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diff --git a/38812.txt b/38812.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e0bab3 --- /dev/null +++ b/38812.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: 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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