blood +of an honest, generous man, of a steadfast friend, of one who was true +to the very gates of death. + +If there be another world, another life beyond the shore of this,--if +the great and good who died upon this orb are there,--then the noblest +and the best, with eager hands, have welcomed him--the equal in honor, +in generosity, of any one that ever passed beyond the veil. + +To me this world is growing poor. New friends can never fill the places +of the old. + +Farewell! If this is the end, then you have left to us the sacred memory +of a noble life. If this is not the end, there is no world in which you, +my friend, will not be loved and welcomed. Farewell! + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO COURTLANDT PALMER. + +New York, July 26, 1888. + +MY FRIENDS: A thinker of pure thoughts, a speaker of brave words, a doer +of generous deeds has reached the silent haven that all the dead have +reached, and where the voyage of every life must end; and we, his +friends, who even now are hastening after him, are met to do the last +kind acts that man may do for man--to tell his virtues and to lay with +tenderness and tears lay ashes in the sacred place of rest and peace. + +Some one has said, that in the open hands of death we find only what +they gave away. + +Let us believe that pure thoughts, brave words and generous deeds can +never die. Let us believe that they bear fruit and add forever to the +well-being of the human race. Let us believe that a noble, self-denying +life increases the moral wealth of man, and gives assurance that the +future will be grander than the past. + +In the monotony of subservience, in the multitude of blind followers, +nothing is more inspiring than a free and independent man--one who gives +and asks reasons; one who demands freedom and gives what he demands; one +who refuses to be slave or master. Such a man was Courtlandt Palmer, to +whom we pay the tribute of respect and love. + +He was an honest man--he gave the rights he claimed. This was the +foundation on which he built. To think for himself--to give his thought +to others; this was to him not only a privilege, not only a right, but a +duty. + +He believed in self-preservation--in personal independence--that is to +say, in manhood. + +He preserved the realm of mind from the invasion of brute force, and +protected the children of the brain from the Herod of authority. + +He investigated for himself the questions, the problems and the +mysteries of life. Majorities were nothing to him. No error could be old +enough--popular, plausible or profitable enough--to bribe his judgment +or to keep his conscience still. + +He knew that, next to finding truth, the greatest joy is honest search. + +He was a believer in intellectual hospitality, in the fair exchange of +thought, in good mental manners, in the amenities of the soul, in the +chivalry of discussion. + +He insisted that those who speak should hear; that those who question +should answer; that each should strive not for a victory over others, +but for the discovery of truth, and that truth when found should be +welcomed by every human soul. + +He knew that truth has no fear of investigation--of being understood. +He knew that truth loves the day--that its enemies are ignorance, +prejudice, egotism, bigotry, hypocrisy, fear and darkness, and that +intelligence, candor, honesty, love and light are its eternal friends. + +He believed in the morality of the useful--that the virtues are the +friends of man--the seeds of joy. + +He knew that consequences determine the quality of actions, and "that +whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap." + +In the positive philosophy of Auguste Comte he found the framework of +his creed. In the conclusions of that great, sublime and tender soul he +found the rest, the serenity and the certainty he sought. + +The clouds had fallen from his life. He saw that the old faiths were +but phases in the growth of man--that out from the darkness, up from +the depths, the human race through countless ages and in every land had +struggled toward the ever-growing light. + +He felt that the living are indebted to the noble dead, and that each +should pay his debt; that he should pay it by preserving to the extent +of his power the good he has, by destroying the hurtful, by adding to +the knowledge of the world, by giving better than he had received; and +that each should be the bearer of a torch, a giver of light for all that +is, for all to be. + +This was the religion of duty perceived, of duty within the reach of +man, within the circumference of the known--a religion without mystery, +with experience for the foundation of belief--a religion understood by +the head and approved by the heart--a religion that appealed to reason +with a definite end in view--the civilization and development of the +human race by legitimate, adequate and natural means--that is to say, by +ascertaining the conditions of progress and by teaching each to be noble +enough to live for all. + +This is the gospel of man; this is the gospel of this world; this is the +religion of humanity; this is a philosophy that comtemplates not with +scorn, but with pity, with admiration and with love all that man has +done, regarding, as it does, the past with all its faults and virtues, +its sufferings, its cruelties and crimes, as the only road by which the +perfect could be reached. + +He denied the supernatural--the phantoms and the ghosts that fill +the twilight-land of fear. To him and for him there was but one +religion--the religion of pure thoughts, of noble words, of self-denying +deeds, of honest work for all the world--the religion of Help and Hope. + +Facts were the foundation of his faith; history was his prophet; reason +his guide; duty his deity; happiness the end; intelligence the means. + +He knew that man must be the providence of man. + +He did not believe in Religion and Science, but in the Religion of +Science--that is to say, wisdom glorified by love, the Savior of our +race--the religion that conquers prejudice and hatred, that drives all +superstition from the mind, that ennobles, lengthens and enriches life, +that drives from every home the wolves of want, from every heart the +fiends of selfishness and fear, and from every brain the monsters of the +night. + +He lived and labored for his fellow-men. He sided with the weak and poor +against the strong and rich. He welcomed light. His face was ever toward +the East. + +According to his light he lived. "The world was his country--to do good +his religion." There is no language to express a nobler creed than this; +nothing can be grander, more comprehensive, nearer perfect. This was the +creed that glorified his life and made his death sublime. + +He was afraid to do wrong, and for that reason was not afraid to die. + +He knew that the end was near. He knew that his work was done. He stood +within the twilight, within the deepening gloom, knowing that for the +last time the gold was fading from the West and that there could not +fall again within his eyes the trembling lustre of another dawn. He knew +that night had come, and yet his soul was filled with light, for in that +night the memory of his generous deeds shone out like stars. + +What can we say? What words can solve the mystery of life, the mystery +of death? What words can justly pay a tribute to the man who lived +to his ideal, who spoke his honest thought, and who was turned aside +neither by envy, nor hatred, nor contumely, nor slander, nor scorn, nor +fear? + +What words will do that life the justice that we know and feel? + +A heart breaks, a man dies, a leaf falls in the far forest, a babe is +born, and the great world sweeps on. + +By the grave of man stands the angel of Silence. + +No one can tell which is better--Life with its gleams and shadows, its +thrills and pangs, its ecstasy and tears, its wreaths and thorns, its +crowns, its glories and Golgothas, or Death, with its peace, its rest, +its cool and placid brow that hath within no memory or fear of grief or +pain. + +Farewell, dear friend. The world is better for your life--The world is +braver for your death. + +Farewell! We loved you living, and we love you now. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO MRS. MARY H. FISKE. + +At Scottish Rite Hall, New York, February 6, 1889. + + +MY FRIENDS: In the presence of the two great mysteries, Life and Death, +we are met to say above this still, unconscious house of clay, a few +words of kindness, of regret, of love, and hope. + +In this presence, let us speak of the goodness, the charity, the +generosity and the genius of the dead. + +Only flowers should be laid upon the tomb. In life's last pillow there +should be no thorns. + +Mary Fiske was like herself--she patterned after none. She was a genius, +and put her soul in all she did and wrote. She cared nothing for roads, +nothing for beaten paths, nothing for the footsteps of others--she went +across the fields and through the woods and by the winding streams, and +down the vales, or over crags, wherever fancy led. She wrote lines that +leaped with laughter and words that were wet with tears. She gave us +quaint thoughts, and sayings filled with the "pert and nimble spirit of +mirth." Her pages were flecked with sunshine and shadow, and in every +word were the pulse and breath of life. + +Her heart went out to all the wretched in this weary world--and yet she +seemed as joyous as though grief and death were nought but words. She +wept where others wept, but in her own misfortunes found the food of +hope. She cared for the to-morrow of others, but not for her own. She +lived for to-day. + +Some hearts are like a waveless pool, satisfied to hold the image of a +wondrous star--but hers was full of motion, life and light and storm. + +She longed for freedom. Every limitation was a prison's wall. Rules were +shackles, and forms were made for serfs and slaves. + +She gave her utmost thought. She praised all generous deeds; applauded +the struggling and even those who failed. + +She pitied the poor, the forsaken, the friendless. No one could fall +below her pity, no one could wander beyond the circumference of her +sympathy. To her there were no outcasts--they were victims. She knew +that the inhabitants of palaces and penitentiaries might change +places without adding to the injustice of the world. She knew that +circumstances and conditions determine character--that the lowest and +the worst of our race were children once, as pure as light, whose cheeks +dimpled with smiles beneath the heaven of a mother's eyes. She thought +of the road they had traveled, of the thorns that had pierced their +feet, of the deserts they had crossed, and so, instead of words of scorn +she gave the eager hand of help. + +No one appealed to her in vain. She listened to the story of the poor, +and all she had she gave. A god could do no more. + +The destitute and suffering turned naturally to her. The maimed and hurt +sought for her open door, and the helpless put their hands in hers. + +She shielded the weak--she attacked the strong. + +Her heart was open as the gates of day. She shed kindness as the sun +sheds light. If all her deeds were flowers, the air would be faint with +perfume. If all her charities could change to melodies, a symphony would +fill the sky. + +Mary Fiske had within her brain the divine fire called genius, and in +her heart the "touch of nature that makes the whole world kin." + +She wrote as a stream runs, that winds and babbles through the shadowy +fields, that falls in foam of flight and haste and laughing joins the +sea. + +A little while ago a babe was found--one that had been abandoned by +its mother--left as a legacy to chance or fate. The warm heart of Mary +Fiske, now cold in death, was touched. She took the waif and held it +lovingly to her breast and made the child her own. + +We pray thee, Mother Nature, that thou wilt take this woman and hold her +as tenderly in thy arms, as she held and pressed against her generous, +throbbing heart, the abandoned babe. + +We ask no more. + +In this presence, let us remember our faults, our frailties, and the +generous, helpful, self-denying, loving deeds of Mary Fiske. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO HORACE SEAVER. + +At Paine Hall, Boston, August 25, 1889. + + * The eulogy pronounced at the funeral of Horace Shaver In + Paine Hall last Sunday was the tribute of one great man to + another. To have Robert G. Ingersoll speak words of praise + above the silent form is fame; to deserve these words is + immortality.--The Boston Investigator, August 28, 1889. + + +HORACE SEAVER was a pioneer, a torch-bearer, a toiler in that great +field we call the world--a worker for his fellow-men. At the end of his +task he has fallen asleep, and we are met to tell the story of his long +and useful life--to pay our tribute to his work and worth. + +He was one who saw the dawn while others lived in night. He kept his +face toward the "purpling east" and watched the coming of the blessed +day. + +He always sought for light. His object was to know--to find a reason for +his faith--a fact on which to build. + +In superstition's sands he sought the gems of truth; in superstition's +night he looked for stars. + +Born in New England--reared amidst the cruel superstitions of his age +and time, he had the manhood and the courage to investigate, and he had +the goodness and the courage to tell his honest thoughts. + +He was always kind, and sought to win the confidence of men by sympathy +and love. There was no taint or touch of malice in his blood. To him +his fellows did not seem depraved--they were not wholly bad--there was +within the heart of each the seeds of good. He knew that back of every +thought and act were forces uncontrolled. He wisely said: "Circumstances +furnish the seeds of good and evil, and man is but the soil in which +they grow." Horace Seaver was crowned with the wreath of his own deeds, +woven by the generous hand of a noble friend. He fought the creed, and +loved the man. He pitied those who feared and shuddered at the thought +of death--who dwelt in darkness and in dread. + +The religion of his day filled his heart with horror. + +He was kind, compassionate, and tender, and could not fall upon his +knees before a cruel and revengeful God--he could not bow to one +who slew with famine, sword and fire--to one pitiless as pestilence, +relentless as the lightning stroke. Jehovah had no attribute that he +could love. + +He attacked the creed of New England--a creed that had within it +the ferocity of Knox, the malice of Calvin, the cruelty of Jonathan +Edwards--a religion that had a monster for a God--a religion whose +dogmas would have shocked cannibals feasting upon babes. + +Horace Seaver followed the light of his brain--the impulse of his heart. +He was attacked, but he answered the insulter with a smile; and even he +who coined malignant lies was treated as a friend misled. He did not +ask God to forgive his enemies--he forgave them himself. He was sincere. +Sincerity is the true and perfect mirror of the mind. It reflects the +honest thought. It is the foundation of character, and without it there +is no moral grandeur. + +Sacred are the lips from which has issued only truth. Over all wealth, +above all station, above the noble, the robed and crowned, rises the +sincere man. Happy is the man who neither paints nor patches, veils nor +veneers. Blessed is he who wears no mask. + +The man who lies before us wrapped in perfect peace, practiced no art to +hide or half conceal his thought. He did not write or speak the double +words that might be useful in retreat. He gave a truthful transcript of +his mind, and sought to make his meaning clear as light. + +To use his own words, he had "the courage which impels a man to do +his duty, to hold fast his integrity, to maintain a conscience void +of offence, at every hazard and at every sacrifice, in defiance of the +world." + +He lived to his ideal. He sought the approbation of himself. He did not +build his character upon the opinions of others, and it was out of the +very depths of his nature that he asked this profound question: + +"What is there in other men that makes us desire their approbation, and +fear their censure more than our own?" + +Horace Seaver was a good and loyal citizen of the mental republic--a +believer in, intellectual hospitality, one who knew that bigotry is +born of ignorance and fear--the provincialisms of the brain. He did +not belong to the tribe, or to the nation, but to the human race. His +sympathy was wide as want, and, like the sky, bent above the suffering +world. + +This man had that superb thing called moral courage--courage in its +highest form. He knew that his thoughts were not the thoughts of +others--that he was with the few, and that where one would take his +side, thousands would be his eager foes. He knew that wealth would +scorn and cultured ignorance deride, and that believers in the creeds, +buttressed by law and custom, would hurl the missiles of revenge and +hate. He knew that lies, like snakes, would fill the pathway of his +life--and yet he told his honest thought--told it without hatred and +without contempt--told it as it really was. And so, through all his +days, his heart was sound and stainless to the core. + +When he enlisted in the army whose banner is light, the honest +investigator was looked upon as lost and cursed, and even Christian +criminals held him in contempt. The believing embezzler, the orthodox +wife-beater, even the murderer, lifted his bloody hands and thanked God +that on his soul there was no stain of unbelief. + +In nearly every State of our Republic, the man who denied the +absurdities and impossibilities lying at the foundation of what is +called orthodox religion, was denied his civil rights. He was not +canopied by the aegis of the law. He stood beyond the reach of sympathy. +He was not allowed to testify against the invader of his home, the +seeker for his life--his lips were closed. He was declared dishonorable, +because he was honest. His unbelief made him a social leper, a pariah, +an outcast. He was the victim of religious hate and scorn. Arrayed +against him were all the prejudices and all the forces and hypocrisies +of society. All mistakes and lies were his enemies. Even the Theist was +denounced as a disturber of the peace, although he told his thoughts in +kind and candid words. He was called a blasphemer, because he sought to +rescue the reputation of his God from the slanders of orthodox priests. + +Such was the bigotry of the time, that natural love was lost. The +unbelieving son was hated by his pious sire, and even the mother's heart +was by her creed turned into stone. + +Horace Seaver pursued his way. He worked and wrought as best he could, +in solitude and want. He knew the day would come. He lived to be +rewarded for his toil--to see most of the laws repealed that had made +outcasts of the noblest, the wisest, and the best. He lived to see the +foremost preachers of the world attack the sacred creeds. He lived to +see the sciences released from superstition's clutch. He lived to see +the orthodox theologian take his place with the professor of the +black art, the fortune-teller, and the astrologer. He lived to see +the greatest of the world accept his thought--to see the theologian +displaced by the true priests of Nature--by Humboldt and Darwin, by +Huxley and Haeckel. + +Within the narrow compass of his life the world was changed. The +railway, the steamship, and the telegraph made all nations neighbors. +Countless inventions have made the luxuries of the past the necessities +of to-day. Life has been enriched, and man ennobled. The geologist has +read the records of frost and flame, of wind and wave--the astronomer +has told the story of the stars--the biologist has sought the germ of +life, and in every department of knowledge the torch of science sheds +its sacred light. + +The ancient creeds have grown absurd. The miracles are small and mean. +The inspired book is filled with fables told to please a childish world, +and the dogma of eternal pain now shocks the heart and brain. + +He lived to see a monument unveiled to Bruno in the city of Rome--to +Giordano Bruno--that great man who two hundred and eighty-nine years ago +suffered death for having proclaimed the truths that since have +filled the world with joy. He lived to see the victim of the church a +victor--lived to see his memory honored by a nation freed from papal +chains. + +He worked knowing what the end must be--expecting little while he +lived--but knowing that every fact in the wide universe was on his side. +He knew that truth can wait, and so he worked patient as eternity. + +He had the brain of a philosopher and the heart of a child. + +Horace Seaver was a man of common sense. + +By that I mean, one who knows the law of average. He denied the Bible, +not on account of what has been discovered in astronomy, or the length +of time it took to form the delta of the Nile--but he compared the +things he found with what he knew. + +He knew that antiquity added nothing to probability--that lapse of time +can never take the place of cause, and that the dust can never gather +thick enough upon mistakes to make them equal with the truth. + +He knew that the old, by no possibility, could have been more wonderful +than the new, and that the present is a perpetual torch by which we know +the past. + +To him all miracles were mistakes, whose parents were cunning and +credulity. He knew that miracles were not, because they are not. + +He believed in the sublime, unbroken, and eternal march of causes and +effects--denying the chaos of chance, and the caprice of power. + +He tested the past by the now, and judged of all the men and races of +the world by those he knew. + +He believed in the religion of free thought and good deed--of character, +of sincerity, of honest endeavor, of cheerful help--and above all, in +the religion of love and liberty--in a religion for every day--for +the world in which we live--for the present--the religion of roof and +raiment, of food, of intelligence, of intellectual hospitality--the +religion that gives health and happiness, freedom and content--in the +religion of work, and in the ceremonies of honest labor. + +He lived for this world; if there be another, he will live for that. + +He did what he could for the destruction of fear--the destruction of +the imaginary monster who rewards the few in heaven--the monster who +tortures the many in perdition. + +He was a friend of all the world, and sought to civilize the human race. + +For more than fifty years he labored to free the bodies and the souls +of men--and many thousands have read his words with joy. He sought the +suffering and oppressed. He sat by those in pain--and his helping hand +was laid in pity on the brow of death. + +He asked only to be treated as he treated others. He asked for only what +he earned, and had the manhood cheerfully to accept the consequences of +his actions. He expected no reward for the goodness of another. + +But he has lived his life. We should shed no tears except the tears of +gratitude. We should rejoice that he lived so long. + +In Nature's course, his time had come. The four seasons were complete +in him. The Spring could never come again. The measure of his years was +full. + +When the day is done--when the work of a life is finished--when the gold +of evening meets the dusk of night, beneath the silent stars the tired +laborer should fall asleep. To outlive usefulness is a double death. +"Let me not live after my flame lacks oil, to be the snuff of younger +spirits." + +When the old oak is visited in vain by Spring--when light and rain no +longer thrill--it is not well to stand leafless, desolate, and alone. It +is better far to fall where Nature softly covers all with woven moss and +creeping vine. + +How little, after all, we know of what is ill or well! How little of +this wondrous stream of cataracts and pools--this stream of life, that +rises in a world unknown, and flows to that mysterious sea whose shore +the foot of one who comes has never pressed! How little of this life we +know--this struggling ray of light 'twixt gloom and gloom--this strip of +land by verdure clad, between the unknown wastes--this throbbing moment +filled with love and pain--this dream that lies between the shadowy +shores of sleep and death! + +We stand upon this verge of crumbling time. We love, we hope, we +disappear. Again we mingle with the dust, and the "knot intrinsicate" +forever falls apart. + +But this we know: A noble life enriches all the world. + +Horace Seaver lived for others. He accepted toil and hope deferred. +Poverty was his portion. Like Socrates, he did not seek to adorn his +body, but rather his soul with the jewels of charity, modesty, courage, +and above all, with a love of liberty. + +Farewell, O brave and modest man! + +Your lips, between which truths burst into blossom, are forever closed. +Your loving heart has ceased to beat. Your busy brain is still, and from +your hand has dropped the sacred torch. + +Your noble, self-denying life has honored us, and we will honor you. + +You were my friend, and I was yours. Above your silent clay I pay this +tribute to your worth. + +Farewell! + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO LAWRENCE BARRETT. + +At the Broadway Theatre, New York, March 22, 1891. + + +MY heart tells me that on the threshold of my address it will be +appropriate for me to say a few words about the great actor who has +just fallen into that sleep that we call death. Lawrence Barrett was my +friend, and I was his. He was an interpreter of Shakespeare, to whose +creations he gave flesh and blood. He began at the foundation of his +profession, and rose until he stood next to his friend--next to one who +is regarded as the greatest tragedian of our time--next to Edwin Booth. + +The life of Lawrence Barrett was a success, because he honored himself +and added glory to the stage. + +He did not seek for gain by pandering to the thoughtless, ignorant or +base. He gave the drama in its highest and most serious form. He shunned +the questionable, the vulgar and impure, and gave the intellectual, +the pathetic, the manly and the tragic. He did not stoop to conquer--he +soared. He was fitted for the stage. He had a thoughtful face, a vibrant +voice and the pose of chivalry, and besides he had patience, industry, +courage and the genius of success. + +He was a graceful and striking Bassanio, a thoughtful Hamlet, an intense +Othello, a marvelous Harebell, and the best Cassius of his century. + +In the drama of human life, all are actors, and no one knows his part. +In this great play the scenes are shifted by unknown forces, and the +commencement, plot and end are still unknown--are still unguessed. One +by one the players leave the stage, and others take their places. There +is no pause--the play goes on. No prompter's voice is heard, and no one +has the slightest clue to what the next scene is to be. + +Will this great drama have an end? Will the curtain fall at last? Will +it rise again upon some other stage? Reason says perhaps, and Hope still +whispers yes. Sadly I bid my friend farewell, I admired the actor, and I +loved the man. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO WALT WHITMAN. + +Camden, N. J., March 30, 1892. + +MY FRIENDS: Again we, in the mystery of Life, are brought face to face +with the mystery of Death. A great man, a great American, the most +eminent citizen of this Republic, lies dead before us, and we have met +to pay a tribute to his greatness and his worth. + +I know he needs no words of mine. His fame is secure. He laid the +foundations of it deep in the human heart and brain. He was, above all +I have known, the poet of humanity, of sympathy. He was so great that he +rose above the greatest that he met without arrogance, and so great +that he stooped to the lowest without conscious condescension. He never +claimed to be lower or greater than any of the sous of men. + +He came into our generation a free, untrammeled spirit, with sympathy +for all. His arm was beneath the form of the sick. He sympathized with +the imprisoned and despised, and even on the brow of crime he was great +enough to place the kiss of human sympathy. + +One of the greatest lines in our literature is his, and the line is +great enough to do honor to the greatest genius that has ever lived. +He said, speaking of an outcast: "Not till the sun excludes you do I +exclude you." + +His charity was as wide as the sky, and wherever there was human +suffering, human misfortune, the sympathy of Whitman bent above it as +the firmament bends above the earth. + +He was built on a broad and splendid plan--ample, without appearing to +have limitations--passing easily for a brother of mountains and seas and +constellations; caring nothing for the little maps and charts with which +timid pilots hug the shore, but giving himself freely with recklessness +of genius to winds and waves and tides; caring for nothing as long as +the stars were above him. He walked among men, among writers, among +verbal varnishers and veneerers, among literary milliners and tailors, +with the unconscious majesty of an antique god. + +He was the poet of that divine democracy which gives equal rights to +all the sons and daughters of men. He uttered the great American voice; +uttered a song worthy of the great Republic. No man ever said more +for the rights of humanity, more in favor of real democracy, of real +justice. He neither scorned nor cringed, was neither tyrant nor slave. +He asked only to stand the equal of his fellows beneath the great flag +of nature, the blue and stars. + +He was the poet of Life. It was a joy simply to breathe. He loved the +clouds; he enjoyed the breath of morning, the twilight, the wind, the +winding streams. He loved to look at the sea when the waves burst into +the whitecaps of joy. He loved the fields, the hills; he was acquainted +with the trees, with birds, with all the beautiful objects of the earth. +He not only saw these objects, but understood their meaning, and he used +them that he might exhibit his heart to his fellow-men. + +He was the poet of Love. He was not ashamed of that divine passion that +has built every home in the world; that divine passion that has painted +every picture and given us every real work of art; that divine passion +that has made the world worth living in and has given some value to +human life. + +He was the poet of the natural, and taught men not to be ashamed of that +which is natural. He was not only the poet of democracy, not only the +poet of the great Republic, but he was the poet of the human race. He +was not confined to the limits of this country, but his sympathy went +out over the seas to all the nations of the earth. + +He stretched out his hand and felt himself the equal of all kings and of +all princes, and the brother of all men, no matter how high, no matter +how low. + +He has uttered more supreme words than any writer of our century, +possibly of almost any other. He was, above all things, a man, and above +genius, above all the snow-capped peaks of intelligence, above all art, +rises the true man. Greater than all is the true man, and he walked +among his fellow-men as such. + +He was the poet of Death. He accepted all life and all death, and he +justified all. He had the courage to meet all, and was great enough and +splendid enough to harmonize all and to accept all there is of life as a +divine melody. + +You know better than I what his life has been, but let me say one +thing. Knowing, as he did, what others can know and what they cannot, +he accepted and absorbed all theories, all creeds, all religions, and +believed in none. His philosophy was a sky that embraced all clouds and +accounted for all clouds. He had a philosophy and a religion of his own, +broader, as he believed--and as I believe--than others. He accepted all, +he understood all, and he was above all. + +He was absolutely true to himself. He had frankness and courage, and he +was as candid as light. He was willing that all the sons of men should +be absolutely acquainted with his heart and brain. He had nothing to +conceal. Frank, candid, pure, serene, noble, and yet for years he was +maligned and slandered, simply because he had the candor of nature. +He will be understood yet, and that for which he was condemned--his +frankness, his candor--will add to the glory and greatness of his fame. + +He wrote a liturgy for mankind; he wrote a great and splendid psalm of +life, and he gave to us the gospel of humanity--the greatest gospel that +can be preached. + +He was not afraid to live, not afraid to die. For many years he and +death were near neighbors. He was always willing and ready to meet +and greet this king called death, and for many months he sat in the +deepening twilight waiting for the night, waiting for the light. + +He never lost his hope. When the mists filled the valleys, he looked +upon the mountain tops, and when the mountains in darkness disappeared, +he fixed his gaze upon the stars. + +In his brain were the blessed memories of the day, and in his heart were +mingled the dawn and dusk of life. + +He was not afraid; he was cheerful every moment. The laughing nymphs of +day did not desert him. They remained that they might clasp the hands +and greet with smiles the veiled and silent sisters of the night. And +when they did come, Walt Whitman stretched his hand to them. On one side +were the nymphs of the day, and on the other the silent sisters of the +night, and so, hand in hand, between smiles and tears, he reached his +journey's end. + +From the frontier of life, from the western wave-kissed shore, he +sent us messages of content and hope, and these messages seem now like +strains of music blown by the "Mystic Trumpeter" from Death's pale +realm. + +To-day we give back to Mother Nature, to her clasp and kiss, one of the +bravest, sweetest souls that ever lived in human clay. + +Charitable as the air and generous as Nature, he was negligent of all +except to do and say what he believed he should do and should say. + +And I to-day thank him, not only for you but for myself, for all the +brave words he has uttered. I thank him for all the great and splendid +words lie has said in favor of liberty, in favor of man and woman, in +favor of motherhood, in favor of fathers, in favor of children, and I +thank him for the brave words that he has said of death. + +He has lived, he has died, and death is less terrible than it was +before. Thousands and millions will walk down into the "dark valley of +the shadow" holding Walt Whitman by the hand. Long after we are dead the +brave words he has spoken will sound like trumpets to the dying. + +And so I lay this little wreath upon this great mans tomb. I loved him +living, and I love him still. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO PHILO D. BECKWITH. + +Dowagiac, Mich., January 25, 1893. + + +LADIES and Gentlemen: Nothing is nobler than to plant the flower of +gratitude on the grave of a generous man--of one who labored for the +good of all--whose hands were open and whose heart was full. + +Praise for the noble dead is an inspiration for the noble living. + +Loving words sow seeds of love in every gentle heart. Appreciation is +the soil and climate of good and generous deeds. + +We are met to-night not to pay, but to acknowledge a debt of gratitude +to one who lived and labored here--who was the friend of all and who for +many years was the providence of the poor. To one who left to those who +knew him best, the memory of countless loving deeds--the richest legacy +that man can leave to man. + +We are here to dedicate this monument to the stainless memory of Philo +D. Beckwith--one of the kings of men. + +This monument--this perfect theatre--this beautiful house of +cheerfulness and joy--this home and child of all the arts--this temple +where the architect, the sculptor and painter united to build and +decorate a stage whereon the drama with a thousand tongues will tell +the frailties and the virtues of the human race, and music with her +thrilling voice will touch the source of happy tears. + +This is a fitting monument to the man whose memory we honor--to one, +who broadening with the years, outgrew the cruel creeds, the heartless +dogmas of his time--to one who passed from superstition to science--from +religion to reason--from theology to humanity--from slavery to +freedom--from the shadow of fear to the blessed light of love and +courage. To one who believed in intellectual hospitality--in the perfect +freedom of the soul, and hated tyranny, in every form, with all his +heart. + +To one whose head and hands were in partnership constituting the firm +of Intelligence and Industry, and whose heart divided the profits with +his fellow-men. To one who fought the battle of life alone, without the +aid of place or wealth, and yet grew nobler and gentler with success. + +To one who tried to make a heaven here and who believed in the blessed +gospel of cheerfulness and love--of happiness and hope. + +And it is fitting, too, that this monument should be adorned with the +sublime faces, wrought in stone, of the immortal dead--of those who +battled for the rights of man--who broke the fetters of the slave--of +those who filled the minds of men with poetry, art, and light--of +Voltaire, who abolished torture in France and who did more for liberty +than any other of the sons of men--of Thomas Paine, whose pen did as +much as any sword to make the New World free--of Victor Hugo, who wept +for those who weep--of Emerson, a worshiper of the Ideal, who filled +the mind with suggestions of the perfect--of Goethe, the +poet-philosopher--of Whitman, the ample, wide as the sky--author of the +tenderest, the most pathetic, the sublimest poem that this continent has +produced--of Shakespeare, the King of all--of Beethoven, the divine,--of +Chopin and Verdi and of Wagner, grandest of them all, whose music +satisfies the heart and brain and fills imagination's sky--of George +Eliot, who wove within her brain the purple robe her genius wears--of +George Sand, subtle and sincere, passionate and free--and with +these--faces of those who, on the stage, have made the mimic world as +real as life and death. + +Beneath the loftiest monuments may be found ambition's worthless dust, +while those who lived the loftiest lives are sleeping now in unknown +graves. + +It may be that the bravest of the brave who ever fell upon the field of +ruthless war, was left without a grave to mingle slowly with the land he +saved. + +But here and now the Man and Monument agree, and blend like sounds that +meet and melt in melody--a monument for the dead--a blessing for the +living--a memory of tears--a prophecy of joy. + +Fortunate the people where this good man lived, for they are all his +heirs--and fortunate for me that I have had the privilege of laying this +little laurel leaf upon his unstained brow. + +And now, speaking for those he loved--for those who represent the +honored dead--I dedicate this home of mirth and song--of poetry and +art--to the memory of Philo D. Beckwith--a true philosopher--a real +philanthropist. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO ANTON SEIDL. + + A telegram read at the funeral services in the Metropolitan + Opera House, New York City, March 31, 1898. + +IN the noon and zenith of his career, in the flush and glory of success, +Anton Seidl, the greatest orchestral leader of all time, the perfect +interpreter of Wagner, of all his subtlety and sympathy, his heroism and +grandeur, his intensity and limitless passion, his wondrous harmonies +that tell of all there is in life, and touch the longings and the hopes +of every heart, has passed from the shores of sound to the realm of +silence, borne by the mysterious and resistless tide that ever ebbs but +never flows. + +All moods were his. Delicate as the perfume of the first violet, wild as +the storm, he knew the music of all sounds, from the rustle of leaves, +the whisper of hidden springs, to the voices of the sea. + +He was the master of music, from the rhythmical strains of irresponsible +joy to the sob of the funeral march. + +He stood like a king with his sceptre in his hand, and we knew that +every tone and harmony were in his brain, every passion in his breast, +and yet his sculptured face was as calm, as serene as perfect art. He +mingled his soul with the music and gave his heart to the enchanted air. + +He appeared to have no limitations, no walls, no chains. He seemed to +follow the pathway of desire, and the marvelous melodies, the sublime +harmonies, were as free as eagles above the clouds with outstretched +wings. + +He educated, refined, and gave unspeakable joy to many thousands of his +fellow-men. He added to the grace and glory of life. He spoke a language +deeper, more poetic than words--the language of the perfect, the +language of love and death. + +But he is voiceless now; a fountain of harmony has ceased. Its inspired +strains have died away in night, and all its murmuring melodies are +strangely still. + +We will mourn for him, we will honor him, not in words, but in the +language that he used. + +Anton Seidl is dead. Play the great funeral march. Envelop him in music. +Let its wailing waves cover him. Let its wild and mournful winds sigh +and moan above him. Give his face to its kisses and its tears. + +Play the great funeral march, music as profound as death. That will +express our sorrow--that will voice our love, our hope, and that will +tell of the life, the triumph, the genius, the death of Anton Seidl. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO DR. THOMAS SETON ROBERTSON. + +New York September 8, 1898. + + +IN the pulseless hush of death, silence seems more expressive, more +appropriate--than speech. In the presence of the Great Mystery, the +great mystery that waits to enshroud us all, we feel the uselessness of +words. But where a fellow-mortal has reached his journey's end--where +the darkness from which he emerged has received him again, it is but +natural for his friends to mingle with their grief, expressions of their +love and loss. + +He who lies before us in the sleep of death was generous to his +fellow-men. His hands were always stretched to help, to save. He pitied +the friendless, the unfortunate, the hopeless--proud of his skill--of +his success. He was quick to decide--to act--prompt, tireless, forgetful +of self. He lengthened life and conquered pain--hundreds are well and +happy now because he lived. This is enough. This puts a star above the +gloom of death. + +He was sensitive to the last degree--quick to feel a slight--to resent +a wrong--but in the warmth of kindness the thorn of hatred blossomed. He +was not quite fashioned for this world. The flints and thorns on life's +highway bruised and pierced his flesh, and for his wounds he did +not have the blessed balm of patience. He felt the manacles, the +limitations--the imprisonments of life and so within the walls and bars +he wore his very soul away. He could not bear the storms. The tides, +the winds, the waves, in the morning of his life, dashed his frail bark +against the rocks. + +He fought as best he could, and that he failed was not his fault. + +He was honest, generous and courageous. These three great virtues were +his. He was a true and steadfast friend, seeing only the goodness of the +ones he loved. Only a great and noble heart is capable of this. + +But he has passed beyond the reach of praise or blame--passed to the +realm of rest--to the waveless calm of perfect peace. + +The storm is spent--the winds are hushed--the waves have died along the +shore--the tides are still--the aching heart has ceased to beat, and +within the brain all thoughts, all hopes and fears--ambitions, memories, +rejoicings and regrets--all images and pictures of the world, of +life, are now as though they had not been. And yet Hope, the child of +Love--the deathless, beyond the darkness sees the dawn. And we who knew +and loved him, we, who now perform the last sad rites--the last that +friendship can suggest--"will keep his memory green." + +Dear Friend, farewell! "If we do meet again we shall smile indeed--if +not, this parting is well made." Farewell! + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO THOMAS CORWIN. + +Lebanon, Ohio, March 5, 1899. + + * An Impromptu preface to Colonel Ingersoll's lecture at + Lebanon, Ohio. + + +LADIES and Gentlemen: Being for the first time where Thomas Corwin lived +and where his ashes rest, I cannot refrain from saying something of +what I feel. Thomas Corwin was a natural orator--armed with the sword of +attack and the shield of defence. + +Nature filled his quiver with perfect arrows. He was the lord of logic +and laughter. He had the presence, the pose, the voice, the face +that mirrored thoughts, the unconscious gesture of the orator. He had +intelligence--a wide horizon--logic as unerring as mathematics--humor as +rich as autumn when the boughs and vines bend with the weight of ripened +fruit, while the forests flame with scarlet, brown and gold. He had wit +as quick and sharp as lightning, and like the lightning it filled the +heavens with sudden light. + +In his laughter there was logic, in his wit wisdom, and in his humor +philosophy and philanthropy. He was a supreme artist. He painted +pictures with words. He knew the strength, the velocity of verbs, the +color, the light and shade of adjectives. + +He was a sculptor in speech--changing stones to statues. He had in +his heart the sacred something that we call sympathy. He pitied the +unfortunate, the oppressed and the outcast His words were often wet +with tears--tears that in a moment after were glorified by the light of +smiles. All moods were his. He knew the heart, its tides and currents, +its calms and storms, and like a skillful pilot he sailed emotion's +troubled sea. He was neither solemn nor dignified, because he was +neither stupid nor egotistic. He was natural, and had the spontaneity +of winds and waves. He was the greatest orator of his time, the grandest +that ever stood beneath our flag. Reverently I lay this leaf upon his +grave. + + + + +A TRIBUTE TO ISAAC H. BAILEY. + +New York, March 27, 1899. + + +MY FRIENDS: When one whom we hold dear has reached the end of life and +laid his burden down, it is but natural for us, his friends, to pay the +tribute of respect and love; to tell his virtues, to express our sense +of loss and speak above the sculptured clay some word of hope. + +Our friend, about whose bier we stand, was in the highest, noblest sense +a man. He was not born to wealth--he was his own providence, his own +teacher. With him work was worship and labor was his only prayer. He +depended on himself, and was as independent as it is possible for man to +be. He hated debt, and obligation was a chain that scarred his flesh. He +lived a long and useful life. In age he reaped with joy what he had cown +in youth. He did not linger "until his flame lacked oil," but with his +senses keen, his mind undimmed, and with his arms filled with gathered +sheaves, in an instant, painlessly, unconsciously, he passed from +happiness and health to the realm of perfect peace. We need not mourn +for him, but for ourselves, for those he loved. + +He was an absolutely honest man--a man who kept his word, who fulfilled +his contracts, gave heaped and rounded measure and discharged all +obligations with the fabled chivalry of ancient knights. He was +absolutely honest, not only with others but with himself. To his last +moment his soul was stainless. He was true to his ideal--true to his +thought, and what his brain conceived his lips expressed. He refused to +pretend. He knew that to believe without evidence was impossible to +the sound and sane, and that to say you believed when you did not, was +possible only to the hypocrite or coward. He did not believe in the +supernatural. He was a natural man and lived a natural life. He had no +fear of fiends. He cared nothing for the guesses of inspired savages; +nothing for the threats or promises of the sainted and insane. + +He enjoyed this life--the good things of this world--the clasp and +smile of friendship, the exchange of generous deeds, the reasonable +gratification of the senses--of the wants of the body and mind. He was +neither an insane ascetic nor a fool of pleasure, but walked the +golden path along the strip of verdure that lies between the deserts of +extremes. + +With him to do right was not simply a duty, it was a pleasure. He had +philosophy enough to know that the quality of actions depends upon +their consequences, and that these consequences are the rewards and +punishments that no God can give, inflict, withhold or pardon. + +He loved his country, he was proud of the heroic past, dissatisfied +with the present, and confident of the future. He stood on the rock +of principle. With him the wisest policy was to do right. He would not +compromise with wrong. He had no respect for political failures who +became reformers and decorated fraud with the pretence of philanthropy, +or sought to gain some private end in the name of public good. He +despised time-servers, trimmers, fawners and all sorts and kinds of +pretenders. + +He believed in national honesty; in the preservation of public faith. +He believed that the Government should discharge every obligation--the +implied as faithfully as the expressed. And I would be unjust to his +memory if I did not say that he believed in honest money, in the best +money in the world, in pure gold, and that he despised with all his +heart financial frauds, and regarded fifty cents that pretended to be a +dollar, as he would a thief in the uniform of a policeman, or a criminal +in the robe of a judge. + +He believed in liberty, and liberty for all. He pitied the slave and +hated the master; that is to say, he was an honest man. In the dark days +of the Rebellion he stood for the right. He loved Lincoln with all his +heart--loved him for his genius, his courage and his goodness. He +loved Conkling--loved him for his independence, his manhood, for his +unwavering courage, and because he would not bow or bend--loved him +because he accepted defeat with the pride of a victor. He loved Grant, +and in the temple of his heart, over the altar, in the highest niche, +stood the great soldier. + +Nature was kind to our friend. She gave him the blessed gift of humor. +This filled his days with the climate of Autumn, so that to him even +disaster had its sunny side. On account of his humor he appreciated and +enjoyed the great literature of the world. He loved Shakespeare, his +clowns and heroes. He appreciated and enjoyed Dickens. The characters of +this great novelist were his acquaintances. He knew them all; some were +his friends and some he dearly loved. He had wit of the keenest +and quickest. The instant the steel of his logic smote the flint of +absurdity the spark glittered. And yet, his wit was always kind. +The flower went with the thorn. The targets of his wit were not made +enemies, but admirers. + +He was social, and after the feast of serious conversation he loved the +wine of wit--the dessert of a good story that blossomed into mirth. He +enjoyed games--was delighted by the relations of chance--the curious +combinations of accident. He had the genius of friendship. In his nature +there was no suspicion. He could not be poisoned against a friend. +The arrows of slander never pierced the shield of his confidence. He +demanded demonstration. He defended a friend as he defended himself. +Against all comers he stood firm, and he never deserted the field until +the friend had fled. I have known many, many friends--have clasped the +hands of many that I loved, but in the journey of my life I have never +grasped the hand of a better, truer, more unselfish friend than he who +lies before us clothed in the perfect peace of death. He loved me living +and I love him now. + +In youth we front the sun; we live in light without a fear, without a +thought of dusk or night. We glory in excess. There is no dread of loss +when all is growth and gain. With reckless hands we spend and waste and +chide the flying hours for loitering by the way. + +The future holds the fruit of joy; the present keeps us from the feast, +and so, with hurrying feet we climb the heights and upward look with +eager eyes. But when the sun begins to sink and shadows fall in front, +and lengthen on the path, then falls upon the heart a sense of loss, and +then we hoard the shreds and crumbs and vainly long for what was cast +away. And then with miser care we save and spread thin hands before +December's half-fed flickering flames, while through the glass of time +we moaning watch the few remaining grains of sand that hasten to their +end. In the gathering gloom the fires slowly die, while memory dreams of +youth, and hope sometimes mistakes the glow of ashes for the coming of +another morn. + +But our friend was an exception. He lived in the present; he enjoyed +the sunshine of to-day. Although his feet had touched the limit of +four-score, he had not reached the time to stop, to turn and think: +about the traveled road. He was still full of life and hope, and had the +interest of youth in all the affairs of men. + +He had no fear of the future--no dread. He was ready for the end. I have +often heard him repeat the words of Epicurus: "Why should I fear death? +If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that +which cannot exist when I do?" + +If there is, beyond the veil, beyond the night called death, another +world to which men carry all the failures and the triumphs of this life; +if above and over all there be a God who loves the right, an honest man +has naught to fear. If there be another world in which sincerity is a +virtue, in which fidelity is loved and courage honored, then all is well +with the dear friend whom we have lost. + +But if the grave ends all; if all that was our friend is dead, the +world is better for the life he lived. Beyond the tomb we cannot see. We +listen, but from the lips of mystery there comes no word. Darkness and +silence brooding over all. And yet, because we love we hope. Farewell! +And yet again, Farewell! + +And will there, sometime, be another world? We have our dream. The idea +of immortality, that like a sea has ebbed and flowed in the human heart, +beating with its countless waves against the sands and rocks of time +and fate, was not born of any book or of any creed. It was born of +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. +We have our dream! + + + + +JESUS CHRIST. + + * An unfinished lecture which Colonel Ingersoll commenced a + few days before his death. + + +FOR many centuries and by many millions of people, Christ has been +worshiped as God. Millions and millions of eulogies on his character +have been pronounced by priest and layman, in all of which his praises +were measured only by the limitations of language--words were regarded +as insufficient to paint his perfections. + +In his praise it was impossible to be extravagant. Sculptor, poet and +painter exhausted their genius in the portrayal of the peasant, who was +in fact the creator of all worlds. + +His wisdom excited the wonder, his sufferings the pity and his +resurrection and ascension the astonishment of the world. + +He was regarded as perfect man and infinite God. It was believed that +in the gospels was found the perfect history of his life, his words and +works, his death, his triumph over the grave and his return to heaven. +For many centuries his perfection, his divinity--have been defended by +sword and fire. + +By the altar was the scaffold--in the cathedral, the dungeon--the +chamber of torture. + +The story of Christ was told by mothers to their babes. For the most +part his story was the beginning and end of education. It was wicked to +doubt--infamous to deny. + +Heaven was the reward for belief and hell the destination of the denier. + +All the forces of what we call society, were directed against +investigation. Every avenue to the mind was closed. On all the highways +of thought, Christians placed posts and boards, and on the boards were +the words "No Thoroughfare," "No Crossing." The windows of the soul +were darkened--the doors were barred. Light was regarded as the enemy of +mankind. + +During these Christian years faith was rewarded with position, +wealth and power. Faith was the path to fame and honor. The man who +investigated was the enemy, the assassin of souls. The creed was +barricaded on every side, above it were the glories of heaven--below +were the agonies of hell. The soldiers of the cross were strangers to +pity. Only traitors to God were shocked by the murder of an unbeliever. +The true Christian was a savage. His virtues were ferocious, and +compared with his vices were beneficent. The drunkard was a better +citizen than the saint. The libertine and prostitute were far nearer +human, nearer moral, than those who pleased God by persecuting their +fellows. + +The man who thought, and expressed his thoughts, died in a dungeon--on +the scaffold or in flames. + +The sincere Christian was insane. His one object was to save his soul. +He despised all the pleasures of sense. He believed that his nature was +depraved and that his desires were wicked. + +He fasted and prayed--deserted his wife and children--inflicted tortures +on himself and sought by pain endured to gain the crown. * * * + + + + +LIFE. + + * Written for Mr. Harrison Grey Fiske, editor of The New + York Dramatic Mirror, December 18,1886. + + +BORN of love and hope, of ecstasy and pain, of agony and fear, of tears +and joy--dowered with the wealth of two united hearts--held in happy +arms, with lips upon life's drifted font, blue-veined and fair, where +perfect peace finds perfect form--rocked by willing feet and wooed to +shadowy shores of sleep by siren mother singing soft and low--looking +with wonder's wide and startled eyes at common things of life and +day--taught by want and wish and contact with the things that touch the +dimpled flesh of babes--lured by light and flame, and charmed by color's +wondrous robes--learning the use of hands and feet, and by the love +of mimicry beguiled to utter speech--releasing prisoned thoughts from +crabbed and curious marks on soiled and tattered leaves--puzzling the +brain with crooked numbers and their changing, tangled worth--and so +through years of alternating day and night, until the captive grows +familiar with the chains and walls and limitations of a life. + +And time runs on in sun and shade, until the one of all the world is +wooed and won, and all the lore of love is taught and learned again. +Again a home is built with the fair chamber wherein faint dreams, like +cool and shadowy vales, divide the billowed hours of love. Again the +miracle of a birth--the pain and joy, the kiss of welcome and the +cradle-song drowning the drowsy prattle of a babe. + +And then the sense of obligation and of wrong--pity for those who toil +and weep--tears for the imprisoned and despised--love for the generous +dead, and in the heart the rapture of a high resolve. + +And then ambition, with its lust of pelf and place and power, longing to +put upon its breast distinction's worthless badge. Then keener thoughts +of men, and eyes that see behind the smiling mask of craft--flattered no +more by the obsequious cringe of gain and greed--knowing the uselessness +of hoarded gold--of honor bought from those who charge the usury of +self-respect--of power that only bends a coward's knees and forces +from the lips of fear the lies of praise. Knowing at last the unstudied +gesture of esteem, the reverent eyes made rich with honest thought, and +holding high above all other things--high as hope's great throbbing star +above the darkness of the dead--the love of wife and child and friend. + +Then locks of gray, and growing love of other days and half-remembered +things--then holding withered hands of those who first held his, while +over dim and loving eyes death softly presses down the lids of rest. + +And so, locking in marriage vows his children's hands and crossing +others on the breasts of peace, with daughters' babes upon his knees, +the white hair mingling with the gold, he journeys on from day to day to +that horizon where the dusk is waiting for the night.--At last, sitting +by the holy hearth of home as evening's embers change from red to gray, +he falls asleep within the arms of her he worshiped and adored, feeling +upon his pallid lips love's last and holiest kiss. + +***** + +Fac-simile of the Last Letter written by Ingersoll + + +Urn Containing the Ashes of Ingersoll + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. +12 (of 12), by Robert G. Ingersoll + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF INGERSOLL *** + +***** This file should be named 38812.txt or 38812.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/8/1/38812/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Ingersoll, Vol. 12 (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: 5%;} + .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> +<br /> +<h2>By Robert G. Ingersoll</h2> +<center>"MY CREED IS THIS: HAPPINESS IS THE ONLY GOOD.<br /> +THE PLACE TO BE HAPPY IS HERE. THE TIME TO BE HAPPY<br /> +IS NOW. THE WAY TO BE HAPPY IS TO HELP MAKE OTHERS SO."</center> +<h3>IN TWELVE VOLUMES, VOLUME XII.</h3> +<br /> +<h2>MISCELLANY</h2> +<br /> +<h3>1900</h3> +<h3>Dresden Edition</h3> +<br /> +<center><img alt="titlepage (254K)" src="images/titlepage.png" +height="1117" width="721" /></center> +<br /> +<br /> +<center><img alt="portrait (276K)" src="images/portrait.png" +height="1069" width="751" /></center> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h2>Contents</h2> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0001">PROF. VAN BUREN DENSLOW'S +"MODERN THINKERS."</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#linkPREF1">PREFACE TO DR. EDGAR C. BEALL'S +"THE BRAIN AND THE BIBLE."</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#linkPREF2">PREFACE TO "MEN, WOMEN AND +GODS."</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#linkPREF3">PREFACE TO "FOR HER DAILY +BREAD."</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#linkPREF4">PREFACE TO "AGNOSTICISM AND +OTHER ESSAYS."</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#linkPREF5">PREFACE TO "FAITH OR +FACT."</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0007">THE GRANT BANQUET.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0008">THIRTEEN CLUB DINNER.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0009">ROBSON AND CRANE DINNER.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0010">THE POLICE CAPTAINS' +DINNER.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0011">GENERAL GRANT'S BIRTHDAY +DINNER</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0012">LOTOS CLUB DINNER, TWENTIETH +ANNIVERSARY.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0013">MANHATTAN ATHLETIC CLUB +DINNER.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0014">THE LIEDERKRANZ CLUB, +SEIDL-STANTON BANQUET.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0015">THE FRANK B. CARPENTER +DINNER.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0016">UNITARIAN CLUB DINNER.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0017">WESTERN SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF +THE POTOMAC BANQUET.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0018">LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF +ANTON SEIDL.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0019">LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF +REAR ADMIRAL SCHLEY.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0020">ADDRESS TO THE ACTORS' FUND OF +AMERICA.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0021">THE CHILDREN OF THE +STAGE.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0022">ADDRESS TO THE PRESS +CLUB.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0023">THE CIRCULATION OF OBSCENE +LITERATURE.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0024">CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL +LIBERAL LEAGUE.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0025">CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN +SECULAR UNION.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0026">THE RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF ABRAHAM +LINCOLN.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0027">ORGANIZED CHARITIES.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0028">SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0029">OUR NEW POSSESSIONS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0030">A FEW FRAGMENTS ON +EXPANSION.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0031">IS IT EVER RIGHT FOR HUSBAND OR +WIFE TO KILL RIVAL?</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0032">PROFESSOR BRIGGS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0033">FRAGMENTS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0034">EFFECT OF THE WORLD'S FAIR ON +THE HUMAN RACE.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0035">SABBATH SUPERSTITION.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0036">A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE JACOB +HOLYOAKE.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0037">AT THE GRAVE OF BENJAMIN W. +PARKER.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0038">A TRIBUTE TO EBON C. +INGERSOLL</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0039">A TRIBUTE TO THE REV. ALEXANDER +CLARK.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0040">AT A CHILD'S GRAVE.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0041">A TRIBUTE TO JOHN G. +MILLS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0042">A TRIBUTE TO ELIZUR +WRIGHT.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0043">A TRIBUTE TO MRS. IDA WHITING +KNOWLES.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0044">A TRIBUTE TO HENRY WARD +BEECHER.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0045">A TRIBUTE TO ROSCOE +CONKLING.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0046">A TRIBUTE TO RICHARD H. +WHITING.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0047">A TRIBUTE TO COURTLANDT +PALMER.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0048">A TRIBUTE TO MRS. MARY H. +FISKE.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0049">A TRIBUTE TO HORACE +SEAVER.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0050">A TRIBUTE TO LAWRENCE +BARRETT.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0051">A TRIBUTE TO WALT +WHITMAN.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0052">A TRIBUTE TO PHILO D. +BECKWITH.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0053">A TRIBUTE TO ANTON +SEIDL.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0054">A TRIBUTE TO DR. THOMAS SETON +ROBERTSON.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0055">A TRIBUTE TO THOMAS +CORWIN.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0056">A TRIBUTE TO ISAAC H. +BAILEY.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0057">JESUS CHRIST.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0058">LIFE.</a></p> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="link0001" id="link0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>PROF. VAN BUREN DENSLOW'S "MODERN THINKERS."</h2> +<p>IF others who read this book get as much information as I did +from the advance sheets, they will feel repaid a hundred times. It +is perfectly delightful to take advantage of the conscientious +labors of those who go through and through volume after volume, +divide with infinite patience the gold from the dross, and present +us with the pure and shining coin. Such men may be likened to bees +who save us numberless journeys by giving us the fruit of their +own.</p> +<p>While this book will greatly add to the information of all who +read it, it may not increase the happiness of some to find that +Swedenborg was really insane. But when they remember that he was +raised by a bishop, and disappointed in love, they will cease to +wonder at his mental condition. Certainly an admixture of theology +and "dis-prized love" is often sufficient to compel reason to +abdicate the throne of the mightiest soul.</p> +<p>The trouble with Swedenborg was that he changed realities into +dreams, and then out of the dreams made facts upon which he built, +and with which he constructed his system.</p> +<p>He regarded all realities as shadows cast by ideas. To him the +material was the unreal, and things were definitions of the ideas +of God. He seemed to think that he had made a discovery when he +found that ideas were back of words, and that language had a +subjective as well as an objective origin; that is that the +interior meaning had been clothed upon. Of course, a man capable of +drawing the conclusion that natural reason cannot harmonize with +spiritual truth because in a dream, he had seen a beetle that could +not use its feet, is capable of any absurdity of which the +imagination can conceive. The fact is, that Swedenborg believed the +Bible. That was his misfortune. His mind had been overpowered by +the bishop, but the woman had not utterly destroyed his heart. He +was shocked by the liberal interpretation of the Scriptures, and +sought to avoid the difficulty by giving new meanings consistent +with the decency and goodness of God. He pointed out a way to +preserve the old Bible with a new interpretation. In this way +Infidelity could be avoided; and, in his day, that was almost a +necessity. Had Swedenborg taken the ground that the Bible was not +inspired, the ears of the world would have been stopped. His +readers believed in the dogma of inspiration, and asked, not how to +destroy the Scriptures, but for some way in which they might be +preserved. He and his followers unconsciously rendered immense +service to the cause of intellectual enfranchisement by their +efforts to show the necessity of giving new meanings to the +barbarous laws, and cruel orders of Jehovah. For this purpose they +attacked with great fury the literal text, taking the ground that +if the old interpretation was right, the Bible was the work of +savage men. They heightened in every way the absurdities, cruelties +and contradictions of the Scriptures for the purpose of showing +that a new interpretation must be found, and that the way pointed +out by Swedenborg was the only one by which the Bible could be +saved.</p> +<p>Great men are, after all the instrumentalities of their time. +The heart of the civilized world was beginning to revolt at the +cruelties ascribed to God, and was seeking for some interpretation +of the Bible that kind and loving people could accept. The method +of interpretation found by Swedenborg was suitable for all. Each +was permitted to construct his own "science of correspondence" and +gather such fruits as he might prefer. In this way the ravings of +revenge can instantly be changed to mercy's melting tones, and +murder's dagger to a smile of love. In this way and in no other, +can we explain the numberless mistakes and crimes ascribed to God. +Thousands of most excellent people, afraid to throw away the idea +of inspiration, hailed with joy a discovery that allowed them to +write a Bible for themselves.</p> +<p>But, whether Swedenborg was right or not, every man who reads a +book, necessarily gets from that book all that he is capable of +receiving. Every man who walks in the forest, or gathers a flower, +or looks at a picture, or stands by the sea, gets all the +intellectual wealth he is capable of receiving. What the forest, +the flower, the picture or the sea is to him, depends upon his +mind, and upon the stage of development he has reached. So that +after all, the Bible must be a different book to each person who +reads it, as the revelations of nature depend upon the individual +to whom they are revealed, or by whom they are discovered. And the +extent of the revelation or discovery depends absolutely upon the +intellectual and moral development of the person to whom, or by +whom, the revelation or discovery is made. So that the Bible cannot +be the same to any two people, but each one must necessarily +interpret it for himself. Now, the moment the doctrine is +established that we can give to this book such meanings as are +consistent with our highest ideals; that we can treat the old words +as purses or old stockings in which to put our gold, then, each one +will, in effect, make a new inspired Bible for himself, and throw +the old away. If his mind is narrow, if he has been raised by +ignorance and nursed by fear, he will believe in the literal truth +of what he reads. If he has a little courage he will doubt, and the +doubt will with new interpretations modify the literal text; but if +his soul is free he will with scorn reject it all.</p> +<p>Swedenborg did one thing for which I feel almost grateful. He +gave an account of having met John Calvin in hell. Nothing +connected with the supernatural could be more perfectly natural +than this. The only thing detracting from the value of this report +is, that if there is a hell, we know without visiting the place +that John Calvin must be there.</p> +<p>All honest founders of religions have been the dreamers of +dreams, the sport of insanity, the prey of visions, the deceivers +of others and of themselves. All will admit that Swedenborg was a +man of great intellect, of vast acquirements and of honest +intentions; and I think it equally clear that upon one subject, at +least, his mind was touched, shattered and shaken.</p> +<p>Misled by analogies, imposed upon by the bishop, deceived by the +woman, borne to other worlds upon the wings of dreams, living in +the twilight of reason and the dawn of insanity, he regarded every +fact as a patched and ragged garment with a lining of the costliest +silk, and insisted that the wrong side, even of the silk, was far +more beautiful than the right.</p> +<p>Herbert Spencer is almost the opposite of Swedenborg. He relies +upon evidence, upon demonstration, upon experience, and occupies +himself with one world at a time. He perceives that there is a +mental horizon that we cannot pierce, and that beyond that is the +unknown—possibly the unknowable. He endeavors to examine only +that which is capable of being examined, and considers the +theological method as not only useless, but hurtful. After all, God +is but a guess, throned and established by arrogance and assertion. +Turning his attention to those things that have in some way +affected the condition of mankind, Spencer leaves the unknowable to +priests and to the believers in the "moral government" of the +world. He sees only natural causes and natural results, and seeks +to induce man to give up gazing into void and empty space, that he +may give his entire attention to the world in which he lives. He +sees that right and wrong do not depend upon the arbitrary will of +even an infinite being, but upon the nature of things; that they +are relations, not entities, and that they cannot exist, so far as +we know, apart from human experience.</p> +<p>It may be that men will finally see that selfishness and +self-sacrifice are both mistakes; that the first devours itself; +that the second is not demanded by the good, and that the bad are +unworthy of it. It may be that our race has never been, and never +will be, deserving of a martyr. Sometime we may see that justice is +the highest possible form of mercy and love, and that all should +not only be allowed, but compelled to reap exactly what they sow; +that industry should not support idleness, and that they who waste +the spring and summer and autumn of their lives should bear the +winter when it comes. The fortunate should assist the victims of +accident; the strong should defend the weak, and the intellectual +should lead, with loving hands, the mental poor; but Justice should +remove the bandage from her eyes long enough to distinguish between +the vicious and the unfortunate.</p> +<p>Mr. Spencer is wise enough to declare that "acts are called good +or bad according as they are well or ill adjusted to ends;" and he +might have added, that ends are good or bad according as they +affect the happiness of mankind.</p> +<p>It would be hard to over-estimate the influence of this great +man. From an immense intellectual elevation he has surveyed the +world of thought. He has rendered absurd the idea of special +providence, born of the egotism of savagery. He has shown that the +"will of God" is not a rule for human conduct; that morality is not +a cold and heartless tyrant; that by the destruction of the +individual will, a higher life cannot be reached, and that after +all, an intelligent love of self extends the hand of help and +kindness to all the human race.</p> +<p>But had it not been for such men as Thomas Paine, Herbert +Spencer could not have existed for a century to come. Some one had +to lead the way, to raise the standard of revolt, and draw the +sword of war. Thomas Paine was a natural revolutionist. He was +opposed to every government existing in his day. Next to +establishing a wise and just republic based upon the equal rights +of man, the best thing that can be done is to destroy a +monarchy.</p> +<p>Paine had a sense of justice, and had imagination enough to put +himself in the place of the oppressed. He had, also, what in these +pages is so felicitously expressed, "a haughty intellectual pride, +and a willingness to pit his individual thought against the clamor +of a world."</p> +<p>I cannot believe that he wrote the letters of "Junius," although +the two critiques combined in this volume, entitled "Paine" and +"Junius," make by far the best argument upon that subject I have +ever read. First, Paine could have had no personal hatred against +the men so bitterly assailed by Junius. Second, He knew, at that +time, but little of English politicians, and certainly had never +associated with men occupying the highest positions, and could not +have been personally acquainted with the leading statesmen of +England. Third., He was not an unjust man. He was neither a coward, +a calumniator, nor a sneak. All these delightful qualities must +have lovingly united in the character of Junius. Fourth, Paine +could have had no reason for keeping the secret after coming to +America.</p> +<p>I have always believed that Junius, after having written his +letters, accepted office from the very men he had maligned, and at +last became a pensioner of the victims of his slander. "Had he as +many mouths as Hydra, such a course must have closed them all." +Certainly the author must have kept the secret to prevent the loss +of his reputation.</p> +<p>It cannot be denied that the style of Junius is much like that +of Paine. Should it be established that Paine wrote the letters of +Junius, it would not, in my judgment, add to his reputation as a +writer. Regarded as literary efforts they cannot be compared with +"Common Sense," "The Crisis," or "The Rights of Man."</p> +<p>The claim that Paine was the real author of the Declaration of +Independence is much better founded. I am inclined to think that he +actually wrote it; but whether this is true or not, every idea +contained in it had been written by him long before. It is now +claimed that the original document is in Paine's handwriting. It +certainly is not in Jefferson's. Certain it is, that Jefferson +could not have written anything so manly, so striking, so +comprehensive, so clear, so convincing, and so faultless in +rhetoric and rhythm as the Declaration of Independence.</p> +<p>Paine was the first man to write these words, "The United States +of America." He was the first great champion of absolute separation +from England. He was the first to urge the adoption of a Federal +Constitution; and, more clearly than any other man of his time, he +perceived the future greatness of this country.</p> +<p>He has been blamed for his attack on Washington. The truth is, +he was in prison in France. He had committed the crime of voting, +against the execution of the king It was the grandest act of his +life, but at that time to be merciful was criminal. Paine; being an +American citizen, asked Washington, then President, to say a word +to Robespierre in his behalf. Washington remained silent. In the +calmness of power, the serenity, of fortune, Washington the +President, read the request of Paine, the prisoner, and with the +complacency of assured fame, consigned to the wastebasket of +forgetfulness the patriot's cry for help.</p> +<pre> + "Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, + Wherein he puts alms for oblivion, + A great-sized monster of ingratitudes. + Those scraps are good deeds past, which are devour'd + As fast as they are made, forgot as soon + As done." +</pre> +<p>In this controversy, my sympathies are with the prisoner.</p> +<p>Paine did more to free the mind, to destroy the power of +ministers and priests in the New World, than any other man. In +order to answer his arguments, the churches found it necessary to +attack his character. There was a general resort to falsehood. In +trying to destroy the reputation of Paine, the churches have +demoralized themselves. Nearly every minister has been a willing +witness against the truth. Upon the grave of Thomas Paine, the +churches of America have sacrificed their honor. The influence of +the Hero author increases every day, and there are more copies of +the "Age of Reason" sold in the United States, than of any work +written in defence of the Christian religion. Hypocrisy, with its +forked tongue, its envious and malignant heart, lies coiled upon +the memory of Paine, ready to fasten its poisonous fangs in the +reputation of any man who dares defend the great and generous +dead.</p> +<p>Leaving the dust and glory of revolutions, let us spend a moment +of quiet with Adam Smith. I was glad to find that a man's ideas +upon the subject of protection and free trade depend almost +entirely upon the country in which he lives, or the business in +which he happens to be engaged, and that, after all, each man +regards the universe as a circumference of which he is the center. +It gratified me to learn that even Adam Smith was no exception to +this rule, and that he regarded all "protection as a hurtful and +ignorant interference," except when exercised for the good of Great +Britain. Owing to the fact that his nationality quarreled with his +philosophy, he succeeded in writing a book that is quoted with +equal satisfaction by both parties. The protectionists rely upon +the exceptions he made for England, and the free traders upon the +doctrines laid down for other countries.</p> +<p>He seems to have reasoned upon the question of money precisely +as we have, of late years, in the United States; and he has argued +both sides equally well. Poverty asks for inflation. Wealth is +conservative, and always says there is money enough.</p> +<p>Upon the question of money, this volume contains the best thing +I have ever read: "The only mode of procuring the service of +others, on any large scale, in the absence of money, is by force, +which is slavery. Money, by constituting a medium in which the +smallest services can be paid for, substitutes wages for the lash, +and renders the liberty of the individual consistent with the +maintenance and support of society." There is more philosophy in +that one paragraph than Adam Smith expresses in his whole work. It +may truthfully be said, that without money, liberty is impossible. +No one, whatever his views may be, can read the article on Adam +Smith without profit and delight.</p> +<p>The discussion of the money question is in every respect +admirable, and is as candid as able. The world will sooner or later +learn that there is nothing miraculous in finance; that money is a +real and tangible thing, a product of labor, serving not merely as +a medium of exchange but as a basis of credit as well; that it +cannot be created by an act of the Legislature; that dreams cannot +be coined, and that only labor, in some form, can put, upon the +hand of want, Alladin's magic ring.</p> +<p>Adam Smith wrote upon the wealth of nations, while Charles +Fourier labored for the happiness of mankind. In this country, few +seem to understand communism. While here, it may be regarded as +vicious idleness, armed with the assassin's knife and the +incendiary's torch, in Europe, it is a different thing. There, it +is a reaction from Feudalism. Nobility is communism in its worst +possible form. Nothing can be worse than for idleness to eat the +bread of industry. Communism in Europe is not the "stand and +deliver" of the robber, but the protest of the robbed. Centuries +ago, kings and priests, that is to say, thieves and hypocrites, +divided Europe among themselves. Under this arrangement, the few +were masters and the many slaves. Nearly every government in the +Old World rests upon simple brute force. It is hard for the many to +understand why the few should own the soil. Neither can they +clearly see why they should give their brain and blood to those who +steal their birthright and their bread. It has occurred to them +that they who do the most should not receive the least, and that, +after all, an industrious peasant is of far more value to the world +than a vain and idle king.</p> +<p>The Communists of France, blinded as they were, made the +Republic possible. Had they joined with their countrymen, the +invaders would have been repelled, and some Napoleon would still +have occupied the throne. Socialism perceives that Germany has been +enslaved by victory, while France found liberty in defeat. In +Russia the Nihilists prefer chaos to the government of the bayonet, +Siberia and the knout, and these intrepid men have kept upon the +coast of despotism one beacon fire of hope.</p> +<p>As a matter of fact, every society is a species of +communism—a kind of co-operation in which selfishness, in +spite of itself, benefits the community. Every industrious man adds +to the wealth, not only of his nation, but to that of the world. +Every inventor increases human power, and every sculptor, painter +and poet adds to the value of human life. Fourier, touched by the +sufferings of the poor as well as by the barren joys of hoarded +wealth, and discovering the vast advantages of combined effort, and +the immense economy of co-operation, sought to find some way for +men to help themselves by helping each other. He endeavored to do +away with monopoly and competition, and to ascertain some method by +which the sensuous, the moral, and the intellectual passions of man +could be gratified.</p> +<p>For my part I can place no confidence in any system that does +away, or tends to do away, with the institution of marriage. I can +conceive of no civilization of which the family must not be the +unit.</p> +<p>Societies cannot be made; they must grow. Philosophers may +predict, but they cannot create. They may point out as many ways as +they please; but after all, humanity will travel in paths of its +own.</p> +<p>Fourier sustained about the same relation to this world that +Swedenborg did to the other. There must be something wrong about +the brain of one who solemnly asserts that, "the elephant, the ox +and the diamond, were created by the sun; the horse, the lily and +the ruby, by Saturn; the cow, the jonquil and the topaz by Jupiter; +and the dog, the violet and the opal stones by the earth +itself."</p> +<p>And yet, forgetting these aberrations of the mind, this lunacy +of a great and loving soul, for one, I hold in tender-est regard +the memory of Charles Fourier, one of the best and noblest of our +race.</p> +<p>While Fourier was in his cradle, Jeremy Bentham, who read +history when three years old, played on the violin at five, "and at +fifteen detected the fallacies of Blackstone," was demonstrating +that the good was the useful; that a thing was right because it +paid in the highest and best sense; that utility was the basis of +morals; that without allowing interest to be paid upon money +commerce could not exist; and that the object of all human +governments should be to secure the greatest happiness of the +greatest number. He read Hume and Helvetius, threw away the +Thirty-nine Articles, and endeavored to impress upon the English +Law the fact that its ancestor was a feudal savage. He held the +past in contempt, hated Westminster and despised Oxford. He +combated the idea that governments were originally founded on +contract. Locke and Blackstone talked as though men originally +lived apart, and formed societies by agreement. These writers +probably imagined that at one time the trees were separated like +telegraph poles, and finally came together and made groves by +agreement. I believe that it was Pufendorf who said that slavery +was originally founded on contract. To which Voltaire +replied:—"If my lord Pufendorf will produce the original +contract <i>signed by the party who was to be the slave</i>, I will +admit the truth of his statement."</p> +<p>A contract back of society is a myth manufactured by those in +power to serve as a title to place, and to impress the multitude +with the idea that they are, in some mysterious way, bound, +fettered, and even benefited by its terms.</p> +<p>The glory of Bentham is, that he gave the true basis of morals, +and furnished statesmen with the star and compass of this +sentence:—"The greatest happiness of the greatest +number."</p> +<p>Most scientists have deferred to the theologians. They have +admitted that some questions could not, at present, be solved. +These admissions have been thankfully received by the clergy, who +have always begged for some curtain to be left, behind which their +God could still exist. Men calling themselves "scientific" have +tried to harmonize the "apparent" discrepancies between the Bible +and the <i>other</i> works of Jehovah. In this way they have made +reputations. They were at once quoted by the ministers as wonderful +examples of piety and learning. These men discounted the future +that they might enjoy the ignorant praise of the present. Agassiz +preferred the applause of Boston, while he lived, to the reverence +of a world after he was dead. Small men appear great only when they +agree with the multitude.</p> +<p>The last Scientific Congress in America was opened with prayer. +Think of a science that depends upon the efficacy of words +addressed to the Unknown and Unknowable!</p> +<p>In our country, most of the so-called scientists are professors +in sectarian colleges, in which Moses is considered a geologist, +and Joshua an astronomer. For the most part their salaries depend +upon the ingenuity with which they can explain away facts and dodge +demonstration.</p> +<p>The situation is about the same in England. When Mr. Huxley saw +fit to attack the Mosaic account of the creation, he did not deem +it advisable to say plainly what he meant. He attacked the account +of creation as given by Milton, although he knew that the Mosaic +and Miltonic were substantially the same. Science has acted like a +guest without a wedding garment, and has continually apologized for +existing. In the presence of arrogant absurdity, overawed by the +patronizing airs of a successful charlatan, it has played the role +of a "poor relation," and accepted, while sitting below the salt, +insults as honors.</p> +<p>There can be no more pitiable sight than a scientist in the +employ of superstition dishonoring himself without assisting his +master. But there are a multitude of brave and tender men who give +their honest thoughts, who are true to nature, who give the facts +and let consequences shirk for themselves, who know the value and +meaning of a truth, and who have bravely tried the creeds by +scientific tests.</p> +<p>Among the bravest, side by side with the greatest of the world, +in Germany, the land of science, stands Ernst Haeckel, who may be +said to have not only demonstrated the theories of Darwin, but the +Monistic conception of the world. Rejecting all the puerile ideas +of a personal Creator, he has had the courage to adopt the noble +words of Bruno:—"A spirit exists in all things, and no body +is so small but it contains a part of the divine substance within +itself, by which it is animated." He has endeavored—and I +think with complete success—to show that there is not, and +never was, and never can be the <i>Creator</i> of anything. There +is no more a personal Creator than there is a personal destroyer. +Matter and force must have existed from eternity, all generation +must have been spontaneous, and the simplest organisms must have +been the ancestors of the most perfect and complex.</p> +<p>Haeckel is one of the bitterest enemies of the church, and is, +therefore, one of the bravest friends of man.</p> +<p>Catholicism was, at one time, the friend of education—of +an education sufficient to make a Catholic out of a barbarian. +Protestantism was also in favor of education—of an education +sufficient to make a Protestant out of a Catholic. But now, it +having been demonstrated that real education will make +Freethinkers, Catholics and Protestants both are the enemies of +true learning.</p> +<p>In all countries where human beings are held in bondage, it is a +crime to teach a slave to read and write. Masters know that +education is an abolitionist, and theologians know that science is +the deadly foe of every creed in Christendom.</p> +<p>In the age of Faith, a personal god stood at the head of every +department of ignorance, and was supposed to be the King of kings, +the rewarder and punisher of individuals, and the governor of +nations.</p> +<p>The worshipers of this god have always regarded the men in love +with simple facts, as Atheists in disguise. And it must be admitted +that nothing is more Atheistic than a fact. Pure science is +necessarily godless, It is incapable of worship. It investigates, +and cannot afford to shut its eyes even long enough to pray. There +was a time when those who disputed the divine right of kings were +denounced as blasphemous; but the time came when liberty demanded +that a personal god should be retired from politics. In our country +this was substantially done in 1776, when our fathers declared that +all power to govern came from the consent of the governed. The +cloud-theory was abandoned, and one government has been established +for the benefit of mankind. Our fathers did not keep God out of the +Constitution from principle, but from jealousy. Each church, in +colonial times, preferred to live in single blessedness rather than +see some rival wedded to the state. Mutual hatred planted our tree +of religious liberty. A constitution without a god has at last +given us a nation without a slave.</p> +<p>A personal god sustains the same relation to religion as to +politics. The Deity is a master, and man a serf; and this relation +is inconsistent with true progress. The Universe ought to be a pure +democracy—an infinite republic without a tyrant and without a +chain.</p> +<p>Auguste Comte endeavored to put humanity in the place of +Jehovah, and no conceivable change can be more desirable than this. +This great man did not, like some of his followers, put a +mysterious something called law in the place of God, which is +simply giving the old master a new name. Law is this side of +phenomena, not the other. It is not the cause, neither is it the +result of phenomena. The fact of succession and resemblance, that +is to say, the same thing happening under the same conditions, is +all we mean by law. No one can conceive of a law existing apart +from matter, or controlling matter, any more than he can understand +the eternal procession of the Holy Ghost, or motion apart from +substance. We are beginning to see that law does not, and cannot +exist as an entity, but that it is only a conception of the mind to +express the fact that the same entities, under the same conditions, +produce the same results. Law does not produce the entities, the +conditions, or the results, or even the sameness of the results. +Neither does it affect the relations of entities, nor the result of +such relations, but it stands simply for the fact that the same +causes, under the same conditions, eternally have produced and +eternally will produce the same results.</p> +<p>The metaphysicians are always giving us explanations of +phenomena which are as difficult to understand as the phenomena +they seek to explain; and the believers in God establish their +dogmas by miracles, and then substantiate the miracles by +assertion.</p> +<p>The Designer of the teleologist, the First Cause of the +religious philosopher, the Vital Force of the biologist, and the +law of the half-orthodox scientist, are all the shadowy children of +ignorance and fear.</p> +<p>The Universe is all there is. It is both subject and object; +contemplator and contemplated; creator and created; destroyer and +destroyed; preserver and preserved; and within itself are all +causes, modes, motions and effects.</p> +<p>Unable in some things to rise above the superstitions of his +day, Comte adopted not only the machinery, but some of the +prejudices, of Catholicism. He made the mistake of Luther. He tried +to reform the Church of Rome. Destruction is the only reformation +of which that church is capable. Every religion is based upon a +misconception, not only of the cause of phenomena, but of the real +object of life; that is to say, upon falsehood; and the moment the +truth is known and understood, these religions must fall. In the +field of thought, they are briers, thorns, and noxious weeds; on +the shores of intellectual discovery, they are sirens, and in the +forests that the brave thinkers are now penetrating, they are the +wild beasts, fanged and monstrous.</p> +<p>You cannot reform these weeds. Sirens cannot be changed into +good citizens; and such wild beasts, even when tamed, are of no +possible use. Destruction is the only remedy. Reformation is a +hospital where the new philosophy exhausts its strength nursing the +old religion.</p> +<p>There was, in the brain of the great Frenchman, the dawn of that +happy day in which humanity will be the only religion, good the +only god, happiness the only object, restitution the only +atonement, mistake the only sin, and affection, guided by +intelligence, the only savior of mankind. This dawn enriched his +poverty, illuminated the darkness of his life, peopled his +loneliness with the happy millions yet to be, and filled his eyes +with proud and tender tears.</p> +<p>A few years ago I asked the superintendent of Pere La Chaise if +he knew where I could find the tomb of Auguste Comte. He had never +heard even the name of the author of the "Positive Philosophy." I +asked him if he had ever heard of Napoleon Bonaparte. In a +half-insulted tone, he replied, "Of course I have, why do you ask +me such a question?" "Simply," was my answer, "that I might have +the opportunity of saying, that when everything connected with +Napoleon, except his crimes, shall have been forgotten, Auguste +Comte will be lovingly remembered as a benefactor of the human +race."</p> +<p>The Jewish God must be dethroned! A personal Deity must go back +to the darkness of barbarism from whence he came. The theologians +must abdicate, and popes, priests, and clergymen, labeled as +"extinct species," must occupy the mental museums of the +future.</p> +<p>In my judgment, this book, filled with original thought, will +hasten the coming of that blessed time.</p> +<p>Washington, D. C., Nov. 29,1879.</p> +<a name="linkPREF1" id="linkPREF1"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>PREFACE TO DR. EDGAR C. BEALL'S "THE BRAIN AND THE BIBLE."</h2> +<p>THIS book, written by a brave and honest man, is filled with +brave and honest thoughts. The arguments it presents can not be +answered by all the theologians in the world. The author is +convinced that the universe is natural, that man is naturally +produced, and that there is a necessary relation between character +and brain. He sees, and clearly sees, that the theological +explanation of phenomena is only a plausible absurdity, and, at +best, as great a mystery as it tries to solve. I thank the man who +breaks, or tries to break, the chains of custom, creed, and church, +and gives in plain, courageous words, the product of his brain.</p> +<p>It is almost impossible to investigate any subject without +somewhere touching the religious prejudices of ourselves or others. +Most people judge of the truth of a proposition by the consequences +upon some preconceived opinion. Certain things they take as truths, +and with this little standard in their minds, they measure all +other theories. If the new facts do not agree with the standard, +they are instantly thrown away, because it is much easier to +dispose of the new facts than to reconstruct an entire +philosophy.</p> +<p>A few years ago, when men began to say that character could be +determined by the form, quantity, and quality of the brain, the +religious world rushed to the conclusion that this fact might +destroy what they were pleased to call the free moral agency of +man. They admitted that all things in the physical world were links +in the infinite chain of causes and effects, and that not one atom +of the material universe could, by any possibility, be entirely +exempt from the action of every other. They insisted that, if the +motions of the spirit—the thoughts, dreams, and conclusions +of the brain, were as necessarily produced as stones and stars, +virtue became necessity, and morality the result of forces capable +of mathematical calculation. In other words, they insisted that, +while there were causes for all material phenomena, a something +called the Will sat enthroned above all law, and dominated the +phenomena of the intellectual world. They insisted that man was +free; that he controlled his brain; that he was responsible for +thought as well as action; that the intellectual world of each man +was a universe in which his will was king. They were afraid that +phrenology might, in some way, interfere with the scheme of +salvation, or prevent the eternal torment of some erring soul.</p> +<p>It is insisted that man is free, and is responsible, because he +knows right from wrong. But the compass does not navigate the ship; +neither does it, in any way, of itself, determine the direction +that is taken. When winds and waves are too powerful, the compass +is of no importance. The pilot may read it correctly, and may know +the direction the ship ought to take, but the compass is not a +force. So men, blown by the tempests of passion, may have the +intellectual conviction that they should go another way; but, of +what use, of what force, is the conviction?</p> +<p>Thousands of persons have gathered curious statistics for the +purpose of showing that man is absolutely dominated by his +surroundings. By these statistics is discovered what is called "the +law of average." They show that there are about so many suicides in +London every year, so many letters misdirected at Paris, so many +men uniting themselves In marriage with women older than themselves +in Belgium, so many burglaries to one murder in France, or so many +persons driven insane by religion in the United States. It is +asserted that these facts conclusively show that man is acted upon; +that behind each thought, each dream, is the efficient cause, and +that the doctrine of moral responsibility has been destroyed by +statistics.</p> +<p>But, does the fact that about so many crimes are committed on +the average, in a given population, or that so many any things are +done, prove that there is no freedom in human action?</p> +<p>Suppose a population of ten thousand persons; and suppose, +further, that they are free, and that they have the usual wants of +mankind. Is it not reasonable to say that they would act in some +way? They certainly would take measures to obtain food, clothing, +and shelter. If these people differed in intellect, in +surroundings, in temperament, in strength, it is reasonable to +suppose that all would not be equally successful. Under such +circumstances, may we not safely infer that, in a little while, if +the statistics were properly taken, a law of average would appear? +In other words, free people would act; and, being different in +mind, body, and circumstances, would not all act exactly alike. All +would not be alike acted upon. The deviations from what might be +thought wise, or right, would sustain such a relation to time and +numbers that they could be expressed by a law of average.</p> +<p>If this is true, the law of average does not establish +necessity.</p> +<p>But, in my supposed case, the people, after all, are not free. +They have wants. They are under the necessity of feeding, clothing, +and sheltering themselves. To the extent of their actual wants, +they are not free. Every limitation is a master. Every finite being +is a prisoner, and no man has ever yet looked above or beyond the +prison walls.</p> +<p>Our highest conception of liberty is to be free from the +dictation of fellow prisoners.</p> +<p>To the extent that we have wants, we are not free. To the extent +that we do not have wants, we do not act.</p> +<p>If we are responsible for our thoughts, we ought not only to +know how they are formed, but we ought to form them. If we are the +masters of our own minds, we ought to be able to tell what we are +going to think at any future time. Evidently, the food of +thought—its very warp and woof—is furnished through the +medium of the senses. If we open our eyes, we cannot help seeing. +If we do not stop our ears, we cannot help hearing. If anything +touches us, we feel it. The heart beats in spite of us. The lungs +supply themselves with air without our knowledge. The blood pursues +its old accustomed rounds, and all our senses act without our +leave. As the heart beats, so the brain thinks. The will is not its +king. As the blood flows, as the lungs expand, as the eyes see, as +the ears hear, as the flesh is sensitive to touch, so the brain +thinks.</p> +<p>I had a dream, in which I debated a question with a friend. I +thought to myself: "This is a dream, and yet I can not tell what my +opponent is going to say. Yet, if it is a dream, I am doing the +thinking for both sides, and therefore ought to know in advance +what my friend will urge." But, in a dream, there is some one who +seems to talk to us. Our own brain tells us news, and presents an +unexpected thought. Is it not possible that each brain is a field +where all the senses sow the seeds of thought? Some of these fields +are mostly barren, poor, and hard, producing only worthless weeds; +and some grow sturdy oaks and stately palms; and some are like the +tropic world, where plants and trees and vines seem royal children +of the soil and sun.</p> +<p>Nothing seems more certain than that the capacity of a human +being depends, other things being equal, upon the amount, form, and +quality of his brain. We also know that health, disposition, +temperament, occupation, food, surroundings, ancestors, quality, +form, and texture of the brain, determine what we call character. +Man is, collectively and individually, what his surroundings have +made him. Nations differ from each other as greatly as individuals +in the same nation. Nations depend upon soil, climate, geographical +position, and countless other facts. Shakespeare would have been +impossible without the climate of England. There is a direct +relation between Hamlet and the Gulf Stream. Dr. Draper has shown +that the great desert of Sahara made negroes possible in Africa. If +the Caribbean Sea had been a desert, negroes might have been +produced in America.</p> +<p>Are the effects of climate upon man necessary effects? Is it +possible for man to escape them? Is he responsible for what he does +as a consequence of his surroundings? Is the mind dependent upon +causes? Does it act without cause? Is every thought a necessity? +Can man choose without reference to any quality in the thing +chosen?</p> +<p>No one will blame Mr. Brown or Mr. Jones for not writing like +Shakespeare. Should they be blamed for not acting like Christ? We +say that a great painter has genius. Is it not possible that a +certain genius is required to be what is called "good"? All men +cannot be great. All men cannot be successful. Can all men be kind? +Can all men be honest?</p> +<p>It may be that a crime appears terrible in proportion as we +realize its consequences. If this is true, morality may depend +largely upon the imagination. Man cannot have imagination at will; +that, certainly, is a natural product. And yet, a man's action may +depend largely upon the want of imagination. One man may feel that +he really wishes to kill another. He may make preparations to +commit the deed; and yet, his imagination may present such pictures +of horror and despair; he may so vividly see the widow clasping the +mangled corpse; he may so plainly hear the cries and sobs of +orphans, while the clods fall upon the coffin, that his hand is +stayed. Another, lacking imagination, thirsting only for revenge, +seeing nothing beyond the accomplishment of the deed, buries, with +blind-and thoughtless hate, the dagger in his victim's heart.</p> +<p>Morality, for the most part, is the verdict of the majority. +This verdict depends upon the intelligence of the people; and the +intelligence depends upon the amount, form, and quality of the +average brain.</p> +<p>If the mind depends upon certain organs for the expression of +its thought, does it have thought independently of those organs? Is +there any mind without brain? Does the mind think apart from the +brain, and then express its thought through the instrumentality of +the brain? Theologians tell us that insanity is not a disease of +the soul, but of the brain; that the soul is perfectly untouched; +but that the instrument with which, and through which, it manifests +itself, is impaired. The fact, however, seems to be, that the mind, +the something that is the man, is unconscious of the fact that +anything is out of order in the brain. Insane people insist that +they are sane.</p> +<p>If we should find a locomotive off the track, and the engineer +using the proper appliances to put it back, we would say that the +machine is out of order, but the engineer is not. But, if we found +the locomotive upside down, with wheels in air, and the engineer +insisting that it was on the track, and never running better, we +would then conclude that something was wrong, not only with the +locomotive, but with the engineer.</p> +<p>We are told in medical books of a girl, who, at about the age of +nine years, was attacked with some cerebral disease. When she +recovered, she had forgotten all she ever knew, and had to relearn +the alphabet, and the names of her parents and kindred. In this +abnormal state, she was not a good girl; in the normal state, she +was. After having lived in the second state for several years, she +went back to the first; and all she had learned in the second state +was forgotten, and all she had learned in the first was +remembered.</p> +<p>I believe she changed once more, and died in the abnormal state. +In which of these states was she responsible? Were her thoughts and +actions as free in one as in the other? It may be contended that, +in her diseased state, the mind or soul could not correctly express +itself. If this is so, it follows that, as no one is perfectly +healthy, and as no one has a perfect brain, it is impossible that +the soul should ever correctly express itself. Is the soul +responsible for the defects of the brain? Is it not altogether more +rational to say, that what we call mind depends upon the brain, and +that the child—mind, inherits the defects of its +parent—brain?</p> +<p>Are certain physical conditions necessary to the production of +what we call virtuous actions? Is it possible for anything to be +produced without what we call cause, and, if the cause was +sufficient, was it not necessarily produced? Do not most people +mistake for freedom the right to examine their own chains? If +morality depends upon conditions, should it not be the task of the +great and good to discover such conditions? May it not be possible +so to understand the brain that we can stop producing +criminals?</p> +<p>It may be insisted that there is something produced by the brain +besides thought—a something that takes cognizance of +thoughts—a something that weighs, compares, reflects and +pronounces judgment. This something cannot find the origin of +itself. Does it exist independently of the brain? Is it merely a +looker-on? If it is a product of the brain, then its power, +perception, and judgment depend upon the quantity, form, and +quality of the brain.</p> +<p>Man, including all his attributes, must have been necessarily +produced, and the product was the child of conditions.</p> +<p>Most reformers have infinite confidence in creeds, resolutions, +and laws. They think of the common people as raw material, out of +which they propose to construct institutions and governments, like +mechanical contrivances, where each person will stand for a cog, +rope, wheel, pulley, bolt, or fuel, and the reformers will be the +managers and directors. They forget that these cogs and wheels have +opinions of their own; that they fall out with other cogs, and +refuse to turn with other wheels; that the pulleys and ropes have +ideas peculiar to themselves, and delight in mutiny and revolution. +These reformers have theories that can only be realized when other +people have none.</p> +<p>Some time, it will be found that people can be changed only by +changing their surroundings. It is alleged that, at least +ninety-five per cent. of the criminals transported from England to +Australia and other penal colonies, became good and useful citizens +in a new world. Free from former associates and associations, from +the necessities of a hard, cruel, and competitive civilization, +they became, for the most part, honest people. This immense fact +throws more light upon social questions than all the theories of +the world. All people are not able to support themselves. They lack +intelligence, industry, cunning—in short, capacity. They are +continually falling by the way. In the midst of plenty, they are +hungry. Larceny is born of want and opportunity. In passion's +storm, the will is wrecked upon the reefs and rocks of crime.</p> +<p>The complex, tangled web of thought and dream, of perception and +memory, of imagination and judgment, of wish and will and +want—the woven wonder of a life—has never yet been +raveled back to simple threads.</p> +<p>Shall we not become charitable and just, when we know that every +act is but condition's fruit; that Nature, with her countless +hands, scatters the seeds of tears and crimes—of every virtue +and of every joy; that all the base and vile are victims of the +Blind, and that the good and great have, in the lottery of life, by +chance or fate, drawn heart and brain?</p> +<p>Washington, December 21, 1881.</p> +<a name="linkPREF2" id="linkPREF2"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>PREFACE TO "MEN, WOMEN AND GODS."</h2> +<p>NOTHING gives me more pleasure, nothing gives greater promise +for the future, than the fact that woman is achieving intellectual +and physical liberty.</p> +<p>It is refreshing to know that here, in our country, there are +thousands of women who think, and express their thoughts—who +are thoroughly free and thoroughly conscientious—who have +neither been narrowed nor corrupted by a heartless creed—who +do not worship a being in heaven whom they would shudderingly +loathe on earth—women who do not stand before the altar of a +cruel faith, with downcast eyes of timid acquiescence, and pay to +impudent authority the tribute of a thoughtless yes. They are no +longer satisfied with being told. They examine for themselves. They +have ceased to be the prisoners of society—the satisfied +serfs of husbands, or the echoes of priests. They demand the rights +that naturally belong to intelligent human beings. If wives, they +wish to be the equals of husbands. If mothers, they wish to rear +their children in the atmosphere of love, liberty and philosophy. +They believe that woman can discharge all her duties without the +aid of superstition, and preserve all that is true, pure, and +tender, without sacrificing in the temple of absurdity the +convictions of the soul.</p> +<p>Woman is not the intellectual inferior of man. She has lacked, +not mind, but opportunity. In the long night of barbarism, physical +strength and the cruelty to use it, were the badges of superiority. +Muscle was more than mind. In the ignorant age of Faith, the loving +nature of woman was abused. Her conscience was rendered morbid and +diseased. It might almost be said that she was betrayed by her own +virtues. At best she secured, not opportunity, but +flattery—the preface to degradation. She was deprived of +liberty, and without that, nothing is worth the having. She was +taught to obey without question, and to believe without thought. +There were universities for men before the alphabet had been taught +to women. At the intellectual feast, there were no places for wives +and mothers. Even now they sit at the second table and eat the +crusts and crumbs. The schools for women, at the present time, are +just far enough behind those for men, to fall heirs to the +discarded; on the same principle that when a doctrine becomes too +absurd for the pulpit, it is given to the Sunday-school.</p> +<p>The ages of muscle and miracle—of fists and +faith—are passing away. Minerva occupies at last a higher +niche than Hercules. Now a word is stronger than a blow. At last we +see women who depend upon themselves—who stand, self poised, +the shocks of this sad world, without leaning for support against a +church—who do not go to the literature of barbarism for +consolation, or use the falsehoods and mistakes of the past for the +foundation of their hope—women brave enough and tender enough +to meet and bear the facts and fortunes of this world.</p> +<p>The men who declare that woman is the intellectual inferior of +man, do not, and cannot, by offering themselves in evidence, +substantiate their declaration.</p> +<p>Yet, I must admit that there are thousands of wives who still +have faith in the saving power of superstition—who still +insist on attending church while husbands prefer the shores, the +woods, or the fields. In this way, families are divided. Parents +grow apart, and unconsciously the pearl of greatest price is thrown +away. The wife ceases to be the intellectual companion of the +husband. She reads <i>The Christian Register</i>, sermons in the +Monday papers, and a little gossip about folks and fashions, while +he studies the works of Darwin, Haeckel, and Humboldt. Their +sympathies become estranged. They are no longer mental friends. The +husband smiles at the follies of the wife, and she weeps for the +supposed sins of the husband. Such wives should read this book. +They should not be satisfied to remain forever in the cradle of +thought, amused with the toys of superstition.</p> +<p>The parasite of woman is the priest.</p> +<p>It must also be admitted that there are thousands of men who +believe that superstition is good for women and children—who +regard falsehood as the fortress of virtue, and feel indebted to +ignorance for the purity of daughters and the fidelity of wives. +These men think of priests as detectives in disguise, and regard +God as a policeman who prevents elopements. Their opinions about +religion are as correct as their estimate of woman.</p> +<p>The church furnishes but little food for the mind. People of +intelligence are growing tired of the platitudes of the +pulpit—the iterations of the itinerants. The average sermon +is "as tedious as a twice told tale vexing the ears of a drowsy +man."</p> +<p>One Sunday a gentleman, who is a great inventor, called at my +house. Only a few words had passed between us, when he arose, +saying that he must go as it was time for church. Wondering that a +man of his mental wealth could enjoy the intellectual poverty of +the pulpit, I asked for an explanation, and he gave me the +following: "You know that I am an inventor. Well, the moment my +mind becomes absorbed in some difficult problem, I am afraid that +something may happen to distract my attention. Now, I know that I +can sit in church for an hour without the slightest danger of +having the current of my thought disturbed."</p> +<p>Most women cling to the Bible because they have been taught that +to give up that book is to give up all hope of another +life—of ever meeting again the loved and lost. They have also +been taught that the Bible is their friend, their defender, and the +real civilizer of man.</p> +<p>Now, if they will only read this book—these three +lectures, without fear, and then read the Bible, they will see that +the truth or falsity of the dogma of inspiration has nothing to do +with the question of immortality. Certainly the Old Testament does +not teach us that there is another life, and upon that question +even the New is obscure and vague. The hunger of the heart finds +only a few small and scattered crumbs. There is nothing definite, +solid, and satisfying. United with the idea of immortality we find +the absurdity of the resurrection. A prophecy that depends for its +fulfillment upon an impossibility, cannot satisfy the brain or +heart.</p> +<p>There are but few who do not long for a dawn beyond the night. +And this longing is born of and nourished by the heart. Love +wrapped in shadow—bending with tear-filled eyes above its +dead, convulsively clasps the outstretched hand of hope.</p> +<p>I had the pleasure of introducing Miss Gardener to her first +audience, and in that introduction said a few words that I will +repeat.</p> +<p>"We do not know, we cannot say, whether death is a wall or a +door; the beginning or end of a day; the spreading of pinions to +soar, or the folding forever of wings; the rise or the set of a +sun, or an endless life that brings the rapture of love to every +one.</p> +<p>"Under the seven-hued arch of hope let the dead sleep."</p> +<p>They will also discover, as they read the "Sacred Volume," that +it is not the friend of woman. They will find that the writers of +that book, for the most part, speak of woman as a poor beast of +burden, a serf, a drudge, a kind of necessary evil—as mere +property. Surely, a book that upholds polygamy is not the friend of +wife and mother.</p> +<p>Even Christ did not place woman on an equality with man. He said +not one word about the sacredness of home, the duties of the +husband to the wife—nothing calculated to lighten the hearts +of those who bear the saddest burdens of this life.</p> +<p>They will also find that the Bible has not civilized mankind. A +book that establishes and defends slavery and wanton war is not +calculated to soften the hearts of those who believe implicitly +that it is the work of God. A book that not only permits, but +commands, religious persecution, has not, in my judgment, developed +the affectional nature of man. Its influence has been bad and bad +only. It has filled the world with bitterness, revenge and crime, +and retarded in countless ways the progress of our race.</p> +<p>The writer of this volume has read the Bible with open eyes. The +mist of sentimentality has not clouded her vision. She has had the +courage to tell the result of her investigations. She has been +quick to discover contradictions. She appreciates the humorous side +of the stupidly solemn. Her heart protests against the cruel, and +her brain rejects the childish, the unnatural and absurd. There is +no misunderstanding between her head and heart. She says what she +thinks, and feels what she says.</p> +<p>No human being can answer her arguments. There is no answer. All +the priests in the world cannot explain away her objections. There +is no explanation. They should remain dumb, unless they can show +that the impossible is the probable—that slavery is better +than freedom—that polygamy is the friend of woman—that +the innocent can justly suffer for the guilty, and that to +persecute for opinion's sake is an act of love and worship.</p> +<p>Wives who cease to learn—who simply forget and +believe—will fill the evening of their lives with barren +sighs and bitter tears.</p> +<p>The mind should outlast youth. If when beauty fades, Thought, +the deft and unseen sculptor, hath not left his subtle lines upon +the face, then all is lost. No charm is left. The light is out. +There is no flame within to glorify the wrinkled clay.</p> +<p>Hoffman House, New York, July, 22, 1885.</p> +<a name="linkPREF3" id="linkPREF3"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>PREFACE TO "FOR HER DAILY BREAD."</h2> +<p>I HAVE read, this story, this fragment of a life mingled with +fragments of other lives, and have been pleased, interested, and +instructed. It is filled with the pathos of truth, and has in it +the humor that accompanies actual experience. It has but little to +do with the world of imagination; certain feelings are not +attributed to persons born of fancy, but it is the history of a +heart and brain interested in the common things of life. There are +no kings, no lords, no titled ladies, but there are real people, +the people of the shop and street whom every reader knows, and +there are lines intense and beautiful, and scenes that touch the +heart. You will find no theories of government, no hazy outlines of +reform, nothing but facts and folks, as they have been, as they +are, and probably will be for many centuries to come.</p> +<p>If you read this book you will be convinced that men and women +are good or bad, charitable or heartless, by reason of something +within, and not by virtue of any name they bear, or any trade or +profession they follow, or of any creed they may accept. You will +also find that men sometimes are honest and mean; that women may be +very virtuous and very cruel; that good, generous and sympathetic +men are often disreputable, and that some exceedingly worthy +citizens are extremely mean and uncomfortable neighbors.</p> +<p>It takes a great deal of genius and a good deal of selfdenial to +be very bad or to be very good. Few people understand the amount of +energy, industry, and self-denial it requires to be consistently +vicious. People who have a pride in being good and fail, and those +who have a pride in being bad and fail, in order to make their +records consistent generally rely upon hypocrisy. The people that +live and hope and fear in this book, are much like the people who +live and hope and fear in the actual world. The professor is much +like the professor in the ordinary college. You will find the +conscientious, half-paid teacher, the hopeful poor, the anxious +rich, the true lover, the stingy philanthropist, who cares for +people only in the aggregate,—the individual atom being too +small to attract his notice or to enlist his heart; the sympathetic +man who loves himself, and gives, not for the sake of the beggar, +but for the sake of getting rid of the beggar, and you will also +find the man generous to a fault—with the money of others. +And the reader will find these people described naturally, +truthfully and without exaggeration, and he will feel certain that +all these people have really lived.</p> +<p>The reader of this story will get some idea as to what is +encountered by a girl in an honest effort to gain her daily bread. +He will find how steep, how devious and how difficult is the path +she treads.</p> +<p>There are so few occupations open to woman, so few things in +which she can hope for independence, that to be thrown upon her own +resources is almost equivalent to being cast away. Besides, she is +an object of continual suspicion, watched not only by men but by +women. If she does anything that other women are not doing, she is +at once suspected, her reputation is touched, and other women, for +fear of being stained themselves, withdraw not only the hand of +help, but the smile of recognition. A young woman cannot defend +herself without telling the charge that has been made against her. +This, of itself, gives a kind of currency to slander. To speak of +the suspicion that has crawled across her path, is to plant the +seeds of doubt in other minds; to even deny it, admits that it +exists. To be suspected, that is enough. There is no way of +destroying this suspicion. There is no court in which suspicions +are tried; no juries that can render verdicts of not guilty. Most +women are driven at last to the needle, and this does not allow +them to live; it simply keeps them from dying.</p> +<p>It is hard to appreciate the dangers and difficulties that lie +in wait for woman. Even in this Christian country of ours, no girl +is safe in the streets of any city after the sun has gone down. +After all, the sun is the only god that has ever protected woman. +In the darkness she has been the prey of the wild beast in man.</p> +<p>Nearly all charitable people, so-called, imagine that nothing is +easier than to obtain work. They really feel that anybody, no +matter what his circumstances may be, can get work enough to do if +he is only willing to do the work. They cannot understand why any +healthy human being should lack food or clothes. Meeting the +unfortunate and the wretched in the streets of the great city, they +ask them in a kind of wondering way, why they do not go to the +West, why they do not cultivate the soil, and why they are so +foolish, stupid, and reckless as to remain in the town. It would be +just as sensible to ask a beggar why he does not start a bank or a +line of steamships, as to ask him why he does not cultivate the +soil, or why he does not go to the West. The man has no money to +pay his fare, and if his fare were paid he would be, when he landed +in the West, in precisely the same condition as he was when he left +the East. Societies and institutions and individuals supply the +immediate wants of the hungry and the ragged, but they afford only +the relief of the moment.</p> +<p>Articles by the thousand have been written for the purpose of +showing that women should become servants in houses, and the +writers of these articles are filled with astonishment that any +girl should hesitate to enter domestic service. They tell us that +nearly every family needs a good cook, a good chambermaid, a good +sweeper of floors and washer of dishes, a good stout girl to carry +the baby and draw the wagon, and these good people express the +greatest astonishment that all girls are not anxious to become +domestics. They tell them that they will be supplied with good +food, that they will have comfortable beds and warm clothing, and +they ask, "What more do you want?" These people have not, however, +solved the problem. If girls, as a rule, keep away from kitchens +and chambers, if they hate to be controlled by other women, there +must be a reason. When we see a young woman prefer a clerkship in a +store,—a business which keeps her upon her feet all day, and +sends her to her lonely room, filled with weariness and despair, +and when we see other girls who are willing to sew for a few cents +a day rather than become the maid of "my lady," there must be some +reason, and this reason must be deemed sufficient by the persons +who are actuated by it. What is it?</p> +<p>Every human being imagines that the future has something in +store for him. It is natural to build these castles in Spain. It is +natural for a girl to dream of being loved by the noble, by the +superb, and it is natural for the young man to dream of success, of +a home, of a good, a beautiful and loving wife. These dreams are +the solace of poverty; they keep back the tears in the eyes of the +young and the hungry. To engage in any labor that degrades, in any +work that leaves a stain, in any business the mention of which is +liable to redden the cheek, seems to be a destruction of the +foundation of hope, a destruction of the future; it seems to be a +crucifixion of his or her better self. It assassinates the +ideal.</p> +<p>It may be said that labor is noble, that work is a kind of +religion, and whoever says this tells the truth, But after all, +what has the truth to do with this question? What is the opinion of +society?—What is the result? It cures no wound to say that it +was wrongfully inflicted. The opinion of sensible people is one +way, the action of society is inconsistent with that opinion. +Domestic servants are treated as though their employment was and is +a degradation. Bankers, merchants, professional men, ministers of +the gospel, do not want their sons to become the husbands of +chambermaids and cooks. Small hands are beautiful; they do not tell +of labor.</p> +<p>I have given one reason; there is another. The work of a +domestic is never done. She is liable to be called at any moment, +day or night. She has no time that she can call her own. A woman +who works by the piece can take a little rest; if she is a clerk +she has certain hours of labor and the rest of the day is her +own.</p> +<p>And there is still another reason that I almost hate to give, +and that is this: As a rule, woman is exacting with woman. As a +rule, woman does not treat woman as well as man treats man, or as +well as man treats woman. There are many other reasons, but I have +given enough.</p> +<p>For many years, women have been seeking employment other than +that of domestic service. They have so hated this occupation, that +they have sought in every possible direction for other ways to win +their bread. At last hundreds of employments are open to them, and, +as a consequence, domestic servants are those who can get nothing +else to do.</p> +<p>In the olden time, servants sat at the table with the family; +they were treated something like human beings, harshly enough to be +sure, but in many cases almost as equals. Now the kitchen is far +away from the parlor. It is another world, occupied by individuals +of a different race. There is no bond of sympathy—no common +ground. This is especially true in a Republic. In the Old World, +people occupying menial places account for their positions by +calling attention to the laws—to the hereditary nobility and +the universal spirit of caste. Here, there are no such excuses. All +are supposed to have equal opportunities, and those who are +compelled to labor for their daily bread, in avocations that +require only bodily strength, are regarded as failures. It is this +fact that stabs like a knife. And yet in the conclusion drawn, +there is but little truth. Some of the noblest and best pass their +lives in daily drudgery and unremunerative toil—while many of +the mean, vicious and stupid reach place and power.</p> +<p>This story is filled with sympathy for the destitute, for the +struggling, and tends to keep the star of hope above the horizon of +the unfortunate. After all, we know but little of the world, and +have but a faint conception of the burdens that are borne, and of +the courage and heroism displayed by the unregarded poor. Let the +rich read these pages; they will have a kinder feeling toward those +who toil; let the workers read them, and they will think better of +themselves.</p> +<a name="linkPREF4" id="linkPREF4"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>PREFACE TO "AGNOSTICISM AND OTHER ESSAYS."</h2> +<center>I.</center> +<p>EDGAR FAWCETT—a great poet, a metaphysician and +logician—has been for years engaged in exploring that strange +world wherein are supposed to be the springs of human action. He +has sought for something back of motives, reasons, fancies, +passions, prejudices, and the countless tides and tendencies that +constitute the life of man.</p> +<p>He has found some of the limitations of mind, and knows that +beginning at that luminous centre called consciousness, a few short +steps bring us to the prison wall where vision fails and all light +dies. Beyond this wall the eternal darkness broods. This gloom is +"the other world" of the supernaturalist. With him, real vision +begins where the sight fails. He reverses the order of nature. +Facts become illusions, and illusions the only realities. He +believes that the cause of the image, the reality, is behind the +mirror.</p> +<p>A few centuries ago the priests said to their followers: The +other world is above you; it is just beyond where you see. +Afterward, the astronomer with his telescope looked, and asked the +priests: Where is the world of which you speak? And the priests +replied: It has receded—it is just beyond where you see.</p> +<p>As long as there is "a beyond," there is room for the priests' +world. Theology is the geography of this beyond.</p> +<p>Between the Christian and the Agnostic there is the difference +of assertion and question—between "There is a God" and "Is +there a God?" The Agnostic has the arrogance to admit his +ignorance, while the Christian from the depths of humility +impudently insists that he knows.</p> +<p>Mr. Fawcett has shown that at the root of religion lies the +coiled serpent of fear, and that ceremony, prayer, and worship are +ways and means to gain the assistance or soften the heart of a +supposed deity.</p> +<p>He also shows that as man advances in knowledge he loses +confidence in the watchfulness of Providence and in the efficacy of +prayer.</p> +<center>II.</center> +<center>SCIENCE.</center> +<p>The savage is certain of those things that cannot be known. He +is acquainted with origin and destiny, and knows everything except +that which is useful. The civilized man, having outgrown the +ignorance, the arrogance, and the provincialism of savagery, +abandons the vain search for final causes, for the nature and +origin of things.</p> +<p>In nearly every department of science man is allowed to +investigate, and the discovery of a new fact is welcomed, unless it +threatens some creed.</p> +<p>Of course there can be no advance in a religion established by +infinite wisdom. The only progress possible is in the comprehension +of this religion.</p> +<p>For many generations, what is known under a vast number of +disguises and behind many masks as the Christian religion, has been +propagated and preserved by the sword and bayonet—that is to +say, by force. The credulity of man has been bribed and his reason +punished. Those who believed without the slightest question, and +whose faith held evidence in contempt, were saints; those who +investigated were dangerous, and those who denied were +destroyed.</p> +<p>Every attack upon this religion has been made in the shadow of +human and divine hatred—in defiance of earth and heaven. At +one time Christendom was beneath the ignorant feet of one man, and +those who denied his infallibility were heretics and Atheists. At +last, a protest was uttered. The right of conscience was +proclaimed, to the extent of making a choice between the infallible +man and the infallible book. Those who rejected the man and +accepted the book became in their turn as merciless, as tyrannical +and heartless, as the followers of the infallible man. The +Protestants insisted that an infinitely wise and good God would not +allow criminals and wretches to act as his infallible agents.</p> +<p>Afterward, a few protested against the infallibility of the +book, using the same arguments against the book that had formerly +been used against the pope. They said that an infinitely wise and +good God could not be the author of a cruel and ignorant book. But +those who protested against the book fell into substantially the +same error that had been fallen into by those who had protested +against the man. While they denounced the book, and insisted that +an infinitely wise and good being could not have been its author, +they took the ground that an infinitely wise and good being was the +creator and governor of the world.</p> +<p>Then was used against them the same argument that had been used +by the Protestants against the pope and by the Deists against the +Protestants. Attention was called to the fact that Nature is as +cruel as any pope or any book—that it is just as easy to +account for the destruction of the Canaanites consistently with the +goodness of Jehovah as to account for pestilence, earthquake, and +flood consistently with the goodness of the God of Nature.</p> +<p>The Protestant and Deist both used arguments against the +Catholic that could in turn be used with equal force against +themselves. So that there is no question among intelligent people +as to the infallibility of the pope, as to the inspiration of the +book, or as to the existence of the Christian's God—for the +conclusion has been reached that the human mind is incapable of +deciding as to the origin and destiny of the universe.</p> +<p>For many generations the mind of man has been traveling in a +circle. It accepted without question the dogma of a First +Cause—of the existence of a Creator—of an Infinite Mind +back of matter, and sought in many ways to define its ignorance in +this behalf. The most sincere worshipers have declared that this +being is incomprehensible,—that he is "without body, parts, +or passions"—that he is infinitely beyond their grasp, and at +the same time have insisted that it was necessary for man not only +to believe in the existence of this being, but to love him with all +his heart.</p> +<p>Christianity having always been in partnership with the +state,—having controlled kings and nobles, judges and +legislators—having been in partnership with armies and with +every form of organized destruction,—it was dangerous to +discuss the foundation of its authority. To speak lightly of any +dogma was a crime punishable by death. Every absurdity has been +bastioned and barricaded by the power of the state. It has been +protected by fist, by club, by sword and cannon.</p> +<p>For many years Christianity succeeded in substantially closing +the mouths of its enemies, and lived and flourished only where +investigation and discussion were prevented by hypocrisy and +bigotry. The church still talks about "evidence," about "reason," +about "freedom of conscience" and the "liberty of speech," and yet +denounces those who ask for evidence, who appeal to reason, and who +honestly express their thoughts.</p> +<p>To-day we know that the miracles of Christianity are as puerile +and false as those ascribed to the medicine-men of Central Africa +or the Fiji Islanders, and that the "sacred Scriptures" have the +same claim to inspiration that the Koran has, or the Book of +Mormon—no less, no more. These questions have been settled +and laid aside by free and intelligent people. They have ceased to +excite interest; and the man who now really believes in the truth +of the Old Testament is regarded with a smile— looked upon as +an aged child—still satisfied with the lullabys and toys of +the cradle.</p> +<center>III.</center> +<center>MORALITY.</center> +<p>It is contended that without religion—that is to say, +without Christianity—all ideas of morality must of necessity +perish, and that spirituality and reverence will be lost.</p> +<p>What is morality?</p> +<p>Is it to obey without question, or is it to act in accordance +with perceived obligation? Is it something with which intelligence +has nothing to do? Must the ignorant child carry out the command of +the wise father—the rude peasant rush to death at the request +of the prince?</p> +<p>Is it impossible for morality to exist where the brain and heart +are in partnership? Is there no foundation for morality except +punishment threatened or reward promised by a superior to an +inferior? If this be true, how can the superior be virtuous? Cannot +the reward and the threat be in the nature of things? Can they not +rest in consequences perceived by the intellect? How can the +existence or non-existence of a deity change my obligation to keep +my hands out of the fire?</p> +<p>The results of all actions are equally certain, but not equally +known, not equally perceived. If all men knew with perfect +certainty that to steal from another was to rob themselves, larceny +would cease. It cannot be said too often that actions are good or +bad in the light of consequences, and that a clear perception of +consequences would control actions. That which increases the sum of +human happiness is moral; and that which diminishes the sum of +human happiness is immoral. Blind, unreasoning obedience is the +enemy of morality. Slavery is not the friend of virtue. Actions are +neither right nor wrong by virtue of what men or gods can +say—the right or wrong lives in results—in the nature +of things, growing out of relations violated or caused.</p> +<p>Accountability lives in the nature of consequences—in +their absolute certainty—in the fact that they cannot be +placated, avoided, or bribed.</p> +<p>The relations of human life are too complicated to be accurately +and clearly understood, and, as a consequence, rules of action vary +from age to age. The ideas of right and wrong change with the +experience of the race, and this change is wrought by the gradual +ascertaining of consequences—of results. For this reason the +religion of one age fails to meet the standard of another, +precisely as the laws that satisfied our ancestors are repealed by +us; so that, in spite of all efforts, religion itself is subject to +gradual and perpetual change.</p> +<p>The miraculous is no longer the basis of morals. Man is a +sentient being—he suffers and enjoys. In order to be happy he +must preserve the conditions of well-being—must live in +accordance with certain facts by which he is surrounded. If he +violates these conditions the result is unhappiness, failure, +disease, misery.</p> +<p>Man must have food, roof, raiment, fireside, friends—that +is to say, prosperity; and this he must earn—this he must +deserve. He is no longer satisfied with being a slave, even of the +Infinite. He wishes to perceive for himself, to understand, to +investigate, to experiment; and he has at last the courage to bear +the consequences that he brings upon himself. He has also found +that those who are the most religious are not always the kindest, +and that those who have been and are the worshipers of God enslave +their fellow-men. He has found that there is no necessary +connection between religion and morality.</p> +<p>Morality needs no supernatural assistance—needs neither +miracle nor pretence. It has nothing to do with awe, reverence, +credulity, or blind, unreasoning faith. Morality is the highway +perceived by the soul, the direct road, leading to success, honor, +and happiness.</p> +<p>The best thing to do under the circumstances is moral.</p> +<p>The highest possible standard is human. We put ourselves in the +places of others. We are made happy by the kindness of others, and +we feel that a fair exchange of good actions is the wisest and best +commerce. We know that others can make us miserable by acts of +hatred and injustice, and we shrink from inflicting the pain upon +others that we have felt ourselves; this is the foundation of +conscience.</p> +<p>If man could not suffer, the words right and wrong could never +have been spoken.</p> +<p>The Agnostic, the Infidel, clearly perceives the true basis of +morals, and, so perceiving, he knows that the religious man, the +superstitious man, caring more for God than for his fellows, will +sacrifice his fellows, either at the supposed command of his God, +or to win his approbation. He also knows that the religionist has +no basis for morals except these supposed commands. The basis of +morality with him lies not in the nature of things, but in the +caprice of some deity. He seems to think that, had it not been for +the Ten Commandments, larceny and murder might have been +virtues.</p> +<center>IV.</center> +<center>SPIRITUALITY.</center> +<p>What is it to be spiritual?</p> +<p>Is this fine quality of the mind destroyed by the development of +the brain? As the domain wrested by science from ignorance +increases—as island after island and continent after +continent are discovered—as star after star and constellation +after constellation in the intellectual world burst upon the +midnight of ignorance, does the spirituality of the mind grow less +and less? Like morality, is it only found in the company of +ignorance and superstition? Is the spiritual man honest, kind, +candid?—or dishonest, cruel and hypocritical? Does he say +what he thinks? Is he guided by reason? Is he the friend of the +right?—the champion of the truth? Must this splendid quality +called spirituality be retained through the loss of candor? Can we +not truthfully say that absolute candor is the beginning of +wisdom?</p> +<p>To recognize the finer harmonies of conduct—to live to the +ideal—to separate the incidental, the evanescent, from the +perpetual—to be enchanted with the perfect melody of +truth—open to the influences of the artistic, the beautiful, +the heroic—to shed kindness as the sun sheds light—to +recognize the good in others, and to include the world in the idea +of self—this is to be spiritual.</p> +<p>There is nothing spiritual in the worship of the unknown and +unknowable, in the self-denial of a slave at the command of a +master whom he fears. Fastings, prayings, mutilations, kneelings, +and mortifications are either the results of, or result in, +insanity.</p> +<p>This is the spirituality of Bedlam, and is of no kindred with +the soul that finds its greatest joy in the discharge of obligation +perceived.</p> +<center>V.</center> +<center>REVERENCE.</center> +<p>What is reverence?</p> +<p>It is the feeling produced when we stand in the presence of our +ideal, or of that which most nearly approaches it—that which +is produced by what we consider the highest degree of +excellence.</p> +<p>The highest is reverenced, praised, and admired without +qualification.</p> +<p>Each man reverences according to his nature, his experience, his +intellectual development. He may reverence' Nero or Marcus +Aurelius, Jehovah or Buddha, the author of Leviticus or +Shakespeare. Thousands of men reverence John Calvin, Torquemada, +and the Puritan fathers; and some have greater respect for Jonathan +Edwards than for Captain Kidd.</p> +<p>A vast number of people have great reverence for anything that +is covered by mould, or moss, or mildew. They bow low before rot +and rust, and adore the worthless things that have been saved by +the negligence of oblivion.</p> +<p>They are enchanted with the dull and fading daubs of the old +masters, and hold in contempt those miracles of art, the paintings +of to-day.</p> +<p>They worship the ancient, the shadowy, the mysterious, the +wonderful. They doubt the value of anything that they +understand.</p> +<p>The creed of Christendom is the enemy of morality. It teaches +that the innocent can justly suffer for the guilty, that +consequences can be avoided by repentance, and that in the world of +mind the great fact known as cause and effect does not apply.</p> +<p>It is the enemy of spirituality, because it teaches that +credulity is of more value than conduct, and because it pours +contempt upon human love by raising far above it the adoration of a +phantom.</p> +<p>It is the enemy of reverence. It makes ignorance the foundation +of virtue. It belittles the useful, and cheapens the noblest of! +the virtues. It teaches man to live on mental alms, and glorifies +the intellectual pauper. It holds candor in contempt, and is the +malignant foe of mental manhood.</p> +<center>VI.</center> +<center>EXISTENCE OF GOD.</center> +<p>Mr. Fawcett has shown conclusively that it is no easier to +establish the existence of an infinitely wise and good being by the +existence of what we call "good" than to establish the existence of +an infinitely bad being by what we call "bad."</p> +<p>Nothing can be surer than that the history of this world +furnishes no foundation on which to base an inference that it has +been governed by infinite wisdom and goodness. So terrible has been +the condition of man, that religionists in all ages have endeavored +to excuse God by accounting for the evils of the world by the +wickedness of men. And the fathers of the Christian Church were +forced to take the ground that this world had been filled with +briers and thorns, with deadly serpents and with poisonous weeds, +with disease and crime and earthquake and pestilence and storm, by +the curse of God.</p> +<p>The probability is that no God has cursed, and that no God will +bless, this earth. Man suffers and enjoys according to conditions. +The sun shines without love, and the lightning blasts without hate. +Man is the Providence of man.</p> +<p>Nature gives to our eyes all they can see, to our ears all they +can hear, and to the mind what it can comprehend. The human race +reaps the fruit of every victory won on the fields of intellectual +or physical conflict. We have no right to expect something for +nothing. Man will reap no harvest the seeds of which he has not +sown.</p> +<p>The race must be guided by intelligence, must be free to +investigate, and must have the courage and the candor not only to +state what is known, but to cheerfully admit the limitations of the +mind.</p> +<p>No intelligent, honest man can read what Mr. Fawcett has written +and then say that he knows the origin and destiny of +things—that he knows whether an infinite Being exists or not, +and that he knows whether the soul of man is or is not +immortal.</p> +<p>In the land of————, the geography of +which is not certainly known, there was for many years a great +dispute among the inhabitants as to which road led to the city of +Miragia, the capital of their country, and known to be the most +delightful city on the earth. For fifty generations the discussion +as to which road led to the city had been carried on with the +greatest bitterness, until finally the people were divided into a +great number of parties, each party claiming that the road leading +to the city had been miraculously made known to the founder of that +particular sect. The various parties spent most of their time +putting up guide-boards on these roads and tearing down the +guide-boards of others. Hundreds of thousands had been killed, +prisons were filled, and the fields had been ravaged by the hosts +of war.</p> +<p>One day, a wise man, a patriot, wishing to bring peace to his +country, met the leaders of the various sects and asked them +whether it was absolutely certain that the city of Miragia existed. +He called their attention to the facts that no resident of that +city had ever visited them and that none of their fellow-men who +had started for the capital had ever returned, and modestly asked +whether it would not be better to satisfy themselves beyond a doubt +that there was such a city, adding that the location of the city +would determine which of all the roads was the right one.</p> +<p>The leaders heard these words with amazement. They denounced the +speaker as a wretch without morality, spirituality, or reverence, +and thereupon he was torn in pieces.</p> +<a name="linkPREF5" id="linkPREF5"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>PREFACE TO "FAITH OR FACT."</h2> +<p>I LIKE to know the thoughts, theories and conclusions of an +honest, intelligent man; candor is always charming, and it is a +delight to feel that you have become acquainted with a sincere +soul.</p> +<p>I have read this book with great pleasure, not only because I +know, and greatly esteem the author, not only because he is my +unwavering friend, but because it is full of good sense, of +accurate statement, of sound logic, of exalted thoughts happily +expressed, and for the further reason that it is against tyranny, +superstition, bigotry, and every form of injustice, and in favor of +every virtue.</p> +<p>Henry M. Taber, the author, has for many years taken great +interest in religious questions. He was raised in an orthodox +atmosphere, was acquainted with many eminent clergymen from whom he +endeavored to find out what Christianity is—and the facts and +evidence relied on to establish the truth of the creeds. He found +that the clergy of even the same denomination did not +agree—that some of them preached one way and talked another, +and that many of them seemed to regard the creed as something to be +accepted whether it was believed or not. He found that each one +gave his own construction to the dogmas that seemed heartless or +unreasonable. While some insisted that the Bible was absolutely +true and the creed without error, others admitted that there were +mistakes in the sacred volume and that the creed ought to be +revised. Finding these differences among the ministers, the +shepherds, and also finding that no one pretended to have any +evidence except faith, or any facts but assertions, he concluded to +investigate the claims of Christianity for himself.</p> +<p>For half a century he has watched the ebb and flow of public +opinion, the growth of science, the crumbling of creeds—the +decay of the theological spirit, the waning influence of the +orthodox pulpit, the loss of confidence in special providence and +the efficacy of prayer.</p> +<p>He has lived to see the church on the defensive—to hear +faith asking for facts—and to see the shot and shell of +science batter into shapelessness the fortresses of superstition. +He has lived to see Infidels, blasphemers and Agnostics the leaders +of the intellectual world. In his time the supernaturalists have +lost the sceptre and have taken their places in the abject +rear.</p> +<p>Fifty years ago the orthodox Christians believed their creeds. +To them the Bible was an actual revelation from God. Every word was +true. Moses and Joshua were regarded as philosophers and +scientists. All the miracles and impossibilities recorded in the +Bible were accepted as facts. Credulity was the greatest of +virtues. Everything, except the reasonable, was believed, and it +was considered wickedly presumptuous to doubt anything except +facts. The reasonable things in the Bible could safely be doubted, +but to deny the miracles was like the sin against the Holy Ghost. +In those days the preachers were at the helm. They spoke with +authority. They knew the origin and destiny of the soul. They were +on familiar terms with the Trinity—the three-headed God. They +knew the narrow path that led to heaven and the great highway along +which the multitude were traveling to the Prison of Pain.</p> +<p>While these reverend gentlemen were busy trying to prevent the +development of the brain and to convince the people that the good +in this life were miserable, that virtue wore a crown of thorns and +carried a cross, while the wicked and ungodly walked in the +sunshine of joy, yet that after death the wicked would be eternally +tortured and the good eternally rewarded. According to the pious +philosophy the good God punished virtue, and rewarded vice, in this +world—and in the next, rewarded virtue and punished vice. +These divine truths filled their hearts with holy peace—with +pious resignation. It would be difficult to determine which gave +them the greater joy—the hope of heaven for themselves, or +the certainty of hell for their enemies. For the grace of God they +were fairly thankful, but for his "justice" their gratitude was +boundless. From the heights of heaven they expected to witness the +eternal tragedy in hell.</p> +<p>While these good divines, these doctors of divinity, were busy +misinterpreting the Scriptures, denying facts and describing the +glories and agonies of eternity, a good many other people were +trying to find out something about this world. They were busy with +retort and crucible, searching the heavens with the telescope, +examining rocks and craters, reefs and islands, studying plant and +animal life, inventing ways to use the forces of nature for the +benefit of man, and in every direction searching for the truth. +They were not trying to destroy religion or to injure the clergy. +Many of them were members of churches and believed the creeds. The +facts they found were honestly given to the world. Of course all +facts are the enemies of superstition. The clergy, acting according +to the instinct of self-preservation, denounced these "facts" as +dangerous and the persons who found and published them, as Infidels +and scoffers.</p> +<p>Theology was arrogant and bold. Science was timid. For some time +the churches seemed to have the best of the controversy. Many of +the scientists surrendered and did their best to belittle the facts +and patch up a cowardly compromise between Nature and +Revelation—that is, between the true and the false.</p> +<p>Day by day more facts were found that could not be reconciled +with the Scriptures, or the creeds. Neither was it possible to +annihilate facts by denial. The man who believed the Bible could +not accept the facts, and the man who believed the facts could not +accept the Bible. At first, the Bible was the standard, and all +facts inconsistent with that standard were denied. But in a little +while science became the standard, and the passages in the Bible +contrary to the standard had to be explained or given up. Great +efforts were made to harmonize the mistakes in the Bible with the +demonstrations of science. It was difficult to be ingenious enough +to defend them both. The pious professors twisted and turned but +found it hard to reconcile the creation of Adam with the slow +development of man from lower forms. They were greatly troubled +about the age of the universe. It seemed incredible that until +about six thousand years ago there was nothing in existence but +God—and nothing. And yet they tried to save the Bible by +giving new meanings to the inspired texts, and casting a little +suspicion on the facts.</p> +<p>This course has mostly been abandoned, although a few survivals, +like Mr. Gladstone, still insist there is no conflict between +Revelation and Science. But these champions of Holy Writ succeed +only in causing the laughter of the intelligent and the amazement +of the honest. The more intelligent theologians confessed that the +inspired writers could not be implicitly believed. As they +personally know nothing of astronomy or geology and were forced to +rely entirely on inspiration, it is wonderful that more mistakes +were not made. So it was claimed that Jehovah cared nothing about +science, and allowed the blunders and mistakes of the ignorant +people concerning everything except religion, to appear in his +supernatural book as inspired truths.</p> +<p>The Bible, they said, was written to teach religion in its +highest and purest form—to make mankind fit to associate with +God and his angels. True, polygamy was tolerated and slavery +established, yet Jehovah believed in neither, but on account of the +wickedness of the Jews was in favor of both.</p> +<p>At the same time quite a number of real scholars were +investigating other religions, and in a little while they were +enabled to show that these religions had been manufactured by +men—that their Christs and apostles were myths and that all +their sacred books were false and foolish. This pleased the +Christians. They knew that theirs was the only true religion and +that their Bible was the only inspired book.</p> +<p>The fact that there is nothing original in Christianity, that +all the dogmas, ceremonies and festivals had been borrowed, +together with some mouldy miracles used as witnesses, weakened the +faith of some and sowed the seeds of doubt in many minds. But the +pious petrifactions, the fossils of faith, still clung to their +book and creed. While they were quick to see the absurdities in +other sacred books, they were either unconsciously blind or +maliciously shut their eyes to the same absurdities in the Bible. +They knew that Mohammed was an impostor, because the citizens of +Mecca, who knew him, said he was, and they knew that Christ was not +an impostor, because the people of Jerusalem who knew him, said he +was. The same fact was made to do double duty. When they attacked +other religions it was a sword and when their religion was attacked +it became a shield.</p> +<p>The men who had investigated other religions turned their +attention to Christianity. They read our Bible as they had read +other sacred books. They were not blinded by faith or paralyzed by +fear, and they found that the same arguments they had used against +other religions destroyed our own.</p> +<p>But the real old-fashioned orthodox ministers denounced the +investigators as Infidels and denied every fact that was +inconsistent with the creed. They wanted to protect the young and +feeble minded. They were anxious about the souls of the +"thoughtless."</p> +<p>Some ministers changed their views just a little, not enough to +be driven from their pulpits—but just enough to keep sensible +people from thinking them idiotic. These preachers talked about the +"higher criticism" and contended that it was not necessary to +believe every word in the Bible, that some of the miracles might be +given up and some of the books discarded. But the stupid doctors of +divinity had the Bible and the creeds on their side and the +machinery of the churches was in their control. They brought some +of the offending clergymen to the bar, and had them tried for +heresy, made some recant and closed the mouths of others. Still, it +was not easy to put the heretics down. The congregations of +ministers found guilty, often followed the shepherds. Heresy grew +popular, the liberal preachers had good audiences, while the +orthodox addressed a few bonnets, bibs and benches.</p> +<p>For many years the pulpit has been losing influence and the +sacred calling no longer offers a career to young men of talent and +ambition.</p> +<p>When people believed in "special providence," they also believed +that preachers had great influence with God. They were regarded as +celestial lobbyists and they were respected and feared because of +their supposed power.</p> +<p>Now no one who has the capacity to think, believes in special +providence. Of course there are some pious imbeciles who think that +pestilence and famine, cyclone and earthquake, flood and fire are +the weapons of God, the tools of his trade, and that with these +weapons, these tools, he kills and starves, rends and devours, +drowns and burns countless thousands of the human race.</p> +<p>If God governs this world, if he builds and destroys, if back of +every event is his will, then he is neither good nor wise, He is +ignorant and malicious.</p> +<p>A few days ago, in Paris, men and women had gathered together in +the name of Charity. The building in which they, were assembled +took fire and many of these men and women perished in the +flames.</p> +<p>A French priest called this horror an act of God.</p> +<p>Is it not strange that Christians speak of their God as an +assassin?</p> +<p>How can they love and worship this monster who murders, his +children?</p> +<p>Intelligence seems to be leaving the orthodox church. The great +divines are growing smaller, weaker, day by day. Since the death of +Henry Ward Beecher no man of genius has stood in the orthodox +pulpit. The ministers of intelligence are found in the liberal +churches where they are allowed to express their thoughts and +preserve their manhood. Some of these preachers keep their faces +toward the East and sincerely welcome the light, while their +orthodox brethren stand with their backs to the sunrise and worship +the sunset of the day before.</p> +<p>During these years of change, of decay and growth, the author of +this book looked and listened, became familiar with the questions +raised, the arguments offered and the results obtained. For his +work a better man could not have been found. He has no prejudice, +no hatred. He is by nature candid, conservative, kind and just. He +does not attack persons. He knows the difference between exchanging +epithets and thoughts. He gives the facts as they appear to him and +draws the logical conclusions. He charges and proves that +Christianity has not always been the friend of morality, of civil +liberty, of wives and mothers, of free though and honest speech. He +shows that intolerance is its nature, that it always has, and +always will persecute to the extent of its power, and that +Christianity will always despise the doubter.</p> +<p>Yet we know that doubt must inhabit every finite mind. We know +that doubt is as natural as hope, and that man is no more +responsible for his doubts than for the beating of his heart. Every +human being who knows the nature of evidence, the limitations of +the mind, must have "doubts" about gods and devils, about heavens +and hells, and must know that there is not the slightest evidence +tending to show that gods and devils ever existed.</p> +<p>God is a guess.</p> +<p>An undesigned designer, an uncaused cause, is as +incomprehensible to the human mind as a circle without a +diameter.</p> +<p>The dogma of the Trinity multiplies the difficulty by three.</p> +<p>Theologians do not, and cannot believe that the authority to +govern comes from the consent of the governed. They regard God as +the monarch, and themselves as his agents. They always have been +the enemies of liberty.</p> +<p>They claim to have a revelation from their God, a revelation +that is the rightful master of reason. As long as they believe +this, they must be the enemies of mental freedom. They do not ask +man to think, but command him to obey.</p> +<p>If the claims of the theologians are admitted, the church +becomes the ruler of the world, and to support and obey priests +will be the business of mankind. All these theologians claim to +have a revelation from their God, and yet they cannot agree as to +what the revelation reveals. The other day, looking from my window +at the bay of New York, I saw many vessels going in many +directions, and yet all were moved by the same wind. The direction +in which they were going did not depend on the direction of the +breeze, but on the set of the sails. In this way the same Bible +furnishes creeds for all the Christian sects. But what would we say +if the captains of the boats I saw, should each swear that his boat +was the only one that moved in the same direction the wind was +blowing?</p> +<p>I agree with Mr. Taber that all religions are founded on +mistakes, misconceptions and falsehoods, and that superstition is +the warp and woof of every creed.</p> +<p>This book will do great good. It will furnish arguments and +facts against the supernatural and absurd. It will drive phantoms +from the brain, fear from the heart, and many who read these pages +will be emancipated, enlightened and ennobled.</p> +<p>Christianity, with its ignorant and jealous God—its loving +and revengeful Christ—its childish legends—its +grotesque miracles—its "fall of man"—its +atonement—its salvation by faith—its heaven for +stupidity and its hell for genius, does not and cannot satisfy the +free brain and the good heart.</p> +<a name="link0007" id="link0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE GRANT BANQUET.</h2> +<h3>Chicago, November 13, 1879.</h3> +<center>TWELFTH TOAST.</center> +<pre> + * The meteoric display predicted to take place last Thursday + night did not occur, but there did occur on that evening a + display of oratorical brilliancy at Chicago seldom if ever + surpassed. The speeches at the banquet of the Army of the + Tennessee, taken together, constitute one of the most + remarkable collections of extemporaneous eloquence on + record. The principal speakers of the evening were Gen. U. + S. Grant, Gen. John A. Logan Col. Win, F. Vilas, Gen. + Stewart L. Woodford, General Pope, Col. R. G. Ingersoll, + Gen. J. H. Wilson, and "Mark Twain." In an oratorical + tournament General Grant is, of course, better as a listener + than as a talker; he is a man of deeds rather than of words. + The same might be said of General Sherman, though, as + presiding officer and toast-master of the occasion, his + impromptu remarks were always pertinent and keen. His advice + to speakers not to talk longer than they could hold their + audience, and to the auditors not to drag out their applause + or to drawl out their laughter, would serve as a good + standing rule for all similar occasions Colonel Ingersoll + responded to the twelfth toast, "The Volunteer Soldiers of + the Union Army, whose Valor and Patriotism saved to the + world a Government of the People, by the People, and for the + people." + + Colonel Ingersoll's position was a difficult one. His + reputation as the first orator in America caused the + distinguished audience to expect a wonderful display of + oratory from him. He proved fully equal to the occasion and + delivered a speech of wonderful eloquence, brilliancy and + power. To say it was one of the best he ever delivered is + equivalent to saying it was one of the best ever delivered + by any man, for few greater orators have ever lived than + Colonel Ingersoll. The speech is both an oration and a poem. + It bristles with ideas and sparkles with epigrammatic + expressions. It is full of thoughts that breathe and words + that burn. The closing sentences read like blank verse. It + is wonderful oratory, marvelous eloquence. Colonel + Ingersoll fully sustained his reputation as the finest + orator In America. + + Editorial from The Journal Indianapolis, Ind., November + 17,1879. + + The Inter-Ocean remarked yesterday that the gathering and + exercises at the Palmer House banquet on Thursday evening + constituted one of the most remarkable occasions known in + the history of this country. This was not alone because of + the distinguished men who lent their presence to the scone; + they were indeed illustrious; but they only formed a part of + the grand picture that must endure while the memory of our + great conflict survives. To the eminent men assembled may be + traced the signal success of the affair, for they gave + inspiration to the minds and the tongues of others; but it + was the fruit of that inspiration that rolled like a glad + surprise across the banqueting sky, and made the 13th of + November renowned in the calendar of days... When Robert G. + Ingersoll rose after the speech of General Pope, to respond + to the toast, "The Volunteer Soldiers," a large part of the + audience rose with him, and the cheering was long and loud. + Colonel Ingersoll may fairly be regarded as the foremost + orator of America, and there was the keenest interest to + hear him after all the brilliant speeches that had preceded; + and this interest was not unnmixed with a fear that he would + not be able to successfully strive against both his own + great reputation and the fresh competitors who had leaped + suddenly into the oratorical arena like mighty gladiators + and astonished the audience by their unexpected eloquence. + But Ingersoll had not proceeded far when the old fire broke + out, and flashing metaphor, bold denunciation, and all the + rich imagery and poetical beauty which mark his great + efforts stood revealed before the delighted listeners: Long + before the last word was uttered, all doubt as to the + ability of the great orator to sustain himself had departed, + and rising to their feet, the audience cheered till the hall + rang with shouts. Like Henry, "The forest-born Demosthenes, + whose thunder shook the Philip of the seas," Ingersoll still + held the crown within his grasp. + + Editorial from The Inter-Ocean, Chicago, November 15, 1879. +</pre> +<p>The Volunteer Soldiers of the Union Army, whose Valor and +Patriotism saved to the world "a Government of the People, by the +People, and for the People."</p> +<p>WHEN the savagery of the lash, the barbarism of the chain, and +the insanity of secession confronted the civilization of our +country, the question "Will the great Republic defend itself?" +trembled on the lips of every lover of mankind.</p> +<p>The North, filled with intelligence and wealth—children of +liberty—marshaled her hosts and asked only for a leader. From +civil life a man, silent, thoughtful, poised and calm, stepped +forth, and with the lips of victory voiced the Nation's first and +last demand: "Unconditional and immediate surrender." From that +'moment' the end was known. That utterance was the first real +declaration of real war, and, in accordance with the dramatic +unities of mighty events, the great soldier who made it, received +the final sword of the Rebellion.</p> +<p>The soldiers of the Republic were not seekers after vulgar +glory. They were not animated by the hope of plunder or the love of +conquest. They fought to preserve the homestead of liberty and that +their children might have peace. They were the defenders of +humanity, the destroyers of prejudice, the breakers of chains, and +in the name of the future they slew the monster of their time. They +finished what the soldiers of the Revolution commenced. They +re-lighted the torch that fell from their august hands and filled +the world again with light. They blotted from the statute-book laws +that had been passed by hypocrites at the instigation of robbers, +and tore with indignant hands from the Constitution that infamous +clause that made men the catchers of their fellow-men. They made it +possible for judges to be just, for statesmen to be humane, and for +politicians to be honest. They broke the shackles from the limbs of +slaves, from the souls of masters, and from the Northern brain. +They kept our country on the map of the world, and our flag in +heaven. They rolled the stone from the sepulchre of progress, and +found therein two angels clad in shining garments—Nationality +and Liberty.</p> +<p>The soldiers were the saviors of the Nation; they were the +liberators of men. In writing the Proclamation of Emancipation, +Lincoln, greatest of our mighty dead, whose memory is as gentle as +the summer air when reapers, sing amid the gathered sheaves, copied +with the pen what Grant and his brave comrades wrote with +swords.</p> +<p>Grander than the Greek, nobler than the Roman, the soldiers of +the Republic, with patriotism as shoreless as the air, battled for +the rights of others, for the nobility of labor; fought that +mothers might own their babes, that arrogant idleness should not +scar the back of patient toil, and that our country should not be a +many-headed monster made of warring States, but a Nation, +sovereign, great, and free.</p> +<p>Blood was water, money was leaves, and life, was only common air +until one flag floated over a Republic without a master and without +a slave.</p> +<p>And then was asked the question: "Will a free, people tax +themselves to pay a Nation's debt?"</p> +<p>The soldiers went home to their waiting wives, to their glad +children, and to the girls they loved—they went back-to the +fields, the shops, and mines. They had not been demoralized. They +had been ennobled. They were as honest in peace as they had been +brave in war. Mocking at poverty, laughing at reverses, they made a +friend of toil. They said: "We saved the Nation's life, and what is +life without honor?" They worked and wrought with all of labor's +royal sons that every pledge the Nation gave might be redeemed. And +their great leader, having put a shining band of friendship—a +girdle of clasped and happy hands—around the globe, comes +home and finds that every promise made in war has now the ring and +gleam of gold.</p> +<p>There is another question still:—Will all the wounds of +war be healed? I answer, Yes. The Southern people must +submit,—not to the dictation of the North, but to the +Nation's will and to the verdict of mankind. They were wrong, and +the time will come when they will say that they are victors who +have been vanquished by the right. Freedom conquered them, and +freedom will cultivate their fields, educate their children, weave +for them the robes of wealth, execute their laws, and fill their +land with happy homes.</p> +<p>The soldiers of the Union saved the South as well as the North. +They made us a Nation. Their victory made us free and rendered +tyranny in every other land as insecure as snow upon volcanoes' +lips.</p> +<p>And now let us drink to the volunteers—to those who sleep +in unknown, sunken graves, whose names are only in the hearts of +those they loved and left—of those who only hear in happy +dreams the footsteps of return. Let us drink to those who died +where lipless famine mocked at want; to all the maimed whose scars +give modesty a tongue; to all who dared and gave to chance the care +and keeping of their lives; to all the living and to all the +dead,—to Sherman, to Sheridan, and to Grant, the laureled +soldier of the world, and last, to Lincoln, whose loving life, like +a bow of peace, spans and arches all the clouds of war.</p> +<a name="link0008" id="link0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THIRTEEN CLUB DINNER.</h2> +<pre> + * Response of Col. R. G. Ingersoll to the sentiment "The + Superstitions of Public Men," at the regular monthly dinner + of the Thirteen Club. Monday evening, December 18, 1886. +</pre> +<p>New York, December 13, 1886,</p> +<center>THE SUPERSTITIONS OF PUBLIC MEN,</center> +<p>MR. CHIEF RULER-AND GENTLEMEN: I suppose that the superstition +most prevalent with public men, is the idea that they are of great +importance to the public. As a matter of fact, public +men,—that is to say, men in office,—reflect the average +intelligence of the people, and no more. A public man, to be +successful, must not assert anything unless it is exceedingly +popular. And he need not deny anything unless everybody is against +it. Usually he has to be like the center of the earth,—draw +all things his way, without weighing anything himself.</p> +<p>One of the difficulties, or rather, one of the objections, to a +government republican in form, is this: Everybody imagines that he +is everybody's: master. And the result has been to make most of our +public men exceedingly conservative in the expression of their real +opinions. A man, wishing to be elected to an office, generally +agrees with 'most everybody he meets. If he meets a Prohibitionist, +he says: "Of course I am a temperance man. I am opposed to all +excesses; my dear friend, and no one knows better than myself the +evils that have been caused by intemperance." The next man happens +to keep a saloon, and happens to be quite influential in that part +of the district, and the candidate immediately says to +him:—"The idea that these Prohibitionists can take away the +personal liberty of the citizen is simply monstrous!" In a moment +after, he is greeted by a Methodist, and he hastens to say, that +while he does not belong to that church himself, his wife does; +that he would gladly be a member, but does not feel that he is good +enough. He tells a Presbyterian that his grandfather was of that +faith, and that he was a most excellent man, and laments from the +bottom of his heart that he himself is not within that fold. A few +moments after, on meeting a skeptic, he declares, with the greatest +fervor, that reason is the only guide, and that he looks forward to +the time when superstition will be dethroned. In other words, the +greatest superstition now entertained by public men is, that +hypocrisy is the royal road to success.</p> +<p>Of course, there are many other superstitions, and one is, that +the Democratic party has not outlived its usefulness. Another is, +that the Republican party should have power for what it has done, +instead of what it proposes to do.</p> +<p>In my judgment, these statesmen are mistaken. The people of the +United States, after all, admire intellectual honesty and have +respect for moral courage. The time has come for the old ideas and +superstitions in politics to be thrown away—not in phrase, +not in pretence, but in fact; and the time has come when a man can +safely rely on the intelligence and courage of the American +people.</p> +<p>The most significant fact in this world to-day, is, that in +nearly every village under the American flag the school-house is +larger than the church. People are beginning to have a little +confidence in intelligence and in facts. Every public man and every +private man, who is actuated in his life by a belief in something +that no one can prove,—that no one can demonstrate,—is, +to that extent, a superstitious man.</p> +<p>It may be that I go further than most of you, because if I have +any superstition, it is a superstition against superstition. It +seems to me that the first things for every man, whether in or out +of office, to believe in,—the first things to rely on, are +demonstrated facts. These are the corner stones,—these are +the columns that nothing can move,—these are the stars that +no darkness can hide,—these are the true and only foundations +of belief.</p> +<p>Beyond the truths that have been demonstrated is the horizon of +the Probable, and in the world of the Probable every man has the +right to guess for himself. Beyond the region of the Probable is +the Possible, and beyond the Possible is the Impossible, and beyond +the Impossible are the religions of this world. My idea is this: +Any man who acts in view of the Improbable or of the +Impossible—that is to say of the Supernatural—is a +superstitious man. Any man who believes that he can add to the +happiness of the Infinite, by depriving himself of innocent +pleasure, is superstitious. Any man who imagines that he can make +some God happy, by making himself miserable, is superstitious. Any +one who thinks he can gain happiness in another world, by raising +hell with his fellow-men in this, is simply superstitious. Any man +who believes in a Being of infinite wisdom and goodness, and yet +belives that that Being has peopled a world with failures, is +superstitious. Any man who believes that an infinitely wise and +good God would take pains to make a man, intending at the time that +the man should be eternally damned, is absurdly superstitious. In +other words, he who believes that there is, or that there can be, +any other religious duty than to increase the happiness of mankind, +in this world, now and here, is superstitious.</p> +<p>I have known a great many private men who were not men of +genius. I have known some men of genius about whom it was kept +private, and I have known many public men, and my wonder increased +the better I knew them, that they occupied positions of trust and +honor.</p> +<p>But, after all, it is the people's fault. They who demand +hypocrisy must be satisfied with mediocrity... Our public men will +be better and greater, and less superstitious, when the people +become greater and better and less superstitious. There is an old +story, that we have all heard, about Senator Nesmith. He was +elected a Senator from Oregon. When he had been in Washington a +little while, one of the other Senators said to him: "How did you +feel when you found yourself sitting here in the United States +Senate?" He replied: "For the first two months, I just sat and +wondered how a damned fool like me ever, broke into the Senate. +Since that, I have done nothing but wonder how the other fools got +here."</p> +<p>To-day the need of our civilization is public men who have the +courage to speak as they think. We need a man for President who +will not publicly thank God for earthquakes. We need somebody with +the courage to say that all that happens in nature happens without +design, and without reference to man; somebody who will say that +the men and women killed are not murdered by supernatural beings, +and that everything that happens in nature, happens without malice +and without mercy. We want somebody who will have courage enough +not to charge, an infinitely good and wise Being with all the +cruelties and agonies and sufferings of this world. We want such +men in public places,—men who will appeal to the reason of +their fellows, to the highest intelligence of the people; men who +will have courage enough, in this the nineteenth century, to agree +with the conclusions of science. We want some man who will not +pretend to believe, and who does not in fact believe, the stories +that Superstition has told to Credulity.</p> +<p>The most important thing in this world is the destruction of +superstition. Superstition interferes with the happiness of +mankind. Superstition is a terrible serpent, reaching in frightful +coils from heaven to earth and thrusting its poisoned fangs into +the hearts of men. While I live, I am going to do what little I can +for the destruction of this monster. Whatever may happen in another +world—and I will take my chances there,—I am opposed to +superstition in this. And if, when I reach that other world, it +needs reforming, I shall do what little I can there for the +destruction of the false.</p> +<p>Let me tell you one thing more, and I am done. The only way to +have brave, honest, intelligent, conscientious public men, men +without superstition, is to do what we can to make the average +citizen brave, conscientious and intelligent. If you wish to see +courage in the presidential chair, conscience upon the bench, +intelligence of the highest order in Congress; if you expect public +men to be great enough to reflect honor upon the Republic, private +citizens must have the courage and the intelligence to elect, and +to sustain, such men. I have said, and I say it again, that never +while I live will I vote for any man to be President of the United +States, no matter if he does belong to my party, who has not won +his spurs on some field of intellectual conflict. We have had +enough mediocrity, enough policy, enough superstition, enough +prejudice, enough provincialism, and the time has come for the +American citizen to say: "Hereafter I will be represented by men +who are worthy, not only of the great Republic, but of the +Nineteenth Century."</p> +<a name="link0009" id="link0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>ROBSON AND CRANE DINNER.</h2> +<h3>New York, November 21, 1887.</h3> +<pre> + * The theatre party and supper given by Charles P. Palmer, + brother of Courtlandt Palmer, on Monday evening were + unusually attractive in many ways. Mr Palmer has recently + returned from Europe, and took this opportunity to gather + around him his old club associates and friends, and to show + his admiration of the acting of Messrs. Robson and Crane. + The appearance of Mr. Palmer's fifty guests in the theatre + excited much interest in all parts of the house. It is not + often that theatre-goers have the opportunity of seeing in a + single row, Channcey M. Depew, Gen. William T. Sherman, Gen. + Horace Porter and Robert G. Ingersoll, with Leonard Jerome + and his brother Lawrence, Murat Halstead and other well- + known men in close proximity + + The supper table at Delmonico's was decorated with a lavish + profusion of flowers rarely approached even at that famous + restaurant. + + Mr. Palmer was a charming host, full of humor, jollity and + attention to every guest. He opened the speaking with a few + apt words. Then Stuart Rodson made some witty remarks, and + called upon William H. Crane, whose well-rounded speech was + heartily applauded General Sherman, Chauncey M. Depew, + General Porter, Lawrence Jerome and Colonel Ingersoll were + all in their best moods, and the sallies of wit and the + abundance of genuine humor in their informal addresses kept + their hearers in almost continuous laughter. Lawrence Jerome + was in especially fine form. He sang songs, told stories and + said: "Depew and Ingersoll know so much that intelligence + has become a drag in the market, and it's no use to tell you + what a good speech I would have made." J. Seaver Page made + an uncommonly witty and effective speech. Murat Halstead + related some reminiscences of his last European tour and of + his experiences in London with Lawrence and Leonard Jerome, + which were received with shouts of laughter. Altogether the + supper was one to be long remembered by all present.—The + Tribune, New York, November 23, 1887; +</pre> +<center>TOAST: COMEDY AND TRAGEDY.</center> +<p>I BELIEVE in the medicine of mirth, and in what I might call the +longevity of laughter. Every man who has caused real, true, honest +mirth, has been a benefactor of the human race. In a world like +this, where there is so much trouble—a world gotten up on +such a poor plan—where sometimes one is almost inclined to +think that the Deity, if there be one, played a practical +joke—to find, I say, in such a world, something that for the +moment allows laughter to triumph over sorrow, is a great piece of +good fortune. I like the stage, not only because General Sherman +likes it—and I do not think I was ever at the theatre in my +life but I saw him—I not only like it because General +Washington liked it, but because the greatest man that ever touched +this grain of sand and tear we call the world, wrote for the stage, +and poured out a very Mississippi of philosophy and pathos and +humor, and everything calculated to raise and ennoble mankind.</p> +<p>I like to see the stage honored, because actors are the +ministers, the apostles, of the greatest man who ever lived, and +because they put flesh upon and blood and passion within the +greatest characters that the greatest man drew. This is the reason +I like the stage. It makes us human. A rascal never gained applause +on the stage. A hypocrite never commanded admiration, not even when +he was acting a clergyman—except for the naturalness of the +acting. No one has ever yet seen any play in which, in his heart, +he did not applaud honesty, heroism, sincerity, fidelity, courage, +and self-denial. Never. No man ever heard a great play who did not +get up a better, wiser, and more humane man; and no man ever went +to the theatre and heard Robson and Crane, who did not go home +better-natured, and treat his family that night a little better +than on a night when he had not heard these actors.</p> +<p>I enjoy the stage; I always did enjoy it. I love the humanity of +it. I hate solemnity; it is the brother of stupidity—always. +You never knew a solemn man who was not stupid, and you never will. +There never was a man of true genius who had not the simplicity of +a child, and over whose lips had not rippled the river of +laughter—never, and there never will be. I like, I say, the +stage for its wit and for its humor. I do not like sarcasm; I do +not like mean humor. There is as much difference between humor and +malicious wit as there is between a bee's honey and a bee's sting, +and the reason I like Robson and Crane is that they have the honey +without the sting.</p> +<p>Another thing that makes me glad is, that I live in an age and +generation and day that has sense enough to appreciate the stage; +sense enough to appreciate music; sense enough to appreciate +everything that lightens the burdens of this life. Only a few years +ago our dear ancestors looked upon the theatre as the vestibule of +hell; and every actor was going "the primrose way to the +everlasting bonfire." In those good old days, our fathers, for the +sake of relaxation, talked about death and graves and epitaphs and +worms and shrouds and dust and hell. In those days, too, they +despised music, cared nothing for art; and yet I have lived long +enough to hear the world—that is, the civilized +world—say that Shakespeare wrote the greatest book that man +has ever read. I have lived long enough to see men like Beethoven +and Wagner put side by side with the world's greatest +men—great in imagination—and we must remember that +imagination makes the great difference between men. I have lived +long enough to see actors placed with the grandest and noblest, +side by side with the greatest benefactors of the human race.</p> +<p>There is one thing in which I cannot quite agree with what has +been said. I like tragedy, because tragedy is only the other side +of the shield and I like both sides. I love to spend an evening on +the twilight boundary line between tears and smiles. There is +nothing that pleases me better than some scene, some act, where the +smile catches the tears in the eyes; where the eyes are almost +surprised by the smile, and the smile touched and softened by the +tears. I like that. And the greatest comedians and the greatest +tragedians have that power; and, in conclusion, let me say, that it +gives me more than pleasure to acknowledge the debt of gratitude I +owe, not only to the stage, but to the actors whose health we drink +to-night.</p> +<a name="link0010" id="link0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE POLICE CAPTAINS' DINNER.</h2> +<h3>New York, January 24, 1888.</h3> +<center>TOAST: DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF THE PRESS.</center> +<p>ONLY a little while ago, the nations of the world were ignorant +and provincial. Between these nations there were the walls and +barriers of language, of prejudice, of custom, of race and of +religion. Each little nation had the only perfect form of +government—the only genuine religion—all others being +adulterations or counterfeits.</p> +<p>These nations met only as enemies. They had nothing to exchange +but blows—nothing to give and take but wounds.</p> +<p>Movable type was invented, and "civilization was thrust into the +brain of Europe on the point of a Moorish lance." The Moors gave to +our ancestors paper, and nearly all valuable inventions that were +made for a thousand years.</p> +<p>In a little while, books began to be printed—the nations +began to exchange thoughts instead of blows. The classics were +translated. These were read, and those who read them began to +imitate them—began to write themselves; and in this way there +was produced in each nation a local literature. There came to be an +exchange of facts, of theories, of ideas.</p> +<p>For many years this was accomplished by books, but after a time +the newspaper was invented, and the exchange increased.</p> +<p>Before this, every peasant thought his king the greatest being +in the world. He compared this king—his splendor, his +palace—with the peasant neighbor, with his rags and with his +hut. All his thoughts were provincial, all his knowledge confined +to his own neighborhood—the great world was to him an unknown +land.</p> +<p>Long after papers were published, the circulation was small, the +means of intercommunication slow, painful, few and costly.</p> +<p>The same was true in our own country, and here, too, was in a +great degree, the provincialism of the Old World.</p> +<p>Finally, the means of intercommunication increased, and they +became plentiful and cheap.</p> +<p>Then the peasant found that he must compare his king with the +kings of other nations—the statesmen of his country with the +statesmen of others—and these comparisons were not always +favorable to the men of his own country.</p> +<p>This enlarged his knowledge and his vision, and the tendency of +this was to make him a citizen of the world.</p> +<p>Here in our own country, a little while ago, the citizen of each +State regarded his State as the best of all. To love that State +more than all others, was considered the highest evidence of +patriotism.</p> +<p>The Press finally informed him of the condition of other States. +He found that other States were superior to his in many +ways—in climate, in production, in men, in invention, in +commerce and in influence. Slowly he transferred the love of State, +the prejudice of locality—what I call mud patriotism—to +the Nation, and he became an American in the best and highest +sense.</p> +<p>This, then, is one of the greatest things to be accomplished by +the Press in America—namely, the unification of the +country—the destruction of provincialism, and the creation of +a patriotism broad as the territory covered by our flag.</p> +<p>The same ideas, the same events, the same news, are carried to +millions of homes every day. The result of this is to fix the +attention of all upon the same things, the same thoughts and +theories, the same facts—and the result is to get the best +judgment of a nation.</p> +<p>This is a great and splendid object, but not the greatest.</p> +<p>In Europe the same thing is taking place. The nations are +becoming acquainted with each other. The old prejudices are dying +out. The people cf each nation are beginning to find that they are +not the enemies of any other. They are also beginning to suspect +that where they have no cause of quarrel, they should neither be +called upon to fight, nor to pay the expenses of war.</p> +<p>Another thing: The kings and statesmen no longer act as they +formerly did. Once they were responsible only to their poor and +wretched-subjects, whose obedience they compelled at the point of +the bayonet. Now a king knows, and his minister knows, that they +must give account for what they do to the civilized world. They +know that kings and rulers must be tried before the great bar of +public opinion—a public opinion that has been formed by the +facts given to them in the Press of the world. They do not wish to +be condemned at that great bar. They seek not only not to be +condemned—not only to be acquitted—but they seek to be +crowned. They seek the applause, not simply of their own nation, +but of the civilized world.</p> +<p>There was for uncounted centuries a conflict between +civilization and barbarism. Barbarism was almost universal, +civilization local. The torch of progress was then held by feeble +hands, and barbarism extinguished it in the blood of its founders. +But civilizations arose, and kept rising, one after another, until +now the great Republic holds and is able to hold that torch against +a hostile world.</p> +<p>By its invention, by its weapons of war, by its intelligence, +civilization became capable of protecting itself, and there came a +time when in the struggle between civilization and barbarism the +world passed midnight.</p> +<p>Then came another struggle,—the struggle between the +people and their rulers.</p> +<p>Most peoples sacrificed their liberty through gratitude to some +great soldier who rescued them from the arms of the barbarian. But +there came a time when the people said: "We have a right to govern +ourselves." And that conflict has been waged for centuries.</p> +<p>And I say, protected and corroborated by the flag of the +greatest of all Republics, that in that conflict the world has +passed midnight.</p> +<p>Despotisms were softened by parliaments, by congresses—but +at last the world is beginning to say: "The right to govern rests +upon the consent of the governed. The power comes from the +people—not from kings. It belongs to man, and should be +exercised by man."</p> +<p>In this conflict we have passed midnight. The world is destined +to be republican. Those who obey the laws will make the laws.</p> +<p>Our country—the United States—the great +Republic—owns the fairest portion of half the world. We have +now sixty millions of free people. Look upon the map of our +country. Look upon the great valley of the +Mississippi—stretching from the Alleghenies to the Rockies. +See the great basin drained by that mighty river. There you will +see a territory large enough to feed and clothe and educate five +hundred millions of human beings.</p> +<p>This country is destined to remain as one. The Mississippi River +is Nature's protest against secession and against division.</p> +<p>We call that nation civilized when its subjects submit their +differences of opinion, in accordance with the forms of law, to +fellow-citizens who are disinterested and who accept the decision +as final.</p> +<p>The nations, however, sustain no such relation to each other. +Each nation concludes for itself. Each nation defines its rights +and its obligations; and nations will not be civilized in respect +of their relations to each other, until there shall have been +established a National Court to decide differences between nations, +to the judgment of which all shall bow.</p> +<p>It is for the Press—the Press that photographs the human +activities of every day—the Press that gives the news of the +world to each individual—to bend its mighty energies to the +unification and the civilization of mankind; to the destruction of +provincialism, of prejudice—to the extirpation of ignorance +and to the creation of a great and splendid patriotism that +embraces the human race.</p> +<p>The Press presents the daily thoughts of men. It marks the +progress of each hour, and renders a relapse into ignorance and +barbarism impossible. No catastrophe can be great enough, no ruin +wide-spread enough, to engulf or blot out the wisdom of the +world.</p> +<p>Feeling that it is called to this high destiny, the Press should +appeal only to the highest and to the noblest in the human +heart.</p> +<p>It should not be the bat of suspicion, a raven, hoarse with +croaking disaster, a chattering jay of gossip, or a vampire +fattening on the reputations of men.</p> +<p>It should remain the eagle, rising and soaring high in the +cloudless blue, above all mean and sordid things, and grasping only +the bolts and arrows of justice.</p> +<p>Let the Press have the courage always to defend the right, +always to defend the people—and let it always have the power +to clutch and strangle any combination of men, however intellectual +or cunning or rich, that feeds and fattens on the flesh and blood +of honest men.</p> +<p>In a little while, under our flag there will be five hundred +millions of people. The great Republic will then dictate to the +world—that is to say, it will succor the oppressed—it +will see that justice is done—it will say to the great +nations that wish to trample upon the weak: "You must not—you +shall not—strike." It will be obeyed.</p> +<p>All I ask is—all I hope is—that the Press will +always be worthy of the great Republic.</p> +<a name="link0011" id="link0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>GENERAL GRANT'S BIRTHDAY DINNER</h2> +<h3>New York, April 27, 1888.</h3> +<pre> + * The tribute at Delmonico's last night was to the man + Grant as a supreme type of the confidence of the American + Republic in its own strength and destiny. Soldiers over + whose lost cause the wheels of a thousand cannons rolled, + and whose doctrines were ground to dust under the heels of + conquering legions, poured out their souls at the feet of + the great commander. Magnanimity, mercy, faith—these were + the themes of every orator. Christian and Infidel, blue and + gray, Republican and Democrat talked of Grant almost as men + have come to talk of Washington. + + And, alas! In the midst of it all, with its soft glow of + lights, its sweet breath of flowers, its throb of music and + bewildering radiance of banners, there was a vacant chair. + Upon it hung a wreath of green, tied with a knot of white + ribbon. Soldier and statesman and orator walked past that + chair and seemed to reverence it. It was the seat intended + for the trumpet tongued advocate of Grant in war, Grant in + victory, Grant in peace, Grant in adversity—the seat of + Roscoe Conkling. A little later and a clergyman jostled into + the vacant chair and brushed the green circlet to the floor. + + Gray and grim old General Sherman presided. About the nine + round, flower heaped tables were grouped the long list of + distinguisned men from every walk or life and from every + section of the country. + + Among the speakers was Ex-Minister Edwards Pierrepont who + was one of Grant's cabinet and who made a long speech, part + of which was devoted to explaining the court etiquette of + dukes and earls and ministers in England, and how an ex- + President of the United States ranks in Europe when an + American Minister helps him out. The rest of the speech + seemed to be an attempt to get up a presidential boom for + the Prince of Wales. + + When Mr. Pierrepont sat down, General Sherman explained that + Col. Robert Ingersoll did not want to speak, but a group of + gentlemen lifted the orator up and carried him forward by + main force.—New York Herald, April 28,1888. +</pre> +<center>TOAST: GENERAL GRANT</center> +<p>GEN. SHERMAN and Gentlemen: I firmly believe that any nation +great enough to produce and appreciate a great and splendid man is +great enough to keep his memory green. No man admires more than I +do men who have struggled and fought for what they believed to be +right. I admire General Grant, as well as every soldier who fought +in the ranks of the Union,—not simply because they were +fighters, not simply because they were willing to march to the +mouth of the guns, but because they fought for the greatest cause +that can be expressed in human language—the liberty of man. +And to-night while General Mahone was speaking, I could not but +think that the North was just as responsible for the war as the +South. The South upheld and maintained what is known as human +slavery, and the North did the same; and do you know, I have always +found in my heart a greater excuse for the man who held the slave, +and lived on his labor, and profited by the rascality, than I did +for a Northern man that went into partnership with him with a +distinct understanding that he was to have none of the profits and +half of the disgrace. So I say, that, in a larger sense—that +is, when we view the question from a philosophic height—the +North was as responsible as the South; and when I remember that in +this very city, <i>in this very city</i>, men were mobbed simply +for advocating the abolition of slavery, I cannot find it in my +heart to lay a greater blame upon the South than upon the North. If +this had been a war of conquest, a war simply for national +aggrandizement, then I should not place General Grant side by side +with or in advance of the greatest commanders of the world. But +when I remember that every blow was to break a chain, when I +remember that the white man was to be civilized at the same time +the black man was made free, when I remember that this country was +to be made absolutely free, and the flag left without a stain, then +I say that the great General who commanded the greatest army ever +marshaled in the defence of human rights, stands at the head of the +commanders of this world.</p> +<p>There is one other idea,—and it was touched upon and +beautifully illustrated by Mr. Depew. I do not believe that a more +merciful general than Grant ever drew his sword. All greatness is +merciful. All greatness longs to forgive. All true grandeur and +nobility is capable of shedding the divine tear of pity.</p> +<p>Let me say one more word in that direction. The man in the wrong +defeated, and who sees the justice of his defeat, is a victor; and +in this view—and I say it understanding my words +fully—the South was as victorious as the North.</p> +<p>No man, in my judgment, is more willing to do justice to all +parts of this country than I; but, after all, I have a little +sentiment—a little. I admire great and splendid deeds, the +dramatic effect of great victories; but even more than that I +admire that "touch of nature which makes the whole world kin." I +know the names of Grant's victories. I know that they shine like +stars in the heaven of his fame. I know them all. But there is one +thing in the history of that great soldier that touched me nearer +and more deeply than any victory he ever won, and that is this: +When about to die, he insisted that his dust should be laid in no +spot where his wife, when she sleeps in death, could not lie by his +side. That tribute to the great and splendid institution that rises +above all others, the institution of the family, touched me even +more than the glories won upon the fields of war.</p> +<p>And now let me say, General Sherman, as the years go by, in +America, as long as her people are great, as long as her people are +free, as long as they admire patriotism and courage, as long as +they admire deeds of self-denial, as long as they can remember the +sacred blood shed for the good of the whole nation, the birthday of +General Grant will be celebrated. And allow me to say, gentlemen, +that there is another with us to-night whose birthday will be +celebrated. Americans of the future, when they read the history of +General Sherman, will feel the throb and thrill that all men feel +in the presence of the patriotic and heroic.</p> +<p>One word more—when General Grant went to England, when he +sat down at the table with the Ministers of her Britannic Majesty, +he conferred honor upon them. There is one change I wish to see in +the diplomatic service—and I want the example to be set by +the great Republic—I want precedence given here in Washington +to the representatives of Republics. Let us have some backbone +ourselves. Let the representatives of Republics come first and the +ambassadors of despots come in next day. In other words, let +America be proud of American institutions, proud of a Government by +the people. We at last have a history, we at last are a civilized +people, and on the pages of our annals are found as glorious names +as have been written in any language.</p> +<a name="link0012" id="link0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>LOTOS CLUB DINNER, TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY.</h2> +<h3>New York, March 22, 1890.</h3> +<p>YOU have talked so much of old age and gray hairs and thin +locks, so much about the past, that I feel sad. Now, I want to +destroy the impression that baldness is a sign of age. The very +youngest people I ever saw were bald.</p> +<p>Sometimes I think, and especially when I am at a meeting where +they have what they call reminiscences, that a world with death in +it is a mistake. What would you think of a man who built a +railroad, knowing that every passenger was to be +killed—knowing that there was no escape? What would you think +of the cheerfulness of the passengers if every one knew that at +some station, the name of which had not been called out, there was +a hearse waiting for him; backed up there, horses fighting flies, +driver whistling, waiting for you? Is it not wonderful that the +passengers on that train really enjoy themselves? Is it not +magnificent that every one of them, under perpetual sentence of +death, after all, can dimple their cheeks with laughter; that we, +every one doomed to become dust, can yet meet around this table as +full of joy as spring is full of life, as full of hope as the +heavens are full of stars?</p> +<p>I tell you we have got a good deal of pluck.</p> +<p>And yet, after all, what would this world be without death? It +may be from the fact that we are all victims, from the fact that we +are all bound by common fate; it may be that friendship and love +are born of that fact; but Whatever the fact is, I am perfectly +satisfied that the highest possible philosophy is to enjoy to-day, +not regretting yesterday, and not fearing to-morrow. So, let us +suck this orange of life dry, so that when death does come, we can +politely say to him, "You are welcome to the peelings. What little +there was we have enjoyed."</p> +<p>But there is one splendid thing about the play called Life. +Suppose that when you die, that is the end. The last thing that you +will know is that you are alive, and the last thing that will +happen to you is the curtain, not falling, but the curtain rising +on another thought, so that as far as your consciousness is +concerned you will and must live forever. No man can remember when +he commenced, and no man can remember when he ends. As far as we +are concerned we live both eternities, the one past and the one to +come, and it is a delight to me to feel satisfied, and to feel in +my own heart, that I can never be certain that I have seen the +faces I love for the last time.</p> +<p>When I am at such a gathering as this, I almost wish I had had +the making of the world. What a world I would have made! In that +world unhappiness would have been the only sin; melancholy the only +crime; joy the only virtue. And whether there is another world, +nobody knows. Nobody can affirm it; nobody can deny it. Nobody can +collect tolls from me, claiming that he owns a turnpike, and nobody +can certainly say that the crooked path that I follow, beside which +many roses are growing, does not lead to that place. He doesn't +know. But if there is such a place, I hope that all good fellows +will be welcome.</p> +<a name="link0013" id="link0013"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>MANHATTAN ATHLETIC CLUB DINNER.</h2> +<h3>New York, December 27, 1890.</h3> +<center>TOAST: ATHLETICS AMONG THE ANCIENTS.</center> +<p>THE first record of public games is found in the twentythird +Book of the Iliad. These games were performed at the funeral of +Patroclus, and there were:</p> +<p>First. A chariot race, and the first prize was:</p> +<p>"A woman fair, well skilled in household care."</p> +<p>Second. There was a pugilistic encounter, and the first prize, +appropriately enough, was a mule.</p> +<p>It gave me great pleasure to find that Homer did not hold in +high esteem the victor. I have reached this conclusion, because the +poet put these words in the mouth of Eppius, the great boxer +winding up with the following refined declaration concerning his +opponent:</p> +<p>"I mean to pound his flesh and smash his bones."</p> +<p>After the battle, the defeated was helped from the field. He +spit forth clotted gore. His head rolled from side to side, until +he fell unconscious.</p> +<p>Third, wrestling; fourth, foot-race; fifth, fencing; sixth, +throwing the iron mass or bar; seventh, archery, and last, throwing +the javelin.</p> +<p>All of these games were in honor of Patroclus. This is the same +Patroclus who, according to Shakespeare, addressed Achilles in +these words:</p> +<pre> + "In the battle-field I claim no special praise; + 'Tis not for man in all things to excel—" + + "Rouse yourself, and the weak wanton Cupid + Shall from your neck unloose his amorous fold, + And, like a dew-drop from the lion's mane, + Be shook to air." +</pre> +<p>These games were all born of the instinct of self-defence. The +chariot was used in war. Man should know the use of his hands, to +the end that he may repel assault. He should know the use of the +sword, to the end that he may strike down his enemy. He should be +skillful with the arrow, to the same end. If overpowered, he seeks +safety in flight—he should therefore know how to run. So, +too, he could preserve himself by the skillful throwing of the +javelin, and in the close encounter a knowledge of wrestling might +save his life.</p> +<p>Man has always been a fighting animal, and the art of +self-defence is nearly as important now as ever—and will be, +until man rises to that supreme height from which he will be able +to see that no one can commit a crime against another without +injuring himself.</p> +<p>The Greeks knew that the body bears a certain relation to the +soul—that the better the body—other things being +equal—the greater the mind. They also knew that the body +could be developed, and that such development would give or add to +the health, the courage, the endurance, the self-confidence, the +independence and the morality of the human race. They knew, too, +that health was the foundation, the corner-stone, of happiness.</p> +<p>They knew that human beings should know something about +themselves, something of the capacities of body and mind, to the +end that they might ascertain the relation between conduct and +happiness, between temperance and health.</p> +<p>It is needless to say that the Greeks were the most intellectual +of all races, and that they were in love with beauty, with +proportion, with the splendor of the body and of mind; and so great +was their admiration for the harmoniously developed, that Sophocles +had the honor of walking naked at the head of a great +procession.</p> +<p>The Greeks, through their love of physical and mental +development, gave us the statues—the most precious of all +inanimate things—of far more worth than all the diamonds and +rubies and pearls that ever glittered in crowns and tiaras, on +altars or thrones, or, flashing, rose and fell on woman's billowed +breast. In these marbles we find the highest types of life, of +superb endeavor and supreme repose. In looking at them we feel that +blood flows, that hearts throb and souls aspire. These miracles of +art are the richest legacies the ancient world has left our +race.</p> +<p>The nations in love with life, have games. To them existence is +exultation. They are fond of nature. They, seek the woods and +streams. They love the winds and waves of the sea. They enjoy the +poem of the day, the drama of the year.</p> +<p>Our Puritan fathers were oppressed with a sense of infinite +responsibility. They were disconsolate and sad, and no more thought +of sport, except the flogging of; Quakers, than shipwrecked +wretches huddled on a raft would turn their attention to amateur +theatricals.</p> +<p>For many centuries the body was regarded as a decaying; casket, +in which had been placed the gem called the soul, and the nearer +rotten the casket the more brilliant the jewel.</p> +<p>In those blessed days, the diseased were sainted and insanity +born of fasting and self-denial and abuse of the body, was looked +upon as evidence of inspiration. Cleanliness was not next to +godliness—it was the opposite; and in those days, what was +known as "the odor of sanctity" had a substantial foundation. +Diseased bodies produced all kinds of mental maladies. There is a +direct relation between sickness and superstition. Everybody knows +that Calvinism was the child of indigestion.</p> +<p>Spooks and phantoms hover about the undeveloped and diseased, as +vultures sail above the dead.</p> +<p>Our ancestors had the idea that they ought to be spiritual, and +that good health was inconsistent with the highest forms of piety. +This heresy crept into the minds even of secular writers, and the +novelists described their heroines as weak and languishing, pale as +lilies, and in the place of health's brave flag they put the hectic +flush.</p> +<p>Weakness was interesting, and fainting captured the hearts of +all. Nothing was so attractive as a society belle with a drug-store +attachment.</p> +<p>People became ashamed of labor, and consequently, of the +evidences of labor. They avoided "sun-burnt mirth"—were proud +of pallor, and regarded small, white hands as proof that they had +noble blood within their veins. It was a joy to be too weak to +work, too languishing to labor.</p> +<p>The tide has turned. People are becoming sensible enough to +desire health, to admire physical development, symmetry of form, +and we now know that a race with little feet and hands has passed +the climax and is traveling toward the eternal night.</p> +<p>When the central force is strong, men and women are full of life +to the finger tips. When the fires burn low, they begin to shrivel +at the extremities—the hands and feet grow small, and the +mental flame wavers and wanes.</p> +<p>To be self-respecting we must be self-supporting.</p> +<p>Nobility is a question of character, not of birth.</p> +<p>Honor cannot be received as alms—it must be earned.</p> +<p>It is the brow that makes the wreath of glory green.</p> +<p>All exercise should be for the sake of development—that is +to say, for the sake of health, and for the sake of the +mind—all to the end that the person may become better, +greater, more useful. The gymnast or the athelete should seek for +health as the student should seek for truth; but when athletics +degenerate into mere personal contests, they become dangerous, +because the contestants lose sight of health, as in the excitement +of debate the students prefer personal victory to the ascertainment +of truth.</p> +<p>There is another thing to be avoided by all athletic clubs, and +that is, anything that tends to brutalize, destroy or dull the +finer feelings. Nothing is more disgusting, more disgraceful, than +pugilism—nothing more demoralizing than an exhibition of +strength united with ferocity, and where the very body developed by +exercise is mutilated and disfigured.</p> +<p>Sports that can by no possibility give pleasure, except to the +unfeeling, the hardened and the really brainless, should be +avoided. No gentleman should countenance rabbit-coursing, fighting +of dogs, the shooting of pigeons, simply as an exhibition of +skill.</p> +<p>All these things are calculated to demoralize and brutalize not +only the actors, but the lookers on. Such sports are savage, fit +only to be participated in and enjoyed by the cannibals of Central +Africa or the anthropoid apes.</p> +<p>Find what a man enjoys—what he laughs at—what he +calls diversion—and you know what he is. Think of a man +calling himself civilized, who is in raptures at a bull +fight—who smiles when he sees the hounds pursue and catch and +tear in pieces the timid hare, and who roars with laughter when he +watches the pugilists pound each other's faces, closing each +other's eyes, breaking jaws and smashing noses. Such men are +beneath the animals they torture—on a level with the +pugilists they applaud. Gentlemen should hold such sports in +unspeakable contempt. No man finds pleasure in inflicting pain.</p> +<p>In every public school there should be a gymnasium.</p> +<p>It is useless to cram minds and deform bodies. Hands should be +educated as well as heads. All should be taught the sports and +games that require mind, muscle, nerve and judgment.</p> +<p>Even those who labor should take exercise, to the end that the +whole body may be developed. Those who work at one employment +become deformed. Proportion is lost. But where harmony is preserved +by the proper exercise, even old age is beautiful.</p> +<p>To the well developed, to the strong, life seems rich, obstacles +small, and success easy. They laugh at cold and storm. Whatever the +season may be their hearts are filled with summer.</p> +<p>Millions go from the cradle to the coffin without knowing what +it is to live. They simply succeed in postponing death. Without +appetites, without passions, without struggle, they slowly rot in a +waveless pool. They never know the glory of success, the rapture of +the fight.</p> +<p>To become effeminate is to invite misery. In the most delicate +bodies may be found the most degraded souls. It was the Duchess +Josiane whose pampered flesh became so sensitive that she thought +of hell as a place where people were compelled to sleep between +coarse sheets.</p> +<p>We need the open air—we need the experience of heat and +cold. We need not only the rewards and caresses, but the discipline +of our mother Nature. Life is not all sunshine, neither is it all +storm, but man should be enabled to enjoy the one and to withstand +the other.</p> +<p>I believe in the religion of the body—of physical +development—in devotional exercise—in the beatitudes of +cheerfulness, good health, good food, good clothes, comradeship, +generosity, and above all, in happiness. I believe in salvation +here and now. Salvation from deformity and disease—from +weakness and pain—from ennui and insanity. I believe in +heaven here and now—the heaven of health and good +digestion—of strength and long life—of usefulness and +joy. I believe in the builders and defenders of homes.</p> +<p>The gentlemen whom we honor to-night have done a great work. To +their energy we are indebted for the nearest perfect, for the +grandest athletic clubhouse in the world. Let these clubs multiply. +Let the example be followed, until our country is filled with +physical and intellectual athletes—superb fathers, perfect +mothers, and every child an heir to health and joy.</p> +<a name="link0014" id="link0014"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE LIEDERKRANZ CLUB, SEIDL-STANTON BANQUET.</h2> +<h3>New York, April 2, 1891</h3> +<center>TOAST: MUSIC, NOBLEST OF THE ARTS.</center> +<p>IT is probable that I was selected to speak about music, +because, not knowing one note from another, I have no prejudice on +the subject.</p> +<p>All I can say is, that I know what I like, and, to tell the +truth, I like every kind, enjoy it all, from the hand organ to the +orchestra.</p> +<p>Knowing nothing of the science of music, I am not always looking +for defects, or listening for discords. As the young robin +cheerfully swallows whatever comes, I hear with gladness all that +is played.</p> +<p>Music has been, I suppose, a gradual growth, subject to the law +of evolution; as nearly everything, with the possible exception of +theology, has been and is under this law.</p> +<p>Music may be divided into three kinds: First, the music of +simple time, without any particular emphasis—and this may be +called the music of the heels; second, music in which time is +varied, in which there is the eager haste and the delicious delay, +that is, the fast and slow, in accordance with our feelings, with +our emotions—and this may be called the music of the heart; +third, the music that includes time and emphasis, the hastening and +the delay, and something in addition, that produces not only states +of feeling, but states of thought. This may be called the music of +the head,—the music of the brain.</p> +<p>Music expresses feeling and thought, without language. It was +below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all words. +Beneath the waves is the sea—above the clouds is the sky.</p> +<p>Before man found a name for any thought, or thing, he had hopes +and fears and passions, and these were rudely expressed in +tones.</p> +<p>Of one thing, however, I am certain, and that is, that Music was +born of Love. Had there never been any human affection, there never +could have been uttered a strain of music. Possibly some mother, +looking in the eyes of her babe, gave the first melody to the +enraptured air.</p> +<p>Language is not subtle enough, tender enough, to express all +that we feel; and when language fails, the highest and deepest +longings are translated into music. Music is the sunshine—the +climate—of the soul, and it floods the heart with a perfect +June.</p> +<p>I am also satisfied that the greatest music is the most +marvelous mingling of Love and Death. Love is the greatest of all +passions, and Death is its shadow. Death gets all its terror from +Love, and Love gets its intensity, its radiance, its glory and its +rapture, from the darkness of Death. Love is a flower that grows on +the edge of the grave.</p> +<p>The old music, for the most part, expresses emotion, or +feeling-, through time and emphasis, and what is known as melody. +Most of the old operas consist of a few melodies connected by +unmeaning recitative. There should be no unmeaning music. It is as +though a writer should suddenly leave his subject and write a +paragraph consisting of nothing but a repetition of one word like +"the," "the," "the," or "if," "if." "if," varying the repetition of +these words, but without meaning,—and then resume the subject +of his article.</p> +<p>I am not saying that great music was not produced before Wagner, +but I am simply endeavoring to show-the steps that have been taken. +It was necessary that all the music should have been written, in +order that the greatest might be produced. The same is true of the +drama, Thousands and thousands prepared the way for the supreme +dramatist, as millions prepared the way for the supreme +composer.</p> +<p>When I read Shakespeare, I am astonished that he has expressed +so much with common words, to which he gives new meaning; and so +when I hear Wagner, I exclaim: Is it possible that all this is done +with common air?</p> +<p>In Wagner's music there is a touch of chaos that suggests the +infinite. The melodies seem strange and changing forms, like summer +clouds, and weird harmonies come like sounds from the sea brought +by fitful winds, and others moan like waves on desolate shores, and +mingled with these, are shouts of joy, with sighs and sobs and +ripples of laughter, and the wondrous voices of eternal love.</p> +<p>Wagner is the Shakespeare of Music.</p> +<p>The funeral march for Siegfried is the funeral music for all the +dead; Should all the gods die, this music would be perfectly +appropriate. It is elemental, universal, eternal.</p> +<p>The love-music in Tristan and Isolde is, like Romeo and Juliet, +an expression of the human heart for all time. So the love-duet in +The Flying Dutchman has in it the consecration, the infinite +self-denial, of love. The whole heart is given; every note has +wings, and rises and poises like an eagle in the heaven of +sound.</p> +<p>When I listen to the music of Wagner, I see pictures, forms, +glimpses of the perfect, the swell of a hip, the wave of a breast, +the glance of an eye. I am in the midst of great galleries. Before +me are passing, the endless panoramas. I see vast landscapes with +valleys of verdure and vine, with soaring crags, snow-crowned. I am +on the wide seas, where countless billows burst into the white caps +of joy. I am in the depths of caverns roofed with mighty crags, +while through some rent I see the eternal stars. In a moment the +music, becomes a river of melody, flowing through some wondrous +land; suddenly it falls in strange chasms, and the mighty cataract +is changed to seven-hued foam. .</p> +<p>Great music is always sad, because it tells us of the perfect; +and such is the difference between what we are and that which music +suggests, that even in the vase of joy we find some tears.</p> +<p>The music of Wagner has color, and when I hear the violins, the +morning seems to slowly come. A horn puts a star above the horizon. +The night, in the purple hum of the bass, wanders away like some +enormous bee across wide fields of dead clover. The light grows +whiter as the violins increase. Colors come from other instruments, +and then the full orchestra floods the world with day.</p> +<p>Wagner seems not only to have given us new tones, new +combinations, but the moment the orchestra begins to play his +music, all the instruments are transfigured. They seem to utter the +sounds that they have been longing to utter. The horns run riot; +the drums and cymbals join in the general joy; the old bass viols +are alive with passion; the 'cellos throb with love; the violins +are seized with a divine fury, and the notes rush out as eager for +the air as pardoned prisoners for the roads and fields.</p> +<p>The music of Wagner is filled with landscapes. There are some +strains, like midnight, thick with constellations, and there are +harmonies like islands in the far seas, and others like palms on +the desert's edge. His music satisfies the heart and brain. It is +not only for memory; not only for the present, but for +prophecy.</p> +<p>Wagner was a sculptor, a painter, in sound. When he died, the +greatest fountain of melody that ever enchanted the world, ceased. +His music will instruct and refine forever.</p> +<p>All that I know about the operas of Wagner I have learned from +Anton Seidl. I believe that he is the noblest, tenderest and the +most artistic interpreter of the great composer that has ever +lived.</p> +<a name="link0015" id="link0015"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE FRANK B. CARPENTER DINNER.</h2> +<h3>New York, December 1, 1891</h3> +<pre> + * There was a notable gathering of leading artists, authors, + scientists, journalists, lawyer, clergymen and other + professional men at Sherry's last evening. The occasion was + a dinner tendered to Mr. F. B. Carpenter, the famous + portrait and portrait group artist, by his immediate friends + to celebrate the completion of his new historical painting, + entitled "International Arbitration," which is to be sent to + Queen Victoria next week as the gift of a wealthy American + lady. No such tribute has ever been paid before to an artist + of-this country. Let us hope that the extraordinary + attention thus paid to Mr. Carpenter will give our "English + cousins" some idea of how he is prized and his work indorsed + at home. The dinner to Mr. Carpenter was a great success— + most enjoyable in every way. The table was laid in the form + ol a horse shoe with a train of smilax, and sweet flowers + extending the entire length of the table, amid pots of + chrysanthemums and roses. Ex-Minister Andrew D White + presided in the absence of John Russell + + Young..........Mr. White said: "During the entire course of + these proceedings we have been endeavoring to find a + representative of the great Fourth Estate who would present + its claims in relation to arbitration on this occasion. + There are present men whose names are household words in + connection with the press throughout this land. There is + certainly one distinguished as orator: there is another + distinguished as a scholar. But they prefer to be silent. We + will therefore consider that the toast of 'The Press in + Connection with War and Peace' has been duly honored + although it has not been responded to, and now there is one + subject which I think you will consider as coming strangely + at this late hour. It is a renewal of the subject with which + we began, and I am to ask to speak to it a man who is + admired and feared throughout the country. At one moment he + smashes the most cherished convictions of the country, and + at another he raises our highest aspirations for the future + of humanity. + + "It happened several years ago that I was crossing the + Atlantic, and when I had sufficiently recovered from + seasickness to sit out on the deck I came across Colonel + Ingersoll, and of all subjects of discussion you can imagine + we fell upon the subject of art, and we went at it hot and + heavy. So I said to him to-night that I had a rod in pickle + for him and that he was not to know anything about it until + it was displayed. + + "I now call upon him to talk to us about art, and if he + talks now as he talked on the deck of the steamer I do not + know whether it would clear the room, but it would make a + sensation in this State and country. I have great pleasure + in announcing Colonel Ingersoll, to speak on the subject of + art—or on any other subject, for no matter upon what he + speaks his words are always welcome." + + New York Press, December 2, 1891. +</pre> +<center>TOAST: ART.</center> +<p>I PRESUME I take about as much interest in what that picture +represents as anybody else. I believe that it has been said this +evening that the world will never be civilized so long as +differences between nations are settled by gun or cannon or sword. +Barbarians still settle their personal differences with clubs or +arms, and finally, when they agree to submit their differences to +their peers, to a court, we call them civilized. Now, nations +sustain the same relations to each other that barbarians sustain; +that is, they settle their differences by force; each nation being +the judge of the righteousness of its cause, and its judgment +depending entirely—or for the most part—on its +strength; and the strongest nation is the nearest right. Now, until +nations submit their differences to an international court—a +court with the power to carry its judgment into effect by having +the armies and navies of all the rest of the world pledged to +support it—the world will not be civilized. Our differences +will not be settled by arbitration until more of the great nations +set the example, and until that is done, I am in favor of the +United States being armed. Until that is done it will give me joy +to know that another magnificent man-of-war has been launched upon +our waters. And I will tell you why. Look again at that picture. +There is another face; it is not painted there, and yet without it +that picture would not have been painted, and that is the face of +U. S. Grant. The olive branch, to be of any force, to be of any +beneficent power, must be offered by the mailed hand. It must be +offered by a nation which has back of the olive branch the force. +It cannot be offered by weakness, because then it will excite only +ridicule. The powerful, the imperial, must offer that branch. Then +it will be accepted in the true spirit; otherwise not. So, until +the world is a little more civilized I am in favor of the largest +guns that can be made and the best navy that floats. I do not want +any navy unless we have the best, because if you have a poor one +you will simply make a present of it to the enemy as soon as war +opens. We should be ready to defend ourselves against the world. +Not that I think there is going to be any war, but because I think +that is the best way to prevent it. Until the whole world shall +have entered into the same spirit as the artist when he painted +that picture, until that spirit becomes general we have got to be +prepared for war. And we cannot depend upon war suasion. If a fleet +of men-of-war should sail into our harbor, talk would not be of any +good; we must be ready to answer them in their own way.</p> +<p>I suppose I have been selected to speak on art because I can +speak on that subject without prejudice, knowing nothing about it. +I have on this subject no hobbies, no pet theories, and +consequently will give you not what I know, but what I think. I am +an Agnostic in many things, and the way I understand art is this: +In the first place we are all invisible to each other. There is +something called soul; something that thinks and hopes and loves. +It is never seen. It occupies a world that we call the brain, and +is forever, so far as we know, invisible. Each soul lives in a +world of its own, and it endeavors to communicate with another soul +living in a world of its own, each invisible to the other, and it +does this in a variety of ways. That is the noblest art which +expresses the noblest thought, that gives to another the noblest +emotions that this unseen soul has. In order to do this we have to +seize upon the seen, the visible. In other words, nature is a vast +dictionary that we use simply to convey from one invisible world to +another what happens in our invisible world. The man that lives in +the greatest world and succeeds in letting other worlds know what +happens in his world, is the greatest artist.</p> +<p>I believe that all arts have the same father and the same +mother, and no matter whether you express what happens in these +unseen worlds in mere words—because nearly all pictures have +been made with words—or whether you express it in marble, or +form and color in what we call painting, it is to carry on that +commerce between these invisible worlds, and he is the greatest +artist who expresses the tenderest, noblest thoughts to the unseen +worlds about him. So that all art consists in this commerce, every +soul being an artist and every brain that is worth talking about +being an art gallery, and there is no gallery in this world, not in +the Vatican or the Louvre or any other place, comparable with the +gallery in every great brain. The millions of pictures that are in +every brain to-night; the landscapes, the faces, the groups, the +millions of millions of millions of things that are now living here +in every brain, all unseen, all invisible forever! Yet we +communicate with each other by showing each other these pictures, +these studies, and by inviting others into our galleries and +showing them what we have, and the greatest artist is he who has +the most pictures to show to other artists.</p> +<p>I love anything in art that suggests the tender, the beautiful. +What is beauty? Of course there is no absolute beauty. All beauty +is relative. Probably the most beautiful thing to a frog is the +speckled belly of another frog, or to a snake the markings of +another snake. So there is no such thing as absolute beauty. But +what I call beauty is what suggests to me the highest and the +tenderest thought; something that answers to something in my world. +So every work of art has to be born in some brain, and it must be +made by the unseen artist we call the soul. Now, if a man simply +copies what he sees, he is nothing but a copyist. That does not +require genius. That requires industry and the habit of +observation. But it is not genius; it is not art. Those little +daubs and shreds and patches we get by copying, are pieces of iron +that need to be put into the flame of genius to be molten and then +cast in noble forms; otherwise there is no genius.</p> +<p>The great picture should have, not only the technical part of +art, which is neither moral nor immoral, but in addition some great +thought, some great event. It should contain not only a history but +a prophecy. There should be in it soul, feeling, thought I love +those little pictures of the home, of the fireside, of the old +lady, boiling the kettle, the vine running over the cottage door, +scenes suggesting to me happiness, contentment. I think more of +them than of the great war pieces, and I hope I shall have a few +years in some such scenes, during which I shall not care what time +it is, what day of the week or month it is. Just that feeling of +content when it is enough to live, to breathe, to have the blue sky +above you and to hear the music of the water. All art that gives us +that content, that delight, enriches this world and makes life +better and holier.</p> +<p>That, in a general kind of way, as I said before, is my idea of +art, and I hope that the artists of America—and they ought to +be as good here as in any place on earth—will grow day by day +and year by year independent of all other art in the world, and be +true to the American or republican spirit always. As to this +picture, it is representative, it is American. There is one word +Mr. Daniel Dougherty said to which I would like to refer. I have +never said very much in my life in defence of England, at the same +time I have never blamed England for being against us during our +war, and I will tell you why. We had been a nation of hypocrites. +We pretended to be in favor of liberty and yet we had four or five +millions of our people enslaved. That was a very awkward position. +We had bloodhounds to hunt human beings and the apostles setting +them on; and while this was going on these poor wretches sought and +found liberty on British soil. Now, why not be honest about it? We +were rather a contemptible people, though Mr. Dougherty thinks the +English were wholly at fault. But England abolished the slave-trade +in 1803; she abolished slavery in her colonies in 1833. We were +lagging behind. That is all there is about it. No matter why, we +put ourselves in the position of pretending to be a free people +while we had millions of slaves, and it was only natural that +England should dislike it.</p> +<p>I think the chairman said that there had been no great historic +picture of the signing of the Constitution. There never should be, +never! It was fit, it was proper, to have a picture of the signing +of the Declaration of Independence. That was an honest document. +Our people wanted to give a good reason for fighting Great Britain, +and in order to do that they had to dig down to the bed-rock of +human rights, and then they said all men are created equal. But +just as soon as we got our independence we made a Constitution that +gave the lie to the Declaration of Independence, and that is why +the signing of the Constitution never ought to be painted. We put +in that Constitution a clause that the slave-trade should not be +interfered with for years, and another clause that this entire +Government was pledged to hand back to slavery any poor woman with +a child at her breast, seeking freedom by flight. It was a very +poor document. A little while ago they celebrated the one hundredth +anniversary of that business and talked about the Constitution +being such a wonderful thing; yet what was in that Constitution +brought on the most terrible civil war ever known, and during that +war they said: "Give us the Constitution as it is and the Union as +it was." And I said then: "Curse the Constitution as it is and the +Union as it was. Don't talk to me about fighting for a Constitution +that has brought on a war like this; let us make a new one." No, I +am in favor of a painting that would celebrate the adoption of the +amendment to the Constitution that declares that there shall be no +more slavery on this soil.</p> +<p>I believe that we are getting a little more free every +day—a little more sensible all the time. A few years ago a +woman in Germany made a speech, in which she asked: "Why should the +German mother in pain and agony give birth to a child and rear that +child through industry and poverty, and teach him that when he +arrives at the age of twenty-one it will be his duty to kill the +child of the French mother? And why should the French mother teach +her son, that it will be his duty sometime to kill the child of the +German mother?" There is more sense in that than in all the +diplomacy I ever read, and I think the time is coming when that +question will be asked by every mother—Why should she raise a +child to kill the child of another mother?</p> +<p>The time is coming when we will do away with all this. Man has +been taught that he ought to fight for the country where he was +born; no matter about that country being wrong, whether it +supported him or not, whether it enslaved him and trampled on every +right he had, still it was his duty to march up in support of that +country. The time will come when the man will make up his mind +himself whether the country is worth while fighting for, and he is +the greatest patriot who seeks to make his country worth fighting +for, and not he who says, I am for it anyhow, whether it is right +or not. These patriots will be the force Mr. George was speaking +about. If war between this country and Great Britain were declared, +and there were men in both countries sufficient to take a right +view of it, that would be the end of war. The thing would be +settled by arbitration—settled by some court—and no one +would dream of rushing to the field of battle. So, that is my hope +for the world; more policy, more good, solid, sound sense and less +mud patriotism.</p> +<p>I think that this country is going to grow. I think it will take +in Mr. Wiman's country. I do not mean that we are going to take any +country. I mean that they are going to come to us. I do not believe +in conquest. Canada will come just as soon as it is to her interest +to come, and I think she will come or be a great country to +herself. I do not believe in those people, intelligent as they are, +sending three thousand miles for information they have at home. I +do not believe in their being governed by anybody except +themselves. So if they come we shall be glad to have them, if they +don't want to come I don't want them.</p> +<p>Yes, we are growing. I don't know how many millions of people we +have now, probably over sixty-two if they all get counted; and they +are still coming. I expect to live to see one hundred millions +here. I know some say that we are getting too many foreigners, but +I say the more that come the better. We have got to have somebody +to take the places of the sons of our rich people. So I say let +them come. There is plenty of land here, everywhere. I say to the +people of every country, come; do your work here, and we will +protect you against other countries. We will give you all the work +to supply yourselves and your neighbors.</p> +<p>Then if we have differences with another country we shall have a +strong navy, big ships, big guns, magnificent men and plenty of +them, and if we put out the hand of fellowship and friendship they +will know there is no foolishness about it. They will know we are +not asking any favor. We will just say: We want peace, and we tell +you over the glistening leaves of this olive branch that if you +don't compromise we will mop the earth with you.</p> +<p>That is the sort of arbitration I believe in, and it is the only +sort, in my judgment, that will be effectual for all time. And I +hope that we may still grow, and grow more and more artistic, and +more and more in favor of peace, and I pray that we may finally +arrive at being absolutely worthy of having presented that picture, +with all that it implies, to the most warlike nation in the +world—to the nation that first sends the gospel and then the +musket immediately after, and says: You have got to be civilized, +and the only evidence of civilization that you can give is to buy +our goods and to buy them now, and to pay for them. I wish us to be +worthy of the picture presented to such a nation, and my prayer is +that America may be worthy to have sent such a token in such a +spirit, and my second prayer is that England may be worthy to +receive it and to keep it, and that she may receive it in the same +spirit that it is sent.</p> +<p>I am glad that it is to be sent by a woman. The gentleman who +spoke to the toast, "Woman as a Peacemaker," seemed to believe that +woman brought all the sorrows that ever happened, not only of war, +but troubles of every kind. I want to say to him that I would +rather live with the woman I love in a world of war, in a world +full of troubles and sorrows, than to live in heaven with nobody +but men. I believe that woman is a peacemaker, and so I am glad +that a woman presents this token to another woman; and woman is a +far higher title than queen, in my judgment; far higher. There are +no higher titles than woman, mother, wife, sister, and when they +come to calling them countesses and duchesses and queens, that is +all rot. That adds nothing to that unseen artist who inhabits the +world called the brain. That unseen artist is great by nature and +cannot be made greater by the addition of titles. And so one woman +gives to another woman the picture that prophesies war is finally +to cease, and the civilized nations of the world will henceforth +arbitrate their differences and no longer strew the plains with +corpses of brethren. That is the supreme lesson that is taught by +this picture, and I congratulate Mr. Carpenter that his name is +associated with it and also with the "Proclamation of +Emancipation." In the latter work he has associated his name with +that of Lincoln, which is the greatest name in history, and the +gentlest memory in this world. Mr. Carpenter has associated his +name with that and with this and with that of General Grant, for I +say that this picture would never have been possible had there not +been behind it Grant; if there had not been behind it the +victorious armies of the North and the great armies of the South, +that would have united instantly to repel any foreign foe.</p> +<a name="link0016" id="link0016"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>UNITARIAN CLUB DINNER.</h2> +<h3>New York, January 15,1892.</h3> +<center>TOAST: THE IDEAL.</center> +<p>MR. PRESIDENT, Ladies and Gentlemen: In the first place, I wish +to tender my thanks to this club for having generosity and sense +enough to invite me to speak this evening. It is probably the best +thing the club has ever done. You have shown that you are not +afraid of a man simply because he does not happen to agree entirely +with you, although in a very general way it may be said that I come +within one of you.</p> +<p>So I think, not only that you have honored me—that, I most +cheerfully and gratefully admit—but, upon my word, I think +that you have honored yourselves. And imagine the distance the +religious world has traveled in the last few years to make a thing +of this kind possible! You know—I presume every one of you +knows—that I have no religion—not enough to last a +minute—none whatever—that is, in the ordinary sense of +that word. And yet you have become so nearly civilized that you are +willing to hear what I have to say; and I have become so nearly +civilized that I am willing to say what I think.</p> +<p>And, in the second place, let me say that I have great respect +for the Unitarian Church. I have great respect for the memory of +Theodore Parker. I have great respect for every man who has +assisted in reaving the heavens of an infinite monster. I have +great respect for every man who has helped to put out the fires of +hell. In other words, I have great respect for every man who has +tried to civilize my race.</p> +<p>The Unitarian Church has done more than any other +church—and may be more than all other churches—to +substitute character for creed, and to say that a man should be +judged by his spirit; by the climate of his heart; by the autumn of +his generosity; by the spring of his hope; that he should be judged +by what he does; by the influence that he exerts, rather than by +the mythology he may believe. And whether there be one God or a +million, I am perfectly satisfied that every duty that devolves +upon me is within my reach; it is something that I can do myself, +without the help of anybody else, either in this world or any +other.</p> +<p>Now, in order to make myself plain on this subject—I think +I was to speak about the Ideal—I want to thank the Unitarian +Church for what it has done; and I want to thank the Universalist +Church, too. They at least believe in a God who is a gentleman; and +that is much more than was ever done by an orthodox church. They +believe, at least, in a heavenly father who will leave the latch +string out until the last child gets home; and as that lets me +in—especially in reference to the "last"—I have great +respect for that church.</p> +<p>But now I am coming to the Ideal; and in what I may say you may +not all agree. I hope you won't, because that would be to me +evidence that I am wrong. You cannot expect everybody to agree in +the right, and I cannot expect to be always in the right myself. I +have to judge with the standard called my reason, and I do not know +whether it is right or not; I will admit that. But as opposed to +any other man's, I will bet on mine. That is to say, for home use. +In the first place, I think it is said in some book—and if I +am wrong there are plenty here to correct me—that "the fear +of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." I think a knowledge of the +limitations of the human mind is the beginning of wisdom, and, I +may almost say, the end of it—really to understand +yourself.</p> +<p>Now, let me lay down this proposition. The imagination of man +has the horizon of experience; and beyond experience or nature man +cannot go, even in imagination. Man is not a creator. He combines; +he adds together; he divides; he subtracts; he does not create, +even in the world of imagination. Let me make myself a little +plainer: Not one here—not one in the wide, wide world can +think of a color that he never saw. No human being can imagine a +sound that he has not heard, and no one can think of a taste that +he has not experienced. He can add to—that is add +together—combine; but he cannot, by any possibility, +create.</p> +<p>Man originally, we will say—go back to the age of +barbarism, and you will not have to go far; our own childhood, +probably, is as far as is necessary—but go back to what is +called the age of savagery; every man was an idealist, as every man +is to-day an idealist. Every man in savage or civilized time, +commencing with the first that ever crawled out of a cave and +pushed the hair back from his forehead to look at the +sun—commence with him and end with Judge Wright—the +last expression on the God question—and from that cave to the +soul that lives in this temple, everyone has been an idealist and +has endeavored to account in some way for what he saw and for what +he felt; in other words, for the phenomena of nature. The easiest +way to account for it by the rudest savage, is the way it has been +accounted for to-night. What makes the river run? There's a god in +it. What makes the tree grow? There's a god in it. What makes the +star shine? There's a god in it. What makes the sun rise? Why, he +is a god himself. And what makes the nightingale sing until the air +is faint with melody? There's a god in it.</p> +<p>They commenced making gods to account for everything that +happens; gods of dreams and gods of love and friendship, and +heroism and courage. Splendid! They kept making more and more. The +more they found out in nature, up to a certain point, the more gods +they needed; and they kept on making gods until almost every wave +of the sea bore a god. Gods on every mountain, and in every vale +and field, and by every stream! Gods in flowers, gods in grass; +gods everywhere! All accounting for this world and for what +happened in this world.</p> +<p>Then, when they had got about to the top, when their ingenuity +had been exhausted, they had not produced anything, and they did +not produce anything beyond their own experience. We are told that +they were idolaters. That is a mistake, except in the sense that we +are all idolaters. They said, "Here is a god; let us express our +idea of him. He is stronger than a man; let us give him the body of +a lion. He is swifter than a man; let us give him the wings of an +eagle. He is wiser than a man"—and when a man was very savage +he said, "let us give him the head of a serpent;" a serpent is +wonderfully wise; he travels without feet; he climbs without claws; +he lives without food, and he is of the simplest conceivable +form.</p> +<p>And that was simply to represent their idea of power, of +swiftness, of wisdom. And yet this impossible monster was simply +made of what man had seen in nature, and he put the various +attributes or parts together by his imagination. He created +nothing. He simply took these parts of certain beasts, when beasts +were supposed to be superior to man in some particulars, and in +that way expressed his thought.</p> +<p>You go into the territory of Arizona to-day, and you will find +there pictures of God. He was clothed in stone, through which no +arrow could pierce, and so they called God the Stone-Shirted whom +no Indian could kill. That was for the simple and only reason that +it was impossible to get an arrow through his armor. They got the +idea from the armadillo.</p> +<p>Now, I am simply saying this to show that they were making gods +for all these centuries, and making them out of something they +found in nature. Then, after they got through with the beast +business, they made gods after the image of man; and they are the +best gods, so far as I know, that have been made.</p> +<p>The gods that were first made after the image of man were not +made after the pattern of very good men; but they were good men +according to the standard of that time, because, as I will show you +in a moment, all these things are relative. The qualities or things +that we call mercy, justice, charity and religion are all relative. +There was a time when the victor on the field of battle was +exceedingly merciful if he failed to eat his prisoner; he was +regarded as a very charitable gentleman if he refused to eat the +man he had captured in battle. Afterward he was regarded as an +exceedingly benevolent person if he would spare a prisoner's life +and make him a slave.</p> +<p>So that—but you all know it as well as I do or you would +not be Unitarians—all this has been simply a growth from year +to year, from generation to generation, from age to age. And let me +tell you the first thing about these gods that they made after the +image of men. After a time there were men on the earth who were +better than these gods in heaven.</p> +<p>Then those gods began to die, one after another, and dropped +from their thrones. The time will probably come in the history of +this world when an insurance company can calculate the average life +of gods as well as they do now of men; because all these gods have +been made by folks. And, let me say right here, the folks did the +best they could. I do not blame them. Everybody in the business has +always done his best. I admit it. I admit that man has traveled +from the first conception up to Unitarianism by a necessary road. +Under the conditions he could have come up in no other way. I admit +all that. I blame nobody. But I am simply trying to tell, in a very +feeble manner, how it is.</p> +<p>Now, in a little while, I say, men got better than their gods. +Then the gods began to die. Then we began to find out a few things +in nature, and we found out that we were supporting more gods than +were necessary—that fewer gods could do the +business—and that, from an economical point of view, expenses +ought to be cut down. There were too many temples, too many +priests, and you always had to give tithes of something to each +one, and these gods were about to eat up the substance of the +world.</p> +<p>And there came a time when it got to that point that either the +gods would eat up the people or the people must destroy some gods, +and of course they destroyed the gods—one by one and in their +places they put forces of nature to do the business—forces of +nature that needed no church, that needed no theologians; forces of +nature that you are under no obligation to; that you do not have to +pay anything to keep working. We found that the attraction of +gravitation would attend to its business, night and day, at its own +expense. There was a great saving. I wish it were the same with all +kinds of law, so that we could all go into some useful business, +including myself.</p> +<p>So day by day, they dispensed with this expense of deities; and +the world got along just as well—a good deal better. They +used to think—a community thought—that if a man was +allowed to say a word against a deity, the god would visit his +vengeance upon the entire nation. But they found out, after a +while, that no harm came of it; so they went on destroying the +gods. Now, all these things are relative; and they made gods a +little better all the time—I admit that—till we struck +the Presbyterian, which is probably the worst ever made. The +Presbyterians seem to have bred back.</p> +<p>But no matter. As man became more just, or nearer just, as he +became more charitable, or nearer charitable, his god grew to be a +little better and a little better. He was very bad in +Geneva—the three that we then had. They were very bad in +Scotland—horrible! Very bad in New England—infamous! I +might as well tell the truth about it—very bad! And then men +went to work, finally, to civilize their gods, to civilize heaven, +to give heaven the benefit of the freedom of this brave world. +That's what we did. We wanted to civilize religion—civilize +what is known as Christianity. And nothing on earth needed +civilization more; and nothing needs it more than that to-night. +Civilization! I am not so much for the freedom of religion as I am +for the religion of freedom.</p> +<p>Now, there was a time when our ancestors—good people, away +back, all dead, no great regret expressed at this meeting on that +account—there was a time when our ancestors were happy in +their belief that nearly everybody was to be lost, and that a few, +including themselves, were to be saved. That religion, I say, +fitted that time. It fitted their geology. It was a very good +running mate for their astronomy. It was a good match for their +chemistry. In other words, they were about equal in every +department of human ignorance.</p> +<p>And they insisted that there lived up there +somewhere—generally up—exactly where nobody has, I +believe, yet said—a being, an infinite person "without body, +parts, or passions," and yet without passions he was angry at the +wicked every day; without body he inhabited a certain place; and +without parts he was, after all, in some strange and miraculous +manner, organized so that he thought.</p> +<p>And I don't know that it is possible for anyone here—I +don't know that anyone here is gifted with imagination +enough—to conceive of such a being. Our fathers had not +imagination enough to do so, at least, and so they said of this +God, that he loves and he hates; he punishes and he rewards; and +that religion has been described perfectly tonight by Judge Wright +as really making God a monster, and men poor, helpless victims. And +the highest possible conception of the orthodox man was, finally, +to be a good servant—just lucky enough to get +in—feathers somewhat singed, but enough left to fly. That was +the idea of our fathers. And then came these divisions, simply +because men began to think.</p> +<p>And why did they begin to think? Because in every direction, in +all departments, they were getting more and more information. And +then the religion did not fit. When they found out something of the +history of this globe they found out that the Scriptures were not +true. I will not say not inspired, because I do not know whether +they are inspired or not. It is a question, to me, of no possible +importance, whether they are inspired or not. The question is: Are +they true? If they are true, they do not need inspiration; and if +they are not true, inspiration will not help them. So that is a +matter that I care nothing about.</p> +<p>On every hand, I say, they studied and thought. They began to +grow—to have new ideas of mercy, kindness, justice; new ideas +of duty—new ideas of life. The old gods, after we got past +the civilization of the Greeks, past their mythology—and it +is the best mythology that man has ever made—after we got +past that, I say, the gods cared very little about women. Women +occupied no place in the state—no place by the hearth, except +one of subordination, and almost of slavery. So the early churches +made God after that image who held women in contempt. It was only +natural—I am not blaming anybody—they had to do it, it +was part of the <i>must!</i></p> +<p>Now, I say that we have advanced up to the point that we demand +not only intelligence, but justice and mercy, in the sky; we demand +that—that idea of God. Then comes my trouble. I want to be +honest about it. Here is my trouble—and I want it also +understood that if I should see a man praying to a stone image or +to a stuffed serpent, with that man's wife or daughter or son lying +at the point of death, and that poor savage on his knees imploring +that image or that stuffed serpent to save his child or his wife, +there is nothing in my heart that could suggest the slightest +scorn, or any other feeling than that of sympathy; any other +feeling than that of grief that the stuffed serpent could not +answer the prayer and that the stone image did not feel; I want +that understood. And wherever man prays for the right—no +matter to whom or to what he prays; where he prays for strength to +conquer the wrong, I hope his prayer may be heard; and if I think +there is no one else to hear it I will hear it, and I am willing to +help answer it to the extent of my power.</p> +<p>So I want it distinctly understood that that is my feeling. But +here is my trouble: I find this world made on a very cruel plan. I +do not say it is wrong—I just say that that is the way it +seems to me. I may be wrong myself, because this is the only world +I was ever in; I am provincial. This grain of sand and tear they +call the earth is the only world I have ever lived in. And you have +no idea how little I know about the rest of this universe; you +never will know how little I know about it until you examine your +own minds on the same subject.</p> +<p>The plan is this: Life feeds on life. Justice does not always +triumph: Innocence is not a perfect shield. There is my trouble. No +matter now, whether you agree with me or not; I beg of you to be +honest and fair with me in your thought, as I am toward you in +mine.</p> +<p>I hope, as devoutly as you, that there is a power somewhere in +this universe that will finally bring everything as it should be. I +take a little consolation in the "perhaps"—in the guess that +this is only one scene of a great drama, and that when the curtain +rises on the fifth act, if I live that long, I may see the +coherence and the relation of things. But up to the present +writing—or speaking—I do not. I do not understand +it—a God that has life feed on life; every joy in the world +born of some agony! I do not understand why in this world, over the +Niagara of cruelty, should run this ocean of blood. I do not +understand it. And, then, why does not justice always triumph? Why +is not innocence a perfect shield? These are my troubles.</p> +<p>Suppose a man had control of the atmosphere, knew enough of the +secrets of nature, had read enough in "nature's infinite book of +secrecy" so that he could control the wind and rain; suppose a man +had that power, and suppose that last year he kept the rain from +Russia and did not allow the crops to ripen when hundreds of +thousands were famishing and when little babes were found with +their lips on the breasts of dead mothers! What would you think of +such a man? Now, there is my trouble. If there be a God he +understood this. He knew when he withheld his rain that the famine +would come. He saw the dead mothers, he saw the empty breasts of +death, and he saw the helpless babes. There is my trouble. I am +perfectly frank with you and honest. That is my trouble.</p> +<p>Now, understand me! I do not say there is no God. I do not know. +As I told you before, I have traveled but very little—only in +this world.</p> +<p>I want it understood that I do not pretend to know. I say I +think. And in my mind the idea expressed by Judge Wright so +eloquently and so beautifully is not exactly true. I cannot +conceive of the God he endeavors to describe, because he gives to +that God will, purpose, achievement, benevolence, love, and no +form—no organization—no wants. There's the trouble. No +wants. And let me say why that is a trouble. Man acts only because +he wants. You civilize man by increasing his wants, or, as his +wants increase he becomes civilized. You find a lazy savage who +would not hunt an elephant tusk to save your life. But let him have +a few tastes of whiskey and tobacco, and he will run his legs off +for tusks. You have given him another want and he is willing to +work. And they nearly all started on the road toward +Unitarianism—that is to say, toward civilization—in +that way. You must increase their wants.</p> +<p>The question arises: Can an infinite being want anything? If he +does and cannot get it, he is not happy. If he does not want +anything, I cannot help him. I am under no obligation to do +anything for anybody who does not need anything and who does not +want anything. Now, there is my trouble. I may be wrong, and I may +get paid for it some time, but that is my trouble.</p> +<p>I do not see—admitting that all is true that has been said +about the existence of God—I do not see what I can do for +him; and I do not see either what he can do for me, judging by what +he has done for others.</p> +<p>And then I come to the other point, that religion so-called, +explains our duties to this supposed being, when we do not even +know that he exists; and no human being has got imagination enough +to describe him, or to use such words that you understand what he +is trying to say. I have listened with great pleasure to Judge +Wright this evening, and I have heard a great many other beautiful +things on the same subject—none better than his. But I never +understood them—never.</p> +<p>Now, then, what is religion? I say, religion is all here in this +world—right here—and that all our duties are right here +to our fellow-men; that the man that builds a home; marries the +girl that he loves; takes good care of her; likes the family; stays +home nights, as a general thing; pays his debts; tries to find out +what he can; gets all the ideas and beautiful things that his mind +will hold; turns a part of his brain into a gallery of fine arts; +has a host of paintings and statues there; then has another niche +devoted to music—a magnificent dome, filled with winged notes +that rise to glory—now, the man who does that gets all he can +from the great ones dead; swaps all the thoughts he can with the +ones that are alive; true to the ideal that he has here in his +brain—he is what I call a religious man, because he makes the +world better, happier; he puts the dimples of joy in the cheeks of +the ones he loves, and he lets the gods run heaven to suit +themselves. And I am not saying that he is right; I do not +know.</p> +<p>This is all the religion that I have; to make somebody else +happier if I can.</p> +<p>I divide this world into two classes—the cruel and the +kind; and I think a thousand times more of a kind man than I do of +an intelligent man. I think more of kindness than I do of genius, I +think more of real, good, human nature in that way—of one who +is willing to lend a helping hand and who goes through the world +with a face that looks as if its owner were willing to answer a +decent question—I think a thousand times more of that than I +do of being theologically right; because I do not care whether I am +theologically right or not. It is something that is not worth +talking about, because it is something that I never, never, never +shall understand; and every one of you will die and you won't +understand it either—until after you die at any rate. I do +not know what will happen then.</p> +<p>I am not denying anything. There is another ideal, and it is a +beautiful ideal. It is the greatest dream that ever entered the +heart or brain of man—the Dream of Immortality. It was born +of human affection. It did not come to us from heaven. It was born +of the human heart. And when he who loved, kissed the lips of her +who was dead, there came into his heart the dream: We may meet +again.</p> +<p>And, let me tell you, that hope of immortality never came from +any religion. That hope of immortality has helped make religion. It +has been the great oak around which have climbed the poisonous +vines of superstition—that hope of immortality is the great +oak.</p> +<p>And yet the moment a man expresses a doubt about the truth of +Joshua or Jonah or the other three fellows in a furnace, up hops +some poor little wretch and says, "Why, he doesn't want to live any +more; he wants to die and go down like a dog, and that is the end +of him and his wife and children." They really seem to think that +the moment a man is what they call an Infidel he has no affections, +no heart, no feeling, no hope—nothing—nothing. Just +anxious to be annihilated! But, if the orthodox creed be true, I +make my choice to-night. I take hell. And if it is between hell and +annihilation, I take annihilation.</p> +<p>I will tell you why I take hell in making the first choice. We +have heard from both of those places—heaven and hell. +According to the New Testament there was a rich man in hell, and a +poor man, Lazarus, in heaven. And there was another gentleman by +the name of Abraham. The rich man in hell was in flames, and he +called for water, and they told him they couldn't give him any. No +bridge! But they did not express the slightest regret that they +could not give him any water. Mr. Abraham was not decent enough to +say he would if he could; no, sir; nothing. It did not make any +difference to him. But this rich man in hell—in +torment—his heart was all right, for he remembered his +brothers; and he said to this Abraham, "If you cannot go, why, send +a man to my five brethren, so that they will not come to this +place!" Good fellow, to think of his five brothers when he was +burning up. Good fellow. Best fellow we ever heard from on the +other side—in either world.</p> +<p>So, I say there is my place. And, incidentally, Abraham at that +time gave his judgment as to the value of miracles. He said, +"Though one should arise from the dead he wouldn't help your five +brethren!" "There are Moses and the prophets." No need of raising +people from the dead.</p> +<p>That is my idea, in a general way, about religion; and I want +the imagination to go to work upon it, taking the perfections of +one church, of one school, of one system, and putting them +together, just as the sculptor makes a great statue by taking the +eyes from one, the nose from another, the limbs from another, and +so on; just as they make a great painting from a landscape by +putting a river in this place, instead of over there, changing the +location of a tree and improving on what they call +nature—that is to say, simply by adding to, taking from; that +is all we can do. But let us go on doing that until there shall be +a church in sympathy with the best human heart and in harmony with +the best human brain.</p> +<p>And, what is more, let us have that religion for the world we +live in. Right here! Let us have that religion until it cannot be +said that they who do the most work have the least to eat. Let us +have that religion here until hundreds and thousands of women are +not compelled to make a living with the needle that has been called +"the asp for the breast of the poor," and to live in tenements, in +filth, where modesty is impossible.</p> +<p>I say, let us preach that religion here until men will be +ashamed to have forty or fifty millions, or any more than they +need, while their brethren lack bread—while their sisters die +from want. Let us preach that religion here until man will have +more ambition to become wise and good than to become rich and +powerful. Let us preach that religion here among ourselves until +there are no abused and beaten wives. Let us preach that religion +until children are no longer afraid of their own parents and until +there is no back of a child bearing the scars of a father's lash. +Let us preach it, I say, until we understand and know that every +man does as he must, and that, if we want better men and women, we +must have better conditions.</p> +<p>Let us preach this grand religion until everywhere, the world +over, men are just and kind to each other. And then, if there be +another world, we shall be prepared for it. And if I come into the +presence of an infinite, good, and wise being, he will say, "Well, +you did the best you could. You did very well, indeed. There is +plenty of work for you to do here. Try and get a little higher than +you were before." Let us preach that one drop of restitution is +worth an ocean of repentance.</p> +<p>And if there is a life of eternal progress before us, I shall be +as glad as any other angel to find that out.</p> +<p>But I will not sacrifice the world I have for one I know not of. +I will not live here in fear, when I do not know that that which I +fear lives.</p> +<p>I am going to live a perfectly free man. I am going to reap the +harvest of my mind, no matter how poor it is, whether it is wheat +or corn or worthless weeds. And I am going to scatter it. Some may +"fall on stony ground." But I think I have struck good soil +to-night.</p> +<p>And so, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you a thousand times for +your attention. I beg that you will forgive the time that I have +taken, and allow me to say, once more, that this event marks an +epoch in Religious Liberty in the United States.</p> +<a name="link0017" id="link0017"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>WESTERN SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BANQUET.</h2> +<h3>Chicago, January 31, 1894.</h3> +<pre> + * Every soldier of the Army of the Potomac: remembers, the + colors that for two years floated over the headquarters of + Gen. Meade. Last night when one hundred and fifty men who + fought in that army gathered around the banquet board at the + Grand Pacific hotel a fac-simile of that flag floated over + them. It was a handsome guidon, on one side a field of + solferino red bearing a life-sized golden eagle surrounded + by a silver wreath of laurel; on the other were the national + colors with the names of the corps of the army. + + The fifth annual banquet of the Western Society of the Army + of the Potomac will be remembered on account of the presence + of many distinguished men. The cigars had not been lighted + when Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, escorted by Gen. Newberry and + Col. Burbanks, came in. The bald head and sparse gray hair + of the famous orator were recognized by all, and he was + given a mighty welcome. + + Save for the emblems of the Union and the fac-simile of Gen. + Meade's flag the decorations were simple. There were no + flowers, but the soldiers could read on little signs stuck + up around the tables such names as "Petersburg," "White + Oak," "Mine Run," "Cold Harbor," "Fair Oaks" and "South + Mountain." The exercises began and ended with bugle call and + military song, and the heroes of the Potomac showed that + they still remembered the words of the songs sung in camp. + + Col. Freeman Connor, the retiring president, acted as + toastmaster. Seated near him were Maj.-Gen. Nelson Miles, + United States army; Gen. Newberry, Col. Ingersoll, Thomas B. + Bryan, Col. James A.. Sexton, Maj. E. A. Blodgett, Fred W. + Spink, Col. Williston and Maj. Heyle. + + The exercises began with the singing of "America" by all + Col. Conner made a few remarks and then Col. C. S. McEntee + presented the new-comer to the society. When Colonel + Ingersoll was introduced, the veterans jumped up on chairs, + waved their handkerchiefs and greeted him with a mighty + shout. The Colonel spoke only fifteen minutes. + + At the conclusion of Colonel Ingersoll's speech he was again + cheered for several minutes. A motion was made to make him + an honorary member of the Western Society of the Army of the + Potomac. The toastmaster in putting the question said: "All + who are in favor will rise and yell," and every comrade + yelled. + + —Chicago Record, February 1, 1894. +</pre> +<p>FIRST of all, I wish to thank you for allowing me to be present. +Next, I wish to congratulate you that you are all alive. I +congratulate you that you were born in this century, the greatest +century in the world's history, the greatest century of +intellectual genius and of physical, mental and moral progress that +the world ever knew. I congratulate you all that you are members of +the Army of the Potomac. I believe that no better army ever marched +under the flag of any nation. There was no difficulty that +discouraged you; no defeat that disheartened you. For years you +bore the heat and burden of battle; for years you saw your comrades +torn by shot and shell, but wiping the tears, from your cheeks you +marched on with greater determination than ever to fight to the +end.</p> +<p>To the Army of the Potomac belongs the eternal honor of having +obtained finally the sword of Rebellion. I congratulate you because +you fought for the Republic, and I thank you for your courage. For +by you the United States was kept on the map of the world, and our +flag was kept floating. If not for your work, neither would have +been there. You removed from it the only stain that was ever on it. +You fought not only the battle of the Union, but of the whole +world.</p> +<p>I congratulate you that you live in a period when the North has +attained a higher moral altitude than was ever attained by any +nation. You now live in a country which believes in absolute +freedom for all. In this country any man may reap what he sows and +may give his honest thought to his fellow-men. It is wonderful to +think what this Nation was before the Army of the Potomac came into +existence. It believed in liberty as the convict believes in +liberty. It was a country where men that had honest thoughts were +ostracized. I thank you and your courage for what we are. Nothing +ennobles a man so much as fighting for the right. Whoever fights +for the wrong wounds himself. I believe that every man who fought +in the Union army came out a stronger and a better and a nobler +man.</p> +<p>I believe in this country. I am so young and so full of +enthusiasm that I am a believer in National growth. I want this +country to be territorial and to become larger than it is. I want a +country worthy of Chicago. I want to pick up the West Indies, take +in the Bermudas, the Bahamas and Barbadoes. They are our islands. +They belong to this continent and it is a piece of impudence for +any other nation to think of owning them. We want to grow. Such is +the extravagance of my ambition that I even want the Sandwich +Islands. They say that these islands are too far away from us; that +they are two thousand miles from our shores. But they are nearer to +our shores than to any other. I want them. I want a naval station +there. I want America to be mistress of the Pacific. Then there is +another thing in my mind. I want to grow North and South. I want +Canada—good people—good land. I want that country. I do +not want to steal it, but I want it. I want to go South with this +Nation. My idea is this: There is only air enough between the +Isthmus of Panama and the North Pole for one flag. A country that +guarantees liberty to all cannot be too large. If any of these +people are ignorant, we will educate them; give them the benefit of +our free schools. Another thing—I might as well sow a few +seeds for next fall. I have heard many reasons why the South failed +in the Rebellion, and why with the help of Northern dissensions and +a European hatred the South did not succeed. I will tell you. In my +judgment, the South failed, not on account of its army, but from +other conditions. Luckily for us, the South had always been in +favor of free trade.</p> +<p>Secondly—The South raised and sold raw material, and when +the war came it had no foundries, no factories, and no looms to +weave the cloth for uniforms; no shops to make munitions of war, +and it had to get what supplies it could by running the blockade. +We of the North had the cloth to clothe our soldiers, shops to make +our bayonets; we had all the curious wheels that invention had +produced, and had labor and genius, the power of steam, and the +water to make what we needed, and we did not require anything from +any other country. Suppose this whole country raised raw material +and shipped it out, we would be in the condition that the South +was. We want this Nation to be independent of the whole world. A +nation to be ready to settle questions of dispute by war should be +in a condition of absolute independence. For that reason I want all +the wheels turning in this country, all the chimneys full of fire, +all the looms running, the iron red hot everywhere. I want to see +all mechanics having plenty of work with good wages and good homes +for their families, good food, schools for their children, plenty +of clothes, and enough to take care of a child if it happens to +take sick. I am for the independence of America, the growth of +America physically, mentally, and every other way. The time will +come when all nations combined cannot take that flag out of the +sky. I want to see this country so that if a deluge sweeps every +other nation from the face of the globe we would have all we want +made right here by our factories, by American brain and hand.</p> +<p>I thank you that the Republic still lives. I thank you that we +are all lovers of freedom. I thank you for having helped establish +a Government where every child has an opportunity, and where every +avenue of advancement if open to all.</p> +<a name="link0018" id="link0018"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF ANTON SEIDL.</h2> +<h3>New York, February 2, 1895.</h3> +<p>MR. PRESIDENT, Mr. Anton Seidl, and Gentlemen: I was enjoying +myself with music and song; why I should be troubled, why I should +be called upon to trouble you, is a question I can hardly answer. +Still, as the president has remarked, the American people like to +hear speeches. Why, I don't know. It has always been a matter of +amazement that anybody wanted to hear me. Talking is so universal; +with few exceptions—the deaf and dumb—everybody seems +to be in the business. Why they should be so anxious to hear a +rival I never could understand. But, gentlemen, we are all pupils +of nature; we are taught by the countless things that touch us on +every side; by field and flower and star and cloud and river and +sea, where the waves break into whitecaps, and by the prairie, and +by the mountain that lifts its granite forehead to the sun; all +things in nature touch us, educate us, sharpen us, cause the heart +to bud, to burst, it may be, into blossom; to produce fruit. In +common with the rest of the world I have been educated a little +that way; by the things I have seen and by the things I have heard +and by the people I have met. But there are a few things that stand +out in my recollection as having touched me more deeply than +others, a few men to whom I feel indebted for the little I know, +and for the little I happen to be. Those men, those things, are +forever present in my mind. But I want to tell you to-night that +the first man that let up the curtain in my mind, that ever opened +a blind, that ever allowed a little sunshine to straggle in, was +Robert Burns. I went to get my shoes mended, and I had to go with +them. And I had to wait till they were done. I was like the fellow +standing by the stream naked washing his shirt. A lady and +gentleman were riding by in a carriage, and upon seeing him the man +indignantly shouted, "Why don't you put on another shirt when you +are washing one?" The fellow said, "I suppose you think I've got a +hundred shirts!"</p> +<p>When I went into the shop of the old Scotch shoemaker he was +reading a book, and when he took my shoes in hand I took his book, +which was "Robert Burns." In a few days I had a copy; and, indeed, +gentlemen, from that time if "Burns" had been destroyed I could +have restored more than half of it. It was in my mind day and +night. Burns you know is a little valley, not very wide, but full +of sunshine; a little stream runs down making music over the rocks, +and children play upon the banks; narrow roads overrun with vines, +covered with blossoms, happy children, the hum of bees, and little +birds pour out their hearts and enrich the air. That is Burns. +Then, you must know that I was raised respectably. Certain books +were not thought to be good for the young person; only such books +as would start you in the narrow road for the New Jerusalem. But +one night I stopped at a little hotel in Illinois, many years ago, +when we were not quite civilized, when the footsteps of the red man +were still in the prairies. While I was waiting for supper an old +man was reading from a book, and among others who were listening +was myself. I was filled with wonder. I had never heard anything +like it. I was ashamed to ask him what he was reading; I supposed +that an intelligent boy ought to know. So I waited, and when the +little bell rang for supper I hung back and they went out. I picked +up the book; it was Sam Johnson's edition of Shakespeare. The next +day I bought a copy for four dollars. My God! more than the +national debt. You talk about the present straits of the Treasury! +For days, for nights, for months, for years, I read those books, +two volumes, and I commenced with the introduction. I haven't read +that introduction for nearly fifty years, certainly forty-five, but +I remember it still. Other writers are like a garden diligently +planted and watered, but Shakespeare a forest where the oaks and +elms toss their branches to the storm, where the pine towers, where +the vine bursts into blossom at its foot. That book opened to me a +new world, another nature. While Burns was the valley, here was a +range of mountains with thousands of such valleys; while Burns was +as sweet a star as ever rose into the horizon, here was a heaven +filled with constellations. That book has been a source of +perpetual joy to me from that day to this; and whenever I read +Shakespeare—if it ever happens that I fail to find some new +beauty, some new presentation of some wonderful truth, or another +word that bursts into blossom, I shall make up my mind that my +mental faculties are failing, that it is not the fault of the book. +Those, then, are two things that helped to educate me a little.</p> +<p>Afterward I saw a few paintings by Rembrandt, and all at once I +was overwhelmed with the genius of the man that could convey so +much thought in form and color. Then I saw a few landscapes by +Corot, and I began to think I knew something about art. During all +my life, of course, like other people, I had heard what they call +music, and I had my favorite pieces, most of those favorite pieces +being favorites on account of association; and nine-tenths of the +music that is beautiful to the world is beautiful because of the +association, not because the music is good, but because of +association.. We cannot write a very poetic thing about a pump or +about water works; they are not old enough.</p> +<p>We can write a poetic thing about a well and a sweep and an old +moss-covered bucket, and you can write a poem about a spring, +because a spring seems a gift of nature, something that cost no +trouble and no work, something that will sing of nature under the +quiet stars of June. So, it is poetic on account of association. +The stage coach is more poetic than the car, but the time will come +when cars will be poetic, because human feelings, love's +remembrances, will twine around them, and consequently they will +become beautiful. There are two pieces of music, "The Last Rose of +Summer," and "Home Sweet Home," with the music a little weak in the +back; but association makes them both beautiful. So, in the +"Marseillaise" is the French Revolution, that whirlwind and flame +of war, of heroism the highest possible, of generosity, of +self-denial, of cruelty, of all of which the human heart and brain +are capable; so that music now sounds as though its notes were made +of stars, and it is beautiful mostly by association.</p> +<p>Now, I always felt that there must be some greater music +somewhere, somehow. You know this little music that comes back with +recurring emphasis every two inches or every three-and-a-half +inches; I thought there ought to be music somewhere with a great +sweep from horizon to horizon, and that could fill the great dome +of sound with winged notes like the eagle; if there was not such +music, somebody, sometime, would make it, and I was waiting for it. +One day I heard it, and I said, "What music is that?" "Who wrote +that?" I felt it everywhere. I was cold. I was almost hysterical. +It answered to my brain, to my heart; not only to association, but +to all there was of hope and aspiration, all my future; and they +said this is the music of Wagner. I never knew one note from +another—of course I would know it from a promissory +note—and was utterly and absolutely ignorant of music until I +heard Wagner interpreted by the greatest leader, in my judgment, in +the world—Anton Seidl. He not only understands Wagner in the +brain, but he feels him in the heart, and there is in his blood the +same kind of wild and splendid independence that was in the brain +of Wagner. I want to say to-night, because there are so many +heresies, Mr. President, creeping into this world, I want to say +and say it with all my might, that Robert Burns was not Scotch. He +was far wider than Scotland: he had in him the universal tide, and +wherever it touches the shore of a human being it finds access. Not +Scotch, gentlemen, but a man, a man! I can swear to it, or rather +affirm, that Shakespeare was not English, but another man, kindred +of all, of all races and peoples, and who understood the universal +brain and heart of the human race, and who had imagination enough +to put himself in the place of all.</p> +<p>And so I want to say to-night, because I want to be consistent, +Richard Wagner was not a German, and his music is not German; and +why? Germany would not have it. Germany denied that it was music. +The great German critics said it was nothing in the world but +noise. The best interpreter of Wagner in the world is not German, +and no man has to be German to understand Richard Wagner. In the +heart of nearly every man is an �?olian harp, and when the +breath of true genius touches that harp, every man that has one, or +that knows what music is or has the depth and height of feeling +necessary to appreciate it, appreciates Richard Wagner. To +understand that music, to hear it as interpreted by this great +leader, is an education. It develops the brain; it gives to the +imagination wings; the little earth grows larger; the people grow +important; and not only that, it civilizes the heart; and the man +who understands that music can love better and with greater +intensity than he ever did before. The man who understands and +appreciates that music, becomes in the highest sense +spiritual—and I don't mean by spiritual, worshiping some +phantom, or dwelling upon what is going to happen to some of +us—I mean spiritual in the highest sense; when a perfume +arises from the heart in gratitude, and when you feel that you know +what there is of beauty, of sublimity, of heroism and honor and +love in the human heart. This is what I mean by being spiritual. I +don't mean denying yourself here and living on a crust with the +expectation of eternal joy—that is not what I mean. By +spiritual I mean a man that has an ideal, a great ideal, and who is +splendid enough to live to that ideal; that is what I mean by +spiritual. And the man who has heard the music of Wagner, that +music of love and death, the greatest music, in my judgment, that +ever issued from the human brain, the man who has heard that and +understands it has been civilized.</p> +<p>Another man to whom I feel under obligation whose name I do not +know—I know Burns, Shakespeare, Rembrandt and Wagner, but +there are some other fellows whose names I do not know—is he +who chiseled the Venus de Milo. This man helped to civilize the +world; and there is nothing under the sun so pathetic as the +perfect. Whoever creates the perfect has thought and labored and +suffered; and no perfect thing has ever been done except through +suffering and except through the highest and holiest thought, and +among this class of men is Wagner. Let me tell you something more. +You know I am a great believer. There is no man in the world who +believes more in human nature than I do. No man believes more in +the nobility and splendor of humanity than I do; no man feels more +grateful than I to the self-denying, heroic, splendid souls who +have made this world fit for ladies and gentlemen to live in. But I +believe that the human mind has reached its top in three +departments. I don't believe the human race—no matter if it +lives millions of years more upon this wheeling world—I don't +believe the human race will ever produce in the world anything +greater, sublimer, than the marbles of the Greeks. I do not believe +it. I believe they reach absolutely the perfection of form and the +expression of force and passion in stone. The Greeks made marble as +sensitive as flesh and as passionate as blood. I don't believe that +any human being of any coming race—no matter how many suns +may rise and set, or how many religions may rise and fall, or how +many languages be born and decay—I don't believe any human +being will ever excel the dramas of Shakespeare. Neither do I +believe that the time will ever come when any man with such +instruments of music as we now have, and having nothing but the +common air that we now breathe, will ever produce greater pictures +in sound, greater music, than Wagner. Never! Never! And I don't +believe he will ever have a better interpreter than Anton Seidl. +Seidl is a poet in sound, a sculptor in sound. He is what you might +call an orchestral orator, and as such he expresses the deepest +feelings, the highest aspirations and the in-tensest and truest +love of which the brain and heart of man are capable.</p> +<p>Now, I am glad, I am delighted, that the people here in this +city and in various other cities of our great country are becoming +civilized enough to appreciate these harmonies; I am glad they are +civilized at last enough to know that the home of music is tone, +not tune; that the home of music is in harmonies where you braid +them like rainbows; I am glad they are great enough and civilized +enough to appreciate the music of Wagner, the greatest music in +this world. Wagner sustains the same relation to other composers +that Shakespeare does to other dramatists, and any other dramatist +compared with Shakespeare is like one tree compared with an +immeasurable forest, or rather like one leaf compared with a +forest; and all the other composers of the world are embraced in +the music of Wagner.</p> +<p>"Nobody has written anything more tender than he, nobody +anything sublimer than he. Whether it is the song of the deep, or +the warble of the mated bird, nobody has excelled Wagner; he has +expressed all that the human heart is capable of appreciating. And +now, gentlemen, having troubled you long enough, and saying long +live Anton Seidl, I bid you good-night."</p> +<a name="link0019" id="link0019"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>LOTOS CLUB DINNER IN HONOR OF REAR ADMIRAL SCHLEY.</h2> +<h3>New York, November 26, 1898.</h3> +<pre> + * The Lotos Club did honor to Rear Admiral Winfield Scott + Schley, and incidentally, to the United States, at its + clubhouse in Fifth Avenue last night. All day long the + square, blue pennant, blazoned with the two stars of a Rear + Admiral, snapped in the wind, signifying to all who saw it + that the Lotos Clubhouse was for the time being the flagship + of the erstwhile Flying Squadron. + + Within the home of the club were gathered men who like the + guest of the evening were prominent in the war with Spain, + The navy was represented by Capt. Charles D. Sigs-Dee, Capt. + A. T. Mahan and Captain Goodrich. From the army there was + Brig. Gen. W F. Randolph, and from civil life many men + prominent in the business, professional and social life of + the city. The one impulse that led these men to brave the + storm was their desire to pay their respects to one of the + men who had done so much to win laurels for the American + arms. + + The parlors and dining rooms of the clubhouse wore thrown + into one in order to accommodate the three hundred men + present fit the dinner. Smilax covered the walls, save hero + and there where the American flag was draped in graceful + folds. From the archway under which the table of honor was + spread, hung a large National ensign and a Rear Admiral's + pennant. + + The menu was unique. Etched on a cream-tinted paper appeared + an open nook, and on the tops of the pages was inscribed, + "Logge of the Goode Ship Lotos." "Dinner to Rear Admiral + Winfield Scott Schley, given in the cabin of ye Shippe, Nov. + 26, l898, Lat. 40 degrees 42 minutes 43 seconds north; + longitude, 74 degrees 3 seconds west." + + On each side of the menu was stretched a string of signal + flags, giving the orders made famous by Admiral Schley in + the naval engagement of July 3, 1898. On the second page of + the menu was a fine etching of the Brooklyn, Admiral + Schley's flagship. The souvenir menu was inclosed in blue + paper, upon which were two white stars, the whole + representing Rear Admiral Schley's pennant. +</pre> +<p>MR.PRESIDENT, Gentlemen of the Club—Boys: I congratulate +all of you and I congratulate myself, and I will tell you why. In +the first place, we were well born, and we were all born rich, all +of us. We belong to a great race. That is something; that is having +a start, to feel that in your veins flows heroic blood, blood that +has accomplished great things and has planted the flag of victory +on the field of war. It is a great thing to belong to a great +race.</p> +<p>I congratulate you and myself on another thing; we were born in +a great nation, and you can't be much of a man without having a +nation behind you, with you; Just think about it! What would +Shakespeare have been, if he had been born in Labrador? I used to +know an old lawyer in southern Illinois, a smart old chap, who +mourned his unfortunate surroundings. He lived in Pinkneyville, and +occasionally drank a little too freely of Illinois wine; and when +in his cups he sometimes grew philosophic and egotistic. He said +one day, "Boys, I have got more brains than you have, I have, but I +have never had a chance. I want you just to think of it. What would +Daniel Webster have been, by God, if he had settled in +Pinkneyville?"</p> +<p>So I congratulate you all that you were born in a great nation, +born rich; and why do I say rich? Because you fell heir to a great, +expressive, flexible language; that is one thing. What could a man +do who speaks a poor language, a language of a few words that you +could almost count on your fingers? What could he do? You were born +heirs to a great literature, the greatest in the world—in all +the world. All the literature of Greece and Rome would not make one +act of "Hamlet." All the literature of the ancient world added to +all of the modern world, except England, would not equal the +literature that we have. We were born to it, heirs to that vast +intellectual possession.</p> +<p>So I say you were all born rich, all. And then you were very +fortunate in being born in this country, where people have some +rights, not as many as they should have, not as many as they would +have if it were not for the preachers, may be, but where we have +some; and no man yet was ever great unless a great drama was being +played on some great stage and he got a part. Nature deals you a +hand, and all she asks is for you to have the sense to play it. If +no hand is dealt to you, you win no money. You must have the +opportunity, must be on the stage, and some great drama must be +there. Take it in our own country. The Revolutionary war was a +drama, and a few great actors appeared; the War of 1812 was +another, and a few appeared; the Civil war another. Where would +have been the heroes whose brows we have crowned with laurel had +there been no Civil war? What would have become of Lincoln, a +lawyer in a country town? What would have become of Grant? He would +have been covered with the mantle of absolute obscurity, tucked in +at all the edges, his name never heard of by any human being not +related to him.</p> +<p>Now, you have got to have the chance, and you cannot create it. +I heard a gentleman say here a few minutes ago that this war could +have been averted. That is not true. I am not doubting his +veracity, but rather his philosophy. Nothing ever happened beneath +the dome of heaven that could have been avoided. Everything that is +possible happens. That may not suit all the creeds, but it is true. +And everything that is possible will continue to happen. The war +could not have been averted, and the thing that makes me glad and +proud is that it was not averted. I will tell you why.</p> +<p>It was the first war in the history of this world that was waged +unselfishly for the good of others; the first war. Almost anybody +will fight for himself; a great many people will fight for their +country, their fellow-men, their fellow-citizens; but it requires +something besides courage to fight for the rights of aliens; it +requires not only courage, but principle and the highest morality. +This war was waged to compel Spain to take her bloody hands from +the throat of Cuba. That is exactly what it was waged for. Another +great drama was put upon the boards, another play was advertised, +and the actors had their opportunity. Had there been no such war, +many of the actors would never have been heard of.</p> +<p>But the thing is to take advantage of the occasion when it +arrives. In this war we added to the greatness and the glory of our +history. That is another thing that we all fell heirs to—the +history of our people, the history of our Nation. We fell heirs to +all the great and grand things that had been accomplished, to all +the great deeds, to the splendid achievements either in the realm +of mind or on the field of battle.</p> +<p>Then there was another great drama. The first thing we knew, a +man in the far Pacific, a gentleman from Vermont, sailed one May +morning into the bay of Manila, and the next news was that the +Spanish fleet had been beached, burned, destroyed, and nothing had +happened to him. I have read a little history, not much, and a good +deal that I have read was not true. I have read something about our +own navy, not much. I recollect when I was a boy my hero was John +Paul Jones; he covered the ocean; and afterward I knew of Hull and +Perry and Decatur and Bainbridge and a good many others that I +don't remember now. And then came the Civil war, and I remember a +little about Farragut, a great Admiral, as great as ever trod a +deck, in my judgment. And I have also read about other admirals and +sailors of the world. I knew something of Drake and I have read the +"Life of Nelson" and several other sea dogs; but when I got the +news from Manila I said, "There is the most wonderful victory ever +won upon the sea;" and I did not think it would ever be paralleled. +I thought such things come one in a box. But a little while +afterward another of Spain's fleets was heard from. Oh, those +Spaniards! They have got the courage of passion, but that is not +the highest courage. They have got plenty of that; but it is +necessary to be coolly courageous, and to have the brain working +with the accuracy of an engine—courageous, I don't care how +mad you get, but there must not be a cloud in the heaven of your +judgment. That is Anglo-Saxon courage, and there is no higher type. +The Spaniards sprinkled the holy water on their guns, then banged +away and left it to the Holy Ghost to direct the rest.</p> +<p>Another fleet, at Santiago, ventured out one day, and another +great victory was won by the American Navy. I don't know which +victory was the more wonderful, that at Manila Bay or that at +Santiago. The Spanish ships were, some of them, of the best class +and type, and had fine guns, yet in a few moments they were wrecks +on the shore of defeat, gone, lost.</p> +<p>Now, when I used to read about these things in the olden times, +what ideas I had of the hero! I never expected to see one; and yet +to-night I have the happiness of dining with one, with one whose +name is associated with as great a victory, in my judgment, as was +ever won; a victory that required courage, intelligence, that power +of will that holds itself firm until the thing sought has been +accomplished; and that has my greatest admiration. I thank Admiral +Schley for having enriched my country, for having added a little to +my own height, to my own pride, so that I utter the word America +with a little more unction than I ever did before, and the old flag +looks a little brighter, better, and has an added glory. When I see +it now, it looks as if the air had burst into blossom, and it +stands for all that he has accomplished.</p> +<p>Admiral Schley has added not only to our wealth, but to the +wealth of the children yet unborn that are going to come into the +great heritage not only of wealth, but of the highest possible +riches, glory, honor, achievement. That is the reason I +congratulate you to-night. And I congratulate you on another thing, +that this country has entered upon the great highway, I believe, of +progress. I believe that the great nation has the sentiment, the +feeling of growth. The successful farmer wants to buy the land +adjoining him; the great nation loves to see its territory +increase. And what has been our history? Why, when we bought +Louisiana from Napoleon, in 1803, thousands of people were opposed +to "imperialism," to expansion; the poor old moss-backs were +opposed to it. When we bought Florida, it was the same. When we +took the vast West from Mexico in 1848 it was the same. When we +took Alaska it was the same. Now, is anybody in favor of modifying +that sentiment?</p> +<p>We have annexed Hawaii, and we have got the biggest volcano in +the business. A man I know visited that volcano some years ago and +came back and told me about his visit. He said that at the little +hotel they had a guest-book in which the people wrote their +feelings on seeing the volcano in action. "Now," he said, "I will +tell you this so that you may know how you are spreading out +yourself. One man had written in that book, 'if Bob Ingersoll were +here, I think he would change his mind about hell.'"</p> +<p>I want that volcano. I want the Philippines. It would be simply +infamous to hand those people back to the brutality of Spain. Spain +has been Christianizing them for about four hundred years. The +first thing the poor devils did was to sign a petition asking for +the expulsion of the priests. That was their idea of the +commencement of liberty. They are not quite so savage as some +people imagine. I want those islands; I want all of them, and I +don't know that I disagree with the Rev. Mr. Slicer as to the use +we can put them to. I don't know that they will be of any use, but +I want them; they might come handy. And I wanted to pick up the +small change, the Ladrones and the Carolines. I am glad we have got +Porto Rico. I don't know as it will be of any use, but there's no +harm in having the title. I want Cuba whenever Cuba wants us, and I +favor the idea of getting her in the notion of wanting us. I want +it in the interest, as I believe, of humanity, of progress; in +other words, of human liberty. That is what the war was waged for, +and the fact that it was waged for that, gives an additional glory +to these naval officers and to the officers in the army. They +fought in the first righteous war; I mean righteous in the sense +that we fought for the liberty of others.</p> +<p>Now, gentlemen, I feel that we have all honored ourselves +to-night by honoring Rear Admiral Schley. I want you to know that +long after we are dead and long after the Admiral has ceased to +sail, he will be remembered, and in the constellation of glory one +of the brightest stars will stand for the name of Winfield Scott +Schley, as brave an officer as ever sailed a ship. I am glad I am +here to-night, and again, gentlemen, I congratulate you all upon +being here. I congratulate you that you belong to this race, to +this nation, and that you are equal heirs in the glory of the great +Republic.</p> +<a name="link0020" id="link0020"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>ADDRESS TO THE ACTORS' FUND OF AMERICA.</h2> +<h3>New York, June 5, 1888.</h3> +<p>MR. PRESIDENT, Ladies and Gentlemen: I have addressed, or +annoyed, a great many audiences in my life and I have not the +slightest doubt that I stand now before more ability, a greater +variety of talent, and more real genius than I ever addressed in my +life.</p> +<p>I know all about respectable stupidity, and I am perfectly +acquainted with the brainless wealth and success of this life, and +I know, after all, how poor the world would be without that divine +thing that we call genius—what a worthless habitation, if you +take from it all that genius has given.</p> +<p>I know also that all joy springs from a love of nature. I know +that all joy is what I call Pagan. The natural man takes delight in +everything that grows, in everything that shines, in everything +that enjoys—he has an immense sympathy with the whole human +race.</p> +<p>Of that feeling, of that spirit, the drama is born. People must +first be in love with life before they can think it worth +representing. They must have sympathy with their fellows before +they can enter into their feelings and know what their heart throbs +about. So, I say, back of the drama is this love of life, this love +of nature. And whenever a country becomes prosperous—and this +has been pointed cut many times—when a wave of wealth runs +over a land,—behind it you will see all the sons and +daughters of genius. When a man becomes of some account he is worth +painting. When by success and prosperity he gets the pose of a +victor, the sculptor is inspired; and when love is really in his +heart, words burst into blossom and the poet is born. When great +virtues appear, when magnificent things are done by heroines and +heroes, then the stage is built, and the life of a nation is +compressed into a few hours, or—to use the language of the +greatest—"turning the accomplishment of many years into an +hour-glass"; the stage is born, and we love it because we love +life—and he who loves the stage has a kind of double +life.</p> +<p>The drama is a crystallization of history, an epitome of the +human heart. The past is lived again and again, and we see upon the +stage, love, sacrifice, fidelity, courage—all the virtues +mingled with all the follies.</p> +<p>And what is the great thing that the stage does? It cultivates +the imagination. And let me say now, that the imagination +constitutes the great difference between human beings.</p> +<p>The imagination is the mother of pity, the mother of generosity, +the mother of every possible virtue. It is by the imagination that +you are enabled to put yourself in the place of another. Every +dollar that has been paid into your treasury came from an +imagination vivid enough to imagine himself or herself lying upon +the lonely bed of pain, or as having fallen by the wayside of life, +dying alone. It is this imagination that makes the difference in +men.</p> +<p>Do you believe that a man would plunge the dagger into the heart +of another if he had imagination enough to see him +dead—imagination enough to see his widow throw her arms about +the corpse and cover his face with sacred tears—imagination +enough to see them digging his grave, and to see the funeral and to +hear the clods fall upon the coffin and the sobs of those who stood +about—do you believe he would commit the crime? Would any man +be false who had imagination enough to see the woman that he once +loved, in the darkness of night, when the black clouds were +floating through the sky hurried by the blast as thoughts and +memories were hurrying through her poor brain—if he could see +the white flutter of her garment as she leaped to the eternal, +blessed sleep of death—do you believe that he would be false +to her? I tell you that he would be true.</p> +<p>So that, in my judgment, the great mission of the stage is to +cultivate the human imagination. That is the reason fiction has +done so much good. Compared with the stupid lies-called history, +how beautiful are the imagined things with painted wings. Everybody +detests a thing that pretends to be true and is not; but when it +says, "I am about to create," then it is beautiful in the +proportion that it is artistic, in the proportion that it is a +success.</p> +<p>Imagination is the mother of enthusiasm. Imagination fans the +little spark into a flame great enough to warm the human race; and +enthusiasm is to the mind what spring is to the world. .</p> +<p>Now I am going to say a few words because I want to, and because +I have the chance.</p> +<p>What is known as "orthodox religion" has always been the enemy +of the theatre. It has been the enemy of every possible comfort, of +every rational joy—that is to say, of amusement. And there is +a reason for this. Because, if that religion be true, there should +be no amusement. If you believe that in every moment is the peril +of eternal pain—do not amuse yourself. Stop the orchestra, +ring down the curtain, and be as miserable as you can. That idea +puts an infinite responsibility upon the soul—an infinite +responsibility—and how can there be any art, how can there be +any joy, after that? You might as well pile all the Alps on one +unfortunate ant, and then say, "Why don't you play? Enjoy +yourself."</p> +<p>If that doctrine be true, every one should regard time as a kind +of dock, a pier running out into the ocean of eternity, on which +you sit on your trunk and wait for the ship of death—solemn, +lugubrious, melancholy to the last degree.</p> +<p>And that is why I have said joy is Pagan. It comes from a love +of nature, from a love of this world, from a love of this life. +According to the idea of some good people, life is a kind of +green-room, where you are getting ready for a "play" in some other +country.</p> +<p>You all remember the story of "Great Expectations," and I +presume you have all had them. That is another thing about this +profession of acting that I like—you do not know how it is +coming out—and there is this delightful uncertainty.</p> +<p>You have all read the book called "Great Expectations," written, +in my judgment, by the greatest novelist that ever wrote the +English language—the man who created a vast realm of joy. I +love the joy-makers—not the solemn, mournful wretches. And +when I think of the church asking something of the theatre, I +remember that story of "Great Expectations." You remember Miss +Haversham—she was to have been married some fifty or sixty +years before that time—sitting there in the darkness, in all +of her wedding finery, the laces having turned yellow by time, the +old wedding cake crumbled, various insects having made it their +palatial residence—you remember that she sent for that poor +little boy Pip, and when he got there in the midst of all these +horrors, she looked at him and said, "Pip, play!" And if their +doctrine be true, every actor is in that situation.</p> +<p>I have always loved the theatre—loved the stage, simply +because it has added to the happiness of this life. "Oh, but," they +say, "is it moral?" A superstitious man suspects everything that is +pleasant. It seems inbred in his nature, and in the nature of most +people. You let such a man pull up a little weed and taste it, and +if it is sweet and good, he says, "I'll bet it is poison." But if +it tastes awful, so that his face becomes a mask of disgust, he +says, "I'll bet you that it is good medicine."</p> +<p>Now, I believe that everything in the world that tends to make +man happy, is moral. That is my definition of morality. Anything +that bursts into bud and blossom, and bears the fruit of joy, is +moral.</p> +<p>Some people expect to make the world good by destroying +desire—by a kind of pious petrifaction, feeling that if you +do not want anything, you will not want anything bad. In other +words, you will be good and moral if you will only stop growing, +stop wishing, turn all your energies in the direction of +repression, and if from the tree of life you pull every leaf, and +then every bud—and if an apple happens to get ripe in spite +of you, don't touch it—snakes!</p> +<p>I insist that happiness is the end—virtue the +means—and anything that wipes a tear from the face of man is +good. Everything that gives laughter to the world—laughter +springing from good nature, that is the most wonderful music that +has ever enriched the ears of man. And let me say that nothing can +be more immoral than to waste your own life, and sour that of +others.</p> +<p>Is the theatre moral? I suppose you have had an election to-day. +They had an election at the Metropolitan Opera House for bishops, +and they voted forged tickets; and after the election was over, I +suppose they asked the old question in the same solemn tone: "Is +the theatre moral?"</p> +<p>At last, all the intelligence of the world admits that the +theatre is a great, a splendid instrumentality for increasing the +well-being of man. But only a few years ago our fathers were poor +barbarians. They only wanted the essentials of life, and through +nearly all the centuries Genius was a vagabond—Art was a +servant. He was the companion of the clown. Writers, poets, actors, +either sat "below the salt" or devoured the "remainder biscuit," +and drank what drunkenness happened to leave, or lived on crumbs, +and they had less than the crumbs of respect. The painter had to +have a patron, and then in order to pay the patron, he took the +patron's wife for Venus—and the man, he was the Apollo! So +the writer had to have a patron, and he endeavored to immortalize +him in a preface of obsequious lies. The writer had no courage. The +painter, the sculptor—poor wretches—had "patrons." Some +of the greatest of the world were treated as servants, and yet they +were the real kings of the human race.</p> +<p>Now the public is the patron. The public has the intelligence to +see what it wants. The stage does not have to flatter any man. The +actor now does not enroll himself as the servant of duke or lord. +He has the great public, and if he is a great actor, he stands as +high in the public estimation as any other man in any other walk of +life.</p> +<p>And these men of genius, these "vagabonds," these "sturdy +vagrants" of the old law—and let me say one thing right here: +I do not believe that there ever was a man of genius that had not a +little touch of the vagabond in him somewhere—just a little +touch of chaos—that is to say, he must have generosity enough +now and then absolutely to forget himself—he must be generous +to that degree that he starts out without thinking of the shore and +without caring for the sea—and that is that touch of chaos. +And yet, through all those years the poets and the actors lacked +bread. Imagine the number of respectable dolts who felt above them. +The men of genius lived on the bounty of the few, grudgingly +given.</p> +<p>Now, just think what would happen, what we would be, if you +could blot from this world what these men have done. If you could +take from the walls the pictures; from the niches the statues; from +the memory of man the songs that have been sung by "The +Plowman"—take from the memory of the world what has been done +by the actors and play-writers, and this great globe would be like +a vast skull emptied of all thought.</p> +<p>And let me say one word more, and that is as to the dignity of +your profession.</p> +<p>The greatest genius of this world has produced your literature. +I am not now alluding simply to one—but there has been more +genius lavished upon the stage—more real genius, more +creative talent, than upon any other department of human effort. +And when men and women belong to a profession that can count +Shakespeare in its number, they should feel nothing but pride.</p> +<p>Nothing gives me more pleasure than to speak of +Shakespeare—Shakespeare, in whose brain were the fruits of +all thoughts past, the seeds of all to be—Shakespeare, an +intellectual ocean toward which all rivers ran, and from which now +the isles and continents of thought receive their dew and rain.</p> +<p>A profession that can boast that Shakespeare was one of its +members, and that from his brain poured out that mighty +intellectual cataract—that Mississippi that will enrich all +coming generations—the man that belongs to that +profession—should feel that no other man by reason of +belonging to some other, can be his superior.</p> +<p>And such a man, when he dies—or the friend of such a man, +when that man dies—should not imagine that it is a very +generous and liberal thing for some minister to say a few words +above the corpse—and I do not want to see this profession +cringe before any other.</p> +<p>One word more. I hope that you will sustain this splendid +charity. I do not believe that more generous people exist than +actors. I hope you will sustain this charity. And yet, there was +one little thing I saw in your report of last year, that I want to +call attention to. You had "benefits" all over this country, and of +the amount raised, one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars +were given to religious societies and twelve thousand dollars to +the Actors' Fund—and yet they say actors are not Christians! +Do you not love your enemies? After this, I hope that you will also +love your friends.</p> +<a name="link0021" id="link0021"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE CHILDREN OF THE STAGE.</h2> +<h3>New York, March 23, 1899.</h3> +<pre> + * Col. Robert G. Ingersoll was the special star among stars + at the benefit given yesterday afternoon at the Fifth Avenue + Theatre for the Actors' Fund. There were a great many other + stars and a very long programme. The consequence was that + the performance began before one o'clock and was not over + until almost dinner time. + + Usually in such cases the least important performers are + placed at the beginning and the audience straggles in + leisurely without worrying a great deal over what it has + missed. Yesterday, however, it had been announced in advance + that Col. Ingersoll would start the ball a-rolling and the + result was that before the overture was finished the house + was packed to the doors. + + Col. Ingersoll's contribution was a short address delivered + in his characteristic style of florid eloquence.—The World, + New York, March 24, 1899. +</pre> +<p>Disguise it as we may, we live in a frightful world, with evils, +with enemies, on every side. From the hedges along the path of +life, leap the bandits that murder and destroy; and every human +being, no matter how often he escapes, at last will fall beneath +the assassin's knife.</p> +<p>To change the figure: We are all passengers on the train of +life. The tickets give the names of the stations where we boarded +the car, but the destination is unknown. At every station some +passengers, pallid, breathless, dead, are put away, and some with +the light of morning in their eyes, get on.</p> +<p>To change the figure again: On the wide sea of life we are all +on ships or rafts or spars, and some by friendly winds are borne to +the fortunate isles, and some by storms are wrecked on the cruel +rocks. And yet upon the isles the same as upon the rocks, death +waits for all. And death alone can truly say, "All things come to +him who waits."</p> +<p>And yet, strangely enough, there is in this world of misery, of +misfortune and of death, the blessed spirit of mirth. The travelers +on the path, on the train, on the ships, the rafts and spars, +sometimes forget their perils and their doom.</p> +<p>All blessings on the man whose face was first illuminated by a +smile!</p> +<p>All blessings on the man who first gave to the common air the +music of laughter—the music that for the moment drove fears +from the heart, tears from the eyes, and dimpled cheeks with +joy!</p> +<p>All blessings on the man who sowed with merry hands the seeds of +humor, and at the lipless skull of death snapped the reckless +fingers of disdain! Laughter is the blessed boundary line between +the brute and man.</p> +<p>Who are the friends of the human race? They who hide with vine +and flower the cruel rocks of fate—the children of genius, +the sons and daughters of mirth and laughter, of imagination, those +whose thoughts, like moths with painted wings, fill the heaven of +the mind.</p> +<p>Among these sons and daughters are the children of the stage, +the citizens of the mimic world—the world enriched by all the +wealth of genius—enriched by painter, orator, composer and +poet. The world of which Shakespeare, the greatest of human beings, +is still the unchallenged emperor. These children of the stage have +delighted the weary travelers on the thorny path, amused the +passengers on the fated train, and filled with joy the hearts of +the clingers to spars, and the floaters on rafts.</p> +<p>These, children of the stage, with fancy's wand rebuild the +past. The dead are brought to life and made to act again the parts +they played. The hearts and lips that long ago were dust, are made +to beat and speak again. The dead kings are crowned once more, and +from the shadows of the past emerge the queens, jeweled and +sceptred as of yore. Lovers leave their graves and breathe again +their burning vows; and again the white breasts rise and fall in +passion's storm. The laughter that died away beneath the touch of +death is heard again and lips that fell to ashes long ago are +curved once more with mirth. Again the hero bares his breast to +death; again the patriot falls, and again the scaffold, stained +with noble blood, becomes a shrine.</p> +<p>The citizens of the real world gain joy and comfort from the +stage. The broker, the speculator ruined by rumor, the lawyer +baffled by the intelligence of a jury or the stupidity of a judge, +the doctor who lost his patience because he lost his patients, the +merchant in the dark days of depression, and all the children of +misfortune, the victims of hope deferred, forget their troubles for +a little while when looking on the mimic world. When the shaft of +wit flies like the arrow of Ulysses through all the rings and +strikes the centre; when words of wisdom mingle with the clown's +conceits; when folly laughing shows her pearls, and mirth holds +carnival; when the villain fails and the right triumphs, the trials +and the griefs of life for the moment fade away.</p> +<p>And so the maiden longing to be loved, the young man waiting for +the "Yes" deferred; the unloved wife, hear the old, old story told +again,—and again within their hearts is the ecstasy of +requited love.</p> +<p>The stage brings solace to the wounded, peace to the troubled, +and with the wizard's wand touches the tears of grief and they are +changed to the smiles of joy.</p> +<p>The stage has ever been the altar, the pulpit, the cathedral of +the heart. There the enslaved and the oppressed, the erring, the +fallen, even the outcast, find sympathy, and pity gives them all +her tears—and there, in spite of wealth and power, in spite +of caste and cruel pride, true love has ever triumphed over +all.</p> +<p>The stage has taught the noblest lesson, the highest truth, and +that is this: It is better to deserve without receiving than to +receive without deserving. As a matter of fact, it is better to be +the victim of villainy than to be a villain. Better to be stolen +from than to be a thief, and in the last analysis the oppressed, +the slave, is less unfortunate than the oppressor, the master.</p> +<p>The children of the stage, these citizens of the mimic world, +are not the grasping, shrewd and prudent people of the mart; they +are improvident enough to enjoy the present and credulous enough to +believe the promises of the universal liar known as Hope. Their +hearts and hands are open. As a rule genius is generous, luxurious, +lavish, reckless and royal. And so, when they have reached the +ladder's topmost round, they think the world is theirs and that the +heaven of the future can have no cloud. But from the ranks of youth +the rival steps. Upon the veteran brows the wreaths begin to fade, +the leaves to fall; and failure sadly sups on memory. They tread +the stage no more. They leave the mimic world, fair fancy's realm; +they leave their palaces and thrones; their crowns are gone, and +from their hands the sceptres fall. At last, in age and want, in +lodgings small and bare, they wait the prompter's call; and when +the end is reached, maybe a vision glorifies the closing scene. +Again they are on the stage; again their hearts throb high; again +they utter perfect words; again the flowers fall about their feet; +and as the curtain falls, the last sound that greets their ears, is +the music of applause, the "bravos" for an encore.</p> +<p>And then the silence falls on darkness.</p> +<p>Some loving hands should close their eyes, some loving lips +should leave upon their pallid brows a kiss; some friends should +lay the breathless forms away, and on the graves drop blossoms +jeweled with the tears of love.</p> +<p>This is the work of the generous men and women who contribute to +the Actors' Fund. This is charity; and these generous men and women +have taught, and are teaching, a lesson that all the world should +learn, and that is this: The hands that help are holier than the +lips that pray.</p> +<a name="link0022" id="link0022"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>ADDRESS TO THE PRESS CLUB.</h2> +<h3>New Orleans, February 1, 1898.</h3> +<p>LADIES AND GENTLEMEN of the New Orleans</p> +<p>Press Club: I do not remember to have agreed or consented to +make any remarks about the press or anything else on the present +occasion, but I am glad of this opportunity to say a word or two. +Of course, I have the very greatest respect for this profession, +the profession of the press, knowing it, as I do, to be one of the +greatest civilizers of the world. Above all other institutions and +all other influences, it is the greatest agency in breaking down +the hedges of provincialism. In olden times one nation had no +knowledge or understanding of another nation, and no insight or +understanding into its life; and, indeed, various parts of one +nation held the other parts of it somewhat in the attitude of +hostility, because of a lack of more thorough knowledge; and, +curiously enough, we are prone to look upon strangers more or less +in the light of enemies. Indeed, enemy and stranger in the old +vocabularies are pretty much of the same significance. A stranger +was an enemy. I think it is Darwin who alludes to the instinctive +fear a child has of a stranger as one of the heritages of centuries +of instinctive cultivation, the handed-down instinct of years ago. +And even now it is a fact that we have very little sympathy with +people of a different country, even people speaking the same +language, having the same god with a different name, or another god +with the same name, recognizing the same principles of right and +wrong.</p> +<p>But the moment people began to trade with each other, the moment +they began to enjoy the results of each other's industry and brain, +the moment that, through this medium, they began to get an insight +into each other's life, people began to see each other as they +were; and so commerce became the greatest of all missionaries of +civilization, because, like the press, it tended to do away with +provincialism.</p> +<p>You know there is no one else in the world so egotistic as the +man who knows nothing. No man is more certain than the man who +knows nothing. The savage knows everything. The moment man begins +to be civilized he begins to appreciate how little he knows, how +very circumscribed in its very nature human knowledge is.</p> +<p>Now, after commerce came the press. From the Moors, I believe, +we learned the first rudiments of that art which has civilized the +world. With the invention of movable type came an easy and cheap +method of preserving the thoughts and history of one generation to +another and transmitting the life of one nation to another. Facts +became immortal, and from that day to this the intelligence of the +world has rapidly and steadily increased.</p> +<p>And now, if we are provincial, it is our own fault, and if we +are hateful and odious and circumscribed and narrow and peevish and +limited in the light we get from the known universe, it is our own +fault.</p> +<p>Day by day the world is growing smaller and men larger. But a +few years ago the State of New York was as large as the United +States is to-day. It required as much time to reach Albany from New +York as it now requires to reach San Francisco from the same city, +and so far as the transmission of thought goes the world is but a +hamlet.</p> +<p>I count as one of the great good things of the modern +press—as one of the specific good things—that the same +news, the same direction of thought is transmitted to many millions +of people each day. So that the thoughts of multitudes of men are +substantially tending at the same time along the same direction. It +tends more and more to make us citizens in the highest sense of the +term, and that is the reason that I have so much respect for the +press.</p> +<p>Of course I know that the news and opinions are written by folks +liable to the same percentage of error as characterizes all +mankind. No one makes no mistakes but the man who knows +everything—no one makes no mistakes but the hypocrite.</p> +<p>I must confess, however, that there are things about the press +of to-day that I would have changed—that I do not like.</p> +<p>I hate to see brain the slave of the material god. I hate to see +money own genius. So I think that every writer on every paper +should be compelled to sign his name to everything he writes. There +are many reasons why he has a right to the reputation he makes. His +reputation is his property, his capital, his stock in trade, and it +is not just or fair or right that it should be absorbed by the +corporation which employs him. After giving great thoughts to the +world, after millions of people have read his thoughts with +delight, no one knows this lonely man or his solitary name. If he +loses the good will of his employer, he loses his place and with it +all that his labor and time and brain have earned for himself as +his own inalienable property, and his corporation or employer reaps +the benefit of it.</p> +<p>There is another reason establishing the absolute equity of this +proposition, a reason pointing in other directions than to the +writer and his rights. It is no more than right to the reader that +the opinion or the narrative should be that of Mr. Smith or Mr. +Brown or Mr. So and So, and not that of, say, the <i>Picayune</i>. +That is too impersonal. It is no more than right that a single man +should have his honor at stake for what is said, and not an +impersonal something. I know that we are all liable to believe it +if the <i>Picayune</i> says it, and yet, after all, it is the +individual man who is saying it and it is in the interest of +justice that the reader be apprised of the fact.</p> +<p>I believe I have just a little fault to find with the tendency +of the modern press to go into personal affairs—into +so-called private affairs. In saying this, I have no complaint to +lodge on my own behalf, for I have no private affairs. I am not so +much opposed to what is called sensationalism, for that must exist +as long as crime is considered news, and believe me, when virtue +becomes news it can only be when this will have become an +exceedingly bad world. At the same time I think that the +publication of crime may have more or less the tendency of +increasing it.</p> +<p>I read not long ago that if some heavy piece of furniture were +dropped in a room in which there was a string instrument, the +strings in harmony with the vibrations of the air made by that +noise would take up the sound. Now a man with a tendency to crime +would pick up that criminal feeling inspiring the act which he sees +blazoned forth in all its detail in the press. In that view of the +matter it seems to me better not to give details of all +offences.</p> +<p>Now, as to the matter of being too personal, I think that one of +the results of that sort of journalism is to drive a great many +capable and excellent men out of public life. I heard a little +story quite recently of a man who was being urged for the +Legislature, and yet hesitated because of his fear of newspaper +criticism of this character. "I don't want to run," said he to his +wife, who urged that this was an opportunity to do himself and his +friends honor, and that it was a sort of duty in him. "I would if I +were you," said his wife. "Well, but there is no saying," he +responded, "what the newspapers might print about me." "Why, your +life has always been honorable," said she; "they could not say +anything to your disparagement." "But they might attack my father." +"Well, there was nothing in his career of which any one might feel +ashamed. He was as irreproachable as you." "Ay, but they might +attack you and tell of some devilment you went into before we were +married." "Then you better not run," said his wife promptly. I +think this fear on the part of husband and wife is identical with +that which keeps many a great man out of public service.</p> +<p>Now, there is another thing which every one ought to abhor. All +men and newspapers are entirely too apt to criticise the motives of +men. It is a fault common to all good men—except the clergy, +of course—this habit of attacking motives. And whenever we +see a man do something which is great and praiseworthy, let us talk +about the act itself and not go into a speculation or an attack +upon the motive which prompted the act. Attack what a man actually +does.</p> +<p>But these are only small matters. The press is the most powerful +of all agencies for the dissemination of intelligence, and as such +I hail it always. It has nearly always been very friendly and kind +to me and certainly I have received at the hands of the New Orleans +press a treatment I shall never forget.</p> +<p>Our Sunday newspapers, to my mind, rank among the greatest +institutions of the present day. One finds in them matter that +could not be found in several hundreds of books,—beautiful +thoughts, broad intelligence, a range of information perfectly +startling in its usefulness and perfectly charming in its +entertainment. Contrast, please, how we are enabled by their good +offices to spend the Sabbath, with the descriptions of hell with +all its terrors and all the gloom characterizing the Sabbaths our +forefathers had to spend. The Sunday newspaper is an absolute +blessing to the American people, a picture gallery, short stories, +little poems, a symposium of brain and intelligence and refinement +and—divorce proceedings.</p> +<p>As I have said, the good will and the fair treatment of the +American press have nearly always been my lot. There have been some +misguided people who have said harsh things, but when I remember +all the misguided things I have done, I am inclined to be +charitable for their shortcomings.</p> +<p>I do not know that I have anything else to say, except that I +wish you all good luck and sunshine and prosperity, and enough of +it to last you through a long life.</p> +<a name="link0023" id="link0023"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE CIRCULATION OF OBSCENE LITERATURE.</h2> +<pre> + * From "Ingersoll As He Is," by E. M. Macdonald. +</pre> +<p>"ONE of the charges most persistently made against Colonel +Ingersoll is that during and after the trial of D. M. Bennett, +persecuted by Anthony Comstock, the Colonel endeavored to have the +law against sending obscene literature through the mail repealed. +That the charge is maliciously false is fully shown by the +following brief history of events connected with the prosecution of +D. M. Bennett, and Mr. Ingersoll's efforts in his behalf....</p> +<p>"After Mr. Bennett's arrest in 1877, he printed a petition to +Congress, written by T. B. Wakeman, asking for the <i>repeal or +modification</i> of Comstock's law by which he expected to stamp +out the publications of Freethinkers....</p> +<p>"The connection of Mr. Ingersoll with this petition is soon +explained. Mr. Ingersoll knew of Comstock's attempts to suppress +heresy by means of this law, and when called upon by the Washington +committee in charge of the petition, he allowed his name to go on +the petition for modification, but he told them distinctly and +plainly that he was <i>not</i> in favor of the <i>repeal</i> of the +law, as he was willing and anxious that obscenity should be +suppressed by all legal means. His sentiments are best expressed by +himself in a letter to the <i>Boston Journal</i>. He says:</p> +<p>"'Washington, March 18, 1878.</p> +<p>"'To the Editor of the Boston Journal:</p> +<p>"'My attention has been called to the following article that +recently appeared in your paper:</p> +<p>"'Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, and others, feel aggrieved because +Congress, in 1873, enacted a law for the suppression of obscene +literature, and, believing it an infringement of the rights of +certain citizens, and an effort to muzzle the press and conscience, +petition for its repeal. When a man's conscience permits him to +spread broadcast obscene literature, it is time that conscience was +muzzled. The law is a terror only to evil-doers."</p> +<p>"'No one wishes the repeal of any law for the suppression of +obscene literature. For my part, I wish all such laws rigidly +enforced. The only objection I have to the law of 1873 is, that it +has been construed to include books and pamphlets written against +the religion of the day, although containing nothing that can be +called obscene or impure. Certain religious fanatics, taking +advantage of the word "immoral" in the law, have claimed that all +writings against what they are pleased to call orthodox religion +are immoral, and such books have been seized and their authors +arrested. To this, and this only, I object.</p> +<p>"'Your article does me great injustice, and I ask that you will +have the kindness to publish this note.</p> +<p>"'From the bottom of my heart I despise the publishers of +obscene literature. Below them there is no depth of filth. And I +also despise those, who, under the pretence of suppressing obscene +literature, endeavor to prevent honest and pure men from writing +and publishing honest and pure thoughts. Yours truly.</p> +<p>"'R. G. Ingersoll.'</p> +<p>"This is sufficiently easy of comprehension even for ministers, +but of course they misrepresented and lied about the writer. From +that day to this he has been accused of favoring the dissemination +of obscene literature. That the friends of Colonel Ingersoll may +know just how infamous this is, we will give a brief history of the +repeal or modification movement....</p> +<p>"On October 26, the National Liberal League held its Congress in +Syracuse. At this Congress the League left the matter of repeal or +modification of the laws open, taking no action as an organization, +either way, but elected officers known to be in favor of repeal. On +December 10, Mr. Bennett was again arrested. He was tried, and +found guilty; he appealed, the conviction was affirmed, and he was +sentenced to thirteen months' imprisonment at hard labor.</p> +<p>"After the trial Colonel Ingersoll interposed, and endeavored to +get a pardon for Mr. Bennett, who was held in Ludlow street jail +pending President Hayes's reply. The man who occupied the +President's office promised to pardon the Infidel editor; then he +went back on his word, and Mr. Bennett served his term of +imprisonment.</p> +<p>"Then preachers opened the sluiceways of vituperation and +billingsgate upon Colonel Ingersoll for having interceded for a man +convicted of mailing obscene literature. The charges were as +infamously false then as they are now, and to show it, it is only +necessary to quote Colonel Ingersoll's words during the year or two +succeeding, when the Freethinkers and the Christians were not only +opposing each other vigorously, but the Freethinkers themselves +were divided on the question. In 1879, while Mr. Bennett was in +prison, a correspondent of the Nashville, Tenn., <i>Banner</i> said +that the National Liberal League and Colonel Ingersoll were in +favor of disseminating obscene literature. To this Colonel +Ingersoll replied in a letter to a friend:</p> +<p>"1417 G St., Washington, Aug. 21, 1879.</p> +<p>"'My Dear Sir: The article in the Nashville <i>Banner</i> by "J. +L." is utterly and maliciously false.</p> +<p>"'A petition was sent to Congress praying for the repeal or +modification of certain postal laws, to the end that the freedom of +conscience and of the press should not be abridged.</p> +<p>"'Nobody holds in greater contempt than I the writers, +publishers, or dealers in obscene literature. One of my objections +to the Bible is that it contains hundreds of grossly obscene +passages not fit to be read by any decent man, thousands of +passages, in my judgment, calculated to corrupt the minds of youth. +I hope the time will soon come when the good sense of the American +people will demand a Bible with all obscene passages left out.</p> +<p>"'The only reason a modification of the postal laws is necessary +is that at present, under color of those laws, books and pamphlets +are excluded from the mails simply because they are considered +heterodox and blasphemous. In other words, every man should be +allowed to write, publish, and send through the mails his thoughts +upon any subject, expressed in a decent and becoming manner. As to +the propriety of giving anybody authority to overhaul mails, break +seals, and read private correspondence, that is another +question.</p> +<p>"'Every minister and every layman who charges me with directly +or indirectly favoring the dissemination of anything that is +impure, retails what he knows to be a wilful and malicious lie. I +remain, Yours truly,</p> +<p>"'R. G. Ingersoll.'</p> +<p>"Three weeks after this letter was written the National Liberal +League held its third annual Congress at Cincinnati. Colonel +Ingersoll was chairman of the committee on resolutions and platform +and unfinished business of the League. One of the subjects to be +dealt with was these Comstock laws. The following are Colonel +Ingersoll's remarks and the resolutions he presented:</p> +<p>"'It may be proper, before presenting the resolutions of the +committee, to say a word in explanation. The committee were charged +with the consideration of the unfinished business of the League. It +seems that at Syracuse there was a division as to what course +should be taken in regard to the postal laws of the United States. +These laws were used as an engine of oppression against the free +circulation of what we understand to be scientific literature. +Every honest man in this country is in favor of allowing every +other human being every right that he claims for himself. The +majority at Syracuse were at that time simply in favor of the +absolute repeal of those laws, believing them to be +unconstitutional—not because they were in favor of anything +obscene, but because they were opposed to the mails of the United +States being under the espionage and bigotry of the church. They +therefore demanded an absolute repeal of the law. Others, feeling +that they might be misunderstood, and knowing that theology can +coin the meanest words to act as the vehicle of the lowest lies, +were afraid of being misunderstood, and therefore they said, Let us +amend these laws so that our literature shall be upon an equality +with that of theology. I know that there is not a Liberal here, or +in the United States, that is in favor of the dissemination of +obscene literature. One of the objections which we have to the book +said to be written by God is that it is obscene.</p> +<p>"'The Liberals of this country believe in purity, and they +believe that every fact in nature and in science is as pure as a +star. We do not need to ask for any more than we want. We simply +want the laws of our country so framed that we are not +discriminated against. So, taking that view of the vexed question, +we want to put the boot upon the other foot. We want to put the +charge of obscenity where it belongs, and the committee, of which I +have the honor to be one of the members, have endeavored to do just +that thing. Men have no right to talk to me about obscenity who +regard the story of Lot and his daughters as a fit thing for men, +women, and children to read, and who worship a God in whom the +violation of [<i>Cheers drowned the conclusion of this sentence so +the reporters could not hear it.</i>] Such a God I hold in infinite +contempt.</p> +<p>"'Now I will read you the resolutions recommended by the +committee.</p> +<center>"'RESOLUTIONS.</center> +<p>"'Your committee have the honor to submit the following report: +"'First, As to the unfinished business of the League, your +committee submits the following resolutions:</p> +<p>"'Resolved., That we are in favor of such postal laws as will +allow the free transportation through the mails of the United +States of all books, pamphlets, and papers, irrespective of the +religious, irreligious, political, and scientific views they may +contain, so that the literature of science may be placed upon an +equality with that of superstition.</p> +<p>"'Resolved, That we are utterly opposed to the dissemination, +through the mails, or by any other means, of obscene literature, +whether "inspired" or uninspired, and hold in measureless contempt +its authors and disseminators.</p> +<p>"'Resolved, That we call upon the Christian world to expunge +from the so-called "sacred" Bible every passage that cannot be read +without covering the cheek of modesty with the blush of shame; and +until such passages are expunged, we demand that the laws against +the dissemination of obscene literature be impartially enforced. +'...</p> +<p>"We believe that lotteries and obscenity should be dealt with by +State and municipal legislation, and offenders punished in the +county in which they commit their offence. So in those days we +argued for the repeal of the Comstock laws, as did dozens of +others—James Parton, Elizur Wright, O. B. Frothingham, T. C. +Leland, Courtlandt Palmer, and many more whose names we do not +recall. But Colonel Ingersoll did not, and when the National +Liberal League met the next year at Chicago (September 17, 1880), +he was opposed to the League's making a pledge to defend every case +under the Comstock laws, and he was opposed to a resolution +demanding a repeal of those laws. The following is what Colonel +Ingersoll said upon the subject:</p> +<p>"'Mr. Chairman, I wish to offer the following resolution in +place and instead of resolutions numbered 5 and 6:</p> +<p>"'Resolved, That the committee of defence, whenever a person has +been indicted for what he claims to have been an honest exercise of +the freedom of thought and expression, shall investigate the case, +and if it appears that such person has been guilty of no offence, +then it shall be the duty of said committee to defend such person +if he is unable to defend himself.'</p> +<p>"'Now, allow me one moment to state my reasons. I do not, I have +not, I never shall, accuse or suspect a solitary member of the +Liberal League of the United States of being in favor of doing any +act under heaven that he is not thoroughly convinced is right. We +all claim freedom of speech, and it is the gem of the human soul. +We all claim a right to express our honest thoughts. Did it ever +occur to any Liberal that he wished to express any thought +honestly, truly, and legally that he considered immoral? How does +it happen that <i>we</i> have any interest in what is known as +immoral literature? I deny that the League has any interest in that +kind of literature. Whenever we mention it, whenever we speak of +it, we put ourselves in a false position. What do we want? We want +to see to it that the church party shall not smother the literature +of Liberalism. We want to see to it that the viper of intellectual +slavery shall not sting our cause. We want it so that every honest +man, so that every honest woman, can express his or her honest +thought upon any subject in the world. And the question, and the +only question, as to whether they are amenable to the law, in my +mind, is, Were they honest? Was their effort to benefit mankind? +Was that their intention? And no man, no woman, should be convicted +of any offence that that man or woman did not intend to commit. +Now, then, suppose some person is arrested, and it is claimed that +a work written by him is immoral, is illegal. Then, I say, let our +committee of defence examine that case, and if our enemies are +seeking to trample out Freethought under the name of immorality, +and under the cover and shield of our criminal law, then let us +defend that man to the last dollar we have. But we do not wish to +put ourselves in the position of general defenders of all the slush +that may be written in this or any other country. You cannot afford +to do it. You cannot afford to put into the mouth of theology a +perpetual and continual slur. You cannot afford to do it. And this +meeting is not the time to go into the question of what authority +the United States may have over the mails. It is a very wide +question. It embraces many others. Has the Government a right to +say what shall go into the mails? Why, in one sense, assuredly. +Certainly they have a right to say you shall not send a horse and +wagon by mail. They have a right to fix some limit; and the only +thing we want is that the literature of liberty, the literature of +real Freethought, shall not be discriminated against. And we know +now as well as if it had been perfectly and absolutely +demonstrated, that the literature of Freethought will be absolutely +pure. We know it, We call upon the Christian world to expunge +obscenity from their book, and until that is expunged we demand +that the laws against obscene literature shall be executed. And how +can we, in the next resolution, say those laws ought all to be +repealed? We cannot do that. I have always been in favor of such an +amendment of the law that by no trick, by no device, by no judicial +discretion, an honest, high, pure-minded man should be subjected to +punishment simply for giving his best and his honest thought. What +more do we need? What more can we ask? I am as much opposed as my +friend Mr. Wakeman can be to the assumption of the church that it +is the guardian of morality. If our morality is to be guarded by +that sentiment alone, then is the end come. The natural instinct of +self-defence in mankind and in all organized society is the +fortress of the morality in mankind. The church itself was at one +time the outgrowth of that same feeling, but now the feeling has +outgrown the church. Now, then, we will have a Committee of +Defence. That committee will examine every case. Suppose some man +has been indicted, and suppose he is guilty. Suppose he has +endeavored to soil the human mind. Suppose he has been willing to +make money by pandering to the lowest passions in the human breast. +What will that committee do with him then? We will say, "Go on; let +the law take its course." But if, upon reading his book, we find +that he is all wrong, horribly wrong, idiotically wrong, but make +up our minds that he was honest in his error, I will give as much +as any other living man of my means to defend that man. And I +believe you will all bear me witness when I say that I have the +cause of intellectual liberty at heart as much as I am capable of +having anything at heart. And I know hundreds of others here just +the same. I understand that. I understand their motive. I believe +it to be perfectly good, but I truly and honestly think they are +mistaken.</p> +<p>If we have an interest in the business, I would fight for it. If +our cause were assailed by law, then I say fight; and our cause is +assailed, and I say fight. They will not allow me, in many States +of this Union, to testify. I say fight until every one of those +laws is repealed. They discriminate against a man simply because he +is honest. Repeal such laws. The church, if it had the power +to-day, would trample out every particle of free literature in this +land. And when they endeavor to do that, I say fight. But there is +a distinction wide as the Mississippi—yes, wider than the +Atlantic, wider than all the oceans—between the literature of +immorality and the literature of Freethought. One is a crawling, +slimy lizard, and the other an angel with wings of light. Now, let +us draw this distinction, let us understand ourselves, and do not +give to the common enemy a word covered with mire, a word stained +with cloaca, to throw at us. We thought we had settled that +question a year ago. We buried it then, and I say let it rot.</p> +<p>"'This question is of great importance. It is the most important +one we have here. I have fought this question; I am ever going to +do so, and I will not allow anybody to put a stain upon me. This +question must be understood if it takes all summer. Here is a case +in point. Some lady has written a work which, I am informed, is a +good work, and that has nothing wrong about it. Her opinions may be +foolish or wise. Let this committee examine that case. If they find +that she is a good woman, that she had good intentions, no matter +how terrible the work may be, if her intentions are good, she has +committed no crime. I want the honest thought. I think I have +always been in favor of it. But we haven't the time to go into all +these questions.</p> +<p>"'Then comes the question for this house to decide in a moment +whether these cases should have been tried in the State or Federal +court. I want it understood that I have confidence in the Federal +courts of the nation. There may be some bad judges, there may be +some idiotic jurors. I think there was in that case [of Mr. +Bennett]. But the Committee of Defence, if I understand it, +supplied means, for the defence of that man. They did, but are we +ready now to decide in a moment what courts shall have +jurisdiction? Are we ready to say that the Federal courts shall be +denied jurisdiction in any case arising about the mails? Suppose +somebody robs the mails? Before whom shall we try the robber? Try +him before a Federal judge. Why? Because he has violated a Federal +law. We have not any time for such an investigation as this. What +we want to do is to defend free speech everywhere. What we want to +do is to defend the expression of thought in papers, in pamphlets, +in books. What we want to do is to see to it that these books, +papers, and pamphlets are on an equality with all other books, +papers, and pamphlets in the United States mails. And then the next +step we want to take, if any man is indicted under the pretence +that he is publishing immoral books, is to have our Committee of +Defence well examine the case; and if we believe the man to be +innocent we will help defend him if he is unable to defend himself; +and if we find that the law is wrong in that particular, we will go +for the amendment of that law. I beg of you to have some sense in +this matter. We must have it. If we don't, upon that rock we shall +split—upon that rock we shall again divide. Let us not do it. +The cause of intellectual liberty is the highest to the human mind. +Let us stand by it, and we can help all these people by this +resolution. We can do justice everywhere with it, while if we agree +to the fifth and sixth resolutions that have been offered I say we +lay ourselves open to the charge, and it will be hurled against us, +no matter how unjustly, that we are in favor of widespread +immorality.</p> +<p>"'Mr. Clarke: We are not afraid of it.</p> +<p>"'Colonel Ingersoll: You may say we are not afraid. I am not +afraid. He only is a fool who rushes into unnecessary danger.</p> +<p>"'Mr. Clarke: What are you talking about, anyway?</p> +<p>"'Colonel Ingersoll: I am talking with endeavor to put a little +sense into such men as you. Your very question shows that it was +necessary that I should talk. And now I move that my resolution be +adopted.</p> +<p>"'Mr. Wakeman moved that it be added to that portion of the +sixth resolution which recommended the constitution of the +Committee of Defence.</p> +<p>"'Col. Ingersoll: I cannot agree to the sixth resolution. I +think nearly every word of it is wrong in principle. I think it +binds us to a course of action that we shall not be willing to +follow; and my resolution covers every possible case. My resolution +binds us to defend every honest man in the exercise of his right. I +can't be bound to say that the Government hasn't control of its +morals—that we cannot trust the Federal courts—that, +under any circumstances, at any time, I am bound to defend, either +by word or money, any man who violates the laws of this +country.</p> +<p>"'Mr. Wakeman: We do not say that.</p> +<p>"'Colonel Ingersoll: I beg of you, I beseech you, not to pass +the sixth resolution. If you do, I wouldn't give that [snapping his +fingers] for the platform. A part of the Comstock law authorizes +the vilest possible trick. We are all opposed to that.</p> +<p>"'Mr. Leland: What is the question?</p> +<p>"'Colonel Ingersoll: Don't let us be silly. Don't let us say we +are opposed to what we are not opposed to. If any man here is +opposed to putting down the vilest of all possible trash he ought +to go home. We are opposed to only a part of the law—opposed +to it whenever they endeavor to trample Freethought under foot in +the name of immorality.</p> +<p>Afterward, at the same session of the Congress, the following +colloquy took place between Colonel Ingersoll and T. B. +Wakeman:</p> +<p>"'Colonel Ingersoll: You know as well as I that there are +certain books not fit to go through the mails—books and +pictures not fit to be delivered.</p> +<p>"'Mr. Wakeman: That is so.</p> +<p>"'Colonel Ingersoll: There is not a man here who is not in +favor, when these books and pictures come into the control of the +United States, of burning them up when they are manifestly obscene. +You don't want any grand jury there.</p> +<p>"'Mr. Wakeman: Yes, we do.</p> +<p>"'Colonel Ingersoll: No, we don't. When they are manifestly +obscene, burn them up.</p> +<p>"'A delegate: Who is to be judge of that?</p> +<p>"'Colonel Ingersoll: There are books that nobody differs about. +There are certain things about which we can use discretion. If that +discretion is abused, a man has his remedy. We stand for the free +thought of this country. We stand for the progressive spirit of the +United States. We can't afford to say that all these laws should be +repealed. If we had time to investigate them we could say in what +they should be amended. Don't tie us to this nonsense—to the +idea that we have an interest in immoral literature. Let us +remember that Mr. Wakeman is sore. He had a case before the Federal +courts, and he imagines, having lost that case, you cannot depend +on them. I have lost hundreds of cases. I have as much confidence +in the Federal courts as in the State courts. I am not to be a +party to throwing a slur upon the Federal judiciary. All we want is +fair play. We want the same chance for our doctrines that others +have for theirs. And how this infernal question of obscenity ever +got into the Liberal League I could never understand. If an +innocent man is convicted of larceny, should we repeal all the laws +on the subject? I don't pretend to be better than other people.</p> +<p>It is easy to talk right—so easy to be right that I never +care to have the luxury of being wrong. I am advocating something +that we can stand upon. I do not misunderstand Mr. Wakeman's +motives. I believe they are perfectly good—that he is +thoroughly honest. Why not just say we will stand by freedom of +thought and its expression? Why not say that we are in favor of +amending any law that is wrong? But do not make the wholesale +statement that all these laws ought to be repealed. They ought not +to be repealed. Some of them are good." The law against sending +instruments of vice in the mails is good, as is the law against +sending obscene books and pictures, and the law against letting +ignorant hyenas prey upon sick people, and the law which prevents +the getters up of bogus lotteries sending their letters through the +mail.'</p> +<p>"At the evening session of the Congress, on the same day, Mr. +Ingersoll made this speech in opposition to the resolution +demanding the repeal of the Comstock laws:</p> +<p>"'I am not in favor of the repeal of those laws. I have never +been, and I never expect to be. But I do wish that every law +providing for the punishment of a criminal offence should +distinctly define the offence. That is the objection to this law, +that it does not define the offence, so that an American citizen +can readily know when he is about to violate it and consequently +the law ought in all probability to be modified in that regard. I +am in favor of every law defining with perfect distinctness the +offence to be punished, but I cannot say by wholesale these laws +should be repealed. I have the cause of Freethought too much at +heart. Neither will I consent to the repeal simply because the +church is in favor of those laws. In so far as the church agrees +with me, I congratulate the church. In so far as superstition is +willing to help me, good! I am willing to accept it. I believe, +also, that this League is upon a secular basis, and there should be +nothing in our platform that would prevent any Christian from +acting with us. What is our platform?—and we ought to leave +it as it is. It needs no amendment. Our platform is for a secular +government. Is it improper in a secular government to endeavor to +prevent the spread of obscene literature? It is the business of a +secular government to do it, but if that government attempts to +stamp out Freethought in the name of obscenity, it is then for the +friends of Freethought to call for a definition of the word, and +such a definition as will allow Freethought to go everywhere +through all the mails of the United States. We are also in favor of +secular schools. Good! We are in favor of doing away with every law +that discriminates against a man on account of his belief. Good! We +are in favor of universal education. Good! We are in favor of the +taxation of church property. Good!—because the experience of +the world shows that where you allow superstition to own property +without taxing it, it will absorb the net profits. Is it time now +that we should throw into the scale, against all these splendid +purposes, an effort to repeal some postal laws against obscenity? +As well might we turn the League into an engine to do away with all +laws against the sale of stale eggs.</p> +<p>"'What have we to do with those things? Is it possible that +Freethought can be charged with being obscene? Is it possible that, +if the charge is made, it can be substantiated? Can you not attack +any superstition in the world in perfectly pure language? Can you +not attack anything you please in perfectly pure language? And +where a man intends right, no law should find him guilty; and if +the law is weak in that respect, let it be modified. But I say to +you that I cannot go with any body of men who demand the +unconditional repeal of these laws. I believe in liberty as much as +any man that breathes. I will do as much, according to my ability, +as any other man to make this an absolutely free and secular +government I will do as much as any other man of my strength and of +my intellectual power to give every human being every right that I +claim for myself. But this obscene law business is a stumbling +block. Had it not been for this, instead of the few people voting +here—less than one hundred—we would have had a Congress +numbered by thousands. Had it not been for this business, the +Liberal League of the United States would to-night hold in its hand +the political destiny of the United States. Instead of that, we +have thrown away our power upon a question in which we are not +interested. Instead of that, we have wasted our resources and our +brain for the repeal of a law that we don't want repealed. If we +want anything, we simply want a modification. Now, then, don't +stain this cause by such a course. And don't understand that I am +pretending, or am insinuating, that anyone here is in favor of +obscene literature. It is a question, not of principle, but of +means, and I beg pardon of this Convention if I have done anything +so horrible as has been described by Mr. Pillsbury. I regret it if +I have ever endeavored to trample upon the rights of this +Convention.</p> +<p>"'There is one thing I have not done—I have not endeavored +to cast five votes when I didn't have a solitary vote. Let us be +fair; let us be fair. I have simply given my vote. I wish to +trample upon the rights of no one; and when Mr. Pillsbury gave +those votes he supposed he had a right to give them; and if he had +a right, the votes would have been counted. I attribute nothing +wrong to him, but I say this: I have the right to make a motion in +this Congress, I have the right to argue that motion, but I have no +more rights than any other member, and I claim none. But I want to +say to you—and I want you to know and feel it—that I +want to act with every Liberal man and woman in this world. I want +you to know and feel it that I want to do everything I can to get +every one of these statutes off our books that discriminates +against a man because of his religious belief—that I am in +favor of a secular government, and of all these rights. But I +cannot, and I will not, operate with any organization that asks for +the unconditional repeal of those laws. I will stand alone, and I +have stood alone. I can tell my thoughts to my countrymen, and I +will do it, and whatever position you take, whether I am with you +or not, you will find me battling everywhere for the absolute +freedom of the human mind. You will find me battling everywhere to +make this world better and grander; and whatever my personal +conduct may be, I shall endeavor to keep my theories right. I beg +of you, I implore you, do not pass the resolution No. 6. It is not +for our interest; it will do us no good. It will lose us hosts of +honest, splendid friends. Do not do it; it will be a mistake; and +the only reason I offered the motion was to give the members time +to think this over. I am not pretending to know more than other +people. I am perfectly willing to say that in many things I know +less. But upon this subject I want you to think. No matter whether +you are afraid of your sons, your daughters, your wives, or your +husbands, that isn't it—I don't want the splendid prospects +of this League put in jeopardy upon such an issue as this. I have +no more to say. But if that resolution is passed, all I have to say +is that, while I shall be for liberty everywhere, I cannot act with +this organization, and I will not.'</p> +<p>"The resolution was finally adopted, and Colonel Ingersoll +resigned his office of vice-president in the League, and never +acted with it again until the League dropped all side issues, and +came back to first principles—the enforcement of the Nine +Demands of Liberalism."</p> +<p>In 1892, writing upon this subject in answer to a minister who +had repeated these absurd charges, Colonel Ingersoll made this +offer:</p> +<p>"I will pay a premium of one thousand dollars a word for each +and every word I ever said or wrote in favor of sending obscene +publications through the mails."</p> +<a name="link0024" id="link0024"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL LIBERAL LEAGUE.</h2> +<h3>Cincinnati, O., September 14.1878.</h3> +<p>LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Allow me to say that the cause nearest my +heart, and to which I am willing to devote the remainder of my +life, is the absolute, the <i>absolute</i>, enfranchisement of the +human mind. I believe that the family is the unit of good +government, and that every good government is simply an aggregation +of good families. I therefore not only believe in perfect civil and +religious liberty, but I believe in the one man loving the one +woman. I believe the real temple of the human heart is the +hearthstone, and that there is where the sacrifice of life should +be made; and just in proportion as we have that idea in this +country, just in that proportion we shall advance and become a +great, glorious and splendid nation. I do not want the church or +the state to come between the man and wife. I want to do what +little I can while I live to strengthen and render still more +sacred the family relation. I am also in favor of granting every +right to every other human being that I claim for myself; and when +I look about upon the world and see how the children that are born +to-day, or this year, or this age, came into a world that has +nearly all been taken up before their arrival; when I see that they +have not even an opportunity to labor for bread; when I see that in +our splendid country some who do the most have the least, and +others who do the least have the most; I say to myself there is +something wrong somewhere, and I hope the time will come when every +child that nature has invited to our feast will have an equal right +with all the others. There is only one way, in my judgment, to +bring that about; and that is, first, not simply by the education +of the head, but by the universal education of the heart. The time +will come when a man with millions in his possession will not be +respected unless with those millions he improves the condition of +his fellow-men.</p> +<p>The time will come when it will be utterly impossible for a man +to go down to death, grasping millions in the clutch of avarice. +The time will come when it will be impossible for such a man to +exist, for he will be followed by the scorn and execration of +mankind. The time will come when such a man when stricken by death, +cannot purchase the favor of posterity by leaving a portion of the +gains which he has wrung from the poor, to some church or Bible +society for the glory of God.</p> +<p>Now, let me say that we have met together as a Liberal League. +We have passed the same platform again; but if you will read that +platform you will see that it covers nearly every word that I have +spoken—universal education—the laws of science +included, not the guesses of superstition—universal +education, not for the next world but for this—happiness, not +so much for an unknown land beyond the clouds as for this life in +this world. I do not say that there is not another life. If there +is any God who has allowed his children to be oppressed in this +world he certainly needs another life to reform the blunders he has +made in this.</p> +<p>Now, let us all agree that we will stand by each other +splendidly, grandly; and when we come into convention let us pass +resolutions that are broad, kind, and genial, because, if you are +true Liberals, you will hold in a kind of tender pity the most +outrageous superstitions in the world. I have said some things in +my time that were not altogether charitable; but, after all, when I +think it over, I see that men are as they are, because they are the +result of every thing that has ever been.</p> +<p>Sometimes I think the clergy a necessary evil; but I say, let us +be genial and kind, and let us know that every other person has the +same right to be a Catholic or a Presbyterian, and gather +consolation from the doctrine of reprobation, that he has the same +right to be a Methodist or a Christian Disciple or a Baptist; the +same right to believe these phantasies and follies and +superstitions—[<i>A voice—"And to burn +heretics?"</i>]</p> +<p>No—The same right that we have to believe that it is all +superstition. But when that Catholic or Baptist or Methodist +endeavors to put chains on the bodies or intellects of men, it is +then the duty of every Liberal to prevent it at all hazards. If we +can do any good in our day and generation, let us do it.</p> +<p>There is no office I want in this world. I will make up my mind +as to the next when I get there, because my motto is—and with +that motto I will close what I have to say—My motto is: One +world at a time!</p> +<a name="link0025" id="link0025"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN SECULAR UNION.</h2> +<h3>Albany, N. Y., September 13, 1885.</h3> +<p>LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: While I have never sought any place in any +organization, and while I never intended to accept any place in any +organization, yet as you have done me the honor to elect me +president of the American Secular Union, I not only accept the +place, but tender to you each and all my sincere thanks.</p> +<p>This is a position that a man cannot obtain by repressing his +honest thought. Nearly all other positions he obtains in that way. +But I am glad that the time has come when men can afford to +preserve their manhood in this country. Maybe they cannot be +elected to the Legislature, cannot become errand boys in Congress, +cannot be placed as weather-vanes in the presidential chair, but +the time has come when a man can express his honest thought and be +treated like a gentleman in the United States. We have arrived at a +point where priests do not govern, and have reached that stage of +our journey where we, as Harriet Martineau expressed it, are "free +rovers on the breezy common of the universe." Day by day we are +getting rid of the aristocracy of the air. We have been the slaves +of phantoms long enough, and a new day, a day of glory, has dawned +upon this new world—this new world which is far beyond the +old in the real freedom of thought.</p> +<p>In the selection of your officers, without referring to myself, +I think you have shown great good sense. The first man chosen as +vice-president, Mr. Charles Watts, is a gentleman of sound, logical +mind; one who knows what he wants to say and how to say it; who is +familiar with the organization of Secular societies, knows what we +wish to accomplish and the means to attain it. I am glad that he is +about to make this country his home, and I know of no man who, in +my judgment, can do more for the cause of intellectual liberty.</p> +<p>The next vice-president, Mr. Remsburg, has done splendid work +all over the country. He is an absolutely fearless man, and tells +really and truly what his mind produces. We need such men +everywhere.</p> +<p>You know it is almost a rule, or at any rate the practice, in +political parties and in organizations generally, to be so anxious +for success that all the offices and places of honor are given to +those who will come in at the eleventh hour. The rule is to hold +out these honors as bribes for newcomers instead of conferring them +upon those who have borne the heat and burden of the day. I hope +that the American Secular Union will not be guilty of any such +injustice. Bestow your honors upon the men who stood by you when +you had few friends, the men who enlisted for the war when the +cause needed soldiers. Give your places to them, and if others want +to join your ranks, welcome them heartily to the places of honor in +the rear and let them learn how to keep step.</p> +<p>In this particular, leaving out myself as I have said, you have +done magnificently well. Mrs. Mattie Krekel, another +vice-president, is a woman who has the courage to express her +opinions, and she is all the more to be commended because, as you +know, women have to suffer a little more punishment than men, being +amenable to social laws that are more exacting and tyrannical than +those passed by Legislatures.</p> +<p>Of Mr. Wakeman it is not necessary to speak. You all know him to +be an able, thoughtful, and experienced man, capable in every +respect; one who has been in this organization from the beginning, +and who is now president of the New York society. Elizur Wright, +one of the patriarchs of Freethought, who was battling for liberty +before I was born, and who will be found in the front rank until he +ceases to be. You have honored yourselves by electing James Parton, +a thoughtful man, a scholar, a philosopher, and a +philanthropist—honest, courageous, and logical—with a +mind as clear as a cloudless sky. Parker Pillsbury, who has always +been on the side of liberty, always willing, if need be, to stand +alone—a man who has been mobbed many times because he had the +goodness and courage to denounce the institution of slavery—a +man possessed of the true martyr spirit. Messrs. Algie and Adams, +our friends from Canada, men of the highest character, worthy of +our fullest confidence and esteem—conscientious, upright, and +faithful.</p> +<p>And permit me to say that I know of no man of kinder heart, of +gentler disposition, with more real, good human feeling toward all +the world, with a more forgiving and tender spirit, than Horace +Seaver. He and Mr. Mendum are the editors of the +<i>Investigator</i>, the first Infidel paper I ever saw, and I +guess the first that any one of you ever saw—a paper once +edited by Abner Kneeland, who was put in prison for saying, "The +Universalists believe in a God which I do not." The court decided +that he had denied the existence of a Supreme Being, and at that +time it was not thought safe to allow a remark of that kind to be +made, and so, for the purpose of keeping an infinite God from +tumbling off his throne, Mr. Kneeland was put in jail. But Horace +Seaver and Mr. Mendum went on with his work. They are pioneers in +this cause, and they have been absolutely true to the principles of +Freethought from the first day until now.</p> +<p>If there is anybody belonging to our Secular Union more +enthusiastic and better calculated to impart something of his +enthusiasm to others than Samuel P. Putnam, our secretary, I do not +know him. Courtlandt Palmer, your treasurer, you all know, and you +will presently know him better when you hear the speech he is about +to make, and that speech will speak better for him than I possibly +can. Wait until you hear him, as he is now waiting for me to get +through that you may hear him. He will give you the definition of +the true gentleman, and that definition will be a truthful +description of himself.</p> +<p>Mr. Reynolds is on our side if anybody is or ever was, and Mr. +Macdonald, editor of <i>The Truth Seeker</i>, aiming not only to +seek the truth but to expose error, has done and is doing +incalculable good in the cause of mental freedom.</p> +<p>All these men and women are men and women of character, of high +purpose; in favor of Freethought not as a peculiarity or as an +eccentricity of the hour, but with all their hearts, through and +through, to the very center and core of conviction, life, and +purpose.</p> +<p>And so I can congratulate you on your choice, and believe that +you have entered upon the most prosperous year of your existence. I +believe that you will do all you can to have every law repealed +that puts a hypocrite above an honest mail. We know that no man is +thoroughly honest who does not tell his honest thought. We want the +Sabbath day for ourselves and our families. Let the gods have the +heavens. Give us the earth. If the gods want to stay at home +Sundays and look solemn, let them do it; let us have a little +wholesome recreation and pleasure. If the gods wish to go out with +their wives and children, let them go. If they want to play +billiards with the stars, so they don't carom on us, let them +play.</p> +<p>We want to do what we can to compel every church to pay taxes on +its property as other people pay on theirs. Do you know that if +church property is allowed to go without taxation, it is only a +question of time when they will own a large per cent, of the +property of the civilized world? It is the same as compound +interest; only give it time. If you allow it to increase without +taxing it for its protection, its growth can only be measured by +the time in which it has to grow. The church builds an edifice in +some small town, gets several acres of land. In time a city rises +around it. The labor of others has added to the value of this +property, until it is worth millions. If this property is not +taxed, the churches will have so much in their hands that they will +again become dangerous to the liberties of mankind. There never +will be real liberty in this country until all property is put upon +a perfect equality. If you want to build a Joss house, pay taxes. +If you want to build churches, pay taxes. If you want to build a +hall or temple in which Freethought and science are to be taught, +pay taxes. Let there be no property untaxed. When you fail to tax +any species of property, you increase the tax of other people +owning the rest. To that extent, you unite church and state. You +compel the Infidel to support the Catholic. I do not want to +support the Catholic Church. It is not worth supporting. It is an +unadulterated evil. Neither do I want to reform the Catholic +Church. The only reformation of which that church or any orthodox +church is capable, is destruction. I want to spend no more money on +superstition. Neither should our money be taken to support +sectarian schools. We do not wish to employ any chaplains in the +navy, or in the army, or in the Legislatures, or in Congress. It is +useless to ask God to help the political party that happens to be +in power. We want no President, no Governor "clothed with a little +brief authority," to issue a proclamation as though he were an +agent of God, authorized to tell all his loving subjects to fast on +a certain day, or to enter their churches and pray for the +accomplishment of a certain object. It is none of his business. +When they called on Thomas Jefferson to issue a proclamation, he +said he had no right to do it, that religion was a personal, +individual matter, and that the state had no right, no power, to +interfere.</p> +<p>I now have the pleasure of introducing Mr. Courtlandt Palmer, +who will speak to you on the "Aristocracy of Freethought," in my +judgment the aristocracy not only of the present, but the +aristocracy of the future.</p> +<a name="link0026" id="link0026"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.</h2> +<h3>New York, May 28, 1896.</h3> +<p>MY DEAR MR. SEIP: I have carefully read your article on the +religious belief of Abraham Lincoln, and in accordance with your +request I will not only give you my opinion of the evidence upon +which you rely, as set out in your article, but my belief as to the +religious opinions of Mr. Lincoln, and the facts on which my belief +rests.</p> +<p>You speak of a controversy between myself and General Collis +upon this subject. A few years ago I delivered a lecture on Mr. +Lincoln, in this city, and in that lecture said that Lincoln, so +far as his religious opinions were concerned, substantially agreed +with Franklin, Jefferson, Paine and Voltaire. Thereupon General +Collis wrote me a note contradicting what I had said and asserting +that "Lincoln invoked the power of Almighty God, not the Deist God, +but the God whom he worshiped under the forms of the Christian +church of which he was a member." To this I replied saying that +Voltaire and Paine both believed in God, and that Lincoln was never +a member of any Christian church.</p> +<p>General Collis wrote another letter to which, I think, I made no +reply, for the reason that the General had demonstrated that he +knew nothing whatever on the subject. It was evident that he had +never read the life of Lincoln, because if he had, he would not +have said that he was a member of a church. It was also evident +that he knew nothing about the religious opinions of Franklin, +Voltaire or Paine, or he would have known that they were believers +in the existence of a Supreme Being. It did not seem to me that his +letter was worthy of a reply.</p> +<p>Now as to your article: I find in what you have written very +little that is new. I do not remember ever to have seen anything +about the statement of the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Gurley in +regard to Lincoln's letters. The daughter, however, does not +pretend to know the contents of the letters and says that they were +destroyed by fire; consequently these letters, so far as this +question is concerned, are of no possible importance. The only +thing in your article tending to show that Lincoln was a Christian +is the following: "I think I can say with sincerity that I hope I +am a Christian. I had lived until my Willie died without fully +realizing these things. That blow overwhelmed me. It showed me my +weakness as I had never felt it before, and I think I can safely +say that I know something of a change of heart, and I will further +add that it has been my intention for some time, at a suitable +opportunity, to make a public religious profession."</p> +<p>Now, if you had given the name of the person to whom this was +said, and if that person had told you that Lincoln did utter these +words, then the evidence would have been good; but you are forced +to say that this was said to an eminent Christian lady. You do not +give this lady's name. I take it for granted that her name is +unknown, and that the name of the person to whom she told the story +is also unknown, and that the name of the man who gave the story to +the world is unknown. This falsehood, according to your own +showing, is an orphan, a lonely lie without father or mother. Such +testimony cannot be accepted. It is not even good hearsay.</p> +<p>In the next point you make, you also bring forward the remarks +claimed to have been made by Mr. Lincoln when some colored people +of Baltimore presented him with a Bible. You say that he said that +the Bible was God's best gift to man, and but for the Bible we +could not know right from wrong. It is impossible that Lincoln +should have uttered these words. He certainly would not have said +to some colored people that the book that instituted human slavery +was God's best gift to man; neither could he have said that but for +this book we could not know right from wrong. If he said these +things he was temporarily insane. Mr. Lincoln was familiar with the +lives of Socrates, Epictetus, Epicurus, Zeno, Confucius, Zoroaster +and Buddha, not one of whom ever heard of the Bible. Certainly +these men knew right from wrong. In my judgment they would compare +favorably with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and the Jews that +crucified Christ. These pretended remarks must be thrown away; they +could have been uttered only by an ignorant and thoughtless zealot, +not by a sensible, thoughtful man. Neither can we rely on any new +evidence given by the Rev. Mr. Gurley. If Mr. Gurley at any time +claimed that Lincoln was a Christian, such claim was born of an +afterthought. Mr. Gurley preached a funeral sermon over the body of +Lincoln at the White House, and in that sermon he did not claim +that Mr. Lincoln was in any sense a Christian. He said nothing +about Christ. So, the testimony of the Rev. Mr. Sunderland amounts +to nothing. Lincoln did not tell him that he was a Christian or +that he believed in Christ. Not one of the ministers that claim +that Lincoln was a Christian, not one, testifies that Lincoln so +said in his hearing. So, the lives that have been written of +Lincoln by Holland and Arnold are of no possible authority. Holland +knew nothing about Lincoln; he relied on gossip, and was +exceedingly anxious to make Lincoln a Christian so that his Life +would sell. As a matter of fact, Mr. Arnold knew little of Lincoln, +and knew no more of his religious opinions than he seems to have +known about the opinions of Washington.</p> +<p>I find also in your article a claim that Lincoln said to +somebody that under certain conditions, that is to say, if a church +had the Golden Rule for its creed, he would join that church; but +you do not give the name of the friend to whom Lincoln made this +declaration. Still, if he made it, it does not tend to show that he +was a Christian. A church founded on the Golden Rule, "Do unto +others as you would that others should do unto you," would not in +any sense be a Christian church. It would be an ethical society. +The testimony of Mr. Bateman has been changed by himself, he having +admitted that it was colored, that he was not properly reported; so +the night-walking scene given by James E. Murdoch, does not even +tend to show that Lincoln was a Christian. According to Mr. Murdoch +he was praying to the God of Solomon and he never mentioned the +name of Christ. I think, however, Mr. Murdoch's story is too +theatrical, and my own opinion is that it was a waking dream. I +think Lincoln was a man of too much sense, too much tact, to have +said anything to God about Solomon. Lincoln knew that what God did +for Solomon ended in failure, and if he wanted God to do something +for him (Lincoln) he would not have called attention to the other +case. So Bishop Simpson, in his oration or funeral sermon, said +nothing about Lincoln's having been a Christian.</p> +<p>Now, what is the testimony that you present that Lincoln was a +Christian?</p> +<p>First, Several of your witnesses say that he believed in +God.</p> +<p>Second, Some say that he believed in the efficacy of prayer.</p> +<p>Third, Some say that he was a believer in Providence.</p> +<p>Fourth, An unknown person says that he said to another unknown +person that he was a Christian.</p> +<p>Fifth, You also claim that he said the Bible was the best gift +of God to man, and that without it we could not have known right +from wrong.</p> +<p>The anonymous testimony has to be thrown away, so nothing is +left except the remarks claimed to have been made when the Bible +was presented by the colored people, and these remarks destroy +themselves. It is absolutely impossible that Lincoln could have +uttered the words attributed to him on that occasion. I know of no +one who heard the words, I know of no witness who says he heard +them or that he knows anybody who did. These remarks were not even +heard by an "eminent Christian lady," and we are driven to say that +if Lincoln was a Christian he took great pains to keep it a +secret.</p> +<p>I believe that I am familiar with the material facts bearing +upon the religious belief of Mr. Lincoln, and that I know what he +thought of orthodox Christianity. I was somewhat acquainted with +him and well acquainted with many of his associates and friends, +and I am familiar with Mr. Lincoln's public utterances. Orthodox +Christians have the habit of claiming all great men, all men who +have held important positions, men of reputation, men of wealth. As +soon as the funeral is over clergymen begin to relate imaginary +conversations with the deceased, and in a very little while the +great man is changed to a Christian—possibly to a saint.</p> +<p>All this happened in Mr. Lincoln's case. Many pious falsehoods +were told, conversations were manufactured, and suddenly the church +claimed that the great President was an orthodox Christian. The +truth is that Lincoln in his religious views agreed with Franklin, +Jefferson, and Voltaire. He did not believe in the inspiration of +the Bible or the divinity of Christ or the scheme of salvation, and +he utterly repudiated the dogma of eternal pain.</p> +<p>In making up my mind as to what Mr. Lincoln really believed, I +do not take into consideration the evidence of unnamed persons or +the contents of anonymous letters; I take the testimony of those +who knew and loved him, of those to whom he opened his heart and to +whom he spoke in the freedom of perfect confidence.</p> +<p>Mr. Herndon was his friend and partner for many years. I knew +Mr. Herndon well. I know that Lincoln never had a better, warmer, +truer friend. Herndon was an honest, thoughtful, able, studious +man, respected by all who knew him. He was as natural and sincere +as Lincoln himself. On several occasions Mr. Herndon told me what +Lincoln believed and what he rejected in the realm of religion. He +told me again and again that Mr. Lincoln did not believe in the +inspiration of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, or in the +existence of a personal God. There was no possible reason for Mr. +Herndon to make a mistake or to color the facts.</p> +<p>Justice David Davis was a life-long friend and associate of Mr. +Lincoln, and Judge Davis knew Lincoln's religious opinions and knew +Lincoln as well as anybody did. Judge Davis told me that Lincoln +was a Freethinker, that he denied the inspiration of the Bible, the +divinity of Christ, and all miracles. Davis also told me that he +had talked with Lincoln on these subjects hundreds of times.</p> +<p>I was well acquainted with Col. Ward H. Lamon and had many +conversations with him about Mr. Lincoln's religious belief, before +and after he wrote his life of Lincoln. He told me that he had told +the exact truth in his life of Lincoln, that Lincoln never did +believe in the Bible, or in the divinity of Christ, or in the dogma +of eternal pain; that Lincoln was a Freethinker.</p> +<p>For many years I was well acquainted with the Hon. Jesse W. +Fell, one of Lincoln's warmest friends. Mr. Fell often came to my +house and we had many talks about the religious belief of Mr. +Lincoln. Mr. Fell told me that Lincoln did not believe in the +inspiration of the Scriptures, and that he denied the divinity of +Jesus Christ. Mr. Fell was very liberal in his own ideas, a great +admirer of Theodore Parker and a perfectly sincere and honorable +man.</p> +<p>For several years I was well acquainted with William G. Green, +who was a clerk with Lincoln at New Salem in the early days, and +who admired and loved Lincoln with all his heart. Green told me +that Lincoln was always an Infidel, and that he had heard him argue +against the Bible hundreds of times. Mr. Green knew Lincoln, and +knew him well, up to the time of Lincoln's death.</p> +<p>The Hon. James Tuttle of Illinois was a great friend of Lincoln, +and he is, if living, a friend of mine, and I am a friend of his. +He knew Lincoln well for many years, and he told me again and again +that Lincoln was an Infidel. Mr. Tuttle is a Freethinker himself +and has always enjoyed the respect of his neighbors. A man with +purer motives does not live.</p> +<p>So I place great reliance on the testimony of Col. John G. +Nicolay. Six weeks after Mr. Lincoln's death Colonel Nicolay said +that he did not in any way change his religious ideas, opinions or +belief from the time he left Springfield until the day of his +death.</p> +<p>In addition to all said by the persons I have mentioned, Mrs. +Lincoln said that her husband <i>was not a Christian</i>. There are +many other witnesses upon this question whose testimony can be +found in a book entitled "Abraham Lincoln, was he a Christian?" +written by John E. Remsburg, and published in 1893. In that book +will be found all the evidence on both sides. Mr. Remsburg states +the case with great clearness and demonstrates that Lincoln was not +a Christian.</p> +<p>Now, what is a Christian?</p> +<p>First. He is a believer in the existence of God, the Creator and +Governor of the Universe.</p> +<p>Second. He believes in the inspiration of the Old and New +Testaments.</p> +<p>Third. He believes in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ; that +the Holy Ghost was his father.</p> +<p>Fourth. He believes that this Christ was offered as a sacrifice +for the sins of men, that he was crucified, dead and buried, that +he arose from the dead and that he ascended into heaven.</p> +<p>Fifth. He believes in the "fall of man," in the scheme of +redemption through the atonement.</p> +<p>Sixth. He believes in salvation by faith, that the few are to be +eternally happy, and that the many are to be eternally damned.</p> +<p>Seventh. He believes in the Trinity, in God the Father, God the +Son and God the Holy Ghost.</p> +<p>Now, is there the slightest evidence to show that Lincoln +believed in the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments?</p> +<p>Has anybody said that he was heard to say that he so +believed?</p> +<p>Does anybody testify that Lincoln believed in the miraculous +birth of Jesus Christ, that the Holy Ghost was the father or that +Christ was or is God?</p> +<p>Has anybody testified that Lincoln believed that Christ was +raised from the dead?</p> +<p>Did anyone ever hear him say that he believed in the ascension +of Jesus Christ? Did anyone ever hear him assert that he believed +in the forgiveness of sins, or in salvation by faith, or that +belief was a virtue and investigation a crime?</p> +<p>Where, then, is the evidence that he was a Christian?</p> +<p>There is another reason for thinking that Lincoln never became a +Christian.</p> +<p>All will admit that he was an honest man, that he discharged all +obligations perceived, and did what he believed to be his duty. If +he had become a Christian it was his duty publicly to say so. He +was President; he had the ear of the nation; every citizen, had he +spoken, would have listened. It was his duty to make a clear, +explicit statement of his conversion, and it was his duty to join +some orthodox church, and he should have given his reasons. He +should have endeavored to reach the heart and brain of the +Republic. It was unmanly for him to keep his "second birth" a +secret and sneak into heaven leaving his old friends to travel the +road to hell.</p> +<p>Great pains have been taken to show that Mr. Lincoln believed +in, and worshiped the one true God. This by many is held to have +been his greatest virtue, the foundation of his character, and yet, +the God he worshiped, the God to whom he prayed, allowed him to be +assassinated.</p> +<p>Is it possible that God will not protect his friends?</p> +<a name="link0027" id="link0027"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>ORGANIZED CHARITIES.</h2> +<p>I HAVE no great confidence in organized charities. Money is left +and buildings are erected and sinecures provided for a good many +worthless people. Those in immediate control are almost, or when +they were appointed were almost, in want themselves, and they +naturally hate other beggars.</p> +<p>They regard persons who ask assistance as their enemies. There +is an old story of a tramp who begged a breakfast. After breakfast +another tramp came to the same place to beg his breakfast, and the +first tramp with blows and curses drove him away, saying at the +same time: "I expect to get dinner here myself."</p> +<p>This is the general attitude of beggar toward beggar.</p> +<p>Another trouble with organized charities is the machinery, the +various methods they have adopted to prevent what they call fraud. +They are exceedingly anxious that the needy, that those who ask +help, who have been without fault, shall be attended to, their rule +apparently being to assist only the unfortunate perfect.</p> +<p>The trouble is that Nature produces very few specimens of that +kind. As a rule, men come to want on account of their +imperfections, on account of their ignorance, on account of their +vices, and their vices are born of their lack of capacity, of their +want of brain. In other words, they are failures of Nature, and the +fact that they need help is not their own fault, but the fault of +their construction, their surroundings.</p> +<p>Very few people have the opportunity of selecting their parents, +and it is exceedingly difficult in the matter of grandparents. +Consequently, I do not hold people responsible for hereditary +tendencies, traits and vices. Neither do I praise them for having +hereditary virtues.</p> +<p>A man going to one of these various charitable establishments is +cross-examined. He must give his biography. And after he has +answered all the supercilious, impudent questions, he is asked for +references.</p> +<p>Then the people referred to are sought out, to find whether the +statements made by the applicant are true. By the time the thing is +settled the man who asked aid has either gotten it somewhere else +or has, in the language of the Spiritualists, "passed over to the +other side."</p> +<p>Of course this does not trouble the persons in charge of the +organized charities, because their salaries are going on.</p> +<p>As a rule, these charities were commenced by the best of people. +Some generous, philanthropic man or woman gave a life to establish +a "home," it may be, for aged women, for orphans, for the waifs of +the pavements.</p> +<p>These generous people, filled with the spirit of charity, raised +a little money, succeeded in hiring or erecting a humble building, +and the money they collected, so honestly given, they honestly used +to bind up the wounds and wipe away the tears of the unfortunate, +and to save, if possible, some who had been wrecked on the rocks +and reefs of crime.</p> +<p>Then some very rich man dies who had no charity and who would +not have left a dollar could he have taken his money with him. This +rich man, who hated his relatives and the people he actually knew, +gives a large sum of money to some particular charity—not +that he had any charity, but because he wanted to be remembered as +a philanthropist.</p> +<p>Then the organized charity becomes rich, and the richer the +meaner, the richer the harder of heart and the closer of fist.</p> +<p>Now, I believe that Trinity Church, in this city, would be +called an organized charity. The church was started to save, if +possible, a few souls from eternal torment, and on the plea of +saving these souls money was given to the church.</p> +<p>Finally the church became rich. It is now a landlord—has +many buildings to rent. And if what I hear is true there is no +harder landlord in the city of New York.</p> +<p>So, I have heard it said of Dublin University, that it is about +the hardest landlord in Ireland.</p> +<p>I think you will find that all such institutions try to collect +the very last cent, and, in the name of pity, drive pity from their +hearts.</p> +<p>I think it is Shakespeare who says, "Pity drives out pity," and +he must have had organized charities in his mind when he uttered +this remark. Of course a great many really good and philanthropic +people leave vast sums of money to charities.</p> +<p>I find that it is sometimes very difficult to get an injured +man, or one seized with some sudden illness, taken into a city +hospital. There are so many rules and so many regulations, so many +things necessary to be done, that while the rules are being +complied with the soul of the sick or injured man, weary of the +waiting, takes its flight. And after the man is dead, the doctors +are kind enough to certify that he died of heart failure.</p> +<p>So—in a general way—I speak of all the asylums, of +all the homes for orphans. When I see one of those buildings I feel +that it is full of petty tyranny, of what might be called pious +meanness, devout deviltry, where the object is to break the will of +every recipient of public favor.</p> +<p>I may be all wrong. I hope I am. At the same time I fear that I +am somewhere near right.</p> +<p>You may take our prisons; the treatment of prisoners is often +infamous. The Elmira Reformatory is a worthy successor of the +Inquisition, a disgrace, in my judgment, to the State of New York, +to the civilization of our day. Every little while something comes +to light showing the cruelty, the tyranny, the meanness, of these +professional distributers of public charity—of these +professed reformers.</p> +<p>I know that they are visited now and then by committees from the +Legislature, and I know that the keepers of these places know when +the "committee" may be expected.</p> +<p>I know that everything is scoured and swept and burnished for +the occasion; and I know that the poor devils that have been abused +or whipped or starved, fear to open their mouths, knowing that if +they do they may not be believed and that they will be treated +afterward as though they were wild beasts.</p> +<p>I think these public institutions ought to be open to inspection +at all times. I think the very best men ought to be put in control +of them. I think only those doctors who have passed, and recently +passed, examinations as to their fitness, as to their intelligence +and professional acquirements, ought to be put in charge.</p> +<p>I do not think that hospitals should be places for young doctors +to practice sawing off the arms and legs of paupers or hunting in +the stomachs of old women for tumors. I think only the skillful, +the experienced, should be employed in such places. Neither do I +think hospitals should be places where medicine is distributed by +students to the poor.</p> +<p>Ignorance is a poor doctor, even for the poor, and if we pretend +to be charitable we ought to carry it out.</p> +<p>I would like to see tyranny done away with in prisons, in the +reformatories, and in all places under the government or +supervision of the State.</p> +<p>I would like to have all corporal punishment abolished, and I +would also like to see the money that is given to charity +distributed by charity and by intelligence. I hope all these +institutions will be overhauled.</p> +<p>I hope all places where people are pretending to take care of +the poor and for which they collect money from the public, will be +visited, and will be visited unexpectedly and the truth told.</p> +<p>In my judgment there is some better way. I think every hospital, +every asylum, every home for waifs and orphans should be supported +by taxation, not by charity; should be under the care and control +of the State absolutely.</p> +<p>I do not believe in these institutions being managed by any +individual or by any society, religious or secular, but by the +State. I would no more have hospitals and asylums depend on charity +than I would have the public school depend on voluntary +contributions.</p> +<p>I want the schools supported by taxation and to be controlled by +the State, and I want the hospitals and asylums and charitable +institutions founded and controlled and carried on in the same way. +Let the property of the State do it.</p> +<p>Let those pay the taxes who are able. And let us do away forever +with the idea that to take care of the sick, of the helpless, is a +charity. It is not a charity. It is a duty. It is something to be +done for our own sakes. It is no more a charity than it is to pave +or light the streets, no more a charity than it is to have a system +of sewers.</p> +<p>It is all for the purpose of protecting society and of +civilizing ourselves.</p> +<a name="link0028" id="link0028"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.</h2> +<p>SPAIN has always been exceedingly religious and exceedingly +cruel. That country had an unfortunate experience. The Spaniards +fought the Moors for about seven hundred or eight hundred years, +and during that time Catholicism and patriotism became synonymous. +They were fighting the Moslems. It was a religious war. For this +reason they became intense in their Catholicism, and they were +fearful that if they should grant the least concession to the Moor, +God would destroy them. Their idea was that the only way to secure +divine aid was to have absolute faith, and this faith was proved by +their hatred of all ideas inconsistent with their own.</p> +<p>Spain has been and is the victim of superstition. The Spaniards +expelled the Jews, who at that time represented a good deal of +wealth and considerable intelligence. This expulsion was +characterized by infinite brutality and by cruelties that words can +not express. They drove out the Moors at last. Not satisfied with +this, they drove out the Moriscoes. These were Moors who had been +converted to Catholicism.</p> +<p>The Spaniards, however, had no confidence in the honesty of the +conversion, and for the purpose of gaining the good will of God, +they drove them out. They had succeeded in getting rid of Jews, +Moors and Moriscoes; that is to say, of the intelligence and +industry of Spain. Nothing was left but Spaniards; that is to say, +indolence, pride, cruelty and infinite superstition. So Spain +destroyed all freedom of thought through the Inquisition, and for +many years the sky was livid with the flames of the <i>Auto da +fe</i>; Spain was busy carrying fagots to the feet of philosophy, +busy in burning people for thinking, for investigating, for +expressing honest opinions. The result was that a great darkness +settled over Spain, pierced by no star and shone upon by no rising +sun.</p> +<p>At one time Spain was the greatest of powers, owner of half the +world, and now she has only a few islands, the small change of her +great fortune, the few pennies in the almost empty purse, souvenirs +of departed wealth, of vanished greatness. Now Spain is bankrupt, +bankrupt not only in purse, but in the higher faculties of the +mind, a nation without progress, without thought; still devoted to +bull fights and superstition, still trying to affright contagious +diseases by religious processions. Spain is a part of the +mediæval ages, belongs to an ancient generation. It really +has no place in the nineteenth century.</p> +<p>Spain has always been cruel. S. S. Prentice, many years ago, +speaking of Spain said: "On the shore of discovery it leaped an +armed robber, and sought for gold even in the throats of its +victims." The bloodiest pages in the history of this world have +been written by Spain. Spain in Peru, in Mexico, Spain in the low +countries—all possible cruelties come back to the mind when +we say Philip II., when we say the Duke of Alva, when we pronounce +the names of Ferdinand and Isabella. Spain has inflicted every +torture, has practiced every cruelty, has been guilty of every +possible outrage. There has been no break between Torquemada and +Weyler, between the Inquisition and the infamies committed in +Cuba.</p> +<p>When Columbus found Cuba, the original inhabitants were the +kindest and gentlest of people. They practiced no inhuman rites, +they were good, contented people. The Spaniards enslaved them or +sought to enslave them. The people rising, they were hunted with +dogs, they were tortured, they were murdered, and finally +exterminated. This was the commencement of Spanish rule on the +island of Cuba. The same spirit is in Spain to-day that was in +Spain then. The idea is not to conciliate, but to coerce, not to +treat justly, but to rob and enslave. No Spaniard regards a Cuban +as having equal rights with himself. He looks upon the island as +property, and upon the people as a part of that property, both +equally belonging to Spain.</p> +<p>Spain has kept no promises made to the Cubans and never will. At +last the Cubans know exactly what Spain is, and they have made up +their minds to be free or to be exterminated. There is nothing in +history to equal the atrocities and outrages that have been +perpetrated by Spain upon Cuba. What Spain does now, all know is +only a repetition of what Spain has done, and this is a prophecy of +what Spain will do if she has the power.</p> +<p>So far as I am concerned, I have no idea that there is to be any +war between Spain and the United States. A country that can't +conquer Cuba, certainly has no very flattering chance of +overwhelming the United States. A man that cannot whip one of his +own boys is foolish when he threatens to clean out the whole +neighborhood. Of course, there is some wisdom even in Spain, and +the Spaniards who know anything of this country know that it would +be absolute madness and the utmost extreme of folly to attack us. I +believe in treating even Spain with perfect fairness. I feel about +the country as Burns did about the Devil: "O wad ye tak' a thought +an' mend!" I know that nations, like people, do as they must, and I +regard Spain as the victim and result of conditions, the fruit of a +tree that was planted by ignorance and watered by superstition.</p> +<p>I believe that Cuba is to be free, and I want that island to +give a new flag to the air, whether it ever becomes a part of the +United States or not. My sympathies are all with those who are +struggling for their rights, trying to get the clutch of tyranny +from their throats; for those who are defending their homes, their +firesides, against tyrants and robbers.</p> +<p>Whether the Maine was blown up by the Spaniards is still a +question. I suppose it will soon be decided. In my own opinion, the +disaster came from the outside, but I do not know, and not knowing, +I am willing to wait for the sake of human nature. I sincerely hope +that it was an accident. I hate to think that there are people base +and cruel enough to commit such an act. Still, I think that all +these matters will be settled without war.</p> +<p>I am in favor of an international court, the members to be +selected by the ruling nations of the world; and before this court +I think all questions between nations should be decided, and the +only army and the only navy should be under its direction, and used +only for the purpose of enforcing its decrees. Were there such a +court now, before which Cuba could appear and tell the story of her +wrongs, of the murders, the assassinations, the treachery, the +starvings, the cruelty, I think that the decision would instantly +be in her favor and that Spain would be driven from the island. +Until there is such a court there is no need of talking about the +world being civilized.</p> +<p>I am not a Christian, but I do believe in the religion of +justice, of kindness. I believe in humanity. I do believe that +usefulness is the highest possible form of worship. The useful man +is the good man, the useful man is the real saint. I care nothing +about supernatural myths and mysteries, but I do care for human +beings. I have a little short creed of my own, not very hard to +understand, that has in it no contradictions, and it is this: +Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place +to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so.</p> +<p>I think this creed if adopted, would do away with war. I think +it would destroy superstition, and I think it would civilize even +Spain.</p> +<a name="link0029" id="link0029"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>OUR NEW POSSESSIONS.</h2> +<p>AS I understand it, the United States went into this war against +Spain in the cause of freedom. For three years Spain has been +endeavoring to conquer these people. The means employed were +savage. Hundreds of thousands were starved. Yet the Cubans, with +great heroism, were continuing the struggle. In spite of their +burned homes, their wasted fields, their dead comrades, the Cubans +were not conquered and still waged war. Under those circumstances +we said to Spain, "You must withdraw from the Western World. The +Cubans have the right to be free!" They have been robbed and +enslaved by Spanish officers and soldiers. Undoubtedly they were +savages when first found, and undoubtedly they are worse now than +when discovered—more barbarous. They wouldn't make very good +citizens of the United States; they are probably incapable of +self-government, but no people can be ignorant enough to be justly +robbed or savage enough to be rightly enslaved. I think that we +should keep the islands, not for our own sake, but for the sake of +these people.</p> +<p>It was understood and declared at the time, that we were not +waging war for the sake of territory, that we were not trying to +annex Cuba, but that we were moved by compassion—a compassion +that became as stern as justice. I did not think at the time there +would be war. I supposed that the Spanish people had some sense, +that they knew their own condition and the condition of this +Republic. But the improbable happened, and now, after the successes +we have had, the end of the war appears to be in sight, and the +question arises: What shall we do with the Spanish islands that we +have taken already, or that we may take before peace comes?</p> +<p>Of course, we could not, without stultifying ourselves and +committing the greatest of crimes, hand back Cuba to Spain. But to +do that would be no more criminal, no more infamous, than to hand +back the Philippines. In those islands there are from eight to ten +millions of people.</p> +<p>As far as the Philippines are concerned, I think that we should +endeavor to civilize them, and to do this we should send teachers, +not preachers. We should not endeavor to give them our superstition +in place of Spanish superstition. They have had superstition +enough. They don't need churches, they need schools. We should +teach them our arts; how to cultivate the soil, how to manufacture +the things they need. In other words, we should deal honestly with +them, and try our best to make them a self-supporting and a +self-governing people. The eagle should spread its wings over those +islands for that and for no other purpose. We can not afford to +give them to other nations or to throw fragments of them to the +wild beasts of Europe. We can not say to Russia, "You may have a +part," and to Germany, "You may have a share," and to France, "You +take something," and so divide out these people as thieves divide +plunder. That we will never do.</p> +<p>There is, moreover, in my mind, a little sentiment mixed with +this matter. Manila Bay has been filled with American glory. There +was won one of our greatest triumphs, one of the greatest naval +victories of the world—won by American courage and genius. We +can not allow any other nation to become the owner of the stage on +which this American drama was played. I know that we can be of +great assistance to the inhabitants of the Philippines. I know that +we can be an unmixed blessing to them, and that is the only +ambition I have in regard to those islands. I would no more think +of handing them back to Spain than I would of butchering the entire +population in cold blood. Spain is unfit to govern. Spain has +always been a robber. She has never made an effort to civilize a +human being. The history of Spain, I think, is the darkest page in +the history of the world.</p> +<p>At the same time I have a kind of pity for the Spanish people. I +feel that they have been victims—victims of superstition. +Their blood has been sucked, their energies have been wasted and +misdirected, and they excite my sympathies. Of course, there are +many good Spaniards, good men, good women. Cervera appears to be a +civilized man, a gentleman, and I feel obliged to him for his +treatment of Hobson. The great mass of the Spaniards, however, must +be exceedingly ignorant. Their so-called leaders dare not tell them +the truth about the progress of this war. They seem to be afraid to +state the facts. They always commence with a lie, then change it a +little, then change it a little more, and may be at last tell the +truth. They never seem to dare to tell the truth at first, if the +truth is bad. They put me in mind of the story of a man +telegraphing to a wife about the condition of her husband. The +first dispatch was, "Your husband is well, never better." The +second was, "Your husband is sick, but not very." The third was, +"Your husband is much worse, but we still have hope." The fourth +was, "You may as well know the truth—we buried your husband +yesterday." That is about the way the Spanish people get their war +news.</p> +<p>That is why it may be incorrect to assume that peace is coming +quickly. If the Spaniards were a normal people, who acted as other +folks do, we might prophesy a speedy peace, but nobody has +prophetic vision enough to tell what such a people will do. In +spite of all appearances, and all our successes, and of all sense, +the war may drag on. But I hope not, not only for our own sake, but +for the sake of the Spaniards themselves. I can't help thinking of +the poor peasants who will be killed, neither can I help thinking +of the poor peasants who will have to toil for many years on the +melancholy fields of Spain to pay the cost of this war. I am sorry +for them, and I am sorry also for the widows and orphans, and no +one will be more delighted when peace comes.</p> +<p>The argument has been advanced in the National Senate and +elsewhere, that the Federal Constitution makes no provision for the +holding of colonies or dependencies, such as the Philippines would +be; that we can only acquire them as territories, and eventually +must take them in as States, with their population of mixed and +inferior races. That is hardly an effective argument.</p> +<p>When this country was an infant, still in its cradle, George +Washington gave the child some very good advice; told him to beware +of entangling alliances, to stay at home and attend to his own +business. Under the circumstances this was all very good. But the +infant has been growing, and the Republic is now one of the most +powerful nations in the world, and yet, from its infant days until +now, good, conservative people have been repeating the advice of +Washington. It was repeated again and again when we were talking +about purchasing Louisiana, and many Senators and Congressmen +became hysterical and predicted the fall of the Republic if that +was done. The same thing took place when we purchased Florida, and +again when we got one million square miles from Mexico, and still +again when we bought Alaska. These ideas about violating the +Constitution and wrecking the Republic were promulgated by our +great and wise statesmen on all these previous occasions, but, +after all, the Constitution seems to have borne the strain. There +seems to be as much liberty now as there was then, and, in fact, a +great deal more. Our Territories have given us no trouble, while +they have greatly added to our population and vastly increased our +wealth.</p> +<p>Beside this, the statesmen of the olden time, the wise men with +whom wisdom was supposed to have perished, could not and did not +imagine the improvements that would take place after they were +gone. In their time, practically speaking, it was farther from New +York to Buffalo than it is now from New York to San Francisco, and +so far as the transportation of intelligence is concerned, San +Francisco is as near New York as it would have been in their day +had it been just across the Harlem River. Taking into consideration +the railways, the telegraphs and the telephones, this country now, +with its area of three million five hundred thousand square miles, +is not so large as the thirteen original colonies were; that is to +say, the distances are more easily traveled and more easily +overcome. In those days it required months and months to cross the +continent. Now it is the work of four or five days.</p> +<p>Yet, when we came to talk about annexing the Hawaiian Islands, +the advice of George Washington was again repeated, and the older +the Senator the fonder he was of this advice. These Senators had +the idea that the Constitution, having nothing in favor of it, must +contain something, at least in spirit, against it. Of course, our +fathers had no idea of the growth of the Republic. We have, because +with us it is a matter of experience. I don't see that Alaska has +imperiled any of the liberties of New York. We need not admit +Alaska as a State unless it has a population entitling it to +admission, and we are not bound to take in the Sandwich Islands +until the people are civilized, until they are fit companions of +free men and free women. It may be that a good many of our citizens +will go to the Sandwich Islands, and that, in a short time, the +people there will be ready to be admitted as a State. All this the +Constitution can stand, and in it there is no danger of +imperialism.</p> +<p>I believe in national growth. As a rule, the prosperous farmer +wants to buy the land that adjoins him, and I think a prosperous +nation has the ambition of growth. It is better to expand than to +shrivel; and, if our Constitution is too narrow to spread over the +territory that we have the courage to acquire, why we can make a +broader one. It is a very easy matter to make a constitution, and +no human happiness, no prosperity, no progress should be sacrificed +for the sake of a piece of paper with writing on it; because there +is plenty of paper and plenty of men to do the writing, and plenty +of people to say what the writing should be. I take more interest +in people than I do in constitutions. I regard constitutions as +secondary; they are means to an end, but the dear, old, +conservative gentlemen seem to regard constitutions as ends in +themselves.</p> +<p>I have read what ex-President Cleveland had to say on this +important subject, and I am happy to say that I entirely disagree +with him. So, too, I disagree with Senator Edmunds, and with Mr. +Bryan, and with Senator Hoar, and with all the other gentlemen who +wish to stop the growth of the Republic. I want it to grow.</p> +<p>As to the final destiny of the island possessions won from +Spain, my idea is that the Philippine Islands will finally be free, +protected, it may be for a long time, by the United States. I think +Cuba will come to us for protection, naturally, and, so far as I am +concerned, I want Cuba only when Cuba wants us. I think that Porto +Rico and some of those islands will belong permanently to the +United States, and I believe Cuba will finally become a part of our +Republic.</p> +<p>When the opponents of progress found that they couldn't make the +American people take the back track by holding up their hands over +the Constitution, they dragged in the Monroe doctrine. When we +concluded not to allow Spain any longer to enslave her colonists, +or the people who had been her colonists, in the New World, that +was a very humane and wise resolve, and it was strictly in accord +with the Monroe doctrine. For the purpose of conquering Spain, we +attacked her fleet in Manila Bay, and destroyed it. I can not +conceive how that action of ours can be twisted into a violation of +the Monroe doctrine. The most that can be said is, that it is an +extension of that doctrine, and that we are now saying to Spain, +"You shall not enslave, you shall not rob, anywhere that we have +the power to prevent it."</p> +<p>Having taken the Philippines, the same humanity that dictated +the declaration of what is called the Monroe doctrine, will force +us to act there in accordance with the spirit of that doctrine. The +other day I saw in the paper an extract, I think, from Goldwin +Smith, in which he says that if we were to bombard Cadiz we would +give up the Monroe doctrine. I do not see the application. We are +at war with Spain, and we have a right to invade that country, and +the invasion would have nothing whatever to do with the Monroe +doctrine. War being declared, we have the right to do anything +consistent with civilized warfare to gain the victory. The +bombardment of Cadiz would have no more to do with the Monroe +doctrine than with the attraction of gravitation. If, by the Monroe +doctrine is meant that we have agreed to stay in this hemisphere, +and to prevent other nations from interfering with any people on +this hemisphere, and if it is said that, growing out of this, is +another doctrine, namely, that we are pledged not to interfere with +any people living on the other hemisphere, then it might be called +a violation of the Monroe doctrine for us to bombard Cadiz. But +such is not the Monroe doctrine. If, we being at war with England, +she should bombard the city of New York, or we should bombard some +city of England, would anybody say that either nation had violated +the Monroe doctrine? I do not see how that doctrine is involved, +whether we fight at sea or on the territory of the enemy.</p> +<p>This is the first war, so far as I know, in the history of the +world that has been waged absolutely in the interest of humanity; +the only war born of pity, of sympathy; and for that reason I have +taken a deep interest in it, and I must say that I was greatly +astonished by the victory of Admiral Dewey in Manila Bay. I think +it one of the most wonderful in the history of the world, and I +think all that Dewey has done shows clearly that he is a man of +thought, of courage and of genius. So, too, the victory over the +fleet of Cervera by Commodore Schley, is one of the most marvelous +and the most brilliant in all the annals of the world. The +marksmanship, the courage, the absolute precision with which +everything was done, is to my mind astonishing. Neither should we +forget Wainwright's heroic exploit, as commander of the Gloucester, +by which he demonstrated that torpedo destroyers have no terrors +for a yacht manned by American pluck. Manila Bay and Santiago both +are surpassingly wonderful. There are no words with which to +describe such deeds—deeds that leap like flames above the +clouds and glorify the whole heavens.</p> +<p>The Spanish have shown in this contest that they possess +courage, and they have displayed what you might call the heroism of +desperation, but the Anglo-Saxon has courage and +coolness—courage not blinded by passion, courage that is the +absolute servant of intelligence. The Anglo-Saxon has a fixedness +of purpose that is never interfered with by feeling; he does not +become enraged—he becomes firm, unyielding, his mind is +absolutely made up, clasped, locked, and he carries out his will. +With the Spaniard it is excitement, nervousness; he becomes +frantic. I think this war has shown the superiority, not simply of +our ships, or our armor, or our guns, but the superiority of our +men, of our officers, of our gunners. The courage of our army about +Santiago was splendid, the steadiness and bravery of the volunteers +magnificent. I think that what has already been done has given us +the admiration of the civilized world.</p> +<p>I know, of course, that some countries hate us. Germany is +filled with malice, and has been just on the crumbling edge of +meanness for months, wishing but not daring to interfere; hateful, +hostile, but keeping just within the overt act. We could teach +Germany a lesson and her ships would go down before ours just the +same as the Spanish ships have done. Sometimes I have almost wished +that a hostile German shot might be fired. But I think we will get +even with Germany and with France—at least I hope so.</p> +<p>And there is another thing I hope—that the good feeling +now existing between England and the United States may be eternal. +In other words, I hope it will be to the interests of both to be +friends. I think the English-speaking peoples are to rule this +world. They are the kings of invention, of manufactures, of +commerce, of administration, and they have a higher conception of +human liberty than any other people. Of course, they are not +entirely free; they still have some of the rags and tatters and +ravelings of superstition; but they are tatters and they are rags +and they are ravelings, and the people know it. And, besides all +this, the English language holds the greatest literature of the +world.</p> +<a name="link0030" id="link0030"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A FEW FRAGMENTS ON EXPANSION.</h2> +<p>A NATION rises from infancy to manhood and sinks from dotage to +death. I think that the great Republic is in the morning of her +life—the sun just above the horizon—the grass still wet +with dew.</p> +<p>Our country has the courage and enthusiasm of youth—her +blood flows full—her heart beats strong and her brow is fair. +We stand on the threshold of a great, a sublime career. All the +conditions are favorable—the environment kind. The best part +of this hemisphere is ours. We have a thousand million acres of +fertile land, vast forests, whole States underlaid with coal; +ranges of mountains filled with iron, silver and gold, and we have +seventy-five millions of the most energetic, active, inventive, +progressive and practical people in the world. The great Republic +is a happy combination of mind and muscle, of head and heart, of +courage and good nature. We are growing. We have the instinct of +expansion. We are full of life and health. We are about to take our +rightful place at the head of the nations. The great powers have +been struggling to obtain markets. They are fighting for the trade +of the East. They are contending for China. We watched, but we did +not act. They paid no attention to us or we to them. Conditions +have changed. We own the Hawaiian Islands. We will own the +Philippines.</p> +<p>Japan and China will be our neighbors—our customers. Our +interests must be protected. In China we want the "open door," and +we will see to it that the door is kept open. The nation that tries +to shut it, will get its fingers pinched. We have taught the Old +World that the Republic must be consulted. We have entered on the +great highway, and we are destined to become the most powerful, the +most successful and the most generous of nations. I am for +expansion. The more people beneath the flag the better. Let the +Republic grow..</p> +<p>I BELIEVE in growth. Of course there are many moss-back +conservatives who fear expansion. Thousands opposed the purchase of +Louisiana from Napoleon, thousands were against the acquisition of +Florida and of the vast territory we obtained from Mexico. So, +thousands were against the purchase of Alaska, and some dear old +mummies opposed the annexation of the Sandwich Islands, and yet, I +do not believe that there is an intelligent American who would like +to part with one acre that has been acquired by the Government. +Now, there are some timid, withered statesmen who do not want Porto +Rico—who beg us in a trembling, patriotic voice not to keep +the Philippines. But the sensible people feel exactly the other +way. They love to see our borders extended. They love to see the +flag floating over the islands of the tropics,—showering its +blessings upon the poor people who have been robbed and tortured by +the Spanish. Let the Republic grow! Let us spread the gospel of +Freedom! In a few years I hope that Canada will be ours—I +want Mexico—in other words, I want all of North America. I +want to see our flag waving from the North Pole.</p> +<p>I think it was a mistake to appoint a peace commission. The +President should have demanded the unconditional surrender of Cuba, +Porto Rico and the Philippines. Spain was helpless. The war would +have ended on our terms, and all this commission nonsense would +have been saved. Still, I make no complaint. It will probably come +out right, though it would have been far better to have ended the +business when we could—when Spain was prostrate. It was +foolish to let her get up and catch her breath and hunt for +friends.</p> +<p>ONLY a few days ago our President, by proclamation, thanked God +for giving us the victory at Santiago. He did not thank him for +sending the yellow fever. To be consistent the President should +have thanked him equally for both. Man should think; he should use +all his senses; he should examine; he should reason. The man who +cannot think is less than man; the man who will not think is a +traitor to himself; the man who fears to think is superstition's +slave. I do not thank God for the splendid victory in Manila Bay. I +don't know whether he had anything to do with it; if I find out +that he did I will thank him readily. Meanwhile, I will thank +Admiral George Dewey and the brave fellows who were with him.</p> +<p>I do not thank God for the destruction of Cervera's fleet at +Santiago. No, I thank Schley and the men with the trained eyes and +the nerves of steel, who stood behind the guns. I do not thank God +because we won the battle of Santiago. I thank the Regular Army, +black and white—the Volunteers—the Rough Riders, and +all the men who made the grand charge at San Juan Hill. I have +asked, "Why should God help us to whip Spain?" and have been +answered: "For the sake of the Cubans, who have been crushed and +ill-treated by their Spanish masters." Then why did not God help +the Cubans long before? Certainly, they were fighting long enough +and needed his help badly enough. But, I am told, God's ways are +inscrutable. Suppose Spain had whipped us; would the Christians +then say that God did it? Very likely they would, and would have as +an excuse, that we broke the Sabbath with our base-ball, our +bicycles and bloomers.</p> +<a name="link0031" id="link0031"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>IS IT EVER RIGHT FOR HUSBAND OR WIFE TO KILL RIVAL?</h2> +<p>HOW far should a husband or wife go in defending the sanctity of +home?</p> +<p>Is it right for the husband to kill the paramour of his +wife?</p> +<p>Is it right for the wife to kill the paramour of her +husband?</p> +<p>These three questions are in substance one, and one answer will +be sufficient for all.</p> +<p>In the first place, we should have an understanding of the real +relation that exists, or should exist, between husband and +wife.</p> +<p>The real good orthodox people, those who admire St. Paul, look +upon the wife as the property of the husband. He owns, not only her +body, but her very soul. This being the case, no other man has the +right to steal or try to steal this property. The owner has the +right to defend his possession, even to the death. In the olden +time the husband was never regarded as the property of the wife. +She had a claim on him for support, and there was usually some way +to enforce the claim. If the husband deserted the wife for the sake +of some other woman, or transferred his affections to another, the +wife, as a rule, suffered in silence. Sometimes she took her +revenge on the woman, but generally she did nothing. Men killed the +"destroyers" of their homes, but the women, having no homes, being +only wives, nothing but mothers—bearers of babes for +masters—allowed their destroyers to live.</p> +<p>In recent years women have advanced. They have stepped to the +front. Wives are no longer slaves. They are the equals of husbands. +They have homes to defend, husbands to protect and "destroyers" to +kill. The rights of husbands and wives are now equal. They live +under the same moral code. Their obligations to each other are +mutual. Both are bound, and equally bound, to live virtuous +lives.</p> +<p>Now, if A falls in love with the wife of B, and she returns his +love, has B the right to kill him? Or if A falls in love with the +husband of B, and he returns her love, has B the right to kill +her?</p> +<p>If the wronged husband has the right to kill, so has the wronged +wife.</p> +<p>Suppose that a young man and woman are engaged to be married, +and that she falls in love with another and marries him, has the +first lover a right to kill the last?</p> +<p>This leads me to another question: What is marriage? Men and +women cannot truly be married by any set or form of words, or by +any ceremonies however solemn, or by contract signed, sealed and +witnessed, or by the words or declarations of priests or judges. +All these put together do not constitute marriage. At the very best +they are only evidences of the fact of marriage—something +that really happened between the parties. Without pure, honest, +mutual love there can be no real marriage. Marriage without love is +only a form of prostitution. Marriage for the sake of position or +wealth is immoral. No good, sensible man wants to marry a woman +whose heart is not absolutely his, and no good, sensible woman +wants to marry a man whose heart is not absolutely hers. Now, if +there can be no real marriage without mutual love, does the +marriage outlast the love? If it is immoral for a woman to marry a +man without loving him, is it moral for her to live as the wife of +a man whom she has ceased to love? Is she bound by the words, by +the ceremony, after the real marriage is dead? Is she so bound that +the man she hates has the right to be the father of her babes?</p> +<p>If a girl is engaged and afterward meets her ideal, a young man +whose presence is joy, whose touch is ecstasy, is it her duty to +fulfill her engagement? Would it not be a thousand times nobler and +purer for her to say to the first lover: "I thought I loved you; I +was mistaken. I belong heart and soul to another, and if I married +you I could not be yours."</p> +<p>So, if a young man is engaged and finds that he has made a +mistake, is it honorable for him to keep his contract? Would it not +be far nobler for him to tell her the truth?</p> +<p>The civilized man loves a woman not only for his own sake, but +for her sake. He longs to make her happy—to fill her life +with joy. He is willing to make sacrifices for her, but he does not +want her to sacrifice herself for him. The civilized husband wants +his wife to be free—wants the love that she cannot help +giving him. He does not want her, from a sense of duty, or because +of the contract or ceremony, to act as though she loved him, when +in fact her heart is far away. He does not want her to pollute her +soul and live a lie for his sake. The civilized husband places the +happiness of his wife above his own. Her love is the wealth of his +heart, and to guard her from evil is the business of his life.</p> +<p>But the civilized husband knows when his wife ceases to love him +that the real marriage has also ceased. He knows that it is then +infamous for him to compel her to remain his wife. He knows that it +is her right to be free—that her body belongs to her, that +her soul is her own. He knows, too, if he knows anything, that her +affection is not the slave of her will.</p> +<p>In a case like this, the civilized husband would, so far as he +had the power, release his wife from the contract of marriage, +divide his property fairly with her and do what he could for her +welfare. Civilized love never turns to hatred.</p> +<p>Suppose he should find that there was a man in the case, that +another had won her love, or that she had given her love to +another, would it then be his right or duty to kill that man? Would +the killing do any good? Would it bring back her love? Would it +reunite the family? Would it annihilate the disgrace or the memory +of the shame? Would it lessen the husband's loss?</p> +<p>Society says that the husband should kill the man because he led +the woman astray.</p> +<p>How do we know that he betrayed the woman? Mrs. Potiphar left +many daughters, and Joseph certainly had but few sons. How do we +know that it was not the husband's fault? She may for years have +shivered in the winter of his neglect. She may have borne his +cruelties of word and deed until her love w'as dead and buried side +by side with hope. Another man comes into her life. He pities her. +She looks and loves. He lifts her from the grave. Again she really +lives, and her poor heart is rich with love's red blood. Ought this +man to be killed? He has robbed no husband, wronged no man. He has +rescued a victim, released an innocent prisoner and made a life +worth living. But the brutal husband says that the wife has been +led astray; that he has been wronged and dishonored, and that it is +his right, his duty, to shed the seducer's blood. He finds the +facts himself. He is witness, jury, judge and executioner. He +forgets his neglect, his cruelties, his faithlessness; forgets that +he drove her from his heart, remembers only that she loves another, +and then in the name of justice he takes the life of the one she +loves.</p> +<p>A husband deserts his wife, leaves her without money, without +the means to live, with his babes in her arms. She cannot get a +divorce; she must wait, and in the meantime she must live. A man +falls in love with her and she with him. He takes care of her and +the deserted children. The "wronged" husband returns and kills the +"betrayer" of his wife. He believes in the sacredness of marriage, +the holiness of home.</p> +<p>It may be admitted that the deserted wife did wrong, and that +the man who cared for her and her worse than fatherless children +also did wrong, but certainly he had done nothing for which he +deserved to be murdered.</p> +<p>A woman finds that her husband is in love with another woman, +that he is false, and the question is whether it is her right to +kill the other woman. The wronged husband has always claimed that +the man led his wife astray, that he had crept and crawled into his +Eden, but now the wronged wife claims that the woman seduced her +husband, that she spread the net, wove the web and baited the trap +in which the innocent husband was caught. Thereupon she kills the +other woman.</p> +<p>In the first place, how can she be sure of the facts? How does +she know whose fault it was? Possibly she was to blame herself.</p> +<p>But what good has the killing done? It will not give her back +her husband's love. It will not cool the fervor of her jealousy. It +will not give her better sleep or happier dreams.</p> +<p>It would have been far better if she had said to her husband: +"Go with the woman you love. I do not want your body without your +heart, your presence without your love."</p> +<p>So, it would be better for the wronged husband to say to the +unfaithful wife: "Go with the man you love. Your heart is his, I am +not your master. You are free."</p> +<p>After all, murder is a poor remedy. If you kill a man for one +wrong, why not for another? If you take the law into your own hands +and kill a man because he loves your wife and your wife loves him, +why not kill him for any injury he may inflict on you or +yours?...</p> +<p>In a civilized nation the people are governed by law. They do +not redress their own wrongs. They submit their differences to +courts. If they are wronged they appeal to the law. Savages redress +what they call their wrongs. They appeal to knife or gun. They +kill, they assassinate, they murder; and they do this to preserve +their honor. Admit that the seducer of the wife deserves death, +that the woman who leads the husband astray deserves death, admit +that both have justly forfeited their lives, the question yet +remains whether the wronged husband and the wronged wife have the +right to commit murder.</p> +<p>If they have this right, then there ought to be some way +provided for ascertaining the facts. Before the husband kills the +"betrayer," the fact that the wife was really led astray should be +established, and the "wronged" husband who claims the right to +kill, should show that he had been a good, loving and true +husband.</p> +<p>As a rule, the wives of good and generous men are true and +faithful. They love their homes, they adore their children. In +poverty and disaster they cling the closer. But when husbands are +indolent and mean, when they are cruel and selfish, when they make +a hell of home, why should we insist that their wives should love +them still?</p> +<p>When the civilized man finds that his wife loves another he does +not kill, he does not murder. He says to his wife, "You are +free."</p> +<p>When the civilized woman finds that her husband loves another +she does not kill, she does not murder. She says to her husband, "I +am free." This, in my judgment, is the better way. It is in +accordance with a far higher philosophy of life, of the real rights +of others. The civilized man is governed by his reason, his +intelligence; the savage by his passions. The civilized, man seeks +for the right, regardless of himself; the savage for revenge, +regardless of the rights of others.</p> +<p>I do not believe that murder guards the sacredness of home, the +purity of the fireside. I do not believe that crime wins victories +for virtue. I believe in liberty and I believe in law. That country +is free where the people make and honestly uphold the law. I am +opposed to a redress of grievances or the punishment of criminals +by mobs and I am equally opposed to giving the "wronged" husbands +and the "wronged" wives the right to kill the men and women they +suspect. In other words, I believe in civilization.</p> +<p>A few years ago a merchant living in the West suspected that his +wife and bookkeeper were in love. One morning he started for a +distant city, pretending that he would be absent for a couple of +weeks. He came back that night and found the lovers occupying the +same room. He did not kill the man, but said to him: "Take her; she +is yours. Treat her well and you will not be troubled. Abuse or +desert her and I will be her avenger."</p> +<p>He did not kill his wife, but said: "We part forever. You are +entitled to one-half of the property we have accumulated. You shall +have it. Farewell!"</p> +<p>The merchant was a civilized man—a philosopher.</p> +<a name="link0032" id="link0032"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>PROFESSOR BRIGGS.</h2> +<p>To the study of the Bible he has given the best years of his +life. When he commenced this study he was probably a devout +believer in the plenary inspiration of the Scripture—thought +that the Bible was without an error; that all the so-called +contradictions could be easily explained. He had been educated by +Presbyterians and had confidence in his teachers.</p> +<p>In spite of his early training, in spite of his prejudices, he +was led, in some mysterious way, to rely a little on his own +reason. This was a dangerous thing to do. The moment a man talks +about reason he is on dangerous ground. He is liable to contradict +the "Word of God." Then he loses spirituality and begins to think +more of truth than creed. This is a step toward heresy—toward +Infidelity.</p> +<p>Professor Briggs began to have doubts about some of the +miracles. These doubts, like rats, began to gnaw the foundations of +his faith. He examined these wonderful stories in the light of what +is known to have happened, and in the light of like miracles found +in the other sacred books of the world. And he concluded that they +were not quite true. He was not ready to say that they were +actually false; that would be too brutally candid.</p> +<p>I once read of an English lord who had a very polite gamekeeper. +The lord wishing to show his skill with the rifle fired at a +target. He and the gamekeeper went to see where the bullet had +struck. The gamekeeper was first at the target, and the lord cried +out: "Did I miss it?"</p> +<p>"I would not," said the gamekeeper, "go so far as to say that +your lordship missed it, but—but—you didn't hit +it."</p> +<p>Professor Briggs saw clearly that the Bible was the product, the +growth of many centuries; that legends and facts, mistakes, +contradictions, miracles, myths and history, interpolations, +prophecies and dreams, wisdom, foolishness, justice, cruelty, +poetry and bathos were mixed, mingled and interwoven. In other +words, that the gold of truth was surrounded by meaner metals and +worthless stones.</p> +<p>He saw that it was necessary to construct what might be called a +sacred smelter to divide the true from the false.</p> +<p>Undoubtedly he reached this conclusion in the interest of what +he believed to be the truth. He had the mistaken but honest idea +that a Christian should really think. Of course, we know that all +heresy has been the result of thought. It has always been dangerous +to grow. Shrinking is safe.</p> +<p>Studying the Bible was the first mistake that Professor Briggs +made, reasoning was the second, and publishing his conclusions was +the third. If he had read without studying, if he had believed +without reasoning, he would have remained a good, orthodox +Presbyterian. He probably read the works of Humboldt, Darwin and +Haeckel, and found that the author of Genesis was not a geologist, +not a scientist. He seems to have his doubts about the truth of the +story of the deluge. Should he be blamed for this? Is there a +sensible man in the wide world who really believes in the +flood?</p> +<p>This flood business puts Jehovah in such an idiotic light.</p> +<p>Of course, he must have known, after the "fall" of Adam and Eve, +that he would have to drown their descendants. Certainly it would +have been more merciful to have killed Adam and Eve, made a new +pair and kept the serpent out of the Garden of Eden. If Jehovah had +been an intelligent God he never would have created the serpent. +Then there would have been no fall, no flood, no atonement, no +hell.</p> +<p>Think of a God who drowned a world! What a merciless monster! +The cruelty of the flood is exceeded only by its stupidity.</p> +<p>Thousands of little theologians have tried to explain this +miracle. This is the very top of absurdity. To explain a miracle is +to destroy it. Some have said that the flood was local. How could +water that rose over the mountains remain local?</p> +<p>Why should we expect mercy from a God who drowned millions of +men, women and babes? I would no more think of softening the heart +of such a God by prayer than of protecting myself from a hungry +tiger by repeating poetry.</p> +<p>Professor Briggs has sense enough to see that the story of the +flood is but an ignorant legend. He is trying to rescue Jehovah +from the frightful slander. After all, why should we believe the +unreasonable? Must we be foolish to be virtuous? The rain fell for +forty days; this caused the flood. The water was at least thirty +thousand feet in depth. Seven hundred and fifty feet a +day—more than thirty feet an hour, six inches a minute; the +rain fell for forty days. Does any man with sense enough to eat and +breathe believe this idiotic lie?</p> +<p>Professor Briggs knows that the Jews got the story of the flood +from the Babylonians, and that it is no more inspired than the +history of "Peter Wilkins and His Flying Wife." The destruction of +Sodom and Gomorrah is another legend.</p> +<p>If those cities were destroyed sensible people believe the +phenomenon was as natural as the destruction of Herculaneum and +Pompeii. They do not believe that in either case it was the result +of the wickedness of the people.</p> +<p>Neither does any thinking man believe that the wife of Lot was +changed or turned into a pillar of salt as a punishment for having +looked back at her burning home. How could flesh, bones and blood +be changed to salt? This presupposes two miracles. First, the +annihilation of the woman, and second, the creation of salt. A God +cannot annihilate or create matter. Annihilation and creation are +both impossible—unthinkable. A grain of sand can defy all the +gods. What was Mrs. Lot turned to salt for? What good was achieved? +What useful lesson taught? What man with a head fertile enough to +raise one hair can believe a story like this?</p> +<p>Does a man who denies the truth of this childish absurdity +weaken the foundation of virtue? Does he discourage truth-telling +by denouncing lies? Should a man be true to himself? If reason is +not the standard, what is? Can a man think one way and believe +another? Of course he can talk one way and think another. If a man +should be honest with himself he should be honest with others. A +man who conceals his doubts lives a dishonest life. He defiles his +own soul.</p> +<p>When a truth-loving man reads about the plagues of Egypt, should +he reason as he reads? Should he take into consideration the fact +that like stories have been told and believed by savages for +thousands of years? Should he ask himself whether Jehovah in his +efforts to induce the Egyptian King to free the Hebrews acted like +a sensible God? Should he ask himself whether a good God would kill +the babes of the people on account of the sins of the king? Whether +he would torture, mangle and kill innocent cattle to get even with +a monarch?</p> +<p>Is it better to believe without thinking than to think without +believing? If there be a God can we please him by believing that he +acted like a fiend?</p> +<p>Probably Professor Briggs has a higher conception of God than +the author of Exodus. The writer of that book was a +barbarian—an honest barbarian, and he wrote what he supposed +was the truth. I do not blame him for having written falsehoods. +Neither do I blame Professor Briggs for having detected these +falsehoods. In our day no man capable of reasoning believes the +miracles wrought for the Hebrews in their flight through the +wilderness. The opening of the sea, the cloud and pillar, the +quails, the manna, the serpents and hornets are no more believed +than the miracles of the Mormons when they crossed the plains.</p> +<p>The probability is that the Hebrews never were in Egypt. In the +Hebrew language there are no Egyptian words, and in the Egyptian no +Hebrew. This proves that the Hebrews could not have mingled with +the Egyptians for four hundred and thirty years. As a matter of +fact, Moses is a myth. The enslavement of the Hebrews, the flight, +the journey through the wilderness existed only in the imagination +of ignorance.</p> +<p>So Professor Briggs has his doubts about the sun and moon having +been stopped for a day in order that Gen. Joshua might kill more +heathen. Theologians have gathered around this miracle like moths +around a flame. They have done their best to make it reasonable. +They have talked about refraction and reflection, about the nature +of the air having been changed so that the sun was visible all +night. They have even gone so far as to say that Joshua and his +soldiers killed so many that afterward, when thinking about it, +they concluded that it must have taken them at least two days.</p> +<p>This miracle can be accounted for only in one way. Jehovah must +have stopped the earth. The earth, turning over at about one +thousand miles an hour—weighing trillions of tons—had +to be stopped. Now we know that all arrested motion changes +instantly to heat. It has been calculated that to stop the earth +would cause as much heat as could be produced by burning three +lumps of coal, each lump as large as this world.</p> +<p>Now, is it possible that a God in his right mind would waste all +that force? The Bible also tells us that at the same time God cast +hailstones from heaven on the poor heathen. If the writer had known +something of astronomy he would have had more hailstones and said +nothing about the sun and moon.</p> +<p>Is it wise for ministers to ask their congregations to believe +this story? Is it wise for congregations to ask their ministers to +believe this story? If Jehovah performed this miracle he must have +been insane. There should be some relation, some proportion, +between means and ends. No sane general would call into the field a +million soldiers and a hundred batteries to kill one insect. And +yet the disproportion of means to the end sought would be +reasonable when compared with what Jehovah is claimed to have +done.</p> +<p>If Jehovah existed let us admit that he had some sense.</p> +<p>If it should be demonstrated that the book of Joshua is all +false, what harm could follow? There would remain the same reasons +for living a useful and virtuous life; the same reasons against +theft and murder. Virtue would lose no prop and vice would gain no +crutch. Take all the miracles from the Old Testament and the book +would be improved. Throw away all its cruelties and absurdities and +its influence would be far better.</p> +<p>Professor Briggs seems to have doubts about the inspiration of +Ruth. Is there any harm in that? What difference does it make +whether the story of Ruth is fact or fiction; history or poetry? +Its value is just the same. Who cares whether Hamlet or Lear lived? +Who cares whether Imogen and Perdita were real women or the +creation of Shakespeare's imagination?</p> +<p>The book of Esther is absurd and cruel. It has no ethical value. +There is not a line, a word in it calculated to make a human being +better. The king issued a decree to kill the Jews. Esther succeeded +in getting this decree set aside, and induced the king to issue +another decree that the Jews should kill the other folks, and so +the Jews killed some seventy-five thousand of the king's subjects. +Is it really important to believe that the book of Esther is +inspired? Is it possible that Jehovah is proud of having written +this book? Does he guard his copyright with the fires of hell? Why +should the facts be kept from the people? Every intelligent +minister knows that Moses did not write the Pentateuch; that David +did not write the Psalms, and that Solomon was not the author of +the song or the book of Ecclesiastes. Why not say so?</p> +<p>No intelligent minister believes the story of Daniel in the +Lion's den, or of the three men who were cast into the furnace, or +the story of Jonah. These miracles seem to have done no +good—seem to have convinced nobody and to have had no +consequences. Daniel w'as miraculously saved from the lions, and +then the king sent for the men who had accused Daniel, for their +wives and their children, and threw them all into the den of lions +and they were devoured by beasts almost as cruel as Jehovah. What a +beautiful story! How can any man be wicked enough to doubt its +truth?</p> +<p>God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah ran away, took a boat for +another place. God raised a storm, the sailors became frightened, +threw Jonah overboard, and the poor wretch was swallowed and +carried ashore by a fish that God had prepared. Then he made his +proclamation in Nineveh. Then the people repented and Jonah was +disappointed. Then he became malicious and found fault with God. +Then comes the story of the gourd, the worm and the east wind, and +the effect of the sun on a bald-headed prophet. Would not this +story be just as beautiful with the storm and fish left out? Could +we not dispense with the gourd, the worm and the east wind?</p> +<p>Professor Briggs does not believe this story. He does not reject +it because he is wicked or because he wishes to destroy religion, +but because, in his judgment, it is not true. This may not be +religious, but it is honest. It may not become a minister, but it +certainly becomes a man.</p> +<p>Professor Briggs wishes to free the Old Testament from +interpolations, from excrescences, from fungus growths, from +mistakes and falsehoods.</p> +<p>I am satisfied that he is sincere, actuated by the noblest +motives.</p> +<p>Suppose that all the interpolations in the Bible should be found +and the original be perfectly restored, what evidence would we have +that it was written by inspired men? How can the fact of +inspiration be established? When was it established? Did Jehovah +furnish anybody with a list of books he had inspired? Does anybody +know that he ever said that he had inspired anybody? Did the writer +of Genesis claim that he was inspired? Did any writer of any part +of the Pentateuch make the claim? Did the authors of Joshua, +Judges, Kings or Chronicles pretend that they had obtained their +facts from Jehovah? Does the author of Job or of the Psalms pretend +to have received assistance from God?</p> +<p>There is not the slightest reference to God in Esther or in +Solomon's Song. Why should theologians say that those books were +inspired? The dogma of inspiration rests on no established fact. It +rests only on assertion—the assertion of those who have no +knowledge on the subject. Professor Briggs calls the Bible a "holy" +book. He seems to think that much of it was inspired; that it is in +some sense a message from God. The reasons he has for thinking so I +cannot even guess. He seems also to have his doubts about certain +parts of the New Testament. He is not certain that the angel who +appeared to Joseph in a dream was entirely truthful, or he is not +certain that Joseph had the dream.</p> +<p>It seems clear that when the gospel according to Matthew was +first written the writer believed that Christ was a lineal +descendant of David, through his father, Joseph. The genealogy is +given for the purpose of showing that the blood of David flowed in +the veins of Christ. The man who wrote that genealogy had never +heard that the Holy Ghost was the father of Christ. That was an +afterthought.</p> +<p>How is it possible to prove that the Holy Ghost was the father +of Christ? The Holy Ghost said nothing on the subject. Mary wrote +nothing and we have no evidence that Joseph had a dream.</p> +<p>The divinity of Christ rests upon a dream that somebody said +Joseph had.</p> +<p>According to the New Testament, Mary herself called Joseph the +father of Christ. She told Christ that Joseph, his father, had been +looking for him. Her statement is better evidence than Joseph's +dream—if he really had it. If there are legends in Holy +Scripture, as Professor Briggs declares, certainly the divine +parentage of Christ is one of them. The story lacks even +originality. Among the Greeks many persons had gods for fathers. +Among Hindoos and Egyptians these god-men were common. So in many +other countries the blood of gods was in the veins of men. Such +wonders, told in Sanscrit, are just as reasonable as when told in +Hebrew—just as reasonable in India as in Palestine. Of +course, there is no evidence that any human being had a god for a +father, or a goddess for a mother. Intelligent people have outgrown +these myths. Centaurs, satyrs, nymphs and god-men have faded away. +Science murdered them all.</p> +<p>There are many contradictions in the gospels. They differ not +only on questions of fact, but as to Christianity itself. According +to Matthew, Mark and Luke, if you will forgive others God will +forgive you. This is the one condition of salvation. But in John we +find an entirely different religion. According to John you must be +born again and believe in Jesus Christ. There you find for the +first time about the atonement—that Christ died to save +sinners. The gospel of John discloses a regular theological +system—a new one. To forgive others is not enough. You must +have faith. You must be born again.</p> +<p>The four gospels cannot be harmonized. If John is true the +others are false. If the others are true John is false. From this +there is no escape. I do not for a moment suppose that Professor +Briggs agrees with me on these questions. He probably regards me as +a very bad and wicked man, and my opinions as blasphemies. I find +no fault with him for that. I believe him to be an honest man; +right in some things and wrong in many. He seems to be true to his +thought and I honor him for that.</p> +<p>He would like to get all the stumbling-blocks out of the Bible, +so that a really thoughtful man can "believe." If theologians cling +to the miracles recorded in the New Testament the entire book will +be disparaged and denied. The "Gospel ship" is overloaded. +Somethings must be thrown overboard or the boat will go down. If +the churches try to save all they will lose all.</p> +<p>They must throw the miracles away. They must admit that Christ +did not cast devils out of the bodies of men and women—that +he did not cure diseases with a word, or blindness with spittle and +clay; that he had no power over winds and waves; that he did not +raise the dead; that he was not raised from the dead himself, and +that he did not ascend bodily to heaven. These absurdities must be +given up, or in a little while the orthodox ministers will be +preaching the "tidings of great joy" to benches, bonnets and +bibs.</p> +<p>Professor Briggs, as I understand him, is willing to give up the +absurdest absurdities, but wishes to keep all the miracles that can +possibly be believed. He is anxious to preserve the important +miracles—the great central falsehoods—but the little +lies that were told just to embellish the story—to furnish +vines for the columns—he is willing to cast aside.</p> +<p>But Professor Briggs was honest enough to say that we do not +know the authors of most of the books in the Bible; that we do not +know who wrote the Psalms or Job or Proverbs or the Song of Songs +or Ecclesiastes or the Epistle to the Hebrews. He also said that no +translation can ever take the place of the original Scriptures, +because a translation is at best the work of men. In other words, +that God has not revealed to us the names of the inspired books. +That this must be determined by us. Professor Briggs puts reason +above revelation. By reason we are to decide what books are +inspired. By reason we are to decide whether anything has been +improperly added to those books. By reason we are to decide the +real meaning of those books.</p> +<p>It therefore follows that if the books are unreasonable they are +uninspired. It seems to me that this position is absolutely +correct. There is no other that can be defended. The Presbyterians +who pretend to answer Professor Briggs seem to be actuated by +hatred.</p> +<p>Dr. Da Costa answers with vituperation and epithet. He answers +no argument; brings forward no fact; points out no mistake. He +simply attacks the man. He exhibits the ordinary malice of those +who love their enemies.</p> +<p>President Patton, of Princeton, is a despiser of reason; a hater +of thought. Progress is the only thing that he fears. He knows that +the Bible is absolutely true. He knows that every word is inspired. +According to him, all questions have been settled, and criticism +said its last word when the King James Bible was printed. The +Presbyterian Church is infallible, and whoever doubts or denies +will be damned. Morality is worthless without the creed. This, is +the religion, the philosophy, of Dr. Patton. He fights with the +ancient weapons, with stone and club. He is a private in Captain +Calvin's company, and he marches to defeat with the courage of +invincible ignorance.</p> +<p>I do not blame the Presbyterian Church for closing the mouth of +Professor Briggs. That church believes the Bible—all of +it—and the members did not feel like paying a man for showing +that it was not all inspired. Long ago the Presbyterians stopped +growing. They have been petrified for many years. Professor Briggs +had been growing. He had to leave the church or shrink. He left. +Then he joined the Episcopal Church. He probably supposed that that +church preferred the living to the dead. He knew about Colenso, +Stanley, Temple, Heber Newton, Dr. Rainsford and Farrar, and +thought that the finger and thumb of authority would not insist on +plucking from the mind the buds of thought.</p> +<p>Whether he was mistaken or not remains to be seen.</p> +<p>The Episcopal Church may refuse to ordain him, and by such +refusal put the bigot brand upon its brow.</p> +<p>The refusal cannot injure Professor Briggs. It will leave him +where it found him—with too much science for a churchman and +too much superstition for a scientist; with his feet in the gutter +and his head in the clouds.</p> +<p>I admire every man who is true to himself, to his highest ideal, +and who preserves unstained the veracity of his soul.</p> +<p>I believe in growth. I prefer the living to the dead. Men are +superior to mummies. Cradles are more beautiful than coffins. +Development is grander than decay. I do not agree with Professor +Briggs. I do not believe in inspired books, or in the Holy Ghost, +or that any God has ever appeared to man. I deny the existence of +the supernatural. I know of no religion that is founded on +facts.</p> +<p>But I cheerfully admit that Professor Briggs appears to be +candid, good tempered and conscientious—the opposite of those +who attack him. He is not a Freethinker, but he honestly thinks +that he is free.</p> +<a name="link0033" id="link0033"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>FRAGMENTS.</h2> +<center>CLOVER.</center> +<pre> + * A letter written to Col. Thomas Donaldson, of Philadelphia, + declining an invitation to be a guest of the Clover Club of + that city. +</pre> +<p>I regret that I cannot be "in clover" with you on the 28th +instant.</p> +<p>A wonderful thing is clover! It means honey and +cream,—that is to say, industry and contentment,—that +is to say, the happy bees in perfumed fields, and at the cottage +gate "bos" the bountiful serenely chewing satisfaction's cud, in +that blessed twilight pause that like a benediction falls between +all toil and sleep.</p> +<p>This clover makes me dream of happy hours; of childhood's rosy +cheeks; of dimpled babes; of wholesome, loving wives; of honest +men; of springs and brooks and violets and all there is of +stainless joy in peaceful human life.</p> +<p>A wonderful word is "clover"! Drop the "c," and you have the +happiest of mankind. Drop the "r," and "c," and you have left the +only thing that makes a heaven of this dull and barren earth. Drop +the "r," and there remains a warm, deceitful bud that sweetens +breath and keeps the peace in countless homes whose masters +frequent clubs. After all, Bottom was right:</p> +<p>"Good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow."</p> +<p>Yours sincerely and regretfully,</p> +<center>R. G. INGERSOLL.</center> +<p>Washington, D. C., January 16, 1883.</p> +<hr /> +<p>SUPERSTITION puts belief above goodness—credulity above +virtue.</p> +<p>Here are two men. One is industrious, frugal, honest, generous. +He has a happy home—loves his wife and children—fills +their lives with sunshine. He enjoys study, thoughts, music, and +all the subtleties of Art—but he does not believe the +creed—cares nothing for sacred books, worships no god and +fears no devil.</p> +<p>The other is ignorant, coarse, brutal, beats his wife and +children—but he believes—regards the Bible as +inspired—bows to the priests, counts his beads, says his +prayers, confesses and contributes, and the Catholic Church +declares and the Protestant Churches declare that he is the better +man.</p> +<p>The ignorant believer, coarse and brutal as he is, is going to +heaven. He will be washed in the blood of the Lamb. He will have +wings—a harp and a halo.</p> +<p>The intelligent and generous man who loves his +fellow-men—who develops his brain, who enjoys the beautiful, +is going to hell—to the eternal prison.</p> +<p>Such is the justice of God—the mercy of Christ.</p> +<hr /> +<p>WHILE reading the accounts of the coronation of the Czar, of the +pageants, processions and feasts, of the pomp and parade, of the +barbaric splendor, of cloth of gold and glittering gems, I could +not help thinking of the poor and melancholy peasants, of the +toiling, half-fed millions, of the sad and ignorant multitudes who +belong body and soul to this Czar.</p> +<p>I thought of the backs that have been scarred by the knout, of +the thousands in prisons for having dared to say a whispered word +for freedom, of the great multitude who had been driven like cattle +along the weary roads that lead to the hell of Siberia.</p> +<p>The cannon at Moscow were not loud enough, nor the clang of the +bells, nor the blare of the trumpets, to drown the groans of the +captives.</p> +<p>I thought of the fathers that had been torn from wives and +children for the crime of speaking like men.</p> +<p>And when the priests spoke of the Czar as the "God-selected +man," the "God-adorned man," my blood grew warm.</p> +<p>When I read of the coronation of the Czarina I thought of +Siberia. I thought of girls working in the mines, hauling ore from +the pits with chains about their waists; young girls, almost naked, +at the mercy of brutal officials; young girls weeping and moaning +their lives away because between their pure lips the word Liberty +had burst into blossom.</p> +<p>Yet law neglects, forgets them, and crowns the Czarina. The +injustice, the agony and horror in this poor world are enough to +make mankind insane.</p> +<p>Ignorance and superstition crown impudence and tyranny. Millions +of money squandered for the humiliation of man, to dishonor the +people.</p> +<p>Back of the coronation, back of all the ceremonies, back of all +the hypocrisy there is nothing but a lie.</p> +<p>It is not true that God "selected" this Czar to rule and rob a +hundred millions of human beings.</p> +<p>It is all an ignorant, barbaric, superstitious lie—a lie +that pomp and pageant, and flaunting flags, and robed priests, and +swinging censers, cannot change to truth.</p> +<p>Those who are not blinded by the glare and glitter at Moscow see +millions of homes on which the shadows fall; see millions of +weeping mothers, whose children have been stolen by the Czar; see +thousands of villages without schools, millions of houses without +books, millions and millions of men, women and children in whose +future there is no star and whose only friend is death.</p> +<p>The coronation is an insult to the nineteenth century.</p> +<p>Long live the people of Russia!</p> +<hr /> +<p>MUSIC.—The savage enjoys noises—explosion—the +imitation of thunder. This noise expresses his feeling. He enjoys +concussion. His ear and brain are in harmony. So, he takes +cognizance of but few colors. The neutral tints make no impression +on his eyes. He appreciates the flames of red and yellow. That is +to say, there is a harmony between his brain and eye. As he +advances, develops, progresses, his ear catches other sounds, his +eye other colors. He becomes a complex being, and there has entered +into his mind the idea of proportion. The music of the drum no +longer satisfies him. He sees that there is as much difference +between noises and melodies as between stones and statues. The +strings in Corti's Harp become sensitive and possibly new ones are +developed.</p> +<p>The eye keeps pace with the ear, and the worlds of sound and +sight increase from age to age.</p> +<p>The first idea of music is the keeping of time—a recurring +emphasis at intervals of equal length or duration. This is +afterward modified—the music of joy being fast, the emphasis +at short intervals, and that of sorrow slow.</p> +<p>After all, this music of time corresponds to the action of the +blood and muscles. There is a rise and fall under excitement of +both. In joy the heart beats fast, and the music corresponding to +such emotion is quick. In grief—in sadness, the blood is +delayed. In music the broad division is one of time. In language, +words of joy are born of light—that which shines—words +of grief of darkness and gloom. There is still another division: +The language of happiness comes also from heat, and that of sadness +from cold.</p> +<p>These ideas or divisions are universal. In all art are the light +and shadow—the heat and cold.</p> +<hr /> +<p>OF COURSE ENGLAND has no love for America. By England I mean the +governing class. Why should monarchy be in love with republicanism, +with democracy? The monarch insists that he gets his right to rule +from what he is pleased to call the will of God, whereas in a +republic the sovereign authority is the will of the people. It is +impossible that there should be any real friendship between the two +forms of government.</p> +<p>We must, however, remember one thing, and that is, that there is +an England within England—an England that does not belong to +the titled classes—an England that has not been bribed or +demoralized by those in authority; and that England has always been +our friend, because that England is the friend of liberty and of +progress everywhere. But the lackeys, the snobs, the flatterers of +the titled, those who are willing to crawl that they may rise, are +now and always have been the enemies of the great Republic.</p> +<p>It is a curious fact that in monarchical governments the highest +and lowest are generally friends. There may be a foundation for +this friendship in the fact that both are parasites—both live +on the labor of honest men. After all, there is a kinship between +the prince and the pauper. Both extend the hand for alms, and the +fact that one is jeweled and the other extremely dirty makes no +difference in principle—and the owners of these hands have +always been fast friends, and, in accordance with the great law of +ingratitude, both have held in contempt the people who supported +them.</p> +<p>One thing we must not forget, and that is that the best people +of England are our friends. The best writers, the best thinkers are +on our side. It is only natural that all who visit America should +find some fault. We find fault ourselves, and to be thin-skinned is +almost a plea of guilty. For my part, I have no doubt about the +future of America. It not only is, but is to be for many, many +generations, the greatest nation of the world.</p> +<p>I DO not care so much where, as with whom, I live. If the right +folks are with me I can manage to get a good deal of happiness in +the city or in the country. Cats love places and become attached to +chimney-corners and all sorts of nooks—but I have but little +of the cat in me, and am not particularly in love with places. +After all, a palace without affection is a poor hovel, and the +meanest hut with love in it is a palace for the soul.</p> +<p>If the time comes when poverty and want cease for the most part +to exist, then the city will be far better than the country. People +are always talking about the beauties of nature and the delights of +solitude, but to me some people are more interesting than rocks and +trees. As to city and country life I think that I substantially +agree with Touchstone:</p> +<p>"In respect that it is solitary I like it very well; but in +respect that it is private it is a very vile life. Now, in respect +it is in the fields it pleaseth me well; but in respect it is not +in the court it is tedious."</p> +<hr /> +<p>WHAT do I think of the lynchings in Georgia?</p> +<p>I suppose these outrages—these frightful crimes—make +the same impression on my mind that they do on the minds of all +civilized people. I know of no words strong enough, bitter enough, +to express my indignation and horror. Men who belong to the +"superior" race take a negro—a criminal, a supposed murderer, +one alleged to have assaulted a white woman—chain him to a +tree, saturate his clothing with kerosene, pile fagots about his +feet. This is the preparation for the festival. The people flock in +from the neighborhood—come in special trains from the towns. +They are going to enjoy themselves.</p> +<p>Laughing and cursing they gather about the victim. A man steps +from the crowd—a man who hates crime and loves virtue. He +draws his knife, and in a spirit of merry sport cuts off one of the +victim's ears. This he keeps for a trophy—a souvenir. Another +gentlemen fond of a jest cuts off the other ear. Another cuts off +the nose of the chained and helpless wretch. The victim suffered in +silence. He uttered no groan, no word—the one man of the two +thousand who had courage.</p> +<p>Other white heroes cut and slashed his flesh. The crowd cheered. +The people were intoxicated with joy. Then the fagots were lighted +and the bleeding and mutilated man was clothed in flame.</p> +<p>The people were wild with hideous delight. With greedy eyes they +watched him burn; with hungry ears they listened for his +shrieks—for the music of his moans and cries. He did not +shriek. The festival was not quite perfect.</p> +<p>But they had their revenge. They trampled on the charred and +burning corpse. They divided among themselves the broken bones. +They wanted mementos—keepsakes that they could give to their +loving wives and gentle babes.</p> +<p>These horrors were perpetrated in the name of justice. The +savages who did these things belong to the superior race. They are +citizens of the great Republic. And yet, it does not seem possible +that such fiends are human beings. They are a disgrace to our +country, our century and the human race.</p> +<p>Ex-Governor Atkinson protested against this savagery. He was +threatened with death. The good people were helpless. While these +lynchers murder the blacks they will destroy their own country. No +civilized man wishes to live where the mob is supreme. He does not +wish to be governed by murderers.</p> +<p>Let me say that what I have said is flattery compared with what +I feel. When I think of the other lynching—of the poor man +mutilated and hanged without the slightest evidence, of the negro +who said that these murders would be avenged, and who was brutally +murdered for the utterance of a natural feeling—I am utterly +at a loss for words.</p> +<p>Are the white people insane? Has mercy fled to beasts? Has the +United States no power to protect a citizen? A nation that cannot +or will not protect its citizens in time of peace has no right to +ask its citizens to protect it in time of War.</p> +<hr /> +<p>OUR COUNTRY.—Our country is all we hope for—all we +are. It is the grave of our father, of our mother, of each and +every one of the sacred dead.</p> +<p>It is every glorious memory of our race. Every heroic deed. +Every act of self-sacrifice done by our blood. It is all the +accomplishments of the past—all the wise things +said—all the kind things done—all the poems written and +all the poems lived—all the defeats sustained—all the +victories won—the girls we love—the wives we +adore—the children we carry in our hearts—all the +firesides of home—all the quiet springs, the babbling brooks, +the rushing rivers, the mountains, plains and woods—the dells +and dales and vines and vales.</p> +<hr /> +<p>GIFT GIVING.—I believe in the festival called +Christmas—not in the celebration of the birth of any man, but +to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness—the victory +of the sun.</p> +<p>I believe in giving gifts on that day, and a real gift should be +given to those who cannot return it; gifts from the rich to the +poor, from the prosperous to the unfortunate, from parents to +children.</p> +<p>There is no need of giving water to the sea or light to the sun. +Let us give to those who need, neither asking nor expecting return, +not even asking gratitude, only asking that the gift shall make the +receiver happy—and he who gives in that way increases his own +joy.</p> +<hr /> +<p>We have no right to enslave our children. We have no right to +bequeath chains and manacles to our heirs. We have no right to +leave a legacy of mental degradation.</p> +<p>Liberty is the birthright of all. Parents should not deprive +their children of the great gifts of nature. We cannot all leave +lands and gold to those we love; but we can leave Liberty, and that +is of more value than all the wealth of India.</p> +<p>The dead have no right to enslave the living. To worship +ancestors is to curse posterity. He who bows to the Past insults +the Future; and allows, so to speak, the dead to rob the unborn. +The coffin is good enough in its way, but the cradle is far better. +With the bones of the fathers they beat out the brains of the +children.</p> +<hr /> +<p>RANDOM THOUGHTS.—The road is short to anything we +fear.</p> +<pre> + Joy lives in the house beyond the one we reach. + In youth the time is halting, slow and lame. + In age the time is winged and eager as a flame. + The sea seems narrow as we near the farther shore. +</pre> +<p>Youth goes hand in hand with hope—old age with fear. .</p> +<p>Youth has a wish—old age a dread.</p> +<p>In youth the leaves and buds seem loath to grow.</p> +<p>Youth shakes the glass to speed the lingering sands.</p> +<p>Youth says to Time: O crutched and limping laggard, get thee +wings.</p> +<p>The dawn comes slowly, but the Westering day leaps like a lover +to the dusky bosom of the Ethiop night.</p> +<hr /> +<p>I THINK that all days are substantially alike in the long run. +It is no worse to drink on Sunday than on Monday. The idea that one +day in the week is holy is wholly idiotic. Besides, these closing +laws do no good.</p> +<p>Laws are not locks and keys. Saloon doors care nothing about +laws. Law or no law, people will slip in, and then, having had so +much trouble getting there, they will stay until they stagger out. +These nasty, meddlesome, Pharisaic, hypocritical laws make sneaks +and hypocrites. The children of these laws are like the fathers of +the laws. Ever since I can remember, people have been trying to +make other people temperate by intemperate laws. I have never known +of the slightest success. It is a pity that Christ manufactured +wine, a pity that Paul took heart and thanked God when he saw the +sign of the Three Taverns; a pity that Jehovah put alcohol in +almost everything that grows; a great pity that prayer-meetings are +not more popular than saloons; a pity that our workingmen do not +amuse themselves reading religious papers and the genealogies in +the Old Testament.</p> +<p>Rum has caused many quarrels and many murders.</p> +<p>Religion has caused many wars and covered countless fields with +dead.</p> +<p>Of course, all men should be temperate,—should avoid +excess—should keep the golden path between +extremes—should gather roses, not thorns. The only way to +make men temperate is to develop the brain.</p> +<p>When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men +are savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the +passions are servants, men are civilized. The people need +education—facts—philosophy. Drunkenness is one form of +intemperance, prohibition is another form. Another trouble is that +these little laws and ordinances can not be enforced.</p> +<p>Both parties want votes, and to get votes they will allow +unpopular laws to sleep, neglected, and finally refuse to enforce +them. These spasms of virtue, these convulsions of conscience are +soon over, and then comes a long period of neglectful rest.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE OLD AND NEW YEAR.—For countless ages the old earth has +been making, in alternating light and shade, in gleam and gloom, +the whirling circuit of the sun, leaving the record of its flight +in many forms—in leaves of stone, in growth of tree and vine +and flower, in glittering gems of many hues, in curious forms of +monstrous life, in ravages of flood and flame, in fossil fragments +stolen from decay by chance, in molten masses hurled from lips of +fire, in gorges worn by waveless, foamless cataracts of ice, in +coast lines beaten back by the imprisoned sea, in mountain ranges +and in ocean reefs, in islands lifted from the underworld—in +continents submerged and given back to light and life.</p> +<p>Another year has joined his shadowy fellows in the wide and +voiceless desert of the past, where, from the eternal hour-glass +forever fall the sands of time. Another year, with all its joy and +grief, of birth and death, of failure and success—of love and +hate. And now, the first day of the new o'er arches all. Standing +between the buried and the babe, we cry, "Farewell and +Hail!"—January 1,1893.</p> +<hr /> +<p>KNOWLEDGE consists in the perception of facts, their +relations—conditions, modes and results of action. Experience +is the foundation of knowledge—without experience it is +impossible to know. It may be that experience can be +transmitted—inherited. Suppose that an infinite being existed +in infinite space. He being the only existence, what knowledge +could he gain by experience? He could see nothing, hear nothing, +feel nothing. He would have no use for what we call the senses. +Could he use what we call the faculties of the mind? He could not +compare, remember, hope or fear. He could not reason. How could he +know that he existed? How could he use force? There was in the +universe nothing that would resist—nothing.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Most men are economical when dealing with abundance, hoarding +gold and wasting time—throwing away the sunshine of +life—the few remaining hours, and hugging to their shriveled +hearts that which they do not and cannot even expect to use. Old +age should enjoy the luxury of giving. How divine to live in the +atmosphere, the climate of gratitude! The men who clutch and +fiercely hold and look at wife and children with eyes dimmed by age +and darkened by suspicion, giving naught until the end, then give +to death the gratitude that should have been their own.</p> +<hr /> +<center>DEATH OF THE AGED.</center> +<pre> + * From a letter of condolence written to a friend on the + death of his mother. +</pre> +<p>After all, there is something tenderly appropriate in the serene +death of the old. Nothing is more touching than the death of the +young, the strong. But when the duties of life have all been nobly +done; when the sun touches the horizon; when the purple twilight +falls upon the past, the present, and the future; when memory, with +dim eyes, can scarcely spell the blurred and faded records of the +vanished days—then, surrounded by kindred and by friends, +death comes like a strain of music. The day has been long, the road +weary, and the traveler gladly stops at the welcome inn.</p> +<p>Nearly forty-eight years ago, under the snow, in the little town +of Cazenovia, my poor mother was buried. I was but two years old. I +remember her as she looked in death. That sweet, cold face has kept +my heart warm through all the changing years.</p> +<hr /> +<pre> + There is no cunning art to trace + In any feature, form or face, + + Or wrinkled palm, with criss-cross lines + The good or bad in peoples' minds. + + Nor can we guess men's thoughts or aims + By seeing how they write their names. + + We could as well foretell their acts + By getting outlines of their tracks. + + Ourselves we do not know—how then + Can we find out our fellow-men? + + And yet—although the reason laughs— + + We like to look at autographs— + + And almost think that we can guess + What lines and dots of ink express. +</pre> +<pre> + * From the autograph collection of Miss Eva Ingersoll + Farrell. + + August 11, 1892. R. G. Ingersoll. +</pre> +<hr /> +<p>The World is Growing Poor.—Darwin the naturalist, the +observer, the philosopher, is dead. Wagner the greatest composer +the world has produced, is silent. Hugo the poet, patriot and +philanthropist, is at rest. Three mighty rivers have ceased to +flow. The smallest insect was made interesting by Darwin's glance; +the poor blind worm became the farmer's friend—the maker of +the farm,—and even weeds began to dream and hope.</p> +<hr /> +<p>But if we live beyond life's day and reach the dusk, and slowly +travel in the shadows of the night, the way seems long, and being +weary we ask for rest, and then, as in our youth, we chide the +loitering hours. When eyes are dim and memory fails to keep a +record of events; when ears are dull and muscles fail to obey the +will; when the pulse is low and the tired heart is weak, and the +poor brain has hardly power to think, then comes the dream, the +hope of rest, the longing for the peace of dreamless sleep.</p> +<hr /> +<p>SAINTS.—The saints have poisoned life with piety. They +have soured the mother's milk. They have insisted that joy is +crime—that beauty is a bait with which the Devil captures the +souls of men—that laughter leads to sin—that pleasure, +in its every form, degrades, and that love itself is but the +loathsome serpent of unclean desire. They have tried to compel men +to love shadows rather than women—phantoms rather than +people.</p> +<p>The saints have been the assassins of sunshine,—the +skeletons at feasts. They have been the enemies of happiness. They +have hated the singing birds, the blossoming plants. They have +loved the barren and the desolate—the croaking raven and the +hooting owl—tombstones, rather than statues.</p> +<p>And yet, with a strange inconsistency, happiness was to be +enjoyed forever, in another world. There, pleasure, with all its +corrupting influences, was to be eternal. No one pretended that +heaven was to be filled with self-denial, with fastings and +scourgings, with weepings and regrets, with solemn and emaciated +angels, with sad-eyed seraphim, with lonely parsons, with mumbling +monks, with shriveled nuns, with days of penance and with nights of +prayer.</p> +<p>Yet all this self-denial on the part of the saints was founded +in the purest selfishness. They were to be paid for all their +sufferings in another world. They were "laying up treasures in +heaven." They had made a bargain with God. He had offered eternal +joy to those who would make themselves miserable here. The saints +gladly and cheerfully accepted the terms. They expected pay for +every pang of hunger, for every groan, for every tear, for every +temptation resisted; and this pay was to bean eternity of joy. The +selfishness of the saints was equaled only by the stupidity of the +saints.</p> +<p>It is not true that character is the aim of life. Happiness +should be the aim—and as a matter of fact is and always has +been the aim, not only of sinners, but of saints. The saints seemed +to think that happiness was better in another world than here, and +they expected this happiness beyond the clouds. They looked upon +the sinner as foolish to enjoy himself for the moment here, and in +consequence thereof to suffer forever. Character is not an end, it +is a means to an end. The object of the saint is happiness +hereafter—the means, to make himself miserable here. The +object of the philosopher is happiness here and now, and +hereafter,—if there be another world.</p> +<p>If struggle and temptation, misery and misfortune, are essential +to the formation of what you call character, how do you account for +the perfection of your angels, or for the goodness of your God? +Were the angels perfected through misfortune? If happiness is the +only good in heaven, why should it not be considered the only good +here?</p> +<p>In order to be happy, we must be in harmony with the conditions +of happiness. It cannot be obtained by prayer,—it does not +come from heaven—it must be found here, and nothing should be +done, or left undone, for the sake of any supernatural being, but +for the sake of ourselves and other natural beings.</p> +<p>The early Christians were preparing for the end of the world. In +their view, life was of no importance except as it gave them time +to prepare for "The Second Coming." They were crazed by fear. Since +that time, the world not coming to the expected end, they have been +preparing for "The Day of Judgment," and have, to the extent of +their ability, filled the world with horror. For centuries, it was, +and still is, their business to destroy the pleasures of this life. +In the midst of prosperity they have prophesied disaster. At every +feast they have spoken of famine, and over the cradle they have +talked of death. They have held skulls before the faces of +terrified babes. On the cheeks of health they see the worms of the +grave, and in their eyes the white breasts of love are naught but +corruption and decay.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE WASTE FORCES OF NATURE.—For countless years the great +cataracts, as for instance, Niagara, have been singing their solemn +songs, filling the savage with terror, the civilized with awe; +recording its achievements in books of stone—useless and +sublime; inspiring beholders with the majesty of purposeless force +and the wastefulness of nature.</p> +<p>Force great enough to turn the wheels of the world, lost, +useless.</p> +<p>So with the great tides that rise and fall on all the shores of +the world—lost forces. And yet man is compelled to use to +exhaustion's point the little strength he has.</p> +<p>This will be changed.</p> +<p>The great cataracts and the great tides will submit to the +genius of man. They are to be for use. Niagara will not be allowed +to remain a barren roar. It must become the servant of man. It will +weave robes for men and women. It will fashion implements for the +farmer and the mechanic. It will propel coaches for rich and poor. +It will fill streets and homes with light, and the old barren roar +will be changed to songs of success, to the voices of love and +content and joy.</p> +<p>Science at last has found that all forces are convertible into +each other, and that all are only different aspects of one +fact.</p> +<p>So the flood is still a terror, but, in my judgment, the time +will come when the floods will be controlled by the genius of man, +when the tributaries of the great rivers and their tributaries will +be dammed in such a way as to collect the waters of every flood and +give them out gradually through all the year, maintaining an equal +current at all times in the great rivers.</p> +<p>We have at last found that force occupies a circle, that Niagara +is a child of the Sun—that the sun shines, the mist rises, +clouds form, the rain falls, the rivers flow to the lakes, and +Niagara fills the heavens with its song. Man will arrest the +falling flood; he will change its force to electricity; that is to +say, to light, and then force will have made the circuit from light +to light.</p> +<hr /> +<p>ARE Men's characters fully determined at the age of thirty?</p> +<p>It depends, first, on what their opportunities have +been—that is to say, on their surroundings, their education, +their advantages; second, on the shape, quality and quantity of +brain they happen to possess; third, on their mental and moral +courage; and, fourth, on the character of the people among whom +they live.</p> +<p>The natural man continues to grow. The longer he lives, the more +he ought to know, and the more he knows, the more he changes the +views and opinions held by him in his youth. Every new fact results +in a change of views more or less radical. This growth of the mind +may be hindered by the "tyrannous north wind" of public opinion; by +the bigotry of his associates; by the fear that he cannot make a +living if he becomes unpopular; and it is to some extent affected +by the ambition of the person; that is to say, if he wishes to hold +office the tendency is to agree with his neighbor, or at least to +round off and smooth the corners and angles of difference. If a man +wishes to ascertain the truth, regardless of the opinions of his +fellow-citizens, the probability is that he will change from day to +day and from year to year—that is, his intellectual horizon +will widen—and that what he once deemed of great importance +will be regarded as an exceedingly small segment of a greater +circle.</p> +<p>Growth means change. If a man grows after thirty years he must +necessarily change. Many men probably reach their intellectual +height long before they have lived thirty years, and spend the +balance of their lives in defending the mistakes of their youth. A +great man continues to grow until his death, and growth—as I +said before—means change. Darwin was continually finding new +facts, and kept his mind as open to a new truth as the East is to +the rising of another sun. Humboldt at the age of ninety maintained +the attitude of a pupil, and was, until the moment of his death, +willing to learn.</p> +<p>The more a man knows, the more willing he is to learn. The less +a man knows, the more positive, a? is that he knows everything.</p> +<p>The smallest minds mature the earliest. The less there is to a +man the quicker he attains his growth. I have known many people who +reached their intellectual height while in their mother's arms. I +have known people who were exceedingly smart babies to become +excessively stupid people. It is with men as with other things. The +mullein needs only a year, but the oak a century, and the greatest +men are those who have continued to grow as long as they have +lived. Small people delight in what they call +consistency—that is, it gives them immense pleasure to say +that they believe now exactly as they did ten years ago. This +simply amounts to a certificate that they have not grown—that +they have not developed—and that they know just as little now +as they ever did. The highest possible conception of consistency is +to be true to the knowledge of to-day, without the slightest +reference to what your opinion was years ago.</p> +<p>There is another view of this subject. Few men have settled +opinions before or at thirty. Of course, I do not include persons +of genius. At thirty the passions have, as a rule, too much +influence; the intellect is not the pilot. At thirty most men have +prejudices rather than opinions—that is to say, rather than +judgments—and few men have lived to be sixty without +materially modifying the opinions they held at thirty.</p> +<p>As I said in the first place, much depends on the shape, quality +and quantity of brain; much depends on mental and moral courage. +There are many people with great physical courage who are afraid to +express their opinions; men who will meet death without a tremor +and will yet hesitate to express their views.</p> +<p>So, much depends on the character of the people among whom we +live. A man in the old times living in New England thought several +times before he expressed any opinion contrary to the views of the +majority. But if the people have intellectual hospitality, then men +express their views—and it may be that we change somewhat in +proportion to the decency of our neighbors. In the old times it was +thought that God was opposed to any change of opinion, and that +nothing so excited the auger of the deity as the expression of a +new thought. That idea is fading away.</p> +<p>The real truth is that men change their opinions as long as they +grow, and only those remain of the same opinion still who have +reached the intellectual autumn of their lives; who have gone to +seed, and who are simply waiting for the winter of death. Now and +then there is a brain in which there is the climate of perpetual +spring—men who never grow old—and when such a one is +found we say, "Here is a genius."</p> +<p>Talent has the four seasons: spring, that is to say, the sowing +of the seeds; summer, growth; autumn, the harvest; winter, +intellectual death. But there is now and then a genius who has no +winter, and, no matter how many years he may live, on the blossom +of his thought no snow falls. Genius has the climate of perpetual +growth.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE MOIETY SYSTEM.—The Secretary of the Treasury +recommends a revival of the moiety system. Against this infamous +step every honest citizen ought to protest.</p> +<p>In this country, taxes cannot be collected through such +instrumentalities. An <i>informer</i> is not indigenous to our +soil. He always has been and always will be held in merited +contempt.</p> +<p>Every inducement, by this system, is held out to the informer to +become a liar. The spy becomes an officer of the Government. He +soon becomes the terror of his superior. He is a sword without a +hilt and without a scabbard. Every taxpayer becomes the lawful prey +of a detective whose property depends upon the destruction of his +prey.</p> +<p>These informers and spies are corrupters of public morals. They +resort to all known dishonest means for the accomplishment of what +they pretend to be an honest object. With them perjury becomes a +fine art. Their words are a commodity bought and sold in courts of +justice.</p> +<p>This is the first phase. In a little while juries will refuse to +believe them, and every suit in which they are introduced will be +lost by the Government. Of this the real thieves will be quick to +take advantage. So many honest men will have been falsely charged +by perjured informers and moiety miscreants, that to convict the +guilty will become impossible. If the Government wishes to collect +the taxes it must set an honorable example. It must deal kindly and +honestly with the people. It must not inaugurate a vampire system +of espionage. It must not take it for granted that every +manufacturer and importer is a thief, and that all spies and +informers are honest men.</p> +<p>The revenues of this country are as honestly paid as they are +expended. There has been as much fair dealing outside as inside of +the Treasury Department.</p> +<p>But, however that may be, the informer system will not make them +honest men, but will in all probability produce exactly the +opposite result. If our system of taxation is so unpopular that the +revenues cannot be collected without bribing men to tell the truth; +if our officers must be offered rewards beyond their salaries to +state the facts; if it is impossible to employ men to discharge +their duties honestly, then let us change the system. The moiety +system makes the Treasury Department a vast vampire sucking the +blood of the people upon shares. Americans detest informers, spies, +detectives, turners of State's evidence, eavesdroppers, paid +listeners, hypocrites, public smellers, trackers, human hounds and +ferrets. They despise men who "suspect" for a living; they hate +legal lyers-in-wait and the highwaymen of the law. They abhor the +betrayers of friends and those who lead and tempt others to commit +a crime in order that they may detect it. In a monarchy, the +detective system is a necessity. The great thief has to be +sustained by smaller ones.—December 4,1877.</p> +<hr /> +<p>LANGUAGE.—Most people imagine that men have always talked; +that language is as old as the race; and it is supposed that some +language was taught by some mythological god to the first pair. But +we now know, if we know anything, that language is a growth; that +every word had to be created by man, and that back of every word is +some want, some wish, some necessity of the body or mind, and also +a genius to embody that want or that wish, to express that thought +in some sound that we call a word.</p> +<p>At first, the probability is that men uttered sounds of fear, of +content, of anger, or happiness. And the probability is that the +first sounds or cries expressed such feelings, and these sounds +were nouns, adjectives, and verbs.</p> +<p>After a time, man began to give his ideas to others by rude +pictures, drawings of animals and trees and the various other +things with which he could give rude thoughts. At first he would +make a picture of the whole animal. Afterward some part of the +animal would stand for the whole, and in some of the old +picture-writings the curve of the nostril of a horse stands for the +animal. This was the shorthand of picture-writing. But it was a +long journey to where marks would stand, not for pictures, but for +sounds. And then think of the distance still to the alphabet. Then +to writing, so that marks took entirely the place of pictures. Then +the invention of movable type, and then the press, making it +possible to save the wealth of the brain; making it possible for a +man to leave not simply his property to his fellow-man, not houses +and lands and dollars, but his ideas, his thoughts, his theories, +his dreams, the poetry and pathos of his soul. Now each generation +is heir to all the past.</p> +<p>If we had free thought, then we could collect the wealth of the +intellectual world. In the physical world, springs make the creeks +and brooks, and they the rivers, and the rivers empty into the +great sea. So each brain should add to the sum of human knowledge. +If we deny freedom of thought, the springs cease to gurgle, the +rivers to run, and the great ocean of knowledge becomes a desert of +barren, ignorant sand.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THIS IS AN AGE OF MONEY-GETTING, of materialism, of cold, +unfeeling science. The question arises, Is the world growing less +generous, less heroic, less chivalric?</p> +<p>Let us answer this. The experience of the individual is much +like the experience of a generation, or of a race. An old man +imagines that everything was better when he was young; that the +weather could then be depended on; that sudden changes are recent +inventions. So he will tell you that people used to be honest; that +the grocers gave full weight and the merchants full measure, and +that the bank cashier did not spend the evening of his days in +Canada.</p> +<p>He will also tell you that the women were handsome and virtuous. +There were no scandals then, no divorces, and that in religion all +were orthodox—no Infidels. Before he gets through, he will +probably tell you that the art of cooking has been lost—that +nobody can make biscuit now, and that he never expects to eat +another slice of good bread.</p> +<p>He mistakes the twilight of his own life for the coming of the +night of universal decay and death. He imagines that that has +happened to the world, which has only happened to him. It does not +occur to him that millions at the moment he is talking are +undergoing the experience of his youth, and that when they become +old they will praise the very days that he denounces.</p> +<p>The Garden of Eden has always been behind us. The Golden Age, +after all, is the memory of youth—it is the result of +remembered pleasure in the midst of present pain.</p> +<p>To old age youth is divine, and the morning of life +cloudless.</p> +<p>So now thousands and millions of people suppose that the age of +true chivalry has gone by and that honesty has about concluded to +leave the world. As a matter of fact, the age known as the age of +chivalry was the age of tyranny, of arrogance and cowardice. Men +clad in complete armor cut down the peasants that were covered with +leather, and these soldiers of the chivalric age armored themselves +to that degree that if they fell in battle they could not rise, +held to the earth by the weight of iron that their bravery had got +itself entrenched within. Compare the difference in courage between +going to war in coats of mail against sword and spear, and charging +a battery of Krupp guns!</p> +<p>The ideas of justice have grown larger and nobler. Charity now +does, without a thought, what the average man a few centuries ago +was incapable of imagining. In the old times slavery was upheld, +and imprisonment for debt. Hundreds of crimes—or rather +misdemeanors—were punishable by death. Prisons were loathsome +beyond description. Thousands and thousands died in chains. The +insane were treated like wild beasts; no respect was paid to sex or +age. Women were burned and beheaded and torn asunder as though they +had been hyenas, and children were butchered with the greatest +possible cheerfulness.</p> +<p>So it seems to me that the world is more chivalric, more +generous, nearer just and fair, more charitable, than ever +before.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE COLORED MAN is doing well. He is hungry for knowledge. Their +children are going to school. Colored boys are taking prizes in the +colleges. A colored man was the orator of Harvard. They are +industrious, and in the South many are becoming rich. As the +people, black and white, become educated they become better +friends. The old prejudice is the child of ignorance. The colored +man will succeed if the South succeeds. The South is richer to-day +than ever before, more prosperous, and both races are really +improving. The greatest danger in the South, and for that matter +all over the country, is the mob. It is the duty of every good +citizen to denounce the mob. Down with the mob.</p> +<hr /> +<p>FREEDOM OF RELIGION is the destruction of religion. In Rome, +after people were allowed to worship their own gods, all gods fell +into disrepute. It will be so in America. Here is freedom of +religion, and all devotees find that the gods of other devotees are +just as good as theirs. They find that the prayers of others are +answered precisely as their prayers are answered.</p> +<p>The Protestant God is no better than the Catholic, and the +Catholic is no better than the Mormon, and the Mormon is no better +than Nature for answering prayers. In other words, all prayers die +in the air which they uselessly agitate. There is undoubtedly a +tendency among the Protestant denominations to unite. This tendency +is born of weakness, not of strength. In a few years, if all should +unite, they would hardly have power enough to obstruct, for any +considerable time, the march of the intellectual host destined to +conquer the world. But let us all be good natured; let us give to +others all the rights that we claim for ourselves. The future, I +believe, has both hands full of blessings for the human race.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE DEISTS AND NATURE.—We who deny the supernatural origin +of the Bible, must admit not only that it exists, but that it was +naturally produced. If it is not supernatural, it is natural. It +will hardly do for the worshipers of Nature to hold the Bible in +contempt, simply because it is not a supernatural book.</p> +<p>The Deists of the last century made a mistake. They proceeded to +show that the Bible is immoral, untrue, cruel and absurd, and +therefore came to the conclusion that it could not have been +written by a being of infinite wisdom and goodness,—the being +whom they believed to be the author of Nature. Could not infinite +wisdom and goodness just as easily command crime as to permit it? +Is it really any worse to order the strong to slay the weak, than +to stand by and refuse to protect the weak?</p> +<p>After all, is Nature, taken together, any better than the Bible? +If God did not command the Jews to murder the Canaanites, Nature, +to say the least, did not prevent it. If God did not uphold the +practice of polygamy, Nature did. The moment we deny the +supernatural origin of the Bible, we declare that Nature wrote its +every word, commanded all its cruelties, told all its falsehoods. +The Bible is, like Nature, a mixture of what we call "good" and +"bad,"—of what appears, and of what in reality is.</p> +<p>The Bible must have been a perfectly natural production not +only, but a necessary one. There was, and is, no power in the +universe that could have changed one word. All the mistakes in +translation were necessarily made, and not one, by any possibility, +could have been avoided. That book, like all other facts in Nature, +could not have been otherwise than it is. The fact being that +Nature has produced all superstitions, all persecution, all +slavery, and every crime, ought to be sufficient to deter the +average man from imagining that this power, whatever it may be, is +worthy of worship.</p> +<p>There is good in Nature. It is the nature in us that perceives +the evil, that pursues the right. In man, Nature not only +contemplates herself, but approves or condemns her actions. Of +course, "good" and "bad" are relative terms, and things are "good" +or "bad" as they affect man well or ill.</p> +<p>Infidels, skeptics,—that is to say, Freethinkers, have +opposed the Bible on account of the bad things in it, and +Christians have upheld it, not on account of the bad, but on +account of the good. Throw away the doctrine of inspiration, and +the Bible will be more powerful for good and far less for evil. +Only a few years ago, Christians looked upon the Bible as the +bulwark of human slavery. It was the word of God, and for that +reason was superior to the reason of uninspired man. Had it been +considered simply as the work of man, it would not have been quoted +to establish that which the man of this age condemns. Throw away +the idea of inspiration, and all passages in conflict with liberty, +with science, with the experience of the intelligent part of the +human race, instantly become harmless. They are no longer guides +for man. They are simply the opinions of dead barbarians. The good +passages not only remain, but their influence is increased, because +they are relieved of a burden.</p> +<p>No one cares whether the truth is inspired or not. The truth is +independent of man, not only, but of God. And by truth I do not +mean the absolute, I mean this: Truth is the relation between +things and thoughts, and between thoughts and thoughts. The +perception of this relation bears the same relation to the logical +faculty in man, that music does to some portion of the +brain—that is to say, it is a mental melody. This sublime +strain has been heard by a few, and I am enthusiastic enough to +believe that it will be the music of the future.</p> +<p>For the good and for the true in the Old and New Testaments I +have the same regard that I have for the good and true, no matter +where they may be found. We who know how false the history of +to-day is; we who know the almost numberless mistakes that men make +who are endeavoring to tell the truth; we who know how hard it is, +with all the facilities we now have—with the daily press, the +telegraph, the fact that nearly all can read and write—to get +a truthful report of the simplest occurrence, must see that nothing +short of inspiration (admitting for the moment the possibility of +such a thing,) could have prevented the Scriptures from being +filled with error.</p> +<hr /> +<p>AT LAST, THE SCHOOLHOUSE is larger than the church. The common +people have, through education, become uncommon. They now know how +little is really known by kings, presidents, legislators, and +professors. At last, they are capable of not only understanding a +few questions, but they have acquired the art of discussing those +that no one understands. With the facility of the cultured, they +can now hide behind phrases and make barricades of statistics. They +understand the sophistries of the upper classes; and while the +cultured have been turning their attention to the classics, to the +dead languages, and the dead ideas that they contain,—while +they have been giving their attention to ceramics, artistic +decorations, and compulsory prayers, the common people have been +compelled to learn the practical things. They are acquainted with +facts, because they have done the work of the world.</p> +<hr /> +<p>CRUELTY.—Sometimes it has seemed to me that cruelty is the +climate of crime, and that generosity is the Spring, Summer and +Autumn of virtue. Every form of wickedness, of meanness, springs +from selfishness, that is to say, from cruelty. Every good man +hates and despises the wretch who abuses wife and child—who +rules by curses and blows and makes his home a kind of hell. So, no +generous man wishes to associate with one who overworks his horse +and feeds the lean and fainting beast with blows.</p> +<p>The barbarian delights in inflicting pain. He loves to see his +victim bleed,—but the civilized man staunches blood, binds up +wounds and decreases pain. He pities the suffering animal as well +as the suffering man.</p> +<p>He would no more inflict wanton wounds upon a dog than on a man. +The heart of the civilized man speaks for the dumb and +helpless.</p> +<p>A good man would no more think of flaying a living animal than +of murdering his mother. The man who cuts a hoof from the leg of a +horse is capable of committing any crime that does not require +courage. Such an experiment can be of no use. Under no +circumstances are hoofs taken from horses for the good of the +horses any more than their heads would be cut off.</p> +<p>Think of the pain inflicted by separating the hoof of a living +horse from the flesh! If the poor beast could speak what would he +say? The same knowledge could be obtained by cutting away the hoof +of a dead horse. Knowledge of every bone, ligament, artery and +vein, of every cartilage and joint can be obtained by the +dissection of the dead. "But," says the biologist, "we must dissect +the living."</p> +<p>Well, millions of living animals have been cut in pieces; +millions of experiments have been tried; all the nerves have been +touched; every possible agony has been inflicted that ingenuity +could invent and cruelty accomplish. Many volumes have been +published filled with accounts of these experiments, giving all the +details and the results. People who are curious about such things +can read these reports. There is no need of repeating these savage +experiments. It is now known how long a dog can live with all the +pores of his skin closed, how long he can survive the loss of his +skin, or one lobe of his brain, or both of his kidneys, or part of +his intestines, or without his liver, and there is no necessity of +mutilating and mangling thousands of other dogs to substantiate +what is already known.</p> +<p>Of what possible use is it to know just how long an animal can +live without water—at what time he becomes insane from +thirst, or blind or deaf?</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE WORLD'S FAIR will do great good. A great many thousand +people of the Old World will for the first time understand the new; +will for the first time appreciate what a free people can do. For +the first time they will know the value of free institutions, of +individual independence, of a country where people express their +thoughts, are not afraid of each other, not afraid to try—a +people so accustomed to success that disaster is not taken into +calculation. Of course, we have great advantages. We have a new +half of the world. We have soil better than is found in other +countries, and the soil is new and generous and anxious to be +cultivated. So we have everything in hill and mountain that man can +need—silver, and gold, and iron beyond computation—and, +in addition to all that, our people are the most inventive. We +sustain about the same relation to invention that Italy in her +palmy days did to art, or that Spain did to superstition.</p> +<p>And right here it may be well enough to say that I think it was +exceedingly unfortunate that this country was discovered under the +auspices of Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella were a couple of +wretches. The same year that Columbus discovered America, these +sovereigns expelled the Jews from Spain, and the expulsion was +accompanied by every outrage, by every atrocity to which +man—that is to say, savage man—that is to say, the +superstitious savage—is capable of inflicting.</p> +<p>The Spaniards came to America and destroyed two civilizations +far better than their own. They were natural robbers, buccaneers, +and thought nothing of murdering thousands for gold. I am perfectly +willing to celebrate the fact of discovery, but for the sovereigns +of Spain I am not willing to celebrate, except, perhaps their +deaths. There is at least some joy to be extracted from that.</p> +<p>In spite of the untoward circumstances under which the continent +was discovered and settled, there is one thing that counteracted to +a certain degree the influence of the Old World in the New. +Possibly we owe our liberty to the Indians. If there had been no +hostile savages on this continent, the kings and princes of the Old +World would have taken possession and would have divided it out +among their favorites. They tried to do that, but their favorites +could not take possession. They had to fight for the soil and in +the conflict of centuries they found that a good fighter was a good +citizen, and the ideas of caste were slowly lost.</p> +<p>Then another thing was of benefit to us. The settlers felt that +they had earned the soil; that they had fought for it, gained it by +their sufferings, their courage, their selfdenial, and their labor; +and the idea crept into their heads that the kings in Europe, who +had done nothing, had no right to dictate to them.</p> +<p>Thus at first the spirit of caste was destroyed by +respectability resting on usefulness. The spirit of subserviency to +the Old World also died, and the people who had rescued the land +made up their minds not only to own it, but to control it. They +were also firmly convinced that the profits belonged to them. In +this way manhood was recognized in the New World. In this way grew +up the feeling of nationality here.</p> +<p>What I wish to see celebrated in this great exposition are the +triumphs that have been achieved in this New World. These I wish to +see above all. At the same time I want the best that labor and +thought have produced in all countries. It seems to me that in the +presence of the wonderful machines, of those marvelous mechanical +contrivances by which we take advantage of the forces of nature, by +which we make servants of the elemental powers—in the +presence, I say, of these, it seems to me respect for labor must be +born. We shall begin to appreciate the men of use instead of those +who have posed as decorations. All the beautiful things, all the +useful things, come from labor, and it is labor that has made the +world a fit habitation for the human race.</p> +<p>Take from the World's Fair what labor has produced—the +work of the great artists—and nothing will be left. What have +the great conquerors to show in this great exhibition? What shall +we get from the Caesars and the Napoleons? What shall we get from +popes and cardinals? What shall we get from the nobility? From +princes and lords and dukes? What excuse have they for having +existence and for having lived on the bread earned by honest men? +They stand in the show-windows of history, lay figures, on which +fine goods are shown, but inside the raiment there is nothing, and +never was. This exposition will be the apotheosis of labor. No man +can attend it without losing, if he has any sense at all, the +spirit of caste; or, if he still maintains it, he will put the +useful in the highest class, and the useless, whether carrying +sceptres or dishes for alms, in the lowest.—October, +1892.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE SAVAGE made of the river, the tree, the mountain, a fetich. +He put within, or behind these things, a spirit—according to +Mr. Spencer, the spirit of a dead ancestor. This is considered by +the modern Christian, and in fact by the modern philosopher, as the +lowest possible phase of the religious idea. To put behind the +river or the tree, or within them, a spirit, a something, is +considered the religion of savagery; but to put behind the +universe, or within it, the same kind of fetich, is considered the +height of philosophy.</p> +<p>For my part, I see no possible distinction in these systems, +except that the view of the savage is altogether the more poetic. +The <i>fetich</i> of the savage is the <i>noumenon</i> of the +Greek, the <i>God</i> of the theologian, the <i>First Cause</i> of +the metaphysician, the <i>Unknowable</i> of Spencer.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE UNTHINKABLE.—It is admitted by all who have thought +upon the question that a First Cause is unthinkable—that a +creative power is beyond the reach of human thought. It therefore +follows that the miraculous is unthinkable. There is no possible +way in which the human mind can even think of a miracle. It is +infinitely beyond our power of conception. We can conceive of the +statement, but not of the thing. It is impossible for the intellect +to conceive of a clay pot producing oil. It is impossible to +conceive even, of human life being perpetuated in the midst of +fire. This is just as unthinkable as that twice two are +twenty-seven. A man can say that three times three are two, but it +is impossible to think of any such thing—that is, to think of +such a statement as true. A man may say that he heard a stone sing +a song and heard it afterward repeat a part of Milton's "Paradise +Lost." Now, I can conceive of a man telling such a falsehood, but I +cannot conceive of the thing having happened.</p> +<hr /> +<p>CAN HUMAN TESTIMONY Overcome the Apparently Impossible Without +Explanation?—It can only be believed by a philosophic mind +when explained—that is to say, by being destroyed as a +miracle, and persisting simply as a fact.</p> +<p>Now, I say that a miracle is unthinkable because a power above +Nature, a power that created Nature, is unthinkable. And if a power +above Nature be unthinkable, the miracles claiming to be +supernatural are unthinkable. In other words, all consequences +flowing from a belief in an infinite Creator are necessarily +unthinkable.</p> +<hr /> +<p>EDOUARD REMENYI.—This week the great violinist, Edouard +Remenyi, as my guest, visited the Bass Rocks House, Cape Ann, +Mass., and for three days delighted and entranced the fortunate +idlers of the beach. He played nearly all the time, night and day, +seemingly carried away with his own music. Among the many +selections given, were the andante from the Tenth Sonata in E flat, +also from the Twelfth Sonata in G minor, by Mozart. Nothing could +exceed the wonderful playing of the selections from the Twelfth +Sonata. A hush as of death fell upon the audience, and when he +ceased, tears fell upon applauding hands. Then followed the Elegie +from Ernst; then "The Ideal Dance" composed by himself—a +fairy piece, full of wings and glancing feet, moonlight and melody, +where fountains fall in showers of pearl, and waves of music die on +sands of gold—then came the "Barcarole" by Schubert, and he +played this with infinite spirit, in a kind of inspired frenzy, as +though music itself were mad with joy; then the grand Sonata in G, +in three movements, by Beethoven.—August, 1880.</p> +<p>Remenyi's Playing.—In my mind the old tones are still +rising and falling—still throbbing, pleading, beseeching, +imploring, wailing like the lost—rising winged and +triumphant, superb and victorious—then caressing, whispering +every thought of love—intoxicated, delirious with +joy—panting with passion—fading to silence as softly +and imperceptibly as consciousness is lost in sleep.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE KINDERGARTEN is perfectly adapted to the natural needs and +desires of children. Most children dislike the old system and go +"unwillingly to school." They feel imprisoned and wait impatiently +for their liberty. They learn without understanding and take no +interest in their lessons. In the Kindergarten there is perfect +liberty, and study is transformed into play. To learn is a +pleasure. There are no wearisome tasks—no mental +drudgery—nothing but enjoyment,—the enjoyment of +natural development in natural ways. Children do not have to be +driven to the Kindergarten. To be kept away is a punishment.</p> +<p>The experience in many towns and cities justifies our belief +that the Kindergarten is the only valuable school for little +children. They are brought in contact with actual things—with +forms and colors—things that can be seen and touched, and +they are taught to use their hands and senses—to understand +qualities and relations, and all is done under the guise of play. +We agree with Froebel who said: "Let us live for our children."</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE METHODIST CHURCH STATISTICS.—First. In 1800, a +resolution in favor of gradual emancipation was defeated.</p> +<p>Second. In 1804, resolutions passed requiring ministers to +exhort slaves to be obedient to their masters.</p> +<p>Third. In 1808, everything about laymen owning slaves Stricken +out.</p> +<p>Fourth. In 1820, a resolution that ministers should not hold +slaves was defeated.</p> +<p>Fifth. In 1836, a resolution passed that the Methodist Church +opposed, abolition of slavery—one hundred and twenty to +fourteen.</p> +<p>Sixth. In 1845-1846, the Methodist Church divided—Bishop +Andrews owned slaves.</p> +<p>Seventh. As late as 1860 there were over ten thousand Methodists +who were slaveholders in the M. E. Church, North.</p> +<hr /> +<p>117 East 21st Str., N. Y.</p> +<pre> + * Response to an invitation to a dinner and a billiard + tournament at the Manhattan Athletic Club, New York City. +</pre> +<p>Feby. 18, 1899.</p> +<p>My Dear Dr. Ranney:</p> +<p>I go to Boston to-morrow. So, you see it is impossible for me to +be with you on the 22d inst. I would like to make a few remarks on +"orthodox billiards." The fact is that the whole world is a table, +we are the balls and Fate plays the game. We are knocked and +whacked against each other,—followed and drawn—whirled +and twisted, pocketed and spotted, and all the time we think that +we are doing the playing. But no matter, we feel that we are in the +game, and a real good illusion is, after all, it may be, the only +reality that we know. At the same time, I feel that Fate is a +careless player—that he is always a little nervous and +generally forgets to chalk his cue. I know that he has made lots of +mistakes with me—lots of misses.</p> +<p>With many thanks, I remain, yours always.</p> +<p>R. G. Ingersoll.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THOUGHTS ON CHRISTMAS, 1891.—It is beautiful to give one +day to the ideal—to have one day apart; one day for generous +deeds, for good will, for gladness; one day to forget the shadows, +the rains, the storms of life; to remember the sunshine, the +happiness of youth and health; one day to forget the briers and +thorns of the winding path, to remember the fruits and flowers; one +day in which to feed the hungry, to salute the poor and lowly; one +day to feel the brotherhood of man; one day to remember the heroic +and loving deeds of the dead; one day to get acquainted with +children, to remember the old, the unfortunate and the imprisoned; +one day in which to forget yourself and think lovingly of others; +one day for the family, for the fireside, for wife and children, +for the love and laughter, the joy and rapture, of home; one day in +which bonds and stocks and deeds and notes and interest and +mortgages and all kinds of business and trade are forgotten, and +all stores and shops and factories and offices and banks and +ledgers and accounts and lawsuits are cast aside, put away and +locked up, and the weary heart and brain are given a voyage to +fairyland.</p> +<p>Let us hope that such a day is a prophecy of what all days will +be.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE ORTHODOX PREACHERS are several centuries in the rear. They +all love the absurd, and glory in believing the impossible. They +are also as conservative as though they were dead—good +people—the leaders of those who are going backward.</p> +<hr /> +<pre> + The Man who builds a home erects a temple. + The flame upon the hearth is the sacred fire. + He who loves wife and children is the true worshiper. + Forms and ceremonies, kneelings and fastings are born of selfish fear. + A good deed is the best prayer. + A loving life is the best religion. + No one knows whether the Unknown is worthy of worship or not. +</pre> +<hr /> +<p>WE TWO, THE DOUBTING BRAIN AND HOPING HEART, with somber thought +and radiant wish, in dusk and dawn, in light and shade 'neath star +and sun, together journeying toward the night. And then the end, +sighs the doubting brain—but there is no end, says the hoping +heart. O Brain! if you knew, you would not doubt. O Heart! if you +knew, you would not hope.</p> +<hr /> +<p>RIGHTS AND DUTIES spring from the same source. He who has no +rights has no duties. Without liberty there can be no +responsibility and no conscience. Man calls himself to an account +for the use of his power, and passes judgment upon himself. The +standard of such judgment we call conscience. In the proportion +that man uses his liberty, his power, for the good of all, he +advances, becomes civilized. Civilization does not consist merely +in invention, discovery, material advancement, but in doing +justice. By civilization is meant all discoveries, facts, theories, +agencies, that add to the happiness of man.</p> +<hr /> +<p>AT BAY.—Sometimes in the darkness of night I feel as +though surrounded by the great armies of effacement—that the +horizon is growing smaller every moment—that the final +surrender is only postponed—that everything is taking +something from me—that Nature robs me with her countless +hands—that my heart grows weaker with every beat—that +even kisses wear me away, and that every thought takes toll of my +brief life.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY.*—One year of perfect +health—of countless smiles—of wonder and +surprise—of growing thought and love—was duly +celebrated on this day, and all paid tribute to the infant queen. +There were whirling things that scattered music as they +turned—and boxes filled with tunes—and curious animals +of whittled wood—and ivory rings with tinkling +bells—and little dishes for a fairy-feast—horses that +rocked, and bleating sheep and monstrous elephants of painted tin. +A baby-tender, for a tender babe, garments of silk and cushions +wrought with flowers, and pictures of her mother when a +babe—and silver dishes for another year—and coach and +four and train of cars—and bric-a-brac for a baby's +house—and last of all, a pearl, to mark her first round year +of life and love.</p> +<pre> + * Written on the first anniversary of his grandchild, Eva + Ingersoll-Brown, August 27, 1892. +</pre> +<hr /> +<p>SHELLEY.—The light of morn beyond the purple hills—a +palm that lifts its coronet of leaves above the desert's +sands—an isle of green in some far sea—a spring that +waits for lips of thirst—a strain of music heard within some +palace wrought of dreams—a cloud of gold above a setting +sun—a fragrance wafted from some unseen shore.</p> +<hr /> +<p>FATE.—Never hurried, never delayed, passionless, pitiless, +patient, keeping the tryst—neither early nor +late—there, on the very stroke and center of the instant +fixed.</p> +<hr /> +<p>QUIET, and introspective calm come with the afternoon. Toward +evening the mind grows satisfied and still. The flare and flicker +of youth are gone, and the soul is like the flame of a lamp where +the air is at rest. Age discards the superfluous, the immaterial, +the straw and chaff, and hoards the golden grain. The highway is +known, and the paths no longer mislead. Clouds are not mistaken for +mountains.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE OLD MAN has been long at the fair. He is acquainted with the +jugglers at the booths. His curiosity has been satisfied. He no +longer cares for the exceptional, the monstrous, the marvelous and +deformed. He looks through and beyond the gilding, the glitter and +gloss, not only of things, but of conduct, of manners, theories, +religions and philosophies. He sees clearer. The light no longer +shines in his eyes.</p> +<hr /> +<p>The time will come when even selfishness will be charitable for +its own sake, because at that time the man will have grown and +developed to that degree that selfishness demands generosity and +kindness and justice. The self becomes so noble that selfishness is +a virtue. The lowest form of selfishness is when one is willing to +be happy, or wishes to be happy, at the expense or the misery of +another. The highest form of selfishness is when a man becomes so +noble that he finds his happiness in making others so. This is the +nobility of selfishness.</p> +<hr /> +<p>CUBA fell upon her knees—stretched her thin hands toward +the great Republic. We saw her tear-filled eyes—her withered +breasts—her dead babes—her dying—her buried and +unburied dead. We heard her voice, and pity, roused to action by +her grief, became as stern as justice, and the great Republic cried +to Spain: "Sheathe the dagger of assassination; take your bloody +hand from the throat of the helpless; and take your flag from the +heaven of the Western World."</p> +<hr /> +<p>Perhaps I have reached the years of discretion. But it may be +that discretion is the enemy of happiness. If the buds had +discretion there might be no fruit. So it may be that the follies +committed in the spring give autumn the harvest.—August +11,1892.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Dickens wrote for homes—Thackeray for clubs. Byron did not +care for the fireside—for the prattle of babes—for the +smiles and tears of humble life. He was touched by grandeur rather +than goodness,—loved storm and crag and the wild sea. But +Burns lived in the valley, touched by the joys and griefs of lowly +lives.</p> +<p>Imagine amethysts, rubies, diamonds, emeralds and opals mingled +as liquids—then imagine these marvelous glories of light and +color changed to a tone, and you have the wondrous, the +incomparable voice of Scalchi.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE ORGAN.—The beginnings—the timidities—the +half thoughts—blushes—suggestions—a phrase of +grace and feeling—a sustained note—the wing on the +wind—confidence—the flight—rising with many +harmonies that unite in the voluptuous swell—in the +passionate tremor—rising still higher—flooding the +great dome with the soul of enraptured sound.</p> +<hr /> +<p>NEW MEXICO is a most wonderful country. It is a ragged miser +with billions of buried treasure. It looks as if Nature had guarded +her silver and gold with enough desolation to deter all but the +brave.</p> +<hr /> +<p>WHY SHOULD THE INDIAN SUMMER of a life be lost—the long, +serene, and tender days when earth and sky are friends? The falling +leaves disclose the ripened fruit—and so the flight of youth +with dreams and fancies should show the wealth of bending +bough.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Give milk to babes, and wine to youth. But for old age, when +ghosts of more than two-score years are wandering on the traveled +road, the fragrant tea, that loosens gossip's tongue, is +best.—December 25,1892.</p> +<pre> + [From a letter thanking a friend for a Christmas present of + a chest of tea.] +</pre> +<hr /> +<p>ON MEMORIAL DAY our hearts blossom in gratitude as we lovingly +remember the brave men upon whose brows Death, with fleshless +hands, placed the laurel wreath of fame.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE SOUL IS AN ARCHITECt—it builds a habitation for +itself—and as the soul is, is the habitation. Some live in +dens and caves, and some in lowly homes made rich with love, and +overrun with vine and flower.</p> +<hr /> +<p>SCIENCE at last holds with honest hand the scales wherein are +weighed the facts and fictions of the world. She neither kneels nor +prays, she stands erect and thinks. Her tongue is not a traitor to +her brain. Her thought and speech agree.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE NEGRO who can pass me in the race of life will receive my +admiration, and he can count on my friendship. No man ever lived +who proved his superiority by trampling on the weak.</p> +<hr /> +<p>RELIGION is like a palm tree—it grows at the top. The dead +leaves are all orthodox, while the new ones and the buds are all +heretics.</p> +<hr /> +<p>MEMORY is the miser of the mind; forgetfulness the +spendthrift.</p> +<hr /> +<p>HOPE is the only bee that makes honey without flowers.</p> +<hr /> +<p>THE FIRES OF THE NEXT WORLD sustain the same relation to +churches that those in this world sustain to insurance +companies.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Now and then there arises a man who on peril's edge draws from +the scabbard of despair the sword of victory.</p> +<hr /> +<p>The falling leaf that tells of autumn's death is, in a subtler +sense, a prophecy of spring.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Vice lives either before Love is born, or after Love is +dead.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Intellectual freedom is only the right to be honest.</p> +<hr /> +<p>I believe that finally man will go through the phase of religion +before birth.</p> +<hr /> +<p>When shrill chanticleer pierces the dull ear of morn.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Orthodoxy is the refuge of mediocrity.</p> +<hr /> +<p>The ocean is the womb of all that will be, the tomb of all that +has been.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Jealousy never knows the value of a fact.</p> +<p>Envy cannot reason, malice cannot prophesy.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Love has a kind of second sight.</p> +<hr /> +<p>I have never given to any one a sketch of my life. According to +my idea a life should not be written until it has been +lived.—July 1, 1888.</p> +<a name="link0034" id="link0034"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>EFFECT OF THE WORLD'S FAIR ON THE HUMAN RACE.</h2> +<p>THE Great Fair should be for the intellectual, mechanical, +artistic, political and social advancement of the world. Nations, +like small communities, are in danger of becoming provincial, and +must become so, unless they exchange commodities, theories, +thoughts, and ideals. Isolation is the soil of ignorance, and +ignorance is the soil of egotism; and nations, like individuals who +live apart, mistake provincialism for perfection, and hatred of all +other nations for patriotism. With most people, strangers are not +only enemies, but inferiors. They imagine that they are progressive +because they know little of others, and compare their present, not +with the present of other nations, but with their own past.</p> +<p>Few people have imagination enough to sympathize with those of a +different complexion, with those professing another religion or +speaking another language, or even wearing garments unlike their +own. Most people regard every difference between themselves and +others as an evidence of the inferiority of the others. They have +not intelligence enough to put themselves in the place of another +if that other happens to be outwardly unlike themselves.</p> +<p>Countless agencies have been at work for many years destroying +the hedges of thorn that have so long divided nations, and we at +last are beginning to see that other people do not differ from us, +except in the same particulars that we differ from them. At last, +nations are becoming acquainted with each other, and they now know +that people everywhere are substantially the same. We now know that +while nations differ outwardly in form and feature, somewhat in +theory, philosophy and creed, still, inwardly—that is to say, +so far as hopes and passions are concerned—they are much the +same, having the same fears, experiencing the same joys and +sorrows. So we are beginning to find that the virtues belong +exclusively to no race, to no creed, and to no religion; that the +humanities dwell in the hearts of men, whomever and whatever they +may happen to worship. We have at last found that every creed is of +necessity a provincialism, destined to be lost in the +universal.</p> +<p>At last, Science extends an invitation to all nations, and +places at their disposal its ships and its cars; and when these +people meet—or rather, the representatives of these +people—they will find that, in spite of the accidents of +birth, they are, after all, about the same; that their sympathies, +their ideas' of right and wrong, of virtue and vice, of heroism and +honor, are substantially alike. They will find that in every land +honesty is honored, truth respected and admired, and that +generosity and charity touch all hearts.</p> +<p>So it is of the greatest importance that the inventions of the +world should be brought beneath one roof. These inventions, in my +judgment, are destined to be the liberators of mankind. They +enslave forces and compel the energies of nature to work for man. +These forces have no backs to feel the lash, no tears to shed, no +hearts to break.</p> +<p>The history of the world demonstrates that man becomes What we +call civilized by increasing his wants. As his necessities +increase, he becomes industrious and energetic. If his heart does +not keep pace with his brain, he is cruel, and the physically or +mentally strong enslave the physically or mentally weak. At present +these inventions, while they have greatly increased the countless +articles needed by man, have to a certain extent enslaved mankind. +In a savage state there are few failures. Almost any one succeeds +in hunting and fishing. The wants are few, and easily supplied. As +man becomes civilized, wants increase; or rather as wants increase, +man becomes civilized. Then the struggle for existence becomes +complex; failures increase.</p> +<p>The first result of the invention of machinery has been to +increase the wealth of the few. The hope of the world is that +through invention man can finally take such advantage of these +forces of nature, of the weight of water, of the force of wind, of +steam, of electricity, that they will do the work of the world; and +it is the hope of the really civilized that these inventions will +finally cease to be the property of the few, to the end that they +may do the work of all for all.</p> +<p>When those who do the work own the machines, when those who toil +control the invention, then, and not till then, can the world be +civilized or free. When these forces shall do the bidding of the +individual, when they become the property of the mechanic instead +of the monopoly, when they belong to labor instead of what is +called capital, when these great powers are as free to the +individual laborer as the air and light are now free to all, then, +and not until then, the individual will be restored and all forms +of slavery will disappear.</p> +<p>Another great benefit will come from the Fair. Other nations in +some directions are more artistic than we, but no other nation has +made the common as beautiful as we have. We have given beauty of +form to machines, to common utensils, to the things of every day, +and have thus laid the foundation for producing the artistic in its +highest possible forms. It will be of great benefit to us to look +upon the paintings and marbles of the Old World. To see them is an +education.</p> +<p>The great Republic has lived a greater poem than the brain and +heart of man have as yet produced, and we have supplied material +for artists and poets yet unborn; material for form and color and +song. The Republic is to-day Art's greatest market.</p> +<p>Nothing else is so well calculated to make friends of all +nations as really to become acquainted with the best that each has +produced.</p> +<p>The nation that has produced a great poet, a great artist, a +great statesman, a great thinker, takes its place on an equality +with other nations of the world, and transfers to all of its +citizens some of the genius of its most illustrious men.</p> +<p>This great Fair will be an object lesson to other nations. They +will see the result of a government, republican in form, where the +people are the source of authority, where governors and presidents +are servants—not rulers. We want all nations to see the great +Republic as it is, to study and understand its growth, development +and destiny. We want them to know that here, under our flag, are +sixty-five millions of people and that they are the best fed, the +best clothed and the best housed in the world. We want them to know +that we are solving the great social problems, and that we are +going to demonstrate the right and power of man to govern himself. +We want the subjects of other nations to see aland filled with +citizens—not subjects; aland in which the pew is above the +pulpit; where the people are superior to the state; where +legislators are representatives and where authority means simply +the duty to enforce the people's will.</p> +<p>Let us hope above all things that this Fair will bind the +nations together closer and stronger; and let us hope that this +will result in the settlement of all national difficulties by +arbitration instead of war. In a savage state, individuals settle +their own difficulties by an appeal to force. After a time these +individuals agree that their difficulties shall be settled by +others. This is the first great step toward civilization. The +result is the establishment of courts. Nations at present sustain +to each other the same relation that savage does to savage. Each +nation is left to decide for itself, and it generally decides +according to its strength—not the strength of its side of the +case, but the strength of its army. The consequence is that what is +called "the Law of Nations" is a savage code. The world will never +be civilized until there is an international court. Savages begin +to be civilized when they submit their difficulties to their peers. +Nations will become civilized when they submit their difficulties +to a great court, the judgments of which can be carried out, all +nations pledging the co-operation of their armies and their navies +for that purpose.</p> +<p>If the holding of the great Fair shall result in hastening the +coming of that time it will be a blessing to the whole world.</p> +<p>And here let me prophesy: The Fair will be worthy of Chicago, +the most wonderful city of the world—of Illinois, the best +State in the Union—of the United States, the best country on +the earth. It will eclipse all predecessors in every department. It +will represent the progressive spirit of the nineteenth century. +Beneath its ample roofs will be gathered the treasures of Art, and +the accomplishments of Science. At the feet of the Republic will be +laid the triumphs of our race, the best of every land.—The +illustrated World's Fair, Chicago, November, 1891.</p> +<a name="link0035" id="link0035"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>SABBATH SUPERSTITION.</h2> +<p>THE idea that one day in the week is better than the others and +should be set apart for religious purposes; that it should be +considered holy; that no useful work should be done on that day; +that it should be given over to pious idleness and sad ceremonies +connected with the worship of a supposed Being, seems to have been +originated by the Jews.</p> +<p>According to the Old Testament, the Sabbath was marvelously +sacred for two reasons; the first being, that Jehovah created the +universe in six days and rested on the seventh: and the second, +because the Jews had been delivered from the Egyptians.</p> +<p>The first of these reasons we now know to be false; and the +second has nothing, so far as we are concerned, to do with the +question.</p> +<p>There is no reason for our keeping the seventh day because the +Hebrews were delivered from the Egyptians.</p> +<p>The Sabbath was a Jewish institution, and, according to the +Bible, only the Jews were commanded to keep that day. Jehovah said +nothing to the Egyptians on that subject; nothing to the +Philistines, nothing to the Gentiles.</p> +<p>The Jews kept that day with infinite strictness, and with them +this space of time known as the Sabbath became so holy that he who +violated it by working was put to death. Sabbath-breaking and +murder were equal crimes. On the Sabbath the pious Jew would not +build a fire in his house. He ate cold victuals and thanked God. +The gates of the city were closed. No business was done, and the +traveler who arrived at the city on that day remained outside until +evening. If he happened to fall, he remained where he fell until +the sun had gone done.</p> +<p>The early Christians did not hold the seventh day in such +veneration. As a matter of fact, they ceased to regard it as holy, +and changed the sacred day from the seventh to the first. This +change was really made by Constantine, because the first day of the +week was the Sunday of the Pagans; and this day had been given to +pleasure and recreation and to religious ceremonies for many +centuries.</p> +<p>After Constantine designated the first day to be kept and +observed by Christians, our Sunday became the sacred time.</p> +<p>The early Christians, however, kept the day much as it had been +kept by the Pagans. They attended church in the morning, and in the +afternoon enjoyed themselves as best they could..</p> +<p>The Catholic Church fell in with the prevailing customs, and to +accommodate itself to Pagan ways and superstitions, it agreed, as +far as it could, with the ideas of the Pagan.</p> +<p>Up to the time of the Reformation, Sunday had been divided +between the discharge of religious duties and recreation.</p> +<p>Luther did not believe in the sacredness of the Sabbath. After +church he enjoyed himself by playing games, and wanted others to do +the same.</p> +<p>Even John Calvin, whose view had been blurred by the "Five +Points," allowed the people to enjoy themselves on Sunday +afternoon.</p> +<p>The reformers on the continent never had the Jewish idea of the +sacredness of the Sabbath.</p> +<p>In Geneva, Germany and France, all kinds of innocent amusement +were allowed on that day; and I believe the same was true of +Holland.</p> +<p>But in Scotland the Jewish idea was adopted to the fullest +extent. There Sabbath-breaking was one of the blackest and one of +the most terrible crimes. Nothing was considered quite as sacred as +the Sabbath.</p> +<p>The Scotch went so far as to take the ground that it was wrong +to save people who were drowning on Sunday, the drowning being a +punishment inflicted by God. Upon the question of keeping the +Sabbath most of the Scottish people became insane.</p> +<p>The same notions about the holy day were adopted by the +Dissenters in England, and it became the principal tenet in their +creed.</p> +<p>The Puritans and Pilgrims were substantially crazy about the +sacredness of Sunday. With them the first day of the week was set +apart for preaching, praying, attending church, reading the Bible +and studying the catechism. Walking, riding, playing on musical +instruments, boating, swimming and courting, were all crimes.</p> +<p>No one had the right to be happy on that blessed day. It was a +time of gloom, sacred, solemn and religiously stupid.</p> +<p>They did their best to strip their religion of every redeeming +feature. They hated art and music—everything calculated to +produce joy. They despised everything except the Bible, the church, +God, Sunday and the creed.</p> +<p>The influence of these people has been felt in every part of our +country. The Sabbath superstition became almost universal. No +laughter, no smiles on that day; no games, no recreation, no +riding, no walking through the perfumed fields or by the winding +streams or the shore of the sea. No communion with the subtile +beauties of nature; no wandering in the woods with wife and +children, no reading of poetry and fiction; nothing but solemnity +and gloom, listening to sermons, thinking about sin, death, graves, +coffins, shrouds, epitaphs and ceremonies and the marvelous truths +of sectarian religion, and the weaknesses of those who were natural +enough and sensible enough to enjoy themselves on the Sabbath +day.</p> +<p>So universal became the Sabbath superstition that the +Legislatures of all the States, or nearly all, passed laws to +prevent work and enjoyment on that day, and declared all contracts +void relating to business entered into on Sunday.</p> +<p>The Germans gave us the first valuable lesson on this subject. +They came to this country in great numbers; they did not keep the +American Sabbath. They listened to music and they drank beer on +that holy day. They took their wives and children with them and +enjoyed themselves; yet they were good, kind, industrious people. +They paid their debts and their credit was the best.</p> +<p>Our people saw that men could be good and women virtuous without +"keeping" the Sabbath.</p> +<p>This did us great good, and changed the opinions of hundreds of +thousands of Americans.</p> +<p>But the churches insisted on the old way. Gradually our people +began to appreciate the fact that one-seventh of the time was being +stolen by superstition. They began to ask for the opening of +libraries, for music in the parks and to be allowed to visit +museums and public places on the Sabbath.</p> +<p>In several States these demands were granted, and the privileges +have never been abused. The people were orderly, polite to +officials and to each other.</p> +<p>In 1876, when the Centennial was held at Philadelphia, the +Sabbatarians had control. Philadelphia was a Sunday city, and so +the gates of the Centennial were closed on that day.</p> +<p>This was in Philadelphia where the Sabbath superstition had been +so virulent that chains had been put across the streets to prevent +stages and carriages from passing at that holy time.</p> +<p>At that time millions of Americans felt that a great wrong was +done by closing the Centennial to the laboring people; but the +managers—most of them being politicians—took care of +themselves and kept the gates closed.</p> +<p>In 1876 the Sabbatarians triumphed, and when it was determined +to hold a world's fair at Chicago they made up their minds that no +one should look upon the world's wonders on the Sabbath day.</p> +<p>To accomplish this pious and foolish purpose committees were +appointed all over the country; money was raised to make a +campaign; persons were employed to go about and arouse the +enthusiasm of religious people; petitions by the thousand were sent +to Congress and to the officers of the World's Fair, signed by +thousands of people who never saw them; resolutions were passed in +favor of Sunday closing by conventions, presbyteries, councils and +associations. Lobbyists were employed to influence members of +Congress. Great bodies of Christians threatened to boycott the fair +and yet the World's Fair is open on Sunday.</p> +<p>What is the meaning of this? Let me tell you. It means that in +this country the Scotch New England Sabbath has ceased to be; it +means that it is dead. The last great effort for its salvation has +been put forth, and has failed. It belonged to the creed of +Jonathan Edwards and the belief of the witch-burners, and in this +age it is out of place.</p> +<p>There was a time when the minister and priest were regarded as +the foundation of wisdom; when information came from the altar, +from the pulpit; and when the sheep were the property of the +shepherd.</p> +<p>That day in intelligent communities has passed. We no longer go +to the minister or the church for information. The orthodox +minister is losing his power, and the Sabbath is now regarded as a +day of rest, of recreation and of pleasure.</p> +<p>The church must keep up with the people. The minister must take +another step. The multitude care but little about controversies in +churches, but they do care about the practical questions that +directly affect their daily lives.</p> +<p>Must we waste one day in seven; must we make ourselves unhappy +or melancholy one-seventh of the time?</p> +<p>These are important questions and for many years the church in +our country has answered them both in the affirmative, and a vast +number of people not Christians have also said "yes" because they +wanted votes, or because they feared to incite the hatred of the +church.</p> +<p>Now in this year of 1893 a World's Fair answered this question +in the negative, and a large majority of the citizens of the +Republic say that the officers of the Fair have done right.</p> +<p>This marks an epoch in the history of the Sabbath. It is to be +sacred in a religious sense in this country no longer. Henceforth +in the United States the Sabbath is for the use of man.</p> +<p>Many of those who labored for the closing of the Fair on Sunday +took the ground that if the gates were opened, God would visit this +nation with famine, flood and fire.</p> +<p>It hardly seems possible that God will destroy thousands of +women and children who had nothing to do with the opening of the +Fair; still, if he is the same God described in the Christian +Bible, he may destroy our babes as he did those of the Egyptians. +It is a little hard to tell in advance what a God of that kind will +do.</p> +<p>It was believed for many centuries that God punished the +Sabbath-breaking individual and the Sabbath-breaking nation. Of +course facts never had anything to do with this belief, and the +prophecies of the pulpit were never fulfilled. People who were +drowned on Sunday, according to the church, lost their lives by the +will of God. Those drowned on other days were the victims of storm +or accident. The nations that kept the Sabbath were no more +prosperous than those that broke the sacred day. Certainly France +is as prosperous as Scotland.</p> +<p>Let us hope, however, that these zealous gentlemen who have +predicted calamities were mistaken; let us be glad that hundreds of +thousands of workingmen and women will be delighted and refined by +looking at the statues, the paintings, the machinery, and the +countless articles of use and beauty gathered together at the great +Fair, and let us be glad that on the one day that they can spare +from toil, the gates will be open to them.</p> +<a name="link0036" id="link0036"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE JACOB HOLYOAKE.</h2> +<p>TWO articles have recently appeared attacking the motives of +George Jacob Holyoake. He is spoken of as a man governed by a +desire to please the rich and powerful, as one afraid of public +opinion and who in the perilous hour denies or conceals his +convictions.</p> +<p>In these attacks there is not one word of truth. They are based +upon mistakes and misconceptions.</p> +<p>There is not in this world a nobler, braver man. In England he +has done more for the great cause of intellectual liberty than any +other man of this generation. He has done more for the poor, for +the children of toil, for the homeless and wretched than any other +living man. He has attacked all abuses, all tyranny and all forms +of hypocrisy. His weapons have been reason, logic, facts, kindness, +and above all, example. He has lived his creed. He has won the +admiration and respect of his bitterest antagonists. He has the +simplicity of childhood, the enthusiasm of youth and the wisdom of +age. He is not abusive, but he is clear and conclusive.. He is +intense without violence—firm without anger. He has the +strength of perfect kindness. He does not hate—he pities. He +does not attack men and women, but dogmas and creeds. And he does +not attack them to get the better of people, but to enable people +to get the better of them. He gives the light he has. He shares his +intellectual wealth with the orthodox poor. He assists without +insulting, guides without arrogance, and enlightens without +outrage. Besides, he is eminent for the exercise of plain common +sense. He knows that there are wrongs besides those born of +superstition—that people are not necessarily happy because +they have renounced the Thirty-nine Articles—and that the +priest is not the only enemy of mankind. He has for forty years +been preaching and practicing industry, economy, self-reliance, and +kindness. He has done all within his power to give the workingman a +better home, better food, better wages, and better opportunities +for the education of his children. He has demonstrated the success +of co-operation—of intelligent combination for the common +good. As a rule, his methods have been perfectly legal. In some +instances he has knowingly violated the law, and did so with the +intention to take the consequences. He would neither ask nor accept +a pardon, because to receive a pardon carries with it the implied +promise to keep the law, and an admission that you were in the +wrong. He would not agree to desist from doing what he believed +ought to be done, neither would he stain his past to brighten his +future, nor imprison his soul to free his body. He has that happy +mingling of gentleness and firmness found only in the highest type +of moral heroes. He is an absolutely just man, and will never do an +act that he would condemn in another. He admits that the most +bigoted churchman has a perfect right to express his opinions not +only, but that he must be met with argument couched in kind and +candid terms. Mr. Holyoake is not only the enemy of a theological +hierarchy, but he is also opposed to mental mobs. He will not use +the bludgeon of epithet.</p> +<p>Perfect fairness is regarded by many as weakness. Some people +have altogether more confidence in their beliefs than in their own +arguments. They resort to assertion. If what they assert be denied, +the "debate" becomes a question of veracity. On both sides of most +questions there are plenty of persons who imagine that logic dwells +only in adjectives, and that to speak kindly of an opponent is a +virtual surrender.</p> +<p>Mr. Holyoake attacks the church because it has been, is, and +ever will be the enemy of mental freedom, but he does not wish to +deprive the church even of its freedom to express its opinion +against freedom. He is true to his own creed, knowing that when we +have freedom we can take care of all its enemies.</p> +<p>In one of the articles to which I have referred it is charged +that Mr. Holyoake refused to sign a petition for the pardon of +persons convicted of blasphemy. If this is true, he undoubtedly had +a reason satisfactory to himself. You will find that his action, or +his refusal to act, rests upon a principle that he would not +violate in his own behalf.</p> +<p>Why should we suspect the motives of this man who has given his +life for the good of others? I know of no one who is his mental or +moral superior. He is the most disinterested of men. His name is a +synonym of candor. He is a natural logician—an intellectual +marksman. Like an unerring arrow his thought flies to the heart and +center. He is governed by principle, and makes no exception in his +own favor. He is intellectually honest. He shows you the cracks and +flaws in his own wares. He calls attention to the open joints and +to the weakest links. He does not want a victory for himself, but +for truth. He wishes to expose and oppose, not men, but error. He +is blessed with that cloudless mental vision that appearances +cannot deceive, that interest cannot darken, and that even +ingratitude cannot blur. Friends cannot induce and enemies cannot +drive this man to do an act that his heart and brain would not +applaud. That such a character was formed without the aid of the +church, without the hope of harp or fear of flame, is a +demonstration against the necessity of superstition.</p> +<p>Whoever is opposed to mental bondage, to the shackles wrought by +cruelty and worn by fear, should be the friend of this heroic and +unselfish man.</p> +<p>I know something of his life—something of what he has +suffered—of what he has accomplished for his fellow-men. He +has been maligned, imprisoned and impoverished. "He bore the heat +and burden of the unregarded day" and "remembered the misery of the +many." For years his only recompense was ingratitude. At last he +was understood. He was recognized as an earnest, honest, gifted, +generous, sterling man, loving his country, sympathizing with the +poor, honoring the useful, and holding in supreme abhorrence +tyranny and falsehood in all their forms. The idea that this man +could for a moment be controlled by any selfish motive, by the hope +of preferment, by the fear of losing a supposed annuity, is simply +absurd. The authors of these attacks are not acquainted with Mr. +Holyoake. Whoever dislikes him does not know him.</p> +<p>Read his "Trial of Theism"—his history of "Co-operation in +England"—if you wish to know his heart—to discover the +motives of his life—the depth and tenderness of his +sympathy—the nobleness of his nature—the subtlety of +his thought—the beauty of his spirit—the force and +volume of his brain—the extent of his information—his +candor, his kindness, his genius, and the perfect integrity of his +stainless soul.</p> +<p>There is no man for whom I have greater respect, greater +reverence, greater love, than George Jacob Holyoake.—</p> +<p>August 8, 1883.</p> +<a name="link0037" id="link0037"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>AT THE GRAVE OF BENJAMIN W. PARKER.</h2> +<pre> + * This was the first tribute ever delivered by Colonel + Ingersoll at a grave. Mr. Parker himself was an Agnostic, + was the father of Mrs. Ingersoll, and was always a devoted + friend and admirer of the Colonel even before the latter's + marriage with his daughter. +</pre> +<p>Peoria, Ill., May 24, 1876.</p> +<p>FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS: To fulfill a promise made many years ago, +I wish to say a word.</p> +<p>He whom we are about to lay in the earth, was gentle, kind and +loving in his life. He was ambitious only to live with those he +loved. He was hospitable, generous, and sincere. He loved his +friends, and the friends of his friends. He returned good for good. +He lived the life of a child, and died without leaving in the +memory of his family the record of an unkind act. Without +assurance, and without fear, we give him back to Nature, the source +and mother of us all.</p> +<p>With morn, with noon, with night; with changing clouds and +changeless stars; with grass and trees and birds, with leaf and +bud, with flower and blossoming vine,—with all the sweet +influences of nature, we leave our dead.</p> +<p>Husband, father, friend, farewell.</p> +<a name="link0038" id="link0038"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO EBON C. INGERSOLL</h2> +<h3>Washington, D. C., May 31, 1879.</h3> +<pre> + * The funeral of the Hon. E. C. Ingersoll took place + yesterday afternoon at four o'clock, from his late + residence, 1403 K Street The only ceremony at the house, + other than the viewing of the remains, was a most affecting + pathetic, and touching address by Col. Robert G. ingersoll, + brother of the deceased. Not only the speaker, but every one + of his hearers were deeply affected. When he began to read + his eloquent characterization of the dead man his eyes at + once filled with tears. He tried to hide them, but he could + not do it, and finally he bowed his head upon the dead man's + coffin in uncontrollable grief It was only after some delay, + and the greatest efforts a self-mastery, that Colonel + Ingersoll was able to finish reading his address. When he + had ceased speaking, the members of the bereaved family + approached the casket and looked upon the form which it + contained, for the last time. The scene was heartrending. + The devotion of all connected with the household excited + the sympathy of all and there was not a dry eye to be seen. + The pall-bearers—Senator William B. Allison, Senator James + G. Blaine, Senator David Davis, Senator Daniel W Voorhees. + Representative James A. Garfield, Senator A. S Paddock, + Representative Thomas Q. Boyd of Illinois, the Hon. Ward H. + Lermon, ex-Congressman Jere Wilson, and Representative Adlai + E. Stevenson of Illinois—then bore the remains to the + hearse, and the lengthy cortege proceeded to the Oak Hill + Cemetery, where the remains were interred, in the presence + of the family and friends, without further ceremony.— + National Republican, Washington, D. C., June 3, 1879. +</pre> +<p>DEAR FRIENDS: I am going to do that which the dead oft promised +he would do for me.</p> +<p>The loved and loving brother, husband, father, friend, died +where manhood's morning almost touches noon, and while the shadows +still were falling toward the west.</p> +<p>He had not passed on life's highway the stone that marks the +highest point; but being weary for a moment, he lay down by the +wayside, and using his burden for a pillow, fell into that +dreamless sleep that kisses down his eyelids still. While yet in +love with life and raptured with the world, he passed to silence +and pathetic dust.</p> +<p>Yet, after all, it may be best, just in the happiest, sunniest +hour of all the voyage, while eager winds are kissing every sail, +to dash against the unseen rock, and in an instant hear the billows +roar above a sunken ship. For whether in mid-sea or 'mong the +breakers of the farther shore, a wreck at last must mark the end of +each and all. And every life, no matter if its every hour is rich +with love and every moment jeweled with a joy, will, at its close, +become a tragedy as sad and deep and dark as can be woven of the +warp and woof of mystery and death.</p> +<p>This brave and tender man in every storm of life was oak and +rock; but in the sunshine he was vine and flower. He was the friend +of all heroic souls. He climbed the heights, and left all +superstitions far below, while on his forehead fell the golden +dawning of the grander day.</p> +<p>He loved the beautiful, and was with color, form, and music +touched to tears. He sided with the weak, the poor, and wronged, +and lovingly gave alms. With loyal heart and with the purest hands +he faithfully discharged all public trusts.</p> +<p>He was a worshiper of liberty, a friend of the oppressed. A +thousand times I have heard him quote these words: "<i>For Justice +all place a temple, and all season, summer</i>." He believed that +happiness is the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only +worship, humanity the only religion, and love the only priest. He +added to the sum of human joy; and were every one to whom he did +some loving service to bring a blossom to his grave, he would sleep +tonight beneath a wilderness of flowers.</p> +<p>Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two +eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry +aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the +voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word; but in +the night of death hope sees a star and listening love can hear the +rustle of a wing.</p> +<p>He who sleeps here, when dying, mistaking the approach of death +for the return of health, whispered with his latest breath, "I am +better now." Let us believe, in spite of doubts and dogmas, of +fears and tears, that these dear words are true of all the +countless dead.</p> +<p>The record of a generous life runs like a vine around the memory +of our dead, and every sweet, unselfish act is now a perfumed +flower.</p> +<p>And now, to you, who have been chosen, from among the many men +he loved, to do the last sad office for the dead, we give his +sacred dust.</p> +<p>Speech cannot contain our love. There was, there is, no gentler, +stronger, manlier man.</p> +<a name="link0039" id="link0039"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO THE REV. ALEXANDER CLARK.</h2> +<h3>Washington, D. C. July 13, 1879.</h3> +<p>UPON the grave of the Reverend Alexander Clark I wish to place +one flower. Utterly destitute of cold, dogmatic pride, that often +passes for the love of God; without the arrogance of the "elect;" +simple, free, and kind—this earnest man made me his friend by +being mine. I forgot that he was a Christian, and he seemed to +forget that I was not, while each remembered that the other was at +least a man.</p> +<p>Frank, candid, and sincere, he practiced what he preached, and +looked with the holy eyes of charity upon the failings and mistakes +of men. He believed in the power of kindness, and spanned with +divine sympathy the hideous gulf that separates the fallen from the +pure.</p> +<p>Giving freely to others the rights that he claimed for himself, +it never occurred to him that his God hated a brave and honest +unbeliever. He remembered that even an Infidel had rights that love +respects; that hatred has no saving power, and that in order to be +a Christian it is not necessary to become less than a human being. +He knew that no one can be maligned into kindness; that epithets +cannot convince; that curses are not arguments, and that the finger +of scorn never points toward heaven. With the generosity of an +honest man, he accorded to all the fullest liberty of thought, +knowing, as he did, that in the realm of mind a chain is but a +curse.</p> +<p>For this man I felt the greatest possible regard. In spite of +the taunts and jeers of his brethren, he publicly proclaimed that +he would treat Infidels with fairness and respect; that he would +endeavor to convince them by argument and win them with love. He +insisted that the God he worshiped loved the well-being even of an +Atheist. In this grand position he stood almost alone. Tender, +just, and loving where others were harsh, vindictive, and cruel, he +challenged the admiration of every honest man. A few more such +clergymen might drive calumny from the lips of faith and render the +pulpit worthy of esteem.</p> +<p>The heartiness and kindness with which this generous man treated +me can never be excelled. He admitted that I had not lost, and +could not lose, a single right by the expression of my honest +thought. Neither did he believe that a servant could win the +respect of a generous master by persecuting and maligning those +whom the master would willingly forgive.</p> +<p>While this good man was living, his brethren blamed him for +having treated me with fairness. But, I trust, now that he has left +the shore touched by the mysterious sea that never yet has borne, +on any wave, the image of a homeward sail, this crime will be +forgiven him by those who still remain to preach the love of +God.</p> +<p>His sympathies were not confined within the prison, of a creed, +but ran out and over the walls like vines, hiding the cruel rocks +and rusted bars with leaf and flower. He could not echo with his +heart the fiendish sentence of eternal fire. In spite of book and +creed, he read "between the lines" the words of tenderness and +love, with promises for all the world.. Above, beyond, the dogmas +of his church—humane even to the verge of +heresy—causing some to doubt his love of God because he +failed to hate his unbelieving fellow-men, he labored for the +welfare of mankind and to his work gave up his life with all his +heart.</p> +<a name="link0040" id="link0040"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>AT A CHILD'S GRAVE.</h2> +<h3>Washington, D. C., January 8, 1882.</h3> +<p>MY FRIENDS: I know how vain it is to gild a grief with words, +and yet I wish to take from every grave its fear. Here in this +world, where life and death are equal kings, all should be brave +enough to meet what all the dead have met. The future has been +filled with fear, stained and polluted by the heartless past. From +the wondrous tree of life the buds and blossoms fall with ripened +fruit, and in the common bed of earth, patriarchs and babes sleep +side by side.</p> +<p>Why should we fear that which will come to all that is? We +cannot tell, we do not know, which is the greater +blessing—life or death. We cannot say that death is not a +good. We do not know whether the grave is the end of this life, or +the door of another, or whether the night here is not somewhere +else a dawn. Neither can we tell which is the more +fortunate—the child dying in its mother's arms, before its +lips have learned to form a word, or he who journeys all the length +of life's uneven road, painfully taking the last slow steps with +staff and crutch.</p> +<p>Every cradle asks us "Whence?" and every coffin "Whither?" The +poor barbarian, weeping above his dead, can answer these questions +just as well as the robed priest of the most authentic creed. The +tearful ignorance of the one, is as consoling as the learned and +unmeaning words of the other. No man, standing where the horizon of +a life has touched a grave, has any right to prophesy a future +filled with pain and tears.</p> +<p>May be that death gives all there is of worth to life. If those +we press and strain within our arms could never die, perhaps that +love would wither from the earth. May be this common fate treads +from out the paths between our hearts the weeds of selfishness and +hate. And I had rather live and love where death is king, than have +eternal life where love is not. Another life is nought, unless we +know and love again the ones who love us here.</p> +<p>They who stand with breaking hearts around this little grave, +need have no fear. The larger and the nobler faith in all that is, +and is to be, tells us that death, even at its worst, is only +perfect rest. We know that through the common wants of +life—the needs and duties of each hour—their grief will +lessen day by day, until at last this grave will be to them a place +of rest and peace—almost of joy. There is for them this +consolation: The dead do not suffer. If they live again, their +lives will surely be as good as ours. We have no fear. We are all +children of the same mother, and the same fate awaits us all. We, +too, have our religion, and it is this: Help for the +living—Hope for the dead.</p> +<a name="link0041" id="link0041"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO JOHN G. MILLS.</h2> +<h3>Washington, D. C., April 15, 1883.</h3> +<p>MY FRIENDS: Again we are face to face with the great mystery +that shrouds this world. We question, but there is no reply. Out on +the wide waste seas, there drifts no spar. Over the desert of death +the sphinx gazes forever, but never speaks.</p> +<p>In the very May of life another heart has ceased to beat. Night +has fallen upon noon. But he lived, he loved, he was loved. Wife +and children pressed their kisses on his lips. This is enough. The +longest life contains no more. This fills the vase of joy.</p> +<p>He who lies here, clothed with the perfect peace of death, was a +kind and loving husband, a good father, a generous neighbor, an +honest man,—and these words build a monument of glory above +the humblest grave. He was always a child, sincere and frank, as +full of hope as Spring. He divided all time into to-day and +to-morrow. To-morrow was without a cloud, and of to-morrow he +borrowed sunshine for to-day. He was my friend. He will remain so. +The living oft become estranged; the dead are true. He was not a +Christian. In the Eden of his hope there did not crawl and coil the +serpent of eternal pain. In many languages he sought the thoughts +of men, and for himself he solved the problems of the world. He +accepted the philosophy of Auguste Comte. Humanity was his God; the +human race was his Supreme Being. In that Supreme Being he put his +trust. He believed that we are indebted for what we enjoy to the +labor, the self-denial, the heroism of the human race, and that as +we have plucked the fruit of what others planted, we in +thankfulness should plant for others yet to be.</p> +<p>With him immortality was the eternal consequences of his own +acts. He believed that every pure thought, every disinterested +deed, hastens the harvest of universal good. This is a religion +that enriches poverty; that enables us to bear the sorrows of the +saddest life; that peoples even solitude with the happy millions +yet to live,—a religion born not of selfishness and fear, but +of love, of gratitude, and hope,—a religion that digs wells +to slake the thirst of others, and gladly bears the burdens of the +unborn.</p> +<p>But in the presence of death, how beliefs and dogmas wither and +decay! How loving words and deeds burst into blossom! Pluck from +the tree of any life these flowers, and there remain but the barren +thorns of bigotry and creed.</p> +<p>All wish for happiness beyond this life. All hope to meet again +the loved and lost. In every heart there grows this sacred flower. +Immortality is a word that Hope through all the ages has been +whispering to Love. The miracle of thought we cannot understand. +The mystery of life and death we cannot comprehend. This chaos +called the world has never been explained. The golden bridge of +life from gloom emerges, and on shadow rests. Beyond this we do not +know. Fate is speechless, destiny is dumb, and the secret of the +future has never yet been told. We love; we wait; we hope. The more +we love, the more we fear. Upon the tenderest heart the deepest +shadows fall. All paths, whether filled with thorns or flowers, end +here. Here success and failure are the same. The rag of +Wretchedness and the purple robe of power all difference and +distinction lose in this democracy of death. Character survives; +goodness lives; love is immortal.</p> +<p>And yet to all a time may come when the fevered lips of life +will long for the cool, delicious kiss of death—when tired of +the dust and glare of day we all shall hear with joy the rustling +garments of the night.</p> +<p>What can we say of death? What can we say of the dead? Where +they have gone, reason cannot go, and from thence revelation has +not come. But let us believe that over the cradle Nature bends and +smiles, and lovingly above the dead in benediction holds her +outstretched hands.</p> +<a name="link0042" id="link0042"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO ELIZUR WRIGHT.</h2> +<h3>New York. December 19, 1885.</h3> +<p>ANOTHER hero has fallen asleep—one who enriched the world +with an honest life.</p> +<p>Elizur Wright was one of the Titans who attacked the monsters, +the Gods, of his time—one of the few whose confidence in +liberty was never shaken, and who, with undimmed eyes, saw the +atrocities and barbarisms of his day and the glories of the +future.</p> +<p>When New York was degraded enough to mob Arthur Tappan, the +noblest of her citizens; when Boston was sufficiently infamous to +howl and hoot at Harriet Martineau, the grandest Englishwoman that +ever touched our soil; when the North was dominated by theology and +trade, by piety and piracy; when we received our morals from +merchants, and made merchandise of our morals, Elizur Wright held +principle above profit, and preserved his manhood at the peril of +his life.</p> +<p>When the rich, the cultured, and the respectable,—when +church members and ministers, who had been "called" to preach the +"glad tidings," and when statesmen like Webster joined with +bloodhounds, and in the name of God hunted men and mothers, this +man rescued the fugitives and gave asylum to the oppressed.</p> +<p>During those infamous years—years of cruelty and national +degradation—years of hypocrisy and greed and meanness beneath +the reach of any English word, Elizur Wright became acquainted with +the orthodox church. He found that a majority of Christians were +willing to enslave men and women for whom they said that Christ had +died—that they would steal the babe of a Christian mother, +although they believed that the mother would be their equal in +heaven forever. He found that those who loved their enemies would +enslave their friends—that people who when smitten on one +cheek turned the other, were ready, willing and anxious to mob and +murder those who simply said: "The laborer is worthy of his +hire."</p> +<p>In those days the church was in favor of slavery, not only of +the body but of the mind. According to the creeds, God himself was +an infinite master and all his children serfs. He ruled with whip +and chain, with pestilence and fire. Devils were his bloodhounds, +and hell his place of eternal torture.</p> +<p>Elizur Wright said to himself, why should we take chains from +bodies and enslave minds—why fight to free the cage and leave +the bird a prisoner? He became an enemy of orthodox +religion—that is to say, a friend of intellectual +liberty.</p> +<p>He lived to see the destruction of legalized larceny; to read +the Proclamation of Emancipation; to see a country without a slave, +a flag without a stain. He lived long enough to reap the reward for +having been an honest man; long enough for his "disgrace" to become +a crown of glory; long enough to see his views adopted and his +course applauded by the civilized world; long enough for the hated +word "abolitionist" to become a title of nobility, a certificate of +manhood, courage and true patriotism.</p> +<p>Only a few years ago, the heretic was regarded as an enemy of +the human race. The man who denied the inspiration of the Jewish +Scriptures was looked upon as a moral leper, and the Atheist as the +worst of criminals. Even in that day, Elizur Wright was grand +enough to speak his honest thought, to deny the inspiration of the +Bible; brave enough to defy the God of the orthodox +church—the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Eternal Jailer, +the Everlasting Inquisitor.</p> +<p>He contended that a good God would not have upheld slavery and +polygamy; that a loving Father would not assist some of his +children to enslave or exterminate their brethren; that an infinite +being would not be unjust, irritable, jealous, revengeful, +ignorant, and cruel.</p> +<p>And it was his great good fortune to live long enough to find +the intellectual world on his side; long enough to know that the +greatest' naturalists, philosophers, and scientists agreed with +him; long enough to see certain words change places, so that +"heretic" was honorable and "orthodox" an epithet. To-day, the +heretic is known to be a man of principle and courage—one +blest with enough mental independence to tell his thought. To-day, +the thoroughly orthodox means the thoroughly stupid.</p> +<p>Only a few years ago it was taken for granted that an +"unbeliever" could not be a moral man; that one who disputed the +inspiration of the legends of Judea could not be sympathetic and +humane, and could not really love his fellow-men. Had we no other +evidence upon this subject, the noble life of Elizur Wright would +demonstrate the utter baselessness of these views.</p> +<p>His life was spent in doing good—in attacking the hurtful, +in defending what he believed to be the truth. Generous beyond his +means; helping others to help themselves; always hopeful, busy, +just, cheerful; filled with the spirit of reform; a model +citizen—always thinking of the public good, devising ways and +means to save something for posterity, feeling that what he had he +held in trust; loving Nature, familiar with the poetic side of +things, touched to enthusiasm by the beautiful thought, the brave +word, and the generous deed; friendly in manner, candid and kind in +speech, modest but persistent; enjoying leisure as only the +industrious can; loving and gentle in his family; +hospitable,—judging men and women regardless of wealth, +position or public clamor; physically fearless, intellectually +honest, thoroughly informed; unselfish, sincere, and reliable as +the attraction of gravitation. Such was Elizur Wright,—one of +the staunchest soldiers that ever faced and braved for freedom's +sake the wrath and scorn and lies of place and power.</p> +<p>A few days ago I met this genuine man. His interest in all human +things was just as deep and keen, his hatred of oppression, his +love of freedom, just as intense, just as fervid, as on the day I +met him first. True, his body was old, but his mind was young, and +his heart, like a spring in the desert, bubbled over as joyously as +though it had the secret of eternal youth. But it has ceased to +beat, and the mysterious veil that hangs where sight and blindness +are the same—the veil that revelation has not drawn +aside—that science cannot lift, has fallen once again between +the living and the dead.</p> +<p>And yet we hope and dream. May be the longing for another life +is but the prophecy forever warm from Nature's lips, that love, +disguised as death, alone fulfills. We cannot tell. And yet perhaps +this Hope is but an antic, following the fortunes of an uncrowned +king, beguiling grief with jest and satisfying loss with pictured +gain. We do not know.</p> +<p>But from the Christian's cruel hell, and from his heaven more +heartless still, the free and noble soul, if forced to choose, +should loathing turn, and cling with rapture to the thought of +endless sleep.</p> +<p>But this we know: good deeds are never childless. A noble life +is never lost. A virtuous action does not die. Elizur Wright +scattered with generous hand the priceless seeds, and we shall reap +the golden grain. His words and acts are ours, and all he nobly did +is living still.</p> +<p>Farewell, brave soul! Upon thy grave I lay this tribute of +respect and love. When last our hands were joined, I said these +parting words: "Long life!" And I repeat them now.</p> +<a name="link0043" id="link0043"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO MRS. IDA WHITING KNOWLES.</h2> +<h3>New York, Dec, 16, 1887.</h3> +<p>MY FRIENDS: Again we stand in the shadow of the great +mystery—a shadow as deep and dark as when the tears of the +first mother fell upon the pallid face of her lifeless babe—a +mystery that has never yet been solved.</p> +<p>We have met in the presence of the sacred dead, to speak a word +of praise, of hope, of consolation.</p> +<p>Another life of love is now a blessed memory—a lingering +strain of music.</p> +<p>The loving daughter, the pure and consecrated wife, the sincere +friend, who with tender faithfulness discharged the duties of a +life, has reached her journey's end.</p> +<p>A braver, a more serene, a more chivalric spirit—clasping +the loved and by them clasped—never passed from life to +enrich the realm of death. No field of war ever witnessed greater +fortitude, more perfect, smiling courage, than this poor, weak and +helpless woman displayed upon the bed of pain and death.</p> +<p>Her life was gentle and her death sublime. She loved the good +and all the good loved her.</p> +<p>There is this consolation: she can never suffer more; never feel +again the chill of death; never part again from those she loves. +Her heart can break no more. She has shed her last tear, and upon +her stainless brow has been set the wondrous seal of everlasting +peace.</p> +<p>When the Angel of Death—the masked and +voiceless—enters the door of home, there come with her all +the daughters of Compassion, and of these Love and Hope remain +forever.</p> +<p>You are about to take this dear dust home—to the home of +her girlhood, and to the place that was once my home. You will lay +her with neighbors whom I have loved, and who are now at rest. You +will lay her where my father sleeps.</p> +<pre> + "Lay her i' the earth, + And from her fair and unpolluted flesh + May violets spring." +</pre> +<p>I never knew, I never met, a braver spirit than the one that +once inhabited this silent form of dreamless clay.</p> +<a name="link0044" id="link0044"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO HENRY WARD BEECHER.</h2> +<h3>New York, June 26,1887.</h3> +<p>HENRY WARD BEECHER was born in a Puritan penitentiary, of which +his father was one of the wardens—a prison with very narrow +and closely-grated windows. Under its walls were the rayless, +hopeless and measureless dungeons of the damned, and on its roof +fell the shadow of God's eternal frown. In this prison the creed +and catechism were primers for children, and from a pure sense of +duty their loving hearts were stained and scarred with the religion +of John Calvin.</p> +<p>In those days the home of an orthodox minister was an +inquisition in which babes were tortured for the good of their +souls. Children then, as now, rebelled against the infamous +absurdities and cruelties of the creed. No Calvinist was ever able, +unless with blows, to answer the questions of his child. Children +were raised in what was called "the nurture and admonition of the +Lord"—that is to say, their wills were broken or subdued, +their natures were deformed and dwarfed, their desires defeated or +destroyed, and their development arrested or perverted. Life was +robbed of its Spring, its Summer and its Autumn. Children stepped +from the cradle into the snow. No laughter, no sunshine, no joyous, +free, unburdened days. God, an infinite detective, watched them +from above, and Satan, with malicious leer, was waiting for their +souls below. Between these monsters life was passed. Infinite +consequences were predicated of the smallest action, and a burden +greater than a God could bear was placed upon the heart and brain +of every child. To think, to ask questions, to doubt, to +investigate, were acts of rebellion. To express pity for the lost, +writhing in the dungeons below, was simply to give evidence that +the enemy of souls had been at work within their hearts.</p> +<p>Among all the religions of this world—from the creed of +cannibals who devoured flesh, to that of Calvinists who polluted +souls—there is none, there has been none, there will be none, +more utterly heartless and inhuman than was the orthodox +Congregationalism of New England in the year of grace 1813. It +despised every natural joy, hated pictures, abhorred statues as +lewd and lustful things, execrated music, regarded nature as fallen +and corrupt, man as totally depraved and woman as somewhat worse. +The theatre was the vestibule of perdition, actors the servants of +Satan, and Shakespeare a trifling wretch whose words were seeds of +death. And yet the virtues found a welcome, cordial and sincere; +duty was done as understood; obligations were discharged; truth was +told; self-denial was practiced for the sake of others, and many +hearts were good and true in spite of book and creed.</p> +<p>In this atmosphere of theological miasma, in this hideous dream +of superstition, in this penitentiary, moral and austere, this babe +first saw the imprisoned gloom. The natural desires ungratified, +the laughter suppressed, the logic brow-beaten by authority, the +humor frozen by fear—of many generations—were in this +child, a child destined to rend and wreck the prison's walls.</p> +<p>Through the grated windows of his cell, this child, this boy, +this man, caught glimpses of the outer world, of fields and skies. +New thoughts were in his brain, new hopes within his heart. Another +heaven bent above his life. There came a revelation of the +beautiful and real.</p> +<p>Theology grew mean and small. Nature wooed and won and saved +this mighty soul.</p> +<p>Her countless hands were sowing seeds within his tropic brain. +All sights and sounds—all colors, forms and +fragments—were stored within the treasury of his mind. His +thoughts were moulded by the graceful curves of streams, by winding +paths in woods, the charm of quiet country roads, and lanes grown +indistinct with weeds and grass—by vines that cling and hide +with leaf and flower the crumbling wall's decay—by cattle +standing in the summer pools like statues of content.</p> +<p>There was within his words the subtle spirit of the season's +change—of everything that is, of everything that lies between +the slumbering seeds that, half awakened by the April rain, have +dreams of heaven's blue, and feel the amorous kisses of the sun, +and that strange tomb wherein the alchemist doth give to death's +cold dust the throb and thrill of life again. He saw with loving +eyes the willows of the meadow-streams grow red beneath the glance +of Spring—the grass along the marsh's edge—the stir of +life beneath the withered leaves—the moss below the drip of +snow—the flowers that give their bosoms to the first south +wind that wooes—the sad and timid violets that only bear the +gaze of love from eyes half closed—the ferns, where fancy +gives a thousand forms with but a single plan—the green and +sunny slopes enriched with daisy's silver and the cowslip's +gold.</p> +<p>As in the leafless woods some tree, aflame with life, stands +like a rapt poet in the heedless crowd, so stood this man among his +fellow-men.</p> +<p>All there is of leaf and bud, of flower and fruit, of painted +insect life, and all the winged and happy children of the air that +Summer holds beneath her dome of blue, were known and loved by him. +He loved the yellow Autumn fields, the golden stacks, the happy +homes of men, the orchard's bending boughs, the sumach's flags of +flame, the maples with transfigured leaves, the tender yellow of +the beech, the wondrous harmonies of brown and gold—the vines +where hang the clustered spheres of wit and mirth. He loved the +winter days, the whirl and drift of snow—all forms of +frost—the rage and fury of the storm, when in the forest, +desolate and stripped, the brave old pine towers green and +grand—a prophecy of Spring. He heard the rhythmic sounds of +Nature's busy strife, the hum of bees, the songs of birds, the +eagle's cry, the murmur of the streams, the sighs and lamentations +of the winds, and all the voices of the sea. He loved the shores, +the vales, the crags and cliffs, the city's busy streets, the +introspective, silent plain, the solemn splendors of the night, the +silver sea of dawn, and evening's clouds of molten gold. The love +of nature freed this loving man.</p> +<p>One by one the fetters fell; the gratings disappeared, the +sunshine smote the roof, and on the floors of stone, light streamed +from open doors. He realized the darkness and despair, the cruelty +and hate, the starless blackness of the old, malignant creed. The +flower of pity grew and blossomed in his heart. The selfish +"consolation" filled his eyes with tears. He saw that what is +called the Christian's hope is, that, among the countless billions +wrecked and lost, a meagre few perhaps may reach the eternal +shore—a hope that, like the desert rain, gives neither leaf +nor bud—a hope that gives no joy, no peace, to any great and +loving soul. It is the dust on which the serpent feeds that coils +in heartless breasts.</p> +<p>Day by day the wrath and vengeance faded from the sky—the +Jewish God grew vague and dint—the threats of torture and +eternal pain grew vulgar and absurd, and all the miracles seemed +strangely out of place. They clad the Infinite in motley garb, and +gave to aureoled heads the cap and bells.</p> +<p>Touched by the pathos of all human life, knowing the shadows +that fall on every heart—the thorns in every path, the sighs, +the sorrows, and the tears that lie between a mother's arms and +death's embrace—this great and gifted man denounced, denied, +and damned with all his heart the fanged and frightful dogma that +souls were made to feed the eternal hunger—ravenous as +famine—of a God's revenge.</p> +<p>Take out this fearful, fiendish, heartless lie—compared +with which all other lies are true—and the great arch of +orthodox religion crumbling falls.</p> +<p>To the average man the Christian hell and heaven are only words. +He has no scope of thought. He lives but in a dim, impoverished +now. To him the past is dead—the future still unborn. He +occupies with downcast eyes that narrow line of barren, shifting +sand that lies between the flowing seas. But Genius knows all time. +For him the dead all live and breathe, and act their countless +parts again. All human life is in his now, and every moment feels +the thrill of all to be.</p> +<p>No one can overestimate the good accomplished by this marvelous, +many-sided man. He helped to slay the heart-devouring monster of +the Christian world. He tried to civilize the church, to humanize +the creeds, to soften pious breasts of stone, to take the fear from +mothers' hearts, the chains of creed from every brain, to put the +star of hope in every sky and over every grave. Attacked on every +side, maligned by those who preached the law of love, he wavered +not, but fought whole-hearted to the end.</p> +<p>Obstruction is but virtue's foil. From thwarted light leaps +color's flame. The stream impeded has a song.</p> +<p>He passed from harsh and cruel creeds to that serene philosophy +that has no place for pride or hate, that threatens no revenge, +that looks on sin as stumblings of the blind and pities those who +fall, knowing that in the souls of all there is a sacred yearning +for the light. He ceased to think of man as something thrust upon +the world—an exile from some other sphere. He felt at last +that men are part of Nature's self—kindred of all +life—the gradual growth of countless years; that all the +sacred books were helps until outgrown, and all religions rough and +devious paths that man has worn with weary feet in sad and painful +search for truth and peace. To him these paths were wrong, and yet +all gave the promise of success. He knew that all the streams, no +matter how they wander, turn and curve amid the hills or rocks, or +linger in the lakes and pools, must some time reach the sea. These +views enlarged his soul and made him patient with the world, and +while the wintry snows of age were falling on his head, Spring, +with all her wealth of bloom, was in his heart.</p> +<p>The memory of this ample man is now a part of Nature's wealth. +He battled for the rights of men. His heart was with the slave. He +stood against the selfish greed of millions banded to protect the +pirate's trade. His voice was for the right when freedom's friends +were few. He taught the church to think and doubt. He did not fear +to stand alone. His brain took counsel of his heart. To every foe +he offered reconciliation's hand. He loved this land of ours, and +added to its glory through the world. He was the greatest orator +that stood within the pulpit's narrow curve. He loved the liberty +of speech. There was no trace of bigot in his blood. He was a brave +and generous man.</p> +<p>With reverent hands, I place this tribute on his tomb.</p> +<a name="link0045" id="link0045"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO ROSCOE CONKLING.</h2> +<pre> + Delivered before the New York State Legislature, at Albany, + N. Y, May 9,1888. +</pre> +<p>ROSCOE CONKLING—a great man, an orator, a statesman, a +lawyer, a distinguished citizen of the Republic, in the zenith of +his fame and power has reached his journey's end; and we are met, +here in the city of his birth, to pay our tribute to his worth and +work. He earned and held a proud position in the public thought. He +stood for independence, for courage, and above all for absolute +integrity, and his name was known and honored by many millions of +his fellow-men.</p> +<p>The literature of many lands is rich with the tributes that +gratitude, admiration and love have paid to the great and honored +dead. These tributes disclose the character of nations, the ideals +of the human race. In them we find the estimates of +greatness—the deeds and lives that challenged praise and +thrilled the hearts of men.</p> +<p>In the presence of death, the good man judges as he would be +judged. He knows that men are only fragments—that the +greatest walk in shadow, and that faults and failures mingle with +the lives of all.</p> +<p>In the grave should be buried the prejudices and passions born +of conflict. Charity should hold the scales in which are weighed +the deeds of men. Peculiarities, traits born of locality and +surroundings—these are but the dust of the race—these +are accidents, drapery, clothes, fashions, that have nothing to do +with the man except to hide his character. They are the clouds that +cling to mountains. Time gives us clearer vision. That which was +merely local fades away. The words of envy are forgotten, and all +there is of sterling worth remains. He who was called a partisan is +a patriot. The revolutionist and the outlaw are the founders of +nations, and he who was regarded as a scheming, selfish politician +becomes a statesman, a philosopher, whose words and deeds shed +light.</p> +<p>Fortunate is that nation great enough to know the great.</p> +<p>When a great man dies—one who has nobly fought the battle +of a life, who has been faithful to every trust, and has uttered +his highest, noblest thought—one who has stood proudly by the +right in spite of jeer and taunt, neither stopped by foe nor +swerved by friend—in honoring him, in speaking words of +praise and love above his dust, we pay a tribute to ourselves.</p> +<p>How poor this world would be without its graves, without the +memories of its mighty dead. Only the voiceless speak forever.</p> +<p>Intelligence, integrity and courage are the great pillars that +support the State.</p> +<p>Above all, the citizens of a free nation should honor the brave +and independent man—the man of stainless integrity, of will +and intellectual force. Such men are the Atlases on whose mighty +shoulders rest the great fabric of the Republic. Flatterers, +cringers, crawlers, time-servers are the dangerous citizens of a +democracy. They who gain applause and power by pandering to the +mistakes, the prejudices and passions of the multitude, are the +enemies of liberty.</p> +<p>When the intelligent submit to the clamor of the many, anarchy +begins and the Republic reaches the edge of chaos. Mediocrity, +touched with ambition, flatters the base and calumniates the great, +while the true patriot, who will do neither, is often +sacrificed.</p> +<p>In a government of the people a leader should be a +teacher—he should carry the torch of truth.</p> +<p>Most people are the slaves of habit—followers of +custom—believers in the wisdom of the past—and were it +not for brave and splendid souls, "the dust of antique time would +lie unswept, and mountainous error be too highly heaped for truth +to overpeer." Custom is a prison, locked and barred by those who +long ago were dust, the keys of which are in the keeping of the +dead.</p> +<p>Nothing is grander than when a strong, intrepid man breaks +chains, levels walls and breasts the many-headed mob like some +great cliff that meets and mocks the innumerable billows of the +sea.</p> +<p>The politician hastens to agree with the majority—insists +that their prejudice is patriotism, that their ignorance is +wisdom;—not that he loves them, but because he loves himself. +The statesman, the real reformer, points out the mistakes of the +multitude, attacks the prejudices of his countrymen, laughs at +their follies, denounces their cruelties, enlightens and enlarges +their minds and educates the conscience—not because he loves +himself, but because he loves and serves the right and wishes to +make his country great and free.</p> +<p>With him defeat is but a spur to further effort. He who refuses +to stoop, who cannot be bribed by the promise of success, or the +fear of failure—who walks the highway of the right, and in +disaster stands erect, is the only victor. Nothing is more +despicable than to reach fame by crawling,—position by +cringing.</p> +<p>When real history shall be written by the truthful and the wise, +these men, these kneelers at the shrines of chance and fraud, these +brazen idols worshiped once as gods, will be the very food of +scorn, while those who bore the burden of defeat, who earned and +kept their self-respect, who would not bow to man or men for place +or power, will wear upon their brows the laurel mingled with the +oak.</p> +<p>Roscoe Conkling was a man of superb courage.</p> +<p>He not only acted without fear, but he had that fortitude of +soul that bears the consequences of the course pursued without +complaint. He was charged with being proud. The charge was +true—he was proud. His knees were as inflexible as the +"unwedgeable and gnarled oak," but he was not vain. Vanity rests on +the opinion of others—pride, on our own. The source of vanity +is from without—of pride, from within. Vanity is a vane that +turns, a willow that bends, with every breeze—pride is the +oak that defies the storm. One is cloud—the other rock. One +is weakness—the other strength.</p> +<p>This imperious man entered public life in the dawn of the +reformation—at a time when the country needed men of pride, +of principle and courage. The institution of slavery had poisoned +all the springs of power. Before this crime ambition fell upon its +knees,—politicians, judges, clergymen, and merchant-princes +bowed low and humbly, with their hats in their hands. The real +friend of man was denounced as the enemy of his country—the +real enemy of the human race was called a statesman and a patriot. +Slavery was the bond and pledge of peace, of union, and national +greatness. The temple of American liberty was finished—the +auction-block was the corner-stone.</p> +<p>It is hard to conceive of the utter demoralization, of the +political blindness and immorality, of the patriotic dishonesty, of +the cruelty and degradation of a people who supplemented the +incomparable Declaration of Independence with the Fugitive Slave +Law.</p> +<p>Think of the honored statesmen of that ignoble time who wallowed +in this mire and who, decorated with dripping filth, received the +plaudits of their fellow-men. The noble, the really patriotic, were +the victims of mobs, and the shameless were clad in the robes of +office.</p> +<p>But let us speak no word of blame—let us feel that each +one acted according to his light—according to his +darkness.</p> +<p>At last the conflict came. The hosts of light and darkness +prepared to meet upon the fields of war. The question was +presented: Shall the Republic be slave or free? The Republican +party had triumphed at the polls. The greatest man in our history +was President elect. The victors were appalled—they shrank +from the great responsibility of success. In the presence of +rebellion they hesitated—they offered to return the fruits of +victory. Hoping to avert war they were willing that slavery should +become immortal. An amendment to the Constitution was proposed, to +the effect that no subsequent amendment should ever be made that in +anyway should interfere with the right of man to steal his +fellow-men.</p> +<p>This, the most marvelous proposition ever submitted to a +Congress of civilized men, received in the House an overwhelming +majority, and the necessary two-thirds in the Senate. The +Republican party, in the moment of its triumph, deserted every +principle for which it had so gallantly contended, and with the +trembling hands of fear laid its convictions on the altar of +compromise.</p> +<p>The Old Guard, numbering but sixty-five in the House, stood as +firm as the three hundred at Thermopylae. Thad-deus +Stevens—as maliciously right as any other man was ever +wrong—refused to kneel. Owen Lovejoy, remembering his +brother's noble blood, refused to surrender, and on the edge of +disunion, in the shadow of civil war, with the air filled with +sounds of dreadful preparation, while the Republican party was +retracing its steps, Roscoe Conkling voted No. This puts a wreath +of glory on his tomb. From that vote to the last moment of his life +he was a champion of equal rights, staunch and stalwart.</p> +<p>From that moment he stood in the front rank. He never wavered +and he never swerved. By his devotion to principle—his +courage, the splendor of his diction,—by his varied and +profound knowledge, his conscientious devotion to the great cause, +and by his intellectual scope and grasp, he won and held the +admiration of his fellow-men.</p> +<p>Disasters in the field, reverses at the polls, did not and could +not shake his courage or his faith. He knew the ghastly meaning of +defeat. He knew that the great ship that slavery sought to strand +and wreck was freighted with the world's sublimest hope.</p> +<p>He battled for a nation's life—for the rights of +slaves—the dignity of labor, and the liberty of all. He +guarded with a father's care the rights of the hunted, the hated +and despised. He attacked the savage statutes of the reconstructed +States with a torrent of invective, scorn and execration. He was +not satisfied until the freedman was an American +Citizen—clothed with every civil right—until the +Constitution was his shield—until the ballot was his +sword.</p> +<p>And long after we are dead, the colored man in this and other +lands will speak his name in reverence and love. Others wavered, +but he stood firm; some were false, but he was proudly +true—fearlessly faithful unto death.</p> +<p>He gladly, proudly grasped the hands of colored men who stood +with him as makers of our laws, and treated them as equals and as +friends. The cry of "social equality" coined and uttered by the +cruel and the base, was to him the expression of a great and +splendid truth. He knew that no man can be the equal of the one he +robs—that the intelligent and unjust are not the superiors of +the ignorant and honest—and he also felt, and proudly felt, +that if he were not too great to reach the hand of help and +recognition to the slave, no other Senator could rightfully +refuse.</p> +<p>We rise by raising others—and he who stoops above the +fallen, stands erect.</p> +<p>Nothing can be grander than to sow the seeds of noble thoughts +and virtuous deeds—to liberate the bodies and the souls of +men—to earn the grateful homage of a race—and then, in +life's last shadowy hour, to know that the historian of Liberty +will be compelled to write your name.</p> +<p>There are no words intense enough,—with heart +enough—to express my admiration for the great and gallant +souls who have in every age and every land upheld the right, and +who have lived and died for freedom's sake.</p> +<p>In our lives have been the grandest years that man has lived, +that Time has measured by the flight of worlds.</p> +<p>The history of that great Party that let the oppressed go +free—that lifted our nation from the depths of savagery to +freedom's cloudless heights, and tore with holy hands from every +law the words that sanctified the cruelty of man, is the most +glorious in the annals of our race. Never before was there such a +moral exaltation—never a party with a purpose so pure and +high. It was the embodied conscience of a nation, the enthusiasm of +a people guided by wisdom, the impersonation of justice; and the +sublime victory achieved loaded even the conquered with all the +rights that freedom can bestow.</p> +<p>Roscoe Conkling was an absolutely honest man. Honesty is the oak +around which all other virtues cling. Without that they fall, and +groveling die in weeds and dust. He believed that a nation should +discharge its obligations. He knew that a promise could not be made +often enough, or emphatic enough, to take the place of payment. He +felt that the promise of the Government was the promise of every +citizen—that a national obligation was a personal debt, and +that no possible combination of words and pictures could take the +place of coin. He uttered the splendid truth that "the higher +obligations among men are not set down in writing signed and +sealed, but reside in honor." He knew that repudiation was the +sacrifice of honor—the death of the national soul. He knew +that without character, without integrity, there is no wealth, and +that below poverty, below bankruptcy, is the rayless abyss of +repudiation. He upheld the sacredness of contracts, of plighted +national faith, and helped to save and keep the honor of his native +land. This adds another laurel to his brow.</p> +<p>He was the ideal representative, faithful and incorruptible. He +believed that his constituents and his country were entitled to the +fruit of his experience, to his best and highest thought. No man +ever held the standard of responsibility higher than he. He voted +according to his judgment, his conscience. He made no +bargains—he neither bought nor sold.</p> +<p>To correct evils, abolish abuses and inaugurate reforms, he +believed was not only the duty, but the privilege, of a legislator. +He neither sold nor mortgaged himself. He was in Congress during +the years of vast expenditure, of war and waste—when the +credit of the nation was loaned to individuals—when claims +were thick as leaves in June, when the amendment of a statute, the +change of a single word, meant millions, and when empires were +given to corporations. He stood at the summit of his +power—peer of the greatest—a leader tried and trusted. +He had the tastes of a prince, the fortune of a peasant, and yet he +never swerved. No corporation was great enough or rich enough to +purchase him. His vote could not be bought "for all the sun sees, +or the close earth wombs, or the profound seas hide." His hand was +never touched by any bribe, and on his soul there never was a +sordid stain. Poverty was his priceless crown.</p> +<p>Above his marvelous intellectual gifts—above all place he +ever reached,—above the ermine he refused,—rises his +integrity like some great mountain peak—and there it stands, +firm as the earth beneath, pure as the stars above.</p> +<p>He was a great lawyer. He understood the frame-work, the +anatomy, the foundations of law; was familiar with the great +streams and currents and tides of authority.</p> +<p>He knew the history of legislation—the principles that +have been settled upon the fields of war. He knew the +maxims,—those crystallizations of common sense, those +hand-grenades of argument. He was not a case-lawyer—a +decision index, or an echo; he was original, thoughtful and +profound. He had breadth and scope, resource, learning, logic, and +above all, a sense of justice. He was painstaking and +conscientious—anxious to know the facts—preparing for +every attack, ready for every defence. He rested only when the end +was reached. During the contest, he neither sent nor received a +flag of truce. He was true to his clients—making their case +his. Feeling responsibility, he listened patiently to details, and +to his industry there were only the limits of time and strength. He +was a student of the Constitution. He knew the boundaries of State +and Federal jurisdiction, and no man was more familiar with those +great decisions that are the peaks and promontories, the headlands +and the beacons, of the law.</p> +<p>He was an orator,—logical, earnest, intense and +picturesque. He laid the foundation with care, with accuracy and +skill, and rose by "cold gradation and well balanced form" from the +corner-stone of statement to the domed conclusion. He filled the +stage. He satisfied the eye—the audience was his. He had that +indefinable thing called presence. Tall, commanding, +erect—ample in speech, graceful in compliment, Titanic in +denunciation, rich in illustration, prodigal of comparison and +metaphor—and his sentences, measured and rhythmical, fell +like music on the enraptured throng.</p> +<p>He abhorred the Pharisee, and loathed all conscientious fraud. +He had a profound aversion for those who insist on putting base +motives back of the good deeds of others. He wore no mask. He knew +his friends—his enemies knew him.</p> +<p>He had no patience with pretence—with patriotic reasons +for unmanly acts. He did his work and bravely spoke his +thought.</p> +<p>Sensitive to the last degree, he keenly felt the blows and stabs +of the envious and obscure—of the smallest, of the +weakest—but the greatest could not drive him from +conviction's field. He would not stoop to ask or give an +explanation. He left his words and deeds to justify themselves.</p> +<p>He held in light esteem a friend who heard with half-believing +ears the slander of a foe. He walked a highway of his own, and kept +the company of his self-respect. He would not turn aside to avoid a +foe—to greet or gain a friend.</p> +<p>In his nature there was no compromise. To him there were but two +paths—the right and wrong. He was maligned, misrepresented +and misunderstood—but he would not answer. He knew that +character speaks louder far than any words. He was as silent then +as he is now—and his silence, better than any form of speech, +refuted every charge.</p> +<p>He was an American—proud of his country, that was and ever +will be proud of him. He did not find perfection only in other +lands. He did not grow small and shrunken, withered and apologetic, +in the presence of those upon whom greatness had been thrust by +chance. He could not be overawed by dukes or lords, nor flattered +into vertebrate-less subserviency by the patronizing smiles of +kings. In the midst of conventionalities he had the feeling of +suffocation. He believed in the royalty of man, in the sovereignty +of the citizen, and in the matchless greatness of this +Republic.</p> +<p>He was of the classic mould—a figure from the antique +world. He had the pose of the great statues—the pride and +bearing of the intellectual Greek, of the conquering Roman, and he +stood in the wide free air as though within his veins there flowed +the blood of a hundred kings.</p> +<p>And as he lived he died. Proudly he entered the +darkness—or the dawn—that we call death. Unshrinkingly +he passed beyond our horizon, beyond the twilight's purple hills, +beyond the utmost reach of human harm or help—to that vast +realm of silence or of joy where the innumerable dwell, and he has +left with us his wealth of thought and deed—the memory of a +brave, imperious, honest man, who bowed alone to death.</p> +<a name="link0046" id="link0046"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO RICHARD H. WHITING.</h2> +<h3>New York, May 24., 1888.</h3> +<p>MY FRIENDS: The river of another life has reached the sea.</p> +<p>Again we are in the presence of that eternal peace that we call +death.</p> +<p>My life has been rich in friends, but I never had a better or a +truer one than he who lies in silence here. He was as steadfast, as +faithful, as the stars.</p> +<p>Richard H. Whiting was an absolutely honest man. His word was +gold—his promise was fulfillment—and there never has +been, there never will be, on this poor earth, any thing nobler +than an honest, loving soul.</p> +<p>This man was as reliable as the attraction of +gravitation—he knew no shadow of turning. He was as generous +as autumn, as hospitable as summer, and as tender as a perfect day +in June. He forgot only himself, and asked favors only for others. +He begged for the opportunity to do good—to stand by a +friend, to support a cause, to defend what he believed to be +right.</p> +<p>He was a lover of nature—of the woods, the fields and +flowers. He was a home-builder. He believed in the family and the +fireside—in the sacredness of the hearth.</p> +<p>He was a believer in the religion of deed, and his creed was to +do good. No man has ever slept in death who nearer lived his +creed.</p> +<p>I have known him for many years, and have yet to hear a word +spoken of him except in praise.</p> +<p>His life was full of honor, of kindness and of helpful deeds. +Besides all, his soul was free. He feared nothing, except to do +wrong. He was a believer in the gospel of help and hope. He knew +how much better, how much more sacred, a kind act is than any +theory the brain has wrought.</p> +<p>The good are the noble. His life filled the lives of others with +sunshine. He has left a legacy of glory to his children. They can +truthfully say that within their veins is right royal +blood—the blood of an honest, generous man, of a steadfast +friend, of one who was true to the very gates of death.</p> +<p>If there be another world, another life beyond the shore of +this,—if the great and good who died upon this orb are +there,—then the noblest and the best, with eager hands, have +welcomed him—the equal in honor, in generosity, of any one +that ever passed beyond the veil.</p> +<p>To me this world is growing poor. New friends can never fill the +places of the old.</p> +<p>Farewell! If this is the end, then you have left to us the +sacred memory of a noble life. If this is not the end, there is no +world in which you, my friend, will not be loved and welcomed. +Farewell!</p> +<a name="link0047" id="link0047"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO COURTLANDT PALMER.</h2> +<h3>New York, July 26, 1888.</h3> +<p>MY FRIENDS: A thinker of pure thoughts, a speaker of brave +words, a doer of generous deeds has reached the silent haven that +all the dead have reached, and where the voyage of every life must +end; and we, his friends, who even now are hastening after him, are +met to do the last kind acts that man may do for man—to tell +his virtues and to lay with tenderness and tears lay ashes in the +sacred place of rest and peace.</p> +<p>Some one has said, that in the open hands of death we find only +what they gave away.</p> +<p>Let us believe that pure thoughts, brave words and generous +deeds can never die. Let us believe that they bear fruit and add +forever to the well-being of the human race. Let us believe that a +noble, self-denying life increases the moral wealth of man, and +gives assurance that the future will be grander than the past.</p> +<p>In the monotony of subservience, in the multitude of blind +followers, nothing is more inspiring than a free and independent +man—one who gives and asks reasons; one who demands freedom +and gives what he demands; one who refuses to be slave or master. +Such a man was Courtlandt Palmer, to whom we pay the tribute of +respect and love.</p> +<p>He was an honest man—he gave the rights he claimed. This +was the foundation on which he built. To think for himself—to +give his thought to others; this was to him not only a privilege, +not only a right, but a duty.</p> +<p>He believed in self-preservation—in personal +independence—that is to say, in manhood.</p> +<p>He preserved the realm of mind from the invasion of brute force, +and protected the children of the brain from the Herod of +authority.</p> +<p>He investigated for himself the questions, the problems and the +mysteries of life. Majorities were nothing to him. No error could +be old enough—popular, plausible or profitable +enough—to bribe his judgment or to keep his conscience +still.</p> +<p>He knew that, next to finding truth, the greatest joy is honest +search.</p> +<p>He was a believer in intellectual hospitality, in the fair +exchange of thought, in good mental manners, in the amenities of +the soul, in the chivalry of discussion.</p> +<p>He insisted that those who speak should hear; that those who +question should answer; that each should strive not for a victory +over others, but for the discovery of truth, and that truth when +found should be welcomed by every human soul.</p> +<p>He knew that truth has no fear of investigation—of being +understood. He knew that truth loves the day—that its enemies +are ignorance, prejudice, egotism, bigotry, hypocrisy, fear and +darkness, and that intelligence, candor, honesty, love and light +are its eternal friends.</p> +<p>He believed in the morality of the useful—that the virtues +are the friends of man—the seeds of joy.</p> +<p>He knew that consequences determine the quality of actions, and +"that whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap."</p> +<p>In the positive philosophy of Auguste Comte he found the +framework of his creed. In the conclusions of that great, sublime +and tender soul he found the rest, the serenity and the certainty +he sought.</p> +<p>The clouds had fallen from his life. He saw that the old faiths +were but phases in the growth of man—that out from the +darkness, up from the depths, the human race through countless ages +and in every land had struggled toward the ever-growing light.</p> +<p>He felt that the living are indebted to the noble dead, and that +each should pay his debt; that he should pay it by preserving to +the extent of his power the good he has, by destroying the hurtful, +by adding to the knowledge of the world, by giving better than he +had received; and that each should be the bearer of a torch, a +giver of light for all that is, for all to be.</p> +<p>This was the religion of duty perceived, of duty within the +reach of man, within the circumference of the known—a +religion without mystery, with experience for the foundation of +belief—a religion understood by the head and approved by the +heart—a religion that appealed to reason with a definite end +in view—the civilization and development of the human race by +legitimate, adequate and natural means—that is to say, by +ascertaining the conditions of progress and by teaching each to be +noble enough to live for all.</p> +<p>This is the gospel of man; this is the gospel of this world; +this is the religion of humanity; this is a philosophy that +comtemplates not with scorn, but with pity, with admiration and +with love all that man has done, regarding, as it does, the past +with all its faults and virtues, its sufferings, its cruelties and +crimes, as the only road by which the perfect could be reached.</p> +<p>He denied the supernatural—the phantoms and the ghosts +that fill the twilight-land of fear. To him and for him there was +but one religion—the religion of pure thoughts, of noble +words, of self-denying deeds, of honest work for all the +world—the religion of Help and Hope.</p> +<p>Facts were the foundation of his faith; history was his prophet; +reason his guide; duty his deity; happiness the end; intelligence +the means.</p> +<p>He knew that man must be the providence of man.</p> +<p>He did not believe in Religion and Science, but in the Religion +of Science—that is to say, wisdom glorified by love, the +Savior of our race—the religion that conquers prejudice and +hatred, that drives all superstition from the mind, that ennobles, +lengthens and enriches life, that drives from every home the wolves +of want, from every heart the fiends of selfishness and fear, and +from every brain the monsters of the night.</p> +<p>He lived and labored for his fellow-men. He sided with the weak +and poor against the strong and rich. He welcomed light. His face +was ever toward the East.</p> +<p>According to his light he lived. "The world was his +country—to do good his religion." There is no language to +express a nobler creed than this; nothing can be grander, more +comprehensive, nearer perfect. This was the creed that glorified +his life and made his death sublime.</p> +<p>He was afraid to do wrong, and for that reason was not afraid to +die.</p> +<p>He knew that the end was near. He knew that his work was done. +He stood within the twilight, within the deepening gloom, knowing +that for the last time the gold was fading from the West and that +there could not fall again within his eyes the trembling lustre of +another dawn. He knew that night had come, and yet his soul was +filled with light, for in that night the memory of his generous +deeds shone out like stars.</p> +<p>What can we say? What words can solve the mystery of life, the +mystery of death? What words can justly pay a tribute to the man +who lived to his ideal, who spoke his honest thought, and who was +turned aside neither by envy, nor hatred, nor contumely, nor +slander, nor scorn, nor fear?</p> +<p>What words will do that life the justice that we know and +feel?</p> +<p>A heart breaks, a man dies, a leaf falls in the far forest, a +babe is born, and the great world sweeps on.</p> +<p>By the grave of man stands the angel of Silence.</p> +<p>No one can tell which is better—Life with its gleams and +shadows, its thrills and pangs, its ecstasy and tears, its wreaths +and thorns, its crowns, its glories and Golgothas, or Death, with +its peace, its rest, its cool and placid brow that hath within no +memory or fear of grief or pain.</p> +<p>Farewell, dear friend. The world is better for your +life—The world is braver for your death.</p> +<p>Farewell! We loved you living, and we love you now.</p> +<a name="link0048" id="link0048"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO MRS. MARY H. FISKE.</h2> +<h3>At Scottish Rite Hall, New York, February 6, 1889.</h3> +<p>MY FRIENDS: In the presence of the two great mysteries, Life and +Death, we are met to say above this still, unconscious house of +clay, a few words of kindness, of regret, of love, and hope.</p> +<p>In this presence, let us speak of the goodness, the charity, the +generosity and the genius of the dead.</p> +<p>Only flowers should be laid upon the tomb. In life's last pillow +there should be no thorns.</p> +<p>Mary Fiske was like herself—she patterned after none. She +was a genius, and put her soul in all she did and wrote. She cared +nothing for roads, nothing for beaten paths, nothing for the +footsteps of others—she went across the fields and through +the woods and by the winding streams, and down the vales, or over +crags, wherever fancy led. She wrote lines that leaped with +laughter and words that were wet with tears. She gave us quaint +thoughts, and sayings filled with the "pert and nimble spirit of +mirth." Her pages were flecked with sunshine and shadow, and in +every word were the pulse and breath of life.</p> +<p>Her heart went out to all the wretched in this weary +world—and yet she seemed as joyous as though grief and death +were nought but words. She wept where others wept, but in her own +misfortunes found the food of hope. She cared for the to-morrow of +others, but not for her own. She lived for to-day.</p> +<p>Some hearts are like a waveless pool, satisfied to hold the +image of a wondrous star—but hers was full of motion, life +and light and storm.</p> +<p>She longed for freedom. Every limitation was a prison's wall. +Rules were shackles, and forms were made for serfs and slaves.</p> +<p>She gave her utmost thought. She praised all generous deeds; +applauded the struggling and even those who failed.</p> +<p>She pitied the poor, the forsaken, the friendless. No one could +fall below her pity, no one could wander beyond the circumference +of her sympathy. To her there were no outcasts—they were +victims. She knew that the inhabitants of palaces and +penitentiaries might change places without adding to the injustice +of the world. She knew that circumstances and conditions determine +character—that the lowest and the worst of our race were +children once, as pure as light, whose cheeks dimpled with smiles +beneath the heaven of a mother's eyes. She thought of the road they +had traveled, of the thorns that had pierced their feet, of the +deserts they had crossed, and so, instead of words of scorn she +gave the eager hand of help.</p> +<p>No one appealed to her in vain. She listened to the story of the +poor, and all she had she gave. A god could do no more.</p> +<p>The destitute and suffering turned naturally to her. The maimed +and hurt sought for her open door, and the helpless put their hands +in hers.</p> +<p>She shielded the weak—she attacked the strong.</p> +<p>Her heart was open as the gates of day. She shed kindness as the +sun sheds light. If all her deeds were flowers, the air would be +faint with perfume. If all her charities could change to melodies, +a symphony would fill the sky.</p> +<p>Mary Fiske had within her brain the divine fire called genius, +and in her heart the "touch of nature that makes the whole world +kin."</p> +<p>She wrote as a stream runs, that winds and babbles through the +shadowy fields, that falls in foam of flight and haste and laughing +joins the sea.</p> +<p>A little while ago a babe was found—one that had been +abandoned by its mother—left as a legacy to chance or fate. +The warm heart of Mary Fiske, now cold in death, was touched. She +took the waif and held it lovingly to her breast and made the child +her own.</p> +<p>We pray thee, Mother Nature, that thou wilt take this woman and +hold her as tenderly in thy arms, as she held and pressed against +her generous, throbbing heart, the abandoned babe.</p> +<p>We ask no more.</p> +<p>In this presence, let us remember our faults, our frailties, and +the generous, helpful, self-denying, loving deeds of Mary +Fiske.</p> +<a name="link0049" id="link0049"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO HORACE SEAVER.</h2> +<h3>At Paine Hall, Boston, August 25, 1889.</h3> +<pre> + * The eulogy pronounced at the funeral of Horace Shaver In + Paine Hall last Sunday was the tribute of one great man to + another. To have Robert G. Ingersoll speak words of praise + above the silent form is fame; to deserve these words is + immortality.—The Boston Investigator, August 28, 1889. +</pre> +<p>HORACE SEAVER was a pioneer, a torch-bearer, a toiler in that +great field we call the world—a worker for his fellow-men. At +the end of his task he has fallen asleep, and we are met to tell +the story of his long and useful life—to pay our tribute to +his work and worth.</p> +<p>He was one who saw the dawn while others lived in night. He kept +his face toward the "purpling east" and watched the coming of the +blessed day.</p> +<p>He always sought for light. His object was to know—to find +a reason for his faith—a fact on which to build.</p> +<p>In superstition's sands he sought the gems of truth; in +superstition's night he looked for stars.</p> +<p>Born in New England—reared amidst the cruel superstitions +of his age and time, he had the manhood and the courage to +investigate, and he had the goodness and the courage to tell his +honest thoughts.</p> +<p>He was always kind, and sought to win the confidence of men by +sympathy and love. There was no taint or touch of malice in his +blood. To him his fellows did not seem depraved—they were not +wholly bad—there was within the heart of each the seeds of +good. He knew that back of every thought and act were forces +uncontrolled. He wisely said: "Circumstances furnish the seeds of +good and evil, and man is but the soil in which they grow." Horace +Seaver was crowned with the wreath of his own deeds, woven by the +generous hand of a noble friend. He fought the creed, and loved the +man. He pitied those who feared and shuddered at the thought of +death—who dwelt in darkness and in dread.</p> +<p>The religion of his day filled his heart with horror.</p> +<p>He was kind, compassionate, and tender, and could not fall upon +his knees before a cruel and revengeful God—he could not bow +to one who slew with famine, sword and fire—to one pitiless +as pestilence, relentless as the lightning stroke. Jehovah had no +attribute that he could love.</p> +<p>He attacked the creed of New England—a creed that had +within it the ferocity of Knox, the malice of Calvin, the cruelty +of Jonathan Edwards—a religion that had a monster for a +God—a religion whose dogmas would have shocked cannibals +feasting upon babes.</p> +<p>Horace Seaver followed the light of his brain—the impulse +of his heart. He was attacked, but he answered the insulter with a +smile; and even he who coined malignant lies was treated as a +friend misled. He did not ask God to forgive his enemies—he +forgave them himself. He was sincere. Sincerity is the true and +perfect mirror of the mind. It reflects the honest thought. It is +the foundation of character, and without it there is no moral +grandeur.</p> +<p>Sacred are the lips from which has issued only truth. Over all +wealth, above all station, above the noble, the robed and crowned, +rises the sincere man. Happy is the man who neither paints nor +patches, veils nor veneers. Blessed is he who wears no mask.</p> +<p>The man who lies before us wrapped in perfect peace, practiced +no art to hide or half conceal his thought. He did not write or +speak the double words that might be useful in retreat. He gave a +truthful transcript of his mind, and sought to make his meaning +clear as light.</p> +<p>To use his own words, he had "the courage which impels a man to +do his duty, to hold fast his integrity, to maintain a conscience +void of offence, at every hazard and at every sacrifice, in +defiance of the world."</p> +<p>He lived to his ideal. He sought the approbation of himself. He +did not build his character upon the opinions of others, and it was +out of the very depths of his nature that he asked this profound +question:</p> +<p>"What is there in other men that makes us desire their +approbation, and fear their censure more than our own?"</p> +<p>Horace Seaver was a good and loyal citizen of the mental +republic—a believer in, intellectual hospitality, one who +knew that bigotry is born of ignorance and fear—the +provincialisms of the brain. He did not belong to the tribe, or to +the nation, but to the human race. His sympathy was wide as want, +and, like the sky, bent above the suffering world.</p> +<p>This man had that superb thing called moral +courage—courage in its highest form. He knew that his +thoughts were not the thoughts of others—that he was with the +few, and that where one would take his side, thousands would be his +eager foes. He knew that wealth would scorn and cultured ignorance +deride, and that believers in the creeds, buttressed by law and +custom, would hurl the missiles of revenge and hate. He knew that +lies, like snakes, would fill the pathway of his life—and yet +he told his honest thought—told it without hatred and without +contempt—told it as it really was. And so, through all his +days, his heart was sound and stainless to the core.</p> +<p>When he enlisted in the army whose banner is light, the honest +investigator was looked upon as lost and cursed, and even Christian +criminals held him in contempt. The believing embezzler, the +orthodox wife-beater, even the murderer, lifted his bloody hands +and thanked God that on his soul there was no stain of +unbelief.</p> +<p>In nearly every State of our Republic, the man who denied the +absurdities and impossibilities lying at the foundation of what is +called orthodox religion, was denied his civil rights. He was not +canopied by the ægis of the law. He stood beyond the reach of +sympathy. He was not allowed to testify against the invader of his +home, the seeker for his life—his lips were closed. He was +declared dishonorable, because he was honest. His unbelief made him +a social leper, a pariah, an outcast. He was the victim of +religious hate and scorn. Arrayed against him were all the +prejudices and all the forces and hypocrisies of society. All +mistakes and lies were his enemies. Even the Theist was denounced +as a disturber of the peace, although he told his thoughts in kind +and candid words. He was called a blasphemer, because he sought to +rescue the reputation of his God from the slanders of orthodox +priests.</p> +<p>Such was the bigotry of the time, that natural love was lost. +The unbelieving son was hated by his pious sire, and even the +mother's heart was by her creed turned into stone.</p> +<p>Horace Seaver pursued his way. He worked and wrought as best he +could, in solitude and want. He knew the day would come. He lived +to be rewarded for his toil—to see most of the laws repealed +that had made outcasts of the noblest, the wisest, and the best. He +lived to see the foremost preachers of the world attack the sacred +creeds. He lived to see the sciences released from superstition's +clutch. He lived to see the orthodox theologian take his place with +the professor of the black art, the fortune-teller, and the +astrologer. He lived to see the greatest of the world accept his +thought—to see the theologian displaced by the true priests +of Nature—by Humboldt and Darwin, by Huxley and Haeckel.</p> +<p>Within the narrow compass of his life the world was changed. The +railway, the steamship, and the telegraph made all nations +neighbors. Countless inventions have made the luxuries of the past +the necessities of to-day. Life has been enriched, and man +ennobled. The geologist has read the records of frost and flame, of +wind and wave—the astronomer has told the story of the +stars—the biologist has sought the germ of life, and in every +department of knowledge the torch of science sheds its sacred +light.</p> +<p>The ancient creeds have grown absurd. The miracles are small and +mean. The inspired book is filled with fables told to please a +childish world, and the dogma of eternal pain now shocks the heart +and brain.</p> +<p>He lived to see a monument unveiled to Bruno in the city of +Rome—to Giordano Bruno—that great man who two hundred +and eighty-nine years ago suffered death for having proclaimed the +truths that since have filled the world with joy. He lived to see +the victim of the church a victor—lived to see his memory +honored by a nation freed from papal chains.</p> +<p>He worked knowing what the end must be—expecting little +while he lived—but knowing that every fact in the wide +universe was on his side. He knew that truth can wait, and so he +worked patient as eternity.</p> +<p>He had the brain of a philosopher and the heart of a child.</p> +<p>Horace Seaver was a man of common sense.</p> +<p>By that I mean, one who knows the law of average. He denied the +Bible, not on account of what has been discovered in astronomy, or +the length of time it took to form the delta of the Nile—but +he compared the things he found with what he knew.</p> +<p>He knew that antiquity added nothing to probability—that +lapse of time can never take the place of cause, and that the dust +can never gather thick enough upon mistakes to make them equal with +the truth.</p> +<p>He knew that the old, by no possibility, could have been more +wonderful than the new, and that the present is a perpetual torch +by which we know the past.</p> +<p>To him all miracles were mistakes, whose parents were cunning +and credulity. He knew that miracles were not, because they are +not.</p> +<p>He believed in the sublime, unbroken, and eternal march of +causes and effects—denying the chaos of chance, and the +caprice of power.</p> +<p>He tested the past by the now, and judged of all the men and +races of the world by those he knew.</p> +<p>He believed in the religion of free thought and good +deed—of character, of sincerity, of honest endeavor, of +cheerful help—and above all, in the religion of love and +liberty—in a religion for every day—for the world in +which we live—for the present—the religion of roof and +raiment, of food, of intelligence, of intellectual +hospitality—the religion that gives health and happiness, +freedom and content—in the religion of work, and in the +ceremonies of honest labor.</p> +<p>He lived for this world; if there be another, he will live for +that.</p> +<p>He did what he could for the destruction of fear—the +destruction of the imaginary monster who rewards the few in +heaven—the monster who tortures the many in perdition.</p> +<p>He was a friend of all the world, and sought to civilize the +human race.</p> +<p>For more than fifty years he labored to free the bodies and the +souls of men—and many thousands have read his words with joy. +He sought the suffering and oppressed. He sat by those in +pain—and his helping hand was laid in pity on the brow of +death.</p> +<p>He asked only to be treated as he treated others. He asked for +only what he earned, and had the manhood cheerfully to accept the +consequences of his actions. He expected no reward for the goodness +of another.</p> +<p>But he has lived his life. We should shed no tears except the +tears of gratitude. We should rejoice that he lived so long.</p> +<p>In Nature's course, his time had come. The four seasons were +complete in him. The Spring could never come again. The measure of +his years was full.</p> +<p>When the day is done—when the work of a life is +finished—when the gold of evening meets the dusk of night, +beneath the silent stars the tired laborer should fall asleep. To +outlive usefulness is a double death. "Let me not live after my +flame lacks oil, to be the snuff of younger spirits."</p> +<p>When the old oak is visited in vain by Spring—when light +and rain no longer thrill—it is not well to stand leafless, +desolate, and alone. It is better far to fall where Nature softly +covers all with woven moss and creeping vine.</p> +<p>How little, after all, we know of what is ill or well! How +little of this wondrous stream of cataracts and pools—this +stream of life, that rises in a world unknown, and flows to that +mysterious sea whose shore the foot of one who comes has never +pressed! How little of this life we know—this struggling ray +of light 'twixt gloom and gloom—this strip of land by verdure +clad, between the unknown wastes—this throbbing moment filled +with love and pain—this dream that lies between the shadowy +shores of sleep and death!</p> +<p>We stand upon this verge of crumbling time. We love, we hope, we +disappear. Again we mingle with the dust, and the "knot +intrinsicate" forever falls apart.</p> +<p>But this we know: A noble life enriches all the world.</p> +<p>Horace Seaver lived for others. He accepted toil and hope +deferred. Poverty was his portion. Like Socrates, he did not seek +to adorn his body, but rather his soul with the jewels of charity, +modesty, courage, and above all, with a love of liberty.</p> +<p>Farewell, O brave and modest man!</p> +<p>Your lips, between which truths burst into blossom, are forever +closed. Your loving heart has ceased to beat. Your busy brain is +still, and from your hand has dropped the sacred torch.</p> +<p>Your noble, self-denying life has honored us, and we will honor +you.</p> +<p>You were my friend, and I was yours. Above your silent clay I +pay this tribute to your worth.</p> +<p>Farewell!</p> +<a name="link0050" id="link0050"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO LAWRENCE BARRETT.</h2> +<h3>At the Broadway Theatre, New York, March 22, 1891.</h3> +<p>MY heart tells me that on the threshold of my address it will be +appropriate for me to say a few words about the great actor who has +just fallen into that sleep that we call death. Lawrence Barrett +was my friend, and I was his. He was an interpreter of Shakespeare, +to whose creations he gave flesh and blood. He began at the +foundation of his profession, and rose until he stood next to his +friend—next to one who is regarded as the greatest tragedian +of our time—next to Edwin Booth.</p> +<p>The life of Lawrence Barrett was a success, because he honored +himself and added glory to the stage.</p> +<p>He did not seek for gain by pandering to the thoughtless, +ignorant or base. He gave the drama in its highest and most serious +form. He shunned the questionable, the vulgar and impure, and gave +the intellectual, the pathetic, the manly and the tragic. He did +not stoop to conquer—he soared. He was fitted for the stage. +He had a thoughtful face, a vibrant voice and the pose of chivalry, +and besides he had patience, industry, courage and the genius of +success.</p> +<p>He was a graceful and striking Bassanio, a thoughtful Hamlet, an +intense Othello, a marvelous Harebell, and the best Cassius of his +century.</p> +<p>In the drama of human life, all are actors, and no one knows his +part. In this great play the scenes are shifted by unknown forces, +and the commencement, plot and end are still unknown—are +still unguessed. One by one the players leave the stage, and others +take their places. There is no pause—the play goes on. No +prompter's voice is heard, and no one has the slightest clue to +what the next scene is to be.</p> +<p>Will this great drama have an end? Will the curtain fall at +last? Will it rise again upon some other stage? Reason says +perhaps, and Hope still whispers yes. Sadly I bid my friend +farewell, I admired the actor, and I loved the man.</p> +<a name="link0051" id="link0051"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO WALT WHITMAN.</h2> +<h3>Camden, N. J., March 30, 1892.</h3> +<p>MY FRIENDS: Again we, in the mystery of Life, are brought face +to face with the mystery of Death. A great man, a great American, +the most eminent citizen of this Republic, lies dead before us, and +we have met to pay a tribute to his greatness and his worth.</p> +<p>I know he needs no words of mine. His fame is secure. He laid +the foundations of it deep in the human heart and brain. He was, +above all I have known, the poet of humanity, of sympathy. He was +so great that he rose above the greatest that he met without +arrogance, and so great that he stooped to the lowest without +conscious condescension. He never claimed to be lower or greater +than any of the sous of men.</p> +<p>He came into our generation a free, untrammeled spirit, with +sympathy for all. His arm was beneath the form of the sick. He +sympathized with the imprisoned and despised, and even on the brow +of crime he was great enough to place the kiss of human +sympathy.</p> +<p>One of the greatest lines in our literature is his, and the line +is great enough to do honor to the greatest genius that has ever +lived. He said, speaking of an outcast: "Not till the sun excludes +you do I exclude you."</p> +<p>His charity was as wide as the sky, and wherever there was human +suffering, human misfortune, the sympathy of Whitman bent above it +as the firmament bends above the earth.</p> +<p>He was built on a broad and splendid plan—ample, without +appearing to have limitations—passing easily for a brother of +mountains and seas and constellations; caring nothing for the +little maps and charts with which timid pilots hug the shore, but +giving himself freely with recklessness of genius to winds and +waves and tides; caring for nothing as long as the stars were above +him. He walked among men, among writers, among verbal varnishers +and veneerers, among literary milliners and tailors, with the +unconscious majesty of an antique god.</p> +<p>He was the poet of that divine democracy which gives equal +rights to all the sons and daughters of men. He uttered the great +American voice; uttered a song worthy of the great Republic. No man +ever said more for the rights of humanity, more in favor of real +democracy, of real justice. He neither scorned nor cringed, was +neither tyrant nor slave. He asked only to stand the equal of his +fellows beneath the great flag of nature, the blue and stars.</p> +<p>He was the poet of Life. It was a joy simply to breathe. He +loved the clouds; he enjoyed the breath of morning, the twilight, +the wind, the winding streams. He loved to look at the sea when the +waves burst into the whitecaps of joy. He loved the fields, the +hills; he was acquainted with the trees, with birds, with all the +beautiful objects of the earth. He not only saw these objects, but +understood their meaning, and he used them that he might exhibit +his heart to his fellow-men.</p> +<p>He was the poet of Love. He was not ashamed of that divine +passion that has built every home in the world; that divine passion +that has painted every picture and given us every real work of art; +that divine passion that has made the world worth living in and has +given some value to human life.</p> +<p>He was the poet of the natural, and taught men not to be ashamed +of that which is natural. He was not only the poet of democracy, +not only the poet of the great Republic, but he was the poet of the +human race. He was not confined to the limits of this country, but +his sympathy went out over the seas to all the nations of the +earth.</p> +<p>He stretched out his hand and felt himself the equal of all +kings and of all princes, and the brother of all men, no matter how +high, no matter how low.</p> +<p>He has uttered more supreme words than any writer of our +century, possibly of almost any other. He was, above all things, a +man, and above genius, above all the snow-capped peaks of +intelligence, above all art, rises the true man. Greater than all +is the true man, and he walked among his fellow-men as such.</p> +<p>He was the poet of Death. He accepted all life and all death, +and he justified all. He had the courage to meet all, and was great +enough and splendid enough to harmonize all and to accept all there +is of life as a divine melody.</p> +<p>You know better than I what his life has been, but let me say +one thing. Knowing, as he did, what others can know and what they +cannot, he accepted and absorbed all theories, all creeds, all +religions, and believed in none. His philosophy was a sky that +embraced all clouds and accounted for all clouds. He had a +philosophy and a religion of his own, broader, as he +believed—and as I believe—than others. He accepted all, +he understood all, and he was above all.</p> +<p>He was absolutely true to himself. He had frankness and courage, +and he was as candid as light. He was willing that all the sons of +men should be absolutely acquainted with his heart and brain. He +had nothing to conceal. Frank, candid, pure, serene, noble, and yet +for years he was maligned and slandered, simply because he had the +candor of nature. He will be understood yet, and that for which he +was condemned—his frankness, his candor—will add to the +glory and greatness of his fame.</p> +<p>He wrote a liturgy for mankind; he wrote a great and splendid +psalm of life, and he gave to us the gospel of humanity—the +greatest gospel that can be preached.</p> +<p>He was not afraid to live, not afraid to die. For many years he +and death were near neighbors. He was always willing and ready to +meet and greet this king called death, and for many months he sat +in the deepening twilight waiting for the night, waiting for the +light.</p> +<p>He never lost his hope. When the mists filled the valleys, he +looked upon the mountain tops, and when the mountains in darkness +disappeared, he fixed his gaze upon the stars.</p> +<p>In his brain were the blessed memories of the day, and in his +heart were mingled the dawn and dusk of life.</p> +<p>He was not afraid; he was cheerful every moment. The laughing +nymphs of day did not desert him. They remained that they might +clasp the hands and greet with smiles the veiled and silent sisters +of the night. And when they did come, Walt Whitman stretched his +hand to them. On one side were the nymphs of the day, and on the +other the silent sisters of the night, and so, hand in hand, +between smiles and tears, he reached his journey's end.</p> +<p>From the frontier of life, from the western wave-kissed shore, +he sent us messages of content and hope, and these messages seem +now like strains of music blown by the "Mystic Trumpeter" from +Death's pale realm.</p> +<p>To-day we give back to Mother Nature, to her clasp and kiss, one +of the bravest, sweetest souls that ever lived in human clay.</p> +<p>Charitable as the air and generous as Nature, he was negligent +of all except to do and say what he believed he should do and +should say.</p> +<p>And I to-day thank him, not only for you but for myself, for all +the brave words he has uttered. I thank him for all the great and +splendid words lie has said in favor of liberty, in favor of man +and woman, in favor of motherhood, in favor of fathers, in favor of +children, and I thank him for the brave words that he has said of +death.</p> +<p>He has lived, he has died, and death is less terrible than it +was before. Thousands and millions will walk down into the "dark +valley of the shadow" holding Walt Whitman by the hand. Long after +we are dead the brave words he has spoken will sound like trumpets +to the dying.</p> +<p>And so I lay this little wreath upon this great mans tomb. I +loved him living, and I love him still.</p> +<a name="link0052" id="link0052"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO PHILO D. BECKWITH.</h2> +<h3>Dowagiac, Mich., January 25, 1893.</h3> +<p>LADIES and Gentlemen: Nothing is nobler than to plant the flower +of gratitude on the grave of a generous man—of one who +labored for the good of all—whose hands were open and whose +heart was full.</p> +<p>Praise for the noble dead is an inspiration for the noble +living.</p> +<p>Loving words sow seeds of love in every gentle heart. +Appreciation is the soil and climate of good and generous +deeds.</p> +<p>We are met to-night not to pay, but to acknowledge a debt of +gratitude to one who lived and labored here—who was the +friend of all and who for many years was the providence of the +poor. To one who left to those who knew him best, the memory of +countless loving deeds—the richest legacy that man can leave +to man.</p> +<p>We are here to dedicate this monument to the stainless memory of +Philo D. Beckwith—one of the kings of men.</p> +<p>This monument—this perfect theatre—this beautiful +house of cheerfulness and joy—this home and child of all the +arts—this temple where the architect, the sculptor and +painter united to build and decorate a stage whereon the drama with +a thousand tongues will tell the frailties and the virtues of the +human race, and music with her thrilling voice will touch the +source of happy tears.</p> +<p>This is a fitting monument to the man whose memory we +honor—to one, who broadening with the years, outgrew the +cruel creeds, the heartless dogmas of his time—to one who +passed from superstition to science—from religion to +reason—from theology to humanity—from slavery to +freedom—from the shadow of fear to the blessed light of love +and courage. To one who believed in intellectual +hospitality—in the perfect freedom of the soul, and hated +tyranny, in every form, with all his heart.</p> +<p>To one whose head and hands were in partnership constituting the +firm of Intelligence and Industry, and whose heart divided the +profits with his fellow-men. To one who fought the battle of life +alone, without the aid of place or wealth, and yet grew nobler and +gentler with success.</p> +<p>To one who tried to make a heaven here and who believed in the +blessed gospel of cheerfulness and love—of happiness and +hope.</p> +<p>And it is fitting, too, that this monument should be adorned +with the sublime faces, wrought in stone, of the immortal +dead—of those who battled for the rights of man—who +broke the fetters of the slave—of those who filled the minds +of men with poetry, art, and light—of Voltaire, who abolished +torture in France and who did more for liberty than any other of +the sons of men—of Thomas Paine, whose pen did as much as any +sword to make the New World free—of Victor Hugo, who wept for +those who weep—of Emerson, a worshiper of the Ideal, who +filled the mind with suggestions of the perfect—of Goethe, +the poet-philosopher—of Whitman, the ample, wide as the +sky—author of the tenderest, the most pathetic, the sublimest +poem that this continent has produced—of Shakespeare, the +King of all—of Beethoven, the divine,—of Chopin and +Verdi and of Wagner, grandest of them all, whose music satisfies +the heart and brain and fills imagination's sky—of George +Eliot, who wove within her brain the purple robe her genius +wears—of George Sand, subtle and sincere, passionate and +free—and with these—faces of those who, on the stage, +have made the mimic world as real as life and death.</p> +<p>Beneath the loftiest monuments may be found ambition's worthless +dust, while those who lived the loftiest lives are sleeping now in +unknown graves.</p> +<p>It may be that the bravest of the brave who ever fell upon the +field of ruthless war, was left without a grave to mingle slowly +with the land he saved.</p> +<p>But here and now the Man and Monument agree, and blend like +sounds that meet and melt in melody—a monument for the +dead—a blessing for the living—a memory of +tears—a prophecy of joy.</p> +<p>Fortunate the people where this good man lived, for they are all +his heirs—and fortunate for me that I have had the privilege +of laying this little laurel leaf upon his unstained brow.</p> +<p>And now, speaking for those he loved—for those who +represent the honored dead—I dedicate this home of mirth and +song—of poetry and art—to the memory of Philo D. +Beckwith—a true philosopher—a real philanthropist.</p> +<a name="link0053" id="link0053"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO ANTON SEIDL.</h2> +<pre> + A telegram read at the funeral services in the Metropolitan + Opera House, New York City, March 31, 1898. +</pre> +<p>IN the noon and zenith of his career, in the flush and glory of +success, Anton Seidl, the greatest orchestral leader of all time, +the perfect interpreter of Wagner, of all his subtlety and +sympathy, his heroism and grandeur, his intensity and limitless +passion, his wondrous harmonies that tell of all there is in life, +and touch the longings and the hopes of every heart, has passed +from the shores of sound to the realm of silence, borne by the +mysterious and resistless tide that ever ebbs but never flows.</p> +<p>All moods were his. Delicate as the perfume of the first violet, +wild as the storm, he knew the music of all sounds, from the rustle +of leaves, the whisper of hidden springs, to the voices of the +sea.</p> +<p>He was the master of music, from the rhythmical strains of +irresponsible joy to the sob of the funeral march.</p> +<p>He stood like a king with his sceptre in his hand, and we knew +that every tone and harmony were in his brain, every passion in his +breast, and yet his sculptured face was as calm, as serene as +perfect art. He mingled his soul with the music and gave his heart +to the enchanted air.</p> +<p>He appeared to have no limitations, no walls, no chains. He +seemed to follow the pathway of desire, and the marvelous melodies, +the sublime harmonies, were as free as eagles above the clouds with +outstretched wings.</p> +<p>He educated, refined, and gave unspeakable joy to many thousands +of his fellow-men. He added to the grace and glory of life. He +spoke a language deeper, more poetic than words—the language +of the perfect, the language of love and death.</p> +<p>But he is voiceless now; a fountain of harmony has ceased. Its +inspired strains have died away in night, and all its murmuring +melodies are strangely still.</p> +<p>We will mourn for him, we will honor him, not in words, but in +the language that he used.</p> +<p>Anton Seidl is dead. Play the great funeral march. Envelop him +in music. Let its wailing waves cover him. Let its wild and +mournful winds sigh and moan above him. Give his face to its kisses +and its tears.</p> +<p>Play the great funeral march, music as profound as death. That +will express our sorrow—that will voice our love, our hope, +and that will tell of the life, the triumph, the genius, the death +of Anton Seidl.</p> +<a name="link0054" id="link0054"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO DR. THOMAS SETON ROBERTSON.</h2> +<h3>New York September 8, 1898.</h3> +<p>IN the pulseless hush of death, silence seems more expressive, +more appropriate—than speech. In the presence of the Great +Mystery, the great mystery that waits to enshroud us all, we feel +the uselessness of words. But where a fellow-mortal has reached his +journey's end—where the darkness from which he emerged has +received him again, it is but natural for his friends to mingle +with their grief, expressions of their love and loss.</p> +<p>He who lies before us in the sleep of death was generous to his +fellow-men. His hands were always stretched to help, to save. He +pitied the friendless, the unfortunate, the hopeless—proud of +his skill—of his success. He was quick to decide—to +act—prompt, tireless, forgetful of self. He lengthened life +and conquered pain—hundreds are well and happy now because he +lived. This is enough. This puts a star above the gloom of +death.</p> +<p>He was sensitive to the last degree—quick to feel a +slight—to resent a wrong—but in the warmth of kindness +the thorn of hatred blossomed. He was not quite fashioned for this +world. The flints and thorns on life's highway bruised and pierced +his flesh, and for his wounds he did not have the blessed balm of +patience. He felt the manacles, the limitations—the +imprisonments of life and so within the walls and bars he wore his +very soul away. He could not bear the storms. The tides, the winds, +the waves, in the morning of his life, dashed his frail bark +against the rocks.</p> +<p>He fought as best he could, and that he failed was not his +fault.</p> +<p>He was honest, generous and courageous. These three great +virtues were his. He was a true and steadfast friend, seeing only +the goodness of the ones he loved. Only a great and noble heart is +capable of this.</p> +<p>But he has passed beyond the reach of praise or +blame—passed to the realm of rest—to the waveless calm +of perfect peace.</p> +<p>The storm is spent—the winds are hushed—the waves +have died along the shore—the tides are still—the +aching heart has ceased to beat, and within the brain all thoughts, +all hopes and fears—ambitions, memories, rejoicings and +regrets—all images and pictures of the world, of life, are +now as though they had not been. And yet Hope, the child of +Love—the deathless, beyond the darkness sees the dawn. And we +who knew and loved him, we, who now perform the last sad +rites—the last that friendship can suggest—"will keep +his memory green."</p> +<p>Dear Friend, farewell! "If we do meet again we shall smile +indeed—if not, this parting is well made." Farewell!</p> +<a name="link0055" id="link0055"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO THOMAS CORWIN.</h2> +<h3>Lebanon, Ohio, March 5, 1899.</h3> +<pre> + * An Impromptu preface to Colonel Ingersoll's lecture at + Lebanon, Ohio. +</pre> +<p>LADIES and Gentlemen: Being for the first time where Thomas +Corwin lived and where his ashes rest, I cannot refrain from saying +something of what I feel. Thomas Corwin was a natural +orator—armed with the sword of attack and the shield of +defence.</p> +<p>Nature filled his quiver with perfect arrows. He was the lord of +logic and laughter. He had the presence, the pose, the voice, the +face that mirrored thoughts, the unconscious gesture of the orator. +He had intelligence—a wide horizon—logic as unerring as +mathematics—humor as rich as autumn when the boughs and vines +bend with the weight of ripened fruit, while the forests flame with +scarlet, brown and gold. He had wit as quick and sharp as +lightning, and like the lightning it filled the heavens with sudden +light.</p> +<p>In his laughter there was logic, in his wit wisdom, and in his +humor philosophy and philanthropy. He was a supreme artist. He +painted pictures with words. He knew the strength, the velocity of +verbs, the color, the light and shade of adjectives.</p> +<p>He was a sculptor in speech—changing stones to statues. He +had in his heart the sacred something that we call sympathy. He +pitied the unfortunate, the oppressed and the outcast His words +were often wet with tears—tears that in a moment after were +glorified by the light of smiles. All moods were his. He knew the +heart, its tides and currents, its calms and storms, and like a +skillful pilot he sailed emotion's troubled sea. He was neither +solemn nor dignified, because he was neither stupid nor egotistic. +He was natural, and had the spontaneity of winds and waves. He was +the greatest orator of his time, the grandest that ever stood +beneath our flag. Reverently I lay this leaf upon his grave.</p> +<a name="link0056" id="link0056"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>A TRIBUTE TO ISAAC H. BAILEY.</h2> +<h3>New York, March 27, 1899.</h3> +<p>MY FRIENDS: When one whom we hold dear has reached the end of +life and laid his burden down, it is but natural for us, his +friends, to pay the tribute of respect and love; to tell his +virtues, to express our sense of loss and speak above the +sculptured clay some word of hope.</p> +<p>Our friend, about whose bier we stand, was in the highest, +noblest sense a man. He was not born to wealth—he was his own +providence, his own teacher. With him work was worship and labor +was his only prayer. He depended on himself, and was as independent +as it is possible for man to be. He hated debt, and obligation was +a chain that scarred his flesh. He lived a long and useful life. In +age he reaped with joy what he had cown in youth. He did not linger +"until his flame lacked oil," but with his senses keen, his mind +undimmed, and with his arms filled with gathered sheaves, in an +instant, painlessly, unconsciously, he passed from happiness and +health to the realm of perfect peace. We need not mourn for him, +but for ourselves, for those he loved.</p> +<p>He was an absolutely honest man—a man who kept his word, +who fulfilled his contracts, gave heaped and rounded measure and +discharged all obligations with the fabled chivalry of ancient +knights. He was absolutely honest, not only with others but with +himself. To his last moment his soul was stainless. He was true to +his ideal—true to his thought, and what his brain conceived +his lips expressed. He refused to pretend. He knew that to believe +without evidence was impossible to the sound and sane, and that to +say you believed when you did not, was possible only to the +hypocrite or coward. He did not believe in the supernatural. He was +a natural man and lived a natural life. He had no fear of fiends. +He cared nothing for the guesses of inspired savages; nothing for +the threats or promises of the sainted and insane.</p> +<p>He enjoyed this life—the good things of this +world—the clasp and smile of friendship, the exchange of +generous deeds, the reasonable gratification of the senses—of +the wants of the body and mind. He was neither an insane ascetic +nor a fool of pleasure, but walked the golden path along the strip +of verdure that lies between the deserts of extremes.</p> +<p>With him to do right was not simply a duty, it was a pleasure. +He had philosophy enough to know that the quality of actions +depends upon their consequences, and that these consequences are +the rewards and punishments that no God can give, inflict, withhold +or pardon.</p> +<p>He loved his country, he was proud of the heroic past, +dissatisfied with the present, and confident of the future. He +stood on the rock of principle. With him the wisest policy was to +do right. He would not compromise with wrong. He had no respect for +political failures who became reformers and decorated fraud with +the pretence of philanthropy, or sought to gain some private end in +the name of public good. He despised time-servers, trimmers, +fawners and all sorts and kinds of pretenders.</p> +<p>He believed in national honesty; in the preservation of public +faith. He believed that the Government should discharge every +obligation—the implied as faithfully as the expressed. And I +would be unjust to his memory if I did not say that he believed in +honest money, in the best money in the world, in pure gold, and +that he despised with all his heart financial frauds, and regarded +fifty cents that pretended to be a dollar, as he would a thief in +the uniform of a policeman, or a criminal in the robe of a +judge.</p> +<p>He believed in liberty, and liberty for all. He pitied the slave +and hated the master; that is to say, he was an honest man. In the +dark days of the Rebellion he stood for the right. He loved Lincoln +with all his heart—loved him for his genius, his courage and +his goodness. He loved Conkling—loved him for his +independence, his manhood, for his unwavering courage, and because +he would not bow or bend—loved him because he accepted defeat +with the pride of a victor. He loved Grant, and in the temple of +his heart, over the altar, in the highest niche, stood the great +soldier.</p> +<p>Nature was kind to our friend. She gave him the blessed gift of +humor. This filled his days with the climate of Autumn, so that to +him even disaster had its sunny side. On account of his humor he +appreciated and enjoyed the great literature of the world. He loved +Shakespeare, his clowns and heroes. He appreciated and enjoyed +Dickens. The characters of this great novelist were his +acquaintances. He knew them all; some were his friends and some he +dearly loved. He had wit of the keenest and quickest. The instant +the steel of his logic smote the flint of absurdity the spark +glittered. And yet, his wit was always kind. The flower went with +the thorn. The targets of his wit were not made enemies, but +admirers.</p> +<p>He was social, and after the feast of serious conversation he +loved the wine of wit—the dessert of a good story that +blossomed into mirth. He enjoyed games—was delighted by the +relations of chance—the curious combinations of accident. He +had the genius of friendship. In his nature there was no suspicion. +He could not be poisoned against a friend. The arrows of slander +never pierced the shield of his confidence. He demanded +demonstration. He defended a friend as he defended himself. Against +all comers he stood firm, and he never deserted the field until the +friend had fled. I have known many, many friends—have clasped +the hands of many that I loved, but in the journey of my life I +have never grasped the hand of a better, truer, more unselfish +friend than he who lies before us clothed in the perfect peace of +death. He loved me living and I love him now.</p> +<p>In youth we front the sun; we live in light without a fear, +without a thought of dusk or night. We glory in excess. There is no +dread of loss when all is growth and gain. With reckless hands we +spend and waste and chide the flying hours for loitering by the +way.</p> +<p>The future holds the fruit of joy; the present keeps us from the +feast, and so, with hurrying feet we climb the heights and upward +look with eager eyes. But when the sun begins to sink and shadows +fall in front, and lengthen on the path, then falls upon the heart +a sense of loss, and then we hoard the shreds and crumbs and vainly +long for what was cast away. And then with miser care we save and +spread thin hands before December's half-fed flickering flames, +while through the glass of time we moaning watch the few remaining +grains of sand that hasten to their end. In the gathering gloom the +fires slowly die, while memory dreams of youth, and hope sometimes +mistakes the glow of ashes for the coming of another morn.</p> +<p>But our friend was an exception. He lived in the present; he +enjoyed the sunshine of to-day. Although his feet had touched the +limit of four-score, he had not reached the time to stop, to turn +and think: about the traveled road. He was still full of life and +hope, and had the interest of youth in all the affairs of men.</p> +<p>He had no fear of the future—no dread. He was ready for +the end. I have often heard him repeat the words of Epicurus: "Why +should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. +Why should I fear that which cannot exist when I do?"</p> +<p>If there is, beyond the veil, beyond the night called death, +another world to which men carry all the failures and the triumphs +of this life; if above and over all there be a God who loves the +right, an honest man has naught to fear. If there be another world +in which sincerity is a virtue, in which fidelity is loved and +courage honored, then all is well with the dear friend whom we have +lost.</p> +<p>But if the grave ends all; if all that was our friend is dead, +the world is better for the life he lived. Beyond the tomb we +cannot see. We listen, but from the lips of mystery there comes no +word. Darkness and silence brooding over all. And yet, because we +love we hope. Farewell! And yet again, Farewell!</p> +<p>And will there, sometime, be another world? We have our dream. +The idea of immortality, that like a sea has ebbed and flowed in +the human heart, beating with its countless waves against the sands +and rocks of time and fate, was not born of any book or of any +creed. It was born of 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. We have our dream!</p> +<a name="link0057" id="link0057"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>JESUS CHRIST.</h2> +<pre> + * An unfinished lecture which Colonel Ingersoll commenced a + few days before his death. +</pre> +<p>FOR many centuries and by many millions of people, Christ has +been worshiped as God. Millions and millions of eulogies on his +character have been pronounced by priest and layman, in all of +which his praises were measured only by the limitations of +language—words were regarded as insufficient to paint his +perfections.</p> +<p>In his praise it was impossible to be extravagant. Sculptor, +poet and painter exhausted their genius in the portrayal of the +peasant, who was in fact the creator of all worlds.</p> +<p>His wisdom excited the wonder, his sufferings the pity and his +resurrection and ascension the astonishment of the world.</p> +<p>He was regarded as perfect man and infinite God. It was believed +that in the gospels was found the perfect history of his life, his +words and works, his death, his triumph over the grave and his +return to heaven. For many centuries his perfection, his +divinity—have been defended by sword and fire.</p> +<p>By the altar was the scaffold—in the cathedral, the +dungeon—the chamber of torture.</p> +<p>The story of Christ was told by mothers to their babes. For the +most part his story was the beginning and end of education. It was +wicked to doubt—infamous to deny.</p> +<p>Heaven was the reward for belief and hell the destination of the +denier.</p> +<p>All the forces of what we call society, were directed against +investigation. Every avenue to the mind was closed. On all the +highways of thought, Christians placed posts and boards, and on the +boards were the words "No Thoroughfare," "No Crossing." The windows +of the soul were darkened—the doors were barred. Light was +regarded as the enemy of mankind.</p> +<p>During these Christian years faith was rewarded with position, +wealth and power. Faith was the path to fame and honor. The man who +investigated was the enemy, the assassin of souls. The creed was +barricaded on every side, above it were the glories of +heaven—below were the agonies of hell. The soldiers of the +cross were strangers to pity. Only traitors to God were shocked by +the murder of an unbeliever. The true Christian was a savage. His +virtues were ferocious, and compared with his vices were +beneficent. The drunkard was a better citizen than the saint. The +libertine and prostitute were far nearer human, nearer moral, than +those who pleased God by persecuting their fellows.</p> +<p>The man who thought, and expressed his thoughts, died in a +dungeon—on the scaffold or in flames.</p> +<p>The sincere Christian was insane. His one object was to save his +soul. He despised all the pleasures of sense. He believed that his +nature was depraved and that his desires were wicked.</p> +<p>He fasted and prayed—deserted his wife and +children—inflicted tortures on himself and sought by pain +endured to gain the crown. * * *</p> +<a name="link0058" id="link0058"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>LIFE.</h2> +<pre> + * Written for Mr. Harrison Grey Fiske, editor of The New + York Dramatic Mirror, December 18,1886. +</pre> +<p>BORN of love and hope, of ecstasy and pain, of agony and fear, +of tears and joy—dowered with the wealth of two united +hearts—held in happy arms, with lips upon life's drifted +font, blue-veined and fair, where perfect peace finds perfect +form—rocked by willing feet and wooed to shadowy shores of +sleep by siren mother singing soft and low—looking with +wonder's wide and startled eyes at common things of life and +day—taught by want and wish and contact with the things that +touch the dimpled flesh of babes—lured by light and flame, +and charmed by color's wondrous robes—learning the use of +hands and feet, and by the love of mimicry beguiled to utter +speech—releasing prisoned thoughts from crabbed and curious +marks on soiled and tattered leaves—puzzling the brain with +crooked numbers and their changing, tangled worth—and so +through years of alternating day and night, until the captive grows +familiar with the chains and walls and limitations of a life.</p> +<p>And time runs on in sun and shade, until the one of all the +world is wooed and won, and all the lore of love is taught and +learned again. Again a home is built with the fair chamber wherein +faint dreams, like cool and shadowy vales, divide the billowed +hours of love. Again the miracle of a birth—the pain and joy, +the kiss of welcome and the cradle-song drowning the drowsy prattle +of a babe.</p> +<p>And then the sense of obligation and of wrong—pity for +those who toil and weep—tears for the imprisoned and +despised—love for the generous dead, and in the heart the +rapture of a high resolve.</p> +<p>And then ambition, with its lust of pelf and place and power, +longing to put upon its breast distinction's worthless badge. Then +keener thoughts of men, and eyes that see behind the smiling mask +of craft—flattered no more by the obsequious cringe of gain +and greed—knowing the uselessness of hoarded gold—of +honor bought from those who charge the usury of +self-respect—of power that only bends a coward's knees and +forces from the lips of fear the lies of praise. Knowing at last +the unstudied gesture of esteem, the reverent eyes made rich with +honest thought, and holding high above all other things—high +as hope's great throbbing star above the darkness of the +dead—the love of wife and child and friend.</p> +<p>Then locks of gray, and growing love of other days and +half-remembered things—then holding withered hands of those +who first held his, while over dim and loving eyes death softly +presses down the lids of rest.</p> +<p>And so, locking in marriage vows his children's hands and +crossing others on the breasts of peace, with daughters' babes upon +his knees, the white hair mingling with the gold, he journeys on +from day to day to that horizon where the dusk is waiting for the +night.—At last, sitting by the holy hearth of home as +evening's embers change from red to gray, he falls asleep within +the arms of her he worshiped and adored, feeling upon his pallid +lips love's last and holiest kiss.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<center><img alt="letter1 (418K)" src="images/letter1.png" height= +"714" width="952" /><br /> +<img alt="lertter2 (445K)" src="images/lertter2.png" height="695" +width="920" /></center> +<br /> +<center>Fac-simile of the Last Letter written by Ingersoll</center> +<br /> +<center><img alt="urn (281K)" src="images/urn.png" height="829" +width="506" /></center> +<br /> +<center>Urn Containing the Ashes of Ingersoll</center> +<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> |
