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Ingersoll, Volume I, +by Robert Green Ingersoll +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: smaller ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lectures of Col. R. G. Ingersoll, Volume I, by +Robert Green 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: Lectures of Col. R. G. Ingersoll, Volume I + +Author: Robert Green Ingersoll + +Posting Date: January 15, 2009 [EBook #8140] +Release Date: May, 2005 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INGERSOLL LECTURES, VOLUME I *** + + + + +Produced by Mark R. Jaqua. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +LECTURES OF COL. R. G. INGERSOLL +</H1> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> + Including His Answers To The Clergy,<BR> + His Oration At His Brother's Grave, Etc., Etc.<BR> +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Complete In Two Volumes +</H3> + +<BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Volume I +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<H4> + <A HREF="#gods">Gods</A><BR> + <A HREF="#ghosts">Ghosts</A><BR> + <A HREF="#hell">Hell</A><BR> + <A HREF="#individuality">Individuality</A><BR> + <A HREF="#humboldt">Humboldt</A><BR> + <A HREF="#whichway">Which Way</A><BR> + <A HREF="#infidels">The Great Infidels</A><BR> + <A HREF="#talmagian">Talmagian Theology</A><BR> + <A HREF="#childsgrave">At a Child's Grave</A><BR> + <A HREF="#oration">Ingersoll's Oration at His Brother's Grave</A><BR> + <A HREF="#moses">Mistakes of Moses</A><BR> + <A HREF="#skulls">Skulls and Replies</A><BR> + <A HREF="#collyer">Col. Ingersoll's Reply to Dr. Collyer</A><BR> + <A HREF="#swing">Ingersoll's Reply to Prof. Swing</A><BR> + <A HREF="#herford">Ingersoll's Reply to Brooke Herford, D.D.</A><BR> + <A HREF="#ryder">Ingersoll Gatling Gun Turned on Dr. Ryder</A><BR> + <A HREF="#rabbibien">Ingersoll's Reply to Rabbi Bien</A><BR> + <A HREF="#catechism">Ingersoll's Catechism and Bible-Class</A><BR> + <A HREF="#saved">What Shall We Do To Be Saved?</A><BR> + <A HREF="#answer">Ingersoll's Answer To Prof. Swing, Dr. Thomas, And Others</A><BR> + +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="gods"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S LECTURE ON GODS +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ladies and Gentlemen: An honest god is the noblest work of man. Each +nation has created a god, and the god has always resembled his +creators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved, and he was +invariably found on the side of those in power. Each god was intensely +patriotic, and detested all nations but his own. All these Gods +demanded praise, flattery, and worship. Most of them were pleased with +sacrifice, and the smell of innocent blood has ever been considered a +divine perfume. All these gods have insisted upon having a vast number +of priests, and the priests have always insisted upon being supported +by the people, and the principal business of these priests has been to +boast about their God, and to insist that he could easily vanquish all +the other gods put together. +</P> + +<P> +These gods have been manufactured after numberless models, and +according to the most grotesque fashions. Some have a thousand arms, +some a hundred heads, some are adorned with necklaces of living snakes, +some are armed with clubs, some with sword and shield, some with +bucklers, and some with wings as a cherub; some were invisible, some +would show themselves entire, and some would only show their backs; +some were jealous, some were foolish, some turned themselves into men, +some into swans, some into bulls, some into doves, and some into holy +ghosts, and made love to the beautiful daughters of men. Some were +married—all ought to have been—and some were considered as old +bachelors from all eternity. Some had children, and the children were +turned into gods and worshiped as their fathers had been. Most of +these gods were revengeful, savage, lustful, and ignorant; as they +generally depended upon their priests for information, their ignorance +can hardly excite our astonishment. +</P> + +<P> +These gods did not even know the shape of the worlds they had created, +but supposed them perfectly flat. Some thought the day could be +lengthened by stopping the sun, that the blowing of horns could throw +down the walls of a city, and all knew so little of the real nature of +the people they had created, that they commanded the people to love +them. Some were so ignorant as to suppose that man could believe just +as he might desire, or as might command, and to be governed by +observation, reason, and experience was a most foul and damning sin. +None of these gods could give a true account of the creation of this +little earth. All were woefully deficient in geology and astronomy. +As a rule, they were most miserable legislators, and as executives, +they were far inferior to the average of American presidents. +</P> + +<P> +The deities have demanded the most abject and degrading obedience. In +order to please them, man must lay his very face in the dust. Of +course, they have always been partial to the people who created them, +and they have generally shown their partiality by assisting those +people to rob and destroy others, and to ravish their wives and +daughters. Nothing is so pleasing to these gods as the butchery of +unbelievers. Nothing so enrages them, even now as to have some one +deny their existence. +</P> + +<P> +Few nations have been so poor as to have but one god. Gods were made +so easily, and the raw material cost so little, that generally the god +market was fairly glutted, and heaven crammed with these phantoms. +These gods not only attended to the skies, but were supposed to +interfere in all the affairs of men. They presided over everybody and +everything. They attended to every department. All was supposed to be +under their immediate control. Nothing was too small—nothing too +large; the falling of sparrows and the motions of planets were alike +attended to by these industrious and observing deities. From their +starry thrones they frequently came to the earth for the purpose of +imparting information to man. It is related of one that he came amid +thunderings and lightnings in order to tell the people they should not +cook a kid in its mother's milk. Some left their shining abode to tell +women that they should, or should not, have children, to inform a +priest how to cut and wear his apron, and to give directions as to the +proper manner for cleaning the intestines of a bird. +</P> + +<P> +When the people failed to worship one of these gods, or failed to feed +and clothe his priests, (which was much the same thing,) he generally +visited them with pestilence and famine. Sometimes he allowed some +other nation to drag them into slavery—to sell their wives and +children; but generally he glutted his vengeance by murdering their +first born. The priests always did their whole duty, not only in +predicting these calamities, but in proving, when they did happen, that +they were brought upon the people because they had not given quite +enough to them. +</P> + +<P> +These gods differed just as the nations differed; the greatest and most +powerful had the most powerful gods, while the weaker ones were obliged +to content themselves with the very off-scourings of the heavens. Each +of these gods promised happiness here and hereafter to all his slaves, +and threatened to eternally punish all who either disbelieved in his +existence or suspected that some other God might be his superior; but +to deny the existence of all gods was, and is, the crime of crimes. +Redden your hands with human blood; blast by slander the fair fame of +the innocent; strangle the smiling child upon its mother's knees; +deceive, ruin and desert the beautiful girl who loves and trusts you, +and your case is not hopeless. For all this, and for all these, you +may be forgiven. For all this, and for all these, that bankrupt court +established by the gospel, will give you a discharge; but deny the +existence of these divine ghosts, of these gods, and the sweet and +tearful face of Mercy becomes livid with eternal hate. Heaven's golden +gates are shut, and you, with an infinite curse ringing in your ears, +with the brand of infamy upon your brow, commence your endless +wanderings in the lurid gloom of hell—an immortal vagrant—an eternal +outcast—a deathless convict. +</P> + +<P> +One of these gods, and one who demands our love, our admiration and our +worship, and one who is worshiped, if mere heartless ceremony is +worship, gave to his chosen people for their guidance the following +laws of war: "When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, +then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be if it make thee answer of +peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that is +found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve +thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against +thee, then thou shalt besiege it. And when the Lord thy God hath +delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with +the edge of the sword. But the women and the little ones, and the +cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt +thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies +which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus shalt thou do unto all +the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the +cities of these nations. But of the cities of these people which the +Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shall save alive +nothing that breatheth." +</P> + +<P> +Is it possible for man to conceive of anything more perfectly infamous? +Can you believe that such directions were given by any except an +infinite fiend? Remember that the army receiving these instructions +was one of invasion. Peace was offered on condition that the people +submitting should be the slaves of the invader; but if any should have +the courage to defend their home, to fight for the love of wife and +child, then the sword was to spare none—not even the prattling, +dimpled babe. +</P> + +<P> +And we are called upon to worship such a god; to get upon our knees and +tell him that he is good, that he is merciful, that he is just, that he +is love. We are asked to stifle every noble sentiment of the soul, and +to trample under foot all the sweet charities of the heart. Because we +refuse to stultify ourselves—refuse to become liars—we are denounced, +hated, traduced and ostracized here, and this same god threatens to +torment us in eternal fire the moment death allows him to fiercely +clutch our naked helpless souls. Let the people hate, let the god +threaten—we will educate them, and we will despise and defy him. +</P> + +<P> +The book, called the bible, is filled with passages equally horrible, +unjust and atrocious. This is the book to read in schools in order to +make our children loving, kind and gentle! This is the book recognized +in our Constitution as the source of authority and justice! +</P> + +<P> +Strange that no one has ever been persecuted by the Church for +believing God bad, while hundreds of millions have been destroyed for +thinking him good. The orthodox church never will forgive the +Universalist for saying "God is love." It has always been considered +as one of the very highest evidence of true and undefiled religion to +insist that all men, women and children deserve eternal damnation. It +has always been heresy to say, "God will at last save all." +</P> + +<P> +We are asked to justify these frightful passages, these infamous laws +of war, because the bible is the word of God. As a matter of fact, +there never was, and there never can be, an argument, even tending to +prove the inspiration of any book whatever. In the absence of positive +evidence, analogy and experience, argument is simply impossible, and at +the very best, can amount only to a useless agitation of the air. The +instant we admit that a book is too sacred to be doubted, or even +reasoned about, we are mental serfs. It is infinitely absurd to +suppose that a god would address a communication to intelligent beings, +and yet make it a crime, to be punished in eternal flames for them to +use their intelligence for the purpose of understanding his +communication. If we have the right to use our reason, we certainly +have the right to act in accordance with it, and no god can have the +right to punish us for such action. +</P> + +<P> +The doctrine that future happiness depends upon belief is monstrous. It +is the infamy of infamies. The notion that faith in Christ is to be +rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason, +observation, and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for +refutation, and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of +insanity and ignorance, called "faith." What man, who ever thinks, can +believe that blood can appease God? And yet, our entire system of +religion is based upon that belief. The Jews pacified Jehovah with the +blood of animals, and according to the Christian system, the blood of +Jesus softened the heart of God a little, and rendered possible the +salvation of a fortunate few. It is hard to conceive how the human mind +can give assent to such terrible ideas, or how any sane man can read +the bible and still believe in the doctrine of inspiration. +</P> + +<P> +Whether the bible is true or false, is of no consequence in comparison +with the mental freedom of the race. +</P> + +<P> +Salvation through slavery is worthless. Salvation from slavery is +inestimable. +</P> + +<P> +As long as man believes the bible to be infallible, that is his master. +The civilization of this century is not the child of faith, but of +unbelief—the result of free thought. +</P> + +<P> +All that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable +person that the bible is simply and purely of human invention—of +barbarian invention—is to read it. Read it as you would any other +book; think of it as you would any other; get the bandage of reverence +from your eyes; drive from your heart the phantom of fear; push from +the throne of your brain the cowled form of superstition—then read the +holy bible, and you will be amazed that you ever, for one moment, +supposed a being of infinite wisdom, goodness and purity to be the +author of such ignorance and of such atrocity. +</P> + +<P> +Our ancestors not only had their God-factories, but they made devils as +well. These devils were generally disgraced and fallen gods. Some had +headed unsuccessful revolts; some had been caught sweetly reclining in +the shadowy folds of some fleecy clouds, kissing the wife of the God of +gods. These devils generally sympathized with man. There is in regard +to them a most wonderful fact: In nearly all the theologies, mythologic +and religious, the devils have been much more humane and merciful than +the gods. No devil ever gave one of his generals an order to kill +children and to rip open the bodies of pregnant women. Such +barbarities were always ordered by the good gods. The pestilences were +sent by the most merciful gods. The frightful famine, during which the +dying child with pallid lips sucked the withered bosom of a dead +mother, was sent by the loving gods. No devil was ever charged with +such fiendish brutality. +</P> + +<P> +One of these gods, according to the account, drowned an entire world, +with the exception of eight persons. The old, the young, the beautiful +and the helpless were remorselessly devoured by the shoreless sea. +This, the most fearful tragedy that the imagination of ignorant priests +ever conceived, was the act not of a devil, but of God so-called, whom +men ignorantly worship unto this day. What a stain such an act would +leave upon the character of a devil! One of the prophets of one of +these gods, having in his power a captured king, hewed him in pieces in +the sight of all the people. Was ever any imp of any devil guilty of +such savagery? +</P> + +<P> +One of these gods is reported to have given the following directions +concerning human slavery: "If thou buy a Hebrew servant six years +shall he serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If +he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he were married, +then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a +wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her +children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if +the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife and my +children; I will not go out free; then his master shall bring him unto +the judges: he shall also bring him unto the door, or unto the +doorpost; and his Master shall bore his ear with an awl; and he shall +serve him forever." +</P> + +<P> +According to this, a man was given liberty upon condition that he would +desert forever his wife and children. Did any devil ever force upon a +husband, upon a father, so cruel and so heartless an alternative? Who +can worship such a god? Who can bend the knee to such a monster? Who +can pray to such a fiend? +</P> + +<P> +All these gods threatened to torment forever the souls of their +enemies. Did any devil ever make so infamous a threat? The basest +thing recorded of the devil, is what he did concerning job and his +family, and that was done by the express permission of one of these +gods and to decide a little difference of opinion between their serene +highnesses as to the character of "my servant Job." +</P> + +<P> +The first account we have of the devil is found in that purely +scientific book called Genesis, and is as follows: "Now the serpent was +more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, +and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of the +fruit of the trees of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent. +We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of +the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye shall +not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent +said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that +in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall +be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the +tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a +tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and +did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat...... +And the Lord God said, Behold the man has become as one of us, to know +good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of +the tree of life and eat, and live forever. Therefore the Lord God +sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he +was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the +garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword, which turned every way to +keep the way of the tree of life." +</P> + +<P> +According to this account the promise of the devil was fulfilled to the +very letter. Adam and Eve did not die, and they did become as gods, +knowing good and evil. The account shows, however, that the gods +dreaded education and knowledge then just as they do now. The church +still faithfully guards the dangerous tree of knowledge, and has +exerted in all ages her utmost power to keep mankind from eating the +fruit thereof. The priests have never ceased repeating the old +falsehood and the old threat: "Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye +touch it, lest ye die." From every pulpit comes the same cry, born of +the same fear "Lest they eat and become as gods, knowing good and +evil." For this reason, religion hates science, faith detests reason, +theology is the sworn enemy of philosophy, and the church with its +flaming sword still guards the hated tree, and like its supposed +founder, curses to the lowest depths the brave thinkers who eat and +become as gods. +</P> + +<P> +If the account given in Genesis is really true, ought we not, after +all, to thank this serpent? He was the first schoolmaster, the first +advocate of learning, the first enemy of ignorance, the first to +whisper in human ears the sacred word liberty, the creator of ambition, +the author of modesty, of inquiry, of doubt, of investigation, of +progress and of civilization. +</P> + +<P> +Give me the storm and tempest of thought and action, rather than the +dead calm of ignorance and faith. Banish me from Eden when you will; +but first let me eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge! Some +nations have borrowed their gods; of this number, we are compelled to +say, is our own. The Jews having ceased to exist as a nation, and +having no further use for a god, our ancestors appropriated him and +adopted their devil at the same time. This borrowed god is still an +object of some adoration, and this adopted devil still excites the +apprehensions of our people. He is still supposed to be setting his +traps and snares for the purpose of catching our unwary souls, and is +still, with reasonable success, waging the old war against our god. +</P> + +<P> +To me, it seems easy to account for these ideas concerning gods and +devils. They are a perfectly natural production. Man has created them +all, and under the same circumstances will create them again. Man has +not only created all these gods, but he has created them out of the +materials by which he has been surrounded. Generally he has modeled +them after himself, and has given them hands, heads, feet, eyes, ears, +and organs of speech. Each nation made its gods and devils speak its +language not only, but put in their mouths the same mistakes in +history, geography, astronomy, and in all matters of fact, generally +made by the people. +</P> + +<P> +No god was ever in advance of the nation that created him. The negroes +represented their deities with black skins and curly hair. The +Mongolian gave to his a yellow complexion and dark almond-shaped eyes. +The Jews were not allowed to paint theirs, or we should have seen +Jehovah with a full beard, an oval face, and an aquiline nose. Zeus was +a perfect Greek and Jove looked as though a member of the Roman senate. +The gods of Egypt had the patient face and placid look of the loving +people who made them. The gods of northern countries were represented +warmly clad in robes of fur; those of the tropics were naked. The gods +of India were often mounted upon elephants, those of some islanders +were great swimmers, and the deities of the Arctic zone were +passionately fond of whale's blubber. Nearly all people have carved or +painted representations of their gods, and these representations were, +by the lower classes generally treated as the real gods, and to these +images and idols they addressed prayers and offered sacrifice. +</P> + +<P> +In some countries, even at this day, if the people after long praying +do not obtain their desires, they turn their images off as impotent +gods, or upbraid them in a most reproachful manner, loading them with +blows and curses. 'How now, dog of a spirit,' they say, 'we give you +lodging in a magnificent temple, we gild you with gold, feed you with +the choicest food, and offer incense to you; yet, after all this care, +you are so ungrateful as to refuse us what we ask.' Hereupon they will +pull the god down and drag him through the filth of the street. If, in +the meantime, it happens that they obtain their request, then with a +great deal of ceremony, they wash him clean, carry him back and place +him in his temple again, where they fall down and make excuses for what +they have done. 'Of a truth,' they say, 'we were a little too hasty, +and you were a little too long in your grant. Why should you bring +this beating on yourself. But what is done cannot be undone.' Let us +not think of it any more. If you will forget what is past, we will +gild you over brighter again than before. +</P> + +<P> +Man has never been at a loss for gods. He has worshiped almost +everything, including the vilest and most disgusting beasts. He has +worshiped fire, earth, air, water, light, stars, and for hundreds of +ages, prostrated himself before enormous snakes. Savage tribes often +make gods of articles they get from civilized people. The Todas +worship a cow-bell. The Kotas worship two silver plates, which they +regard as husband and wife, and another tribe manufactured a god out of +a king of hearts. +</P> + +<P> +Man, having always been the physical superior of woman, accounts for +the fact that most of the high gods have been males. Had woman been +the physical superior, the powers supposed to be the ruler of Nature +would have been woman, and instead of being represented in the apparel +of man, they would have luxuriated in trains, low necked dresses, laces +and back-hair. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing can be plainer than that each nation gives to its god its +peculiar characteristics, and that every individual gives to his God +his personal peculiarities. +</P> + +<P> +Man has no ideas, and can have none, except those suggested by his +surroundings. He cannot conceive of anything utterly unlike what he +has seen or felt. He can exaggerate, diminish, combine, separate, +deform, beautify, improve, multiply and compare what he sees, what he +feels, what he hears, and all of which he takes cognizance through the +medium of the senses; but he cannot create. Having seen exhibitions of +power, he can say, omnipotent. Having lived, he can say, immortality. +Knowing something of time, he can say, eternity. Conceiving something +of intelligence, he can say God. Having seen exhibitions of malice, he +can say, devil. A few gleams of happiness having fallen athwart the +gloom of his life, he can say, heaven. Pain, in its numberless forms, +having been experienced, he can say, hell. Yet all these ideas have a +foundation in fact, and only a foundation. The superstructure has been +reared by exaggerating, diminishing, combining, separating, deforming, +beautifying, improving or multiplying realities, so that the edifice or +fabric is but the incongruous grouping of what man has perceived +through the medium of the senses. It is as though we should give to a +lion the wings of an eagle, the hoofs of a bison, the tail of a horse, +the pouch of a kangaroo, and the trunk of an elephant. We have in +imagination created an impossible monster. And yet the various parts +of this monster really exist. So it is with all the gods that man has +made. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond nature man cannot go even in thought—above nature he cannot +rise—below nature he cannot fall. +</P> + +<P> +Man, in his ignorance, supposed that all phenomena were produced by +some intelligent powers, and with direct reference to him. To preserve +friendly relations with these powers was, and still is, the object of +all religions. Man knelt through fear and to implore assistance, or +through gratitude for some favor which he supposed had been rendered. +He endeavored by supplication to appease some being who, for some +reason, had, as he believed become enraged. The lightning and thunder +terrified him. In the presence of the volcano he sank upon his knees. +The great forests filled with wild and ferocious beasts, the monstrous +serpents crawling in mysterious depths, the boundless sea, the flaming +comets, the sinister eclipses, the awful calmness of the stars, and +more than all, the perpetual presence of death, convinced him that he +was the sport and prey of unseen and malignant powers. The strange and +frightful diseases to which he was subject, the freezings and burnings +of fever, the contortions of epilepsy, the sudden palsies, the darkness +of night, and the wild, terrible and fantastic dreams that filled his +brain, satisfied him that he was haunted and pursued by countless +spirits of evil. For some reason he supposed that these spirits +differed in power—that they were not all alike malevolent—that the +higher controlled the lower, and that his very existence depended upon +gaining the assistance of the more powerful. For this purpose he +resorted to prayer, to flattery, to worship and to sacrifice. These +ideas appear to have been almost universal in savage man. +</P> + +<P> +For ages all nations supposed that the sick and insane were possessed +by evil spirits. For thousands of years the practice of medicine +consisted in frightening these spirits away. Usually the priests would +make the loudest and most discordant noises possible. They would blow +horns, beat upon rude drums, clash cymbals, and in the meantime utter +the most unearthly yells. If the noise-remedy failed, they would +implore the aid of some more powerful spirit. +</P> + +<P> +To pacify these spirits was considered of infinite importance. The poor +barbarian, knowing that men could be softened by gifts, gave to these +spirits that which to him seemed of the most value. With bursting heart +he would offer the blood of his dearest child. It was impossible for +him to conceive of a god utterly unlike himself, and he naturally +supposed that these powers of the air would be affected a little at the +sight of so great and so deep a sorrow. It was with the barbarian then +as with the civilized now—one class lived upon and made merchandise of +the fears of another. Certain persons took it upon themselves to +appease the gods, and to instruct the people in their duties to these +unseen powers. This was the origin of the priesthood. The priest +pretended to stand between the wrath of the gods and the helplessness +of man. He was man's attorney at the court of heaven. He carried to +the invisible world a flag of truce, a protest and a request. He came +back with a command, with authority and with power. Man fell upon his +knees before his own servant, and the priest, taking advantage of the +awe inspired by his supposed influence with the gods, made of his +fellow-man a cringing hypocrite and slave. Even Christ, the supposed +son of God, taught that persons were possessed of evil spirits, and +frequently, according to the account, gave proof of his divine origin +and mission by frightening droves of devils out of his unfortunate +countrymen. Casting out devils was his principal employment, and the +devils thus banished generally took occasion to acknowledge him as the +true Messiah; which was not only very kind of them, but quite fortunate +for him. The religious people have always regarded the testimony of +these devils as perfectly conclusive, and the writers of the New +Testament quote the words of these imps of darkness with great +satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +The fact that Christ could withstand the temptations of the devil was +considered as conclusive evidence that he was assisted by some god, or +at least by some being superior to man. St. Matthew gives an account +of an attempt made by the devil to tempt the supposed son of God; and +it has always excited the wonder of Christians that the temptation was +so nobly and heroically withstood. The account to which I refer is as +follows: +</P> + +<P> +"Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted +of the devil. And when the tempter came to him, he said: 'If thou be +the son of God command that these stones be made bread.' But he +answered, and said 'It is written: man shall not live by bread alone, +but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' Then the +devil taketh him up into the holy city and setteth him upon a pinnacle +of the temple and saith unto him: 'If thou be the son of God, cast +thyself down, for it is written. He shall give his angels charge +concerning thee, lest at any time thou shalt dash thy foot against a +stone.' Jesus said unto him 'It is written again, thou shalt not +tempt the Lord thy God.' Again the devil taketh him up into an +exceeding high mountain and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world +and the glory of them, and saith unto him 'All these will I give thee +if thou wilt fall down and worship me.'" +</P> + +<P> +The Christians now claim that Jesus was God. If he was God, of course +the devil knew that fact, and yet, according to this account, the devil +took the omnipotent God and placed him upon a pinnacle of the temple, +and endeavored to induce him to dash himself against the earth. +Failing in that, he took the creator, owner and governor of the +universe up into an exceeding high mountain, and offered him this +world—this grain of sand—if he, the God of all the worlds, would fall +down and worship him, a poor devil, without even a tax title to one +foot of dirt! Is it possible the devil was such an idiot? Should any +great credit be given to this deity for not being caught with such +chaff? Think of it! The devil—the prince of sharpers—the king of +cunning—the master of finesse, trying to bribe God with a grain of +sand that belonged to God! +</P> + +<P> +Is there in ail the religious literature of the world any thing more +grossly absurd than this? +</P> + +<P> +These devils, according to the bible, were various kinds—some could +speak and hear, others were deaf and dumb. All could not be cast out +in the same way. The deaf and dumb spirits were quite difficult to +deal with. St. Mark tells of a gentleman who brought his son to +Christ. The boy, it seems, was possessed of a dumb spirit, over which +the disciples had no control. "Jesus said unto the spirit: 'Thou dumb +and deaf spirit. I charge thee come out of him, and enter no more into +him.'" Whereupon, the deaf spirit having heard what was said, cried out +(being dumb) and immediately vacated the premises. The ease with which +Christ controlled this deaf and dumb spirit excited the wonder of his +disciples, and they asked him privately why they could not cast that +spirit out. To whom he replied: "This kind can come forth by nothing +but prayer and fasting." Is there a Christian in the whole world who +would believe such a story if found in any other book? The trouble is, +these pious people shut up their reason, and then open their bible. +</P> + +<P> +In the olden times the existence of devils was universally admitted. +The people had no doubt upon that subject, and from such belief it +followed as a matter of course, that a person, in order to vanquish +these devils, had either to be a god, or to be assisted by one. All +founders of religions have established their claims to divine origin by +controlling evil spirits—and suspending the laws of nature. Casting +out devils was a certificate of divinity. A prophet, unable to cope +with the powers of darkness, was regarded with contempt. The utterance +of the highest and noblest sentiments, the most blameless and holy +life, commanded but little respect, unless accompanied by power to work +miracles and command spirits. +</P> + +<P> +This belief in good and evil powers had its origin in the fact that man +was surrounded by what he was pleased to call good and evil phenomena. +Phenomena affecting man pleasantly were ascribed to good spirits, while +those affecting him unpleasantly or injuriously, were ascribed to evil +spirits. It being admitted that all phenomena were produced by +spirits, the spirits were divided according to the phenomena, and the +phenomena were good or bad as they affected man. Good spirits were +supposed to be the authors of good phenomena, and evil spirits of the +evil—so that the idea of a devil has been as universal as the idea of +a god. +</P> + +<P> +Many writers maintain that an idea to become universal must be true; +that all universal ideas are innate, and that innate ideas cannot be +false. If the fact that an idea has been universal proves that it is +innate, and if the fact that an idea is innate proves that it is +correct, then the believer in innate ideas must admit that the evidence +of a god superior to nature, and of a devil superior to nature, is +exactly the same, and that the existence of such a devil must be as +self-evident as the existence of such a god. The truth is, a god was +inferred from good, and a devil from bad, phenomena. And it is just as +natural and logical to suppose that a devil would cause happiness as to +suppose that a god would produce misery. Consequently, if an +intelligence, infinite and supreme, is the immediate author of all +phenomena, it is difficult to determine whether such intelligence is +the friend or enemy of man. If phenomena were all good, we might say +they were all produced by a perfectly beneficent being. If they were +all bad, we, might say they were produced by a perfectly malevolent +power; but as phenomena are, as they affect man, both good and bad, +they must be produced by different and antagonistic spirits; by one who +is sometimes actuated by kindness, and sometimes by malice; or all must +be produced of necessity, and without reference to their consequences +upon man. +</P> + +<P> +The foolish doctrine that all phenomena can be traced to the +interference of good and evil spirits, has been, and still is, almost +universal. That most people still believe in some spirit that can +change the natural order of events, is proven by the fact that nearly +all resort to prayer. Thousands, at this very moment, are probably +imploring some supposed power to interfere in their behalf. Some want +health restored; some ask that the loved and absent be watched over and +protected, some pray for riches, some for rain, some want diseases +stayed, some vainly ask for food, some ask for revivals, a few ask for +more wisdom, and now and then one tells the Lord to do as he thinks +best. Thousands ask to be protected from the devil; some, like David, +pray for revenge, and some implore, even God, not to lead them into +temptation. All these prayers rest upon, and are produced by the idea +that some power not only can, but probably will, change the order of +the universe. This belief has been among the great majority of tribes +and nations. All sacred books are filled with the accounts of such +interferences, and our own bible is no exception to this rule. +</P> + +<P> +If we believe in a power superior to nature, it is perfectly natural to +suppose that such power can and will interfere in the affairs of this +world. If there is no interference, of what practical use can such +power be? The scriptures give us the most wonderful accounts of divine +interference: Animals talk like men; springs gurgle from dry bones; the +sun and moon stop in the heavens in order that General Joshua may have +more time to murder; the shadow on a dial goes back ten degrees to +convince a petty king of a barbarous people that he is not going to die +of a boil; fire refused to burn; water positively declined to seek its +level, but stands up like a wall; grains of sand become lice; common +walking-sticks, to gratify a mere freak, twist themselves into +serpents, and then swallow each other by way of exercise; murmuring +streams, laughing at the attraction of gravitation, run up hill for +years, following wandering tribes from a pure love of frolic; prophecy +becomes altogether easier than history; the sons of God become enamored +of the world's girls; women are changed into salt for the purpose of +keeping a great event fresh in the minds of man; an excellent article +of brimstone is imported from heaven free of duty; clothes refuse to +wear out for forty years, birds keep restaurants and feed wandering +prophets free of expense; bears tear children in pieces for laughing at +old men without wigs; muscular development depends upon the length of +one's hair; dead people come to life, simply to get a joke on their +enemies and heirs; witches and wizards converse freely with the souls +of the departed, and God himself becomes a stone-cutter and engraver, +after having been a tailor and dressmaker. +</P> + +<P> +The veil between heaven and earth was always rent or lifted. The +shadows of this world, the radiance of heaven, and the glare of hell +mixed and mingled until man became uncertain as to which country he +really inhabited. Man dwelt in an unreal world. He mistook his ideas, +his dream, for real things. His fears became terrible and malicious +monsters. He lived in the midst of furies and fairies, nymphs and +naiads, goblins and ghosts, witches and wizards, sprites and spooks, +deities and devils. The obscure and gloomy depths were filled with +claw and wing—with beak and hoof—with leering look and sneering +mouths—with the malice of deformity—with the cunning of hatred, and +with all the slimy forms that fear can draw and paint upon the shadowy +canvas of the dark. +</P> + +<P> +It is enough to make one almost insane with pity to think what man in +the long night has suffered: of the tortures he has endured, +surrounded, as he supposed, by malignant powers and clutched by the +fierce phantoms of the air. No wonder that he fell upon his trembling +knees—that he built altars and reddened them even with his own blood. +No wonder that he implored ignorant priests and impudent magicians for +aid. No wonder that he crawled groveling in the dust to the temple's +door, and there, in the insanity of despair, besought the deaf gods to +hear his bitter cry of agony and fear. +</P> + +<P> +The savage as he emerges from a state of barbarism, gradually loses +faith in his idols of wood and stone, and in their place puts a +multitude of spirits. As he advances in knowledge, he generally +discards the petty spirits, and in their stead believes in one, whom he +supposes to be infinite and supreme. Supposing this great spirit to be +superior to nature, he offers worship or flattery in exchange for +assistance. At last, finding that he obtains no aid from this supposed +deity—finding that every search after the absolute must of necessity +end in failure—finding that man cannot by any possibility conceive of +the conditionless—he begins to investigate the facts by which he is +surrounded, and to depend upon himself. +</P> + +<P> +The people are beginning to think, to reason and to investigate. +Slowly, painfully, but surely, the gods are being driven from the +earth. Only upon rare occasions are they, even by the most religious, +supposed to interfere in the affairs of men. In most matters we are at +last supposed to be free. Since the invention of steamships and +railways, so that the products of all countries can be easily +interchanged, the gods have quit the business of producing famine. Now +and then they kill a child because it is idolized by its parents. As a +rule they have given up causing accidents on railroads, exploding +boilers, and bursting kerosene lamps. Cholera, yellow fever, and +smallpox are still considered heavenly weapons; but measles, itch and +ague are now attributed to natural causes. As a general thing, the +gods have stopped drowning children, except as a punishment for +violating the Sabbath. They still pay some attention to the affairs of +kings, men of genius and persons of great wealth: but ordinary people +are left to shift for themselves as best they may. In wars between +great nations, the gods still interfere; but in prize fights, the best +man with an honest referee, is almost sure to win. +</P> + +<P> +The church cannot abandon the idea of special providence. To give up +that doctrine is to give up all. The church must insist that prayer is +answered—that some power superior to nature hears and grants the +request of the sincere and humble Christian, and that this same power +in some mysterious way provides for all. +</P> + +<P> +A devout Clergyman sought every opportunity to impress upon the mind of +his son the fact, that God takes care of all his creatures; that the +falling sparrow attracts his attentions, and that his loving kindness +is over all his works. Happening, one day, to see a crane wading in +quest of food, the good man pointed out to his son the perfect +adaptation of the crane to get his living in that manner. "See," said +he, "how his legs are formed for wading! What a long slender bill he +has! Observe how nicely he folds his feet when putting them in or +drawing them out of the water! He does not cause the slightest ripple. +He is thus enabled to approach the fish without giving them any notice +of his arrival." "My son," said he, "it is impossible to look at that +bird without recognizing the design, as well as the goodness of God, in +thus providing the means of subsistence." "Yes" replied the boy, "I +think I see the goodness of God, at least so far as the crane is +concerned: but after all, father, don't you think the arrangement a +little tough on the fish?" +</P> + +<P> +Even the advanced religionist, although disbelieving in any great +amount of interference by the gods in this age of the world, still +thinks that in the beginning some god made the laws governing the +universe. He believes that in consequence of these laws a man can lift +a greater weight with than without a lever; that this god so made +matter, and so established the order of things, that—two bodies cannot +occupy the same space at the same time; so that a body once put in +motion will keep moving until it is stopped; so that it is a greater +distance around than across a circle; so that a perfect square has four +equal sides, instead of five or seven. He insists that it took a direct +interposition of providence to make the whole greater than a part, and +that had it not been for this power superior to nature, twice one might +have been more than twice two, and sticks and strings might have had +only one end apiece. Like the old Scotch divine, he thanks God that +Sunday comes at the end instead of in the middle of the week, and that +death comes at the close instead of at the commencement of life, +thereby giving us time to prepare for that holy day and that most +solemn event. These religious people see nothing but design everywhere, +and personal, intelligent interference in everything. They insist that +the universe has been created, and that the adaptation of means to ends +is perfectly apparent. They point us to the sunshine, to the flowers, +to the April rain, and to all there is of beauty and of use in the +world. Did it ever occur to them that a cancer is as beautiful in its +development as is the reddest rose? That what they are pleased to call +the adaptation of means to ends, is as apparent in the cancer as in the +April rain? How beautiful the process of digestion! By what ingenious +methods the blood is poisoned so that the cancer shall have food! By +what wonderful contrivances the entire system of man is made to pay +tribute to this divine and charming cancer! See by what admirable +instrumentalities it feeds itself from the surrounding, quivering, +dainty flesh! See how it gradually but surely expands and grows! By +what marvelous mechanism it is supplied with long and slender roots +that reach out to the most secret nerves of pain for sustenance and +life! What beautiful colors it presents! Seen through the microscope +it is a miracle of order and beauty. All the ingenuity of man cannot +stop its growth. Think of the amount of thought it must have required +to invent a way by which the life of one man might be given to produce +one cancer? Is it possible to look upon it and doubt that there is +design in the universe, and that the inventor of this wonderful cancer +must be infinitely powerful, ingenious and good? +</P> + +<P> +We are told that the universe was designed and created, and that it is +absurd to suppose that matter has existed from eternity, but that it is +perfectly self-evident that a god has. +</P> + +<P> +If a god created the universe, then there must have been a time when he +commenced to create. Back of that time there must have been an +eternity, during which there had existed nothing—absolutely +nothing—except this supposed god. According to this theory, this god +spent an eternity, so to speak, in an infinite vacuum, and in perfect +idleness. +</P> + +<P> +Admitting that a god did create the universe, the question then arises, +of what did he create it? It certainly was not made of nothing. +Nothing, considered in the light of a raw material, is a most decided +failure. It follows, then, that a god must have made the universe out +of himself, he being the only existence. The universe is material, and +if it was made of god, the god must have been material. With this very +thought in his mind, Anaximander of Miletus said: "Creation is the +decomposition of the infinite." +</P> + +<P> +It has been demonstrated that the earth would fall to the sun, only for +the fact that it is attracted by other worlds, and those worlds must be +attracted by other worlds still beyond them, and so on, without end. +This proves the material universe to be infinite. If an infinite +universe has been made out of an infinite god, how much of the god is +left? +</P> + +<P> +The idea of a creative deity is gradually being abandoned, and nearly +all truly scientific minds admit that matter must have existed from +eternity. It is indestructible, and the indestructible cannot be +created. It is the crowning glory of our century to have demonstrated +the indestructibility and the eternal persistence of force. Neither +matter nor force can be increased nor diminished. Force cannot exist +apart from matter. Matter exists only in connection with force, and +consequently a force apart from matter, and superior to nature, is a +demonstrated impossibility. +</P> + +<P> +Force, then, must have also existed from eternity, and could not have +been created. Matter in its countless forms, from dead earth to the +eyes of those we love, and force, in all its manifestations, from +simple motions to the grandest thought, deny creation and defy control. +</P> + +<P> +Thought is a form of force. We walk with the same force with which we +think. Man is an organism that changes several forms of force into +thought-force. Man is a machine into which we put what we call food, +and produce what we call thought. Think of that wonderful chemistry by +which bread was changed into the divine tragedy of Hamlet! +</P> + +<P> +A god must not only be material, but he must be an organism, capable of +changing other forms of force into thought-force. This is what we call +eating. Therefore, if the god thinks he must eat, that is to say, he +must of necessity have some means of supplying the force with which to +think. It is impossible to conceive of a being who can eternally +impart force to matter, and yet have no means of supplying the force +thus imparted. +</P> + +<P> +If neither matter nor force were created, what evidence have we, then, +of the existence of a power superior to nature? The theologian will +probably reply, "We have law and order, cause and effect, and beside +all this, matter could not have put itself in motion." +</P> + +<P> +Suppose, for the sake of an argument, that there is no being superior +to nature, and that matter and force have existed from eternity. Now +suppose that two atoms should come together, would there be an effect? +Yes. Suppose they came in exactly opposite directions with equal +force, they would be stopped, to say the least. This would be an +effect. If this is so, then you have matter, force and effect without +a being superior to nature. Now suppose that two other atoms, just +like the first two, should come together under precisely the same +circumstances, would not the effect be exactly the same? Yes. Like +causes, producing like effects, is what we mean by law and order. Then +we have matter, force, effect, law and order without a being superior +to nature. Now, we know that every effect must also be a cause, and +that every cause must be an effect. The atoms coming together did +produce an effect, and as every effect must also be a cause, the effect +produced by the collision of the atoms, must, as to something else, +have been a cause. Then we have matter, force, law, order, cause and +effect without a being superior to nature. Nothing is left for the +supernatural but empty space. His throne is a void, and his boasted +realm is without matter, without force, without law, without cause, and +without effect. +</P> + +<P> +But what put all this matter in motion? If matter and force have +existed from eternity, then matter must have always been in motion. +There can be no force without motion. Force is forever active, and +there is, and there can be no cessation. If therefore, matter and +force have existed from eternity, so has motion. In the whole universe +there is not even one atom in a state of rest. +</P> + +<P> +A deity outside of nature exists in nothing, and is nothing. Nature +embraces with infinite arms all matter and all force. That which is +beyond her grasp is destitute of both, and can hardly be worth the +worship and adoration even of a man. +</P> + +<P> +There is but one way to demonstrate the existence of a power +independent of and superior to nature, and that is by breaking, if only +for one moment, the continuity of cause and effect. Pluck from the +endless chain of existence one little link; stop for one instant the +grand procession, and you have shown beyond all contradiction that +nature has a master. Change the fact, just for one second, that matter +attracts matter, and a god appears. +</P> + +<P> +The rudest savage has always known this fact, and for that reason +always demanded the evidence of miracle. The founder of a religion +must be able to turn water into wine—cure with a word the blind and +lame, and raise with a simple touch the dead to life. It was necessary +for him to demonstrate to the satisfaction of his barbarian disciple, +that he was superior to nature. In times of ignorance this was easy to +do. The credulity of the savage was almost boundless. To him the +marvelous was the beautiful, the mysterious was the sublime. +Consequently, every religion has for its foundation a miracle—that is +to say, a violation of nature—that is to say, a falsehood. +</P> + +<P> +No one, in the world's whole history, ever attempted to substantiate a +truth by a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of miracle. Nothing +but falsehood ever attested itself by signs and wonders. No miracle +ever was performed, and no sane man ever thought he had performed one, +and until one is performed, there can be no evidence of the existence +of any power superior to, and independent of nature. +</P> + +<P> +The church wishes us to believe. Let the church, or one of its +intellectual saints, perform a miracle, and we will believe. We are +told that nature has a superior. Let this superior, for one single +instant, control nature, and we will admit the truth of your assertion. +</P> + +<P> +We have heard talk enough. We have listened to all the drowsy, +idealess, vapid sermons that we wish to hear. We have read your bible +and the works of your best minds. We have heard your prayers, your +solemn groans and your reverential amens. All these amount to less +than nothing. We beg at the doors of your churches for just one little +fact. We pass our hats along your pews and under your pulpits and +implore you for just one fact. We know all about your moldy wonders +and your stale miracles. We want this year's fact. We ask only one. +Give us one fact of charity. Your miracles are too ancient. The +witnesses have been dead for nearly two thousand years. Their +reputations for "truth and veracity" in the neighborhood where they +resided is wholly unknown to us. Give us a new miracle, and +substantiate it by witnesses who still have the cheerful habit of +living in this world. Do not send us to Jericho to hear the winding +horns, nor put us in the fire with Shadrach, Moshech, and Abednego. Do +not compel us to navigate the sea with Captain Jonah, nor dine with Mr. +Ezekiel. There is no sort of use in sending us fox-hunting with +Samson. We have positively lost interest in that little speech so +eloquently delivered by Balaam's inspired donkey. It is worse than +useless to show us fishes with money in their mouths, and call our +attention to vast multitudes stuffing themselves with five crackers and +two sardines. We demand a new miracle and we demand it now. Let the +church furnish at least one, or forever after hold her peace. +</P> + +<P> +In the olden time, the church, by violating the order of nature, proved +the existence of her God. At that time miracles were performed with +the most astonishing ease. They became so common that the church +ordered her priests to desist. And now this same church—the people +having found so little sense—admits, not only, that she cannot perform +a miracle, but insists—that absence of miracle—the steady, unbroken +march of cause and effect, proves the existence of a power superior to +nature. The fact is, however, that the indissoluble chain of cause and +effect proves exactly the contrary. +</P> + +<P> +Sir William Hamilton, one of the pillars of modern theology, in +discussing this very subject, uses the following language: "The +phenomena of matter taken by themselves, so far from warranting any +inference to the existence of a god, would on the contrary ground even +an argument to his negation. The phenomena of a material world are +subjected to immutable laws; are produced and reproduced in the same +invariable succession, and manifest only the blind force of mechanical +necessity." +</P> + +<P> +Nature is but an endless series of efficient causes. She cannot +create, but she eternally transforms. There was no beginning; and +there can be no end. +</P> + +<P> +The best minds, even in the religious world, admit that in material +nature there is no evidence of what they are pleased to call a god. +They find their evidence in the phenomena of intelligence, and very +innocently assert that intelligence is above, and in fact, opposed to +nature. They insist that man, at least, is a special creation; that he +had somewhere in his brain a divine spark, a little portion of the +"Great First Cause." They say that matter cannot produce thought; but +that thought can produce matter. They tell us that man has +intelligence, and therefore there must be an intelligence greater than +his. Why not say, God has intelligence, therefore there must be an +intelligence greater than his? So far as we know, there is no +intelligence apart from matter. We cannot conceive of thought, except +as produced within a brain. +</P> + +<P> +The science, by means of which they demonstrate the existence of an +impossible intelligence, and an incomprehensible power, is called +metaphysics or theology. The theologians admit that the phenomena of +matter tend, at least, to disprove the existence of any power superior +to nature, because in such phenomena we see nothing but an endless +chain of efficient causes—nothing but the force of a mechanical +necessity. They therefore appeal to what they denominate the phenomena +of mind to establish this superior power. +</P> + +<P> +The trouble is, that in the phenomena of mind we find the same endless +chain of efficient causes; the same mechanical necessity. Every thought +must have had an efficient cause. Every motive, every desire, every +fear, hope and dream must have been necessarily produced. There is no +room in the mind of a man for providence or change. The facts and +forces governing thought are as absolute as those governing the motions +of the planets. A poem is produced by the forces of nature, and is as +necessarily and naturally produced as mountains and seas. You will +seek in vain for a thought in man's brain without its efficient cause. +Every mental operation is the necessary result of certain facts and +conditions. Mental phenomena are considered more complicated than those +of matter, and consequently more mysterious. Being more mysterious, +they are considered better evidence of the existence of a god. No one +infers a god from the simple, from the known, from what is understood, +but from the complex, from the unknown and incomprehensible. Our +ignorance is God; what we know is science. +</P> + +<P> +When we abandon the doctrine that some infinite being created matter +and force, and enacted a code of laws for their government, the idea of +interference will be lost. The real priest will then be, not the +mouth-piece of some pretended deity, but the interpreter of nature. +From that moment the church ceases to exist. The tapers will die out +upon the dusty altar; the moths will eat the fading velvet of pulpit +and pew; the Bible will take its place with the Shastras, Puranas, +Vedas, Eddas, Sagas and Korans, and the fetters of a degrading faith +will fall from the minds of men. +</P> + +<P> +"But," says the religionist "you cannot explain everything; you cannot +understand everything; and that which you cannot explain, that which +you do not comprehend, is my god." +</P> + +<P> +We are explaining more every day. We are understanding more every day; +consequently your God is growing smaller every day. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing daunted, the religionist then insists that nothing can exist +without a cause, except cause, and that this uncaused cause is God. +</P> + +<P> +To this we again replied: Every cause must produce an effect, because +until it does produce an effect, it is not a cause. Every effect must +in its turn become a cause. Therefore, in the nature of things, there +cannot be a last cause, for the reason that a so-called last cause +would necessarily produce an effect, and that effect must of necessity +become a cause. The converse of these propositions must be true. +Every effect must have had a cause, and every cause must have been an +effect. Therefore, there could have been no first cause. A first cause +is just as impossible as a last effect. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond the universe there is nothing, and within the universe the +supernatural does not and cannot exist. +</P> + +<P> +The moment these great truths are understood and admitted, a belief in +general or special providence becomes impossible. From that instant +men will cease their vain efforts to please an imaginary being, and +will give their time and attention to the affairs of this world. They +will abandon the idea of attaining any object by prayer and +supplication. The element of uncertainty will, in a great measure, be +removed from the domain of the future, and man, gathering courage from +a succession of victories over the obstructions of nature, will attain +a serene grandeur unknown to the disciples of any superstition. The +plans of mankind will no longer be interfered with by the finger of a +supposed omnipotence, and no one will believe that nations or +individuals are protected or destroyed by any deity whatever. Science, +freed from the chains of pious custom and evangelical prejudice, will, +within her sphere, be supreme. The mind will investigate without +reverence and publish its conclusions without fear. Agassiz will no +longer hesitate to declare the Mosaic cosmogony utterly inconsistent +with the demonstrated truths of geology, and will cease pretending any +reverence for the Jewish scriptures. The moment science succeeds in +rendering the church powerless for evil, the real thinkers will be +outspoken. The little flags of truce carried by timid philosophers +will disappear, and the cowardly parley will give place to victory +lasting and universal. +</P> + +<P> +If we admit that some infinite being has controlled the destinies of +persons and people, history becomes a most cruel and bloody farce. Age +after age, the strong have trampled upon the weak; the crafty and +heartless have ensnared and enslaved the simple and innocent, and +nowhere, in all the annals of mankind, has any god succored the +oppressed. +</P> + +<P> +Man should cease to expect aid from on high. By this time he should +know that heaven has no ear to hear, and no hand to help. The present +is the necessary child of all the past. There has been no chance, and +there can be no interference. +</P> + +<P> +If abuses are destroyed, man must destroy them. If slaves are freed, +man must free them. If new truths are discovered, man must discover +them. If the naked are clothed; if the hungry are fed; if justice is +done; if labor is rewarded; if superstition is driven from the mind, if +the defenseless are protected, and if the right finally triumphs, all +must be the work of man. The grand victories of the future must be won +by man, and by man alone. +</P> + +<P> +Nature, so far as we can discern, without passion and without +intention, forms, transforms, and retransforms forever. She neither +weeps nor rejoices. She produces man without purpose, and obliterates +him without regret. She knows no distinction between the beneficial +and the hurtful. Poison and nutrition, pain and joy, life and death, +smiles and tears are alike to her. She is neither merciful nor cruel. +She cannot be flattered by worship nor melted by tears. She does not +know even the attitude of prayer. She appreciates no difference between +poison in the fangs of snakes and mercy in the hearts of men. Only +through man does nature take cognizance of the good, the true, and the +beautiful; and, so far as we know, man is the highest intelligence. +</P> + +<P> +And yet man continues to believe that there is some power independent +of and superior to nature, and still endeavors, by form, ceremony, +supplication, hypocrisy, to obtain its aid. His best energies have +been wasted in the service of this phantom. The horrors of witchcraft +were all born of an ignorant belief in the existence of a totally +depraved being superior to nature, acting in perfect independence of +her laws; and all religious superstition has had for its basis a belief +in at least two beings, one good and the other bad, both of whom could +arbitrarily change the order of the universe. The history of religion +is simply the story of man's efforts in all ages to avoid one of these +powers and to pacify the other. Both powers have inspired little else +than abject fear. The cold, calculating sneer of the devil, and the +frown of God, were equally terrible. In any event, man's fate was to +be arbitrarily fixed forever by an unknown power superior to all law, +and to all fact. Until this belief is thrown aside, man must consider +himself the slave of phantom masters—neither of whom promise liberty +in this world nor in the next. +</P> + +<P> +Man must learn to rely upon himself. Reading bibles will not protect +him from the blasts of winter, but houses, fires, and clothing will. +To prevent famine, one plow is worth a million sermons, and even patent +medicines will cure more diseases than all the prayers uttered since +the beginning of the world. +</P> + +<P> +Although many eminent men have endeavored to harmonize necessity and +free will, the existence of evil, and the infinite power and goodness +of God, they have succeeded only in producing learned and ingenious +failures. Immense efforts have been made to reconcile ideas utterly +inconsistent with the facts by which we are surrounded, and all persons +who have failed to perceive the pretended reconciliation, have been +denounced as infidels, atheists and scoffers. The whole power of the +church has been brought to bear against philosophers and scientists in +order to compel a denial of the authority of demonstration,—and to +induce some Judas to betray Reason, one of the saviors of mankind. +</P> + +<P> +During that frightful period known as the "Dark Ages," Faith reigned, +with scarcely rebellious subject. Her temples were "carpeted with +knees," and the wealth of nations adorned her countless shrines. The +great painters prostituted their genius to immortalize her vagaries, +while the poets enshrined them in song. At her bidding, man covered the +earth with blood. The scales of justice were turned with gold, and for +her use were invented all the cunning instruments of pain. She built +cathedrals for God, and dungeons for men. She peopled the clouds with +angels and the earth with slaves. For centuries the world was +retracing its steps—going steadily back toward, barbaric night! A few +infidels—a few heretics cried, "Halt!" to the great rabble of ignorant +devotion, and made it possible for the genius of the nineteenth century +to revolutionize the cruel creeds and superstitions of mankind. +</P> + +<P> +The thoughts of man, in order to be of any real worth, must be free. +Under the influence of fear the brain is paralyzed, and instead of +bravely solving a problem for itself, tremblingly adopts the solution +of another. As long as a majority of men will cringe to the very earth +before some petty prince or king, what must be the infinite abjectness +of their little souls in the presence of their supposed creator and +God? Under such circumstances, what can their thoughts be worth? +</P> + +<P> +The originality of repetition, and the mental vigor of acquiescence, +are all that we have any right to expect from the Christian world. As +long as every question is answered by the word "God," scientific +inquiry is simply impossible. As fast as phenomena are satisfactorily +explained the domain of the power, supposed to be superior to nature +must decrease, while the horizon of the known must as constantly +continue to enlarge. +</P> + +<P> +It is no longer satisfactory to account for the fall and rise of +nations by saying, "It is the will of God." Such an explanation puts +ignorance and education upon exact equality, and does away with the +idea of really accounting for anything whatever. +</P> + +<P> +Will the religionist pretend that the real end of science is to +ascertain how and why God acts? Science, from such a standpoint, would +consist in investigating the law of arbitrary action, and in a grand +endeavor to ascertain the rule necessarily obeyed by infinite caprice. +</P> + +<P> +From a philosophical point of view, science is knowledge of the laws of +life; of the condition of happiness; of the facts by which we are +surrounded, and the relations we sustain to men and things—by means of +which man, so to speak, subjugates nature and bends the elemental +powers to his will, making blind force the servant of his brain. +</P> + +<P> +A belief in special providence does away with the spirit of +investigation, and is inconsistent with personal efforts. Why should +man endeavor to thwart the designs of God? "Which of you, with taking +thought, can add to his stature one cubit?" Under the influence of +this belief, man, basking in the sunshine of a delusion, considers the +lilies of the field and refuses to take any thought for the morrow. +Believing himself in the power of an infinite being, who can, at any +moment, dash him to the lowest hell or raise him to the highest heaven, +he necessarily abandons the idea of accomplishing anything by his own +efforts. So long as this belief was general, the world was filled with +ignorance, superstition and misery. The energies of man were wasted in +a vain effort to obtain the aid of this power, supposed to be superior +to nature. For countless ages, even men were sacrificed upon the altar +of this impossible god. To please him, mothers have shed the blood of +their own babies; martyrs have chanted triumphant songs in the midst of +flames; priests have gorged themselves with blood; nuns have forsworn +the ecstasies of love; old men have tremblingly implored; women have +sobbed and entreated; every pain has been endured, and every horror has +been perpetrated. +</P> + +<P> +Through the dim long years that have fled, humanity has suffered more +than can be conceived. Most of the misery has been endured by the +weak, the loving and the innocent. Women have been treated like +poisonous beasts, and little children trampled upon as though they had +been vermin. Numberless altars have been reddened, even with the blood +of babies; beautiful girls have been given to slimy serpents; whole +races of men doomed to centuries of slavery, everywhere there has been +outrage beyond the power of genius to express. During all these years +the suffering have supplicated; the withered lips of famine have +prayed; the pale victims have implored, and heaven has been deaf and +blind. +</P> + +<P> +Of what use have the gods been to man? +</P> + +<P> +It is no answer to say that some god created the world, established +certain laws, and then turned his attention to other matters, leaving +his children, weak, ignorant and unaided, to fight the battle of life +alone. It is no solution to declare that in some other world this god +will render a few or even all of his subjects happy. What right have +we to expect that a perfectly wise, good and powerful being will ever +do better than he has done, and is doing? The world is filled with +imperfections. If it was made by an infinite being, what reason have +we for saying that he will render it nearer perfect than it now is? If +the infinite Father allows a majority of his children to live in +ignorance and wretchedness now, what evidence is there that he will +ever improve their condition? Will god have more power? Will he +become more merciful? Will his love for his poor creatures increase? +Can the conduct of infinite wisdom, power and love ever change? Is the +infinite capable of any improvement whatever. +</P> + +<P> +We are informed by the clergy that this world is a kind of school; that +the evils by which we are surrounded are for the purpose of developing +our souls, and that only by suffering can men become pure, strong, +virtuous and grand. +</P> + +<P> +Supposing this to be true, what is to become of those who die in +infancy? The little children, according to this philosophy, can never +be developed. They were so unfortunate as to escape the ennobling +influences of pain and misery, and as a consequence, are doomed to an +eternity of mental inferiority. If the clergy are right on this +question, none are so unfortunate as the happy, and we should envy only +the suffering and distressed. If evil is necessary to the development +of man, in this life, how is it possible for the soul to improve in the +perfect joy of paradise? +</P> + +<P> +Since Paley found his watch, the argument of "design" has been relied +upon as unanswerable. The Church teaches that this world, and all that +it contains, were created substantially as we now see them, that the +grasses, the flowers, the trees, and all animals, including man, were +special creations, and that they sustain no necessary relation to each +other. The most orthodox will admit that some earth has been washed +into the sea, that the sea has encroached a little upon the land, and +that some mountains may be a trifle lower than in the morning of +creation. The theory of gradual development was unknown to our +fathers; the idea of evolution did not occur to them. Our fathers +looked upon the then arrangement of things as the primal arrangement. +The earth appeared to them fresh from the hands of a deity. They knew +nothing of the slow evolutions of countless years, but supposed that +the almost infinite variety of vegetable and animal forms had existed +from the first. +</P> + +<P> +Suppose that upon some island we should find a man a million years of +age, and suppose that we should find him in the possession of a most +beautiful carriage, constructed upon the most perfect model. And +suppose further, that he should tell us that it was the result of +several hundred thousand years of labor and of thought; that for fifty +thousand years he used as flat a log as he could find, before it +occurred to him that by splitting the log he could have the same +surface with only half the weight; that it took him many thousand years +to invent wheels for this log; that the wheels he first used were +solid, and that fifty thousand years of thought suggested the use of +spokes and tire; that for many centuries he used the wheels without +linch-pins: that it took a hundred thousand years more to think of +using four wheels, instead of two; that for ages he walked behind the +carriage, when going down hill, in order to hold it back, and that only +by a lucky chance he invented the tongue; would we conclude that this +man, from the very first, had been an infinitely ingenious and perfect +mechanic? Suppose we found him living in an elegant mansion, and he +should inform us that he lived in that house for five hundred thousand +years before he thought of putting on a roof, and that he had but +recently invented windows and doors; would we say that from the +beginning he had been an infinite accomplished and scientific architect. +</P> + +<P> +Does not an improvement in the things created, show the corresponding +improvement in the creator? +</P> + +<P> +Would an infinitely wise, good and powerful God, intending to produce +man, commence with the lowest possible forms of life; with the simplest +organism that can be imagined, and during immeasurable periods of time, +slowly and almost imperceptibly improve upon the rude beginning, until +man was evolved? Would countless ages thus be wasted in the production +of awkward forms, afterward abandoned? Can the intelligence of man +discover the least wisdom in covering the earth with crawling, creeping +horrors, that live only upon the agonies and pangs of others? Can we +see the propriety of so constructing the earth, that only an +insignificant portion of its surface is capable of producing an +intelligent man? Who can appreciate the mercy of so making the world +that all animals devour animals? so that every mouth is a +slaughter-house, and every stomach a tomb? Is it possible to discover +infinite intelligence and love in universal and eternal carnage? +</P> + +<P> +What would we think of a father, who should give a farm to his +children, and before giving them possession should plant upon it +thousands of deadly shrubs and vines; should stock it with ferocious +beasts; and poisonous reptiles; should take pains to put a few swamps +in the neighborhood to breed malaria; should so arrange matters, that +the ground would occasionally open and swallow a few of his darlings, +and besides all this, should establish a few volcanoes in the immediate +vicinity, that might at any moment overwhelm his children with rivers +of fire? Suppose that this father neglected to tell his children which +of the plants were deadly; that the reptiles were poisonous; failed to +say anything about the earthquakes, and kept the volcano business a +profound secret; would we pronounce him angel or fiend? +</P> + +<P> +And yet this is exactly what the orthodox God has done. +</P> + +<P> +According to the theologians, God prepared this globe expressly for the +habitation of his loved children, and yet he filled the forests with +ferocious beasts; placed serpents in every path; stuffed the world with +earthquakes, and adorned its surface with mountains of flame. +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding all this, we are told that the world is perfect; that +it was created by a perfect being, and is therefore necessarily +perfect. The next moment, these same persons will tell us that the +world was cursed; covered with brambles, thistles and thorns, and that +man was doomed to disease and death, simply because our poor, dear +mother ate an apple contrary to the command of an arbitrary God. +</P> + +<P> +A very pious friend of mine, having heard that I had said the world was +full of imperfections, asked me if the report was true. Upon being +informed that it was, he expressed great surprise that any one could be +guilty of such presumption. He said that, in his judgment, it was +impossible to point out an imperfection. "Be kind enough," said he, +"to name even one improvement that you could make, if you had the +power." "Well," said I, "I would make good health catching, instead of +disease." +</P> + +<P> +The truth is, it is impossible to harmonize all the ills, and pains, +and agonies of this world with the idea that we were created by, and +are watched over and protected by an infinitely wise, powerful and +beneficent God, who is superior to and independent of nature. +</P> + +<P> +The clergy, however, balance all the real ills of this life with the +expected joys of the next. We are assured that all is perfection in +heaven—there the skies are cloudless—there all is serenity and peace. +Here empires may be overthrown; dynasties may be extinguished in blood; +millions of slaves may toil 'neath the fierce rays of the sun, and the +cruel strokes of the lash; yet all is happiness in heaven. Pestilence +may strew the earth with corpses of the loved; the survivors may bend +above them in agony—yet the placid bosom of heaven is unruffled. +Children may expire vainly asking for bread; babies may be devoured by +serpents, while the gods sit smiling in the clouds. The innocent may +languish unto death in the obscurity of dungeons; brave men and heroic +women may be changed to ashes at the bigot's stake, while heaven is +filled with song and joy. Out on the wide sea, in darkness and in +storm, the shipwrecked struggle with the cruel waves, while the angels +play upon their golden harps. The streets of the world are filled with +the diseased, the deformed and the helpless; the chambers of pain are +crowded with the pale forms of the suffering, while the angels float +and fly in the happy realms of day. In heaven they are too happy to +have sympathy; too busy singing to aid the imploring and distressed. +Their eyes are blinded; their ears are stopped and their hearts are +turned to stone by the infinite selfishness of joy. The saved mariner +is too happy when he touches the shore to give a moment's thought to +his drowning brothers. With the indifference of happiness, with the +contempt of bliss, heaven barely glances at the miseries of earth. +Cities are devoured by the rushing lava; the earth opens and thousands +perish; women raise their clasped hands towards heaven, but the gods +are too happy to aid their children. The smiles of the deities are +unacquainted with the tears of men. The shouts of heaven drown the +sobs of earth. +</P> + +<P> +Having shown how man created gods, and how he became the trembling +slave of his own creation, the questions naturally arise: How did he +free himself even a little, from these monarchs of the sky, from these +despots of the clouds, from this aristocracy of the air? How did he, +even to the extent that he has, outgrow his ignorant, abject terror, +and throw off, the yoke of superstition? +</P> + +<P> +Probably, the first thing that tended to disabuse his mind was the +discovery of order, of regularity, of periodicity in the universe. From +this he began to suspect that everything did not happen purely with +reference to him. He noticed, that whatever he might do, the motions +of the planets were always the same; that eclipses were periodical, and +that even comets came at certain intervals. This convinced him that +eclipses and comets had nothing to do with him, and that his conduct +had nothing to do with them. He perceived that they were not caused +for his benefit or injury. He thus learned to regard them with +admiration instead of fear. He began to suspect that famine was not +sent by some enraged and revengeful deity but resulted often from the +neglect and ignorance of man. He learned that diseases were not +produced by evil spirits. He found that sickness was occasioned by +natural causes, and would be cured by natural means. He demonstrated, +to his own satisfaction at least, that prayer is not a medicine. He +found by sad experience that his gods were of no practical use, as they +never assisted him, except when he was perfectly able to help himself. +At last, he began to discover that his individual action had nothing +whatever to do with strange appearances in the heavens; that it was +impossible for him to be bad enough to cause a whirlwind, or good +enough to stop one. After many centuries of thought, he about half +concluded that making mouths at a priest would not necessarily cause an +earthquake. He noticed, and no doubt with considerable astonishment, +that very good men were occasionally struck by lightning, while very +bad ones escaped. He was frequently forced to the painful conclusion +(and it is the most painful to which any human being ever was forced) +that the right did not always prevail. He noticed that the gods did not +interfere in behalf of the weak and innocent. He was now and then +astonished by seeing an unbeliever in the enjoyment of most excellent +health. He finally ascertained that there could be no possible +connection between an unusually severe winter and his failure to give +sheep to a priest. He began to suspect that the order of the universe +was not constantly being changed to assist him because he repeated a +creed. He observed that some children would steal after having been +regularly baptized. He noticed a vast difference between religions and +justice, and that the worshipers of the same God took delight in +cutting each other's throats. He saw that these religious disputes +filled the world with hatred and slavery. At last he had the courage +to suspect, that no God at any time interferes with the order of +events. He learned a few facts, and these facts positively refused to +harmonize with the ignorant superstitions of his fathers. Finding his +sacred books incorrect and false in some particulars, his faith in +their authenticity began to be shaken; finding his priests ignorant on +some points, he began to lose respect for the cloth. This was the +commencement of intellectual freedom. +</P> + +<P> +The civilization of man has increased just to the same extent that +religious power has decreased. The intellectual advancement of man +depends upon how often he can exchange an old superstition for a new +truth. The Church never enabled a human being to make even one of +these exchanges; on the contrary, all her power has been used to +prevent them. In spite, however, of the Church, man found that some of +his religious conceptions were wrong. By reading his bible, he found +that the ideas of his God were more cruel and brutal than those of the +most depraved savage. He also discovered that this holy book was +filled with ignorance, and that it must have been written by persons +wholly unacquainted with the nature of the phenomena by which we are +surrounded; and now and then, some man had the goodness and courage to +speak his honest thoughts. In every age some thinker, some doubter, +some investigator, some hater of hypocrisy, some despiser of sham, some +brave lover of the right, has gladly, proudly and heroically braved the +ignorant fury of superstition for the sake of man and truth. These +divine men were generally torn in pieces by the worshipers of the gods. +Socrates was poisoned because he lacked reverence for some of the +deities. Christ was crucified by the religious rabble for the crime of +blasphemy. Nothing is more gratifying to a religionist than to destroy +his enemies at the command of God. Religious persecution springs from +a due admixture of love towards God and hatred towards man. +</P> + +<P> +The terrible religious wars that inundated the world with blood tended +at least to bring all religion into disgrace and hatred. Thoughtful +people began to question the divine origin of a religion that made its +believers hold the rights of others in absolute contempt. A few began +to compare Christianity with the religions of heathen people, and were +forced to admit that the difference was hardly worth dying for. They +also found that other nations were even happier and more prosperous +than their own. They began to suspect, that their religion, after all, +was not of much real value. +</P> + +<P> +For three hundred years the Christian world endeavored to rescue from +the "Infidel" the empty sepulchre of Christ. For three hundred years +the armies of the cross were baffled and beaten by the victorious hosts +of an impudent impostor. This immense fact sowed the seeds of distrust +throughout all Christendom, and millions began to lose confidence in a +God who had been vanquished by Mohammed. The people also found that +commerce made friends where religion made enemies, and that religious +zeal was utterly incompatible with peace between nations or +individuals. The discovered that those who loved the gods most were apt +to love men least; that the arrogance of universal forgiveness was +amazing; that the most malicious had the effrontery to pray for their +enemies, and that humility and tyranny were the fruit of the same tree. +</P> + +<P> +For ages, a deadly conflict has been waged between a few brave men and +women of thought and genius upon the one side, and the great ignorant +religious mass on the other. This is the war between Science and +Faith. The few have appealed to reason, to honor, to law, to freedom, +to the known, and to happiness here in this world. The many have +appealed to prejudice, to fear, to miracle, to slavery, to the unknown, +and to misery hereafter. The few have said, "Think!" The many have +said, "Believe!" +</P> + +<P> +The first doubt was the womb and cradle of progress, and from the first +doubt, man has continued to advance. Men began to investigate, and the +church began to oppose. The astronomer scanned the heavens, while the +church branded his grand forehead with the word, "Infidel"; and now, +not a glittering star in all the vast expanse bears a Christian name. +In spite of all religion, the geologist penetrated the earth, read her +history in books of stone, and found hidden within her bosom, souvenirs +of all the ages. Old ideas perished in the retort of the chemist, +useful truths took their places. One by one religious conceptions have +been placed in the crucible of science, and thus far, nothing but dross +has been found. A new world has been discovered by the microscope; +everywhere has been found the infinite; in every direction man has +investigated and explored, and nowhere, in earth or stars, has been +found the footstep of any being superior to or independent of nature. +Nowhere has been discovered the slightest evidence of any interference +from without. These are the sublime truths that enable man to throw +off the yoke of superstition. These are the splendid facts that +snatched the sceptre of authority from the hands of priests. +</P> + +<P> +In the vast cemetery called the past are most of the religions of men, +and there, too, are nearly all their gods. The sacred temples of India +were ruins long ago. Over column and cornice; over the painted and +pictured walls, cling and creep the trailing vines. Brahma, the golden, +with four heads and four arms; Vishnu, the sombre, the punisher of the +wicked, with his three eyes, his crescent, and his necklace of skulls; +Siva, the destroyer, red with seas of blood; Kali, the goddess; +Draupadi, the white-armed, and Chrishna, the Christ, all passed away +and left the thrones of heaven desolate. Along the banks of the sacred +Nile, Isis no longer wandering weeps, searching for the dead Osiris. +The shadow of Typhon's scowl falls no more upon the waves. The sun +rises as of yore, and his golden beams still smite the lips of Memnon, +but Memnon is as voiceless as the Sphinx. The sacred fanes are lost in +desert sands; the dusty mummies are still waiting for the resurrection +promised by their priests, and the old beliefs, wrought in curiously +sculptured stone, sleep in the mystery of a language lost and dead. +Odin, the author of life and soul, Vili and Ve, and the mighty giant +Ymir, strode long ago from the icy halls of the North; and Thor, with +iron glove and glittering hammer, dashes mountains to the earth no +more. Broken are the circles and cromlechs of the ancient Druids; +fallen upon the summits of the hills, and covered with the centuries' +moss, are the sacred cairns. The divine fires of Persia and of the +Aztecs, have died out in the ashes of the past, and there is none to +rekindle, and none to feed the holy flames. The harp of Orpheus is +still; the drained cup of Bacchus has been thrown aside; Venus lies +dead in stone, and her white bosom heaves no more with love. The +streams still murmur, but no naiads bathe; the trees still wave, but in +the forest aisles no dryads dance. The gods have flown from high +Olympus. Not even the beautiful women can lure them back, and Danee +lies unnoticed, naked to the stars. Hushed forever are the thunders of +Sinai; lost are the voices of the prophets, and the land once flowing +with milk and honey is but a desert and waste. +</P> + +<P> +One by one, the myths have faded from the clouds; one by one, the +phantom host has disappeared, and one by one facts, truths and +realities have taken their places. The supernatural has almost gone, +but the natural remains. The gods have fled, but man is here. +</P> + +<P> +Nations, like individuals, have their periods of youth, of manhood and +decay. Religions are the same. The same inexorable destiny awaits +them all. The gods created by the nations must perish with their +creators. They were created by men, and like men, they must pass away. +The deities of one age are the by-words of the next. The religion of +one day and country, is no more exempt from the sneer of the future +than others have been. When India was supreme, Brahma sat upon the +world's throne. When the scepter passed to Egypt, Isis and Osiris +received the homage of mankind. Greece, with her fierce valor, swept +to empire, and Zeus put on the purple of authority. The earth trembled +with the tread of Rome's intrepid sons, and Jove grasped with mailed +hand the thunderbolts of heaven. Rome fell, and Christians from her +territory, with the red sword of war, carved out the ruling nations of +the world, and now Christ sits upon the old throne. Who will be his +successor? +</P> + +<P> +Day by day, religious conceptions grow less and less intense. Day by +day, the old spirit dies out of book and creed. The burning +enthusiasm, the quenchless zeal of the early church have gone, never, +never to return. The ceremonies remain, but the ancient faith is +fading out of the human heart. The worn out arguments fail to +convince, and denunciations that once blanched the faces of a race, +excite in us only derision and disgust. As time rolls on, the miracles +grow mean and small, and the evidences our fathers thought conclusive +utterly fail to satisfy us. There is an "irrepressible conflict" +between religion and science, and they cannot peaceably occupy the same +brain nor the same world. +</P> + +<P> +While utterly discarding all creeds, and denying the truth of all +religions, there is neither in my heart nor upon my lips a sneer for +the hopeful, loving and tender souls who believe that from all this +discord will result a perfect harmony; that every evil will in some +mysterious way become a good, and that above and over all there is a +being who, in some way, will reclaim and glorify everyone of the +children of men; but for those who heartlessly try to prove that +salvation is almost impossible; that damnation is almost certain; that +the highway of the universe leads to hell; who fill life with fear and +death with horror; who curse the cradle and mock the tomb, it is +impossible to entertain other than feelings of pity, contempt and scorn. +</P> + +<P> +Reason, Observation and Experience—the Holy Trinity of Science—have +taught us that happiness is the only good; that the time to be happy is +now, and the way to be happy is to make others so. This is enough for +us. In this belief we are content to live and die. If by any +possibility the existence of a power superior to, and independent of, +nature shall be demonstrated, there will then be time enough to kneel. +Until then, let us stand erect. +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding the fact that infidels in all ages have battled for the +rights of man, and have at all times been the fearless advocates of +liberty and justice, we are constantly charged by the Church with +tearing down without building again. The Church should by this time +know that it is utterly impossible to rob men of their opinions. The +history of religious persecutions fully establishes the fact that the +mind necessarily resists and defies every attempt to control it by +violence. The mind necessarily clings to old ideas until prepared for +the new. The moment we comprehend the truth, all erroneous ideas are +of necessity cast aside. +</P> + +<P> +A surgeon once called upon a poor cripple and kindly offered to render +him any assistance in his power. The surgeon began to discourse very +learnedly upon the nature and origin of disease; of the curative +properties of certain medicines; of the advantages of exercise, air and +light, and of the various ways in which health and strength could be +restored. These remarks were so full of good sense, and discovered so +much profound thought and accurate knowledge, that the cripple, +becoming thoroughly alarmed, cried out, "Do not, I pray you, take away +my crutches. They are my only support, and without them, I should be +miserable, indeed." "I am not going," said the surgeon, "to take away +your crutches. I am going to cure you, and then you will throw the +crutches away yourself." +</P> + +<P> +For the vagaries of the clouds, the infidels propose to substitute the +realities of the earth; for superstition, the splendid demonstrations +and achievements of science; and for the theological tyranny, the +chainless liberty of thought. +</P> + +<P> +We do not say we have discovered all; that our doctrines are the all in +all in truth. We know of no end to the development of man. We cannot +unravel the infinite complications of matter and force. The history of +one monad is as unknown as that of the universe; one drop of water is +as wonderful as all the seas; one leaf, as all the forests; and one +grain of sand, as all the stars. +</P> + +<P> +We are not endeavoring to chain the future, but to free the present. We +are not forgoing fetters for our children, but we are breaking those +our fathers made for us. We are the advocates of inquiry, of +investigation and thought. This of itself, is an admission that we are +not perfectly satisfied with all our conclusions. Philosophy has not +the egotism of faith. While superstition builds walls and creates +obstructions, science opens all the highways of thought. We do not +pretend to have circumnavigated everything, and to have solved all +difficulties, but we do believe that it is better to love men than to +fear gods, that it is grander and nobler to think and investigate for +yourself than to repeat a creed. We are satisfied that there can be +but little liberty on earth while men worship a tyrant in heaven. We +do not expect to accomplish everything in our day; but we want to do +what good we can, and to render all the service possible in the holy +cause of human progress. We know that doing away with gods and +supernatural persons and powers is not an end. It is a means to an +end; the real end being the happiness of man. +</P> + +<P> +Felling forests is not the end of agriculture. Driving pirates from +the sea is not all there is of commerce. +</P> + +<P> +We are laying the foundations of a grand temple of the future—not the +temple of all the gods, but of all the people—wherein, with +appropriate rites, will be celebrated the religion of Humanity. We are +doing what little we can to hasten the coming of the day when society +shall cease producing millionaires and mendicants—gorged indolence and +famished industry—truth in rags, and superstition robed and crowned. +We are looking for the time when the useful shall be the honorable; and +when REASON, throned upon the world's brain, shall be the King of +Kings, and God of Gods. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="ghosts"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S LECTURE ON GHOSTS. +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ladies and Gentlemen: In the first place, allow me to tender my sincere +thanks to the clergy of this city. I feel that I am greatly indebted +to them for this magnificent audience. It has been said, and I believe +it myself, that there is a vast amount of intolerance in the church of +today, but when twenty-four clergymen, three of whom, I believe, are +bishops, act as my advance agents, without expecting any remuneration, +or reward in this world, I must admit that perhaps I was mistaken on +the question of intolerance. And I will say, further, that against +those men I have not the slightest feeling in the world; every man is +the product of his own surroundings; he is the product of every +circumstance that has ever touched him; he is the product to a certain +degree of the religion and creed of his day, and when men show the +slightest intolerance I blame the creed, I blame the religion, I blame +the superstition that forced them to do so. I do not blame those men. +</P> + +<P> +Allow me to say, further, that this world is not, in my judgment, yet +perfect. I am doing, in a very feeble way, to be sure, but I am still +endeavoring, according to my Idea, to make this world just a little +better; to give a little more liberty to men, a little more liberty to +women. I believe in the government of kindness; I believe in truth, in +investigation, in free thought. I do not believe that the hand of want +will be eternally extended in the world; I do not believe that the +prison will forever scar the ground; I do not believe that the shadow +of the gallows will forever curse the earth; I do not believe that it +will always be true that the men who do the most work will have the +least to wear and the least to eat. I do believe that the time will +come when liberty and morality and justice, like the rings of Saturn, +will surround the world; that the world will be better, and every true +man and every free man will do what he can to hasten the coming of the +religion of human advancement. +</P> + +<P> +I understand that for the thousands and thousands of years that have +gone by, all questions have been settled by religion. I understand +that during all this time the people have gotten their information from +the sacerdotal class—from priests. I know that when India was supreme +they worshipped Brahma and Vishnu, and that when Rome held in its hand +the red sword of war they worshipped Jove, and I know now that our +religion has swept to the top. Any man living in India a few hundred +or thousand years ago would have said, this is the only true religion. +Why? Because here is the only true civilization. A man afterward +living in Egypt would have said, this is the only true religion, +because we have the best civilization; a Greek in Athens would have +said this is the only true religion, and a Roman would have said we +have the true religion, and now those religions all having died, +although they were all true religions, we say ours is the only +religion, because we are the greatest commercial nation in the world. +</P> + +<P> +There will come other nations; there will come other religions. Man has +made every religion in this world, in my judgment, and the religion, +has been good or bad according as the men who made it were good or bad. +If they were savages and barbarians, they made a God like the Jehovah +of the Jews; if they were civilized, if they were kind and tender, they +filled the heavens with kindness and love. Every man makes his own +God. Show me the God a man worships, and I will tell you what kind of a +man he is. Every one makes his own God, every one worships his own +God; and if you are a civilized man you will have a civilized God, and +we have been civilizing ours for hundreds and hundreds of years. He is +getting better every day. +</P> + +<P> +I am going to tell you tonight just exactly what I think. The other +lecture I delivered here was my conservative lecture; this is my +radical one! We even hear it suggested that our religion, our Bible, +has given us all we have of prosperity and greatness and grandeur. I +deny it! We have become civilized in spite of it, and I will show you +tonight that the obstruction that every science has had is what we have +been pleased to call our religion—or superstition. I had a +conversation with a gentleman once—and these gentlemen are always +mistaking something that goes along with a thing for the cause of the +thing—and he stated to me that his particular religion was the cause +of all advancement. I said to him: "No, Sir; the causes of all +advancement, in my judgment, are plug hats and suspenders." And I said +to him: "You go to Turkey, where they are semi-barbarians, and you +won't find a pair of suspenders or a plug hat in all that country; you +go to Russia, and you will find now and then a pair of suspenders at +Moscow or St. Petersburg; you go on down till you strike Austria, and +black hats begin; then you go on to Paris, Berlin and New York, and you +will find everybody wears suspenders and everybody wears black hats. +Wherever you find education and music there you will find black hats +and suspenders." He said that any man who said to him that plug hats +and suspenders had done more for mankind than the Bible and religion he +would not talk to. +</P> + +<P> +As a matter of fact, we are controlled today by men who do not exist. +We are controlled today by phenomena that never did exist. We are +controlled by ghosts and dead men, and in the grasp of death is a +scepter that controls the living present. I propose that we shall +govern ourselves! I propose that we shall let the past go, and let the +dead past bury the dead past. I believe the American people have +brains enough, and nerve enough, and courage enough, to control and +govern themselves, without any assistance from dust or ghosts. That is +my doctrine, and I am going to do what I can while I live to increase +that feeling of independence and manhood in the American people.—We +can control ourselves. I believe in the gospel of this world; I +believe in happiness right here; I do not believe in drinking skim milk +all my life with the expectation of butter beyond the clouds. I +believe in the gospel, I say, in this world. This is a mighty good +world. There are plenty of good people in this world. There is lots +of happiness in this world and, I say, let us, in every way we can, +increase it. I envy every man who is content with his lot, whether he +is poor or whether he is rich. I tell you, the man that tries to make +somebody else happy, and who owns his own soul, nobody having a +mortgage or deed of trust upon his manhood or liberty—this world is a +pretty good world for such a man. I do not care: I am going to say my +say, whether I make money or grow poor; no matter whether I get high +office or walk along the dusty highway of the common. I am going to +say my say, and I had rather be a farmer and live on forty acres of +land—live in a log cabin that I built myself, and have a little grassy +path going down to the spring, so that I can go there and hear the +waters gurgling, and know that it is coming out from the lips of the +earth, like a poem, whispering to the white pebbles—I would rather +live there, and have some hollyhocks at the corner of the house, and +the larks singing and swinging in the trees, and some lattice over the +window, so that the sunlight can fall checkered on the babe in the +cradle. I had rather live there, and have the freedom of my own brain; +I had rather do that than live in a palace of gold, and crawl, a slimy +hypocrite, through this world. Superstition has done enough harm +already; every religion, nearly, suspects everything that is pleasant, +everything that is joyous, and they always have a notion that God feels +best when we feel worst. They have chained the Andromeda of joy to the +cold rock of ignorance and fear, there to be devoured by the dragon of +superstition. Church and State are two vultures that have fed upon the +heart of chained Prometheus. I say, let the human race have a chance +let every man think for himself and express that thought. There is no +wrath in the serene heavens; there is no scowl in the blue of the sky. +Upon the throne of the universe tyranny does not sit as a king. +</P> + +<P> +The speaker here took from his pocket a pair of spectacles, and +adjusted them, saying: I am sorry to admit it; I have got to come to +it. I hate to put on a pair of spectacles, but the other day, as I was +putting them on, a thought struck me. I see progress in this. To +progress is to overcome the obstacles of nature, and in order to +overcome this obstacle of the loss of sight man invented spectacles. +Spectacles led men to the telescope, with which he read all the starry +heavens; and had it not been for the failure of sight we wouldn't have +seen a millionth part that we have. In the first place, we owe nothing +but truth to the dead. I am going to tell the truth about them. There +are three theories by which men account for all phenomena—for +everything that happens: First, the supernatural. In the olden time, +everything that happened some deity produced, some spirit, some devil, +some hobgoblin, some dryad, some fairy, some spook, something except +nature. First, then, the supernatural; and a barbarian, looking at the +wide, mysterious sea, wandering through the depths of the forest, +encountering the wild beasts, troubled by strange dreams, accounted for +everything by the action of spirits, good and bad. Second, the +supernatural and natural. There is where the religious world is +today—a mingling of the supernatural and natural, the idea being that +God created the world and imposed upon men certain laws, and then let +them run, and if they ever got into any trouble then he would do a +miracle, and accomplish any good that he desired to do. Third—and +that is the grand theory—the natural. Between these theories there +has been from the dawn of civilization a conflict. In this great war +nearly all the soldiers have been in the ranks of the supernatural. +The believers in the supernatural insist that matter is controlled and +directed entirely by powers from without. The naturalists maintain +that nature acts from within; that nature is not acted upon; that the +universe is all there is; that nature, with infinite arms, embraces +everything that exists, and that the supposed powers beyond the limits +of the materially real are simply ghosts. +</P> + +<P> +You say, ah! this is materialism! this is the doctrine of matter! What +is matter? I take a handful of earth in my hands, and into that dust I +put seeds, and arrows from the eternal quiver of the sun smite it, and +the seeds grow and bud and blossom, and fill the air with perfume in my +sight. Do you understand that? Do you understand how this dust and +these seeds and that light and this moisture produced that bud and that +flower and that perfume? Do you understand that any better than you do +the production of thought? Do you understand that any better than you +do a dream? Do you understand that any better than you do the thoughts +of love that you see in the eyes of the one you adore? Can you explain +it? Can you tell what matter is? Have you the slightest conception? +Yet you talk about matter as though you were acquainted with its +origin; as though you had compelled, with clenched hands, the very +rocks to give up the secret of existence? Do you know what force is? +Can you account for molecular action? Are you familiar with chemistry? +Can you account for the loves and the hatreds of the atoms? Is there +not something in matter that forever excludes you? Can you tell what +matter really is? Before you cry materialism, you had better find what +matter is. Can you tell of anything without a material basis? Is it +possible to imagine the annihilation of a single atom? Is it possible +for you to conceive of the creation of a single atom? Can you have a +thought that is not suggested to you by what you call matter? Did any +man or woman or child ever have a solitary thought, dream or +conception, that was not suggested to them by something they had seen +in nature? Can you conceive of anything the different parts of which +have been suggested to you by nature? You can conceive of an animal +with the hoofs of a bison, with the pouch of a kangaroo, with the head +of a buffalo, with the tail of a lion, with the scales of a fish, with +the wings of a bird, and yet every part of this impossible monster has +been suggested to you by nature. You say time, therefore you can think +eternity. You say pain, therefore you can think hell. You say +strength, therefore you can think omnipotence. You say wisdom, +therefore you can think infinite wisdom. Everything you see, everything +you can dream of or think of, has been suggested to you by your +surroundings, by nature. Man cannot rise above nature; below nature +man cannot fall. Imagine, if you please, the creation of a single +atom. Can any one here imagine the creation out of nothing of one +atom? Can any one here imagine the destruction of one atom? Can you +imagine an atom being changed to nothing? Can you imagine nothing +being changed to an atom? There is not a solitary person here with an +imagination strong enough to think either of the creation of an atom or +of the annihilation of an atom. +</P> + +<P> +Matter and the universe are the same yesterday, today and forever. +There is just as much matter in the universe today as there ever was, +and as there ever will be; there is just as much force and just as much +energy as there ever was or ever will be; but it is continually taking +different shapes and forms; one day it is a man, another day it is +animal, another day it is earth, another day it is metal, another day +it is gas, it gains nothing and it loses nothing. Our fathers +denounced materialism and accounted for all phenomena how? By the +caprice of gods and devils. For thousands of years it was believed +that ghosts, good ghosts, bad ghosts, benevolent and malevolent, in +some mysterious way produced all phenomena; that disease and health, +happiness and misery, fortune and misfortune, peace and war, life and +death, success and failure, were but arrows shot by those ghosts or +shadowy phantoms, to reward or punish mankind; that they were +displeased or pleased by our actions, that they blessed the earth with +harvest or cursed it with famine; that they fed or starved the children +of men; that they crowned or uncrowned kings; that they controlled war; +that they gave prosperous voyages, allowing the brave mariner to meet +his wife and children inside the harbor bar, or strewed the sad shore +with wrecks of ships and the bodies of men. Formerly these ghosts were +believed to be almost innumerable. Earth, air and water were filled +with these phantoms, but in modern times they have greatly decreased in +number, because the second proposition that I stated, the supernatural +and the natural, has generally been adopted, but the remaining ghosts +are supposed to perform the same functions as of yore. +</P> + +<P> +Let me say right here that the object of every religion ever made by +man has been to get on the good side of supposed powers; has been to +petition the gods to stop the earthquakes, to stop famine, to stop +pestilence. It has always been something that man should do to prevent +being punished by the powers of the air or to get from them some +favors. It has always been believed that these ghosts could in some way +be appeased; that they could be bettered by sacrifices, by prayer, by +fasting, by the building of temples and cathedrals, by shedding the +blood of men and beasts, by forms, by ceremonies, by kneelings, by +prostrations and flagellations, by living alone in the wild desert, by +the practice of celibacy, by inventing instruments of torture, by +destroying men, women and children, by covering the earth with +dungeons, by burning unbelievers and by putting chains upon the +thoughts and manacles upon the lips of men, by believing things without +evidence, by believing things against evidence, by disbelieving and +denying demonstrations, by despising facts, by hating reason, by +discouraging investigation, by making an idiot of yourself—all these +have been done to appease the winged monsters of the air. +</P> + +<P> +In the history of our poor world no horror has been omitted, no infamy +has been left undone by believers in ghosts, and all the shadows were +born of cowardice and malignity; they were painted by the pencil of +fear upon the canvas of ignorance by that artist called Superstition. +From these ghosts our fathers received their information. These ghosts +were the schoolmasters of our ancestors. They were the scientists, the +philosophers, the geologists, the legislators, the astronomers, the +physicians, the metaphysicians and historians of the past. +</P> + +<P> +Let me give you my definition of metaphysics, that is to say, the +science of the unknown, the science of guessing. Metaphysics is where +two fools get together, and each one admits that neither can prove, and +both say, "Hence we infer." That is the science of metaphysics. For +this these ghosts were supposed to have the only experience and real +knowledge; they inspired men to write books, and the books were sacred. +If facts were found to be inconsistent with these books, so much the +worse for the facts, and especially for the discoverers of these facts. +It was then and still is believed that these sacred books are the basis +of the idea of immortality, to give up the idea that these books were +inspired is and to renounce the idea of immortal life. I deny it! Men +existed before books; and all the books that were ever written were +written, in my judgment, by men, and the idea of immortality was not +born of a book, but was born of the man who wrote the book. The idea +of immortality, like the great sea, has ebbed and flowed in the human +heart, beating its countless waves of hope and joy against the shores +of time, and was not born of any book, nor of any religion, nor of any +creed; it was born of human affection, and it will continue to ebb and +flow beneath the clouds and mists of doubt and darkness as long as love +kisses the lips of death. It is the rainbow of hope shining upon the +tears of grief. We love, therefore we wish to live, and the foundation +of the idea of immortality is human affection and human love, and I +have a thousand times more confidence in the affections of the human +heart, in the deep and splendid feelings of the human soul than I have +in any book that ever was or ever can be written by mortal man. +</P> + +<P> +From the books written by those ghosts we have at least ascertained +that they knew nothing whatever of the world in which we live. Did they +know anything about any other? Upon every point where contradiction is +possible, the ghosts have been contradicted. By these ghosts, by these +citizens of the air, by this aristocracy of the clouds the affairs of +government were administered all authority to govern came from them. +The emperors, kings and potentates, every one of them, had the divine +petroleum poured upon his head, the kerosene of authority. +</P> + +<P> +The emperors, king and potentates had communications from the phantoms. +Man was not considered as the source of power; to rebel against the +king was to rebel against the ghosts, and nothing less than the blood +of the offenders could appease the invisible phantoms and by the +authority of the ghosts man was crushed and slayed and plundered. Many +toiled wearily in the sun and storm that a few favorites of the ghosts +might live in idleness, and many lived in huts and caves and dens that +the few might dwell in palaces, and many clothed themselves with rags +that a few might robe themselves in purple and gold, and many crept and +cringed and crawled that a few might tread upon their necks with feet +of iron. From the ghosts men received not only authority but +information. They told us the form of the earth; they informed us that +eclipses were caused by the sins of man, especially the failure to pay +tithes that the universe was made in six days; that gazing at the sky +with a telescope was dangerous; that trying to be wise beyond what they +had written was born of a rebellious and irreverent spirit; they told +us there was no virtue like belief; no crime like doubt, that +investigation was simply impudence, and the punishment therefore +violent torment; they not only told us all about this world but about +two others, and if their statements about the other two are as true as +they were about this, no one can estimate the value of their +information. +</P> + +<P> +For countless ages the world was governed by ghosts, and they spared no +pains to change the eagle of the human intellect into a bat of +darkness. To accomplish this infamous purpose, to drive the love of +truth from the human heart; to prevent the advancement of mankind to +shut out from the world every ray of intellectual light to pollute +every mind with superstition, the power of kings, the cunning and +cruelty of priests, and the wealth of nations were used. +</P> + +<P> +In order to show you the information we got from the ghosts, and the +condition of the world when the ghosts were the kings, let me call your +attention to this: During these years of persecution, ignorance, +superstition and slavery, nearly all the people, the kings, lawyers and +doctors, learned and unlearned, believed in that frightful production +of ignorance, of fear and faith, called witchcraft. Witchcraft today +is religion carried out. They believed that man was the sport and prey +of devils; that the very air was thick with these enemies of man, and, +with few exceptions, this hideous belief was universal. Under these +conditions progress was almost impossible. Fear paralyzed the brain. +</P> + +<P> +Progress is born of courage. Fear believes, courage doubts. Fear +falls upon the earth and prays; courage stands erect and thinks. Fear +retreats; courage advances. Fear is barbarism, courage is +civilization. Fear believes in witchcraft; courage in science and in +eternal law. The facts upon which this terrible belief rested were +proved over and over again in nearly every court in Europe. Thousands +confessed themselves guilty, admitted they had sold themselves to the +devil. They gave the particulars of the sale; told what they said and +what the devil replied. They confessed themselves guilty when they +knew that confession was death; knew that their property would be +confiscated and their children left to beg their bread. This is one of +the miracles of history, one of the strangest contradictions of the +human mind. Without doubt they really believed themselves guilty. +</P> + +<P> +In the first place, they believed in witchcraft as a fact, and when +charged with it, they became insane. They had read the account of the +witch of Endor calling up the dead body of Samuel. He is an old man; he +has his mantle on. They had read the account of Saul stooping to the +earth and conversing with the spirit that had been called from the +region of space by a witch. They had read a command from the Almighty, +"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," and they believed the world +was full of witches, or else the Almighty Would not have made a law +against them. They believed in witchcraft, and when they were charged +with it, they probably became insane, and in their insanity they +confessed their guilt. They found themselves abhorred and deserted, +charged with a crime they could not disprove. Like a man in quicksand, +every effort only sunk them deeper. Caught in this frightful web, at +the mercy of the devotees of superstition, hope fled and nothing +remained but the insanity of confession. +</P> + +<P> +The whole world appeared insane. In the time of James I, a man was +burned for causing a storm at sea, with the intention of drowning one +of the royal family, but I do not think it would have been much of a +crime if he had been really guilty. How could he disprove it? How +could he show that he did not cause a storm at sea? All storms were at +that time supposed to be inspired by the devil; the people believed +that all storms were caused by him, or by persons whom he assisted. I +implore you to remember that the men who believed these things wrote +our creeds and our confessions of faith, and it is by their dust that I +am asked to kneel and pay implicit homage, instead of investigating; +and I implore you to recollect that they wrote our creeds. +</P> + +<P> +A woman was tried and convicted before Sir Matthew Hale, one of the +greatest judges and lawyers of England, for having caused children to +vomit crooked pins. Think of that! The learned judge charged the +intelligent jury that there was no doubt as to the existence of +witches, that it was established by all history and expressly taught by +the Bible. The woman was hung and her body was burned. Sir Thomas +Moore declared that to give up witchcraft was to throw away the sacred +scriptures. John Wesley, too, was a firm believer in ghosts, and +insisted upon their existence after all laws upon the subject had been +repealed in England, and I beg of you to remember that John Wesley was +the founder of the Methodist Church. In New England a woman was +charged with being a witch and with having changed herself into a fox; +while in that condition she was attacked and bitten by some dogs, and a +committee of three men was ordered by the Court to examine this woman. +They removed her clothing, and searched for what they were pleased to +call witch-spots—that is to say, spots into which a needle could be +thrust without giving pain; they reported to the Court that such spots +were found. She denied that she had ever changed herself into a fox. +On the report of the committee she was found guilty, and she was +actually executed by our Puritan fathers, the gentlemen who braved the +danger of the deep for the sake of worshiping God and persecuting their +fellow men. I belong to their blood, and the best thing I can say +about them, and that which rises like a white shaft to their eternal +honor, is that they were in favor of education. +</P> + +<P> +A man was attacked by a wolf; he defended himself and succeeded in +cutting off one of the animal's paws, and the wolf ran away; he put it +in his pocket and carried it home; there he found his wife with one of +her hands gone, and he took that paw from his pocket and put it upon +her arm, and it assumed the appearance of a human hand, and he charged +his wife with being a witch. She was tried, she confessed her guilt, +and she was hung and her body was burned! My! is it possible? Did not +somebody say something against such an infamous proceeding? Yes, they +did! There was a Young Men's Association who invited a man to come and +give his ideas upon the subject. +</P> + +<P> +He denounced it. He said it was outrageous, that it was nonsensical, +that it was infamous and the moment he went away the young men met and +passed a resolution that he had deceived them; and the clergy at that +time protested and said, of course, let the man think, if you call that +kind of stuff thinking. +</P> + +<P> +But there was one man belonging to this Association who had the courage +to stand by the truth. +</P> + +<P> +Whether he believed in what the speaker said or not, he had that +manliness; and I take this opportunity to thank from the bottom of my +heart a man. I have no idea he agrees with me except in this: Whatever +you do, do it like a man and be honest about it. +</P> + +<P> +People were burned for causing frost in summer; for destroying crops +with hail; for causing storms—for making cows go dry; for souring +beer; for putting the devil in emptyings so that they would not rise. +The life of no one was secure. To be charged was to be convicted. +Every man was at the mercy of every other. This infamous belief was so +firmly seated in the minds of the people, that, to express a doubt as +to its existence was to be suspected yourself. They believed that +animals were often taken possession of by devils, and they believed +that the killing of the animal would destroy the devil. They +absolutely tried, convicted and executed dumb beasts. +</P> + +<P> +At Vail, in 1470, a rooster was tried upon the charge of having laid an +egg, and the clergy said they had no doubt of it. Rooster eggs were +used only in making witch-ointment. This everybody knew. The rooster +was convicted, and with all due solemnity, he was burned in the public +square. +</P> + +<P> +So a hog and six pig died for having killed and partially eaten a +child. The hog was convicted, but the pigs, on account of their extreme +youth, were acquitted. +</P> + +<P> +As late as 1740, a cow, charged with being possessed of a devil, was +tried and was convicted. They used to exorcise rats, snakes and +vermin; they used to go through the alleys and streets and fields and +warn them to leave within a certain number of days, and if they did not +leave, they threatened them with certain pains and penalties which they +proceeded to recount. +</P> + +<P> +But let us be careful how we laugh about those things; let us not pride +ourselves too much on the progress of our age. We must not forget that +some of our people are yet in the same intelligent business. Only a +little while ago the Governor of Minnesota appointed a day of fasting +and prayer to see if the Lord could not be induced to kill the +grasshoppers—or send them into some other State. +</P> + +<P> +About the close of the fifteenth century was the excitement in regard +to witchcraft, and Pope Innocent the Eighth issued a bull directing the +inquisitors to be vigilant in searching out and punishing all guilty of +this crime. Forms for the crime were regularly issued. For two +hundred and fifty years the church was busy in punishing the impossible +crime of witchcraft by burning, hanging and torturing men, women and +little children. +</P> + +<P> +Protestants were as active as Catholics; and in Geneva five hundred +witches were burned at the stake in three months, and one thousand were +executed in one year in the diocese of Couro; at least one hundred +thousand victims suffered in Germany, the last execution being in +Galesburgh, and taking place in 1794, and the last in Switzerland, +1780. In England statutes were passed from Henry VI to James I, +defining the crime and punishment, and the last act passed in the +British Parliament was when Lord Bacon was a member of the house. +</P> + +<P> +In 1716 Mrs. Hicks and daughter, nine years of age, were hung for +selling their souls to the devil; and raising a storm at sea by pulling +off their stockings and making a lather of soap. In England it has +been estimated that at least 30,000 were hung or burned. The last +victim executed in Scotland was 1722. She was an innocent old woman +who had so little idea of her condition, that she rejoiced at the sight +of the fire destined to consume her to ashes. She had a daughter, lame +in her hands, a circumstance accounted for from the fact that the witch +had been used to transfer her daughter into a pony and get her shod by +the devil! Intelligent ancestors! +</P> + +<P> +In 1692 nineteen persons were executed in Salem, Massachusetts, for the +crime of witchcraft. It was thought in those days that men and women +made contracts with the devil, and those contracts were confirmed at a +meeting of witches and ghosts, over which the devil presided; these +contracts in some cases were for a few years, others for life. General +assemblages of witches were held once a year. To these they rode from +great distances on brooms and dogs, and there they did homage to the +prince of hell and offered him sacrifices. +</P> + +<P> +In 1836 the populace of Holland plunged into the sea a woman reputed to +be a sorceress, and as the miserable woman persisted in rising to the +surface, she was pronounced guilty, and was beaten to death. It was +believed that the devil could transform people into any shape he +pleased, and whoever denounced this idea was denounced as an Infidel; +that the believers in witchcraft appealed to the devil; that with the +devil were associated innumerable spirits, who ranged over the world +endeavoring to torment mankind; that these spirits possessed a power +and wisdom transcending the limits of human faculties. They believed +the devil could carry persons hundreds of miles in a few seconds; they +believed this because they knew that Christ had been carried by the +devil, in the same manner, into a high mountain, and placed upon a +pinnacle. According to their account, the prince of the air had +absolutely taken the God of this infinite Universe, the Creator of all +its shining, wheeling stars—he had been absolutely taken by the devil +to a pinnacle of the temple, and there had been tempted by the devil to +cast himself to the earth. +</P> + +<P> +Take from the church itself the threat and fear of hell and it becomes +an extinct volcano. With the doctrine of hell taken from the Church, +that is the end of the fall of man, that is the end of the scheme of +atonement. Take from them the idea of an eternal place of torment, and +the Church is thrown back simply upon facts. +</P> + +<P> +And Dean Stanley, the leading ecclesiastic of Great Britain, only the +other day in Winchester Abbey, said science will be the only theology +of the future. Morality is the only religion of the years to come. +Not withstanding all the infamous things laid to the charge of the +Church, we are told that the civilization of today is the child of what +we are pleased to call superstition. Let me call your attention to what +they received from their fears of these ghosts. Let me give you an +outline of the sciences as taught by those philosophers. There is one +thing that a man is interested in, if he is in anything, and that is in +the science of medicine. A doctor is, so to speak, in partnership with +Nature. He is a preserver if he is worthy of the name. And now I want +to show what they have gotten from these ghosts upon the science of +medicine. +</P> + +<P> +According to them, all of the diseases were produced as a punishment by +the good ghosts, or out of pure malignity by the bad ones. There were, +properly speaking, no diseases; the sick were simply possessed by +ghosts. The science of medicine consisted in knowing how to persuade +these ghosts to vacate the premises and for thousands of years all +diseases were treated with incantations, hideous noises, with the +beating of drums and gongs; everything was done to make the position of +a ghost as unpleasant as possible; and they generally succeeded in +making things so disagreeable that if the ghost did not leave, the +patient died. These ghosts were supposed to be different in rank, +power and dignity. Now, then, a man pretended to have won the favor of +some powerful ghost who gave him power over the little ones. Such a +man became a very great physician. It was found that a certain kind of +smoke was exceedingly offensive to the nostrils of your ordinary ghost. +With this smoke the sick room would be filled until the ghost vanished +or the patient died. It was also believed that certain words, when +properly pronounced, were the most effective weapons, for it was for a +long time supposed that Latin words were the best, I suppose because +Latin was a dead language. For thousands of years medicine consisted +in driving the devils out of men. In some instances bargains and +promises were made with the ghosts. One case is given where a +multitude of devils traded a man off for a herd of swine. In this +transaction the devils were the losers, the swine having immediately +drowned themselves in the sea. This idea of disease appears to have +been almost universal and is not yet extinct. The contortions of the +epileptic, the strange twitching of those afflicted with cholera, were +all seized as proof that the bodies of men were filled with vile and +malignant spirits. Whoever endeavored to account for these things by +natural causes; whoever endeavored to cure disease by natural means was +denounced as an Infidel. To explain anything was a crime. It was to +the interest of the sacerdotal class that all things should be +accounted for by the will and power of God and the devil. The moment +it is admitted that all phenomena are within the domain of the natural, +and that all the prayers in the world cannot change one solitary fact, +the necessity for the priest disappears. Religion breathes the idea of +miracles. Take from the minds of men the idea of the supernatural, and +superstition ceases to exist; for this reason the Church has always +despised the man who explains the wonderful. The moment that it began +to be apparent that prayer could do nothing for the body, the priest +shifted his ground and began praying for the soul. +</P> + +<P> +After the devil was substantially abandoned in the practice of +medicine, and when it was admitted that God had nothing to do with +ordinary coughs and colds, it was still believed that all the diseases +were sent by Him as punishment for the people; it was thought to be a +kind of blasphemy to even stay the ravages of pestilence. Formerly, +when a pestilence fell upon a people, the arguments of the priest were +boundless. He told the people that they had refused to pay their +tithes, and they had doubted some of the doctrines of the church, that +in their hearts they had contempt for some of the priests of the Lord, +and God was now taking his revenge, and the people, for the most part, +believed this issue of falsehood, and hastened to fall upon their knees +and to pour out their wealth upon the altars of hypocrisy. +</P> + +<P> +The Church never wanted disease to be absolutely under the control of +man. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College, preached a sermon +against vaccination. His idea was that if God had decreed that through +all eternity certain men should die of small pox, it was a frightful +sin to endeavor to prevent it; that plagues and pestilence were +instruments in the hands of God with which to gain the love and worship +of mankind; to find the cure for the disease was to take the punishment +from the Church. No one tries to cure the ague with prayer because +quinine has been found to be altogether more reliable. Just as soon as +a specific is found for a disease, that disease is left out of the list +of prayer. The number of diseases with which God from time to time +afflicts mankind is continually decreasing, because the number of +diseases that man can cure is continually increasing. In a few years +all diseases will be under the control of man. The science of medicine +has but one enemy—superstition. Man was afraid to save his body for +fear he would lose his soul. Is it any wonder that the people in those +days believed in and taught the infamous doctrine of eternal +punishment, that makes God a heartless monster and man a slimy +hypocrite and slave? +</P> + +<P> +The ghosts were also historians, and wrote the grossest absurdities. +They wrote as though they had been eye witnesses of every occurrence. +They told all the past, they predicted all the future, with an +impudence that amounted to sublimity. They said that the Tartars +originally came from hell, and that they were called Tartars because +that was one of the names of hell. These gentlemen accounted for the +red on the breasts of robins from the fact that those birds used to +carry water to the unhappy infants in hell. Other eminent historians +say that Nero was in the habit of vomiting frogs. When I read that, I +said some of the croakers of the present day would be better for such a +vomit. Others say that the walls of a city fell down in answer to +prayer. They tell us that King Arthur was not born like other mortals; +that he had great luck in killing giants; that one of the giants that +he killed wore clothes woven from the beards of kings that he had +slain, and, to cap the climax, the authors of this history were +rewarded for having written the only reliable history of their country. +These are the men from whom we get our creeds and our confessions of +faith. +</P> + +<P> +In all the histories of those days there is hardly a truth. Facts were +not considered of any importance. They wrote, and the people believed +that the tracks of Pharaoh's chariot were still visible upon the sands +of the Red Sea, and that they had been miraculously preserved as +perpetual witnesses of the miracles that had been performed, and they +said to any man who denied it, "Go there and you will find the tracks +still upon the sand." They accounted for everything as the work of +good and evil spirits; with cause and effect they had nothing to do. +Facts were in no way related to each other. God, governed by infinite +caprice, filled the world with miracles and disconnected events, and +from his quiver came the arrows of pestilence and death. The moment +the idea is abandoned that everything in this universe is natural—that +all phenomena are the necessary links in the endless chain of +being—the conception of history becomes impossible that the ghost of +the present is not the child of the past; the present is not the mother +of the future. In the domain of superstition all is accident and +caprice; and do not, I pray you, forget that the writers of our creeds +and confessions of faith believed this to be a world of chance. +Nothing happens by accident; nothing happens by chance. In the wide +universe everything is necessarily produced, every effect has behind it +a cause, every effect is in its turn a cause, and there is in the wide +domain of the infinite not room enough for a miracle. +</P> + +<P> +When I say this, I mean this is my idea. I may be wrong, but that is +my idea. It was believed by our intelligent ancestors that all law +derived its greatness and force from the fact that it had been +communicated to man by ghosts. Of course, it is not pretended that the +ghosts told everybody the law, but they told it to a few, and the few +told it to the people, and the people, as a rule, paid them exceedingly +well for the trouble. It was a long time before the people commenced +making laws for themselves, and, strange as it may appear, most of +their laws are vastly superior to the ghost article. Through the web +and woof of human legislation gradually began to run and shine and +glitter the golden thread of justice. +</P> + +<P> +During these years of darkness it was believed that, rather than see an +act of injustice done, rather than see the guilty triumph, some ghost +would interfere and I do wish, from the bottom of my heart, that that +was the truth. There never was forced upon my heart a more frightful +conviction than this—the right does not always prevail; there never +was forced upon my mind a more cruel conclusion than this—innocence is +not always a sufficient shield. I wish it was. I wish, too, that man +suffered nothing but that which he brings upon himself and yet I find +that in nine districts in India, between the 1st day of last January +and the 1st day of June, 2,800,000 people starved to death, and that +little children, with their lips upon the breasts of famine, died, +wasted away. And why, simply because a little while before the wind did +not veer the one hundredth part of a degree, and send clouds over the +country, freighted with rain, freighted with love and joy. But if that +wind had just turned that way there would have been happy men, women +and children, all clad in the garments of health. I wish that I could +know in my heart that there was some power that would see to it that +men and women got exact justice somewhere. I do wish that I knew—the +right would prevail—that innocence was an infinite shield. +</P> + +<P> +During these years it was believed that rather than see an act of +injustice done some ghost would interfere. This belief, as a rule, +gave great satisfaction to the victorious party, and, as the other man +was dead, no complaint was ever made by him. This doctrine was a +sanctification of brute force and chance. Prisoners were made to grasp +hot irons, and if it burned them their guilt was established. Others +were tied hands and feet and cast into the sea, and if they sank, the +verdict of guilt was unanimous; if they did not sink then they said +water is such a pure element that it refuses to take a guilty person, +and consequently he is a witch or wizard. Why, in England, persons +accused of crime could appeal to the cross, and to a piece of +sacramental bread. If he could swallow this without choking he was +acquitted. And this practice was continued until the time of King +Edward, who was choked to death; after which it was discontinued. +</P> + +<P> +Ghosts and their followers always took delight in torturing with +unusual pain any infraction of their laws, and generally death was the +penalty. Sometimes, when a man committed only murder, he was permitted +to flee to a place of refuge—murder being only a crime against +man—but for saying certain words, or denying certain doctrines, or for +worshiping wrong ghosts, or for failing to pray to the right one, or +for laughing at a priest, or for saying that wine was not blood, or +bread was not flesh, or for failing to regard rams' horns as artillery, +or for saying that a raven as a rule, was a poor landlord, death, +produced by all the ways that ingenuity or hatred could devise, was the +penalty suffered by these men. I tell you tonight law is a growth; law +is a science. Right and wrong exist in the nature of things. Things +are not right because they are commanded; they are not wrong because +they are prohibited. They are prohibited because we believe them +wrong; they are commended because we believe them right. There are +real crimes enough without creating artificial ones. All progress in +legislation for a thousand years has consisted in repealing the laws of +the ghosts. The idea of right and wrong is born of man's capacity to +enjoy and suffer. If man could not suffer, if he could not inflict +injury upon his brother, if he could neither feel nor inflict +punishment, the idea of law, the idea of right, the idea of wrong, +never could have entered into his brain. If man could not suffer, if +he could not inflict suffering, the word conscience never would have +passed the lips of man. There is one good—happiness. There is one +sin—selfishness. All laws should be for the preservation of the one +and the destruction of the other. Under the regime of the ghosts the +laws were not understood to exist in the nature of things; they were +supposed to be irresponsible commands, and these commands were not +supposed to rest upon reason; they were simply the product of arbitrary +will. These penalties for the violations of those laws were as cruel +as the penalties were absurd. There were over two hundred offenses for +which man was punished with death. Think of it! And these laws are +said to have come from a most merciful God. And yet we have become +civilized to that degree in this country that in the State of New York +there is only one crime punishable with death. Think of it! Did I not +tell you that we were now civilizing our gods? The tendency of those +horrible laws, the tendency of those frightful penalties, was to blot +the idea of justice from the human soul. Now, I want to show you how +perfectly every department of human knowledge, or rather of ignorance, +was saturated with superstition. I will for a moment refer to the +science of language. +</P> + +<P> +It was thought by our fathers that Hebrew was the original language; +that it was taught to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden by the +Almighty himself. Every fact inconsistent with that idea was thrown +away. According to the ghosts, the trouble at the Tower of Babel +accounted for the fact that all the people did not speak the Hebrew +language. The Babel question settled all questions in the science of +language. After a time so many facts were found to be so inconsistent +with the Hebrew idea that it began to fall into disrepute, and other +languages began to be used. Andrew Kent published a work on the +science of language, in which he stated that God spoke to Adam, and +Adam answered, in Hebrew, and that the serpent probably spoke to Eve in +French. In 1580 another celebrated work was published at Antwerp, in +which the whole matter was put at rest, showing beyond a doubt that the +language spoken in Paradise was neither more nor less than plain +Holland Dutch. Another celebrated writer, a contemporary of Sir Isaac +Newton, discouraged the idea that all languages could be traced to one; +he maintained that language was of natural growth; that we speak as +naturally as we grow; we talk as naturally as sings a bird, or as +blooms and blossoms a flower. Experience teaches us that this be so; +words are continually dying and continually may being born—words are +the garments of thought. Through the lapse of time some were as rude +as the skins of wild beasts, and others pleasing and cultured like silk +and gold. Words have been born of hatred and revenge, of love and self +sacrifice and fear, of agony and joy the stars have fashioned them, and +in them mingled the darkness and the dawn. +</P> + +<P> +Every word that we get from the past is, so to speak, a mummy robed in +the linen of the grave. They are the crystallizations of human +history, of all that man enjoyed, of all that man has suffered, his +victories and defeats, all that he has lost and won. Words are the +shadows of all that has been; they are the mirrors of all that is. The +ghosts also enlightened our fathers in astronomy and geology. According +to them the world was made out of nothing, and a little more nothing +having been taken than was used in the construction of the world, the +stars were made out of the scraps that were left over. Cosmos, in the +sixth century, taught that the stars were impelled by angels, who +carried them upon their shoulders, rolled them in front of them, or +drew them after. He also taught that each angel who pushed a star took +great pains to observe what the other angels were doing, so that the +relative distances between the stars might always remain the same. +</P> + +<P> +He stated that this world was a vast body of water, with a strip of +land on the outside; that Adam and Eve lived on the outer strip; that +their descendants were drowned on the outer strip, all except Noah and +his family; he accounted for night and day by saying that on the outer +strip of land was a mountain, around which the sun revolved, producing +darkness when it was hidden from sight, and daylight when it emerged; +he also declared the earth to be flat. This he proved by many passages +from the Bible; among other reasons for believing the earth to be flat +he referred to a passage in the New Testament, which says that Christ +shall come again in glory and power, and every eye shall see him, and +said, now, if the world is round how are the people on the other side +going to see Christ when he comes? That settled the question, and the +church not only indorsed this book but declared that whoever believed +either less or more was a heretic and would be dealt with as such. +</P> + +<P> +In those blessed days ignorance was a king and science was an outcast. +The church knew that the moment the earth ceased to be the center of +the universe, and became a mere speck in the starry sphere of +existence, every religion would become a thing of the past. In the name +and by the authority of the ghosts, men enslaved their fellowmen; they +trampled upon the rights of women and children. In the name and by the +authority of ghosts, they bought and sold each other. They filled +heaven with tyrants and the earth with slaves. They filled the present +with intolerance and the future with horror. In the name and by the +authority of the ghosts, they declared superstition to be the real +religion. In the name and by the authority of the ghosts, they +imprisoned the human mind; they polluted the conscience, they subverted +justice, and they sainted hypocrisy. I have endeavored in some degree +to show you what has been and always will be when men are governed by +superstition. +</P> + +<P> +When they destroy the sublime standard of reason; when they take the +words of others and do not investigate them themselves, even the great +men of those days appear nearly as weak as the most ignorant. One of +the greatest men of the world, an astronomer second to none, discoverer +of the three great laws that explain the solar system, was an +astrologer and believed that he could predict the career of a man by +finding what star was in the ascendant at his birth. He believed in +what is called the music of the spheres, and he ascribed the qualities +of the music—alto, bass, tenor and treble—to certain of the planets. +Another man kept an idiot, whose words he put down and then put them +together in such a manner as to make promises, and waited patiently to +see that they were fulfilled. Luther believed he had actually seen the +devil and discussed points of theology with him. The human mind was +enchained. Every idea, almost, was a mystery. Facts were looked upon +as worthless; only the wonderful was worth preserving. Devils were +thought to be the most industrious beings in the universe, and with +these imps every occurrence of an unusual character was connected. +There was no order, certainty; everything depended upon ghosts and +phantoms, and man, for the most part, considered himself at the mercy +of malevolent spirits. He protected himself as best he could with holy +water, and with tapers, and wafers, and cathedrals. He made noises to +frighten the ghosts and music to charm them; he fasted when he was +hungry and he feasted when he was not; he believed everything +unreasonable; he humbled himself; he crawled in the dust; he shut the +doors and windows; and excluded every ray of light from his soul; and +he delayed not a day to repair the walls of his own prison; and from +the garden of the human heart they plucked and trampled into the bloody +dust the flowers and blossoms; they denounced man as totally depraved; +they made reason blasphemy; they made pity a crime; nothing so +delighted them as painting the torments and tortures of the damned. +Over the worm that never dies they grew poetic. According to them, the +cries ascending from hell were the perfume of heaven. +</P> + +<P> +They divided the world into saints and sinners, and all the saints were +going to heaven, and all the sinners yonder. Now, then, you stand in +the presence of a great disaster. A house is on fire, and there is +seen at a window the frightened face of a woman with a babe in her +arms, appealing for help; humanity cries out: "Will someone go to the +rescue?" They do not ask for a Methodist, a Baptist, or a Catholic; +they ask for a man; all at once there starts from the crowd one that +nobody ever suspected of being a saint; one may be, with a bad +reputation; but he goes up the ladder and is lost in the smoke and +flame; and a moment after he emerges, and the great circles of flame +hiss around him; in a moment more he has reached the window; in another +moment, with the woman and child in his arms, he reaches the ground and +gives his fainting burden to the bystanders and the people all stand +hushed for a moment, as they always do at such times, and then the air +is rent with acclamations. Tell me that that man is going to be sent +to hell, to eternal flames, who is willing to risk his life rather than +a woman and child should suffer from the fire one moment! I despise +that doctrine of hell! Any man that believes in eternal hell is +afflicted with at least two diseases—petrifaction of the heart and +petrifaction of the brain. +</P> + +<P> +I have seen upon the field of battle a boy sixteen years of age struck +by a fragment of a shell; I have seen him fall; I have seen him die +with a curse upon his lips and the face of his mother in his heart. +Tell me that his soul will be hurled from the field of battle where he +lost his life that his country might live—where he lost his life for +the liberties of man—tell me that he will be hurled from that field to +eternal torment! I pronounce it an infamous lie. And yet, according +to these gentlemen, that is to be the fate of nearly all the splendid +fellows in this world. +</P> + +<P> +I had in my possession a little while ago a piece of fresco that used +to adorn a church at Stratford-on-Avon, the place where Shakespeare +lived, and there was a picture representing the morning of the +resurrection and people were getting out of their graves and devils +were grabbing them by their heels. And there was an immense monster, +with jaws open so wide that a man could walk down its throat, and the +flames were issuing therefrom, and there were devils driving people in +droves down the throat of this monster; and there was an immense kettle +in which they had put these men, and the fire was being stirred under +it, and hot pitch was being poured on top, and little devils were +setting it on fire and then on the walls there were hundreds hung up by +their tongues to hooks and nails; and then the saved—there were some +five or six saved—upon the horizon, and they had a most self-satisfied +grin of "I told you so." +</P> + +<P> +At the risk of being tiresome, I have said that I have to show the +direction of the human mind in slavery, the effects of widespread +ignorance, and the result of fear. I want to convince you that every +form of slavery, physical or mental, is a viper that will finally fill +with poison the breast of any man alive. I want to show you that there +should be republicanism in the domain of thought as well as in civil +government. The first step toward progress is for man to cease to be +the slave of the creatures of his creation. Men found at last that the +event is more valuable than the prophecy, especially if it never comes +to pass. They found that diseases were not produced by spirits; that +they could not be cured by frightening them away. They found that +death was as natural as life. They began to study the anatomy and +chemistry of the human body, and they found that all was natural, and +the conjurer and the sorcerer were dismissed, and the physician and +surgeon were employed. They learned that being born under a star or +planet had nothing to do with their luck; the astrologer was discharged +and the astronomer took his place. They found that the world had swept +through the constellation for millions of ages. They found that +diseases were produced as easily as grass, and were not sent as +punishment on men for failing to believe a creed. They found that man, +through intelligence, could take advantage of the affairs of nature; +that he could make the waves, the winds, the flames, and the lightnings +slaves at his bidding to administer to his wants; they found the ghosts +knew nothing of benefit to man; that they were entirely ignorant of +history; that they were bad doctors and worse surgeons; that they knew +nothing of the law and less of justice that they were poor politicians; +that they were tyrants, and that they were without brains and utterly +destitute of hearts. +</P> + +<P> +The condition of this world during the dark ages shows exactly the +result of enslaving the souls of men. In those days there was no +liberty. Liberty was despised, and the laborer was considered but +little above the beast. Ignorance, like a vast cowl, covered the brain +of the world; superstition ran riot, and credulity sat upon the throne +of the soul. Murder and hypocrisy were the companions of man, and +industry was a slave. Every country maintained that it was no robbery +to take the property of Mohammedans by force, and no murder to kill the +owner. Lord Bacon was the first man who maintained that a Christian +country was bound to keep its plighted faith with a Mohammedan nation. +Every man who could read or write was suspected of being a heretic in +those days. Only one person in 40,000 could read or write. All +thought was discouraged. The whole earth was ruled by the mitre and +sceptre, by the altar and throne, by fear and force, by ignorance and +faith, by ghouls and ghosts. In the 15th century the following law was +in force in England: "Whosoever reads the Scripture in the mother +tongue shall forfeit land, cattle, life and goods, for themselves and +their heirs forever, and should be condemned for heretics to God, +enemies to the crown, and traitors to the land." +</P> + +<P> +During the period this law was in force, thirty-nine were hanged and +their bodies burned. In the 16th century men were burned because they +failed to kneel to a procession of monks. Even the Reformers, so +called, had no idea of liberty only when in the minority; the moment +they were clothed with power, they began to exterminate with fire and +sword. Castillo—and I want you to recollect it—was the first +minister in the world that declared in favor of universal toleration. +Castillo was pursued by John Calvin like a wild beast. Calvin said +that such a monstrous doctrine he crucified Christ afresh, and they +pursued that man until he died; recollect it! They can't do that +now-a-days! You don't know how splendid I feel about the liberty I +have. The horizon is filled with glory and the air is filled with +wings. If there are any in this world who think they had better not +tell what they really think because it will take bread from their +little children, because it will take clothing from their +families—don't do it! don't make martyrs of yourselves! I don't +believe in martyrdom! Go right along with them; go to church and say +amen as near the right place as you can. I will do your talking for +you. They can't take the bread away from me. I will talk. Bodemus, a +lawyer of France, wrote a few words in favor of freedom of conscience. +Montaigne was the first to raise his voice against torture in France; +but what was the voice of one man against the terrible cry of ignorant, +infatuated, malevolent millions! I intend to do what little I can, and +I am going to do it kindly. I am going to appeal to reason and to +charity, to justice, to science, and to the future. For my part, I +glory in the fact that in the New World, in the United States, liberty +of conscience was first granted to man, and that the Constitution of +the United States was the first great decree entered in the high court +of human equity forever divorcing Church and State. It is the grandest +step ever taken by the human race and the Declaration of Independence +was the first document that retired ghosts from politics. It is the +first document that said authority does not come from the phantoms of +the air; authority is not from that direction; it comes from the people +themselves. The Declaration of Independence enthroned man and +dethroned the phantoms. You will ask what has caused this change in +three hundred years. I answer, the inventions and discoveries of the +few; the brave thoughts and heroic utterances of the few; the +acquisition of a few facts; getting acquainted with our mother, Nature. +Besides this, you must remember that every wrong in some way, tends to +abolish itself. It is hard to make a lie last always. A lie will not +fit the truth; it will only fit another lie told on purpose to fit it. +Nothing but truth lives. +</P> + +<P> +The nobles and the kings quarreled; the priests began to dispute, and +the millions began to get their rights. In 1441 printing was +discovered. At that time the past was a vast cemetery, without an +epitaph. The ideas of men had mostly perished in the brains that had +produced them. Printing gives an opening for thought; it preserves +ideas; it made it possible for a man to bequeath to the world the +wealth of his thoughts. About the same time, or a little before, the +Moors had gone into Europe, and it can be truthfully said that science +was thrust into the brain of Europe upon the point of a Moorish lance. +They gave us paper, and what is printing without paper? +</P> + +<P> +A bird without wings. I tell you paper has been a splendid thing. +</P> + +<P> +The discovery of America, whose shores were trod by the restless feet +of adventure and the people of every nation—out of this strange +mingling of facts and fancies came the great Republic. Every fact has +pushed a superstition from the brain and a ghost from the cloud. Every +mechanical art is an educator; every loom, every reaper, every mower, +every steamboat, every locomotive, every engine, every press, every +telegraph is a missionary of science and an apostle of progress; every +mill, every furnace with its wheels and levers, in which something is +made for the convenience, for the use and the comfort and the +well-being of man, is my kind of church, and every schoolhouse is a +temple. Education is the most radical thing in this world. To teach +the alphabet is to inaugurate a revolution; to build a schoolhouse is +to construct a fort; every library is an arsenal filled with the +weapons and ammunition of progress; every fact is a monitor with sides +of iron and a turret of steel. I thank the inventors and discoverers. +I thank Columbus and Magellan. I thank Locke and Hume, Bacon and +Shakespeare. I thank Fulton and Watt, Franklin and Morse, who made +lightning the messenger of man. I thank Luther for protesting against +the abuses of the Church, but denounce him because he was an enemy of +liberty. I thank Calvin for writing a book in favor of religious +freedom, but I abhor him because he burned Servetus. I thank the +Puritans for saying that resistance to tyrants is obedience to God, and +yet I am compelled to admit that they were tyrants themselves. I thank +Thomas Paine because he was a believer in liberty. I thank Voltaire, +that great man who for half a century was the intellectual monarch of +Europe, and who, from his throne at the foot of the Alps, pointed the +finger of scorn at every hypocrite in Christendom. I thank the +inventors, I thank the discoverers, the thinkers and the scientists, +and I thank the honest millions who have toiled. I thank the brave men +with brave thoughts. They are the Atlases upon whose broad and mighty +shoulders rests the grand fabric of civilization; they are the men who +have broken, and are still breaking, the chains of superstition. +</P> + +<P> +We are beginning to learn that to swap off a superstition for a fact, +to ascertain the real, is to progress. All that gives us better bodies +and minds and clothes and food and pictures, grander music, better +heads, better hearts, and that makes us better husbands and wives and +better citizens, all these things combined produce what we call the +progress of the human race. Man advances only as he overcomes the +obstacles of nature. It is done by labor and thought. Labor is the +foundation. Without great labor it is impossible to progress. Without +labor on the part of those who conduct all great industries of life, of +those who battle with the obstacles of the sea, on the part of the +inventors, the discoverers, and the brave, heroic thinkers, no surplus +is produced; and from the surplus produced by labor, spring the schools +and universities, the painters, the sculptors, the poets, the hopes, +the loves and the aspirations of the world. +</P> + +<P> +The surplus has given us the books. It has given us all there is of +beauty and eloquence. I am aware there is a vast difference of opinion +as to what progress is, and that many denounce my ideas. I know there +are many worshipers of the past. They see no beauty in anything from +which they do not blow the dust of ages with the breath of praise. +They see nothing like the ancients; no orators, poets or statesmen like +those who have been dust for thousands of years. +</P> + +<P> +In a sermon on a certain evening, some time ago, the Rev. Dr. Magee of +Albany, N. Y., stated that Colonel Ingersoll, referring to Jesus +Christ, called him a "dirty little Jew." I denounce that as a dirty +little lie. +</P> + +<P> +I have as much reverence for any man who ever did what he believed was +right, and died in order to benefit mankind, as any man in this world. +Do they treat an opponent with fairness? Are they investigating? Do +they pull forward or do they hold back? Is science indebted to the +Church for a single fact? Let us know what it is. What church has +been the asylum for a persecuted truth? What reform has been +inaugurated by the Church? Did the Church abolish slavery? No. Who +commenced it? Such men as Garrison and Pillsbury and Wendel Phillips. +They were the titans that attacked the monster, and not a solitary one +of them ever belonged to a church. Has the Church raised its voice +against war? No. Are men restrained by superstition? Are men +restrained by what you call religion? I used to think they were not; +now I admit they are. No man has ever been restrained from the +commission of a real crime, but from an artificial one he has. There +was a man who committed murder. They got the evidence, but he +confessed that he did it. "What did you do it for?" "Money." "Did +you get any money?" "Yes." "How much?" "Fifteen cents." "What kind +of a man was he?" "A laboring man I killed." "What did you do with +the money?" "I bought liquor with it." "Did he have anything else?" +"I think he had some meat and bread." "What did you do with that?" "I +ate the bread and threw away the meat; it was Friday." So you see it +will restrain in some things. +</P> + +<P> +Just to the extent that man has freed himself from the dominion of +ghosts he has advanced; to that extent he has freed himself from the +tyrant's poison. Man has found that he must give liberty to others in +order to have it himself. He has found that a master is a slave; that +a tyrant is also a slave. He has found that governments should be +administered by men for men; that the rights of all are to be +protected; that woman is at least the equal for man; that men existed +before books; that all creeds were made by men; that the few have a +right to contradict what the pulpit asserts; that man is responsible to +himself and to others. True religion must be free; without liberty the +brain is a dungeon and the mind the convict. The slave may bow and +cringe and crawl, but he cannot worship, he cannot adore. True +religion is the perfume of the free and grateful air. True religion is +the subordination of the passions to the intellect. It is not a creed; +it is a life. The theory that is afraid of investigation is not +deserving of a place in the human mind. +</P> + +<P> +I do not pretend to tell what all the truth is. I do not pretend to +have fathomed the abyss, nor to have floated on outstretched wings +level with the heights of thought. I simply plead for freedom. I +denounce the cruelties and horrors of slavery. I ask for light and air +for the souls of men. I say, take off those chains—break those +manacles—free those limbs—release that brain. I plead for the right +to think—to reason—to investigate. I ask that the future may be +enriched with the honest thoughts of men. I implore every human being +to be a soldier in the army of progress. I will not invade the rights +of others. You have no right to erect your toll-gates upon the +highways of thought. You have no right to leap from the hedges of +superstition and strike down the pioneers of the human race. You have +no right to sacrifice the liberties of man upon the altars of ghosts. +Believe what you may; preach what you desire; have all the forms and +ceremonies you please; exercise your liberties in your own way, and +extend to all others the same right. +</P> + +<P> +I attack the monsters, the phantoms of imagination that have ruled the +world. I attack slavery. I ask for room—room for the human mind. +</P> + +<P> +Why should we sacrifice a real world that we have for one we know not +of? Why should we enslave ourselves? Why should we forge fetters for +our own hands? Why should we be the slaves of phantoms—phantoms that +we create ourselves? The darkness of barbarism was the womb of these +shadows. In the light of science they cannot cloud the sky forever. +They have reddened the hands of man with innocent blood. They made the +cradle a curse, and the grave a place of torment. +</P> + +<P> +They blinded the eyes and stopped the ears of the human race. They +subverted all the ideas of justice by promising infinite rewards for +finite virtues, and threatening infinite punishment for finite offenses. +</P> + +<P> +I plead for light, for air, for opportunity. I plead for individual +independence. I plead for the rights of labor and of thought. I plead +for a chainless future. Let the ghosts go—justice remains. Let them +disappear—men, women and children are left. Let the monster fade +away—the world remains, with its hills and seas and plains, with its +seasons of smiles and frowns, its Springs of leaf and bud, its Summer +of shade and flower, its Autumn with the laden boughs, when +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + The withered banners of the corn are still,<BR> + And gathered fields are growing strangely wan,<BR> + While Death, poetic Death, with hands that color<BR> + Whate'er they touch, weaves in the Autumn wood<BR> + Her tapestries of gold and brown.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +The world remains, with its Winters and homes and firesides, where grow +and bloom the virtues of our race. All these are left; and music, with +its sad and thrilling voice, and all there is of art and song and hope, +and love and aspiration high. All these remain. Let the ghosts go—we +will worship them no more. +</P> + +<P> +Man is greater than these phantoms. Humanity is grander than all the +creeds, than all the books. Humanity is the great sea, and these +creeds and books and religions are but the waves of a day. Humanity is +the sky, and these religions and dogmas and theories are but the mists +and clouds, changing continually, destined finally to melt away. +</P> + +<P> +Let the ghosts go. We will worship them no more. Let them cover their +eyeless sockets with their fleshless hands, and fade forever from the +imaginations of men. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="hell"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S LECTURE ON HELL +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ladies and Gentlemen: The idea of a hell was born of revenge and +brutality on the one side, and cowardice on the other. In my judgment +the American people are too brave, too charitable, too generous, too +magnanimous to believe in the infamous dogma of an eternal hell. I have +no respect for any human being who believes in it. I have no respect +for the man who will pollute the imagination of childhood with that +infamous lie. I have no respect for the man who will add to the sorrows +of this world with the frightful dogma. I have no respect for any man +who endeavors to put that infinite cloud, that infinite shadow, over +the heart of humanity. I want to be frank with you. I dislike this +doctrine, I hate it, I despise it; I defy this doctrine. For a good +many years the learned intellects of christendom have been examining +into the religions of other countries in the world, the religions of +the thousands that have passed away. They examined into the religions +of Egypt, the religion of Greece, the religion of Rome and of the +Scandinavian countries. In the presence of the ruins of those religions +the learned men of christendom insisted that those religions were +baseless, that they are fraudulent. But they have all passed away. +While this was being done the christianity of our day applauded, and +when the learned men got through with the religions of other countries +they turned their attention to our religion. By the same mode of +reasoning, by the same methods, by the same arguments that they used +with the old religions, they were overturning the religion of our day. +Why? Every religion in this world is the work of man. Every one! Every +book has been written by man. Men existed before the books. If books +had existed before man, I might admit there was such a thing as a +sacred volume. +</P> + +<P> +In my judgment man has made every religion and made every book. There +is another thing to which I wish to call your attention. Man never had +an idea; man will never have an idea, except those supplied to him by +his surroundings. Every idea in the world that man has, came to him by +nature. Man cannot conceive of anything the hint of which you have not +received from your surroundings. You can imagine an animal with the +hoof of a bison, with the pouch of the kangaroo, with the wings of an +eagle, with the beak of a bird, and with the tail of the lion; and yet +every point of this monster you borrowed from nature. Every thing you +can think of—every thing you can dream of, is borrowed from your +surroundings—everything. And there is nothing on this earth coming +from any other sphere whatever. Man has produced every religion in the +world. And why? Because each generation bodes forth the knowledge and +the belief of the people at the time it was made, and in no book is +there any knowledge found, except that of the people who wrote it. In +no book is there found any knowledge, except that of the time in which +it was written. Barbarians have produced, and always will produce +barbarian religions. Barbarians have produced, and always will produce +ideas in harmony with their surroundings, and all the religions of the +past were produced by barbarians—every one of them. We are making +religions today. We are making religions to-night. That is to say, we +are changing them, and the religion of to-day is not the religion of +one year ago. What changed it? Science has done it; education and the +growing heart of man has done it. We are making these religions every +day, and just to the extent that we become civilized ourselves will we +improve the religion of our fathers. If the religion of one hundred +years ago, compared with the religion of to-day is so low, what will it +be in one thousand years? +</P> + +<P> +If we continue making the inroads upon orthodoxy which we have been +making during the last twenty-five years, what will it be fifty years +from to-night? It will have to be remonetized by that time, or else it +will not be legal tender. In my judgment, every religion that stands by +appealing to miracles is dishonor. [sic] Every religion in the world +has denounced every other religion as a fraud. That proves to me that +they all tell the truth—about others. Why? Suppose Mr. Smith should +tell Mr. Brown that he—Smith—saw a corpse get out of the grave, and +that when he first saw it, it was covered with the worm's of death, and +that in his presence it was reclothed in healthy, beautiful flesh. And +then suppose Mr. Brown should tell Mr. Smith, "I saw the same thing +myself. I was in a graveyard once, and I saw a dead man rise." Suppose +then that Smith should say to Brown, "You're a liar," and Brown should +reply to Smith, "And you're a liar," what would you think? It would +simply be because Smith, never having seen it himself, didn't believe +Brown; and Brown, never having seen it, didn't believe Smith had. Now, +if Smith had really seen it, and Brown told him he had seen it too, +then Smith would regard it as a corroboration of his story, and he +would regard Brown as one of his principal witnesses. But, on the +contrary, he says, "You never saw it." So, when man says, "I was upon +Mount Sinai, and there I met God, and he told me, 'Stand aside and let +me drown these people';" and another man says to him, "I was upon a +mountain, and there I met the Supreme Brahma," and Moses says, "That's +not true," and contends that the other man never did see Brahma, and he +contends that Moses never did see God, that is in my judgment proof +that they both speak truly. +</P> + +<P> +Every religion, then, has charged every other religion with having been +an unmitigated fraud; and yet, if any man had ever seen the miracle +himself, his mind would be prepared to believe that another man had +seen the same thing. Whenever a man appeals to a miracle he tells what +is not true. Truth relies upon reason, and the undeviating course of +all the laws of nature. +</P> + +<P> +Now, we have a religion—that is, some people have. I do not pretend to +have religion myself. I believe in living for this world—that's my +doctrine—in living here, now, to-day, to-night—that's my doctrine, to +make everybody happy that you can. Now, let the future take care of +itself and if I ever touch the shores of another world I will be just +as ready and anxious to get into some remunerative employment as +anybody else. Now, we have got in this country a religion which men +have preached for about eighteen hundred years, and just in proportion +as their belief in that religion has grown great, men have grown mean +and wicked; just in proportion as they have ceased to believe it, men +have become just and charitable. And if they believe it to-night as +they once believed it, I wouldn't be allowed to speak in the city of +New York. It is from the coldness and infidelity of the churches that I +get my right to preach; and I say it to their credit. Now we have a +religion. What is it? They say in the first place that all this vast +universe was created by a deity. I don't know whether it was or not. +They say, too, that had it not been for the first sin of Adam there +would never have been any devil in this world, and if there had been no +devil there would have been no sin, and if there had been no sin there +never would have been any death. For my part I am glad there was +Somebody had to die to give me room, and when my turn comes I'll be +willing to let somebody else take my place. But whether there is +another life or not, if there is any being who gave me this, I shall +thank him from the bottom of my heart, because, upon the whole, my life +has been a joy. Now they say, because of this first sin all men were +consigned to eternal hell. And this because Adam was our +representative. Well, I always had an idea that my representative ought +to live somewhere about the same time I do. I always had an idea that I +should have some voice in choosing my representative. And if I had a +voice I never should have voted for the old gentleman called Adam. Now +in order to regain man from the frightful hell of eternity, Christ +himself came to this world and took upon himself flesh, and in order +that we might know the road to eternal salvation he gave us a book, and +that book is called the Bible, and whenever that Bible has been read +men have immediately commenced cutting each others' throats. Wherever +that Bible has been circulated, they have invented inquisitions and +instruments of torture, and they commenced hating each other with all +their hearts. But I am told now, we are all told that this Bible is the +foundation of civilization, but I say that this Bible is the foundation +of Hell, and we never shall get rid of the dogma of hell until we get +rid of the idea that it is an inspired book. Now, what does the Bible +teach? I am not going to talk about what this minister or that minister +says it teaches; the question is "ought a man to be sent to eternal +hell for not believing this Bible to be the work of a Merciful Father?" +and the only way to find out is to read it; and a very few people do +read it now. I will read a few passages. This is the book to be read in +the schools, in order to make our children charitable and good; this is +the book that we must read in order that our children may have ideas of +mercy, charity and justice. Does the Bible teach mercy? Now be honest, +I read: "I will make mine arrows drunk with blood; and the sword shall +devour flesh." (Deut. xxxii, 42.) Pretty good start for a merciful God! +"That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies and the +tongue of thy dogs in the same." (Ps. lxviii, 23.) Again: "And the Lord +thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little; +thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field +increase upon thee." (Deut. vii, 22.) +</P> + +<P> +"But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy +them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed. +</P> + +<P> +"And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt +destroy their name from under heaven; there shall no man be able to +stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them." (Deut. vii, 23, 24.) +</P> + +<P> +"So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by +waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them. +</P> + +<P> +"And the lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, +and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothimaim, and unto +the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left +them none remaining. +</P> + +<P> +"And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him; he houghed their +horses, and burnt their chariots with fire. +</P> + +<P> +"And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the +king thereof with the sword; for Hazor beforetime was the head of all +those kingdoms. +</P> + +<P> +"And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the +sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe; and +he burnt Hazor with fire. +</P> + +<P> +"And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did +Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and he utterly +destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. +</P> + +<P> +"But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burnt +none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn. +</P> + +<P> +"And all the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the children of +Israel took for a prey unto themselves, but every man they smote with +the edge of the sword [Brave!] until they had destroyed them, neither +left they any to breathe. [As the moral god had commanded them.] +</P> + +<P> +"As the Lord commanded Moses, his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, +and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord +commanded Moses. +</P> + +<P> +"So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, +and all the land of Goshen, and the valley of the same. +</P> + +<P> +"Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; even unto Baalgad in +the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon; and all their kings he took, +and smote them, and slew them. +</P> + +<P> +"Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. +</P> + +<P> +"There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save +the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gideon; all other they took in battle. +</P> + +<P> +"For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come +against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that +they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as the Lord +commanded Moses. +</P> + +<P> +"And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the +mountains, from Hebron, for Debit, from Anab, and from all the +mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua +destroyed them utterly with their cities. +</P> + +<P> +"There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of +Israel, only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod there remained. +</P> + +<P> +"So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said +unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according +to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war." +(Josh. xi, 7 to 23.) +</P> + +<P> +"When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim +peace unto it. +</P> + +<P> +"And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, +then it shall be that all the people that is found therein shall be +tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. +</P> + +<P> +"And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against +thee, then thou shalt besiege it. +</P> + +<P> +"And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou +shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. +</P> + +<P> +"But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in +the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and +thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath +given thee. +</P> + +<P> +"Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from +thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. +</P> + +<P> +"But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give +thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: +</P> + +<P> +"But thou shalt utterly destroy them." (Deut. xx, 10-17.) +</P> + +<P> +Neither the old men nor the women, nor the maidens, nor the +sweet-dimpled babe, smiling upon the lap of his mother, were to be +spared. +</P> + +<P> +"And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel [a merciful +god indeed]. Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out +from gate to gate through-out the camp, and slay every man his +brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor." +(Exod. xxxii, 27.) +</P> + +<P> +Now recollect, these instructions were given to an army of invasion, +and the people who were slayed were guilty of the crime of fighting for +their homes. Oh, most merciful God! The old testament is full of +curses, vengeance, jealousy and hatred, and of barbarity and brutality. +Now do you not for one moment believe that these words were written by +the most merciful God. Don't pluck from the heart the sweet flowers of +piety and crush them by superstition. Do not believe that God ever +ordered the murder of innocent women and helpless babes. Do not let +this supposition turn your hearts into stone. When anything is said to +have been written by the most merciful God, and the thing is not +merciful, then I deny it, and say he never wrote it. I will live by the +standard of reason, and if thinking in accordance with reason takes me +to perdition, then I will go to hell with my reason rather that to +heaven without it. +</P> + +<P> +Now does this bible teach political freedom, or does it teach political +tyranny? Does it teach a man to resist oppression? Does it teach a man +to tear from the throne of tyranny the crowned thing and robber called +a king? Let us see [Reading:] +</P> + +<P> +"Let every soul be subject to the higher powers: For there is no power +but of God, the powers that are ordained of God." (Rom. xii, 1.) +</P> + +<P> +All the kings, and princes, and governors, and thieves and robbers +that happened to be in authority were placed there by the infinite +father of all! +</P> + +<P> +"Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of +God." +</P> + +<P> +And when George Washington resisted the power of George the Third he +resisted the power of God. And when our fathers said, "Resistance to +tyrants is obedience to God," they falsified the bible itself. +</P> + +<P> +"For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that +which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he +is the minister of God, revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth +evil. +</P> + +<P> +"Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath, but also for +conscience sake." (Rom. xiii, 4, 5.) +</P> + +<P> +I deny this wretched doctrine. Wherever the sword of rebellion is drawn +to protect the rights of man, I am a rebel. Wherever the sword of +rebellion is drawn to give man liberty, to clothe him in all his just +rights, I am on the side of that rebellion. I deny that the rulers are +crowned by the Most High; the rulers are the people, and the presidents +and others are but the servants of the people. All authority comes from +the people, and not from the aristocracy of the air. Upon these texts +of scripture which I have just read rest the thrones of Europe, and +these are the voices that are repeated from age to age by brainless +kings and heartless kings. +</P> + +<P> +Does the bible give woman her rights? Is this bible humane? Does it +treat woman as she ought to be treated, or is it barbarian? Let us see. +</P> + +<P> +"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection." (1 Timothy ii, +11.) +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +If a woman would know anything let her ask her husband. Imagine the +ignorance of a lady who had only that source of information! +</P> + +<P> +"But I suffer not a woman to teach, not to usurp authority over the +man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. [What +magnificent reason!]" +</P> + +<P> +"And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, was in the +transgression." [Splendid!] +</P> + +<P> +"But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ; and +the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." That +is to say, there is as much difference between the woman and man as +there is between Christ and man. This is the liberty of woman. +</P> + +<P> +"For the man is not of the woman, but the woman is of the man." It was +the man's cut till that was taken, not the woman's. "Neither was the +man created for the woman." Well, what was he created for? "But the +woman was created for the man. Wives, submit yourselves unto your +husbands, as unto the Lord." There's Liberty! +</P> + +<P> +"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of +the church; and he is the savior of the body. +</P> + +<P> +"Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ so let the wives be to +their own husbands in everything." +</P> + +<P> +Good again! Even the savior didn't put man and woman upon an equality. +The man could divorce the wife, but the wife could not divorce the +husband, and according to the old testament, the mother had to ask for +forgiveness for being the mother of babes. Splendid! +</P> + +<P> +Here is something from the old testament: "When thou goest forth to war +against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into +thine hands, and thou has taken them captive. +</P> + +<P> +"And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and has a desire unto +her, that thou wouldst have her to thy wife. +</P> + +<P> +"Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her +head, and pare her nails." (Deut. xxi, 10-12.) +</P> + +<P> +That is in self-defense, I suppose! +</P> + +<P> +This sacred book, this foundation of human liberty, of morality, does +it teach concubinage and polygamy? Read the thirty-first chapter of +Numbers, read the twenty-first chapter of Deuteronomy, read the +blessed lives of Abraham, of David or of Solomon, and then tell me that +the sacred scripture does not teach polygamy and concubinage! All the +language of the world is not sufficient to express the infamy of +polygamy; it makes man a beast and woman a stone. It destroys the +fireside and makes virtue an outcast. And yet it is the doctrine of the +bible—the doctrine defended by Luther and Melanchthon! It takes from +our language those sweetest words, father, husband, wife, and mother, +and takes us back to barbarism, and fills our hearts with the crawling, +slimy serpents of loathsome lust. +</P> + +<P> +Does the bible teach the existence of devils? Of course it does. Yes, +it teaches not only the existence of a good being, but a bad being. +This good being had to have a home; that home was heaven. This bad +being had to have a home; and that home was hell. This hell is supposed +to be nearer to earth than I would care to have it, and to be peopled +with spirits, spooks, hobgoblins, and all the fiery shapes with which +the imagination of ignorance and fear could people that horrible place; +and the bible teaches the existence of hell and this big devil and all +these little devils. The bible teaches the doctrine of witchcraft and +makes us believe that there are sorcerers and witches, and that the +dead could be raised by the power of sorcery. Does anybody believe it +now? +</P> + +<P> +"Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a +familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his +servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar +spirit at Endor. +</P> + +<P> +"And Saul disguised himself and put on other raiment, and he went, and +two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, I +pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up +whom I shall name unto thee. [That was a pretty good spiritual seance.] +</P> + +<P> +"And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, +how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, +out of the land; wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life to +cause me to die? +</P> + +<P> +"And Saul sware to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth there +shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. +</P> + +<P> +"Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, +Bring me up Samuel. +</P> + +<P> +"And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the +woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art +Saul. +</P> + +<P> +"And the king said unto her, Be not afraid; for what sawest thou? And +the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. +</P> + +<P> +"And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man +cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it +was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed +himself." (1 Saml. xxviii, 7-14.) +</P> + +<P> +In another place he declares that witchcraft is an abomination unto the +Lord. He wanted no rivals in this business. Now what does the new +testament teach? +</P> + +<P> +"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be +tempted of the devil. +</P> + +<P> +"And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward +an hungered. [sic] +</P> + +<P> +"And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, +command that these stones be made bread. +</P> + +<P> +"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread +alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. +</P> + +<P> +"Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a +pinnacle of the temple, +</P> + +<P> +"And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, Hell cast thyself down, +for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and +in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy +foot against a stone. +</P> + +<P> +"Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the +Lord thy God." (Matt. iv, 1 7.) +</P> + +<P> +Is it possible that anyone can believe that the devil absolutely took +God almighty, and put him on the pinnacle of the temple, and endeavored +to persuade him to jump down? Is it possible? +</P> + +<P> +"Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and +showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; +</P> + +<P> +"And Saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou will +fall down and worship me. +</P> + +<P> +"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, +Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." +(Matt. iv, 8-10.) +</P> + +<P> +Now, the devil must have known at that time that he was God, and God +at that time must have known that the other was the devil. How could +the latter be conceived to have the impudence to promise God a world in +which he did not have a tax-title to an inch of land? +</P> + +<P> +"Then the devil leaveth him; and, behold, angels came and ministered +unto him." (Matt. iv, 11.) +</P> + +<P> +"And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of +the Gadarines. +</P> + +<P> +"And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of +the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, +</P> + +<P> +"Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, +not with chains, +</P> + +<P> +"Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the +chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in +pieces; neither could any man tame him, +</P> + +<P> +"And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and tombs, crying +and cutting himself with stones. +</P> + +<P> +"But when he saw Jesus afar off, he came and worshiped him. +</P> + +<P> +"And cried with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with thee, +Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by God, that thou +torment me not. +</P> + +<P> +"(For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.) +</P> + +<P> +"And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered saying, My name is +Legion: for we are many. +</P> + +<P> +"And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the +country. +</P> + +<P> +"Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine +feeding. +</P> + +<P> +"And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine that +we may enter into them. +</P> + +<P> +"And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, +and entered into the swine; and the herd ran violently down a steep +place into the sea (they were about two thousand), and were choked in +the sea." (Mark v, 1-13.) +</P> + +<P> +Now I will ask a question: Should reasonable men, in the nineteenth +century in the United States of America, believe that that was an +actual occurrence? If my salvation depends upon believing that, I am +lost. I have never experienced the signs by which it is said a believer +may be known. I deny all the witch stories in this world. These fables +of devils have covered the world with blood; they have filled the world +with fear, and I am going to do what I can to free the world of these +insatiate monsters, small and great; they have filled the world with +monsters, they have made the world a synonym of liar and ferocity. And +it is this book that ought to be read in all the schools—this book +that teaches man to enslave his brother! If it is larceny to steal the +result of labor, how much more is it larceny to steal the laborer +himself? +</P> + +<P> +"Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among +you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, +which they begat in your land; and they shall be your possession. +</P> + +<P> +"And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, +to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen forever; +but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one +over another with rigor." (Lev. xxv, 45, 46.) +</P> + +<P> +Why? Because they are not as good as you will buy of the heathen +roundabout. +</P> + +<P> +Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. +</P> + +<P> +"If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the +seventh he shall go out free for nothing. +</P> + +<P> +"If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he were +married, then his wife shall go out with him. +</P> + +<P> +"If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or +daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he +shall go out by himself. +</P> + +<P> +"And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and +my children; I will not go out free. +</P> + +<P> +"Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring +him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his +ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever." (Exod. xxi, +1-6.) +</P> + +<P> +This is the doctrine which has ever lent itself to the chains of +slavery, and makes a man imprison himself rather than desert his wife +and children. I hate it. +</P> + +<P> +Now, listen to the new testament, the tidings of great joy for all +people! +</P> + +<P> +"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the +flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto +Christ. +</P> + +<P> +"Not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, +doing the will of God from the heart." (Eph. vi, 5, 6.) trembling, in +singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. +</P> + +<P> +"Not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, +doing the will of God from the heart." (Eph. vi, 5,6.) Splendid +doctrine. +</P> + +<P> +"Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the +good and gentle, but also to the froward. +</P> + +<P> +"For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure +grief, suffering wrongfully." (1 Peter ii, 18, 19.) +</P> + +<P> +"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh." +</P> + +<P> +He was afraid they might not work all the time, so he adds: +</P> + +<P> +"Not with the eye-service, as men pleasers, but in the singleness of +heart fearing God." +</P> + +<P> +Read the twenty-first chapter of Exodus, 7 to 11. +</P> + +<P> +"And if a man sell his daughter to be a maid servant, she shall not go +out as the men-servants do. +</P> + +<P> +"If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then +shall he let her be redeemed; to sell her unto a strange nation he +shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. And if +he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the +manner of daughters. +</P> + +<P> +"If he take him another wife, her food, her raiment and her duty of +marriage shall he not diminish. +</P> + +<P> +"And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free +without money." +</P> + +<P> +"Servants, be obedient to your masters," is the salutation of the most +merciful God to one who works for nothing and who receives upon his +naked back the lash, as legal tender for service performed. +</P> + +<P> +"Servants, be obedient to your masters," is the salutation of the most +merciful God to the slave-mother bending over her infant's grave. +</P> + +<P> +"Servants, be obedient to your masters," is the salutation to a man +endeavoring to escape pursuit, followed by savage blood-hounds, and +with his eye fixed upon the northern star. This book ought to be read +in the schools, so that our children will love liberty. +</P> + +<P> +What does this same book say of the rights of little children? Let us +see how they are treated by the "most merciful God." +</P> + +<P> +"If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the +voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that when they +have chastened him, will not hearken unto them. +</P> + +<P> +"Then shall his father and his mother lay hold of him, and bring him +out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place. +</P> + +<P> +"And they shall say unto the elders of his city, this our son is +stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice, he is a glutton, +and a drunkard. +</P> + +<P> +"And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die; +so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear +and fear." (Deut. xxi, 18-21.) +</P> + +<P> +Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, and he +intended to obey. The boy was not consulted. +</P> + +<P> +Did you ever hear the story of Jephthah's daughter? Returning him +Jephthah said: +</P> + +<P> +"And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, if thou shalt +without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, +</P> + +<P> +"Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my +house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon +shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. +</P> + +<P> +"So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against +them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands. +</P> + +<P> +"And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even +twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards with a very great +slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children +of Israel. +</P> + +<P> +"And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter +came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his +only child: besides her he had neither son nor daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"And it came to pass when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and +said, Alas, my daughter! thou has brought me very low, and thou art one +of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and +I cannot go back. +</P> + +<P> +"And she said unto him, My father, if thou has opened thy mouth unto +the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy +mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine +enemies, even to the children of Ammon. +</P> + +<P> +"And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me +alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and +bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. +</P> + +<P> +"And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months, and she went +with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. +</P> + +<P> +"And it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned unto +her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed." +</P> + +<P> +Is there in the history of the world a sadder story than this? Can a +god who would accept such a sacrifice be worthy of the worship of +civilized men? I believe in the rights of children. I plead for the +republic of home, for the democracy of the fireside, and for this I am +called a heathen and a devil by those who believe in the cheerful and +comforting doctrine of eternal damnation. +</P> + +<P> +Read the book of Job; read that God met the devil and asked him where +he had been, and he said, "Walking up and down the country;" and the +Lord said to him, "Have you noticed my man Job over here, how good he +is?" And the devil said, "Of course he's good, you give him everything +he wants. Just take away his property and he'll curse you. You just try +it." And he did try it, and took away his goods, but Job still remained +good. The devil laughed and said that he had not been tried enough. +Then the Lord touched his flesh, but he was still true. Then he took +away his children, but he remained faithful, and in the end, to show +how much Job made by his fidelity, his property was all doubled, and he +had more children than ever. If you have a child, and you love it, +would you be satisfied with a god who would destroy it, and endeavor to +make it up by giving you another that was better looking? No, you want +that one; you want no other, and yet this is the idea of the love of +children taught in the bible. +</P> + +<P> +Does the bible teach you freedom of religion? To day we say that every +man has a right to worship God or not, to worship him as he pleases. Is +it the doctrine of the bible? Let us see. +</P> + +<P> +"If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, +or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, +entice thee secretly, saying. Let us go and serve other gods, which +thou has not known, thou, nor thy fathers; +</P> + +<P> +"Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto +thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the +other end of the earth; +</P> + +<P> +"Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall +thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou +conceal him; +</P> + +<P> +"But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to +put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. +</P> + +<P> +"And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he has +sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee +out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." (Deut. xiii, +6-10.) +</P> + +<P> +And do you know, according to that, if your wife—your wife that you +love as your own soul—if you had lived in Palestine, and your wife had +said to you, "Let us worship a sun whose golden beams clothe the world +in glory; let us worship the sun, let us bow to that great luminary; I +love the sun because it gave me your face; because it gave me the +features of my babe; let us worship the sun," it was then your duty to +lay your hands upon her, your eye must not pity her, but it was your +duty to cast the first stone against that tender and loving breast! I +hate such doctrine! I hate such books! I hate gods that will write such +books! I tell you that it is infamous! +</P> + +<P> +"If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord +thy God giveth thee, man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the +sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, +</P> + +<P> +"And hath gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, either the +sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; +</P> + +<P> +"And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired +diligently, and behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such +abomination is wrought in Israel; +</P> + +<P> +"Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have +committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates even that man or that +woman, and shalt stone them with stones till they die." (Deut. xvii, +2-5.) +</P> + +<P> +That is the religious liberty of the bible—that's it. And this god +taught that doctrine to the Jews, and said to them, "Any one that +teaches a different religion, kill him!" Now, let me ask, and I want to +do it reverently, if, as is contended, God gave these frightful laws to +the flesh, and come among the Jews, and taught a different religion, +and these Jews, in accordance with the laws which this same God gave +them, crucified him, did he not reap what he had sown? The mercy of all +this comes in what is called "the plan of salvation." What is that +plan? According to this great plan, the innocent suffer for the guilty +to satisfy a law. +</P> + +<P> +What sort of a law must it be that would be satisfied with the +suffering of innocence? According to this plan, the salvation of the +whole world depends upon the bigotry of the Jews and the treachery of +Judas. According to the same plan, we all would have gone to eternal +hell. According to the same plan, there would have been no death in the +world if there had been no sin, and if there had been no death you and +I would not have been called into existence, and if we did not exist we +could not have been saved, so we owe our salvation to the bigotry of +the Jews and the treachery of Judas, and we are indebted to the devil +for our existence. I speak this reverently. It strikes me that what +they call the atonement is a kind of moral bankruptcy. Under its +merciful provisions man is allowed the privilege of sinning credit, and +whenever he is guilty of a mean action he says, "Charge it." In my +judgment, this kind of bookkeeping breeds extravagance in sin. Suppose +we had a law in New York that every merchant should give credit to +every man who asked it, under pain and penitentiary, and that every man +should take the benefit of the bankruptcy statute any Saturday night? +Doesn't the credit system in morals breed extravagance in sin? That's +the question. Who's afraid of punishment which is so far away? Whom +does the doctrine of hell stop? The great, the rich, the powerful? No; +the poor, the weak, the despised, the mean. Did you ever hear of a man +going to hell who died in New York worth a million of dollars, or with +an income of twenty-five thousand a year? Did you? Did you ever hear of +a man going to hell who rode in a carriage? Never. They are the +gentlemen who talk about their assets, and who say: "Hell is not for +me; it is for the poor. I have all the luxuries I want, give that to +the poor." Who goes to hell? Tramps! +</P> + +<P> +Let me tell you a story. There was once a frightful rain, and all the +animals held a convention, to see whose fault it was, and the fox +nominated the lion for chairman. The wolf seconded the motion, and the +hyena said "that suits." When the convention was called to order the +fox was called upon to confess his sins. He stated, however, that it +would be much more appropriate for the lion to commence first. +Thereupon the lion said: "I am not conscious of having committed evil. +It is true I have devoured a few men, but for what other purpose were +men made?" And they all cheered, and were satisfied. The fox gave his +views upon the goose question, and the wolf admitted that he had +devoured sheep, and occasionally had killed a shepherd, "but all +acquainted with the history of my family will bear me out when I say +that shepherds have been the enemies of my family from the beginning of +the world." Then way in the rear there arose a simple donkey, with a +kind of Abrahamic countenance. He said: "I expect it's me. I had eaten +nothing for three days except three thistles. I was passing a +monastery, the monks were at mass. The gates were open leading to a +yard full of sweet clover. I knew it was wrong but I did slip in and I +took a mouthful, but my conscience smote me and I went out;" and all +the animals shouted, "He's the fellow!" and in two minutes they had his +hide on the fence. That's the kind of people that go to hell. +</P> + +<P> +Now this doctrine of hell, that has been such a comfort to my race, +which so many ministers are pleading for, has been defended for ages by +the fathers of the church. Your preacher says that the sovereignty of +God implies that He has an absolute, unlimited and independent right to +dispose of His creatures as He will, because He made them. Has He? +Suppose I take this book and change it immediately into a servient +human being. Would I have a right to torture it because I made it? No; +on the contrary, I would say, having brought you into existence, it is +my duty to do the best for you I can. They say God has a right to damn +me because He made me. I deny it. Another one says God is not obliged +to save even those who believe in Christ, and that he can either bestow +salvation upon his children or retain it without any diminution of his +glory. Another one says God may save any sinner whatsoever, +consistently with his justice. Let a natural person—and I claim to be +one—moral or immoral, wise or unwise; let him be as just as he can, no +matter what his prayers may be, what pains he may have taken to be +saved, or whatever circumstances he may be in. God, according to this +writer, can deny him salvation, without the least disparagement of His +glory. His glories will not be in the least obscured—there is no +natural man, be his character what it may, but God may cast down to +hell without being charged with unfair dealing in any respect with +regard to that man. Theologians tell us that God's design in the +creation was simply to glorify himself. Magnificent object! +</P> + +<P> +"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured +out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be +tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, +and in the presence of the Lamb." (Rev. xiv, 1-10.) +</P> + +<P> +Do you know nobody would have had an idea of hell in this world if it +hadn't been for volcanoes? They were looked upon as the chimneys of +hell. The idea of eternal fire never would have polluted the +imagination of man but for them. An eminent theologian, describing +hell, says: "There is no recounting the millions of ages the damned +shall suffer. All arithmetic ends here"—and all sense, too! "They +shall have nothing to do in passing away this eternity but to conflict +with torments. God shall have no other use or employment for them." +These words were said by gentlemen who died Christians, and who are now +in the harp business in the world to come. Another declares there is +nothing to keep any man or Christian out of hell except the mere +pleasure of God, and their pains never grow any easier by their +becoming accustomed to them. It is also declared that the devil goes +about like a lion, ready to doom the wicked. Did it never occur to you +what a contradiction it is to say that the devil will persecute his own +friends? He wants all the recruits he can get; why then should he +persecute his friends? In my judgment he should give them the best hell +affords. +</P> + +<P> +It is in the very nature of things that torments inflicted have no +tendency to bring a wicked man to repentance. Then why torment him if +it will not do him good? It is simply unadulterated revenge. All the +punishment in the world will not reform a man, unless he knows that he +who inflicts it upon him does it for the sake of reformation, and +really and truly loves him, and has his good at heart. Punishment +inflicted for gratifying the appetite makes man afraid, but debases him. +</P> + +<P> +Various reasons are given for punishing the wicked; first, that God +will vindicate his injured majesty. Well, I am glad of that! Second, He +will glorify his justice—think of that. Third, He will show and +glorify his grace. Every time the saved shall look upon the damned in +hell it will cause in them a lively and admiring sense of the grace of +God. Every look upon the damned will double the ardor and the joy of +the saints in heaven. Can the believing husband in heaven look down +upon the torments of the unbelieving wife in hell and then feel a +thrill of joy? That's the old doctrine—not of our days; we are too +civilized for that. O, but it is the doctrine that if you saw your wife +in hell—the wife you love, who, in your last sickness, nursed you, +that, perhaps supported you by her needle when you were ill; the wife +who watched by your couch night and day, and held your corpse in her +loving arms when you were dead—the sight would give you great joy. +That doctrine is not preached to-day. They do not preach that the sight +would give you joy; but they do preach that it will not diminish your +happiness. That is the doctrine of every orthodox minister in New York, +and I repeat that I have no respect for men who preach such doctrines. +The sight of the torments of the damned in hell will increase the +ecstasy of the saints forever! On this principle man never enjoys a +good dinner so much as when a fellow-creature is dying of famine before +his eyes, or he never enjoys the cheerful warmth of his own fireside so +greatly as when a poor and abandoned wretch is dying on his doorstep. +The saints enjoy the ecstasy and the groans of the tormented are music +to them. I say here to-night that you cannot commit a sin against an +infinite being. I can sin against my brother or my neighbor, because I +can injure them. There can be no sin where there is no injury. Neither +can a finite being commit infinite sin. +</P> + +<P> +An old saint believed that hell was in the interior of the earth, and +that the rotation of the earth was caused by the souls trying to get +away from the fire. The old church at Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare's +home, in adorned with pictures of hell and the like. One of the +pictures represents resurrection morning. People are getting out of +their graves, and devils are catching hold of their heels. In one place +there is a huge brass monster, and devils are driving scores of lost +souls into his mouth. Over hot fires hang caldrons with fifty or sixty +people in each, and devils are poking the fires. People are hung up on +hooks by their tongues, and devils are lashing them. Up in the right +hand corner are some of the saved, with grins on their faces stretching +from ear to ear. They seem to say: "Aha, what did I tell you?" +</P> + +<P> +Some of the old saints—gentlemen who died in the odor of sanctity, and +are now in the harp business—insisted that heaven and hell would be +plainly in view of each other. Only a few years ago, Rev. J. Furness +(an appropriate name) published a little pamphlet called "A Sight in +Hell." I remember when I first read that. My little child, seven years +old, was ill and in bed. I thought she would not hear me, and I read +some of it aloud. She arose and asked, "Who says that?" I answered, +"That's what they preach in some of the churches." "I never will enter +a church as long as I live!" she said, and she never has. +</P> + +<P> +The doctrine of orthodox Christianity is that the damned shall suffer +torment forever and forever. And if you were a wanderer, footsore, +weary, with parched tongue, dying for a drop of water, and you met one +who divided his poor portion with you, and died as he saw you +reviving—if he was an unbeliever and you a believer, and you died and +went to heaven, and he called to you from hell for a draught of water, +it would be your duty to laugh at him. +</P> + +<P> +Rev. Mr. Spurgeon says that everywhere in hell will be written the +words "for ever." They will be branded on every wave of flame, they +will be forged in every link of every chain, they will be seen in every +lurid flash of brimstone—everywhere will be those words "for ever." +Everybody will be yelling and screaming them. Just think of that +picture of the mercy and justice of the eternal Father of us all. If +these words are necessary why are they not written now everywhere in +the world, on every tree, and every field, and on every blade of grass? +I say I am entitled to have it so. I say that it is God's duty to +furnish me with the evidence. Here is another good book read in every +Sunday-school—a splendid book—Pollok's "Course of Time." Every copy +in the world of such books as that ought to be burned. Well, the author +pretends to have gone to hell, and I think that he ought to have +stopped there. +</P> + +<P> +[The lecturer read the passage from the work descriptive of the +torments of the damned, and proceeded:] And that book is put into the +hands of children in order that they may love and worship the most +merciful God. In old time they had to find a place for hell and they +found a hundred places for it. One says that it was under Lake Avernus, +but the Christians thought differently. One divine tells us that it +must be below the earth because Christ descended into hell. Another +gives it as his opinion that hell is in the sun, and he tells us that +nobody, without an express revelation from God, can prove that it is +not there. Most likely. Well, he had the idea at all events of +utilizing the damned as fuel to warm the earth. But I will quote from +another poet—if it is lawful to call him a poet. I mean Tupper. +</P> + +<P> +[Colonel Ingersoll quoted from that orthodox author, and continued:] +Another divine preached a sermon no further back than 1876, in which he +said that the damned will grow worse; and the same divine says that the +devil was the first Universalist. Then I am on the side of the devil. +</P> + +<P> +The fact is, that you have got not merely to believe the bible; but you +must also believe in a certain interpretation of it, and, mind you, you +must also believe in the doctrine of the trinity. I want to explain +what that is, so that you may never have an excuse for not knowing it. +</P> + +<P> +I quote from the best theologian that ever wrote. [Then he went on to +give in substance the Athanasian definition of the trinity, winding up +with a long string of adjectives, culminating in the description +"entirely incomprehensible."] If you don't understand it after that, it +is you own fault. Now, you must believe in that doctrine. If you do +not, all the orthodox churches agree in condemning you to everlasting +flames. We have got to burn through all our lives simply with the view +of making them happy. We are taught to love our enemies, to pray for +those that persecute us, to forgive. Should not the merciful God +practice what he preaches? I say that reverently. Why should he say, +"Forgive your enemies," if he will not himself forgive? Why should he +say "Pray for those that despise and persecute you," but if they refuse +to believe his doctrine he will burn them forever? I cannot believe it. +Here is a little child, residing in the purlieus of the city—some boy +who is taught that it is his duty to steal by his mother, who applauds +his success and pats him on the head and calls him a good boy—would it +be just to condemn him to an eternity of torture? Suppose there is a +God; let us bring to this question some common sense. +</P> + +<P> +I care nothing about the doctrines of religions or creeds of the past. +Let us come to the bar of the nineteenth century and judge matter by +what we know, by what we think, by what we love. But they say to us, +"If you throw away the Bible what are we to depend on then?" But no two +persons in the world agree as to what the Bible is, what they are to +believe, or what they are not to believe. It is like a guidepost that +has been thrown down in some time of disaster, and has been put up the +wrong way. Nobody can accept its guidance, for nobody knows where it +would direct him. I say, "Tear down the useless guidepost," but they +answer, "Oh, do not do that or we will have nothing to go by." I would +say, "Old Church, you take that road and I will take this." Another +minister has said that the Bible is the great town-clock, at which we +all may set our watches. But I have said to a friend of that minister: +"Suppose we all should set our watches by that town-clock, there would +be many persons to tell you that in old times the long hand was the +hour hand, and besides, the clock hasn't been wound up for a long +time." I say let us wait till the sun rises and set our watches by +nature. For my part, I am willing to give up heaven to get rid of hell. +I had rather there should be no heaven than that any solitary soul +should be condemned to suffer forever and ever. But they tell me that +the Bible is the good book. Now, in the Old Testament there is not in +my judgment a single reference to another life. Is there a burial +service mentioned in it in which a word of hope is spoken at the grave +of the dead? The idea of eternal life was not born of any book. That +wave of hope and joy ebbs and flows, and will continue to ebb and flow +as long as love kisses the lips of death. +</P> + +<P> +Let me tell you a tale of the Persian religion of a man who, having +done good for long years of his life, presented himself at the gates of +Paradise, but the gates remained closed against him. He went back and +followed up his good works for seven years longer, and the gates of +Paradise still remaining shut against him, he toiled in works of +charity until at last they were opened unto him. Think of that, +pursued the lecturer, and send out your missionaries among those +people. There is no religion but goodness, but justice, but charity. +Religion is not theory; it is life. It is not intellectual conviction; +it is divine humanity, and nothing else. Colonel Ingersoll here told +another tale from the Hindoo, of a man who refused to enter Paradise +without a faithful dog, urging that ingratitude was the blackest of all +sins. "And the God," he said, "admitted him, dog and all." Compare that +religion with the orthodox tenets of the city of New York. +</P> + +<P> +There is a prayer which every Brahmin prays, in which he declares that +he will never enter into a final state of bliss alone, but that +everywhere he will strive for universal redemption; that never will he +leave the world of sin and sorrow, but remain suffering and striving +and sorrowing after universal salvation. Compare that with the orthodox +idea, and send out your missionaries to the benighted Hindoos. +</P> + +<P> +The doctrine of hell is infamous beyond all power to express. I wish +there were words mean enough to express my feelings of loathing on this +subject. What harm has it not done? What waste places has it not made? +It has planted misery and wretchedness in this world; it peoples the +future with selfish joys and lurid abysses of eternal flame. But we are +getting more sense every day. We begin to despise those monstrous +doctrines. If you want to better men and women, change their conditions +here. Don't promise them something somewhere else. One biscuit will do +more good than all the tracts that were ever peddled in the world. Give +them more whitewash, more light, more air. You have to change men +physically before you change them intellectually. I believe the time +will come when every criminal will be treated as we now treat the +diseased and sick, when every penitentiary will become a reformatory, +and that if criminals go to them with hatred in their bosoms, they will +leave them without feelings of revenge. Let me tell you the story of +Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice had been carried away by the god of +hell, and Orpheus, her lover, went in quest of her. He took with him +his lyre, and played such exquisite music that all hell was amazed. +Ixion forgot his labors at the wheel, the daughters of Danaus ceased +from their hopeless task, Tantalus forgot his thirst, even Pluto +smiled, and, for the first time in the history of hell, the eyes of the +Furies were wet with tears. As it was with the lyre of Orpheus, so it +is to-day with the great harmonies of Science, which are rescuing from +the prisons of superstition the torn and bleeding heart of man. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="individuality"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S LECTURE ON INDIVIDUALITY,<BR> +AN ARRAIGNMENT OF THE CHURCH. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"His soul was like a star and dwelt apart." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +On every hand are the enemies of individuality, and mental freedom. +Custom meets us at the cradle,—and leaves us only at the tomb. Our +first questions are answered by ignorance, and our last by +superstition. We are pushed and dragged by countless hands along the +beaten track, and our entire training can be summed up in the word +"suppression." Our desire to have a thing or to do a thing is +considered as conclusive evidence that we ought to do it. At every +turn we run not to have it, and ought not against a cherubim and a +flaming sword, guarding some entrance to the Eden of our desire. We are +allowed to investigate all subjects in which we feel no particular +interest, and to express the opinions of the majority with the utmost +freedom. We are taught that liberty of speech should never be carried +to the extent of contradicting the dead witnesses of a popular +superstition. Society offers continual rewards for self-betrayal, and +they are nearly all earned and claimed, and some are paid. +</P> + +<P> +We have all read accounts of Christian gentlemen remarking when about +to be hanged, how much better it would have been for them if they had +only followed a mother's advice! But, after all, how fortunate it is +for the world that the maternal advice has not been followed! How +lucky it is for us all that it is somewhat unnatural for a human being +to obey! Universal obedience is universal stagnation; disobedience is +one of the conditions of progress. Select any age of the world and tell +me what would have been the effect of implicit obedience. Suppose the +church had had absolute control of the human mind at any time, would +not the word liberty and progress have been blotted from the human +speech? In defiance of advice, the world has advanced. +</P> + +<P> +Suppose the astronomers had controlled the science of astronomy; +suppose the doctors had controlled the science of medicine; suppose +kings had been left to fix the form of government! Suppose our fathers +had taken the advice of Paul, who was subject to the powers that be, +"because they are ordained of God;" suppose the church could control +the world today, we would go back to chaos and old night. Philosophy +would be branded as infamous; science would again press its pale and +thoughtful face against the prison bars; and round the limbs of liberty +would climb the bigot's flame. +</P> + +<P> +It is a blessed thing that in every age some one has had individuality +enough and courage enough to stand by his own convictions; some one who +had the grit to say his say. I believe it was Magellan who said, "the +church says the earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, +and I have more confidence even in a shadow than in the church." On the +prow of his ship were disobedience, defiance, scorn and success. +</P> + +<P> +The trouble with most people is that they bow to what is called +authority; they have a certain reverence for the old because it is old. +They think a man is better for being dead, especially if he has been +dead a long time, and that the forefathers of their nation were the +greatest and best of all mankind. All these things they implicitly +believe because it is popular and patriotic, and because they were told +so when very small, and remember distinctly of hearing mother read it +out of a book, and they are all willing to swear that mother was a good +woman. It is hard to overestimate the influence of early training—in +the direction of superstition. You first teach children that a certain +book is true—that it was written by God himself—that to question its +truth is sin, that to deny it is a crime, and that should they die +without believing that book they will be forever damned without benefit +of clergy; the consequence is that before they read that book they +believe it to be true. When they do read, their minds are wholly +unfitted to investigate its claim. They accept it as a matter of +course. +</P> + +<P> +In this way the reason is overcome, the sweet instincts of humanity are +blotted from the heart, and while reading its infamous pages even +justice throws aside her scales, shrieking for revenge; and charity, +with bloody hands, applauds a deed of murder. In this way we are +taught that the revenge of man is the justice of God, that mercy is not +the same everywhere. In this way the ideas of our race have been +subverted. In this way we have made tyrants, bigots, and inquisitors. +In this way the brain of man has become a kind of palimpsest upon +which, and over the writings of Nature, superstition has scribbled her +countless lies. Our great trouble is that most teachers are dishonest. +They teach as certainties those things concerning which they entertain +doubts. They do not say, "We think this is so." but "We know this is +so." They do not appeal to the reason of the pupil, but they command +his faith. They keep all doubts to themselves; they do not explain, +they assert. All this is infamous. In this way you make Christians, +but you cannot make men; you cannot make women. You can make followers +but no leaders; disciples, but no Christs. You may promise power, +honor, and happiness to all those who will blindly follow, but you +cannot keep your promise. +</P> + +<P> +An eastern monarch said to a hermit, "Come with me and I will give you +power." "I have all the power that I know how to use," replied the +hermit. "Come," said the king, "I will give you wealth." "I have no +wants that money can supply." "I will give you honor." "Ah! honor +cannot be given; it must be earned." "Come," said the king, making a +last appeal, "and I will give you happiness." "No," said the man of +solitude; "there is no happiness without liberty, and he who follows +cannot be free." "You shall have liberty too." "Then I will stay." +And all the king's courtiers thought the hermit a fool. +</P> + +<P> +Now and then somebody examines, and, in spite of all, keeps up his +manhood and has courage to follow where his reason leads. Then the +pious get together and repeat wise saws and exchange knowing nods and +most prophetic winks. The stupidly wise sit owl-like on the dead limbs +of the tree of knowledge, and solemnly, hoot. Wealth sneers, and +fashion laughs, and respectability passes on the other side, and scorn +points with all her skinny fingers, and, like the snakes of +superstition, writhe and hiss, and slander lends her tongue, and infamy +her brand, perjury her oath, and the law its power; and bigotry +tortures and the church kills. +</P> + +<P> +The church hates a thinker precisely for the same reason that a robber +dislikes a sheriff, or that a thief despises the prosecuting witness. +Tyranny likes courtiers, flatterers, followers, fawners, and +superstition wants believers, disciples, zealots, hypocrites, and +subscribers. The church demands worship, the very thing that man +should give to no being, human or divine. To worship another is to +degrade yourself. Worship is awe, and dread, and vague fear, and blind +hope. It is the spirit of worship that elevates the one and degrades +the many; and manacles even its own hands. The spirit of worship is +the spirit of tyranny. The worshiper always regrets that he is not the +worshiped. We should all remember that the intellect has no knees, and +that whatever the attitude of the body may be, the brave soul is always +found erect. Whoever worships, abdicates. Whoever believes, at the +commands of power, tramples his own individuality beneath his feet, and +voluntarily robs himself of all that renders man superior to brute. +</P> + +<P> +The despotism of faith is justified upon the ground that Christian +countries are the grandest and most prosperous of the world. At one +time the same thing could have been truly said in India, in Egypt, in +Greece, in Rome, and in every country that has in the history of the +world, swept to empire. This argument proves too much not only, but +the assumption upon which it is based is utterly false. Numberless +circumstances and countless conditions have produced the prosperity of +the Christian world. The truth is that we have advanced in spite of +religious zeal, ignorance, and opposition. The church has won no +victories for the rights of man. Over every fortress of tyranny has +waved, and still waves, the banner of the church. Wherever brave blood +has been shed the sword of the church has been wet. On every chain has +been the sign of the cross. The alter and the throne have leaned +against and supported each other. Who can appreciate the infinite +impudence of one man assuming to think for others? Who can imagine the +impudence of a church that threatens to inflict eternal punishment upon +those who honestly reject its claims and scorn its pretensions? In the +presence of the unknown we have all an equal right to guess. +</P> + +<P> +Over the vast plain called life we are all travelers, and not one +traveler is perfectly certain that he is going in the right direction. +True it is that no other plain is so well supplied with guideboards. At +every turn and crossing you find them, and upon each one is written the +exact direction and distance. One great trouble is, however, that +these boards are all different, and the result is that most travelers +are confused in proportion to the number they read. Thousands of +people are around each of these signs, and each one is doing his best +to convince the traveler that his particular board is the only one upon +which the least reliance can be placed, and that if his road is taken +the reward for so doing will be infinite and eternal, while all the +other roads are said to lead to hell, and all the makers of the other +guideboards are declared to be heretics, hypocrites, and liars. +"Well," says a traveler "you may be right in what you say, but allow me +at least to read some of the other directions and examine a little into +their claims. I wish to rely a little upon my own judgment in a matter +of such great importance." "No sir!" shouts the zealot; "that is the +very thing you are not allowed to do. You must go my way, without +investigation or you are as good as damned already." "Well," says the +traveler, "if that is so, I believe I had better go your way." And so +most of them go along, taking the word of those who know as little as +themselves. Now and then comes one who, in spite of all threats, +calmly examines the claims of all, and as calmly rejects them all. +These travelers take roads of their own, and are denounced by all the +others as infidels and atheists. +</P> + +<P> +In my judgment every human being should take a road of his own. Every +mind should be true to itself; should think, investigate and conclude +for itself. This is a duty alike incumbent upon pauper and prince. +Every soul should repel dictation and tyranny, no matter from what +source they come—from earth or heaven, from men or gods. Besides, +every traveler upon this vast plain should give to every other traveler +his best idea as to the road that should be taken. Each is entitled to +the honest opinion of all. And there is but one way to get an honest +opinion upon any subject whatever. The person giving the opinion must +be free from fear. The merchant must not fear to lose his custom, the +doctor his practice, nor the preacher his pulpit. There can be no +advance without liberty. Suppression of honest inquiry is +retrogression, and must end in intellectual night. The tendency of +orthodox religion today is towards mental slavery and barbarism. Not +one of the orthodox ministers dare preach what he thinks if he knows +that a majority of his congregation think otherwise. He knows that +every member of his church stands guard over his brain with a creed, +like a club, in his hand. He knows that he is not expected to search +after the truth, but that he is employed to defend the creed. Every +pulpit is a pillory in which stands a hired culprit, defending the +justice of his own imprisonment. +</P> + +<P> +Is it desirable that all should be exactly alike in their religious +convictions? Is any such thing possible? Do we not know that there +are no two persons alike in the whole world? No two trees, no two +leaves, no two anythings that are alike? Infinite diversity is the +law. Religion tries to force all minds into one mold. Knowing that all +cannot believe, the church endeavors to make all say that they believe. +She longs for the unity of hypocrisy, and detests the splendid +diversity of individuality and freedom. +</P> + +<P> +Nearly all people stand in great horror of annihilation, and yet to +give up your individuality is to annihilate yourself. Mental slavery +is mental death, and every man who has given up his intellectual +freedom is the living coffin of his dead soul. In this sense every +church is a cemetery and every creed an epitaph. We should all +remember that to be like other folks is to be unlike ourselves, and +that nothing can be more detestable in character than servile +imitation. The great trouble with imitation is that we are apt to ape +those who are in reality far below us. After all, the poorest bargain +that a human being can make is to trade off his individuality for what +is called respectability. +</P> + +<P> +There is no saying more degrading than this: "It is better to be the +tail of a lion than the head of a dog." It is a responsibility to +think and act for yourself. Most people hate responsibility; therefore +they join something and become the tail of some lion. They say, "My +party can act for me—my church can do my thinking. It is enough for me +to pay taxes and obey the lion to which I belong without troubling +myself about the right, the wrong, or the why or the wherefore of +anything whatever." These people are respectable. They hate reformers, +and dislike exceedingly to have their minds disturbed. They regard +convictions as very disagreeable things to have. They love forms, and +enjoy, beyond everything else, telling what a splendid tail their lion +has, and what a troublesome dog their neighbor is. Besides this +natural inclination to avoid personal responsibility is and always has +been the fact that every religionist has warned men against the +presumption and wickedness of thinking for themselves. The reason has +been denounced by all Christendom as the only unsafe guide. The church +has left nothing undone to prevent, man following the logic of his +brain. The plainest facts have been covered with the mantle of +mystery. The grossest absurdities have been declared to be +self-evident facts. The order of nature has been, as it were, +reversed, in order that the hypocritical few might govern the honest +many. The man who stood by the conclusion of his reason was denounced +as a scorner and hater of God and his holy church. From the +organization of the first church until this moment every member has +borne the marks of collar and chain, and whip. No man ever seriously +attempted to reform a church without being cast out and hunted down by +the hounds of hypocrisy. The highest crime against a creed is to +change it. Reformation is treason. +</P> + +<P> +Thousands of young men are being educated at this moment by the various +churches. What for? In order that they may be prepared to investigate +the phenomena by which we are surrounded? No! The object, and the +only object, is that they may be prepared to defend a creed. That they +may learn the arguments of their respective churches and repeat them in +the dull ears of a thoughtless congregation. If one after being thus +trained at the expense of the Methodists turns Presbyterian or Baptist, +he is denounced as an ungrateful wretch. Honest investigation is +utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason that +if you think the church is right you will not investigate, and if you +think it wrong, the church will investigate you. The consequence of +this is that most of the theological literature is the result of +suppression, of fear, of tyranny, and hypocrisy. +</P> + +<P> +Every orthodox writer necessarily said to himself, "If I write that, my +wife and children may want for bread, I will be covered with shame and +branded with infamy, but if I write this, I will gain position, power +and honor. My church rewards defenders and burns reformers." Under +these conditions, all your Scotts, Henrys and McKnights have written; +and weighed in these scales what are their commentaries worth? They +are not the ideas and decisions of honest judges, but the sophisms of +the paid attorneys of superstition. Who can tell what the world has +lost by this infamous system of suppression? How many grand thinkers +died with the mailed hand of superstition on their lips? How many +splendid ideas have perished in the cradle of the brain, strangled in +the poisonous coils of that python, the church! +</P> + +<P> +For thousands of years a thinker was hunted down like an escaped +convict. To him, who had braved the church, every door was shut, every +knife was open. To shelter him from the wild storm, to give him a +crust of bread when dying, to put a cup of water to his cracked and +bleeding lips; these were all crimes, not one of which the church ever +did forgive; and with the justice taught of God his helpless children +were exterminated as scorpions and vipers. +</P> + +<P> +Who at the present day can imagine the courage, the devotion to +principle, the intellectual and moral grandeur it once required to be +an infidel, to brave the church, her racks, her fagots, her dungeons, +her tongues of fire—to defy and scorn her heaven and her devil and her +God? They were the noblest sons of earth. They were the real saviors +of our race, the destroyers of superstition and the creators of +science. They were the real Titans who bared their grand foreheads to +all the thunderbolts of all the gods. The church has been, and still +is, the great robber. She has rifled not only the pockets but the +brains of the world. She is the stone at the sepulcher of liberty; the +upas tree in whose shade the intellect of man has withered; the gorgon +beneath whose gaze the human heart has turned to stone. +</P> + +<P> +Under her influence even the Protestant mother expects to be in heaven, +while her brave boy, who is fighting for the rights of man, shall +writhe in hell. It is said that some of the Indian tribes place the +heads of their children between pieces of bark until the form of the +skull is permanently changed. To us this seems a most shocking custom, +and yet, after all, is it as bad as to put the souls of our children in +the straight-jacket of a creed, to so utterly deform their minds that +they regard the God of the bible as a being of infinite mercy, and +really consider it a virtue to believe a thing just because it seems +unreasonable? Every child in the Christian world has uttered its +wondering protest against this outrage. All the machinery of the +church is constantly employed in thus corrupting the reason of +children. In every possible way they are robbed of their own thoughts +and forced to accept the statements of others. Every Sunday-school has +for its object the crushing out of every germ of individuality. The +poor children are taught that nothing can be more acceptable to God +than unreasoning obedience and eyeless faith, and that to believe that +God did an impossible act is far better than to do a good one yourself. +They are told that all the religions have been simply the John the +Baptist of ours; that all the gods of antiquity have withered and +sunken into the Jehovah of the Jews; that all the longings and +aspirations of the race are realized in the motto of the Evangelical +Alliance, "Liberty in non-essentials;" that all there is, or ever was +of religion can be found in the apostle's creed; that there is nothing +left to be discovered; that all the thinkers are dead, and all the +living should simply be believers; that we have only to repeat the +epitaph found on the grave of wisdom; that graveyards are the best +possible universities, and that the children must be forever beaten +with the bones of the fathers. +</P> + +<P> +It has always seemed absurd to suppose that a God would choose for his +companions during all eternity the dear souls whose highest and only +ambition is to obey. He certainly would now and then be tempted to +make the same remark made by an English gentleman to his poor guest. +This gentleman had invited a man in humble circumstances to dine with +him. The man was so overcome with honor that to everything the +gentleman said he replied, "Yes." Tired at last with the monotony of +acquiescence, the gentleman cried out, "For God's sake, my good man, +say 'No' just once, so there will be two of us." +</P> + +<P> +Is it possible that an infinite God created this world simply to be the +dwelling-place of slaves and serfs? Simply for the purpose of raising +orthodox Christians; that he did a few miracles to astonish them; that +all the evils of life are simply his punishments, and that he is +finally going to turn heaven into a kind of religious museum, filled +with Baptist barnacles, petrified Presbyterians, and Methodist mummies? +I want no heaven for which I must give my reason; no happiness in +exchange for my liberty, and no immortality that demands the surrender +of my individuality. Better rot in the windowless tomb to which there +is no door but the red mouth of the pallid worm, than wear the jeweled +collar even of a God. +</P> + +<P> +Religion does not and cannot contemplate man as free. She accepts only +the homage of the prostrate, and scorns the offerings of those who +stand erect. She cannot tolerate the liberty of thought. The wide and +sunny fields belong not to her domain. The star-lit heights of genius +and individuality are above and beyond her appreciation and power. Her +subjects cringe at her feet covered with the dust of obedience. They +are not athletes standing posed by rich life and brave endeavor like +the antique statues, but shriveled deformities studying with furtive +glance the cruel face of power. +</P> + +<P> +No religionist seems capable of comprehending this plain truth. There +is this difference between thought and action: For our actions we are +responsible to ourselves and to those injuriously affected; for +thoughts there can, in the nature of things, be no responsibility to +gods or men, here or hereafter. And yet the Protestant has vied with +the Catholic in denouncing freedom of thought, and while I was taught +to hate Catholicism with every drop of my blood, it is only justice to +say that in all essential particulars it is precisely the same as every +other religion. Luther denounced mental liberty with all the coarse +and brutal vigor of his nature; Calvin despised from the very bottom of +his petrified heart anything that even looked like religious +toleration, and solemnly declared to advocate it was to crucify Christ +afresh. All the founders of all the orthodox churches have advocated +the same infamous tenet. The truth is that what is called religion is +necessarily inconsistent with free thought. +</P> + +<P> +A believer is a songless bird in a cage, a freethinker is an eagle +parting the clouds with tireless wings. +</P> + +<P> +At present, owing to the inroads that have been made by liberals and +infidels, most of the churches pretend to be in favor of religious +liberty. Of these churches we will ask this question: "How can a man +who conscientiously believes in religious liberty worship a God who +does not?" They say to us: "We will not imprison you on account of +your belief, but our God will. We will not burn you because you throw +away the sacred scriptures; but their Author will," "We think it an +infamous crime to persecute our brethren for opinion's sake; but the +God whom we ignorantly worship will on that account damn his own +children forever." Why is it that these Christians do not only detest +the infidels, but so cordially despise each other? Why do they refuse +to worship in the temples of each other? Why do they care so little +for the damnation of men, and so much for the baptism of children? Why +will they adorn their churches with the money of thieves, and flatter +vice for the sake of subscription? Why will they attempt to bribe +science to certify to the writings of God? Why do they torture the +words of the great into an acknowledgment of the truth of Christianity? +Why do they stand with hat in hand before presidents, kings, emperors +and scientists, begging like Lazarus for a few crumbs of religious +comfort? Why are they so delighted to find an allusion to providence +in the message of Lincoln? Why are they so afraid that some one will +find out that Paley wrote an essay in favor of the Epicurean +philosophy, and that Sir Isaac Newton was once an infidel? Why are they +so anxious to show that Voltaire recanted, that Paine died palsied with +fear; that the Emperor Julian cried out, "Galilean, thou hast +conquered;" that Gibbon died a Catholic; that Agassiz had a little +confidence in Moses; that the old Napoleon was once complimentary +enough to say that he thought Christ greater than himself or Caesar; +that Washington was caught on his knees at Valley Forge; that blunt old +Ethan Allen told his child to believe the religion of her mother; that +Franklin said, "Don't unchain the tiger;" that Volney got frightened +in a storm at sea, and that Oakes Ames was a wholesale liar? +</P> + +<P> +Is it because the foundation of their temple is crumbling, because the +walls are cracked, the pillars leaning, the great dome swaying to its +fall, and because science has written over the high altar its mene, +mene, tekel, upharsin, the old words destined to be the epitaph of all +religions? +</P> + +<P> +Every assertion of individual independence has been a step towards +infidelity. Luther started toward Humboldt, Wesley toward Bradlaugh. To +really reform the church is to destroy it. Every new religion has a +little less superstition than the old, so that the religion of science +is but a question of time. I will not say the church has been an +unmitigated evil in all respects. Its history is infamous and +glorious. It has delighted in the production of extremes. It has +furnished murderers for its own martyrs. It has sometimes fed the +body, but has always starved the soul. It has been a charitable +highwayman, a generous pirate. It has produced some angels and a +multitude of devils. It has built more prisons than asylums. It made a +hundred orphans while it cared for one. In one hand it carried the +alms-dish, and in the other a sword. It has founded schools and endowed +universities for the purpose of destroying true learning. It filled +the world with hypocrites and zealots, and upon the cross of its own +Christ it crucified the individuality of man. It has sought to destroy +the independence of the soul, and put the world upon its knees. This +is its crime. The commission of this crime was necessary to its +existence. In order to compel obedience it declared that it had the +truth and all the truth; that God had made it the keeper of all his +secrets; his agent and his vice-agent. It declared that all other +religions were false and infamous. It rendered all compromises +impossible, and all thought superfluous. Thought was an enemy, +obedience was its friend. Investigation was fraught with danger; +therefore investigation was suppressed. The holy of holies was behind +the curtain. All this was upon the principle that forgers hate to have +the signature examined by an expert, and that imposture detests +curiosity. +</P> + +<P> +"He that hath ears to hear let him hear," has always been one of the +favorite texts of the church. +</P> + +<P> +In short, Christianity has always opposed every forward movement of the +human race. Across the highway of progress it has always been building +breastworks of bibles, tracts, commentaries, prayerbooks, creeds, +dogmas and platforms, and at every advance the Christians have gathered +behind these heaps of rubbish and shot the poisoned arrows of malice at +the soldiers of freedom. +</P> + +<P> +And even the liberal Christian of today has his holy of holies, and in +the niche of the temple of his heart has his idol. He still clings to +a part of the old superstition, and all the pleasant memories of the +old belief linger in the horizon of his thoughts like a sunset. We +associate the memory of those we love with the religion of our +childhood. It seems almost a sacrilege to rudely destroy the idols +that our fathers worshiped, and turn their sacred and beautiful truths +into the silly fables of barbarism. Some throw away the old testament +and cling to the new, while others give up everything except the idea +that there is a personal God, and that in some wonderful way we are the +objects of His care. +</P> + +<P> +Even this, in my opinion, as science, the great iconoclast, marches +onward, will have to be abandoned with the rest. The great ghost will +surely share the fate of the little ones. They fled at the first +appearance of the dawn, and the other will vanish with the perfect day. +Until then, the independence of man is little more than a dream. +Overshadowed by an immense personality—in the presence of the +irresponsible and the infinite, the individuality of man is lost, and +he falls prostrate in the very dust of fear. Beneath the frown of the +absolute, man stands a wretched, trembling slave—beneath his smile be +is at best only a fortunate serf. Governed by a being whose arbitrary +will is law, chained to the chariot of power, his destiny rests in the +pleasure of the unknown. Under these circumstances what wretched object +can he have in lengthening out his aimless life? +</P> + +<P> +And yet, in most minds, there is a vague fear of what the gods may do, +and the safe side is considered the best side. +</P> + +<P> +A gentleman walking among the ruins of Athens came upon a fallen statue +of Jupiter. Making an exceedingly low bow, he said: "Jupiter, I salute +thee." He then added: "Should you ever get up in the world again, do +not forget, I pray you, that I treated you politely while you were +prostrate." +</P> + +<P> +We have all been taught by the church that nothing is so well +calculated to excite the ire of Deity as to express a doubt as to His +existence, and that to deny it is an unpardonable sin. Numerous +well-attested instances were referred to, of atheists being struck dead +for denying the existence of God. According to these religious people, +God is infinitely above us in every respect, infinitely merciful, and +yet He cannot bear to hear a poor finite man honestly question His +existence. Knowing as He does that His children are groping in darkness +and struggling with doubt and fear; knowing that He could enlighten +them if He would, He still holds the expression of a sincere doubt as +to His existence the most infamous of crimes. +</P> + +<P> +According to the orthodox logic, God having furnished us with imperfect +minds has a right to demand a perfect result. Suppose Mr. Smith should +overhear a couple of small bugs holding a discussion as to the +existence of Mr. Smith, and suppose one should have the temerity to +declare upon the honor of a bug that he had examined the whole question +to the best of his ability, including the argument based upon design, +and had come to the conclusion that no man by the name of Smith had +ever lived. Think then of Mr. Smith flying into an ecstasy of rage, +crushing the atheist bug beneath his iron heel, while he exclaimed, "I +will teach you, blasphemous wretch, that Smith is a diabolical fact!" +What then can we think of God who would open the artillery of heaven +upon one of his own children for simply expressing his honest thought? +And what man, who really thinks, can help repeating the words of +Aeneas, "If there are gods they certainly pay no attention to the +affairs of man." +</P> + +<P> +In religious ideas and conceptions there has been for ages a slow and +steady development. At the bottom of the ladder (speaking of modern +times) is Catholicism, and at the top are atheism and science. The +intermediate rounds of this ladder are occupied by the various sects, +whose name is legion. +</P> + +<P> +But whatever may be the truth on any subject has nothing to do with our +right to investigate that subject, and express any opinion we may form. +All that I ask is the right I freely accord to all others. +</P> + +<P> +A few years ago a Methodist clergyman took it upon himself to give me a +piece of friendly advice. "Although you may disbelieve the bible," +said he, "you ought not to say so. That you should keep to yourself." +"Do you believe the bible?" said I. He replied, "Most assuredly." To +which I retorted, "Your answer conveys no information to me. You may +be following your own advice. You told me to suppress my opinions. Of +course a man who will advise others to dissimulate will not always be +particular about telling the truth himself." +</P> + +<P> +It is the duty of each and every one to maintain his individuality. +"This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must follow as the +night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." It is a +magnificent thing to be the sole proprietor of yourself. It is a +terrible thing to wake up at night and say: "There is nobody in this +bed!" It is humiliating to know that your ideas are all borrowed, and +that you are indebted to your memory for your principles, that your +religion is simply one of your habits, and that you would have +convictions if they were only contagious. It is mortifying to feel +that you belong to a mental mob and cry "crucify him" because the +others do. That you reap what the great and brave have sown, and that +you can benefit the world only by leaving it. +</P> + +<P> +Surely every human being ought to attain to the dignity of the unit. +Surely it is worth something to be one and to feel that the census of +the universe would not be complete without counting you. +</P> + +<P> +Surely there is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought, at +least, you are without a chain; that you have the right to explore all +heights and all depths; that there are no walls, fences, prohibited +places, nor sacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought; that +your intellect owes no allegiance to any being, human or divine; that +you hold all in fee and upon no condition and by no tenure whatever; +that in the world of mind you are relieved from all personal dictation, +and from the ignorant tyranny of majorities. +</P> + +<P> +Surely it is worth something to feel that there are no priests, no +popes, no parties, no governments, no kings, no gods to whom your +intellect can be compelled to pay a reluctant homage. +</P> + +<P> +Surely it is a joy to know that all the cruel ingenuity of bigotry can +devise no prison, no lock, no cell, in which for one instant to confine +a thought; that ideas cannot be dislocated by racks, nor crushed in +iron boots, nor burned with fire. +</P> + +<P> +Surely it is sublime to think that the brain is a castle, and that +within its curious bastions and winding halls the soul, in spite of all +worlds and all beings, is the supreme sovereign of itself. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="humboldt"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S LECTURE ON HUMBOLDT +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ladies and Gentlemen: Great minds seem to be a part of the infinite. +Those possessing them seem to be brothers of the mountains and the seas. +</P> + +<P> +Humboldt was one of these. He was one of the few great enough to rise +above the superstition and prejudice of his time, and to know that +experience, observation and reason are the only basis of knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +He became one of the greatest of men in spite of having been born rich +and noble—in spite of position. I say in spite of these things, +because wealth and position are generally the enemies of genius, and +the destroyers of talent. +</P> + +<P> +It is often said of this or that man that he is a self-made man—that +he was born of the poorest and humblest parents, and that with every +obstacle to overcome he became great. This is a mistake. Poverty is +generally an advantage. Most of the intellectual giants of the world +have been nursed at the sad but loving breast of poverty. Most of +those who have climbed highest on the shining ladder of fame commenced +at the lowest round. They were reared in the straw-thatched cottages +of Europe, in the log-houses of America, in the factories of the great +cities, in the midst of toil, in the smoke and din of labor, and on the +verge of want. They were rocked by the feet of mothers whose hands, at +the same time, were busy with the needle or the wheel. +</P> + +<P> +It is hard for the rich to resist the thousand allurements of pleasure, +and so I say that Humboldt, in spite of having been born to wealth and +high social position, became truly and grandly great. +</P> + +<P> +In the antiquated and romantic castle of Tegel, by the side of the pine +forest, on the shore of the charming lake, near the beautiful city of +Berlin, the great Humboldt, one hundred years ago to-day, was born, and +there he was educated after the method suggested by Rousseau—Campe, +the philologist and critic, and the intellectual Kunth being his +tutors. There he received the impressions that determined his career; +there the great idea that the universe is governed by law took +possession of his mind, and there he dedicated his life to the +demonstration of this sublime truth. +</P> + +<P> +He came to the conclusion that the source of man's unhappiness is his +ignorance of nature. +</P> + +<P> +He longed to give a physical description of the universe—a grand +picture of nature; to account for all phenomena; to discover the laws +governing the world; to do away with that splendid delusion called +special-providence, and to establish the fact that the universe is +governed by law. +</P> + +<P> +To establish this truth was, and is, of infinite importance to mankind. +That fact is the death-knell of superstition; it gives liberty to every +soul, annihilates fear, and ushers in the Age of Reason. +</P> + +<P> +The object of this illustrious man was to comprehend the phenomena of +physical objects in their general connection, and to represent nature +as one great whole, moved and animated by internal forces. +</P> + +<P> +For this purpose he turned his attention to descriptive botany, +traversing distant lands and mountain ranges to ascertain with +certainty the geographical distribution of plants. He investigated the +laws regulating the differences of temperature and climate, and the +changes of the atmosphere. He studied the formation of the earth's +crust, explored the deepest mines, ascended the highest mountains, and +wandered through the craters of extinct volcanoes. +</P> + +<P> +He became thoroughly acquainted with chemistry, with astronomy, with +terrestrial magnetism; and as the investigation of one subject leads to +all others, for the reason that there is a mutual dependence and a +necessary connection between all facts, so Humboldt became acquainted +with all the known sciences. +</P> + +<P> +His fame does not depend so much upon his discoveries (although he +discovered enough to make hundreds of reputations) as upon his vast and +splendid generalizations. +</P> + +<P> +He was to science what Shakespeare was to the drama. +</P> + +<P> +He found, so to speak, the world full of unconnected facts, all +portions of a vast system—parts of a great machine; he discovered the +connection that each bears to all, put them together, and demonstrated +beyond all contradiction that the earth is governed by law. +</P> + +<P> +He knew that to discover the connection of phenomena is the primary aim +of all natural investigation. He was infinitely practical. +</P> + +<P> +Origin and destiny were questions with which he had nothing to do. +</P> + +<P> +His surroundings made him what he was. +</P> + +<P> +In accordance with a law not fully comprehended, he was a production of +his time. +</P> + +<P> +Great men do not live alone; they are surrounded by the great; they are +the instruments used to accomplish the tendencies of their generation; +they fulfill the prophecies of their age. +</P> + +<P> +Nearly all of the scientific men of the eighteenth century had the same +idea entertained by Humboldt, but most of them in a dim and confused +way. There was, however, a general belief among the intelligent that +the world is governed by law, and that there really exists a connection +between all facts, or that all facts are simply the different aspects +of a general fact, and that the task of science is to discover this +connection; to comprehend this general fact or to announce the laws of +things. +</P> + +<P> +Germany was full of thought, and her universities swarmed with +philosophers and grand thinkers in every department of knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +Humboldt was the friend and companion of the greatest poets, +historians, philologists, artists, statesmen, critics and logicians of +his time. +</P> + +<P> +He was the companion of Schiller, who believed that man would be +regenerated through the influence of the beautiful; of Goethe, the +grand patriarch of German literature; of Wieland, who has been called +the Voltaire of Germany; of Herder, who wrote the outlines of a +philosophical history of man; of Kotzebue, who lived in the world of +romance; of Schleiermacher, the pantheist; of Schlegel, who gave to his +country the enchanted realm of Shakespeare—of the sublime Kant, author +of the first work published in Germany on Pure Reason; of Fichte, the +infinite idealist; of Schopenhauer, the European Buddhist who followed +the great Gautama to the painless and dreamless Nirvana, and of +hundreds of others whose names are familiar to and honored by the +scientific world. +</P> + +<P> +The German mind had been grandly roused from the long lethargy of the +dark ages of ignorance, fear and faith. Guided by the holy light of +reason, every department of knowledge was investigated, enriched and +illustrated. +</P> + +<P> +Humboldt breathed the atmosphere of investigation; old ideas were +abandoned; old creeds, hallowed by centuries, were thrown aside; +thought became courageous; the athlete, Reason, challenged to mortal +combat the monsters of superstition. +</P> + +<P> +No wonder that under these influences Humboldt formed the great purpose +of presenting to the world a picture of nature, in order that men +might, for the first time, behold the face of their Mother. +</P> + +<P> +Europe becoming too small for his genius, he visited the tropics in the +new world, where, in the most circumscribed limits, he could find the +greatest number of plants, of animals, and the greatest diversity of +climate, that he might ascertain the laws governing the production and +distribution of plants, animals and men, and the effects of climate +upon them all. He sailed along the gigantic Amazon—the mysterious +Orinoco—traversed the Pampas—climbed the Andes until he stood upon +the crags of Chimborazo, more than eighteen thousand feet above the +level of the sea, and climbed on until blood flowed from his eyes and +lips. For nearly five years he pursued his investigations in the new +world, accompanied by the intrepid Bonpland. Nothing escaped his +attention. He was the best intellectual organ of these new revelations +of science. He was calm, reflective and eloquent; filled with a sense +of the beautiful, and the love of truth. His collections were immense, +and valuable beyond calculation to every science. He endured +innumerable hardships, braved countless dangers in unknown and savage +lands, and exhausted his fortune for the advancement of true learning. +</P> + +<P> +Upon his return to Europe he was hailed as the second Columbus; as the +scientific discoverer of America; as the revealer of a new world; as +the great demonstrator of the sublime truth that universe is governed +by law. +</P> + +<P> +I have seen a picture of the old man, sitting upon a mountain +side—above him the eternal snow; below, smiling valley of the tropics, +filled with vine and palm. His chin upon his breast, his eyes deep, +thoughtful and calm, his forehead majestic—grander than the mountain +upon which he sat. "Crowned with the snow of his whitened hair," he +looked the intellectual autocrat of this world. +</P> + +<P> +Not satisfied with his discoveries in America, he crossed the steppes +of Asia, the wastes of Siberia, the great Ural range, adding to the +knowledge of mankind at every step. His energy acknowledged no +obstacle, his life knew no leisure; every day was filled with labor and +with thought. He was one of the apostles of science, and he served his +divine master with a self-sacrificing zeal that knew no abatement—with +an ardor that constantly increased, and with a devotion unwavering and +constant as the polar star. +</P> + +<P> +In order that the people at large might have the benefit of his +numerous discoveries, and his vast knowledge, he delivered at Berlin a +course of lectures, consisting of sixty-one free addresses, upon the +following subjects: +</P> + +<P> +Five upon the nature and limits of physical geography. +</P> + +<P> +Three were devoted to a history of science. +</P> + +<P> +Two to inducements to a study of natural science. +</P> + +<P> +Sixteen on the heavens. +</P> + +<P> +Five on the form, density, latent heat, and magnetic power of the +earth, and to the polar light. +</P> + +<P> +Four were on the nature of the crust of the earth, on hot springs, +earthquakes and volcanoes. +</P> + +<P> +Two on mountains, and the type of their formation. +</P> + +<P> +Two on the form of the earth's surface, on the connection of +continents, and the elevation of soil over ravines. +</P> + +<P> +Three on the sea as a globular fluid surrounding the earth. +</P> + +<P> +Ten on the atmosphere—as an elastic fluid surrounding the earth, and +on the distribution of heat. +</P> + +<P> +One on the geographic distribution of organized matter in general, +</P> + +<P> +Three on the geography of plants. +</P> + +<P> +Three on the geography of animals; and +</P> + +<P> +Two on the races of men. +</P> + +<P> +These lectures are what is known as the Cosmos, and present a +scientific picture of the world—of infinite diversity in unity; of +ceaseless motion in the eternal grasp of law. +</P> + +<P> +These lectures contain the result of his investigation, observation and +experience; they furnish the connection between phenomena; they +disclose some of the changes through which the earth has passed in the +countless ages; the history of vegetation, animals and men; the effects +of climate upon individuals and nations; the relation we sustain to +other worlds, and demonstrate that all phenomena, whether insignificant +or grand, exist in accordance with inexorable law. +</P> + +<P> +There are some truths, however, that we never should forget: +Superstition has always been the relentless enemy of science; faith has +been a hater of demonstration; hypocrisy has been sincere only in its +dread of truth, and all religions are inconsistent with mental freedom. +</P> + +<P> +Since the murder of Hypatia in the fifth century, when the polished +blade of Greek philosophy was broken by the club of ignorant +Catholicism, until today, superstition has detested every effort of +reason. +</P> + +<P> +It is almost impossible to conceive of the completeness of the victory +that the church achieved over philosophy. For ages science was utterly +ignored; thought was a poor slave; an ignorant priest was master of the +world; faith put out the eyes of the soul; the reason was a trembling +coward; the imagination was set on fire of hell; every human feeling +was sought to be suppressed; love was considered infinitely sinful; +pleasure was the road to eternal fire, and God was supposed to be happy +only when his children were miserable. The world was governed by an +Almighty's whim; prayers could change the order of things, halt the +grand procession of nature; could produce rain, avert pestilence, +famine, and death in all its forms. There was no idea of the certain; +all depended upon divine pleasure—or displeasure, rather; heaven was +full of inconsistent malevolence, and earth of ignorance. Everything +was done to appease the divine wrath; every public calamity was caused +by the sins of the people; by a failure to pay tithes, or for having, +even in secret, felt a disrespect for a priest. To the poor multitude +the earth was a kind of enchanted forest, full of demons ready to +devour, and theological serpents lurking, with infinite power, to +fascinate and torture the unhappy and impotent soul. Life to them was +a dim and mysterious labyrinth, in which they wandered weary, and lost, +guided by priests as bewildered as themselves, without knowing that at +every step the Ariadne of reason offered them the long lost clue. +</P> + +<P> +The very heavens were full of death; the lightning was regarded as the +glittering vengeance of God, and the earth was thick with snares for +the unwary feet of man. The soul was supposed to be crowded with the +wild beasts of desire; the heart to be totally corrupt, prompting only +to crime; virtues were regarded as deadly sins in disguise; there was a +continual warfare being waged between the Deity and the devil for the +possession of every soul, the latter generally being considered +victorious. The flood, the tornado, the volcano, were all evidences of +the displeasure of heaven and the sinfulness of man. The blight that +withered, the frost that blackened, the earthquake that devoured, were +the messengers of the creator. +</P> + +<P> +The world was governed by fear. +</P> + +<P> +Against all the evils of nature there was known only the defense of +prayer, of fasting, of credulity, and devotion. Man, in his +helplessness, endeavored to soften the heart of God. The faces of the +multitude were blanched with fear, and wet with tears; they were the +prey of hypocrites, kings and priests. +</P> + +<P> +My heart bleeds when I contemplate the sufferings endured by the +millions now dead; of those who lived when the world appeared to be +insane; when the heavens were filled with an infinite HORROR, who +snatched babes, with dimpled hands and rosy cheeks, from the white +breasts of mothers and dashed them into an abyss of eternal flame. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly, beautifully, like the coming of the dawn, came the grand truth +that the universe is governed by law—that disease fastens itself upon +the good and upon the bad; that the tornado cannot be stopped by +counting beads; that the rushing lava pauses not for bended knees, the +lightning for clasped and uplifted hands, nor the cruel waves of the +sea for prayer; that paying tithes causes rather than prevents famine; +that pleasure is not sin; that happiness is the only good; that demons +and gods exist only in the imagination; that faith is a lullaby, sung +to put the soul to sleep; that devotion is a bribe that fear offers to +supposed power; that offering rewards in another world for obedience in +this, is simply buying a soul on credit; that knowledge consists in +ascertaining the laws of nature, and that wisdom is the science of +happiness. Slowly, grandly, beautifully, these truths are dawning upon +mankind. +</P> + +<P> +From Copernicus we learned that this earth is only a grain of sand on +the infinite shore of the universe; that everywhere we are surrounded +by shining worlds vastly greater than our own, all moving and existing +in accordance with law. True, the earth began to grow small, but man +began to grow great. +</P> + +<P> +The moment the fact was established that other worlds are governed by +law, it was only natural to conclude that our little world was also +under its dominion. The old theological method of accounting for +physical phenomena by the pleasure and displeasure of the Deity was, by +the intellectual, abandoned. They found: that disease, death, life, +thought, heat, cold, the seasons, the winds, the dreams of man, the +instinct of animals—in short, that all physical and mental phenomena +are governed by law, absolute, eternal and inexorable. +</P> + +<P> +Let it be understood by the term Law is meant the same invariable +relations of succession and resemblance predicated of all facts +springing from like conditions. Law is a fact—not a cause. It is a +fact that like conditions produce like results; this fact is LAW. When +we say that the universe is governed by law, we mean that this fact, +called law, is incapable of change; that it is, has been, and forever +will be, the same inexorable, immutable FACT, inseparable from all +phenomena. Law, in this sense, was not enacted or made. It could not +have been otherwise than as it is. That which necessarily exists has +no creator. +</P> + +<P> +Only a few years ago this earth was considered the real center of the +universe; all the stars were supposed to revolve around this +insignificant atom. The German mind, more than any other, has done +away with this piece of egotism. Purbach and Mullerus, in the +fifteenth century, contributed most to the advancement of astronomy in +their day. To the latter the world is indebted for the introduction of +decimal fractions, which completed our arithmetical notation, and +formed the second of the three steps by which, in modern times, the +science of numbers has been so greatly improved; and yet both of these +men believed in the most childish absurdities—at least in enough of +them to die without their orthodoxy having ever been questioned. +</P> + +<P> +Next came the great Copernicus, and he stands at the head of the heroic +thinkers of his time, who had the courage and the mental strength to +break the chains of prejudice, custom and authority, and to establish +truth on the basis of experience, observation and reason. He removed +the earth, so to speak, from the center of the universe, and ascribed +to it a twofold motion, and demonstrated the true position which it +occupies in the solar system. +</P> + +<P> +At his bidding the earth began to revolve. At the command of his +genius it commenced its grand flight amid the eternal constellations +around the sun. For fifty years his discoveries were disregarded. All +at once, by the exertions of Galileo, they were kindled into so grand a +conflagration as to consume the philosophy of Aristotle, to alarm the +hierarchy of Rome, and to threaten the existence of every opinion not +founded upon experience, observation and reason. +</P> + +<P> +The earth was no longer considered a universe governed by the caprices +of some revengeful Deity, who had made the stars out of what he had +left after completing the world, and had stuck them in the sky simply +to adorn the night. +</P> + +<P> +I have said this much concerning astronomy because it was the first +splendid step forward! The first sublime blow that shattered the lance +and shivered the shield of superstition; the first real help that man +received from heaven. Because it was the first great lever placed +beneath the altar of a false religion; the first revelation of the +infinite to man, the first authoritative declaration that the universe +is governed by law; the first science that gave the lie direct to the +cosmogony of barbarism; and because it is the sublimest victory that +reason has achieved. +</P> + +<P> +In speaking of astronomy I have confined myself to the discoveries made +since the revival of learning. Long ago, on the banks of the Ganges, +ages before Copernicus lived, Aryabhatta taught that the earth is a +sphere and revolves on its own axis. This, however, does not detract +from the glory of the great German. The discovery of the Hindoo had +been lost in the midnight of Europe—in the age of faith—and +Copernicus was as much a discoverer as though Aryabhatta had never +lived. +</P> + +<P> +In this short address there is no time to speak of other sciences, and +to point out the particular evidence furnished by each to establish the +dominion of law, nor to more than mention the name of Descartes, the +first who undertook to give an explanation of the celestial motions, or +who formed the vast and philosophic conception of reducing all the +phenomena of the universe to the same law; of Montaigne, one of the +heroes of common sense; of Galvani, whose experiments gave the +telegraph to the world; of Voltaire, who contributed more than any +other of the sons of men to the destruction of religious intolerance; +of August Comte, whose genius erected to itself a monument that still +touches the stars; of Guttenberg, Watt, Stephenson, Arkwright, all +soldiers of science in the grand army of the dead kings. +</P> + +<P> +The glory of science is that it is freeing the soul-breaking the mental +manacles—getting the brain out of bondage—giving courage to +thought—filling the world with mercy, justice and joy. +</P> + +<P> +Science found agriculture plowing with a stick—reaping with a +sickle—commerce at the mercy of the treacherous waves and the +inconstant winds—a world without books—without schools—man denying +the authority of reason, employing his ingenuity in the manufacture of +instruments of torture—in building inquisitions and cathedrals. It +found the land filled with malicious monks—with persecuting +Protestants, and the burners of men. It found a world full of fear, +ignorance upon its knees; credulity the greatest virtue; women treated +like beasts, of burden; cruelty the only means of reformation. It +found the world at the mercy of disease and famine; men trying to read +their fates in the stars, and to tell their fortunes by signs and +wonders; generals thinking to conquer their enemies by making the sign +of the cross, or by telling a rosary. It found all history full of +petty and ridiculous falsehood, and the Almighty was supposed to spend +most of his time turning sticks into snakes, drowning boys for swimming +on Sunday, and killing little children for the purpose of converting +their parents. It found the earth filled with slaves and tyrants, the +people in all countries downtrodden, half naked, half starved, without +hope, and without reason in the world. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the condition of man when the morning of science dawned upon +his brain, and before he had heard the sublime declaration that the +universe is governed by law. +</P> + +<P> +For the change that has taken place we are indebted solely to +science—the only lever capable of raising mankind. Abject faith is +barbarism; reason is civilization. To obey is slavish; to act from a +sense of obligation perceived by the reason is noble. Ignorance +worships mystery; reason explains it—the one grovels, the other soars. +</P> + +<P> +No wonder that fable is the enemy of knowledge. A man with a false +diamond shuns the society of lapidaries, and it is upon this principle +that superstition abhors science. +</P> + +<P> +In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. The have +worshiped their destroyers—they have canonized the most gigantic +liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the +loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder. +</P> + +<P> +Imposture has always worn a crown. +</P> + +<P> +The world is beginning to change because the people are beginning to +think. To think is to advance. Everywhere the great minds are +investigating the creeds and the superstitions of men—the phenomena of +nature, and the laws of things. At the head of this great army of +investigators stood Humboldt—the serene leader of an intellectual +host—a king by the suffrage of science, and the divine right of genius. +</P> + +<P> +And today we are not honoring some butcher called a soldier—some wily +politician called a statesman—some robber called a king—nor some +malicious metaphysician called a saint. We are honoring the grand +Humboldt, whose victories were all achieved in the arena of thought; +who destroyed prejudice, ignorance and error—not men: who shed +light—not blood, and who contributed to the knowledge, the wealth and +the happiness of all mankind. +</P> + +<P> +His life was pure, his aims lofty, his learning varied and profound, +and his achievements vast. +</P> + +<P> +We honor him because he has ennobled our race, because he has +contributed as much as any man living or dead to the real prosperity of +the world. We honor him because he honored us—because he labored for +others—because he was the most learned man of the most learned +nation—because he left a legacy of glory to every human being. For +these reasons he is honored throughout the world. Millions are doing +homage to his genius at this moment, and millions are pronouncing his +name with reverence, and recounting what he accomplished. +</P> + +<P> +We associate the name of Humboldt with oceans, continents mountains and +volcanoes—with the great plains—the wide deserts—the snow-lipped +craters of the Andes—with primeval forests and European capitals—with +wildernesses and universities—with savages and savants—with the +lonely rivers of unpeopled wastes—with peaks and pampas, and steppes, +and cliffs and crags—with the progress of the world—with every +science known to man, and with every star glittering in the immensity +of space. +</P> + +<P> +Humboldt adopted none of the soul-shrinking creeds of his day; wasted +none of his time in the stupidities, inanities and contradictions of +theological metaphysics; he did not endeavor to harmonize the astronomy +and geology of a barbarous people with the science of the nineteenth +century. Never, for one moment, did he abandon the sublime standard of +truth; he investigated, he studied, he thought, he separated the gold +from the dross in the crucible of his grand brain. He was never found +on his knees before the altar of superstition. He stood erect by the +grand, tranquil column of reason. He was an admirer, a lover, an adorer +of nature, and at the age of ninety, bowed by the weight of nearly a +century, covered with the insignia of honor, loved by a nation, +respected by a world, with kings for his servants, he laid his weary +head upon her bosom—upon the bosom of the universal mother—and with +her loving arms around him, sank into that slumber called death. +</P> + +<P> +History added another name to the starry scroll of the immortals. +</P> + +<P> +The world is his monument; upon the eternal granite of her hills he +inscribed his name, and there, upon everlasting stone, his genius wrote +this, the sublimest of truths: +</P> + +<P> +"THE UNIVERSE IS GOVERNED BY LAW!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="whichway"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S LECTURE ON WHICH WAY? +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ladies and Gentlemen: For thousands of years men have been asking the +questions: "How shall we civilize the world? How shall we protect +life, liberty, property and reputations? How shall we do away with +crime and poverty? How clothe, and feed, and educate, and civilize +mankind?" These are the questions that are asked by thoughtful men and +thoughtful women. The question with them is not, "What will we do in +some other world?" Time enough to ask that when we get there. The +business we will attend to now is, how are, we to civilize the world? +What priest shall I ask? What sacred volume shall I search? What +oracle can I consult? At what shrine must I bow to find out what is to +be done? Each church has a different answer; each has a different +recipe for the salvation of the people, but not while they are in this +world. All that is to be done in this world is to get ready for the +next. +</P> + +<P> +In the first place I am met by the theological world. Have I the right +to inquire? They say, "Certainly; it is your duty to inquire." Each +church has a recipe for the salvation of this world, but not while you +are in this world—afterward. They treat time as a kind of pier—a +kind of wharf running out into the great ocean of eternity; and they +treat us all as though we were waiting there, sitting on our trunks, +for the gospel ship. +</P> + +<P> +I want to know what to do here. Have I the right to inquire? Yes. If +I have the right to inquire, then I have the right to investigate. If I +have the right to investigate, I have the right to accept. If I have +the right to accept, I have the right to reject. And what religion +have I the right to reject? That which does not conform with my +reason, with my standard of truth, with my standard of common sense. +Millions of men have been endeavoring to govern this world by means of +the supernatural. Thousands and thousands of churches exist, thousands +of cathedrals and temples have been built, millions of men have been +engaged to preach this gospel; and what has been the result in this +world? Will one church have any sympathy with another? Does the +religion of one country have any respect for that of another? Or does +not each religion claim to be the only one? And does not the priest of +every religion, with infinite impudence, consign the disciples of all +others to eternal fire? +</P> + +<P> +Why is it the churches have failed to civilize this world? Why is it +that the Christian countries are no better than any other countries? +Why is it that Christian men are no better than any other men? Why is +it that ministers as a class are no better than doctors, or lawyers, or +merchants, or mechanics, or locomotive engineers? And a locomotive +engineer is a thousand times more useful. Give me a good engineer and +a bad preacher to go through this world with rather than a bad engineer +and a good preacher; and there is this curious fact about the believers +in the supernatural: The priests of one church have no confidence in +the miracles and wonders told by the priests of the other churches. +Maybe they know each other. A Christian missionary will tell the +Hindoo of the miracles of the bible; the Hindoo smiles. The Hindoo +tells the Christian missionary of the miracles of his sacred books; and +the missionary looks upon him with pity and contempt. No priest takes +the word of another. +</P> + +<P> +I heard once a little story that illustrates this point: A gentleman in +a little party was telling of a most wonderful occurrence, and when he +had finished everybody said: "Is it possible? Why, did you ever hear +anything like that?" All united in a kind of wondering chorus except +one man. He said nothing. He was perfectly still and unmoved; and one +who had been greatly astonished by the story said to him: "Did you hear +that story?" "Yes." "Well, you don't appear to be excited." "Well +no," he said; "I am a liar myself." +</P> + +<P> +There is another trouble with the supernatural. It has no honesty; it +is consumed by egotism; it does not think—it knows; consequently it +has no patience with the honest doubter. And how has the church +treated the honest doubter? He has been answered by force, by +authority, by popes, by cardinals and bishops, and councils, and, above +all, by mobs. In that way the honest doubter has been answered. There +is this difference between the minister, the church, the clergy, and +the men who believe in this world. I might as well state the +question—I may go further than you. The real question is this: Are we +to be governed by a supernatural being, or are we to govern ourselves? +That is the question. Is God the source of power, or does all +authority spring, in governing, from the consent of the governed? That +is the question. In other words, is the universe a monarchy, a +despotism, or a democracy? I take the democratic side, not in a +political sense. The question is, whether this world should be +governed by God or by man; and when I say "God" I mean the being that +these gentlemen have treated and enthroned upon the ignorance of +mankind. +</P> + +<P> +Now let us admit, for the sake of argument, that the bible is true. Let +us admit, for the sake of argument, that God once governed this +world—not that He did, but let us admit it, and I intend to speak of +no god but our God, because we all insist that of all the gods ours is +the best, and if He is not good we need not trouble ourselves about the +others. Let them take care of themselves. +</P> + +<P> +Now, the first question is, whether this world shall be governed by God +or man. Admitting that the being spoken of in the bible is God, He +governed this world once. There was a theocracy at the start. That +was the first government of the world. Now, how do you judge of a man? +The best test of a man is, how does he use power? That is the supreme +test of manhood. How does he treat those within his control? The +greater the man, the grander the man, the more careful he is in the use +of power—the tenderer he is, the nearer just, the greater, the more +merciful, the grander, the more charitable. Tell me how a man treats +his wife or his children, his poor debtors, his servants, and I will +tell you what manner of a man he be. That, I say, is the supreme test, +and we know tonight how a good and great man treats his inferiors. We +know that. And a man endeavoring to raise his fellow-men higher in the +scale of civilization—what will that man appeal to? Will he appeal to +the lowest or to the highest that is in man? Let us be honest. Will +he appeal to prejudice—the fortress, the armor, the sword and shield +of ignorance? Will he appeal to credulity—the ring in the nose by +which priests lead stupidity? Will he appeal to the cowardly man? +Will he play upon his fears—fear, the capital stock of imposture, the +lever and fulcrum of hypocrisy? Will he appeal to the selfishness and +all the slimy serpents that crawl in the den of savagery? Or will he +appeal to reason, the torch of the mind? Will he appeal to justice? +Will he appeal to charity, which is justice in blossom? Will he appeal +to liberty and love? These are the questions. What will he do? What +did our God do? Let us see. The first thing we know of Him is in the +Garden of Eden. How did He endeavor to make His children great, and +strong, and good, and free? Did He say anything to Adam and Eve about +the sacred relation of marriage? Did He say anything to them about +loving children? Did He say anything to them about learning anything +under heaven? Did He say one word about intellectual liberty? Did he +say one word about reason or about justice? Did He make the slightest +effort to improve them? All that He did in the world was to give them +one poor little miserable, barren command, "Thou shalt not eat of a +certain fruit." That's all that amounted to anything; and, when they +sinned, did this great God take them in the arms of His love and +endeavor to reform them? No; He simply put upon them a curse. When +they were expelled He said to the woman: "I will greatly multiply thy +sorrow. In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children. Thy husband shall +rule over thee." God made every mother a criminal, and placed a +perpetual penalty of pain upon human love. Our God made wives +slaves—slaves of their husbands. Our God corrupted the marriage +relation and paralyzed the firesides of this world. That is what our +God did. And what did He say to poor Adam? "Cursed be the ground for +thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; +thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat +the herb of the field, and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat +bread." Did He say one word calculated to make him a better man? Did +He put in the horizon of the future one star of hope? Let us be +honest, and see what this God did, and we will judge of Him simply by +ordinary common sense. +</P> + +<P> +After a while Cain murdered his brother, and he was detected by this +God. And what did this God say to him? Did He say one word of the +crime of shedding human blood? Not a word. Did He say one word +calculated to excite in the breast of Cain the slightest real sorrow +for his deed? Not the slightest. Did He tell him anything about where +Abel was? Nothing. Did He endeavor to make him a better man? Not a +bit. What had He ever taught him before on that subject? Nothing. And +so Cain went out to the other sons and daughters of Adam, according to +the bible, and they multiplied and increased until they covered the +earth. God gave them no code of laws. God never built them a +schoolhouse. God never sent a teacher. God never said a word to them +about a future state. God never held up before their gaze that +dazzling reward of heaven; never spoke about the lurid gulfs of hell; +kept divine punishment a perfect secret, and without having given them +the slightest opportunity, simply drowned the world. Splendid +administration! Cleveland will do better than that. And, after the +waters had gone away, then He gave them some commandments. I suppose +that He saw by that time that they needed guidance. +</P> + +<P> +And here are the commandments: +</P> + +<P> +1. You may eat all kinds of birds, beasts and fishes. +</P> + +<P> +2. You must not eat blood; if you do, I will kill you. +</P> + +<P> +3. Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing more. No good advice; not a word about government; not a word +about the rights of man or woman, or children; not a word about any law +of nature; not a word about any science—nothing, not even arithmetic. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing. And so He let them go on, and in a little while they came to +the same old state; and began building the Tower of Babel; and he went +there and confounded, as they said, their languages. Never said a word +to them; never told them how foolish it was to try and reach heaven +that way. And the next we find Him talking to Abraham, and with +Abraham He makes a contract. And how did He do it? "I will bless them +that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee." Fine contract for a +God. And thereupon He made certain promises to Abraham—promised to +give him the whole world, all the nations round about, and that his +seed should be as the sands of the sea. Never kept one of His +promises—not one. He made the same promises to Isaac, and broke every +one. Then He made them all over to Jacob, and broke every one; made +them again to Moses, and broke them all. Never said a word about +anybody behaving themselves—not a word. Finally, these people whom He +had taken under His special care became slaves in the land of Egypt. +How ashamed God must have been! Finally He made up His mind to rescue +them from that servitude, and He sent Moses and Aaron. He never said a +word to Moses or Aaron that Pharaoh was wrong. He never said a word to +them about how the women felt when their male children were taken and +destroyed. He simply sent Moses before Pharaoh with a cane in his hand +that he could turn into a serpent; and, when Pharaoh called in +magicians and they did the same, Pharaoh laughed. And then they made +frogs; and Pharaoh sent for his magicians, and they did the same, and +Pharaoh still laughed. And this God had infinite power, but Pharaoh +defeated Him at every point! +</P> + +<P> +It puts me in mind of the story that great Fenian told when the great +excitement was about Ireland. An Irishman was telling about the +condition of Ireland. He said: "We have got in Ireland now over +300,000 soldiers, all equipped. Every man of them has got a musket and +ammunition. They are ready to march at a minute's notice." "But," said +the other man, "why don't they march?" "Why," said the other man, "the +police won't let them." How admirable! Imagine the infinite God +endeavoring to liberate the Hebrews, and prevented by a king, who would +not let the children of Israel go until he had done some little +miracles with sticks! Think of it! But, said Christians, "you must +wait a little while if you wish to find the foundation of law." +</P> + +<P> +Christians now assert that from Sinai came to this world all knowledge +of right and wrong, and that from its flaming top we received the first +ideas of law and justice. Let us look at those ten commandments. +Which of those ten commandments were new, and which of those ten +commandments were old? "Thou shalt not kill." That was as old as life. +Murder has been a crime; also, because men object to being murdered. +If you read the same bible you will find that Moses, seeing an +Israelite and an Egyptian contending together, smote the Egyptian and +hid his body in the sand. After he had committed that crime Moses fled +from the land. Why? Simply because there was a law against murder. +That is all. "Honor thy father and thy mother." That is as old as +birth. "Thou shalt not commit adultery." That is as old as sex. +"Thou shalt not steal." That is as old as work, and as old as property. +"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." That is as +old as the earth. Never was there a nation, never was there a tribe on +the earth that did not have substantially, those commandments. What, +then, were new? First, "Thou shalt worship no other God; thou shalt +have no other God." Why? "Because I am a jealous God." Second, "Thou +shalt not make any graven image." Third, "Thou shalt not take My name +in vain." Fourth, "Thou shalt not work on the Sabbath day." What use +were these commandments? None—not the slightest. How much better it +would have been if God from Sinai, instead of the commandments, had +said: "Thou shalt not enslave thy fellow-man; no human being is +entitled to the results of another's labor." Suppose He had said: +"Thou shalt not persecute for opinion's sake; thought and speech must +be forever free." Suppose He had said, instead of "Thou shalt not work +on the Sabbath day," "A man shall have but one wife; a woman shall +have but one husband; husbands shall love their wives; wives shall love +their husbands and their children with all their hearts and as +themselves"—how much better it would have been for this world. +</P> + +<P> +Long before Moses was born the Egyptians taught one God; but +afterwards, I believe, in their weakness, they degenerated into a +belief in the Trinity. They taught the divine origin of the soul, and +taught judgment after death. They taught as a reward for belief in +their doctrine eternal joy, and as a punishment for non-belief eternal +pain. Egypt, as a matter of fact, was far better governed than +Palestine. The laws of Egypt were better than the laws of God. In +Egypt woman was equal with man. Long before Moses was born there were +queens upon the Egyptian throne. Long before Moses was born they had a +written code of laws, and their laws were administered by courts and +judges. They had rules of evidence. They understood the philosophy of +damages. Long before Moses was born they had asylums for the insane +and hospitals for the sick. Long before God appeared on Sinai there +were schools in Egypt, and the highest office next to the throne was +opened to the successful scholar. The Egyptian married but one wife. +His wife was called the lady of the house. Women were not secluded; +and, above all and over all, the people of Egypt were not divided into +castes, and were infinitely better governed than God ever thought of. +I am speaking of the God of this bible. If Moses had remembered more +of what he saw in Egypt his government would have been far better than +it was. Long before these commandments were given, Zoroaster taught the +Hindoos that there was one infinite and supreme God. They had a code +of laws, and their laws were administered by judges in their courts. +By those laws, at the death of a father, the unmarried daughter +received twice as much of his property as his son. Compare those laws +with the laws of Moses. +</P> + +<P> +So, too, the Romans had their code of laws. The Romans were the +greatest lawyers the world produced. The Romans had a code of civil +laws, and that code today is the foundation of all law in the civilized +world. The Romans built temples to Truth, to Faith, to Valor, to +Concord, to Modesty, to Charity and to Chastity. And so with the +Grecians. And yet you will find Christian ministers today contending +that all ideas of law, of justice and of right came from Sinai, from +the ten commandments, from the Mosaic laws. No lawyer who understands +his profession will claim that is so. No lawyer who has studied the +history of law will claim it. No man who knows history itself will +claim it. No man will claim it but an ignorant zealot. +</P> + +<P> +Let us go another step—let us compare the ideas of this God with the +ideas of uninspired men. I am making this long preface because I want +to get it out of your minds that the bible is inspired. +</P> + +<P> +Now let us go along a little and see what is God's opinion of liberty. +Nothing is of more value in this world today than liberty—liberty of +body and liberty of mind. Without liberty, the universe would be as a +dungeon into which human beings are flung like poor and miserable +convicts. Intellectual liberty is the air of the soul, the sunshine of +the mind. Without it we should be in darkness. Now, Jehovah commanded +the Jewish people to take captives the strangers and sojourners amongst +them, and ordered that they and their children should be bondsmen and +bondswomen for ever. +</P> + +<P> +Now let us compare Jehovah to Epictetus—a man to whom no revelation +was ever made—a man to whom this God did not appear. Let us listen to +him: "Remember your servants are to be treated as your own +brothers—children of the same God." On the subject of liberty is not +Epictetus a better authority than Jehovah, who told the Jews to make +bondsmen and bondswomen of the heathen round about? And He said they +were to make them their bondsmen and bondswomen forever. Why? Because +they were heathen. Why? Because they were not children of the Jews. +He was the God of the Jews and not of the rest of mankind. So He said +to His chosen people: "Pillage upon the enemy and destroy the people of +other gods. Buy the heathen round about." Yet Cicero, a poor pagan +lawyer, said this—and he had not even read the old testament—had not +even had the advantage of being enlightened by the prophets: "They who +say that we should love our fellow-citizens, and not foreigners, +destroy the universal brotherhood of mankind, and with it benevolence +and justice would perish forever." Is not Cicero greater than Jehovah? +The bible, inspired by Jehovah, says: "If a man smite his servant with +a rod and he die under his hand he shall be punished. It he continue a +day or two and then die, he shall not be punished." Zeno, the founder +of the stoics, who had never heard of Jehovah, and never read a word of +Moses, said this: "No man can be the owner of another, and the title is +bad. Whether the slave became a slave by conquest or by purchase, the +title is bad." Let us come and see whether Jehovah has any humanity in +Him. Jehovah ordered the Jewish general to make war, and this was the +order: "And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou +shalt smite them and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant +with them, nor show mercy unto them." And yet Epictetus, whom I have +already quoted, said: "Treat those in thy power as thou wouldst have +thy superiors treat thee." +</P> + +<P> +I am on the side of the pagan. Is it possible that a being of infinite +goodness said: "I will heap mischief upon them; I will send My arrows +upon them. They shall be burned with hunger; they shall be devoured +with burning heat and with bitter destruction. I will also send the +teeth of locusts upon them, with the poisonous serpent of the desert. +The sound without and the terror within, shall destroy both the young +men and the virgins, the sucklings also, and the men with gray hairs." +While Seneca, a poor uninspired Roman, said: "A wise man will not +pardon any crime that ought to be punished, but will accomplish in +other way all that is sought. He will spare some; he will pardon and +watch over some because of their youth; he will pardon these on account +of their ignorance. His clemency will not fail what is sought by +justice, but his clemency will fulfill justice." That was said by +Seneca. Can we believe that this Jehovah said: "Let his children be +fatherless and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually +vagabonds, and beg. Let them seek their bread out of desolate places. +Let the extortioner catch all that he hath, and let the stranger spoil +his labor. Let no one extend mercy unto them, neither let any favor +his fatherless children." Did Jehovah say this? Surely He had never +heard this line—this plaintive music from the Hindoo: "Sweet is the +lute to those who have not heard the voices of their own children." +Let us see the generosity of Jehovah out of the cloud of darkness on +Mount Sinai. He said to the Jews: "Thou shalt have no other God before +Me. Thou shalt not bow down to any other gods, for the Lord thy God is +a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children +to the third an fourth generation of them that hate Me." Just think of +God saying to people: "If you do not love Me I will damn you." +Contrast this with the words put by the Hindoo poet into the mouth of +Brahma: "I am the same to all mankind. The who honestly worship other +gods involuntarily worship me. I am he that partaketh of all worship. +I am the reward of worship." How perfectly sublime! Let me read it to +you again: "I am the same to all mankind. They who honestly worship +other gods involuntarily worship me. I am he that partaketh of all +worship. I am the reward of worship." Compare these passages. The +first is a dungeon, which crude hands have digged with jealous slime. +The other is like the dome of the firmament, inlaid with +constellations. Is it possible God ever said: "If a prophet deceive +when he hath spoken a thing, I, the Lord, hath deceived that prophet?" +Compare that passage with the poet, a pagan: "Better remain silent the +remainder of life than speak falsely." +</P> + +<P> +Can we believe a being of infinite mercy gave this command: "Put every +man his sword by his side; go from the gate throughout the camp, and +slay every man his brother, every man his companion, and every man his +neighbor. Consecrate it, yourselves this day. Let every man lay his +sword even upon his son, upon his brother, that he bestow blessing upon +Me this day." Surely that was not the outcome of a great, magnanimous +spirit, like that of the Roman emperor, who declared: "I had rather +keep a single Roman citizen alive than slay a thousand enemies." +Compare the last command given to the children of Israel with the words +of Marcus Aurelius: "I have formed an ideal of the State, in which +there is the same law for all, and equal rights and equal liberty of +speech established for all—an Empire where nothing is honored so much +as the freedom of the citizens." I am on the side of the Roman emperor. +</P> + +<P> +What is more beautiful than the old story from Sufi? There was a man +who for seven years did every act of good, every kind of charity, and +at the end of the seven years he mounted the steps to the gate of +heaven and knocked. A voice cried, "Who is there?" He cried, "Thy +servant, O Lord;" and the gates were shut. Seven other years he did +every good work, and again mounted the steps to heaven and knocked. +The voice cried, "Who is there?" He answered, "Thy slave, O God;" and +the gates were shut. Seven other years he did every good deed, and +again mounted the steps to heaven, and the voice said: "Who is there?" +He replied "Thyself, O God;" and the gates wide open flew. Is there +anything in our religion so warm or so beautiful as that? Compare that +story from a pagan with the Presbyterian religion. +</P> + +<P> +Take this story of Endesthora, who was a king of Egypt, and started for +the place where the horizon touched the earth, where he was to meet +God. With him followed Argune and Bemis and Traubation. They were +taught that, when any man started after God in that way, if he had been +guilty of any crime he would fall by the way. Endesthora walked at the +head and suddenly he missed Argune. He said, "He was not always +merciful in the hour of victory." A little while after he missed +Bemis, and said, "He fought not so much for the rights of man as for +his own glory." A little farther on he missed Traubation. He said, "My +God, I know no reason for his failing to reach the place where the +horizon touches the earth;" and the god Ram appeared to him, and +opening the curtains of the sky, said to him: "Enter." And Endesthora +said: "But where are my brethren? Where are Argune and Beinis and +Traubation?" And the god said: "They sinned in their time, and they +are condemned to suffer below." Then said Endestbora: "I do not wish +to enter into your heaven without my friends. If they are below, then I +will join them." But the god said: "They are here before you; I simply +said this to try your soul." Endesthora simply turned and said: "But +what of my dog?" The god said, "Thou knowest that if the shadow of a +dog fall upon the sacrifice, it is unclean. How, then, can a dog enter +heaven?" And Endesthora replies: "I know that, and I know another +thing; that ingratitude is the blackest of crimes, whether it be to man +or beast. That dog has been my faithful friend. He has followed me and +I will not desert even him." And the god said: "Let the dog follow." +Compare that with the bible stories. +</P> + +<P> +Long before the advent of Christ, Aristotle said: "We should conduct +ourselves toward others as we would have them conduct themselves toward +us." Seneca said: "Do not to your neighbor what you would not have +your neighbor do to you." Socrates said: "Act toward others as you +would have others act toward you. Forgive your enemies, render good for +evil, and kiss even the hand that is upraised to smite." Krishna said: +"Cease to do evil; aim to do well; love your enemies. It is the law of +love that virtue is the only thing that has strength." Poor, miserable +pagans! Did you ever hear anything like this? Is it possible that one +of the authors of the new testament was inspired when he said that man +was not created for woman, but woman for man? Epictetus said: "What is +more delightful than to be so dear to your wife as to be on her account +dearer even to yourself?" Compare that with St. Paul: "But I would +have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the +woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. Wives, submit +yourselves unto your husbands as unto the Lord." That was inspiration. +This was written by a poor, despised heathen: "In whatever house the +husband is contented with the wife and the wife with the husband, in +that house will fortune dwell. In the house where the woman is not +honored, let the curse be pronounced. Where the wife is honored, there +God is truly worshiped." I wish Jehovah had said something like that +from Sinai. Is there anything as beautiful as this in the new +testament: "Shall I tell you where nature is more blest and fair? It +is where those we love abide. Though the space be small, it is ample as +earth; though it be a desert, through it run the rivers of Paradise." +</P> + +<P> +Compare these things with the curses pronounced in the old testament, +where you read of the heathen being given over to butchery and death, +and the women and babes to destruction; and, after you have read them, +read the chapters of horrors in the new testament, threatening eternal +fire and flame; and then read this, the greatest thought uttered by the +greatest of human beings: +</P> + +<P> +The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain +from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed: It blesseth +him that gives and him that takes; 'Tis mightiest in the mighty; It +becomes the throned monarch better this his crown. +</P> + +<P> +Compare that with your doctrine of the new testament! If Jehovah was +an infinite God and knew things from the beginning, He knew that His +bible would be a breast-work behind which tyranny and hypocrisy would +crouch, and knew His bible would be the auction-block on which the +mother would stand while her babe was sold from her, because He knew +His bible would be quoted by tyrants; that it would be quoted in +defense of robbers called kings, and by hypocrites called priests. He +knew that He had taught the Jewish people; He knew that He had found +them free and left them slaves; He knew that He had broken every single +promise made to them; He knew that, while other nations advanced in +knowledge, in art, in science, His chosen people were subjects still. +He promised them the world; He gave them a desert. He promised them +liberty, and made them slaves. He promised them power; He gave them +exile, and any one who reads the old testament is compelled to say that +nothing could add to their misery. +</P> + +<P> +Let us be honest. How do you account for this religion? This world; +where did it come from? You hear every minister say that man is a +religious animal—that religion is natural. While man is an ignorant +animal man will be a theological animal, and no longer. Where did we +get this religion? The savage knew but little of nature, but thought +that everything happened in reference to him. He thought his sins +caused earthquakes, and that his virtues made the sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing is so egotistical as ignorance. You know, and so do I, that if +no human being existed, the sun would shine, and that tempests would +now and then devastate the earth; violets would spread their velvet +bosoms to the sun, daisies would grow, roses would fill the air with +perfume, and now and then volcanoes would illuminate the horizon with +their lurid glare; the grass would grow, the waters would run, and so +far as nature is concerned, everything would be as joyous as though the +earth were filled with happy homes. We know the barbarian savage +thinks that all this was on his account. He thinks that there dwelt +two very powerful deities; that there was a good one, because he knows +good things happen to him; and that there was a bad one, because he +knows bad things happen to him. Behind the evil influence he puts a +devil, and behind the good, an intention of God; and then he imagines +both these beings are in opposition, and that, between them, they +struggle for the possession of his ignorant soul. He also thinks that +the place where the good deity lives is heaven, and that the place +where the other deity keeps himself is a place of torture and +punishment. And about that time other barbarians have chosen too keep +the ignorant ones in subjection by means of the doctrine of fear and +punishment. +</P> + +<P> +There is no reforming power in fear. You can scare a man, maybe, so +bad that he won't do a thing, but you can't scare him so bad he won't +want to do it. There is no reforming power in punishment or brute +force; but our barbarians rather imagined that every being would punish +in accordance with his power, and his dignity, and that God would +subject them to torture in the same way as those who made Him angry. +They knew the king would inflict torments upon one in his power, and +they supposed that God would inflict torture according to His power. +They knew the worst torture was a slow, burning fire; added to it the +idea of eternity, and hell was produced. That was their idea. All +meanness, revenge, selfishness, cruelty, and hatred of which men here +are capable burst into blossom and bore fruit in that one word, "Hell." +</P> + +<P> +In this way a God of infinite wisdom experimented with man, keeping him +between an outstretched abyss beneath and a heaven above; and in time +the man came to believe that he could please God by having read a few +sacred books, could count beads, could sprinkle water, eat little +square pieces of bread, and that he could shut his eyes and say words +to the clouds; but the moment he left this world nothing remained +except to damn him. He was to be kept miserable one day in seven, and +he could slander and persecute other men all the other days in the +week. That was the chance that God gave a man here, but the moment he +left this world that settled it. He would go to eternal pain or else +to eternal joy. That was the way that the supernatural governed this +world—through fear, through terror, through eternity of punishment; +and that government, I say tonight, has failed. How has it been kept +alive so long? It was born in ignorance. Let me tell you, whoever +attacks a creed will be confronted with a list of great men who have +believed in it. Probably their belief in that creed was the only +weakness they had. But he will be asked, "So you know more than all the +great men who have taught and all the respectable men who have believed +in that faith?" For the church is always going about to get a +certificate from some governor, or even perhaps members of the +Legislature, and you are told, because so-and-so believed all these +things, and you have no more talents than they, that you should believe +the same thing. But I contend, as against this argument, that you +should not take the testimony of these men unless you are willing to +take at the same time all their beliefs on other subjects. Then, +again, they tell you that the rich people are all on their side, and I +say so, too. The churches today seek the rich, and poverty unwillingly +seeks them. Light thrown from diamonds adorns the repentant here. We +are told that the rich, the fortunate, and the holders of place are +Christians now; and yet ministers grow eloquent over the poverty of +Christ, who was born in a manger, and say that the Holy Ghost passed +the titled ladies of the world and selected the wife of a poor mechanic +for the mother of God. Such is the difference between theory and +practice. The church condemns the men of Jerusalem who held positions +and who held the pretensions of the Savior in contempt. They admit +that He was so little known that they had to bribe a man to point Him +out to the soldiers. They assert that He performed miracles; yet He +remained absolutely unknown, hidden in the depth of obscurity. No one +knew Him, and one of His disciples had to be bribed to point Him out. +Surely He and His disciples could have met the arguments which were +urged against their religion at that time. +</P> + +<P> +So long as the church honored philosophers she kept her great men in +the majority. How is it now? I say tonight that no man of genius in +the world is in the orthodox pulpit, so far as I know. Where are they? +Where are the orthodox great men? I challenge the Christian church to +produce a man like Alexander Humboldt. I challenge the world to +produce a naturalist like Haeckel. I challenge the Christian world to +produce a man like Darwin. Where in the ranks of orthodoxy are +historians like Draper and Buckle? Where are the naturalists like +Tyndall, philosophers like Mills and Spencer, and women like George +Eliot and Harriet Martineau? You may get tired of the great-men +argument; but the names of the great thinkers, and naturalists and +scientists of our time cannot be matched by the supernatural world. +</P> + +<P> +What is the next argument they will bring forward? The father and +mother argument. You must not disgrace your parents. How did Christ +come to leave the religion of His mother? That argument proves too +much. There is one way every man can honor his mother—that is by +finding out more than she knew. There is one way a man can honor his +father—by correcting the old man's errors. +</P> + +<P> +Most people imagine that the creed we have came from the brain and +heart of Christ. They have no idea how it was made. They think it was +all made at one time. They don't understand that it was a slow growth. +They don't understand that theology is a science made up of mistakes, +prejudices and falsehoods. Let me tell you a few facts: The Emperor +Constantine, who lifted the Christian religion into power, murdered his +wife and his eldest son the very year that he convened the Council of +Nice to decide whether Jesus Christ was man or God; and that was not +decided until the year of grace 325. Then Theodosius called a council +at Constantinople in 381, and this council decided that the Holy Ghost +proceeded from the Father. You see, there was a little doubt on that +question before this was done. Then another council was called later +to determine who the Virgin Mary really was, and it was solemnly +decided that she was the mother of Christ. In 431, and then in 451, a +council was held in Chalcedon, by the Emperor Marcian, and that decided +that Christ had two natures—a human and a divine. In 680 another +council was held at Constantinople; and in 1274 at Lyons, it was +decided that the Holy Ghost proceeded not only from the Father but from +the Son; and when you take into consideration the fact that a belief in +the Trinity is absolutely essential to salvation, you see how important +it was that these doctrines should have been established in 1274, when +millions of people had dropped into hell in the interim solely because +they had forgotten that question. At last we know how religions are +made. We know how miracles are manufactured. We know the history of +relics, and bones, and pieces of the true cross. And at last we +understand apostolic succession. At last we have examined other +religions, and we find them all the same, and we are beginning to +suspect that ours is like the rest. I think we understand it. +</P> + +<P> +I read a little story, a short time ago, from the Japanese, that throws +light upon the question. There was an old priest at a monastery. This +monastery was built over the bones of what he called a saint, and +people came there and were cured of many diseases. This priest had an +assistant. After the assistant grew up and got quite to understand his +business, the old priest gave him a little donkey, and told him that +henceforth he was to take care of himself. The young priest started +out with his little donkey, and asked alms of those he met. Few gave +to him. Finally he got very poor. He could not raise money enough to +feed the donkey. Finally the donkey died; he was about to bury it when +a thought occurred to him. He buried the donkey and sat down on the +grave, and to the next stranger that passed he said: "Will you not give +a little money to erect a shrine over the bones of a sinless one?" +Thereupon a man gave money. Others followed his example, a shrine was +raised, and in a little while a monastery was built over the bones of +the sinless one. Down in the grave the young priest made an orifice, +so that persons afflicted with any disease could reach down and touch +the bones of the sinless one. Hundreds were thus cured, and persons +left their crutches as testimonials to the miraculous power of the +bones of the sinless one. Finally the priest became so rich that he +thought he would visit his old master. He went to the old monastery +with a fine retinue. His old master asked him how he became so rich +and prosperous. He replied: "Old age is stupid, but youth has thought." +Later on he explained to the old priest how the donkey had died, and +how he had raised a monastery over the bones of the sinless one; and +again reminded him that old age is stupid, but youth has thought. The +old priest exclaimed: "Not quite so fast, young man; not quite so fast. +Don't imagine you worked out anything new. This shrine of mine is +built over the bones of the mother of your little donkey." +</P> + +<P> +We have now reached a point in the history of the world when we know +that theocracy as a form of government is a failure, and we see that +theology as a foundation of government is an absolute failure. We can +see that theocracy and theology created, not liberty, but despotism. +We know enough of the history of the churches in this world to know +that they never can civilize mankind; that they are not imbued with the +spirit of progress; that they are not imbued with the spirit of justice +and mercy. What I ask you tonight is: What has the church done to +civilize mankind? What has the church done for us? How has it added +to the prosperity of this world? Has it ever produced anything? +Nothing. Why, they say, it has been charitable. How can a beggar be +charitable? A beggar produces nothing. The church has been an eternal +and everlasting pauper. It is not charitable. It is an object of +charity, and yet it claims to be charitable. The giver is the +charitable one. Somebody who has made something, somebody who has by +his labor produced something, he alone can be charitable. +</P> + +<P> +And let me say another thing: The church is always on the wrong side. +Let us take, first, the Episcopal church—if you call that a church. +Let me tell you one thing about that church. You know what is called +the rebellion in England in 1688? Do you know what caused it? I will +tell you. King James was a Catholic, and notwithstanding that fact, he +issued an edict of toleration for the Dissenters and Catholics. And +what next did he do? He ordered all the bishops to have this edict of +toleration read in the Episcopal churches. They refused to do it—most +of them. You recollect that trial of the seven bishops? That is what +it was all about; they would not read the edict of toleration. Then +what happened? A strange thing to say, and it is one of the miracles +of this world: The Dissenters, in whose favor that edict was issued, +joined hands with the Episcopalians, and raised the rebellion against +the king, because he wanted to give the Dissenters liberty, and these +Dissenters and these Episcopalians, on account of toleration, drove +King James into exile. This is the history of the first rebellion the +Church of England ever raised against the king, simply because he +issued an edict of toleration and the poor, miserable wretches in whose +favor the edict was issued joined hands with their oppressors. I want +to show you how much the Church of England has done for England. I get +it from good authority. Let me read it to you to show how little +influence the Christian church, the Church of England, had with the +government of that country. Let me tell you that up to the reign of +George I. there were in that country sixty-seven offenses punishable +with death. There is not a lawyer in this city who can think of those +offenses and write them down in one day. Think of it! Sixty-seven +offenses punishable with death! Now, between the accession of George +I. and the termination of the reign of George III. there were added 156 +new crimes punishable with death, making in all 223 crimes in England +punishable with death. There is no lawyer in this State who can think +of that many crimes in a week. Now, during all those years the +government was becoming more and more cruel; more and more barbarous; +and we do not find, and we have not found, that the Church of England, +with its 15,000 or 20,000 Ministers, with its more than a score of +bishops in the House of Lords, has ever raised its voice or perfected +any organization in favor of a more merciful code, or in condemnation +of the enormous cruelty which the laws were continually inflicting. +And was not Voltaire justified in saying that "The English were a +people who murdered by law?" Now, that is an extract from a speech +made by John Bright in May, 1883. That shows what the Church of +England did. Two hundred and twenty-three offenses in England +punishable with death, and no minister, no bishop, no church +organization raising his or its voice, against the monstrous cruelty. +And why? Even then it was better than the law of Jehovah. +</P> + +<P> +And the Protestants were as bad as the Catholics. You remember the time +of Henry IV. in France, when the edict of Nantes was issued simply to +give the Protestants the right to worship God according to the dictates +of their conscience. Just as soon as that edict was issued the +Protestants themselves, in the cities where they had the power, +prevented the Catholics from worshiping their God according to the +dictates of their conscience, and it was on account of the refusal of +those Protestants to allow the Catholics to worship God as they desired +that there was a civil war lasting for seven years in France. +Richelieu came into authority about the second or third year of that +war. He made no difference between Protestants and Catholics; and it +was owing to Richelieu that the Thirty Years' War terminated. It was +owing to Richelieu that the peace of Westphalia was made in 1643, +although I believe he had been dead a year before that time; but it was +owing to him, and it was the first peace ever made between nations on a +secular basis, with everything religious left out, and it was the last +great religious war. +</P> + +<P> +You may ask me what I want. Well, in the first place I want to get +theology out of government. It has no business there. Man gets his +authority from man, and is responsible only to man. I want to get +theology out of politics. Our ancestors in 1776 retired God from +politics, because of the jealousies among the churches, and the result +has been splendid for mankind. I want to get theology out of +education. Teach the children what somebody knows, not what somebody +guesses. I want to get theology out of morality, and out of charity. +Don't give for God's sake, but for man's sake. +</P> + +<P> +I want you to know another thing; that neither Protestants nor +Catholics are fit to govern this world. They are not fit to govern +themselves. How could you elect a minister of any religion president +of the United States. Could you elect a bishop of the Catholic church, +or a Methodist bishop, or Episcopal minister, or one of the elders? No. +And why? We are afraid of the ecclesiastic spirit. We are afraid to +trust the liberties of men in the hands of people who acknowledge that +they are bound by a standard different from that of the welfare of +mankind. +</P> + +<P> +The history of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Cuba, and Brazil all +show that slavery existed where Catholicism was a power. I would +suggest an education that would rule theology out of the government, +and teach people to rely more on themselves and less on providence. +There are two ways of living—the broad way of life lived for others, +and the narrow theological way. It is wise to so live that death can +be serenely faced, and then, if there is another world, the best way to +prepare for it is to make the best of this; and if there be no other +world, the best way to live here is to so live as to be happy and make +everybody else happy. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="infidels"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S LECTURE ON THE GREAT INFIDELS +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ladies and Gentlemen: There is nothing grander in this world than to +rescue from the leprosy of slander a great and splendid name. There is +nothing nobler than to benefit our benefactors. The infidels of one +age have been the aureole saints of the next. The destroyers of the +old have always been the creators of the new. The old passes away and +the new becomes old. There is in the intellectual world, as in the +material, decay and growth; and even by the sunken grave of age stand +youth and joy. The history of progress is written in the lives of +infidels. Political rights have been preserved by traitors; +intellectual rights by infidels. +</P> + +<P> +To attack the kings was treason; to dispute the priests blasphemy. The +sword and cross have always been allies; they defended each other. The +throne and altar are twins—vultures born of the same egg. It was +James I. who said: "No king, no bishop; no church, no crown; no tyrant +in heaven, no tyrant on earth." Every monarchy that has disgraced the +world, every despotism that has covered the cheeks of men with fear has +been copied after the supposed despotism of hell. The king owned the +bodies and the priest owned the souls; one lived on taxes and the +other on alms; one was a robber and the other a beggar. +</P> + +<P> +The history of the world will not show you one charitable beggar. He +who lives on charity never has anything to give away. The robbers and +beggars controlled not only this world, but the next. The king made +laws, the priest made creeds; with bowed backs the people received and +bore the burdens of the one, and with the open mouth of wonder the +creed of the other. If any aspired to be free they were crushed by the +king, and every priest was a hero who slaughtered the children of the +brave. The king ruled by force, the priest by fear and by the bible. +The king said to the people: "God made you peasants and me a king; He +clothed you in rags and housed you in hovels; upon me He put robes and +gave me a palace." Such is the justice of God. The priest said to the +people: "God made you ignorant and vile, me holy and wise; obey me, or +God will punish you here and hereafter." Such is the mercy of God. +</P> + +<P> +Infidels are the intellectual discoverers. Infidels have sailed the +unknown sea and have discovered the isles and continents in the vast +realms of thought. What would the world have been had infidels never +existed? What the infidel is in religion the inventor is in mechanics. +What the infidel is in religion the man willing to fight the hosts of +tyranny is in the political world. An infidel is a gentleman who has +discovered a fact and is not afraid to tell about it. There has been +for many thousands of years an idea prevalent that in some way you can +prove whether the theories defended or advanced by a man are right or +wrong by showing what kind of a man he was, what kind of a life he +lived, and what manner of death he died. There is nothing to this. It +makes no difference what the character of the man was who made the +first multiplication table. It is absolutely true, and whenever you +find an absolute fact, it makes no difference who discovered it. The +golden rule would have been just as good if it had first been whispered +by the devil. +</P> + +<P> +It is good for what it contains, not because a certain man said it. +Gold is just as good in the hands of crime as in the hands of virtue. +Whatever it may be, it is gold. A statement made by a great man is not +necessarily true. A man entertains certain opinions, and then he is +proscribed because he refuses to change his mind. He is burned to +ashes, and in the midst of the flames he cries out that he is of the +same opinion still. Hundreds then say that he has sealed his testimony +with his blood, and that his doctrines must be true. All the martyrs +in the history of the world are not sufficient to establish the +correctness of any one opinion. Martyrdom as a rule establishes the +sincerity of the martyr, not the correctness of his thought. Things +are true or false independently of the man who entertains them. Truth +cannot be affected by opinion; an error cannot be believed sincerely +enough to make it the truth. No Christian will admit that any amount +of heroism displayed by a Mormon is sufficient to show that Joseph +Smith was an inspired prophet. All the courage and culture, all the +poetry and art of ancient Greece do not even tend to establish the +truth of any myth. +</P> + +<P> +The testimony of the dying concerning some other world, or in regard to +the supernatural, cannot be any better than that of the living. In the +early days of Christian experience an intrepid faith was regarded as a +testimony in favor of the church. No doubt, in the arms of death, many +a one went back and died in the lay of the old faith. After awhile +Christians got to dying and clinging to their faith; and then it was +that Christians began to say: "No man can die serenely without clinging +to the cross." According to the theologians, God has always punished +the dying who did not happen to believe in Him. As long as men did +nothing except to render their fellowmen wretched, God maintained the +strictest neutrality, but when some honest man expressed a doubt as to +the Jewish scriptures, or prayed to the wrong god, or to the right God +by the wrong man, then the real God leaped like a wounded tiger upon +this dying man, and from his body tore his wretched soul. +</P> + +<P> +There is no recorded instance where the uplifted hand of murder has +been paralyzed, or the innocent have been shielded by God. Thousands +of crimes are committed every day, and God has no time to prevent them. +He is too busy numbering hairs and matching sparrows; He is listening +for blasphemy; He is looking for persons who laugh at priests; He is +examining baptismal registers; He is watching professors in colleges +who begin to doubt the geology of Moses or the astronomy of Joshua. +All kinds of criminals, except infidels, meet death with reasonable +serenity. As a rule, there is nothing in the death of a pirate to cast +discredit upon his profession. The murderer upon the scaffold +smilingly exhorts the multitude to meet him in heaven. The Emperor +Constantine, who lifted Christianity into power, murdered his wife and +oldest son. +</P> + +<P> +Now and then, in the history of the world, there has been a man of +genius, a man of intellectual honesty. These men have denounced the +superstition of their day. They were honest enough to tell their +thoughts. Some of them died naturally in their beds, but it would not +do for the church to admit that they died peaceably; that would show +that religion was not necessary in the last moments. The first grave, +the first cathedral; the first corpse was the first priest. If there +was no death in the world there would be no superstition. The church +has taken great pains to show that the last moments of all infidels +have been infinitely wretched. Upon this point, Catholics and +Protestants have always stood together. They are no longer men; they +become hyenas, they dig open graves. They devour the dead. It is an +auto da fe presided over by God and his angels. These men believed in +the accountability of men in the practice of virtue and justice. They +believed in liberty, but they did not believe in the inspiration of the +bible. That was their crime. In order to show that infidels died +overwhelmed with remorse and fear they have generally selected from all +the infidels since the days of Christ until now five men—the Emperor +Julian, Bruno, Diderot, David Hume and Thomas Paine. +</P> + +<P> +They forget that Christ himself was not a Christian, that He did what +He could to tear down the religion of His day; that He held the temple +in contempt. I like Him because He held the old Jewish religion in +contempt; because He had sense enough to say that doctrine was not +true. In vain have their calumniators been called upon to prove their +statements. They simply charge it, they simply relate it, but that is +no evidence. The Emperor Julian did what he could to prevent +Christians destroying each other. He held pomp and pride in contempt. +In battle with the Persians he was mortally wounded. Feeling that he +had but a short time to live, he spent his last hours in discussing +with his friends the immortality of the soul. He declared that he was +satisfied with his conduct, and that he had no remorse to express for +any act he had ever done. +</P> + +<P> +The first great infidel was Giordano Bruno. He was born in the year of +grace 1550. He was a Dominican friar—Catholic—and afterwards he +changed his mind. +</P> + +<P> +The reason he changed was because he had a mind. He was a lover of +nature, and said to the poor hermits in their caves, to the poor monks +in their monasteries, to the poor nuns in their cells: "Come out in the +glad fields; come and breathe the fresh, free air; come and enjoy all +the beauty there is in the world. There is no God who can be made +happier by you being miserable; there is no God who delights to see +upon the human face the tears of pain, of grief, of agony. Come out +and enjoy all there is of human life; enjoy progress, enjoy thought, +enjoy being somebody and belonging to yourself." +</P> + +<P> +He revolted at the idea of transubstantiation; he revolted at the idea +that the eternal God could be in a wafer. He revolted at the idea that +you could make the Trinity out of dough—bake God in an oven as you +would a biscuit. I should think he would have revolted. The idea of a +man devouring the creator of the universe by swallowing a piece of +bread. And yet that is just as sensible as any of it. Those who, when +smitten on one cheek turn the other, threatened to kill this man. He +fled from his native land and was a vagabond in nearly every nation of +Europe. He declared that he fought not what men really believed, but +what they pretended to believe. And, do you know, that is the business +I am in? I am simply saying what other people think; I am furnishing +clothes for their children, I am putting on exhibition their offspring, +and they like to hear it, they like to see it. We have passed midnight +in the history of the world. Bruno was driven from his native country +because he taught the rotation of the earth; you can see what a +dangerous man he must have been in a well regulated monarchy. You see +he had found a fact, and a fact has the same effect upon religion that +dynamite has upon a Russian czar. A fellow with a new fact was +suspected and arrested, and they always thought they could destroy it +by burning him, but they never did. All the fires of martyrdom never +destroyed one truth; all the churches of the world have never made one +lie true. Germany and France would not tolerate Bruno. According to +the Christian system, this world was the center of everything. The +stars were made out of what little God happened to have left when He +got the world done. God lived up in the sky, and they said this earth +must rest upon something, and finally science passed its hand clear +under, and there was nothing. It was self-existent in infinite space. +Then the church began to say they didn't say it was flat—not so awful +flat—it was kind of rounding. According to the ancient Christians God +lived from all eternity, and never worked but six days in His whole +life, and then had the impudence to tell us to be industrious. I heard +of a man going to California over the plains, and, there was a +clergyman on board, and he had a great deal to say, and finally he fell +in conversation with the '49-er, and the latter said to the clergyman: +"Do you believe that God made this world in six days?" "Yes, I do." +They were then going along the Humboldt. Says he: "Don't you think He +could put in another day to advantage right around here?" +</P> + +<P> +Bruno went to England and delivered lectures at Oxford. He found that +there was nothing taught there but superstition, and so called Oxford +the "wisdom of learning." Then they told him they didn't want him any +more. He went back to Italy, where there was a kind of fascination +that threw him back to the very doors of the Inquisition. He was +arrested for teaching that there were other worlds, and that stars are +suns around which revolve other planets. He was in prison for six +years. (During those six years Galileo was teaching mathematics.) Six +years in a dungeon; and then he was tried, denounced by the +Inquisition, excommunicated, condemned by brute force, pushed upon his +knees while he received the benediction of the church, and on the 16th +of February, in the year of our Lord 1600, he was burned at the stake. +</P> + +<P> +He believed that the world is animated by an intelligent soul, the +cause of force but not of matter; that matter and force have existed +from eternity; that this force lives in all things, even in such as +appear not to live—in the rock as much as in the man; that matter is +the mother of forms and the grace of forms; that the matter and force +together constitute God. He was a pantheist—that is to say, he was an +atheist. He had the courage to die for what he believed to be right. +The murder of Bruno will never, in my judgment, be completely and +perfectly revenged until from the city of Rome shall be swept every +vestige of priests and pope—until from the shapeless ruins of St. +Peter's, the crumbled Vatican and the fallen cross of Rome, rises a +monument sacred to the philosopher, the benefactor and the +martyr—Bruno. +</P> + +<P> +Voltaire was born in 1694. When he was born, the natural was about the +only thing that the church did not believe in. Monks sold amulets, and +the priests cured in the name of the church. The worship of the devil +was actually established, which today is the religion of China. They +say: "God is good; He won't bother you; Joss is the one." They offer +him gifts, and try and soften his heart;—so, in the middle ages, the +poor people tried to see if they could not get a short cut, and trade +directly with the devil, instead of going round-about through the +church. In these days witnesses were cross-examined with instruments +of torture. Voltaire did more for human liberty than any other man who +ever lived or died. He appealed to the common sense of mankind—he +held up the great contradictions of the sacred scriptures in a way that +no man, once having read him, could forget. For one, I thank Voltaire +for the liberty I am enjoying this moment. How small a man a priest +looked when he pointed his finger at him; how contemptible a king. +</P> + +<P> +Toward the last of May, 1778, it was whispered in Paris that Voltaire +was dying. He expired with the most perfect tranquility. There have +been constructed most shameless lies about the death of this great and +wonderful man, compared with whom all his calumniators, living or dead, +were but dust and vermin. From his throne at the foot of the Alps he +pointed the finger of scorn at every hypocrite in Europe. He was the +pioneer of his century. +</P> + +<P> +In 1771, in Scotland, David Hume was born. Scotch Presbyterianism is +the worst form of religion that has ever been produced. The Scotch +Kirk had all the faults of the Church of Rome, without a redeeming +feature. The church hated music, despised painting, abhorred statuary, +and held architecture in contempt. Anything touched with humanity, +with the weakness of love, with the dimple of joy, was detested by the +Scotch Kirk. God was to be feared; God was infinitely practical; no +nonsense about God. They used to preach four times a day. They +preached on Friday before the Sunday upon which they partook of the +sacrament, and then on Saturday; four sermons on Sunday, and two or +three on Monday to sober up on. They were bigoted and heartless. One +case will illustrate. In the beginning of this nineteenth century a +boy seventeen years of age was indicted at Edinburgh for blasphemy. He +had given it as his opinion that Moses had learned magic in Egypt, and +had fooled the Jews. They proved that on two or three occasions, when +he was real cold, he jocularly remarked that he wished he was in hell, +so that he could warm up. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be +hanged. He recanted; he even wrote that he believed the whole +business; and that he just said it for pure devilment. It made no +difference. They hung him, and his bruised and bleeding corpse was +denied to his own mother, who came and besought them to let her take +her boy home. That was Scotch Presbyterianism. If the devil had been +let loose in Scotland he would have improved that country at that time. +</P> + +<P> +David Hume was one of the few Scotchmen who was not owned by the +church. He had the courage to examine things for himself, and to give +his conclusion to the world. His life was unstained by an unjust act. +He did not, like Abraham, turn a woman from his door with his child in +her arms. He did not, like King David, murder a man that he might +steal his wife. He didn't believe in Scotch Presbyterianism. I don't +see how any good man ever did. Just think of going to the day of +judgment, if there is one, and standing up before God and admitting, +without a blush, that you have lived and died a Scotch Presbyterian. I +would expect the next sentence would be, "Depart ye cursed in +everlasting fire." Hume took the ground that a miracle could not be +used as evidence until you had proved the miracle. Of course that +excited the church. Why? Because they could not prove one of them. +How are you going to prove a miracle? Who saw it, and who would know a +devil if he did see him? Hume insisted that at the bottom of all good +is something useful; that after all, human happiness was the great +object, end, and aim of life; that virtue was not a termagant, with +sunken cheeks and frightful eyes, but was the most beautiful thing in +the world, and would strew your path with flowers from the cradle to +the grave. When he died they gave an account of how he had suffered. +They knew that the horrors of death would fall upon him, and that God +would get his revenge. But his attending physician said that his death +was the most serene and most perfectly tranquil of any he had ever +seen. Adam Smith said he was as near perfect as the frailty incident +to humanity would allow human being to be. +</P> + +<P> +The next is Benedict Spinoza, a Jew, born at Amsterdam in 1768. He +studied theology, and asked the rabbis too many questions, and talked +too much about what he called reason, and finally he was excommunicated +from the synagogue, and became an outcast at the age of twenty-four, +without friends. Cursed, anathematized, bearing upon his forehead the +mark of Cain, he undertook to solve the problem of the universe. To +him the universe was one. The infinite embraced the all. That all was +God. He was right; the universe is all there is, and if God does not +exist in the universe He exists nowhere. The idea of putting some +little Jewish jehovah outside the universe, as if to say that from an +eternity of idleness he woke up one morning and thought he would make +something. +</P> + +<P> +The propositions of Spinoza are as luminous as the stars, and his +demonstrations, each one of them, is a Gibraltar, behind which logic +sits laughing at all the sophistries of theological thought. In every +relation of life he was just, true, gentle, patient, loving, +affectionate. He died in 1812. In his life of forty-four years he had +climbed to the very highest alpine of human thought. He was a great +and splendid man, an intellectual hero, one of the benefactors, one of +the Titans of our race. +</P> + +<P> +And now I will say a few words about our infidels. We had three, to +say the least of them—Paine, Franklin and Jefferson. In their day the +colonies were filled with superstition, and the Puritans with the +spirit of persecution. Law, savage, ignorant and malignant, had been +passed in every colony for the purpose of destroying intellectual +liberty. Manly freedom was unknown. The toleration act of Maryland +tolerated only chickens, not thinkers, not investigators. It tolerated +faith, not brains. The charity of Roger Williams was not extended to +one who denied the bible. Let me show you how we have advanced. +Suppose you took every man and woman out of the Penitentiary in New +England and shipped them to a new country where man before had never +trod, and told them to make a government, and constitution, and a code +of laws for themselves. I say tonight that they would make a better +constitution and a better code of laws than any that were made in any +of the original thirteen colonies of the United States. +</P> + +<P> +Not that they are better men, not that they are more honest, but that +they have got more sense. They have been touched with the dawn of the +eternal day of liberty that will finally come to this world. They +would have more respect for others' rights than they had at that time. +But the churches were jealous of each other, and we got a constitution +without religion in it from the mutual jealousies of the church, and +from the genius of men like Paine, Franklin and Jefferson. We are +indebted to them for a constitution without a God in it. They knew +that if you put God in there, an infinite God, there wouldn't be any +room for the people. Our fathers retired Jehovah from politics. Our +fathers, under the directions and leadership of those infidels, said, +"All power comes from the consent of the governed." George Washington +wanted to establish a church by law in Virginia. Thomas Jefferson +prevented it. Under the guaranty of liberty of conscience which was +given, our legislation has improved, and it will not be many years +before all laws touching liberty of conscience, excepting it may be in +the State of Delaware, will be blotted out, and when that time comes we +or our children may thank the infidels of 1776. The church never +pretended that Franklin died in fear. Franklin wrote no books against +the bible. He thought it useless to cast the pearls of thought before +the swine of his generation. +</P> + +<P> +Jefferson was a statesman. He was the author of the Declaration of +Independence, founder of a university, father of a political body, +president of the United States, a statesman, and a philosopher. He was +too powerful for the churches of his day. Paine attacked the Trinity +and the bible both. He had done these things openly—His arguments +were so good that his reputation got bad. I want you to recollect +tonight that he was the first man who wrote these words: "The United +States of America." I want you to know tonight that he was the first +man who suggested the Federal Constitution. I want you to know that he +did more for the actual separation from Great Britain than any man that +ever lived. I want you to know that he did as much for liberty with +his pen as any soldier did with his sword. I want you to know that +during the Revolution his "Crisis" was the pillar of fire by night and +a cloud by day. I want you to know that his "Common Sense" was the one +star in the horizon of despotism. I want you to know that he did as +much as any living man to give our free flag to the free air. He was +not content to waste all his energies here. When the volcano covered +Europe with the shreds of robes and the broken fragments of thrones, +Paine went to France. He was elected by four constituencies. He had +the courage to vote against the death of Louis, and was imprisoned. He +wrote to Washington, the president, and asked him to interfere. +Washington threw the letter in the wastebasket of forgetfulness. When +Paine was finally released he gave his opinion of George Washington, +and, under such circumstances, I say a man can be pardoned for having +said even unjust things. The eighteenth century was crowning its gray +hairs with the wreaths of progress, and Thomas Paine said: "I will do +something to liberate mankind from superstition." He wrote the "Age of +Reason." For his good, he wrote it too soon; for ours, not a day too +quick. From that moment he was a despised and calumniated man. When +he came back to this country he could not safely walk the streets for +fear of being mobbed. Under the Constitution he had suggested, his +rights were not safe; under the flag that he had helped give to heaven, +with which he had enriched the air, his liberty was not safe. Is it +not a disgrace to us that all the lies that have been told about him, +and will be told about him, are a perpetual disgrace? I tell you that +upon the grave of Thomas Paine the churches of America have sacrificed +their reputation for veracity. Who can hate a man with a creed: +</P> + +<P> +"I believe in one God and no more, and I hope for immortality; I +believe in the equality of man, and that religious duty consists in +doing justice, in doing mercy, and in endeavoring to make our +fellow-creatures happy. It is necessary to the happiness of man that he +be faithful to himself. One good schoolmaster is worth a thousand +priests. Man has no property in man, and the key of heaven is in the +keeping of no saint." +</P> + +<P> +Grand, splendid, brave man!—with some faults, with many virtues; the +world is better because he lived; and if Thomas Paine had not lived I +could not have delivered this lecture here tonight. +</P> + +<P> +Did all the priests of Rome increase the mental wealth of man as much +as Bruno? Did all the priests of France do as great a work for the +civilization of this world as Diderot and Voltaire? Did all the +ministers of Scotland add as much to the sum of human knowledge as +David Hume? Have all the clergymen, monks, friars, ministers, priests, +bishops, cardinals and popes from the day of Pentecost to the last +election done as much for human liberty as Thomas Paine? What would +the world be now if infidels had never been? Infidels have been the +flower of all this world. Recollect, by infidels I mean every man who +has made an intellectual advance. By orthodox I mean a gentleman who is +petrified in his mind, whopping around intellectually, simply to save +the funeral expenses of his soul. Infidels are the creditors of all the +years to come. They have made this world fit to live in, and without +them the human brain would be as empty as the Chronicles soon will be. +Unless they preach something that the people want to hear, it is not a +crime to benefit our fellow-man intellectually. The churches point to +their decayed saints and their crumbled popes and say, "Do you know +more than all the ministers that ever lived?" And, without the +slightest egotism or blush, I say, "Yes; and the name of Humboldt +outweighs them all." The men who stand in the front rank, the men who +know most of the secrets of nature, the men who know most are today the +advanced infidels of this world. I have lived long enough to see the +brand of intellectual inferiority on every orthodox brain. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="talmagian"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S LECTURE ON TALMAGIAN THEOLOGY. +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ladies and Gentlemen: Nothing can be more certain than that no human +being can by any possibility control his thought. We are in this +world—we see, we hear, we feel, we taste; and everything in nature +makes an impression upon the brain, and that wonderful something, +enthroned there with these materials, weaves what we call thought, and +the brain can no more help thinking than the heart can help beating. +The blood pursues its old accustomed round without our will. The heart +beats without asking leave of us, and the brain thinks in spite of all +that we can do. This being true, no human being can justly be held +responsible for his thought any more than for the beating of his heart, +any more than for the course pursued by the blood, any more than for +breathing air. And yet for thousands of years thought has been thought +to be a crime, and thousands and millions have threatened us with +eternal fire if we give the product of that brain. Each brain, in my +judgment, is a field where nature sows the seeds of thought, and +thought is the crop that man reaps, and it certainly cannot be a crime +to gather; it certainly cannot be a crime to tell it, which simply +amounts to the right to sell your crop or to exchange your product for +the product of some other man's brain. That is all it is. Most +brains—at least some—are rather poor fields, and the orthodox worst +of all. That field produces mostly sorrel and mullin, while there are +fields which, like the tropic world, are filled with growth, and where +you find the vine and palm, royal children of the sun and brain. I +then stand simply for absolute freedom of thought—absolute; and I +don't believe, if there be a God, that it will be or can be pleasing to +Him to see one of His children afraid to express what he thinks. And, +if I were God, I never would cease making men until I succeeded in +making one grand enough to tell his honest opinion. +</P> + +<P> +Now there has been a struggle, you know, a long time between the +believers in the natural and the supernatural—between gentlemen who +are going to reward us in another world and those who propose to make +life worth living here and now. In all ages the priest, the medicine +man, the magician, the astrologer, in other words, gentlemen who have +traded upon the fear and ignorance of their fellow-man in all +countries—they have sought to, make their living out of others. There +was a time when a God presided over every department of human interest, +when a man about to take a voyage bribed the priest of Neptune so that +he might have a safe journey, and when he came back, he paid more, +telling the priest that he was infinitely obliged to him; that he had +kept waves from the sea and storms in their caves. And so, when one +was sick he went to a priest; when one was about to take a journey he +visited the priest of Mercury; if he were going to war he consulted the +representative of Mars. We have gone along. When the poor +agriculturist plowed his ground and put in the seed he went to the +priest of some god and paid him to keep off the frost. And the priest +said he would do it; "but," added the priest, "you must have faith." +If the frost came early he said, "You didn't have faith." And besides +all that he says to him: "Anything that has happened badly, after all, +was for your good." Well, we found out, day by day, that a good boat +for the purpose of navigating the sea was better than prayers, better +than the influence of priests; and you had better have a good captain +attending to business than thousands of priests ashore praying. +</P> + +<P> +We also found that we could cure some diseases, and just as soon as we +found that we could cure diseases we dismissed the priest. We have +left him out now of all of them, except it may be cholera and smallpox. +When visited by a plague some people get frightened enough to go back +to the old idea—go back to the priest, and the priest says: "It has +been sent as a punishment." Well, sensible people began to look about; +they saw that the good died as readily as the bad; they saw that this +disease would attack the dimpled child in the cradle and allow the +murderer to go unpunished; and so they began to think in time that it +was not sent as a punishment; that it was a natural result; and so the +priest stepped out of medicine. +</P> + +<P> +In agriculture we need him no longer; he has nothing to do with the +crops. All the clergymen in this world can never get one drop of rain +out of the sky; and all the clergymen in the civilized world could not +save one human life if they tried it. +</P> + +<P> +Oh, but they say, "We do not expect a direct answer to prayer; it is +the reflex action we are after." It is like a man endeavoring to lift +himself up by the straps of his boots; he will never do it, but he will +get a great deal of useful exercise. +</P> + +<P> +The missionary goes to some pagan land, and there he finds a man +praying to a god of stone, and it excites the wrath of the missionary. +I ask you tonight, does not that stone god answer prayer just as well +as ours? Does he not cause rain? Does he not delay frost? Does he not +snatch the ones that we love from the grasp of death precisely the same +as ours? Yet we have ministers that are still engaged in that +business. They tell us that they have been "called;" that they do not +go at their profession as other people do, but they are "called;" that +God, looking over the world, carefully selects His priests, His +ministers, and His exhorters. +</P> + +<P> +I don't know. They say their calling is sacred. I say to you tonight +that every kind of business that is honest that a man engages in for +the purpose of feeding his wife and children, for the purpose of +building up his home, for the purpose of feeding and clothing the ones +he loves—that business is sacred. They tell us that statesmen and +poets, philosophers, heroes, and scientists and inventors come by +chance; that all other departments depend entirely upon luck; but when +God wants exhorters He selects. +</P> + +<P> +They also tell us that it is infinitely wicked to attack the Christian +religion, and when I speak of the Christian religion I do not refer +especially to the Christianity of the new testament; I refer to the +Christianity of the orthodox church, and when I refer to the clergy I +refer to the clergy of the orthodox church. There was a time when men +of genius were in the pulpits of the orthodox church; that time is +past. When you find a man with brains now occupying an orthodox pulpit +you will find him touched with heresy—every one of them. +</P> + +<P> +How do they get most of these ministers? There will be a man in the +neighborhood not very well—not having constitution enough to be +wicked, and it instantly suggests itself to everybody who sees him that +he would make an excellent minister. There are so many other +professions, so many cities to be built, so many railways to be +constructed, so many poems to be sung, so much music to be composed, so +many papers to edit, so many books to read, so many splendid things, so +many avenues to distinction and glory, so many things beckoning from +the horizon of the future to every great and splendid man that the +pulpit has to put up with the leavings—ravelings, selvage. +</P> + +<P> +These preachers say, "How can any man be wicked and infamous enough to +attack our religion and take from the world the solace of orthodox +Christianity?" What is that solace? Let us be honest. What is it? If +the Christian religion be true, the grandest, greatest, noblest of the +world are now in hell, and the narrowest and meanest are now in heaven. +Humboldt, the Shakespeare of science, the most learned man of the most +learned nation, with a mind grand enough to grasp not simply this +globe, but this constellation—a man who shed light upon the whole +earth—a man who honored human nature, and who won all his victories on +the field of thought—that man, pure and upright, noble beyond +description, if Christianity be true, is in hell this moment. That is +what they call "solace"—"tidings of great joy." LaPlace, who read the +heavens like an open book, who enlarged the horizon of human thought, +is there too. Beethoven, Master of melody and harmony, who added to the +joy of human life, and who has borne upon the wings of harmony and +melody millions of spirits to the height of joy, with his heart still +filled with melody—he is in hell today. Robert Burns, poet of love +and liberty, and from his heart, like a spring gurgling and running +down the highways, his poems have filled the world with music. They +have added luster to human love. That man who, in four lines, gave all +the philosophy of life— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + To make a happy fireside clime<BR> + For weans and wife<BR> + Is the true pathos and<BR> + Sublime Of human life<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +—he is there with the rest. +</P> + +<P> +Charles Dickens, whose genius will be a perpetual shield, saving +thousands and millions of children from blows, who did more to make us +tender with children than any other writer that ever touched a pen—he +is there with the rest, according to our Christian religion. A little +while ago there died in this country a philosopher—Ralph Waldo +Emerson—a man of the loftiest ideal, a perfect model of integrity, +whose mind was like a placid lake and reflected truths like stars. If +the Christian religion be true, he is in perdition today. And yet he +sowed the seeds of thought, and raised the whole world intellectually. +And Longfellow, whose poems, tender as the dawn, have gone into +millions of homes, not an impure, not a stained word in them all; but +he was not a Christian. He did not believe in the "tidings of great +joy." He didn't believe that God so loved the world that He intended +to damn most everybody. And now he has gone to his reward. And +Charles Darwin—a child of nature—one who knew more about his mother +than any other child she ever had. What is philosophy? It is to +account for phenomena by which we are surrounded—that is, to find the +hidden cord that unites everything. Charles Darwin threw more light +upon the problem of human existence than all the priests who ever lived +from Melchisedec to the last exhorter. He would have traversed this +globe on foot had it been possible to have found one new fact or to +have corrected one error that he had made. No nobler man has lived—no +man who has studied with more reverence (and by reverence I mean simply +one who lives and studies for the truth)—no man who studied with more +reverence than he. And yet, according to orthodox religion, Charles +Darwin is in hell. Consolation! +</P> + +<P> +So, if Christianity be true, Shakespeare, the greatest man who ever +touched this planet, within whose brain were the fruits of all thought +past, the seeds of all to be—Shakespeare, who was an intellectual +ocean toward which all rivers ran, and from which now the isles and +continents of thought received their dew and rain—that man who has +added more to the intelligence of the world than any other who ever +lived—that man, whose creations will live as long as man has +imagination, and who has given more happiness upon the stage and more +instruction than has flown from all the pulpits of this earth—that man +is in hell, too. And Harriet Martineau, who did as much for English +liberty as any man, brave and free—she is there. "George Eliot," the +greatest woman the English-speaking people ever produced—she is with +the rest. And this is called "Tidings of great joy." +</P> + +<P> +Who are in heaven? How could there be much of a heaven without the men +I have mentioned—the great men that have endeavored to make the world +grander—such men as Voltaire, such men as Diderot, such men as the +encyclopedists, such men as Hume, such men as Bruno, such men as Thomas +Paine? If Christianity is true, that man who spent his life in +breaking chains is now wearing the chains of God; that man who wished +to break down the prison walls of tyranny is now in the prison of the +most merciful Christ. It will not do. I can hardly express to you +today my contempt for such a doctrine; and if it be true, I make my +choice today, and I prefer hell. +</P> + +<P> +Who is in heaven? John Calvin! John Knox! Jonathan Edwards! +Torquemada—the builders of dungeons, the men who have obstructed the +march of the human race. These are the men who are in heaven; and who +else? Those who never had brain enough to harbor a doubt. And they ask +me: How can you be wicked enough to attack the Christian religion? +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," but they say, "God will never forgive you if you attack the +orthodox religion." Now, when I read the history of this world, and +when I think of the experience of my fellow-men, when I think of the +millions living in poverty, and when I know that in the very air we +breathe and in the sunlight that visits our homes there lurks an +assassin ready to take our lives, and even when we believe we are in +the fullness health and joy, they are undermining us with their +contagion—when I know that we are surrounded by all these evils, and +when I think of what man has suffered, I do not wonder if God can +forgive man, but I often ask myself, "Can man forgive God?" +</P> + +<P> +There is another thing. Some of these ministers have talked about me, +and have made it their business to say unpleasant things. Among others +the Rev. Mr. Talmage, of Brooklyn—a man of not much imagination, but +of most excellent judgment—charges that I am a "blasphemer." A +frightful charge! Terrible, if true! What is blasphemy? It is a sin, +as I understand, against God. Is God infinite? He is, so they say; He +is infinite; absolutely conditionless? Can I injure the conditionless? +No. Can I sin against anything that I cannot injure? No. That is a +perfectly plain proposition. I can injure my fellow-man, because he is +a conditioned being, and I can help to change those conditions. He +must have air; he must have food, he must have clothing; he must have +shelter; but God is conditionless, and I cannot by any possibility +affect Him. Consequently I cannot sin against Him. But I can sin +against my fellow-man, so that I ought to be a thousand times more +careful of doing injustice than of uttering blasphemy. There is no +blasphemy but injustice, and there is no worship except the practice of +justice. It is a thousand times more important that we should love our +fellow-men than that we should love God. It is better to love wife and +children than to love Jesus Christ, He is dead; they are alive. I can +make their lives happy and fill all their hours with the fullness of +joy. That is my religion; and the holiest temple ever erected beneath +the stars is the home; the holiest altar is the fireside. +</P> + +<P> +What is this blasphemy? First, it is a geographical question. There +was a time when it was blasphemy in Jerusalem to say that Christ was +God. In this country it is now blasphemy to say that He was not. It +is blasphemy in Constantinople to deny that Mahomet was the Prophet of +God; it is blasphemy here to say that he was. It is a geographical +question; you cannot tell whether it is blasphemy or not without +looking at the map. What is blasphemy? It is what the mistake says +about the fact. It is what the last year's leaf says about this year's +bud. It is the last cry of the defeated priest. Blasphemy is the +little breast-work behind which hypocrisy hides; behind which mental +impotency feels safe. There is no blasphemy but the avowal of thought, +and he who speaks what he thinks blasphemes. +</P> + +<P> +That I have had the hardihood—it doesn't take much—to attack the +sacred scriptures. I have simply given my opinion; and yet they tell +me that that book is holy—that you can take rags, make pulp, put ink +on it, bind it in leather, and make something holy. The Catholics have +a man for a pope; the Protestants have a book. The Catholics have the +best of it. If they elect an idiot he will not live forever, and it is +impossible for us to get rid of the barbarisms in our book. The +Catholics said, "We will not let the common people read the bible." +That was right. If it is necessary to believe it in order to get to +heaven no man should run the risk of reading it. To allow a man to +read the bible on such conditions is to set a trap for his soul. The +right way is never to open it, and when you get to the day of judgment, +and they ask you if you believe it say "Yes, I have never read it." +The Protestant gives the book to a poor man and says: "Read it. You +are at liberty to read it." "Well, suppose I don't believe it, when I +get through?" "Then you will be damned." No man should be allowed to +read it on those conditions. And yet Protestants have done that +infinitely cruel thing. If I thought it was necessary to believe it I +would say never read another line in it but just believe it and stick +to it. And yet these people really think that there is something +miraculous about the book. They regard it as a fetish—a kind of +amulet—a something charmed, that will keep off evil spirits, or bad +luck, stop bullets, and do a thousand handy-things for the preservation +of life. +</P> + +<P> +I heard a story upon that subject. You know that thousands of them are +printed in the Sunday-school books. Here is one they don't print. +There was a poor man who had belonged to the church, but he got cold, +and he rather neglected it, and he had bad luck in his business, and he +went down and down and down until he hadn't a dollar—not a thing to +eat; and his wife said to him, "John, this comes of you having +abandoned the church, this comes of your having done away with family +worship. Now, I beg of you, let's go back." Well, John said it +wouldn't do any harm to try. So he took down the bible, blew the dust +off it, read a little from a chapter, and had family worship. As he +was putting it up he opened it again, and there was a $10 bill between +the leaves. He rushed out to the butcher's and bought meat, to the +grocer's and bought tea and bread, and butter and eggs, and rushed back +home and got them cooked, and the house was filled with the perfume of +food; and he sat down at the table, tears in every eye and a smile on +every face. She said, "What did I tell you?" Just then there was a +knock on the door, and in came a constable, who arrested him for +passing a $10 counterfeit bill. +</P> + +<P> +They tell me that I ought not to attack the bible—that I have +misrepresented it, and among other things that I have said that, +according to the bible, the world was made of nothing. Well, what was +it made of? They say God created everything. Consequently, there must +have been nothing when He commenced. If he didn't make it of nothing, +what did he make it of? Where there was, nothing, He made something. +Yes; out of what? I don't know. This doctor of divinity, and I should +think such a divinity would need a doctor, says that God made the +universe out of His omnipotence. Why not out of His omniscience, or +His omnipresence? Omnipotence is not a raw material. It is the +something to work raw material with. Omnipotence is simply all +powerful, and what good would strength do with nothing? The weakest +man ever born could lift as much nothing as God. And he could do as +much with it after he got it lifted. And yet a doctor of divinity tells +me that this world was made of omnipotence. And right here let me say +I find even in the mind of the clergymen the seeds of infidelity. He +is trying to explain things. That is a bad symptom. The greater the +miracle the greater the reward for believing it. God cannot afford to +reward a man for believing anything reasonable. Why, even the scribes +and Pharisees would believe a reasonable thing. Do you suppose God is +to crown you with eternal joy and give you a musical instrument for +believing something where the evidence is clear? No, sir. The larger +the miracle the more grace. And let me advise the ministers of Chicago +and of this country, never to explain a miracle; it cannot be +explained. If you succeed in explaining it, the miracle is gone. If +you fail you are gone. My advice to the clergy is, use assertion; just +say "it is so," and the larger the miracle the greater the glory reaped +by the eternal. And yet this man is trying to explain, pretending that +He had some raw material of some kind on hand. And then I objected to +the fact that He didn't make the sun until the fourth day, and that, +consequently, the grass could not have grown—could not have thrown its +mantle of green over the shoulders of the hill—and that the trees +would not blossom and cast their shade upon the sod without some +sunshine; and what does this man say? Why, that the rocks, when they +crystallized, emitted light, even enough to raise a crop by. And he +says "vegetation might have depended on the glare of volcanoes in the +moon." What do you think would be the fate of agriculture depending on +the "glare of volcanoes in the moon?" Then he says "the aurora +borealis." Why, you couldn't raise cucumbers by the aurora borealis. +And he says "liquid rivers of molten granite." I would like to have a +farm on that stream. He guesses everything of the kind except +lightning-bugs and foxfire. Now, think of that explanation in the last +half of the nineteenth century by a minister. The truth is, the +gentleman who wrote the account knew nothing of astronomy—knew as +little as the modern preacher does—just about the same; and if they +don't know more about the next world than they do about this, it is +hardly worth while talking with them on the subject. There was a time, +you know, when the minister was the educated man in the country, and +when, if you wanted to know anything, you asked him. Now you do if you +don't. So I find this man expounding the flood, and he says it was not +very wet. He begins to doubt whether God had water enough to cover the +whole earth. Why not stand by his book? He says that some of the +animals got into the ark to keep out of the wet. I believe that is the +way the Democrats got to the polls last Tuesday. +</P> + +<P> +Another divine says that God would have drowned them all, but it was +purely for the sake of economy that He saved any of them. Just think +of that! According to this Christian religion all the people in the +world were totally depraved through the fall, and God found he could +not do anything with them, so he drowned them. Now, if God wanted to +get up a flood big enough to drown sin, why did He not get up a flood +big enough to drown the snake? That was His mistake. Now, these +people say that if Jonah had walked rapidly up and down the whale's +belly he would have avoided the action of its gastric-juice. Imagine +Jonah sitting in the whale's mouth, on the back of a molar-tooth; and +yet this doctor of divinity would have us believe that the infinite God +of the universe was sitting under his gourd and made the worm that was +at the root of Jonah's vine. Great business. +</P> + +<P> +David is said to have been a man after God's own heart, and if you will +read the twenty-eighth chapter of Chronicles you will find that David +died full of years and honors. So I find in the great book of +prophecy, concerning Solomon: "He shall reign in peace and quietness, +he shall be my son, and I shall be his father, and I will preserve his +Kingdom." Was that true? +</P> + +<P> +It won't do. But they say God couldn't do away with slavery suddenly, +nor with polygamy all at once—that He had to do it gradually—that if +He had told this man you mustn't have slaves, and one man that he must +have one wife, and one wife that she must have one husband, He would +have lost the control over them notwithstanding all the miraculous +power. Is it not wonderful that when they did all these miracles +nobody paid any attention to them? Isn't it wonderful that, in Egypt, +when they performed these wonders—when the waters were turned into +blood, when the people were smitten with disease and covered with the +horrible animals—isn't it wonderful that it had no influence on them? +Do you know why all these miracles didn't affect the Egyptians? They +were there at the time. Isn't it wonderful, too, that the Jews who had +been brought from bondage—had followed a cloud by day and a pillar of +fire by night—who had been miraculously fed, and for whose benefit +water had leaked from the rocks and followed them up and down hill +through all their journeying—isn't it wonderful, when they had seen +the earth open and their companions swallowed, when they had seen God +Himself write in robes of flames from Sinai's crags, when they had seen +Him talking face to face with Moses—isn't it a little wonderful that +He had no more influence over them? They were there at the time. And +that is the reason they didn't mind it—they were there. And yet, with +all these miracles, this God could not prevent polygamy and slavery. +Was there no room on the two tables of stone to put two more +commandments? Better have written them on the back, then. Better have +left the others all off and put these two on. Man shall not enslave +his brother, (you shall not live on unpaid labor), and the one man +shall have the one wife. If these two had been written and the other +ten left off, it would have been a thousand times better for this world. +</P> + +<P> +But, they say, God works gradually. No hurry about it. He is not +gradual about keeping Sunday, because, if He met a man picking up +sticks, He killed Him; but in other things He is gradual. Suppose we +wanted now to break certain cannibals of eating missionaries—wanted to +stop them from eating them raw? Of course we would not tell them, in +the first place, it was wrong. That would not do. We would induce them +to cook them. That would be the first step toward civilization. We +would have them stew them. We would not say it is wrong to eat +missionary, but it is wrong to eat missionary raw. Then, after they +began stewing them, we would put in a little mutton—not enough to +excite suspicion but just a little, and so, day by day, we would put in +a little more mutton and a little less missionary until, in about what +the bible calls "the fullness of time," we would have clear mutton and +no missionary. That is God's way. The next great charge against me is +that I have disgraced my parents by expressing my honest thoughts. No +man can disgrace his parents that way. I want my children to express +their real opinions, whether they agree with mine or not. I want my +children to find out more than I have found, and I would be gratified +to have them discover the errors I have made. And if my father and +mother were still alive I feel and know that I am pursuing a course of +which they would approve. I am true to my manhood. But think of it! +Suppose the father of Dr. Talmage had been a Methodist and his mother +an infidel. Then what. Would he have to disgrace them both to be a +Presbyterian. The disciples of Christ, according to this doctrine, +disgraced their parents. The founder of every new religion, according +to this doctrine, was a disgrace to his father and mother. Now there +must have been a time when a Talmage was not a Presbyterian, and the +one that left something else to join that church disgraced his father +and mother. Why, if this doctrine be true why do you send missionaries +to other lands and ask those people to disgrace their parents? If this +doctrine be true nobody has religious liberty except foundlings, and it +should be written over every Foundling Hospital: "Home for Religious +Liberty." It won't do. +</P> + +<P> +What is the next thing I have said? I have taken the ground, and I +take it again today, that the bible has only words of humiliation for +woman. The bible treats woman as the slave, the serf of man, and +wherever that book is believed in thoroughly woman is a slave. It is +the infidelity in the church that gives her what liberty she has today. +Oh! but, says the gentleman, think of the heroines in the bible. How +could a book be opposed to woman which has pictured such heroines? +Well, that is a good argument. Let's answer it. Who are the heroines? +He tells us. The first is Esther. Who was she? Esther is a very +peculiar book, and the story is about this: Ahasaerus was a king. His +wife's name was Vashti. She didn't please him. He divorced her, and +advertised for another. A gentleman by the name of Mordecai had a good +looking niece, and he took her to market. Her name was Esther. I +don't feel like reading the whole of the second chapter. It is +sufficient to say she was selected. After a time there was a gentleman +by the name of Haman who, I should think, was in the cabinet, according +to the story. And this man Mordecai began to put on considerable style +because his niece was the king's wife, and he would not bow, or he +would not rise, or he would not meet this gentleman with marks of +distinguished consideration, so he made up his mind to have him hung. +Then they got out an order to kill the Jews, and this Esther went to +see the king. In those days they believed in the Bismarkian style of +government—all power came from the king, not from the people; if +anybody went to see this king without an invitation, and he failed to +hold out his sceptre to him, the person was killed just to preserve the +dignity of the monarch. When Esther arrived he held out the sceptre, +and there-upon she induced him to send out another order for the +fellows who were to kill the Jews, and they killed 75,000 or 80,000 of +them. And they came back and said, "Kill Haman and his ten sons," and +they hung the family up. That is all there is to the story. And yet +this Esther is held up as a model of womanly grace and tenderness, and +there is not a more infamous story in the literature of the world. +</P> + +<P> +The next heroine is Ruth. I admit, that is a very pretty story. But +Ruth was guilty of more things that would be deemed indiscreet than any +girl in Brooklyn. That is all there is about Ruth. The next heroine +is Hannah. And what do you suppose was the matter with her? She made a +coat for her boy; that's all. I have known a woman make a whole suit! +The next heroine was Abigail. She was the wife of Natal. King David +had a few soldiers with him, and he called at the house of Natal, and +asked if he could not get food for his men. Abigail went down to give +him something to eat, and she was very much struck with David, David +evidently fancied her. Natal died within a week. I think he was +poisoned. David and Abigail were married. If that had happened in +Chicago there would have been a coroner's jury, and an inquest; but +that is all there was to that. +</P> + +<P> +The next is Dorcas. She was in the new testament. She was real good +to the ministers. Those ladies have always stood well with the church. +She was real good to the poor. She died one day, and you never hear of +her again. +</P> + +<P> +Then there was that person that was raised from the dead. I would like +to know from a person that had recently been raised from the dead, +where he was when he was wanted, what he was traveling about, and what +he was engaged in. I cannot imagine a more interesting person than one +that has just been raised from the dead. Lazarus comes from the tomb, +and I think sometimes that there must be a mistake about it, because +when they come to die again thousands of people would say, "Why, he +knows all about it!" Would it not be noted if a man had two funerals? +</P> + +<P> +Now, then, these are all the heroines, to show you how little they +thought of woman in that day. In the days of the old testament they +did not even tell us when the mother of us all (Eve) died, nor where +she is buried, nor anything about it. They do not even tell us where +the mother of Christ sleeps, nor when she died. Never is she spoken of +after the morning of the resurrection. He who descended from the cross +went not to see her; and the son had no word for the broken-hearted +mother. +</P> + +<P> +The story is not true. I believe Christ was a great and good man, but +He had nothing about Him miraculous except the courage to tell what he +thought about the religion of His day. The new testament, in relating +what occurred between Christ and his mother, mentions three instances; +once, when they thought He had been lost in Jerusalem, when He said to +them, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" Next, +at the marriage of Cana, when He said to the woman, "What have I to do +with thee?"—words which He never said; and again from the cross, +"Mother, behold Thy Son;" and to the disciple, "Behold thy Mother!" +So of Mary Magdalene. In some respects there is no character in the +new testament that so appeals to us as loving Christ—first at the +sepulchre—and yet when He meets her after the resurrection He had for +her the comfort only of the chilling words, "Touch me not!" I don't +believe it. There were thousands of heroic women then. There are +heroic women now. Think of the women who cling to fallen and disgraced +husbands day by day, until they reach the gutter, and who stoop down to +lift them from that position, and raise them up to be men once more! +Every country is civilized in proportion as it honors woman. There are +women in England working in mines, deformed by labor, that would become +wild beasts were it not for the love they bear for home. Can you find +among the women of the new testament any women that can equal the women +born of Shakespeare's brain? You can find no woman like Isabella, +where reason and purity blend into perfect truth; no woman like Juliet, +where passion and purity meet like red and white within the bosom of a +flower; no woman like Imogen, who said, "What is it to be false?" No +woman like Cordelia, that would not show her wealth of love in hope of +gain; nor like Hermione, who bore the cross of shame for years; nor +like Miranda, who told her love as the flower exposes its bosom to the +sun; nor like Desdemona, who was so pure that she could not suspect +that another could suspect her of a crime. +</P> + +<P> +And we are told that woman sinned first and man second; that man was +made first and woman not till afterwards. The idea is that we could +have gotten along without the woman well enough, but they never could +have gotten along without us. I tell you that love is better than +piety, love is better than all the ceremonial worship of the world, and +it is better to love something than to believe anything on this globe. +So this minister, seeking a mark to throw an arrow somewhere—trying to +find some little place in the armor—charges me with having disparaged +Queen Victoria. That you know is next to blasphemy. Well, I never did +anything of the kind—never said a word against her in in life, neither +as wife, or mother, or Queen—never doubted but that she is a good +woman enough, and I have always admitted that her reputation was good +in the neighborhood where she resides. I never had any other opinion. +All I said in the world was—I was endeavoring to show that we are now +to have an aristocracy of brain and heart—that is all—and I said, +'speaking of Louis Napoleon, he was not satisfied with simply being an +emperor and having a little crown on his head, but wanted to prove that +he had something in his head, so he wrote the life of Julius Caesar, +and that made him a member of the French Academy; and speaking of King +William, upon whose head is the divine petroleum of authority, I asked +how he would like to exchange brains with Haeckel, the philosopher. +Then I went over to England, and said "Queen Victoria wears the garment +of power given her by blind fortune, by eyeless chance; 'George Eliot' +is arrayed in robes of glory, woven in the loom of her own genius." +Thereupon I am charged with disparaging a woman. And this priest, in +order to get even with me, digs open the grave of "George Eliot" and +endeavors to stain her unresisting dust. He calls her an +adulteress—the vilest word in the languages of men—and he does it +because she hated the Presbyterian creed, because she, according to his +definition, was an atheist, because she lived without faith and died +without fear, because she grandly bore the taunts and slanders of the +Christian world. "George Eliot" carried tenderly in her heart the +faults and frailties of her race. She saw the highway of eternal right +through all the winding paths, where folly vainly stalks with +thorn-pierced hands, the fading flowers of selfish joy; and whatever +you may think or I may think of the one mistake in all her sad and +loving life, I know and feel that in the court where her conscience sat +as judge she stood acquitted, pure as light and stainless as a star. +"George Eliot" has joined the choir invisible whose music is the +gladness of this world, and her wondrous lines, her touching poems, +will be read hundreds of years after every sermon in which a priest has +sought to stain her name shall have vanished utterly from human speech. +How appropriate here, with some slight change, the words of Laertes at +Ophelia's grave: +</P> + +<P> +Lay her in the earth; And from her fair and unpolluted flesh May +violets spring; I tell thee, priest and minister, A ministering angel +shall this woman be When thou liest howling. +</P> + +<P> +I have no words with which to express my loathing hatred and +condemnation of the man who will stain a noble woman's grave. +</P> + +<P> +The next argument in favor of the "sacred scriptures" is the argument +of numbers; and this minister congratulates himself that the infidels +could not carry a precinct, or a county, or a state in the United +States. Well, I tell you, they can come proportionately near it—just +in proportion that that part of the country is educated. The whole +world doesn't move together in one life. There has to be some man to +take a step forward and the people follow; and when they get where that +man was, some other Titan has taken another step, and you can see him +there on the great mountain of progress. That is why the world moves. +There must be pioneers, and if nobody is right except he who is with +the majority, then we must turn and walk toward the setting sun. He +says "We will settle this by suffrage." The Christian religion was +submitted to a popular vote in Jerusalem, and what was the result? +"Crucify Him "—an infamous result, showing that you can't depend on +the vote of barbarians. But I am told that there are 300,000,000 +Christians in the world. Well, what of it? There are more Buddhists. +And they say, what a number of bibles are printed!—more bibles than +any other book. Does this prove anything? True, because more of them. +Suppose you should find published in the New York Herald something +about you, and you should go to the editor and tell him: "That is a +lie;" and he should say: "That can't be; the Herald has the largest +circulation of any paper in the world." Three hundred millions of +Christians, and here are the nations that prove the truth of +Christianity: Russia 80,000,000 Christians. I am willing to admit it; +a country without freedom of speech, without freedom of press—a +country in which every mouth is a Bastille and every tongue a prisoner +for life—a country in which assassins are the best men in it. They +call that Christian. Girls sixteen years of age, for having spoken in +favor of human liberty, are now working in Siberian mines. That is a +Christian country. Only a little while ago a man shot at the emperor +twice. The emperor was protected by his armor. The man was convicted, +and they asked him if he wished religious consolation. "No." "Do you +believe in a God?" "No;" if there was a God there would be no Russia. +Sixteen millions of Christians in Spain—Spain that never touched a +shore except as a robber—Spain that took the gold and silver of the +new world and used it as an engine of oppression in the old—a country +in which cruelty was worship, in which murder was prayer—a country +where flourished the Inquisition—I admit Spain is a Christian country. +If you don't believe it I do. Read the history of Holland, read the +history of South America, read the history of Mexico—a chapter of +cruelty beyond the power of language to express. I admit that Spain is +orthodox. If you will go there you will find the man who robs you and +asks God to forgive you—a country where infidelity hasn't made much +headway, but, thank God, where there is even yet a dawn, where there +are such men as Castelar and others, who begin to see that one +schoolhouse is equal to three cathedrals and one teacher worth all the +priests. +</P> + +<P> +Italy is another Christian nation, with 28,000,000 Christians. In +Italy lives the only authorized agent of God, the pope. For hundreds +of years Italy was the beggar of the earth, and held out both hands. +Gold and silver flowed from every land into her palms, and she became +covered with nunneries, monasteries, and the pilgrims of the world. +Italy was sacred dust. Her soil was a perpetual blessing, her sky was +an eternal smile. Italy was guilty not simply of the death of the +Catholic church, but Italy was dead and buried and would have been in +her grave still had it not been for Mazzini, Garibaldi, and Cavour. +When the prophecy of Garibaldi shall be fulfilled, when the priests, +with spades in their hands, shall dig ditches to drain the Pontine +marshes, when the monasteries shall be factories, when the whirling +wheels of industry shall drown the drowsy and hypocritical prayers, +then and not till then, will Italy be great and free. Italy is the +only instance in our history and in the history of the world, so far as +we know, of the resurrection of a nation. She is the first fruits of +them that sleep. +</P> + +<P> +Portugal is another Christian country. She made her living in the +slave trade for centuries. I admit that all the blessings that that +country enjoyed flowed naturally from Catholicism, and we believe in +the same scriptures. If you don't believe it, read the history of the +persecution of the Jewish people. I admit that Germany is a Christian +nation; that is, Christians are in power. When the bill was introduced +for the purpose of ameliorating the condition of the Jews, Bismark +spoke against it, and said "Germany is a Christian nation, and +therefore, we cannot pass the bill." Austria is another Christian +nation. If you don't believe it, read the history of Hungary, and, if +you still have doubts, read the history of the partition of Poland. +But there is one good thing in that country. They believe in education, +and education is the enemy of ecclesiasticism. Every thoroughly +educated man is his own church, and his own pope, and his own priest. +</P> + +<P> +They tell me that the United States—our country—is Christian. I deny +it. It is neither Christian nor pagan; it is human. Our fathers +retired all the gods from politics. Our fathers laid down the doctrine +that the right to govern comes from the consent of the governed, and +not from the clouds. Our fathers knew that if they put an infinite God +in the Constitution there would be no room left for the people. Our +fathers used the language of Lincoln, and they made a government for +the people by the people. This is not a Christian country. Some +gentleman said, "How about Delaware?" I told him there was a man in +Washington some twenty or thirty years ago who came there and said he +was a Revolutionary soldier and wanted a pension. He was so bent and +bowed over that the wind blew his shoestrings into his eyes. They +asked him how old he was, and he said fifty years. "Why, good man, you +can't get a pension, because the war was over before you were born. +You mustn't fool us." "Well," said he, "I'll tell you the truth: I +lived sixty years in Delaware, but I never count it, and hope God +won't." And these Christian nations which have been brought forward as +the witnesses of the truth of the scriptures owe $25,000,000,000, which +represents Christian war, Christian cannon, Christian shot, and +Christian shell. The sum is so great that the imagination is dazed in +its contemplation. That is the result of loving your neighbor as +yourself. +</P> + +<P> +The next great argument brought forward by these gentlemen is the +persecution of the Jews. We are told in the nineteenth century that +God has the Jews persecuted simply for the purpose of establishing the +authenticity of the scriptures, and every Jewish home burned in Russia +throws light on the gospel, and every violated Jewish maiden is another +evidence that God still takes an interest in the holy scriptures. That +is their doctrine. They are "fulfilling prophecy." The Christian +grasps the Jew, strips him, robs him, makes him an outcast, and then +points to him as a fulfillment of prophecy; and we are today laying the +foundation of future persecution—we are teaching our children the +monstrous falsehood that Jews crucified God, and the nation consented. +They crucified a good man. What nation has not? What race has not? +Think of the number killed by the Presbyterians; by the Catholics. +Every sect, with maybe two or three exceptions, have crucified their +fellows, and every race has burned its greatest and its best. And yet +we are filling the minds of children with hatred of the Jewish people. +It is a poor business. "Ah?" but they say, "these people are cursed by +God." I say they never had any good fortune until the Jehovah of the +bible deserted them. Whenever they have had a reasonable chance they +have been the most prosperous people in the world. I never saw one +begging. I never saw one in the criminal dock. For hundreds of years +they were not allowed to own any land, for hundreds of years they were +not allowed to work at any trade; they were driven simply to dealing in +money, and in precious stones, and things of that character, and, by a +kind of poetic justice, they have today the control of the money of the +world. I am glad to see that kings and emperors go to the offices of +the Jews, with their hats in their hands, to have their notes +discounted. And yet I am told by clergymen that all this infamy has +been kept up simply to establish the truth of the gospel. I despise +such doctrine. As long as the liberty of one Jew is unsafe, my liberty +is not secure. Liberty for all, and not until then will the liberty of +any be assured. "Ah"; but says this man, "nobody ever died cheerfully +for a lie. The Jewish people have suffered persecution for 1,600 +years, and they have suffered it cheerfully." If this doctrine is true, +then Judaism must be true and Christianity must be false. But +martyrdom doesn't prove the truth if the martyr knows it. It simply +proves the barbarity of his persecutors, and has no sincerity. That is +all it proves. +</P> + +<P> +But you must remember that this gentleman who believes in this doctrine +is a Presbyterian, and why should a Presbyterian object? After a few +hundred years of burning he expects to enjoy the eternal auto da fe of +hell—an auto da fe that will be presided over by God and His angels, +and they will be expected to applaud. He is a Presbyterian; and what +is that? It is the worst religion of this earth. I admit that +thousands and millions of Presbyterians are good people, no man ever +being half so bad as his creed. I am not attacking them. I am +attacking their creed. I am attacking what this religion calls +"Tidings of great joy." And, according to that, hundreds of billions +and billions of years ago our fate was irrevocably and forever fixed, +and God in the secret counsels of His own inscrutable will, made up His +mind whom He would save and whom He would damn. When thinking of that +God I always think of the mistake of a Methodist preacher during the +war. He commenced the prayer—and never did one more appropriate for +the Presbyterian God or the Methodist go up—"O, Thou great and +unscrupulous God." This Presbyterian believes that billions of years +before that baby in the cradle—that little dimpled child, basking in +the light of a mother's smile—was born, God had made up His mind to +damn it; and when Talmage looks at one of those children who will +probably be damned he is cheerful about it; he enjoys it. That is +Presbyterianism—that God made man and damned him for His own glory. If +there is such a God, I hate Him with every drop of my blood; and if +there is a heaven it must be where He is not. Now think of that +doctrine! Only a little while ago there was a ship from Liverpool out +eighty days with its rudder washed away; for ten days nothing to +eat—nothing but the bare decks and hunger; and the captain took a +revolver in his hand and put it to his brain and said: "Some of us must +die for the others. And it might as well be I." One of his companions +grasped the pistol and said: "Captain, wait; wait one day more. We can +live another day." And the next morning the horizon was rich with a +sail, and they were saved. And yet if Presbyterianism is true; if that +man had put the bullet through his infinitely generous brain so that +his comrades could have eaten of his flesh and reached their homes and +felt about their necks the dimpled arms of children and the kisses of +wives upon their lips—if Presbyterianism be true, God had a constable +ready there to clutch that soul and thrust it down to eternal hell. +Tidings of great joy. And yet this is religion. Why, if that doctrine +be true, every soldier in the Revolutionary War who died not a +Christian has been damned; every one in the War of 1812, who kept our +flag upon the sea, if he died not a Christian has been damned; and +every one in the Civil War who fought to keep our flag in heaven, not a +Christian, and the ones who died in Andersonville and Libby, not +Christians, are now in the prison of God, where the famine of +Andersonville and Libby would be regarded as a joy. Orthodox +Christianity! Why, we have an account in the bible—it comes from the +other world—from both countries—from heaven and from hell—let us see +what it is. Here is a rich man who dies. The only fault about him +was, he was rich; no other crime was charged against him. We are told +that the rich man died, and when he lifted up his eyes he found no +sympathy, yet even in hell he remembered his five brethren, and prayed +that some one should be sent to them so that they should not come +there. I tell you I had rather be in hell with human sympathy than in +heaven without it. +</P> + +<P> +The bible is not inspired, and ministers know nothing about another +world. They don't know. I am satisfied there is no world of eternal +pain. If there is a world of joy, so much the better. I have never +put out the faintest star of human hope that ever trembled in the night +of life. There was a time when I was not; after that I was; now I am. +And it is just as probable that I will live again as it was that I +could have lived before I did. Let it go. Ah! but what will life be? +The world will be here. Men and women will be here. The page of +history will be open. The walls of the world will be adorned with art, +the niches with sculpture; music will be here, and all there is of life +and joy. And there will be homes here, and the fireside, and there +will be a common hope without a common fear. Love will be here, and +love is the only bow on life's dark cloud. Love was the first to dream +of immortality. Love is the morning and evening star. It shines upon +the child; it sheds its radiance upon the peaceful tomb. Love is the +mother of beauty—the mother of melody, for music is its voice. Love +is the builder of every hope, the kindler of every fire on every +hearth. Love is the enchanter, the magician that changes worthless +things to joy, and makes right royal kings and queens out of common +clay. Love is the perfume of that wondrous flower the heart. Without +that divine passion, without that divine sway, we are less than beasts, +and with it earth is heaven and we are gods. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="childsgrave"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S ORATION AT A CHILD'S GRAVE. +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +In a remote corner of the Congressional Cemetery at Washington, a small +group of people with uncovered heads were ranged around a newly-opened +grave. They included Detective and Mrs. George O. Miller and family +and friends, who had gathered to witness the burial of the former's +bright little son Harry. As the casket rested upon the trestles there +was a painful pause, broken only by the mother's sobs, until the +undertaker advanced toward a stout, florid-complexioned gentleman in +the party and whispered to him, the words being inaudible to the +lookers-on. This gentleman was Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, a friend of +the Millers, who had attended the funeral—at their request. He shook +his head when the undertaker first addressed him, and then said +suddenly, "Does Mrs. Miller desire it?" The undertaker gave an +affirmative nod. Mr. Miller looked appealingly toward the +distinguished orator, and then Colonel Ingersoll advanced to the side +of the grave, made a motion denoting a desire for silence, and, in a +voice of exquisite cadence, delivered one of his characteristic +eulogies for the dead. +</P> + +<P> +The scene was intensely dramatic. A fine drizzling rain was falling, +and every head was bent, and every ear turned to catch the impassioned +words of eloquence and hope that fell from the lips of the famed +orator. Colonel Ingersoll was unprotected by either hat or umbrella. +His invocation thrilled his hearers with awe, each eye that had +previously been bedimmed with tears brightening, and sobs becoming +hushed. The colonel said: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +My Friends: I know how vain it is to gild a grief with words, and yet I +wish to take from every grave its fear. Here in this world, where life +and death are equal kings, all should be brave enough to meet what all +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 +greatest blessing, life or death. We cannot say that death is not 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 the question as intelligently and satisfactorily as the +robed priest of the most authentic creed. The tearful ignorance of the +one is just 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. It may +be that death gives all there is of worth to life. If those who press +and strain against our hearts could never die, perhaps that love would +wither from the earth. Maybe a common faith treads from out the paths +between our hearts the weeds of selfishness, and I should rather live +and love where death is king than have eternal life where love is not. +Another life is naught, unless we know and love again the ones who love +us here. +</P> + +<P> +They who stand with breaking hearts around this little grave need have +no fear. The largest 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 these +graves will be to them a place of rest and peace—almost of joy. There +is for them this consolation: The dead do not suffer. If they live +again their lives will surely be as good as ours. We have no fear; we +are all children of the same mother and the same fate awaits us all. +We, too, have our religion, and it is this: "Help for the living, hope +for the dead." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="oration"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL AT HIS BROTHER'S GRAVE.—A Most Exquisite, <BR> +Yet One Of The Most Sad And Mournful Sermons +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +The funeral of Hon. Ebon C. Ingersoll, brother of Col. Robert G. +Ingersoll, of Illinois, took place at his residence in Washington, +D.C., June 2, 1879. The ceremonies were extremely simple, consisting +merely of viewing the remains by relatives and friends, and a funeral +oration by Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, brother of the deceased. A large +number of distinguished gentlemen were present, including Secretary +Sherman, Assistant Secretary Hawley, Senators Blaine, Vorhees, Paddock, +Allison, Logan, Hon. Thomas Henderson, Gov. Pound, Hon. Wm. M. +Morrison, Gen. Jeffreys, Gen. Williams, Col. James Fishback, and +others. The pall-bearers were Senators Blaine, Vorhees, David Davis, +Paddock and Allison, Col. Ward, H. Lamon, Hon. Jeremiah Wilson of +Indiana, and Hon. Thomas A. Boyd of Illinois. +</P> + +<P> +Soon after Mr. Ingersoll began to read his eloquent characterization of +the dead, his eyes filled with tears. He tried to hide them behind his +eye-glasses, but he could not do it, and finally he bowed his head upon +the dead man's coffin in uncontrollable grief. It was after some delay +and the greatest efforts of self-mastery, that Col. Ingersoll was able +to finish reading his address, which was as follows: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +My Friends: I am going to do that which the dead often 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 over a sunken ship. For, whether in +mid-sea or among the breakers of the farther shore, a wreck must mark +at last 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 a grander day. He loved the +beautiful and was with color, form and music touched to tears. He +sided with the weak, and with a willing hand gave alms; with loyal +heart and with the purest hand he faithful discharged all public +trusts. He was a worshiper of liberty and a friend of the oppressed. +A thousand times I have heard him quote the words: "For justice all +place a temple and all season summer." He believed that happiness was +the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worshiper, +humanity the only religion, and love the priest. +</P> + +<P> +He added to the sum of human joy, and were every one for 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 and tears and fears that these dear words are true of +all the countless dead. 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 can not contain our love. There +was—there is—no gentler, stronger, manlier man. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="moses"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S LECTURE ON THE MISTAKES OF MOSES. +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Now and then some one asks me why I am endeavoring to interfere with +the religious faith of others, and why I try to take from the world the +consolation naturally arising from a belief in eternal fire. And I +answer, I want to do what little I can to make my country truly free. I +want to broaden the intellectual horizon of our people. I want it so +that we can differ upon all those questions, and yet grasp each other's +hands in genuine friendship. I want in the first place to free the +clergy. I am a great friend of theirs, but they don't seem to have +found it out generally. I want it so that every minister will be not a +parrot, not an owl sitting upon the limb of the tree of knowledge and +hooting the hoots that have been hooted for eighteen hundred years. +But I want it so that each one can be an investigator, a thinker; and I +want to make his congregation grand enough so that they will not only +allow him to think, but will demand that he shall think, and give to +them the honest truth of his thought. As it is now, ministers are +employed like attorneys—for the plaintiff or the defendant. If a few +people know of a young man in the neighborhood maybe who has not a good +constitution,—he may not be healthy enough to be wicked—a young man +who has shown no decided talent—it occurs to them to make him a +minister. They contribute and send him to some school. If it turns +out that that young man has more of the man in him than they thought, +and he changes his opinion, everyone who contributed will feel himself +individually swindled—and they will follow that young man to the grave +with the poisoned shafts of malice and slander. I want it so that +every one will be free—so that a pulpit will not be a pillory. They +have in Massachusetts, at a place called Andover, a kind of minister +factory; and every professor in that factory takes an oath once in +every five years—that is as long as an oath will last—that not only +has he not during the last five years, but so help him God, he will not +during the next five years intellectually advance; and probably there +is no oath he could easier keep. Since the foundation of that +institution there has not been one case of perjury. They believe the +same creed they first taught when the foundation stone was laid, and +now when they send out a minister they brand him as hardware from +Sheffield and Birmingham. And every man who knows where he was educated +knows his creed, knows every argument of his creed, every book that he +reads, and just what he amounts to intellectually, and knows he will +shrink and shrivel, and become solemnly stupid day after day until he +meets with death. It is all wrong; it is cruel. Those men should be +allowed to grow. They should have the air of liberty and the sunshine +of thought. +</P> + +<P> +I want to free the schools of our country. I want it so that when a +professor in a college finds some fact inconsistent with Moses, he will +not hide the fact. I wish to see an eternal divorce and separation +between church and schools. The common school is the bread of life, +but there should be nothing taught except what somebody knows; and +anything else should not be maintained by a system of general taxation. +I want its professors so that they will tell everything they find; that +they will be free to investigate in every direction, and will not be +trammeled by the superstitions of our day. What has religion to do with +facts? Nothing. Is there any such thing as Methodist mathematics, +Presbyterian botany, Catholic astronomy or Baptist biology? What has +any form of superstition or religion to do with a fact or with any +science? Nothing but to hinder, delay or embarrass. I want, then, to +free the schools; and I want to free the politicians, so that a man +will not have to pretend he is a Methodist, or his wife a Baptist, or +his grandmother a Catholic; so that he can go through a campaign, and +when he gets through will find none of the dust of hypocrisy on his +knees. +</P> + +<P> +I want the people splendid enough that when they desire men to make +laws for them, they will take one who knows something, who has brains +enough to prophesy the destiny of the American Republic, no matter what +his opinions may be upon any religious subject. Suppose we are in a +storm out at sea, and the billows are washing over our ship, and it is +necessary that some one should reef the topsail, and a man presents +himself. Would you stop him at the foot of the mast to find out his +opinion on the five points of Calvinism? What has that to do with it? +Congress has nothing to do with baptism or any particular creed, and +from what little experience I have had in Washington, very little to do +with any kind of religion whatever. Now I hope, this afternoon, this +magnificent and splendid audience will forget that they are Baptists or +Methodists, and remember that they are men and women. These are the +highest titles humanity can bear—and every title you add, belittles +them. Man is the highest; woman is the highest. Let us remember that +our views depend largely upon the country in which we happen to live. +Suppose we were born in Turkey most of us would have been Mohammedans; +and when we read in the book that when Mohammed visited heaven he +became acquainted with an angel named Gabriel, who was so broad between +his eyes that it would take a smart camel three hundred days to make +the journey, we probably would have believed it. If we did not, people +would say: "That young man is dangerous; he is trying to tear down the +fabric of our religion. What do you propose to give us instead of that +angel? We cannot afford to trade off an angel of that size for +nothing." Or if we had been born in India, we would have believed in a +god with three heads. Now we believe in three gods with one head. And +so we might make a tour of the world and see that every superstition +that could be imagined by the brain of man has been in some place held +to be sacred. +</P> + +<P> +Now some one says, "The religion of my father and mother is good enough +for me." Suppose we all said that, where would be the progress of the +world? We would have the rudest and most barbaric religion—religion +which no one could believe. I do not believe that it is showing real +respect to our parents to believe something simply because they did. +Every good father and every good mother wish their children to find out +more than they knew every good father wants his son to overcome some +obstacle that he could not grapple with and if you wish to reflect +credit on your father and mother, do it by accomplishing more than they +did, because you live in a better time. Every nation has had what you +call a sacred record, and the older the more sacred, the more +contradictory and the more inspired is the record. We, of course, are +not an exception, and I propose to talk a little about what is called +the Pentateuch, a book, or a collection of books, said to have been +written by Moses. And right here in the commencement let me say that +Moses never wrote one word of the Pentateuch—not one word was written +until he had been dust and ashes for hundreds of years. But as the +general opinion is that Moses wrote these books, I have entitled this +lecture "The Mistakes of Moses." For the sake of this lecture, we will +admit that he wrote it. Nearly every maker of religion has commenced +by making the world; and it is one of the safest things to do, because +no one can contradict as having been present, and it gives free scope +to the imagination. These books, in times when there was a vast +difference between the educated and the ignorant, became inspired and +people bowed down and worshiped them. +</P> + +<P> +I saw a little while ago a Bible with immense oaken covers, with hasps +and clasps large enough almost for a penitentiary, and I can imagine +how that book would be regarded by barbarians in Europe when not more +than one person in a dozen could read and write. In imagination I saw +it carried into the cathedral, heard the chant of the priest, saw the +swinging of the censer and the smoke rising; and when that Bible was +put on the altar I can imagine the barbarians looking at it and +wondering what influence that book could have on their lives and +future. I do not wonder that they imagined it was inspired. None of +them could write a book, and consequently when they saw it they adored +it; they were stricken with awe; and rascals took advantage of that awe. +</P> + +<P> +Now they say that the book is inspired. I do not care whether it is or +not; the question is: Is it true? If it is true it doesn't need to be +inspired. Nothing needs inspiration except a falsehood or a mistake. +A fact never went into partnership with a miracle. Truth scorns the +assistance of wonders. A fact will fit every other fact in the +universe, and that is how you can tell—whether it is or not a fact. A +lie will not fit anything except a lie made for the express purpose; +and, finally, some one gets tired of lying, and the last lie will not +fit the next fact, and then there is a chance for inspiration. Right +then and there a miracle is needed. The real question is, in the light +of science, in the light of the brain and heart of the nineteenth +century, is this book true? The gentleman who wrote it begins by +telling us that God made the universe out of nothing. That I cannot +conceive; it may be so, but I cannot conceive it. Nothing in the light +of raw material, is, to my mind, a decided and disastrous failure. I +cannot imagine of nothing being made into something, any more than I +can of something being changed back into nothing. I cannot conceive of +force aside from matter, because force to be force must be active, and +unless there is matter there is nothing for force to act upon, and +consequently it cannot be active. So I simply say I cannot comprehend +it. I cannot believe it. I may roast for this, but it is my honest +opinion. The next thing he proceeds to tell us is that God divided the +darkness from the light, and right here let me say when I speak about +God I simply mean the being described by the Jews. There may be in +immensity a being beneath whose wing the universe exists, whose every +thought is a glittering star, but I know nothing about Him,—not the +slightest,—and this afternoon I am simply talking about the being +described by the Jewish people. When I say God, I mean Him. Moses +describes God dividing the light from the darkness. I suppose that at +that time they must have been mixed. You can readily see how light and +darkness can get mixed. They must have been entities. The reason I +think so is because in that same book I find that darkness overspread +Egypt so thick that it could be felt, and they used to have on +exhibition in Rome a bottle of the darkness that once overspread Egypt. +The gentleman who wrote this in imagination saw God dividing light from +the darkness. I am sure the man who wrote it, believed darkness to be +an entity, a something, a tangible thing that can be mixed with light. +</P> + +<P> +The next thing that he informs us is that God divided the waters above +the firmament from those below the firmament. The man who wrote that +believed the firmament to be a solid affair. And that is what the gods +did. You recollect the gods came down and made love to the daughters +of men—and I never blamed them for it. I have never read a +description of any heaven I would not leave on the same errand. That +is where the gods lived. There is where they kept the water. It was +solid. That is the reason the people prayed for rain. They believed +that an angel could take a lever, raise a window and let out the +desired quantity. I find in the Psalms that "He bowed the heavens and +came down;" and we read that the children of men built a tower to +reach the heavens and climb into the abode of the gods. The man who +wrote that believed the firmament to be solid. He knew nothing about +the laws of evaporation. He did not know that the sun wooed with +amorous kiss the waves of the sea, and that, disappointed, their +vaporous sighs changed to tears and fell again as rain. The next thing +he tells us is that the grass began to grow; and the branches of the +trees laughed into blossom, and the grass ran up the shoulder of the +hills, and yet not a solitary ray of light had left the eternal quiver +of the sun. Not a blade of grass had ever been touched by a gleam of +light. And I do not think that grass will grow to hurt without a gleam +of sunshine. I think the man who wrote that simply made a mistake, and +is excusable to a certain degree. The next day he made the sun and +moon—the sun to rule the day and the moon to rule the night. Do you +think the man who wrote that knew anything about the size of the sun? +I think he thought it was about three feet in diameter, because I find +in some book that the sun was stopped a whole day, to give a general +named Joshua time to kill a few more Amalekites; and the moon was +stopped also. Now it seems to me that the sun would give light enough +without stopping the moon; but as they were in the stopping business +they did it just for devilment. At another time, we read, the sun was +turned ten degrees backward to convince Hezekiah that he was not going +to die of a boil. How much easier it would have been to cure the boil. +The man who wrote that thought the sun was two or three feet in +diameter, and could be stopped and pulled around like the sun and moon +in a theatre. Do you know that the sun throws out every second of time +as much heat as could be generated by burning eleven thousand millions +tons of coal? I don't believe he knew that, or that he knew the motion +of the earth. I don't believe he knew that it was turning on its axis +at the rate of a thousand miles an hour, because if he did, he would +have understood the immensity of heat that would have been generated by +stopping the world. It has been calculated by one of the best +mathematicians and astronomers that to stop the world would cause as +much heat as it would take to burn a lump of solid coal three times as +big as the globe. And yet we find in that book that the sun was not +only stopped, but turned back ten degrees, simply to convince a +gentleman that he was not going to die of a boil. They will say I will +be damned if I do not believe that, and I tell them I will if I do. +</P> + +<P> +Then he gives us the history of astronomy, and he gives it to us in +five words: "He made the stars also." He came very near forgetting the +stars. Do you believe that the man who wrote that knew that there are +stars as much larger than this earth as this earth is larger than the +apple which Adam and Eve are said to have eaten. Do you believe that +he knew that this world is but a speck in the shining, glittering +universe of existence? I would gather from that that he made the stars +after he got the world done. The telescope, in reading the infinite +leaves of the heavens, has ascertained that light travels at the rate +of 192,000 miles per second, and it would require millions of years to +come from some of the stars to this earth. Yet the beams of those +stars mingle in our atmosphere, so that if those distant orbs were +fashioned when this world began, we must have been whirling in space +not six thousand, but many millions of years. Do you believe the man +who wrote that as a history of astronomy really knew that this world +was but a speck compared with millions of sparkling orbs? I do not. +He then proceeds to tell us that God made fish and cattle, and that man +and woman were created male and female. The first account stops at the +second verse of the second chapter. You see, the Bible originally was +not divided into chapters; the first Bible that was ever divided into +chapters in our language was made in the year of grace 1550. The Bible +was originally written in the Hebrew language, and the Hebrew language +at that time had no vowels in writing. It was written with consonants, +and without being divided into chapters or into verses, and there was +no system of punctuation whatever. After you go home tonight write an +English sentence or two with only consonants close together, and you +will find that it will take twice as much inspiration to read it as it +did to write it. When the Bible was divided into verses and chapters, +the divisions were not always correct, and so the division between the +first and second chapter of Genesis is not in the right place. The +second account of the creation commences at the third verse and it +differs from the first in two essential points. In the first account +man is the last made; in the second man is made before the beasts. In +the first account, man is made "male and female"; in the second only a +male is made, and there is no intention of making a woman whatever. +</P> + +<P> +You will find by reading that second chapter that God tried to palm off +on Adam a beast as his helpmeet. Everybody talks about the Bible and +nobody reads it; that is the reason it is so generally believed. I am +probably the only man in the United States who has read the Bible +through this year. I have wasted that time, but I had a purpose in +view. Just read it, and you will find, about the twenty-third verse, +that God caused all the animals to walk before Adam in order that he +might name them. And the animals came like a menagerie into town, and +as Adam looked at all the crawlers, jumpers and creepers, this God +stood by to see what he would call them. After this procession passed, +it was pathetically remarked, "Yet was there not found any helpmeet for +Adam." Adam didn't see anything that he could fancy. And I am glad he +didn't. If he had, there would not have been a free-thinker in this +world; we should have all died orthodox. And finding Adam was so +particular, God had to make him a helpmeet, and having used up the +nothing, he was compelled to take part of the man to make the woman +with, and he took from the man a rib. How did he get it? And then +imagine a God with a bone in his hand, and about to start a woman, +trying to make up his mind whether to make a blonde or a brunette. +</P> + +<P> +Right here it is only proper that I should warn you of the consequences +of laughing at any story in the Bible. When you come to die, your +laughing at this story will be a thorn in your pillow. As you look +back upon the record of your life, no matter how many men you have +wrecked and ruined, and no matter how many women you have deceived and +deserted—all that may be forgiven you but if you recollect that you +have laughed at God's book you will see through the shadows of death, +the leering looks of fiends and the forked tongues of devils. Let me +show you how it will be. For instance it is the day of judgment. When +the man is called up by the recording secretary, or whoever does the +cross-examining, he says to his soul "Where are you from?" "I am from +the world." "Yes sir. What kind of a man were you?" "Well, I don't +like to talk about myself." "But you have to. What kind of a man were +you?" "Well, I was a good fellow; I loved my wife, I loved my children. +My home was my heaven; my fire-side was my paradise, and to sit there +and see the lights and shadows falling on the faces of those I love, +that to me was a perpetual joy. I never gave one of them a solitary +moment of pain. I don't owe a dollar in the world and I left enough to +pay my funeral expenses and keep the wolf of want from the door of the +house I loved. That is the kind of a man I am." "Did you belong to any +church?" "I did not. They were too narrow for me. They were always +expecting to be happy simply because somebody else was to be damned." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, did you believe that rib story?" "What rib story—Do you mean +that Adam and Eve business? No, I did not. To tell you the God's +truth, that was a little more than I could swallow." "To hell with +him. Next. Where are you from?" "I'm from the world, too. Do you +belong to any church?" "Yes, sir, and to the Young Men's Christian +Association." "What is your business?" "Cashier in a bank." "Did you +ever run off with any money? I don't like to tell, Sir." "Well, you +have to." "Yes, Sir I did." "What kind of a bank did you have?" "A +savings bank." "How much did you run off with?" "One hundred thousand +dollars." "Did you take anything else along with you?" "Yes Sir." +"What?" "I took my neighbor's wife." "Did you have a wife and +children of your own?" "Yes, Sir." "And you deserted them?" "Oh, yes; +but such was my confidence in God that I believed he would take care of +them." "Have you heard of them since?" "No, Sir. Did you believe that +rib story?" "Ah, bless your soul, yes! I believe all of it, Sir; I +often used to be sorry that there were not harder stories yet in the +Bible, so that I could show what my faith could do." "You believed it, +did you?" "Yes, with all my heart." "Give him a harp." +</P> + +<P> +I simply wanted to show you how important it is to believe these +stories. Of all the authors in the world God hates a critic the worst. +Having got this woman done he brought her to the man, and they started +house-keeping, and a few minutes afterward a snake came through a crack +in the fence and commenced to talk with her on the subject of fruit. +She was not acquainted in the neighborhood, and she did not know +whether snakes talked or not, or whether they knew anything about the +apples or not. Well, she was misled, and the husband ate some of those +apples and laid it all on his wife; and there is where the mistake was +made. God ought to have rubbed him out at once. He might have known +that no good could come of starting the world with a man like that. +They were turned out. Then the trouble commenced, and people got worse +and worse. God, you must recollect, was holding the reins of +government, but He did nothing for them. He allowed them to live six +hundred and sixty-nine years without knowing their A. B. C. He never +started a school, not even a Sunday school. He didn't even keep His +own boys at home. And the world got worse every day, and finally he +concluded to drown them. Yet that same God has the impudence to tell me +how to raise my own children. What would you think of a neighbor, who +had just killed his babes giving you his views on domestic economy? +God found that he could do nothing with them and He said: "I will drown +them all except a few." And he picked out a fellow by the name of Noah, +that had been a bachelor for five hundred years. If I had to drown +anybody, I would have drowned him. I believe that Noah had then been +married something like one hundred years. God told him to build a +boat, and he built one five hundred feet long, eighty or ninety feet +broad and fifty-five feet high, with one door shutting on the outside, +and one window twenty-two inches square. If Noah had any hobby in the +world it was ventilation. Then into this ark he put a certain number +of all the animals in the world. Naturalists have ascertained that at +that time there were at least eleven hundred thousand insects necessary +to go into the ark, about forty thousand mammalia, sixteen hundred +reptiles, to say nothing of the mastodon, the elephant and the +animalcule, of which thousands live upon a single leaf and which cannot +be seen by the naked eye. Noah had no microscope, and yet he had pick +them out by pairs. You have no idea the trouble that man had. Some +say that the flood was not universal, that it was partial. Why then +did God say "I will destroy every living thing beneath the heavens." +If it was partial why did Noah save the birds? An ordinary bird, +tending strictly to business, can beat a partial flood. Why did he put +the birds in there—the eagles, the vultures, the condors—if it was +only a partial flood? And how did he get them in there? Were they +inspired to go there, or did he drive them up? Did the polar bear leave +his home of ice and start for the tropic inquiring for Noah; or could +the kangaroo come from Australia unless he was inspired, or somebody +was behind him? Then there are animals on this hemisphere not on that. +How did he get them across? And there are some animals which would be +very unpleasant in an ark unless the ventilation was very perfect. +</P> + +<P> +When he got the animals in the ark, God shut the door and Noah pulled +down the window. And then it began to rain, and it kept on raining +until the water went twenty nine feet over the highest mountain. +Chimborazo, then as now, lifted its head above the clouds, and then as +now, there sat the condor. And yet the waters rose and rose over every +mountain in the world—twenty-nine feet above the highest peaks, +covered with snow and ice. How deep were these waters? About five and +a half miles. How long did it rain? Forty days. How much did it have +to rain a day? About eight hundred feet. How is that for dampness? +No wonder they said the windows of the heavens were open. If I had been +there I would have said the whole side of the house was out. How long +were they in this ark? A year and ten days, floating around with no +rudder, no sail, nobody on the outside at all. The window was shut, and +there was no door, except the one that shut on the outside. Who ran +this ark—who took care of it? Finally it came down on Mount Ararat, a +peak seventeen thousand feet above the level of the sea, with about +three thousand feet of snow, and it stopped there simply to give the +animals from the tropics a chance. Then Noah opened the window and got +a breath of fresh air, and let out all the animals; and then Noah took +a drink, and God made a bargain with him that He would not drown us any +more, and He put a rainbow in the clouds and said: "When I see that I +will recollect that I have promised not to drown you." Because if it +was not for that He is apt to drown us at any moment. Now can anybody +believe that that is the origin of the rainbow? Are you not all +familiar with the natural causes which bring those beautiful arches +before our eyes? Then the people started out again, and they were as +bad as before. Here let me ask why God did not make Noah in the first +place? He knew He would have to drown Adam and Eve and all his family. +Then another thing, why did He want to drown the animals? What had they +done? What crime had they committed? It is very hard to answer these +questions—that is, for a man who has only been born once. After a +while they tried to build a tower to get into heaven, and the gods +heard about it and said "Let's go down and see what man is up to." +They came, and found things a great deal worse than they thought, and +thereupon He confounded the language to prevent them succeeding, so +that the fellow up above could not shout down "mortar" or "brick" to +the one below, and they had to give it up. Is it possible that any one +believes that that is the reason why we have the variety of languages +in the world? Do you know that language is born of human experience, +and is a physical science? Do you know that every word has been +suggested in some way by the feelings or observations of man—that +there are words as tender as the dawn, as serene as the stars, and +others as wild as the beasts? Do you know that language is dying and +being born continually—that every language has its cemetery and its +cradle, its bud and blossom, and withered leaf? Man has loved, enjoyed +and suffered, and language is simply the expression he gives those +experiences. +</P> + +<P> +Then the world began to divide, and the Jewish nation was started. Now +I want to say that at one time your ancestors, like mine, were +barbarians. If the Jewish people had to write these books now they +would be civilized books, and I do not hold them responsible for what +their ancestors did. We find the Jewish people first in Canaan, and +there were seventy of them, counting Joseph and his children already in +Egypt. They lived two hundred and fifteen years, and they then went +down into Egypt and stayed there two hundred and fifteen years they +were four hundred and thirty years in Canaan and Egypt. How many did +they have when they went to Egypt? Seventy. How many were they at the +end of two hundred and fifteen years? Three millions. That is a good +many. We had at the time of the Revolution in this country three +millions of people. Since that time there have been four doubles, until +we have forty-eight millions today. How many would the Jews number at +the same ratio in two hundred and fifteen years? Call it eight doubles +and we have forty thousand. But instead of forty thousand they had +three millions. How do I know they had three millions? Because they +had six hundred thousand men of war. For every honest voter in the +State of Illinois there will be five other people, and there are always +more voters than men of war. They must have had at the lowest possible +estimate three millions of people. Is that true? Is there a minister +in the city of Chicago that will testify to his own idiocy by claiming +that they could have increased to three millions by that time? If +there is, let him say so. Do not let him talk about the civilizing +influence of a lie. +</P> + +<P> +When they got into the desert they took a census to see how man +first-born children there were. They found they had twenty-thousand +two hundred and seventy-three first-born males. It is reasonable to +suppose there was about the same number of first-born girls, or +forty-five thousand first-born children. There must have been about as +many mothers as first-born children. Dividing three millions by +forty-five thousand mothers, and you will find that the women in Israel +had to have on the average sixty-eight children apiece. Some stories +are too thin. This is too thick. Now, we know that among three million +people there will be about three hundred births a day; and according to +the Old Testament, whenever a child was born the mother had to make a +sacrifice—a sin-offering for the crime of having been a mother. If +there is in this universe anything that is infinitely pure, it is a +mother with her child in her arms. Every woman had to have a sacrifice +of a couple of pigeons, and the priests had to eat those pigeons in the +most holy place. At that time there were at least three hundred births +a day, and the priests had to cook and eat these pigeons in the most +holy place; and at that time there were only three priests. Two +hundred birds apiece per day! I look upon them as the champion +bird-eaters of the world. +</P> + +<P> +Then where were these Jews? They were upon the desert of Sinai; and +Sahara compared to that is a garden. Imagine an ocean of lava, torn by +storm and vexed by tempest, suddenly gazed at by a Gorgon and changed +to stone. Such was the desert of Sinai. The whole supplies of the +world could not maintain three millions of people on the desert of +Sinai for forty years. It would cost one hundred thousand millions of +dollars, and would bankrupt Christendom. And yet there they were with +flocks and herds—so many that they sacrificed over one hundred and +fifty thousand first-born lambs at one time. +</P> + +<P> +It would require millions of acres to support these flocks, and yet +there was no blade of grass, and there is no account of it raining +baled hay. They sacrificed one hundred and fifty thousand lambs, and +the blood had all to be sprinkled on the altar within two hours, and +there, were only three priests. They would have to sprinkle the blood +of twelve hundred and fifty lambs per minute. Then all the people +gathered in front of the tabernacle eighteen feet deep. Three millions +of people would make a column six miles long. Some reverend gentlemen +say they were ninety feet deep. Well, that would make a column of over +a mile. +</P> + +<P> +Where were these people going? They were going to the Holy Land. How +large was it? Twelve thousand square miles—one-fifth the size of +Illinois—a frightful country, covered with rocks and desolation. There +never was a land agent in the city of Chicago that would not have +blushed with shame to have described that land as flowing with milk and +honey. Do you believe that God Almighty ever went into partnership +with hornets? Is it necessary unto salvation? God said to the Jews +"I will send hornets before you, to drive out the Canaanites." How +would a hornet know a Canaanite? Is it possible that God inspired the +hornets—that he granted letters of marque and reprisal to hornets? I +am willing to admit that nothing in the world would be better +calculated to make a man leave his native country than a few hornets +attending strictly to business. God said "Kill the Canaanites slowly." +Why? "Lest the beasts of the field increase upon you." How many Jews +were there? Three millions. Going to a country, how large? Twelve +thousand square miles. But were there nations already in this Holy +Land? Yes, there were seven nations "mightier than the Jews." Say +there would be twenty-one millions when they got there, or twenty-four +millions with themselves. Yet they were told to kill them slowly, lest +the beasts of the field increase upon them. Is there a man in Chicago +that believes that! Then what does he teach it to little children for? +Let him tell the truth. +</P> + +<P> +So the same God went into partnership with snakes. The children of +Israel lived on manna—one account says all the time, and another only +a little while. That is the reason there is a chance for commentaries, +and you can exercise faith. If the book was reasonable everybody could +get to heaven in a moment. But whenever it looks as if it could not be +that way and you believe, you are almost a saint, and when you know it +is not that way and believe, you are a saint. He fed them on manna. +Now manna is very peculiar stuff. It would melt in the sun, and yet +they used to cook it by seething and baking. I would as soon think of +frying snow and boiling icicles. But this manna had other peculiar +qualities. It shrank to an omer, no matter how much they gathered, and +swelled up to an omer, no matter how little they gathered. What a +magnificent thing manna would be for the currency, shrinking and +swelling according to the volume of business! There was not a change +in the bill of fare for forty years, and they knew that God could just +as well give them three square meals a day. They remembered about the +cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks and the onions of Egypt, and +they said: "Our souls abhorreth this light bread." Then this God got +mad—you know cooks are always touchy—and thereupon He sent snakes to +bite the men, women and children. He also sent them quails in wrath +and anger, and while they had the flesh between their teeth, he struck +thousands of them dead. He always acted in that way, all of a sudden. +People had no chance to explain—no chance to move for a new +trial—nothing. I want to know if it is reasonable He should kill +people for asking for one change of diet in forty years. Suppose you +had been boarding with an old lady for forty years, and she never had a +solitary thing on her table but hash, and one morning you said: "My +soul abhorreth hash!" What would you say if she let a basketful of +rattlesnakes upon you? Now is it possible for people to believe this? +The Bible says their clothes did not wax old, they did not get shiny at +the knees or elbows; and their shoes did not wear out. They grew right +along with them. The little boy starting out with his first pants grew +up and his pants grew with him. Some commentators have insisted that +angels attended to their wardrobes. I never could believe it. Just +think of one angel hunting another and saying: "There goes another +button." I cannot believe it. +</P> + +<P> +There must be a mistake somewhere or somehow. Do you believe the real +God—if there is one—ever killed a man for making hair-oil? And yet +you find in the Pentateuch that God gave Moses a recipe for making +hair-oil to grease Aaron's beard; and said if anybody made the same +hair-oil he should be killed. And He gave him a formula for making +ointment, and He said if anybody made ointment like that he should be +killed. I think that is carrying patent-laws to excess. There must be +some mistake about it. I cannot imagine the infinite Creator of all +the shining worlds giving a recipe for hair-oil. Do you believe that +the real God came down to Mount Sinai with a lot of patterns for making +a tabernacle-patterns for tongs, for snuffers, and such things? Do you +believe that God came down on that mountain and told Moses how to cut a +coat, and how it should be trimmed? What would an infinite God care on +which side he cut the breast, what color the fringe was, or how the +buttons were placed? Do you believe God told Moses to make curtains of +fine linen? Where did they get their flax in the desert? How did they +weave it? Did He tell him to make things of gold, silver and precious +stones, when they hadn't them? Is it possible that God told them not +to eat any fruit until after the fourth year of planting the trees? +You see all these things were written hundreds of years afterwards, and +the priests, in order to collect the tithes, dated the laws back. They +did not say, "This is our law," but, "Thus said God to Moses in the +wilderness." Now, can you believe that? Imagine a scene: The eternal +God tells Moses "Here is the way I want you to consecrate my priests. +Catch a sheep and cut his throat." I never could understand why God +wanted a sheep killed just because a man had done a mean trick; perhaps +it was because his priests were fond of mutton. He tells Moses further +to take some of the blood and put it on his right thumb, a little on +his right ear, and a little on his right big toe? Do you believe God +ever gave such instructions for the consecration of His priests? If +you should see the South Sea Islanders going through such a performance +you could not keep your face straight. And will you tell me that it +had to be done in order to consecrate a man to the service of the +infinite God? Supposing the blood got on the left toe? +</P> + +<P> +Then we find in this book how God went to work to make the Egyptians +let the Israelites go. Suppose we wish to make a treaty with the +mikado of Japan, and Mr. Hayes sent a commissioner there; and suppose +he should employ Hermann, the wonderful German, to go along with him; +and when they came in the presence of the mikado Herman threw down an +umbrella, which changed into a turtle, and the commissioner said: "This +is my certificate." You would say the country is disgraced. You would +say the president of a republic like this disgraces himself with +jugglery. Yet we are told God sent Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh, and +when they got there Moses threw down a stick which turned into a snake. +That God is a juggler—he is the infinite prestidigitator. Is that +possible? Was that really a snake, or was it the appearance of a +snake? If it was the appearance of a snake, it was a fraud. Then the +necromancers of Egypt were sent for, and they threw down sticks, which +turned into snakes, but those were not so large as Moses' snakes, which +swallowed them. I maintain that it is just as hard to make small +snakes as it is to make large ones; the only difference is that to make +large snakes either larger sticks or more practice is required. +</P> + +<P> +Do you believe that God rained hail on innocent cattle, killing them in +the highways and in the field? Why should he inflict punishment on +cattle for something their owners had done? I could never have any +respect for a God that would so inflict pain upon a brute beast simply +on account of the crime of its owner. Is it possible that God worked +miracles to convince Pharaoh that slavery was wrong? Why did he not +tell Pharaoh that any nation founded on slavery could not stand? Why +did he not tell him, "Your government is founded on slavery, and it +will go down, and the sands of the desert will hide from the view of +man your temples, your altars, and your fanes?" Why did he not speak +about the infamy of slavery? Because he believed in the infamy of +slavery himself. Can we believe that God will allow a man to give his +wife the right of divorcement and make the mother of his children a +wanderer and a vagrant. There is not one word about woman in the Old +Testament except the word of shame and humiliation. The God of the +Bible does not think woman is as good as man. She never was worth +mentioning. It did not take the pains to recount the death of the +mother of us all. I have no respect for any book that does not treat +woman as the equal of man. And if there is any God in this universe who +thinks more of me than he thinks of my wife, he is not well acquainted +with both of us. And yet they say that that was done on account of the +hardness of their hearts; and that was done in a community where the +law was so fierce that it stoned a man to death for picking up sticks +on Sunday. Would it not have been better to stone to death every man +who abused his wife and allowed them to pick up sticks on account of +the hardness of their hearts? If God wanted to take those Jews from +Egypt to the land of Canaan, why didn't He do it instantly? If He was +going to do a miracle why didn't He do one worth talking about? +</P> + +<P> +After God had killed all the first-born in Egypt, after He had killed +all the cattle, still Egypt could raise an army that could put to +flight six hundred thousand men. And because this God overwhelmed the +Egyptian army, he bragged about it for a thousand years, repeatedly +calling the attention of the Jews to the fact that he overthrew Pharaoh +and his hosts. Did he help much with their six-hundred thousand men? +We find by the records of the day that the Egyptian standing army at +that time was never more than one hundred thousand men. Must we +believe all these stories in order to get to Heaven when we die? Must +we judge of a man's character by the number of stories he believes? +Are we to get to Heaven by creed or by deed? That is the question. +Shall we reason, or shall we simply believe? Ah, but they say the +Bible is not inspired about those little things. The Bible says the +rabbit and the hare chew the cud. But they do not. They have a +tremulous motion of the lip. But the Being that made them says they +chew the cud. The Bible, therefore, is not inspired in natural +history. Is it inspired in its astrology? No. Well, what is it +inspired in? In its law? Thousands of people say that if it had not +been for the ten commandments we would not have known any better than +to rob and steal. Suppose a man planted an acre of potatoes, hoed them +all summer, and dug them in the fall; and suppose a man had sat upon +the fence all the time and watched him? Do you believe it would be +necessary for that man to read the ten commandments to find out who, in +his judgment had a right to take those potatoes? All laws against +larceny have been made by industry to protect the fruits of its labor. +Why is there a law against murder? Simply because a large majority of +people object to being murdered. That is all. And all these laws were +in force thousands of years before that time. +</P> + +<P> +One of the commandments said they should not make any graven images, +and that was the death of art in Palestine. No sculptor has ever +enriched stone with the divine forms of beauty in that country; and any +commandment that is the death of art is not a good commandment. But +they say the Bible is morally inspired; and they tell me there is no +civilization without this Bible. Then God knows that just as well as +you do. God always knew it, and if you can't civilize a nation without +a Bible, why didn't God give every nation just one Bible to start with? +Why did God allow hundreds of thousands and billions of billions to go +down to hell just for the lack of a Bible? They say that it is morally +inspired. Well, let us examine it. I want to be fair about this +thing, because I am willing to stake my salvation or damnation upon +this question—whether the Bible is true or not. I say it is not and +upon that I am willing to wager my soul. Is there a woman here who +believes in the institution of polygamy? Is there a man here who +believes in that infamy? You say: "No, we do not." Then you are +better than your God was four thousand years ago. Four thousand years +ago he believed in it, taught it and upheld it. I pronounce it and +denounce it the infamy of infamies. It robs our language of every +sweet and tender word in it. It takes the fire-side away forever. It +takes the meaning out of the words father, mother, sister, brother, and +turns the temple of love into a vile den where crawl the slimy snakes +of lust and hatred. I was in Utah a little while ago, and was on the +mountain where God used to talk to Brigham Young. He never said +anything to me. I said that it was just as reasonable that God in the +nineteenth century should talk to a polygamist in Utah as it was that +four thousand years ago, on Mount Sinai, he talked to Moses upon that +hellish and damnable question. +</P> + +<P> +I have no love for any God who believes in polygamy. There is no +heaven on this earth save where the one woman loves the one man and the +one man loves the one woman. I guess it is not inspired on the +polygamy question. May be it is inspired about religious liberty. God +says if anybody differs with you about religion, "kill him." He told +His peculiar people, "If any one teaches a different religion, kill +him!" He did not say, "Try and convince him that he is wrong," but +"kill him." He did not say, "I am in the miracle business, and I will +convince him," but "kill him." He said to every husband, "If your +wife, that you love as you love your own soul, says, 'let us go and +worship other gods,' then 'Thy hand shall be first upon her and she +shall be stoned with stones until she dies.'" Well, now, I hate a God +of that kind, and I cannot think of being nearer heaven than to be away +from Him. A God tells a man to kill his wife simply because she +differs with him on religion! If the real God were to tell me to kill +my wife, I would not do it. If you had lived in Palestine at that time, +and your wife—the mother of your children—had woke up at night and +said "I am tired of Jehovah. He is always turning up that board-bill. +He is always telling about whipping the Egyptians. He is always +killing somebody. I am tired of Him. Let us worship the sun. The sun +has clothed the world in beauty; it has covered the earth with green +and flowers; by its divine light I first saw your face; its light has +enabled me to look into the eyes of my beautiful babe. Let us worship +the sun, father and mother of light and love and joy." Then what would +it be your duty to do—kill her? Do you believe a real God ever did +that? Your hand should be first upon her, and when you took up some +ragged rock and hurled it against the white bosom filled with love for +you, and saw running away the red current of her sweet life, then you +would look up to heaven and receive the congratulations of the infinite +fiend whose commandments you had to obey. I guess the Bible was not +inspired about religious liberty. Let me ask you right here: Suppose, +as a matter of fact, God gave those laws to the Jews and told them +"whenever a man preaches a different religion, kill him," and suppose +that afterwards the same God took upon Himself flesh, and came to the +world and taught and preached a different religion, and the Jews +crucified Him—did He not reap exactly what He sowed? +</P> + +<P> +May be this book is inspired about war. God told the Israelites to +overrun that country, and kill every man, woman and child for defending +their native land. Kill the old men? Yes. Kill the women? +Certainly. And the little dimpled babes in the cradle, that smile and +coo in the face of murder—dash out their brains; that is the will of +God. Will you tell me that any God ever commanded such infamy? Kill +the men and the women, and the young men and the babes! "What shall we +do with the maidens?" "Give them to the rabble murderers!" Do you +believe that God ever allowed the roses of love and the violets of +modesty that shed their perfume in the heart of a maiden to be trampled +beneath the brutal feet of lust? If there is any God, I pray Him to +write in the book of eternal remembrance opposite to my name, that I +denied that lie. +</P> + +<P> +Whenever a woman reads a Bible and comes to that passage, she ought to +throw the book from her in contempt and scorn. Do you tell me that any +decent god would do that? What would the devil have done under the +same circumstances? Just think of it, and yet that is the God that we +want to get into the Constitution. That is the God we teach our +children about so that they will be sweet and tender, amiable and kind! +That monster—that fiend—I guess the Bible is not inspired about +religious liberty, nor about war. +</P> + +<P> +Then, if it is not inspired about these things, may be it is inspired +about slavery. God tells the Jews to buy up the children of the +heathen round about and they should be servants for them. What is a +"servant?" If they struck a "servant" and he died immediately, +punishment was to follow; but if the injured man should linger a while, +there was no punishment, because the servant represented their money! +Do you believe that it is right—that God made one man to work for +another and to receive pay in rations? Do you believe God said that a +whip on the naked back was the legal tender for labor performed? Is it +possible that the real God ever gave such infamous, blood-thirsty laws? +What more does He say? When the time of a married slave expired, he +could not take his wife and children with him. Then if the slave did +not wish to desert his family, he had his ears pierced with an awl, and +became his master's property forever. Do you believe that God ever +turned the dimpled cheeks of little children into iron chains to hold a +man in slavery? Do you know that a God like that would not make a +respectable devil? I want none of his mercy. I want no part and no +lot in the heaven of such a God. I will go to perdition, where there +is human sympathy. The only voice we have ever had from either of +those other worlds came from hell. There was a rich man who prayed his +brothers to attend to Lazarus so that they might "not come to this +place." That is the only instance, so far as we know, of souls across +the river having any sympathy. And I would rather be in hell, asking +for water, than in heaven denying that petition. Well, what is this +book inspired about? Where does the inspiration come from? Why was it +that so many animals were killed? It was simply to make atonement for +man—that is all. They killed something that had not committed a crime, +in order that the one who had committed the crime might be acquitted. +Based upon that idea is the atonement of the Christian religion. That +is the reason I attack this book—because it is the basis of another +infamy, viz: that one man can be good for another, or that one man can +sin for another. I deny it. You have got to be good for yourself; you +have got to sin for yourself. The trouble about the atonement is, that +it saves the wrong man. For instance, I kill some one. He is a good +man. He loves his wife and children and tries to make them happy; but +he is not a Christian, and he goes to hell. Just as soon as I am +convicted and cannot get a pardon I get religion, and I go to heaven. +The hand of mercy cannot reach down through the shadows of hell to my +victim. +</P> + +<P> +There is no atonement for the saint—only for the sinner and the +criminal. The atonement saves the wrong man. I have said that I would +never make a lecture at all without attacking this doctrine. I did not +care what I started out on. I was always going to attack this +doctrine. And in my conclusion I want to draw you a few pictures of the +Christian heaven. But before I do that I want to say the rest I have +to say about Moses. I want you to understand that the Bible was never +printed until 1488. I want you to know that up to that time it was in +manuscript, in possession of those who could change it if they wished; +and they did change it, because no two ever agreed. Much of it was in +the waste basket of credulity, in the open mouth of tradition, and in +the dull ear of memory. I want you also to know that the Jews +themselves never agreed as to what books were inspired, and that there +were a lot of books written that were not incorporated in the Old +Testament. I want you to know that two or three years before Christ, +the Hebrew manuscript was translated into Greek, and that the original +from which the translation was made, has never been seen since. Some +Latin Bibles were found in Africa but no two agreed; and then they +translated the Septuagint into the languages of Europe, and no two +agreed. Henry VIII. took a little time between murdering his wives to +see that the Word of God was translated correctly. You must recollect +that we are indebted to murderers for our Bibles and our creeds. +Constantine, who helped on the good work in its early stage, murdered +his wife and child, mingling their blood with the blood of the Savior. +</P> + +<P> +The Bible that Henry VIII. got up did not suit, and then his daughter, +the murderess of Mary, Queen of Scots, got up another edition, which +also did not suit; and finally, that philosophical idiot, King James, +prepared the edition which we now have. There are at least one hundred +thousand errors in the Old Testament, but everybody sees that it is not +enough to invalidate its claim to infallibility. But these errors are +gradually being fixed, and hereafter the prophet will be fed by Arabs +instead of "ravens," and Samson's three hundred foxes will be three +hundred "sheaves" already bound, which were fired and thrown into the +standing wheat. I want you all to know that there was no +contemporaneous literature at the time the Bible was composed, and that +the Jews were infinitely ignorant in their day and generation—that +they were isolated by bigotry and wickedness from the rest of the +world. I want you to know that there are fourteen hundred millions of +people in the world; and that with all the talk and work of the +societies, only one hundred and twenty millions have got Bibles. I +want you to understand that not one person in one hundred in this world +ever read the Bible, and no two ever understood it alike who did read +it, and that no one person probably ever understood it aright. I want +you to understand that where this Bible has been, man has hated his +brother—there have been dungeons, racks, thumbscrews, and the sword. +I want you to know that the cross has been in partnership with the +sword, and that the religion of Jesus Christ was established by +murderers, tyrants and hypocrites. I want you to know that the church +carried the black flag. Then talk about the civilizing influence of +this religion! +</P> + +<P> +Now, I want to give an idea or two in regard to the Christian's heaven. +Of all the selfish things in this world, it is one man wanting to get +to heaven, caring nothing what becomes of the rest of mankind. "If I +can only get my little soul in." I have always noticed that the people +who have the smallest souls make the most fuss about getting them +saved. Here is what we are taught by the church today. We are taught +by it that fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters can all be happy +in heaven, no matter who may be in hell; that the husband can be happy +there with the wife that would have died for him at any moment of his +life, in hell. But they say, "We don't believe in fire. What we +believe in now is remorse." What will you have remorse for? For the +mean things you have done when you are in hell? Will you have any +remorse for the mean things you have done when you are in heaven? Or +will you be so good then that you won't care how you used to be? Don't +you see what an infinitely mean belief that is? I tell you today that, +no matter in what heaven you may be, no matter in what star you are +spending the summer, if you meet another man whom you have wronged you +will drop a little behind in the tune. And, no matter in what part of +hell you are, and you meet some one whom you have succored, whose +nakedness you have clothed, and whose famine you have fed, the fire +will cool up a little. According to this Christian doctrine, when you +are in heaven you won't care how mean you were once. What must be the +social condition of a gentleman in heaven who will admit that he never +would have been there if he had not got scared? What must be the +social position of an angel who will always admit that if another had +not pitied him he ought to have been damned? Is it a compliment to an +infinite God to say that every being He ever made deserved to be damned +the minute He got him done, and that He will damn everybody He has not +had a chance to make over. Is it possible that somebody else can be +good for me, and that this doctrine of the atonement is the only anchor +for the human soul? +</P> + +<P> +For instance: here is a man seventy years of age, who has been a +splendid fellow and lived according to the laws of nature. He has got +about him splendid children whom he has loved and cared for with all +his heart. But he did not happen to believe in this Bible; he did not +believe in the Pentateuch. He did not believe that because some +children made fun of a gentleman who was short of hair, God sent two +bears and tore the little darlings to pieces. He had a tender heart, +and he thought about the mothers who would take the pieces, the bloody +fragments of the children, and press them to their bosom in a frenzy of +grief; he thought about their wails and lamentations, and could not +believe that God was such an infinite monster. That was all he +thought, but he went to Hell. Then, there is another man who made a +hell on earth for his wife, who had to be taken to the insane asylum, +and his children were driven from home and were wanderers and vagrants +in the world. But just between the last sin and the last breath, this +fellow got religion, and he never did another thing except to take his +medicine. He never did a solitary human being a favor, and he died and +went to heaven. Don't you think he would be astonished to see that +other man in hell, and say to himself, "Is it possible that such a +splendid character should bear such fruit, and that all my rascality at +last has brought me next to God?" +</P> + +<P> +Or, let us put another case. You were once alone in the desert—no +provisions, no water, no hope, just when your life was at its lowest +ebb a man appeared, gave you water and food and brought you safely out. +How you would bless that man. Time rolls on. You die and go to +heaven; and one day you see through the black night of hell, the friend +who saved your life, begging for a drop of water to cool his parched +lips. He cries to you, "Remember what I did in the desert—give me to +drink." How mean, how contemptible you would feel to see his suffering +and be unable to relieve him. But this is the Christian heaven. We +sit by the fireside and see the flames and the sparks fly up the +chimney—everybody happy, and the cold wind and sleet are beating on +the window, and out on the doorstep is a mother with a child on her +breast freezing. How happy it makes a fireside, that beautiful +contrast. And we say, "God is good," and there we sit, and she sits +and moans, not one night but forever. Or we are sitting at the table +with our wives and children, everybody eating, happy and delighted; and +Famine comes and pushes out its shriveled palms, and, with hungry eyes, +implores us for a crust. How that would increase the appetite! And yet +that is the Christian heaven. Don't you see that these infamous +doctrines petrify the human heart? And I would have everyone who hears +me, swear that he will never contribute another dollar to build another +church in which is taught such infamous lies. I want everyone of you +to say, that you never will, directly or indirectly, give a dollar to +any man to preach that falsehood. It has done harm enough. It has +covered the world with blood. It has filled the asylums for the +insane. It has cast a shadow in the heart, in the sunlight of every +good and tender man and woman. I say let us rid the heavens of this +monster, and write upon the dome "Liberty, love and law." +</P> + +<P> +No matter what may come to me or what may come to you, let us do +exactly what we believe to be right, and let us give the exact thought +in our brains. Rather than have this Christianity true, I would rather +all the gods would destroy themselves this morning. I would rather the +whole universe would go to nothing, if such a thing were possible, this +instant. Rather than have the glittering dome of pleasure reared on +the eternal abyss of pain, I would see the utter and eternal +destruction of this universe. I would rather see the shining fabric of +our universe crumble to unmeaning chaos, and take itself where oblivion +broods and memory forgets. I would rather the blind Samson of some +imprisoned force, released by thoughtless chance, should so rack and +strain this world that man in stress and strain, in astonishment and +fear, should suddenly fall back to savagery and barbarity. I would +rather that this thrilled and thrilling globe, shorn of all life, +should in its cycles rub the wheel, the parent star, on which the light +should fall as fruitlessly as falls the gaze of love on death, than to +have this infamous doctrine of eternal punishment true; rather than +have this infamous selfishness of a heaven for a few and a hell for the +many established as the word of God. +</P> + +<P> +One world at a time is my doctrine. Let us make some one happy here. +Happiness is the interest that a decent action draws, and the more +decent actions you do, the larger your income will be. Let every man +try to make his wife happy, his children happy. Let every man try to +make every day a joy, and God cannot afford to damn such a man. I +cannot help God; I cannot injure God. I can help people; I can injure +people. Consequently humanity is the only real religion. +</P> + +<P> +I cannot better close this lecture than by quoting four lines from +Robert Burns: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "To make a happy fireside clime<BR> + To weans and wife—<BR> + That's the true pathos and sublime<BR> + Of human life."<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="skulls"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S LECTURE ON SKULLS,—And His Replies To Prof. Swing, <BR> +Dr. Collyer, And Other Critics—Reprinted from "The Chicago Times." +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ladies and Gentlemen: Man advances just in the proportion that he +mingles his thoughts with his labor—just in the proportion that he +takes advantage of the forces of nature; just in proportion as he loses +superstition and gains confidence in himself. Man advances as he +ceases to fear the gods and learns to love his fellow-men. It is all, +in my judgment, a question of intellectual development. Tell me the +religion of any man and I will tell you the degree he marks on the +intellectual thermometer of the world. It is a simple question of +brain. Those among us who are the nearest barbarism have a barbarian +religion. Those who are nearest civilization have the least +superstition. It is, I say, a simple question of brain, and I want, in +the first place, to lay the foundation to prove that assertion. +</P> + +<P> +A little while ago I saw models of nearly everything that man has made. +I saw models of all the water craft, from the rude dug-out in which +floated a naked savage—one of our ancestors—a naked savage, with +teeth twice as long as his forehead was high, with a spoonful of brains +in the back of his orthodox head—I saw models of all the water craft +of the world, from that dug-out up to a man-of-war that carries a +hundred guns and miles of canvas; from that dug-out to the steamship +that turns its brave prow from the port of New York with a compass like +a conscience, crossing three thousand miles of billows without missing +a throb or beat of its mighty iron heart from shore to shore. And I +saw at the same time the paintings of the world, from the rude daub of +yellow mud to the landscapes that enrich palaces and adorn houses of +what were once called the common people. I saw also their sculpture, +from the rude god with four legs, a half dozen arms, several noses, and +two or three rows of ears, and one little, contemptible, brainless +head, up to the figures of today,—to the marbles that genius has clad +in such a personality that it seems almost impudent to touch them +without an introduction. I saw their books—books written upon the +skins of wild beasts—upon shoulder-blades of sheep—books written upon +leaves, upon bark, up to the splendid volumes that enrich the libraries +of our day. When I speak of libraries I think of the remark of Plato: +"A house that has a library in it has a soul." +</P> + +<P> +I saw at the same time the offensive weapons that man has made, from a +club, such as was grasped by that same savage when he crawled from his +den in the ground and hunted a snake for his dinner; from that club to +the boomerang, to the sword, to the cross-bow, to the blunderbuss, to +the flintlock, to the caplock, to the needle-gun, up to a cannon cast +by Krupp, capable of hurling a ball weighing two thousand pounds +through eighteen inches of solid steel. I saw too, the armor from the +shell of a turtle that one of our brave ancestors lashed upon his +breast when he went to fight for his country, the skin of a porcupine, +dried with the quills on, which this same savage pulled over his +orthodox head, up to the shirts of mail that were worn in the middle +ages, that laughed at the edge of the sword and defied the point of the +spear; up to a monitor clad in complete steel. And I say orthodox not +only in the matter of religion, but in everything. Whoever has quit +growing, he is orthodox, whether in art, politics, religion, +philosophy—no matter what. Whoever thinks he has found it all out he +is orthodox. Orthodoxy is that which rots, and heresy is that which +grows forever. Orthodoxy is the night of the past, full of the +darkness of superstition, and heresy is the eternal coming day, the +light of which strikes the grand foreheads of the intellectual pioneers +of the world. I saw their implements of agriculture, from the plow +made of a crooked stick, attached to the horn of an ox by some twisted +straw, with which our ancestors scraped the earth, and from that to the +agricultural implements of this generation, that make it possible for a +man to cultivate the soil without being an ignoramus. +</P> + +<P> +In the old time there was but one crop; and when the rain did not come +in answer to the prayer of hypocrites a famine came and people fell +upon their knees. At that time they were full of superstition. They +were frightened all the time for fear that some god would be enraged at +his poor, hapless, feeble and starving children. But now, instead of +depending upon one crop they have several, and if there is not rain +enough for one there may be enough for another. And if the frosts kill +all, we have railroads and steamship—enough to bring what we need from +some other part of the world. Since man has found out something about +agriculture, the gods have retired from the business of producing +famines. +</P> + +<P> +I saw at the same time their musical instruments, from the tomtom—that +is, a hoop with a couple of strings of rawhide drawn across it—from +that tom-tom, up to the instruments we have today, that make the common +air blossom with melody, and I said to myself there is a regular +advancement. I saw at the same time a row of human skulls, from the +lowest skull that has been found, the Neanderthal skull—skulls from +Central Africa, skulls from the bushmen of Australia—skulls from the +farthest isles of the Pacific Sea—up to the best skulls of the last +generation—and I noticed that there was the same difference between +those skulls that there was between the products of those skulls, and I +said to myself: "After all, it is a simple question of intellectual +development." There was the same difference between those skulls, the +lowest and highest skulls, that there was between the dug-out and the +man-of-war and the steamship, between the club and the Krupp gun, +between the yellow daub and the landscape, between the tom-tom and an +opera by Verdi. The first and lowest skull in this row was the den in +which crawled the base and meaner instincts of mankind, and the last +was a temple in which dwelt joy, liberty and love. And I said to +myself, it is all a question of intellectual development. +</P> + +<P> +Man has advanced just as he has mingled his thought with his labor. As +he has grown he has taken advantage of the forces of nature; first of +the moving wind, then of the falling water and finally of steam. From +one step to another he has obtained better houses, better clothes, and +better books, and he has done it by holding out every incentive to the +ingenious to produce them. The world has said, give us better clubs +and guns and cannons with which to kill our fellow Christians. And +whoever will give us better weapons and better music, and better houses +to live in, we will robe him in wealth crown him in honor, and render +his name deathless. Every incentive was held out to every human being +to improve these things, and that is the reason we have advanced in all +mechanical arts. But that gentleman in the dugout not only had his +ideas about politics, mechanics, and agriculture; he had his ideas also +about religion. His idea about politics was "Might makes right." It +will be thousands of years, may be, before mankind will believe in the +saying that "right makes might." He had his religion. That low skull +was a devil factory. He believed in Hell, and the belief was a +consolation to him. He could see the waves of God's wrath dashing +against the rocks of dark damnation. He could see tossing in the +whitecaps the faces of women, and stretching above the crests the +dimpled hands of children; and he regarded these things as the justice +and mercy of God. And all today who believe in this eternal punishment +are the barbarians of the nineteenth century. That man believed in a +devil, that had a long tail terminating with a fiery dart; that had +wings like a bat—a devil that had a cheerful habit of breathing +brimstone, that had a cloven foot, such as some orthodox clergymen seem +to think I have. And there has not been a patentable improvement made +upon that devil in all the years since. The moment you drive the devil +out of theology, there is nothing left worth speaking of. The moment +they drop the devil, away goes atonement. The moment they kill the +devil, their whole scheme of salvation has lost all of its interest for +mankind. You must keep the devil and, you must keep Hell. You must +keep the devil, because with no devil no priest is necessary. Now, all +I ask is this—the same privilege to improve upon his religion as upon +his dug-out, and that is what I am going to do, the best I can. No +matter what church you belong to, or what church belongs to us. Let us +be honor bright and fair. +</P> + +<P> +I want to ask you: Suppose the king, if there was one, and the priest +if there was one at that time, had told these gentlemen in the dug-out: +"That dug-out is the best boat that can be built by man; the pattern of +that came from on high, from the great God of storm and flood, and any +man who says he can improve it by putting a stick in the middle of it +and a rag on the stick, is an infidel, and shall be burned at the +stake;" what, in your judgment—honor bright—would have been the +effect upon the circumnavigation of the globe? Suppose the king, if +there was one, and the priest, if there was one—and I presume there +was a priest, because it was a very ignorant age—suppose the king and +priest had said: "The tomtom is the most beautiful instrument of music +of which any man can conceive; that is the kind of music they have in +Heaven; an angel sitting upon the edge of a glorified cloud, golden in +the setting sun, playing upon that tom-tom, became so enraptured, so +entranced with her own music, that in a kind of ecstasy she dropped +it—that is how we obtained it; and any man who says it can be improved +by putting a back and front to it, and four strings, and a bridge, and +getting a bow of hair with rosin, is a blaspheming wretch, and shall +die the death,"—I ask you, what effect would that have had upon music? +If that course had been pursued, would the human ears, in your +judgment, ever have been enriched with the divine symphonies of +Beethoven? Suppose the king, if there was one, and the priest, had said +"That crooked stick is the best plow that can be invented, the pattern +of that plow was given to a pious farmer in an exceedingly holy dream, +and that twisted straw is the ne plus ultra of all twisted things, and +any man who says he can make an improvement upon that plow, is an +atheist;" what, in your judgment, would have been the effect upon the +science of agriculture? +</P> + +<P> +Now, all I ask is the same privilege to improve upon his religion as +upon his mechanical arts. Why don't we go back to that period to get +the telegraph? Because they were barbarians. And shall we go to +barbarians to get our religion? What is religion? Religion simply +embraces the duty of man to man. Religion is simply the science of +human duty and the duty of man to man—that is what it is. It is the +highest science of all. And all other sciences are as nothing, except +as they contribute to the happiness of man. The science of religion is +the highest of all, embracing all others. And shall we go to the +barbarians to learn the science of sciences? The nineteenth century +knows more about religion than all the centuries dead. There is more +real charity in the world today than ever before. There is more thought +today than ever before. Woman is glorified today as she never was +before in the history of the world. There are more happy families now +than ever before—more children treated as though they were tender +blossoms than as though they were brutes than in any other time or +nation. Religion is simply the duty a man owes to man; and when you +fall upon your knees and pray for something you know not of, you +neither benefit the one you pray for nor yourself. One ounce of +restitution is worth a million of repentances anywhere, and a man will +get along faster by helping himself a minute than by praying ten years +for somebody to help him. Suppose you were coming along the street, +and found a party of men and women on their knees praying to a bank, +and you asked them, "Have any of you borrowed any money of this bank?" +"No, but our fathers, they, too, prayed to this bank." "Did they ever +get any?" "No, not that we ever heard of." I would tell them to get up. +It is easier to earn it, and it is far more manly. +</P> + +<P> +Our fathers in the "good old times,"—and the best that I can say of +the "good old times" is that they are gone, and the best I can say of +the good old people that lived in them is that they are gone, +too—believed that you made a man think your way by force. Well, you +can't do it. There is a splendid something in man that says: "I won't; +I won't be driven." But our fathers thought men could be driven. They +tried it in the "good old times." I used to read about the manner in +which the early Christians made converts—how they impressed upon the +world the idea that God loved them. I have read it, but it didn't burn +into my soul. I didn't think much about it—I heard so much about +being fried forever in Hell that it didn't seem so bad to burn a few +minutes. I love liberty and I hate all persecutions in the name of +God. I never appreciated the infamies that have been committed in the +name of religion until I saw the iron arguments that Christians used. +I saw, for instance, the thumb-screw, two little innocent looking +pieces of iron, armed with some little protuberances on the inner side +to keep it from slipping down, and through each end a screw, and when +some man had made some trifling remark, for instance, that he never +believed that God made a fish swallow a man to keep him from drowning, +or something like that, or, for instance, that he didn't believe in +baptism. You know that is very wrong. You can see for yourself the +justice of damning a man if his parents happened to baptize him in the +wrong way—God cannot afford to break a rule or two to save all the men +in the world. I happened to be in the company of some Baptist +ministers once—you may wonder how I happened to be in such company as +that—and one of them asked me what I thought about baptism. Well, I +told them I hadn't thought much about it—that I had never sat up +nights on that question. I said: "Baptism—with soap—is a good +institution." Now, when some man had said some trifling thing like +that, they put this thumb-screw on him, and in the name of universal +benevolence and for the love of God—man has never persecuted man for +the love of man; man has never persecuted another for the love of +charity—it is always for the love of something he calls God, and every +man's idea of God is his own idea. If there is an infinite God, and +there may be—I don't know—there may be a million for all I know—I +hope there is more than one—one seems so lonesome. They kept turning +this down, and when this was done, most men would say: "I will recant." +I think, I would. There is not much of the martyr about me. I would +have told them: "Now you write it down, and I will sign it. You may +have one God or a million, one Hell or a million. You stop that—I am +tired." +</P> + +<P> +Do you know, sometimes I have thought that all the hypocrites in the +world are not worth one drop of honest blood. I am sorry that any good +man ever died for religion. I would rather let them advance a little +easier. It is too bad to see a good man sacrificed for a lot of wild +beasts and cattle. But there is now and then a man who would not +swerve the breadth of a hair. There was now and then a sublime heart +willing to die for an intellectual conviction, and had it not been for +these men we would have been wild beasts and savages today. There were +some men who would not take it back, and had it not been for a few such +brave, heroic souls in every age we would have been cannibals, with +pictures of wild beasts tattooed upon our breasts, dancing around some +dried-snake fetish. And so they turned it down to the last thread of +agony, and threw the victim into some dungeon, where, in the throbbing +silence and darkness, he might suffer the agonies of the fabled damned. +This was done in the name of love, in the name of mercy, in the name of +the compassionate Christ. And the men that did it are the men that +made our Bible for us. +</P> + +<P> +I saw, too, at the same time, the Collar of torture. Imagine a circle +of iron, and on the inside a hundred points almost as sharp as needles. +This argument was fastened about the throat of the sufferer. Then he +could not walk nor sit down, nor stir without the neck being punctured +by these points. In a little while the throat would begin to swell, +and suffocation would end the agonies of that man. This man, it may +be, had committed the crime of saying, with tears upon his cheeks, "I +do not believe that God, the father of us all, will damn to eternal +perdition any of the children of men." And that was done to convince +the world that God so loved the world that He died for us. That was in +order that people might hear the glad tidings of great joy to all +people. +</P> + +<P> +I saw another instrument, called the scavenger's daughter. Imagine a +pair of shears with handles, not only where they now are, but at the +points as well and just above the pivot that unites the blades a circle +of iron. In the upper handles the hands would be placed; in the lower, +the feet; and through the iron ring, at the centre, the head of the +victim would be forced, and in that position the man would be thrown +upon the earth, and the strain upon the muscle would produce such agony +that insanity took pity. And this was done to keep people from going +to Hell—to convince that man that he had made a mistake in his +logic—and it was done, too, by Protestants—Protestants that +persecuted to the extent of their power, and that is as much as +Catholicism ever did. They would persecute now if they had the power. +There is not a man in this vast audience who will say that the church +should have temporal power. There is not one of you but what believes +in the eternal divorce of church and state. Is it possible that the +only people who are fit to go to heaven are the only people not fit to +rule mankind? +</P> + +<P> +I saw at the same time the rack. This was a box like the bed of a +wagon, with a windlass at each end, and ratchets to prevent slipping. +Over each windlass went chains, and when some man had, for instance, +denied the doctrine of the trinity, a doctrine it is necessary to +believe in order to get to Heaven—but, thank the Lord, you don't have +to understand it. This man merely denied that three times one was one, +or maybe he denied that there was ever any Son in the world exactly as +old as his father, or that there ever was a boy eternally older than +his mother—then they put that man on the rack. Nobody had ever been +persecuted for calling God bad—it has always been for calling him +good. When I stand here to say that, if there is a Hell, God is a +fiend, they say that is very bad. They say I am trying to tear down +the institutions of public virtue. But let me tell you one thing: +there is no reformation in fear—you can scare a man so that he won't +do it sometimes, but I will swear you can't scare him so bad that he +won't want to do it. Then they put this man on the rack and priests +began turning these levers, and kept turning until the ankles, the +hips, the shoulders, the elbows, the wrists, and all the joints of the +victim were dislocated, and he was wet with agony, and standing by was +a physician to feel his pulse. What for? To save his life? Yes. In +mercy? No. But in order that they might have the pleasure of racking +him once more. And this was the Christian spirit. This was done in the +name of civilization, in the name of religion, and all these wretches +who did it died in peace. There is not an orthodox preacher in the +city that has not a respect for every one of them. As, for instance, +for John Calvin, who was a murderer and nothing but a murderer, who +would have disgraced an ordinary gallows by being hanged upon it. +These men when they came to die were not frightened. God did not send +any devils into their death-rooms to make mouths at them. He reserved +them for Voltaire, who brought religious liberty to France. He +reserved them for Thomas Paine, who did more for liberty than all the +churches. But all the inquisitors died with the white hands of peace +folded over the breast of piety. And when they died, the room was +filled with the rustle of the wings of angels, waiting to bear the +wretches to Heaven. +</P> + +<P> +When I read these frightful books it seems to me sometimes as though I +had suffered all these things myself. It seems sometimes as though I +had stood upon the shore of exile, and gazed with tearful eyes toward +home and native land; it seems to me as though I had been staked out +upon the sands of the sea, and drowned by the inexorable, advancing +tide; as though my nails had been torn from my hands, and into the +bleeding quick needles had been thrust; as though my feet had been +crushed in iron boots; as though I had been chained in the cell of +Inquisition, and listened with dying ears for the coming footsteps of +release; as though I had stood upon the scaffold and saw the glittering +axe fall upon me; as though I had been upon the rack and had seen, +bending above me, the white faces of hypocrite priests; as though I had +been taken from my fireside, from my wife and children, taken to the +public square, chained; as though fagots had been piled about me; as +though the flames had climbed around my limbs and scorched my eyes to +blindness, and as though my ashes had been scattered to the four winds +by all the countless hands of hate. And, while I so feel, I swear that +while I live I will do what little I can to augment the liberties of +man, woman and child. I denounce slavery and superstition everywhere. +I believe in liberty, and happiness, and love, and joy in this world. +I am amazed that any man ever had the impudence to try and do another +man's thinking. I have just as good a right to talk theology as a +minister. If they all agreed I might admit it was a science, but as +all disagree, and the more they study the wider they get apart, I may +be permitted to suggest, it is not a science. When no two will tell +you the road to Heaven,—that is, giving you the same route—and if you +would inquire of them all, you would just give up trying to go there, +and say I may as well stay where I am, and let the Lord come to me. +</P> + +<P> +Do you know that this world has not been fit for a lady and gentleman +to live in for twenty-five years, just on account of slavery. It was +not until the year 1808 that Great Britain abolished the slave trade, +and up to that time her judges, her priests occupying her pulpits, the +members of the royal family, owned stock in the slave ships, and +luxuriated upon the profits of piracy and murder. It was not until the +same year that the United States of America abolished the slave trade +between this and other countries, but carefully preserved it as between +the states. It was not until the 28th day of August, 1833, that Great +Britain abolished human slavery in her colonies; and it was not until +the 1st day of January, 1863, that Abraham Lincoln, sustained by the +sublime and heroic North, rendered our flag pure as the sky in which it +floats. Abraham Lincoln was, in my judgment, in many respects, the +grandest man ever president of the United States. Upon his monument +these words should be written: "Here sleeps the only man in the history +of the world, who, having been clothed with almost absolute power, +never abused it, except upon the side of mercy." +</P> + +<P> +For two hundred years the Christians of the United States deliberately +turned the cross of Christ into a whipping-post. Christians bred +hounds to catch other Christians. Let me show you what the Bible has +done for mankind: "Servants, be obedient to your masters." The only +word coming from that sweet Heaven was, "Servants, obey your masters." +Frederick Douglas told me that he had lectured upon the subject of +freedom twenty years before he was permitted to set his foot in a +church. I tell you the world has not been fit to live in for +twenty-five years. Then all the people used to cringe and crawl to +preachers. Mr. Buckle, in his history of civilization, shows that men +were even struck dead for speaking impolitely to a priest. God would +not stand it. See how they used to crawl before cardinals, bishops and +popes. It is not so now. Before wealth they bowed to the very earth, +and in the presence of titles they became abject. All this is slowly, +but surely changing. We no longer bow to men simply because they are +rich. Our fathers worshiped the golden calf. The worst you can say of +an American now is, he worships the gold of the calf. Even the calf is +beginning to see this distinction. +</P> + +<P> +The time will come when no matter how much money a man has, he will not +be respected unless he is using it for the benefit of his fellow-men. +It will soon be here. It no longer satisfies the ambition of a great +man to be king or emperor. The last Napoleon was not satisfied with +being the emperor of the French. He was not satisfied with having a +circlet of gold about his head. He wanted some evidence that he had +something of value within his head. So he wrote the life of Julius +Caesar, that he might become a member of the French academy. The +emperors, the kings, the popes, no longer tower above their fellows. +Compare, for instance, King William and Helmholtz. The king is one of +the anointed by the Most High, as they claim—one upon whose head has +been poured the divine petroleum of authority. Compare this king with +Helmholtz, who towers an intellectual Colossus above the crowned +mediocrity. Compare George Eliot with Queen Victoria. The queen is +clothed in garments given her by blind fortune and unreasoning chance, +while George Eliot wears robes of glory woven in the loom of her own +genius. And so it is the world over. The time is coming when a man +will be rated at his real worth, and that by his brain and heart. We +care nothing now about an officer unless he fills his place. No matter +if he is president, if he rattles in the place nobody cares anything +about him. I might give you an instance in point, but I won't. The +world is getting better and grander and nobler every day. +</P> + +<P> +Now, if men have been slaves, if they have crawled in the dust before +one another, what shall I say of women? They have been the slaves of +men. It took thousands of ages to bring women from abject slavery up +to the divine height of marriage. I believe in marriage. If there is +any Heaven upon earth, it is in the family by the fireside and the +family is a unit of government. Without the family relation that is +tender, pure and true, civilization is impossible. Ladies, the +ornaments you wear upon your persons tonight are but the souvenirs of +your mother's bondage. The chains around your necks; and the bracelets +clasped upon your white arms by the thrilled hand of love, have been +changed by the wand of civilization from iron to shining, glittering +gold. Nearly every civilization in this world accounts for the +devilment in it by the crimes of woman. They say woman brought all the +trouble into the world. I don't care if she did. I would rather live in +a world full of trouble with the women I love, than to live in Heaven +with nobody but men. I read in a book an account of the creation of +the world. The book I have taken pains to say was not written by any +God. And why do I say so? Because I can write a far better book +myself. Because it is full of barbarism. Several ministers in this +city have undertaken to answer me—notably those who don't believe the +Bible themselves. I want to ask these men one thing. I want them to +be fair. +</P> + +<P> +Every minister in the City of Chicago that answers me, and those who +have answered me had better answer me again—I want them to say, and +without any sort of evasion—without resorting to any pious tricks—I +want them to say whether they believe that the Eternal God of this +universe ever upheld the crime of polygamy. Say it square and fair. +Don't begin to talk about that being a peculiar time, and that God was +easy on the prejudices of those old fellows. I want them to answer +that question and to answer it squarely, which they haven't done. Did +this God, which you pretend to worship, ever sanction the institution +of human slavery? Now, answer fair. Don't slide around it. Don't +begin and answer what a bad man I am, nor what a good man Moses was. +Stick to the text. Do you believe in a God that allowed a man to be +sold from his children? Do you worship such an infinite monster? And +if you do, tell your congregation whether you are not ashamed to admit +it. Let every minister who answers me again tell whether he believes +God commanded his general to kill the little dimpled babe in the +cradle. Let him answer it. Don't say that those were very bad times. +Tell whether He did it or not, and then your people will know whether +to hate that God or not. Be honest. Tell them whether that God in war +captured young maidens and turned them over to the soldiers; and then +ask the wives and sweet girls of your congregation to get down on their +knees and worship the infinite fiend that did that thing. Answer! It +is your God I am talking about, and if that is what God did, please +tell your congregation what, under the same circumstances, the devil +would have done. Don't tell your people that is a poem. Don't tell +your people that is pictorial. That won't do. Tell your people whether +it is true or false. That is what I want you to do. +</P> + +<P> +In this book I read about God's making the world and one man. That is +all He intended to make. The making of woman was a second thought, +though I am willing to admit that as a rule second thoughts are best. +This God made a man and put him in a public park. In a little while He +noticed that the man got lonesome; then He found He had made a mistake, +and that He would have to make somebody to keep him company. But having +used up all the nothing He originally used in making the world and one +man, He had to take a part of a man to start a woman with. So He +causes sleep to fall on this man—now understand me, I do not say this +story is true. After the sleep had fallen on this man the Supreme +Being took a rib, or, as the French would call it, a cutlet, out of +him, and from that He made a woman; and I am willing to swear, taking +into account the amount and quality of the raw material used, this was +the most magnificent job ever accomplished in this world. Well, after +He got the woman done she was brought to the man, not to see how she +liked him, but to see how he liked her. He liked her and they started +housekeeping, and they were told of certain things they might do and of +one thing they could not do—and of course they did it. I would have +done it in fifteen minutes, I know it. There wouldn't have been an +apple on that tree half an hour from date, and the limbs would have +been full of clubs. And then they were turned out of the park and +extra policemen were put on to keep them from getting back. And then +trouble commenced and we have been at it ever since. Nearly all the +religions of this world account for the existence of evil by such a +story as that. +</P> + +<P> +Well, I read in another book what appeared to be an account of the same +transaction. It was written about four thousand years before the +other. All commentators agree that the one that was written last was +the original, and the one that was written first was copied from the +one that was written last. But I would advise you all not to allow +your creed to be disturbed by a little matter of four or five thousand +years. It is a great deal better to be mistaken in dates than to go to +the devil. In this other account the Supreme Brahma made up his mind +to make the world and a man and woman. He made the world and he made +the man and then the woman, and put them on the Island of Ceylon. +According to the account it was the most beautiful island of which man +can conceive. Such birds, such songs, such flowers, and such verdure! +And the branches of the trees were so arranged that when the wind swept +through them every tree was a thousand aeolian harps. Brahma, when he +put them there, said: "Let them have a period of courtship, for it is +my desire and will that true love should forever precede marriage." +When I read that, it was so much more beautiful and lofty than the +other, that I said to myself: "If either one of these stories ever +turns out to be true, I hope it will be this one." +</P> + +<P> +Then they had their courtship, with the nightingale singing and the +stars shining and the flowers blooming, and they fell in love. Imagine +that courtship! No prospective fathers or mothers-in-law; no prying +and gossiping neighbors; nobody to say, "Young man, how do you expect +to support her?" Nothing of that kind, nothing but the nightingale +singing its song of joy and pain, as though the thorn already touched +its heart. They were married by the Supreme Brahma, and he said to +them, "Remain here; you must never leave this island." Well, after a +little while the man—and his name was Adami, and the woman's name was +Heva—said to Heva: "I believe I'll look about a little." He wanted to +go West. He went to the western extremity of the island where there +was a little narrow neck of land connecting it with the mainland, and +the devil, who is always playing pranks with us, produced a mirage, and +when he looked over to the mainland, such hills and vales, such dells +and dales, such mountains crowned with snow, such cataracts clad in +bows of glory did he see there, that he went back and told Heva: "The +country over there is a thousand times better than this, let us +migrate." She, like every other woman that ever lived, said: "Let well +enough alone we have all we want; let us stay here." But he said: "No, +let us go;" so she followed him, and when they came to this narrow neck +of land, he took her on his back like a gentleman, and carried her +over. But the moment they got over, they heard a crash, and, looking +back, discovered that this narrow neck of land had fallen into the sea. +The mirage had disappeared, and there was naught but rocks and sand, +and the Supreme Brahma cursed them both to the lowest Hell. +</P> + +<P> +Then it was that the man spoke—and I have liked him ever since for +it—"Curse me, but curse not her; it was not her fault, it was mine." +That's the kind of a man to start a world with. The Supreme Brahma +said: "I will save her but not thee." And she spoke out of her +fullness of love, out of a heart in which there was love enough to make +all her daughters rich in holy affection, and said: "If thou wilt not +spare him, spare neither me. I do not wish to live without him, I +love him." Then the Supreme Brahma said—and I have liked him ever +since I read it—"I will spare you both, and watch over you and your +children forever." Honor bright, is that not the better and grander +story? +</P> + +<P> +And in that same book I find this "Man is strength, woman is beauty; +man is courage, woman is love. When the one man loves the one woman, +and the one woman loves the one man, the very angels leave Heaven, and +come and sit in that house, and sing for joy." In the same book this: +"Blessed is that man, and beloved of all the gods, who is afraid of no +man, and of whom no man is afraid." Magnificent character! A +missionary certainly ought to talk to that man. And I find this: +"Never will I accept private, individual salvation, but rather will I +stay and work, strive and suffer, until every soul from every star has +been brought home to God." Compare that with the Christian that +expects to go to Heaven while the world is rolling over Niagara to an +eternal and unending Hell. So I say that religion lays all the crime +and troubles of this world at the beautiful feet of woman. And then +the church has the impudence to say that it has exalted women. I +believe that marriage is a perfect partnership; that woman has every +right that man has—and one more—the right to be protected. Above all +men in the world I hate a stingy man—a man that will make his wife beg +for money. "What did you do with the dollar I gave you last week? And +what are you going to do with this?" It is vile. No gentleman will +ever be satisfied with the love of a beggar and a slave—no gentleman +will ever be satisfied except with the love of an equal. What kind of +children does a man expect to have with a beggar for their mother? A +man can not be so poor but that he can be generous, and if you only +have one dollar in the word and you have got to spend it, spend it like +a lord—spend it as though it were a dry leaf, and you the owner of +unbounded forests—spend it as though you had a wilderness of your own. +That's the way to spend it. +</P> + +<P> +I had rather be a beggar and spend my last dollar like a king, than be +a king and spend my money like a beggar. If it has got to go, let it +go. And this is my advice to the poor. For you can never be so poor +that whatever you do you can't do in a grand and manly way. I hate a +cross man. What right has a man to assassinate the joy of life? When +you go home you ought to go like a ray of light—so that it will, even +in the night, burst out of the doors and windows and illuminate the +darkness. Some men think their mighty brains have been in a turmoil; +they have been thinking about who will be Alderman from the Fifth Ward; +they have been thinking about politics, great and mighty questions have +been engaging their minds, they have bought calico at five cents or +six, and want to sell it for seven. Think of the intellectual strain +that must have been upon that man, and when he gets home everybody else +in the house must look out for his comfort. A woman who has only taken +care of five or six children, and one or two of them sick, has been +nursing them and singing to them, and trying to make one yard of cloth +do the work of two, she, of course, is fresh and fine and ready to wait +upon this gentleman—the head of the family—the boss. I was reading +the other day of an apparatus invented for the ejecting of gentlemen +who subsist upon free lunches. It is so arranged that when the fellow +gets both hands into the victuals, a large hand descends upon him, jams +his hat over his eyes—he is seized, turned toward the door, and just +in the nick of time an immense boot comes from the other side, kicks +him in italics, sends him out over the sidewalk and lands him rolling +in the gutter. I never hear of such a man—a boss—that I don't feel +as though that machine ought to be brought into requisition for his +benefit. +</P> + +<P> +Love is the only thing that will pay ten per cent of interest on the +outlay. Love is the only thing in which the height of extravagance is +the last degree of economy. It is the only thing, I tell you. Joy is +wealth. Love is the legal tender of the soul—and you need not be rich +to be happy. We have all been raised on success in this country. +Always been talked with about being successful, and have never thought +ourselves very rich unless we were the possessors of some magnificent +mansion, and unless our names have been between the putrid lips of +rumor we could not be happy. Every little boy is striving to be this +and be that. I tell you the happy man is the successful man. The man +that has won the love of one good woman is a successful man. The man +that has been the emperor of one good heart, and that heart embraced +all his, has been a success. If another has been the emperor of the +round world and has never loved and been loved, his life is a failure. +It won't do. Let us teach our children the other way, that the happy +man is the successful man, and he who is a happy man is the one who +always tries to make some one else happy. +</P> + +<P> +The man who marries a woman to make her happy; that marries her as much +for her own sake as for his own; not the man that thinks his wife is +his property, who thinks that the title to her belongs to him—that the +woman is the property of the man; wretches who get mad at their wives +and then shoot them down in the street because they think the woman is +their property. I tell you it is not necessary to be rich and great +and powerful to be happy. +</P> + +<P> +A little while ago I stood by the grave of the old Napoleon—a +magnificent tomb of gilt and gold, fit almost for a dead deity—and +gazed upon the sarcophagus of black Egyptian marble, where rest at last +the ashes of the restless man. I leaned over the balustrade and +thought about the career of the greatest soldier of the modern world. +I saw him walk upon the banks of the Seine, contemplating suicide—I +saw him at Toulon—I saw him putting down the mob in the streets of +Paris—I saw him at the head of the army of Italy—I saw him crossing +the bridge of Lodi with the tri-color in his hand—I saw him in Egypt +in the shadows of the pyramids—I saw him conquer the Alps and mingle +the eagles of France with the eagles of the crags. I saw him at +Marengo—at Ulm and Austerlitz. I saw him in Russia, where the +infantry of the snow and the cavalry of the wild blast scattered his +legions like Winter's withered leaves. I saw him at Leipzig in defeat +and disaster—driven by a million bayonets back upon Paris—clutched +like a wild beast—banished to Elba. I saw him escape and retake an +empire by the force of his genius. I saw him upon the frightful field +of Waterloo, where chance and fate combined to wreck the fortunes of +their former king. And I saw him at St. Helena, with his hands crossed +behind him, gazing out upon the sad and solemn sea. I thought of the +orphans and widows he had made—of the tears that had been shed for his +glory, and of the only woman who ever loved him, pushed from his heart +by the cold hand of ambition. And I said I would rather have been a +French peasant and worn wooden shoes. I would rather have lived in a +hut with a vine growing over the door, and the grapes growing purple in +the kisses of the Autumn sun; I would rather have been that poor +peasant with my loving wife by my side, knitting as the day died out of +the sky, with my children upon my knees and their arms about me; I +would rather have been that man and gone down to the tongueless silence +of the dreamless dust than to have been that imperial impersonation of +force and murder, known as Napoleon the Great. It is not necessary to +be rich in order to be happy. It is only necessary to be in love. +Thousands of men go to college and get a certificate that they have an +education, and that certificate is in Latin and they stop studying, and +in two years, to save their life, they couldn't read the certificate +they got. +</P> + +<P> +It is mostly so in marrying. They stop courting when they get married. +They think, we have won her and that is enough. Ah! the difference +before and after! How well they look! How bright their eyes! How +light their steps, and how full they were of generosity and laughter! I +tell you a man should consider himself in good luck if a woman loves +him when he is doing his level best! Good luck! Good luck! And +another thing that is the cause of much trouble is that people don't +count fairly. They do what they call putting their best foot forward. +That means lying a little. I say put your worst foot forward. If you +have got any faults admit them. If you drink say so and quit it. If +you chew and smoke and swear, say so. If some of your kindred are not +very good people, say so. If you have had two or three that died on +the gallows, or that ought to have died there, say so. Tell all your +faults and if after she knows your faults she says she will have you, +you have got the dead wood on that woman forever. I claim that there +should be perfect equality in the home, and I can not think of anything +nearer Heaven than a home where there is true republicanism and true +democracy at the fireside. All are equal. +</P> + +<P> +And then, do you know, I like to think that love is eternal; that if +you really love the woman, for her sake, you will love her no matter +what she may do; that if she really loves you, for your sake, the same; +that love does not look at alterations, through the wrinkles of time, +through the mask of years—if you really love her you will always see +the face you loved and won. And I like to think of it. If a man loves +a woman she does not ever grow old to him. And the woman who really +loves a man does not see that he is growing older. He is not decrepit +to her. He is not tremulous. He is not old. He is not bowed. She +always sees the same gallant fellow that won her hand and heart. I +like to think of it in that way, and as Shakespeare says: "Let Time +reach with his sickle as far as ever he can; although he can reach +ruddy cheeks and ripe lips, and flashing eyes, he can not quite reach +love." I like to think of it. We will go down the hill of life +together, and enter the shadow one with the other, and as we go down we +may hear the ripple of the laughter of our grandchildren, and the +birds, and spring, and youth, and love will sing once more upon the +leafless branches of the tree of age. I love to think of it in that +way—absolute equals, happy, happy, and free, all our own. +</P> + +<P> +But some people say: "Would you allow a woman to vote?" Yes, if she +wants to; that is her business, not mine. If a woman wants to vote, I +am too much of a gentleman to say she shall not. But, they say, woman +has not sense enough to vote. It don't take much. But it seems to me +there are some questions, as for instance, the question of peace or +war, that a woman should be allowed to vote upon. A woman that has +sons to be offered on the altar of that Moloch, it seems to me that +such a woman should have as much right to vote upon the question of +peace and war as some thrice-besotted sot that reels to the ballot box +and deposits his vote for war. But if women have been slaves, what +shall we say of the little children, born in the sub-cellars, children +of poverty, children of crime, children of wealth, children that are +afraid when they hear their names pronounced by the lips of their +mother, children that cower in fear when they hear the footsteps of +their brutal father, the flotsam and jetsam upon the rude sea of life, +my heart goes out to them one and all. +</P> + +<P> +Children have all the rights that we have and one more, and that is to +be protected. Treat your children in that way. Suppose your child +tells a lie. Don't pretend that the whole world is going into +bankruptcy. Don't pretend that that is the first lie ever told. Tell +them, like an honest man, that you have told hundreds of lies yourself, +and tell the dear little darling that it is not the best way; that it +soils the soul. Think of the man that deals in stocks whipping his +children for putting false rumors afloat! Think of an orthodox +minister whipping his own flesh and blood, for not telling all it +thinks! Think of that! Think of a lawyer for beating his child for +avoiding the truth! when the old man makes about half his living that +way. A lie is born of weakness on one side and tyranny on the other. +That is what it is. Think of a great big man coming at a little bit of +a child with a club in his hand! What is the little darling to do? +Lie, of course. I think that mother Nature put that ingenuity into the +mind of the child, when attacked by a parent, to throw up a little +breastwork in the shape of a lie to defend itself. When a great +general wins a battle by what they call strategy, we build monuments to +him. What is strategy? Lies. Suppose a man as much larger than we are +as we are larger than a child five years of age, should come at us with +a liberty pole in his hand, and in tones of thunder want to know "who +broke that plate," there isn't one of us, not excepting myself, that +wouldn't swear that we never had seen that plate in our lives, or that +it was cracked when we got it. +</P> + +<P> +Another good way to make children tell the truth is to tell it +yourself. Keep your word with your child the same as you would with +your banker. If you tell a child you will do anything, either do it or +give the child the reason why. Truth is born of confidence. It comes +from the lips of love and liberty. I was over in Michigan the other +day. There was a boy over there at Grand Rapids about five or six years +old, a nice, smart boy, as you will see from the remark he made—what +you might call a nineteenth century boy. His father and mother had +promised to take him out riding. They had promised to take him out +riding for about three weeks, and they would slip off and go without +him. Well, after while that got kind of played out with the little +boy, and the day before I was there they played the trick on him again. +They went out and got the carriage, and went away, and as they rode +away from the front of the house, he happened to be standing there with +his nurse, and he saw them. The whole thing flashed on him in a moment. +He took in the situation, and turned to his nurse and said, pointing to +his father and mother, "There go the two d—t liars in the State of +Michigan!" When you go home fill the house with joy, so that the light +of it will stream out the windows and doors, and illuminate even the +darkness. It is just as easy that way as any in the world. +</P> + +<P> +I want to tell you tonight that you can not get the robe of hypocrisy +on you so thick that the sharp eye of childhood will not see through +every veil, and if you pretend to your children that you are the best +man that ever lived—the bravest man that ever lived—they will find +you out every time. They will not have the same opinion of father when +they grow up that they used to have. They will have to be in mighty +bad luck if they ever do meaner things than you have done. When your +child confesses to you that it has committed a fault, take that child +in your arms, and let it feel your heart beat against its heart, and +raise your children in the sunlight of love, and they will be sunbeams +to you along the pathway of life. Abolish the club and the whip from +the house, because, if the civilized use a whip, the ignorant and the +brutal will use a club, and they will use it because you use the whip. +</P> + +<P> +Every little while some door is thrown open in some orphan asylum, and +there we see the bleeding back of a child whipped beneath the roof that +was raised by love. It is infamous, and a man that can't raise a child +without the whip ought not to have a child. If there is one of you +here that ever expect to whip your child again, let me ask you +something. Have your photograph taken at the time and let it show your +face red with vulgar anger, and the face of the little one with eyes +swimming in tears, and the little chin dimpled with fear, looking like +a piece of water struck by a sudden cold wind. If that little child +should die, I can not think of a sweeter way to spend an Autumn +afternoon than to take that photograph and go to the cemetery, when the +maples are clad in tender gold, and when little scarlet runners are +coming from the sad heart of the earth, and sit down upon that mound, +and look upon that photograph, and think of the flesh, now dust, that +you beat. Just think of it. I could not bear to die in the arms of a +child that I had whipped. I could not bear to feel upon my lips, when +they were withered beneath the touch of death, the kiss of one that I +had struck. Some Christians act as though they really thought that +when Christ said, "Suffer little children to come unto me," He had a +rawhide under His coat. They act as though they really thought that He +made that remark simply to get the children within striking distance. +</P> + +<P> +I have known Christians to turn their children from their doors, +especially a daughter, and then get down on their knees and pray to God +to watch over them and help them. I will never ask God to help my +children unless I am doing my level best in that same wretched line. I +will tell you what I say to my girls: "Go where you will; do what crime +you may; fall to what depth of degradation you may; in all the storms +and winds and earthquakes of life, no matter what you do, you never can +commit any crime that will shut my door, my arms or my heart to you. +As long as I live you have one sincere friend." Call me an atheist; +call me an infidel because I hate the God of the Jew—which I do. I +intend so to live that when I die my children can come to my grave and +truthfully say: "He who sleeps here never gave us one moment of pain." +</P> + +<P> +When I was a boy there was one day in each week too good for a child to +be happy in. In these good old times Sunday commenced when the sun +went down on Saturday night and closed when the sun went down on Sunday +night. We commenced Saturday to get a good ready. And when the sun +went down Saturday night there was a gloom deeper than midnight that +fell upon the house. You could not crack hickory nuts then. And if +you were caught chewing gum, it was only another evidence of the total +depravity of the human heart. Well, after a while we got to bed sadly +and sorrowfully after having heard Heaven thanked that we were not all +in Hell. And I sometimes used to wonder how the mercy of God lasted as +long as it did, because I recollected that on several occasions I had +not been at school, when I was supposed to be there. Why I was not +burned to a crisp was a mystery to me. The next morning we got ready +for church—all solemn, and when we got there the minister was up in +the pulpit, about twenty feet high, and he commenced at Genesis about +"The fall of man," and he went on to about twenty thirdly; then he +struck the second application, and when he struck the application I +knew he was about half way through. And then he went on to show the +scheme how the Lord was satisfied by punishing the wrong man. Nobody +but a God would have thought of that ingenious way. Well, when he got +through that, then came the catechism—the chief end of man. Then my +turn came, and we sat along on a little bench where our feet came +within about fifteen inches of the floor, and the dear old minister +used to ask us: +</P> + +<P> +"Boys, do you know that you ought to be in Hell?" +</P> + +<P> +And we answered up as cheerfully as could be expected under the +circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, boys, do you know that you would go to Hell if you died in your +sins?" +</P> + +<P> +And we said: "Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +And then came the great test: +</P> + +<P> +"Boys"—I can't get the tone, you know. And do you know that is how +the preachers get the bronchitis. You never heard of an auctioneer +getting the bronchitis, nor the second mate on a steamboat—never. +What gives it to the minister is talking solemnly when they don't feel +that way, and it has the same influence upon the organs of speech that +it would have upon the cords of the calves of your legs to walk on your +tip-toes, and so I call bronchitis "parsonitis." And if the ministers +would all tell exactly what they think they would all get well, but +keeping back a part of the truth is what gives them bronchitis. +</P> + +<P> +Well the old man—the dear old minister—used to try and show us how +long we would be in Hell if we would only locate there. But to finish +the other. The grand test question was: +</P> + +<P> +"Boys, if it was God's will that you should go to Hell, would you be +willing to go?" +</P> + +<P> +And every little liar said: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +Then, in order to tell how long we would stay there, he used to say: +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose once in a billion ages a bird should come from a far distant +clime and carry off in its bill one little grain of sand, the time +would finally come when the last grain of sand would be carried away. +Do you understand?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Boys, by that time it would not be sun-up in Hell." +</P> + +<P> +Where did that doctrine of Hell come from? I will tell you; from that +fellow in the dug-out. Where did he get it? It was a souvenir from +the wild beasts. Yes, I tell you he got it from the wild beasts, from +the glittering eye of the serpent, from the coiling, twisting snakes +with their fangs mouths; and it came from the bark, growl and howl of +wild beasts; it was born of a laugh of the hyena and got it from the +depraved chatter of malicious apes. And I despise it with every drop +of my blood and defy it. If there is any God in this universe who will +damn his children for an expression of an honest thought I wish to go +to Hell. I would rather go there than go to heaven and keep the +company of a God that would thus damn his children. Oh it is an +infamous doctrine to teach that to little children, to put a shadow in +the heart of a child to fill the insane asylums with that miserable, +infamous lie. I see now and then a little girl—a dear little darling, +with a face like the light, and eyes of joy, a human blossom, and I +think, "is it possible that little girl will ever grow up to be a +Presbyterian?" Is it possible, my goodness, that that flower will +finally believe in the five points of Calvinism or in the eternal +damnation of man? Is it possible that that little fairy will finally +believe that she could be happy in Heaven with her baby in Hell? Think +of it! Think of it! And that is the Christian religion! +</P> + +<P> +We cry out against the Indian mother that throws her child into the +Ganges, to be devoured by the alligator or crocodile, but that is joy +in comparison with the Christian mother's hope, that she may be in +salvation while her brave boy is in Hell. +</P> + +<P> +I tell you I want to kick the doctrine about Hell—I want to kick it +out every time I go by it. I want to get Americans in this country +placed so they will be ashamed to preach it. I want to get the +congregations so that they won't listen to it. We cannot divide the +world off into saints and sinners in that way. There is a little girl, +fair as a flower, and she grows up until she is twelve, thirteen, or +fourteen years old. Are you going to damn her in the fifteenth, +sixteenth or seventeenth year, when the arrow from Cupid's bow touches +her heart and she is glorified—are you going to damn her now? She +marries and loves, and holds in her arms a beautiful child? Are you +going to damn her now? When are you going to damn her? Because she has +listened to some Methodist minister and after all that flood of light +failed to believe? Are you going to damn her then? I tell you God can +not afford to damn such a woman. +</P> + +<P> +A woman in the State of Indiana forty or fifty years ago who carded the +wool and made rolls and spun them, and made the cloth and cut out the +clothes for the children, and nursed them, and sat up with them nights +and—gave them medicine, and held them in her arms and wept over +them—cried for joy and wept for fear, and finally raised ten or eleven +good men and women with the ruddy glow of health upon their cheeks, and +she would have died for any one of them any moment of her life, and +finally she, bowed with age and bent with care and labor, dies, and at +the moment the magical touch of death is upon her face, she looks as +though she never had had a care, and her children burying her cover her +face with tears. Do you tell me God can afford to damn that kind of a +woman? One such act of injustice would turn Heaven itself into Hell. +If there is any God, sitting above him in infinite serenity we have the +figure of justice. Even a God must do justice; even a God must worship +justice; and any form of superstition that destroys justice is +infamous! Just think of teaching that doctrine to little children! A +little child would go out into the garden, and there would be a little +tree laden with blossoms, and the little fellow would lean against it, +and there would be a bird on one of the boughs, singing and swinging, +and thinking about four little speckled eggs, warmed by the breast of +its mate—and singing and swinging, and the music in in happy waves +rippling out of the tiny throat, and the flowers blossoming, the air +filled with perfume, and the great white clouds floating in the sky, +and the little boy would lean up against the tree and think about Hell +and the worm that never dies. Oh! the idea there can be any day too +good for a child to be happy in! +</P> + +<P> +Well, after we got over the catechism, then came the sermon in the +afternoon, and it was exactly like the one in the forenoon, except the +other end to. Then we started for home—a solemn march—"not a soldier +discharged his farewell shot"—and when we got home, if we had been +really good boys, we used to be taken up to the cemetery to cheer us +up, and it always did cheer me, those sunken graves, those leaning +stones, those gloomy epitaphs covered with the moss of years always +cheered me. When I looked at them I said: "Well, this kind of thing +can't last always." Then we came back home, and we had books to read +which were very eloquent and amusing. We had Josephus, and the +"History of the Waldenses," and Fox's "Book of Martyrs," Baxter's +"Saint's Rest," and "Jenkyn on the Atonement." I used to read Jenkyn +with a good deal of pleasure, and I often thought that the atonement +would have to be very broad in its provisions to cover the case of a +man that would I write such a book for boys. Then I would look to see +how the sun was getting on, and sometimes I thought it had stuck from +pure cussedness. Then I would go back and try Jenkyn's again. Well, +but it had to go down, and when the last rim of light sank below the +horizon, off would go our hats and we would give three cheers for +liberty once again. +</P> + +<P> +I tell you, don't make slaves of your children on Sunday. +</P> + +<P> +The idea that there is any God that hates to hear a child laugh! Let +your children play games on Sunday. Here is a poor man that hasn't +money enough to go to a big church and he has too much independence to +go to a little church that the big church built for charity. He +doesn't want to slide into Heaven that way. I tell you don't come to +church, but go to the woods and take your family and a lunch with you, +and sit down upon the old log and let the children gather flowers and +hear the leaves whispering poems like memories of long ago, and when +the sun is about going down, kissing the summits of far hills, go home +with your hearts filled with throbs of joy. There is more recreation +and joy in that than going to a dry goods box with a steeple on top of +it and hearing a man tell you that your chances are about ninety-nine +to one for being eternally damned. Let us make this Sunday a day of +splendid pleasure, not to excess, but to everything that makes man +purer and grander and nobler. I would like to see now something like +this: Instead of so many churches, a vast cathedral that would hold +twenty or thirty thousands of people, and I would like to see an opera +produced in it that would make the souls of men have higher and grander +and nobler aims. I would like to see the walls covered with pictures +and the niches rich with statuary; I would like to see something put +there that you could use in this world now, and I do not believe in +sacrificing the present to the future; I do not believe in drinking +skimmed milk here with the promise of butter beyond the clouds. Space +or time can not be holy any more than a vacuum can be pious. Not a +bit, not a bit; and no day can be so holy but what the laugh of a child +will make it holier still. +</P> + +<P> +Strike with hand of fire, on, weird musician, thy harp, strung with +Apollo's golden hair! Fill the vast cathedral aisles with symphonies +sweet and dim, deft toucher of the organ's keys; blow, bugler, blow +until thy silver notes do touch and kiss the moonlit waves, and charm +the lovers wandering 'mid the vine-clad hills. But know your sweetest +strains are discords all compared with childhood's happy laugh—the +laugh that fills the eyes with light and every heart with joy! O, +rippling river of laughter, thou art the blessed boundary line between +the beasts and men, and every wayward wave of thine doth drown some +fretful fiend of care. O Laughter, rose lipped daughter of joy, there +are dimples enough in thy cheeks to catch and hold and glorify all the +tears of grief. +</P> + +<P> +Don't plant your children in long, straight rows like posts. Let them +have light and air and let them grow beautiful as palms. When I was a +little boy children went to bed when they were not sleepy, and always +got up when they were. I would like to see that changed, but they say +we are too poor, some of us, to do it. Well, all right. It is as easy +to wake a child with a kiss as with a blow; with kindness as with +curse. And, another thing; let the children eat what they want to. Let +them commence at whichever end of the dinner they desire. That is my +doctrine. They know what they want much better than you do. Nature is +a great deal smarter than you ever were. +</P> + +<P> +All the advance that has been made in the science of medicine, has been +made by the recklessness of patients. I can recollect when they +wouldn't give a man water in a fever—not a drop. Now and then some +fellow would get so thirsty he would say "Well, I'll die any way, so +I'll drink it," and thereupon he would drink a gallon of water, and +thereupon he would burst into a generous perspiration, and get +well—and the next morning when the doctor would come to see him they +would tell him about the man drinking the water, and he would say: +</P> + +<P> +"How much?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he swallowed two pitchers full." +</P> + +<P> +"Is he alive?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +So they would go into the room and the doctor would feel his pulse and +ask him: +</P> + +<P> +"Did you drink two pitchers of water?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"My God! what a constitution you have got." +</P> + +<P> +I tell you there is something splendid in man that will not always +mind. Why, if we had done as the kings told us five hundred years ago, +we would all have been slaves. If we had done as the priests told us +we would all have been idiots. If we had done as the doctors told us +we would all have been dead. We have been saved by disobedience. We +have been saved by that splendid thing called independence, and I want +to see more of it, day after day, and I want to see children raised so +they will have it. That is my doctrine. Give the children a chance. +Be perfectly honor bright with them, and they will be your friends when +you are old. Don't try to teach them something they can never learn. +Don't insist upon their pursuing some calling they have no sort of +faculty for. Don't make that poor girl play ten years on a piano when +she has no ear for music, and when she has practiced until she can play +"Bonaparte crossing the Alps," and you can't tell after she has played +it whether Bonaparte ever got across or not. Men are oaks, women are +vines, children are flowers, and if there is any Heaven in this world, +it is in the family. It is where the wife loves the husband, and the +husband loves the wife, and where the dimpled arms of children are +about the necks of both. That is Heaven, if there is any—and I do not +want any better Heaven in another world than that, and if in another +world I can not live with the ones I loved here, then I would rather +not be there. I would rather resign. +</P> + +<P> +Well, my friends, I have some excuses to make for the race to which I +belong. In the first place, this world is not very well adapted to +raising good men and good women. It is three times better adapted to +the cultivation of fish than of people. There is one little narrow +belt running zigzag around the world, in which men and women of genius +can be raised, and that is all. It is with man as it is with +vegetation. In the valley you find the oak and elm tossing their +branches defiantly to the storm, and as you advance up the mountain +side the hemlock, the pine, the birch, the spruce, the fir, and finally +you come to little dwarfed trees, that look like other trees seen +through a telescope reversed—every limb twisted as through +pain—getting a scanty subsistence from the miserly crevices of the +rocks. You go on and on, until at last the highest crag is freckled +with a kind of moss, and vegetation ends. You might as well try to +raise oaks and elms where the mosses grow, as to raise great men and +women where their surroundings are unfavorable. You must have the +proper climate and soil. There never has been a man or woman of genius +from the southern hemisphere, because the Lord didn't allow the right +climate to fall upon the land. It falls upon the water. There never +was much civilization except where there has been snow, and ordinarily +decent Winter. You can't have civilization without it. Where man +needs no bedclothes but clouds, revolution is the normal condition of +such a people. It is the Winter that gives us the home; it is the +Winter that gives us the fireside and the family relation and all the +beautiful flowers of love that adorn that relation. Civilization, +liberty, justice, charity and intellectual advancement are all flowers +that bloom in the drifted snow. You can't have them anywhere else, and +that is the reason we of the north are civilized, and that is the +reason that civilization has always been with Winter. That is the +reason that philosophy has been here, and, in spite of all our +superstitions, we have advanced beyond some of the other races, because +we have had this assistance of nature, that drove us into the family +relation, that made us prudent; that made us lay up at one time for +another season of the year. So there is one excuse I have for my race. +</P> + +<P> +I have got another. I think we came from the lower animals. I am not +dead sure of it, but think so. When I first read about it I didn't +like it. My heart was filled with sympathy for those people who have +nothing to be proud of except ancestors. I thought how terrible it +will be upon the nobility of the old world. Think of their being +forced to trace their ancestry back to the Duke Orang-Outang or to the +Princess Chimpanzee. After thinking it all over I came to the +conclusion that I liked that doctrine. I became convinced in spite of +myself. I read about rudimentary bones and muscles. I was told that +everybody had rudimentary muscles extending from the ear into the +cheek. I asked: "What are they?" I was told: "They are the remains of +muscles; that they became rudimentary from the lack of use." They went +into bankruptcy. They are the muscles with which your ancestors used +to flap their ears. Well, at first, I was greatly astonished, and +afterward I was more astonished to find they had become rudimentary. +How can you account for John Calvin unless we came up from the lower +animals? How could you account for a man that would use the extremes +of torture unless you admit that there is in man the elements of a +snake, of a vulture, a hyena, and a jackal? How can you account for the +religious creeds of today? How can you account for that infamous +doctrine of Hell, except with an animal origin? How can you account +for your conception of a God that would sell women and babes into +slavery? +</P> + +<P> +Well, I thought that thing over and I began to like it after a while, +and I said: "It is not so much difference who my father was as who his +son is." And I finally said I would rather belong to a race that +commenced with the skull-less vertebrates in the dim Laurentian seas, +that wriggled without knowing why they wriggled, swimming without +knowing where they were going, that come along up by degrees through +millions of ages, through all that crawls, and swims, and floats, and +runs, and growls, and barks, and howls, until it struck this fellow in +the dug-out. And then that fellow in the dugout getting a little +grander, and each one below calling every one above him a heretic, +calling every one who had made a little advance an infidel or an +atheist, and finally the heads getting a little higher and looming up a +little grander and more splendidly, and finally produced Shakespeare, +who harvested all the field of dramatic thought and from whose day +until now there have been none but gleaners of chaff and straw. +Shakespeare was an intellectual ocean whose waves touched all the +shores of human thought, within which were all the tides and currents +and pulses upon which lay all the lights and shadows, and over which +brooded all the calms, and swept all the storms and tempests of which +the soul is capable. I would rather belong to that race that commenced +with that skull-less vertebrate; that produced Shakespeare, a race that +has before it an infinite future, with the angel of progress leaning +from the far horizon, beckoning men forward and upward forever. I +would rather belong to that race than to have descended from a perfect +pair upon which the Lord has lost money every moment from that day to +this. +</P> + +<P> +Now, my crime has been this: I have insisted that the Bible is not the +word of God. I have insisted that we should not whip our children. I +have insisted that we should treat our wives as loving equals. I have +denied that God—if there is any God—ever upheld polygamy and slavery. +I have denied that that God ever told his generals to kill innocent +babes and tear and rip open women with the sword of war. I have denied +that and for that I have been assailed by the clergy of the United +States. They tell me I have misquoted; and I owe it to you, and maybe +I owe it to myself, to read one or two words to you upon this subject. +In order to do that I shall have to put on my glasses; and that brings +me back to where I started—that man has advanced just in proportion as +his thought has mingled with his labor. If man's eyes hadn't failed he +would never have made any spectacles, he would never have had the +telescope, and he would never have been able to read the leaves of +Heaven. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="collyer"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +COL. INGERSOLL'S REPLY TO DR. COLLYER. +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Now, they tell me—and there are several gentlemen who have spoken on +this subject—the Rev. Mr. Collyer, a gentleman standing as high as +anybody, and I have nothing to say against him—because I denounced God +who upheld murder, and slavery and polygamy, he said that what I said +was slang. I would like to have it compared with any sermon that ever +issued from the lips of that gentleman. And before he gets through he +admits that the Old Testament is a rotten tree that will soon fall into +the earth and act as a fertilizer for his doctrine. +</P> + +<P> +Is it honest in that man to assail my motive? Let him answer my +argument! Is it honest and fair in him to say I am doing a certain +thing because it is popular? Has it got to this, that, in this +Christian country, where they have preached every day hundreds and +thousands of sermons—has it got to this that infidelity is so popular +in the United States? +</P> + +<P> +If it has, I take courage. And I not only see the dawn of a brighter +day, but the day is here. Think of it! A minister tells me in this +year of grace, 1879, that a man is an infidel simply that he may be +popular. I am glad of it. Simply that he may make money. Is it +possible that we can make more money tearing up churches than in +building them up? Is it possible that we can make more money +denouncing the God of slavery than we can praising the God that took +liberty from man? If so, I am glad. +</P> + +<P> +I call publicly upon Robert Collyer—a man for whom I have great +respect—I call publicly upon Robert Collyer to state to the people of +this city whether he believes the Old Testament was inspired. I call +upon him to state whether he believes that God ever upheld these +institutions; whether God was a polygamist; whether he believes that +God commanded Moses or Joshua or any one else to slay little children +in the cradle. Do you believe that Robert Collyer would obey such an +order? Do you believe that he would rush to the cradle and drive the +knife of theological hatred to the tender heart of a dimpled child? And +yet when I denounce a God that will give such a hellish order, he says +it is slang. +</P> + +<P> +I want him to answer; and when he answers he will say he does not +believe the Bible is inspired. That is what he will say, and he holds +these old worthies in the same contempt that I do. Suppose he should +act like Abraham. Suppose he should send some woman out into the +wilderness with his child in her arms to starve, would he think that +mankind ought to hold up his name forever, for reverence. +</P> + +<P> +Robert Collyer says that we should read and scan every word of the Old +Testament with reverence; that we should take this book up with +reverential hands. I deny it. We should read it as we do every other +book, and everything good in it, keep it and everything that shocks the +brain and shocks the heart, throw it away. Let us be honest. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="swing"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S REPLY TO PROF. SWING +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Prof. Swing has made a few remarks on this subject, and I say the +spirit he has exhibited has been as gentle and as sweet as the perfume +of a flower. He was too good a man to stay in the Presbyterian church. +He was a rose among thistles. He was a dove among vultures and they +hunted him out, and I am glad he came out. I tell all the churches to +drive all such men out, and when he comes I want him to state just what +he thinks. I want him to tell the people of Chicago whether he +believes the Bible is inspired in any sense except that in which +Shakespeare was inspired. Honor bright, I tell you that all the sweet +and beautiful things in the Bible would not make one play of +Shakespeare; all the philosophy in the world would not make one scene +in Hamlet; all the beauties of the Bible would not make one scene in +the Midsummer Night's Dream; all the beautiful things about woman in +the Bible would not begin to create such a character as Perditu or +Imogene or Miranda. Not one. +</P> + +<P> +I want him to tell whether he believes the Bible was inspired in any +other way than Shakespeare was inspired. I want him to pick out +something as beautiful and tender as Burns' poem to Mary in Heaven. I +want him to tell whether he believes the story about the bears eating +up children; whether that is inspired. I want him to tell whether he +considers that a poem or not. I want to know if the same God made +those bears that devoured the children because they laughed at an old +man out of hair. I want to know if the same God that did that is the +same God who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, for such is +the kingdom of Heaven." I want him to answer it, and answer it fairly. +That is all I ask. I want just the fair thing. +</P> + +<P> +Now, sometimes Mr. Swing talks as though he believed the Bible, and +then he talks to me as though he didn't believe the Bible. The day he +made this sermon I think he did, just a little, believe it. He is like +the man that passed a ten dollar counterfeit bill. He was arrested and +his father went to see him and said, "John, how could you commit such a +crime? How could you bring my gray hairs in sorrow to the grave?" +"Well," he says, "father, I'll tell you. I got this bill and some days +I thought it was bad and some days I thought it was good, and one day +when I thought it was good I passed it." +</P> + +<P> +I want it distinctly understood that I have the greatest respect for +Prof. Swing, but I want him to tell whether the 109th psalm is +inspired. I want him to tell whether the passages I shall afterward +read in this book are inspired. That is what I want. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="herford"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S REPLY TO BROOKE HERFORD, D.D. +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Then there is another gentleman here. His name is Herford. He says it +is not fair to apply the test of truth to the Bible—I don't think it +is myself. He says although Moses upheld slavery, that he improved it. +They were not quite so bad as they were before, and Heaven justified +slavery at that time. Do you believe that God ever turned the arms of +children into chains of slavery? Do you believe that God ever said to +a man: "You can't have your wife unless you will be a slave? You can +not have your children unless you will lose your liberty; and unless +you are willing to throw them from your heart forever, you can not be +free?" I want Mr. Herford to state whether he loves such a God. Be +honor bright about it. Don't begin to talk about civilization or what +the church has done or will do. Just walk right up to the rack and say +whether you love and worship a God that established slavery. Honest! +And love and worship a God that would allow a little babe to be torn +from the breast of its mother and sold into slavery. Now tell it fair, +Mr. Herford, I want you to tell the ladies in your congregation that +you believe in a God that allowed women to be given to the soldiers. +Tell them that, and then if you say it was not the God of Moses, then +don't praise Moses any more. Don't do it. Answer these questions. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="ryder"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL GATLING GUN TURNED ON DR. RYDER +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Then here is another gentleman, Mr. Ryder, the Rev. Mr. Ryder, and he +says that Calvinism is rejected by a majority of Christendom. He is +mistaken. There is what they call the Evangelical Alliance. They met +in this country in 1875 or 1876, and there were present representatives +of all the evangelical churches in the world, and they adopted a creed, +and that creed is that man is totally depraved. That creed is that +there is an eternal, universal Hell, and that every man that does not +believe in a certain way is bound to be damned forever, and that there +is only one way to be saved, and that is by faith, and by faith alone; +and they would not allow anybody to be represented there that did not +believe that, and they would not allow a Unitarian there, and would not +have allowed Dr. Ryder there, because he takes away from the Christian +world the consolation naturally arising from the belief in Hell. +</P> + +<P> +Dr. Ryder is mistaken. All the orthodox religion of the day is +Calvinism. It believes in the fall of man. It believes in the +atonement. It believes in the eternity of Hell, and it believes in +salvation by faith; that is to say, by credulity. +</P> + +<P> +That is what they believe, and he is mistaken; and I want to tell Dr. +Kyder today, if there is a God, and He wrote the Old Testament, there +is a Hell. The God that wrote the Old Testament will have a Hell. And +I want to tell Dr. Ryder another thing, that the Bible teaches an +eternity of punishment. I want to tell him that the Bible upholds the +doctrine of Hell. I want to tell Him that if there is no Hell, +somebody ought to have said so, and Jesus Christ should not have said: +"I will at the last day say: 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into +everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" If there was +not such a place, Christ would not have said: "Depart from me, ye +cursed, and these shall go hence into everlasting fire." And if you, +Dr. Ryder, are depending for salvation on the God that wrote the Old +Testament, you will inevitably be eternally damned. +</P> + +<P> +There is no hope for you. It is just as bad to deny Hell as it is to +deny Heaven. It is just as much blasphemy to deny the devil as to deny +God, according to the orthodox creed. He admits that the Jews were +polygamists, but, he says, how was it they finally quit it? I can tell +you—the soil was so poor they couldn't afford it. Prof. Swing says +the Bible is a poem, Dr. Ryder says it is a picture. The Garden of +Eden is pictorial; a pictorial snake and a pictorial woman, I suppose, +and a pictorial man, and maybe it was a pictorial sin. And only a +pictorial atonement. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="rabbibien"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S REPLY TO RABBI BIEN +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Then there is another gentleman, and he a rabbi, a Rabbi Bien, or Bean, +or whatever his name is, and he comes to the defense of the Great +Law-giver. There was another rabbi who attacked me in Cincinnati, and +I couldn't help but think of the old saying that a man got off when he +said the tallest man he ever knew, his name was Short. And the fattest +man he ever saw, his name was Lean. And it is only necessary for me to +add that this rabbi in Cincinnati was Wise. +</P> + +<P> +The rabbi here, I will not answer him, and I will tell you why. Because +he has taken himself outside of all the limits of a gentleman; because +he has taken it upon himself to traduce American women in language the +beastliest I ever read; and any man who says that the American women +are not just as good women as any God can make and pick his mud today, +is an unappreciative barbarian. +</P> + +<P> +I will let him alone because he denounced all the men in this country, +all the members of Congress, all the members of the Senate, and all the +judges upon the Bench; in his lecture he denounced them as thieves and +robbers. That won't do. I want to remind him that in this country the +Jews were first admitted to the privileges of citizens; that in this +country they were first given all their rights, and I am as much in +favor of their having their rights as I am in favor of having my own. +But when a rabbi so far forgets himself as to traduce the women and men +of this country, I pronounce him a vulgar falsifier, and let him alone. +</P> + +<P> +Strange, that nearly every man that has answered me has answered me +mostly on the same side. Strange, that nearly every man that thought +himself called upon to defend the Bible was one who did not believe in +it himself. Isn't it strange? They are like some suspected people, +always anxious to show their marriage certificate. They want at least +to convince the world that they are not as bad as I am. +</P> + +<P> +Now, I want to read you just one or two things, and then I am going to +let you go. I want to see if I have said such awful things, and +whether I have got any scripture to stand by me. I will read only two +or three verses. Does the Bible teach man to enslave his brother? If +it does, it is not the word of God, unless God is a slaveholder. +</P> + +<P> +"Moreover, all the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, +of them shall ye buy of their families which are with you, which they +beget in your land, and they shall be your possession. Ye shall take +them as an inheritance for your children after you to inherit them. +They shall be your bondsmen forever."—(Old Testament.) +</P> + +<P> +Upon the limbs of unborn babes this fiendish God put the chains of +slavery. I hate him. +</P> + +<P> +"Both thy bondmen and bondwomen shall be of the heathen round about +thee and them shall ye buy, bondmen and bondwomen." +</P> + +<P> +Now let us read what the New Testament has. I could read a great deal +more, but that is enough. +</P> + +<P> +"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters, according to the +flesh in fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto +Christ." +</P> + +<P> +This is putting the dirty thief that steals your labor on an equality +with God. +</P> + +<P> +"Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the +good and gentle but also to the froward." +</P> + +<P> +"For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure +grief, suffering wrongfully." +</P> + +<P> +The idea of a man on account of conscience toward God stealing another +man, or allowing him nothing but lashes on his back as legal-tender for +labor performed. +</P> + +<P> +"Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters +worthy of all honor, that the name of God and His doctrine be not +blasphemed." +</P> + +<P> +How can you blaspheme the name of God by asserting your independence? +How can you blaspheme the name of a God by striking fetters from the +limbs of men? I wish some of your ministers would tell you that. "And +they that have believing masters let them not despise them." That is to +say, a good Christian could own another believer in Jesus Christ; could +own a woman and her children, and could sell the child away from its +mother. That is a sweet belief. O, hypocrisy! +</P> + +<P> +"Let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do +them service because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the +benefit." +</P> + +<P> +Oh, what slush! Here is what they will tell the poor slave, so that he +will serve the man that stole his wife and children from him: +</P> + +<P> +"For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry +nothing out. Having food and raiment let us be therewith content." +</P> + +<P> +Don't you think that it would do just as well to preach that to the +thieving man as to the suffering slave? I think so. Then this same +Bible teaches witchcraft, that spirits go into the bodies of the man, +and pigs, and that God himself made a trade with the devil, and the +devil traded him off—a man for a certain number of swine, and the +devil lost money because the hogs ran right down into the sea. He got +a corner on that deal. +</P> + +<P> +Now let us see how they believed in the rights of children: +</P> + +<P> +"If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son which will not obey the +voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they +have chastened him, will not harken unto them, then shall his father +and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of +his city, and unto the gate of his place. And they shall say unto the +elders of his city, 'This, our son, is stubborn and rebellious, he will +not obey our voice, he is a glutton and a drunkard.' And all the men of +this city shall stone him with stones, that he die, so shalt thou put +evil away." +</P> + +<P> +That is a very good way to raise children. Here is the story of +Jephthah. He went off and he asked the Lord to let him whip some +people, and he told the Lord if He would let him whip them, he would +sacrifice to the Lord the first thing that met him on his return; and +the first thing that met him was his own beautiful daughter, and he +sacrificed her. Is there a sadder story in all history than that? What +do you think of a man that would sacrifice his own daughter? What do +you think of a God that would receive that sacrifice? Now, then, they +come to women in this blessed gospel, and let us see what the gospel +says about women. Then you ought all to go to church, girls, next +Sunday and hear it. "Let the woman learn in silence with all +subjection; but I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority +over the man, but to be in silence for Adam was formed first, not Eve." +</P> + +<P> +Don't you see? +</P> + +<P> +"And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the +transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in child-bearing if +they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety." (That +is Mr. Timothy.) "But I would have you know that the head of every man +is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ +is God." +</P> + +<P> +I suppose that every old maid is acephalous. +</P> + +<P> +"For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the +image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. For the +man is not of the woman, but woman of the man. Neither was the man +created for the woman, but the woman for the man." "Wives, submit +yourselves unto your own husband as unto the Lord, for the husband is +the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the Church." +</P> + +<P> +Do you hear that? You didn't know how much we were above you. When +you go back to the old testament, to the great law-giver, you find that +the woman has to ask forgiveness for having borne a child. If it was a +boy, thirty-three days she was unclean; if it was a girl, sixty-six. +Nice laws! Good laws! If there is a pure thing in this world, if +there is a picture of perfect purity, it is a mother with her child in +her arms. Yes, I think more of a good woman and a child than I do of +all the gods I have ever heard these people tell about. Just think of +this: +</P> + +<P> +"When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy +God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them +captive, and seest among the captives a beautiful woman and hast a +desire unto her that thou wouldst have her to thy wife, then thou shalt +bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare +her nails." +</P> + +<P> +Wherefore, ye must needs be subject not only for wrath but for +conscience sake. "For this cause pay you tribute also, for they are +God's ministers." +</P> + +<P> +I despise this wretched doctrine. Wherever the sword of rebellion is +drawn in favor of the right, I am a rebel. I suppose Alexander, czar +of Russia, was put there by the order of God, was he? I am sorry he +was not removed by the nihilist that shot at him the other day. +</P> + +<P> +I tell you, in a country like that, where there are hundreds of girls +not 16 years of age prisoners in Siberia, simply for giving their ideas +about liberty, and we telegraphed to that country, congratulating that +wretch that he was not killed, my heart goes into the prison, my heart +goes with the poor girl working as a miner in the mines, crawling on +her hands and knees getting the precious ore out of the mines, and my +sympathies go with her, and my sympathies cluster around the point of +the dagger. +</P> + +<P> +Does the bible describe a god of mercy? Let me read you a verse or two: +</P> + +<P> +"I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour +flesh." "Thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the +tongue of thy dogs in the same." +</P> + +<P> +"And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little +and little; thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of +the field increase upon thee. +</P> + +<P> +"But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy +them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed." +</P> + +<P> +"And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt +destroy their name from under heaven; there shall no man be able to +stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them." +</P> + +<P> +I can see what he had her nails pared for. Does the bible teach +polygamy? The Rev. Dr. Newman, consul general to all the world—had a +discussion with Elder Heber of Kimball, or some such wretch in +Utah—whether the bible sustains polygamy, and the Mormons have printed +that discussion as a campaign document. Read the order of Moses in the +31st chapter of Numbers. A great many chapters I dare not read to you. +They are too filthy. I leave all that to the clergy. Read the 31st +chapter of Exodus, the 31st chapter of Deuteronomy, the life of +Abraham, and the life of David, and the life of Solomon, and then tell +me that the bible does not uphold polygamy and concubinage! +</P> + +<P> +Let them answer. Then I said that the bible upheld tyranny. Let me +read you a little: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. +For there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of +God." +</P> + +<P> +George III was king by the grace of God, and when our fathers rose in +rebellion, according to this doctrine, they rose against the power of +God; and if they did they were successful. +</P> + +<P> +And so it goes on, telling of all the cities that were destroyed, and +of the great-hearted men, that they dashed their brains out, and all +the little babes, and all the sweet women that they killed and +plundered—all in the name of a most merciful God. Well, think of it! +The Old Testament is filled with anathemas, and with curses, and with +words of revenge, and jealousy, and hatred, and meanness, and +brutality. Have I read enough to show that what I said is so? I think +I have. I wish I had time to read to you further of what the dear old +fathers of the church said about woman—wait a minute, and I will read +you a little. We have got them running. St. Augustine in his 22d book +says: "A woman ought to serve her husband as unto God, affirming that +woman ought to be braced and bridled betimes, if she aspire to any +dominion, alleging that dangerous and perilous it is to suffer her to +precede, although it be in temporal and corporeal things. How can +woman be in the image of God, seeing she is subject to man, and hath no +authority to teach, neither to be a witness, neither to judge, much +less to rule or bear the rod of empire." +</P> + +<P> +Oh, he is a good one. These are the very words of Augustine. Let me +read some more. "Woman shall be subject unto man as unto Christ." +That is St. Augustine, and this sentence of Augustine ought to be noted +of all women, for in it he plainly affirms that women are all the more +subject to man. And now, St. Ambrose, he is a good boy. "Adam was +deceived by Eve—called Heva—and not Heva by Adam, and therefore just +it is that woman receive and acknowledge him for governor whom she +called sin, lest that again she slip and fall with womanly facility. +Don't you see that woman has sinned once, and man never? If you give +woman an opportunity, she will sin again, whereas if you give it to +man, who never, never betrayed his trust in the world, nothing bad can +happen. Let women be subject to their own husbands as unto the Lord, +for man is the head of woman, and Christ is the head of the +congregation." They are all real good men, all of them. "It is not +permitted to woman to speak; let her be in silence; as the law said: +unto thy husband shalt thou ever be, and he shall bear dominion over +thee." +</P> + +<P> +So St. Chrysostom. He is another good man. "Woman," he says, "was put +under the power of man, and man was pronounced lord over her; that she +should obey man, that the head should not follow the feet. False +priests do commonly deceive women, because they are easily persuaded to +any opinion,—especially if it be again given, and because they lack +prudence and right reason to judge the things that be spoken; which +should not be the nature of those that are appointed to govern others. +For they should be constant, stable, prudent, and doing everything with +discretion and reason, which virtues woman can not have in equality +with man." +</P> + +<P> +I tell you women are more prudent than men. I tell you, as a rule, +women are more truthful than men. I tell you that women are more +faithful than men—ten times as faithful as man. I never saw a man +pursue his wife into the very ditch and dust of degradation and take +her in his arms. I never saw a man stand at the shore where she had +been morally wrecked, waiting for the waves to bring back even her +corpse to his arms but I have seen woman do it. I have seen woman with +her white arms lift man from the mire of degradation, and hold him to +her bosom as though he were an angel. +</P> + +<P> +And these men thought woman not fit to be held as pure in the sight of +God as man. I never saw a man that pretended that he didn't love a +woman; that pretended that he loved God better than he did a woman, +that he didn't look hateful to me, hateful and unclean. I could read +you twenty others, but I haven't time to do it. They are all to the +same effect exactly. They hate woman, and say man is as much above her +as God is above man. I am a believer in absolute equality. I am a +believer in absolute liberty between man and wife. I believe in +liberty, and I say, "Oh, liberty, float not forever in the far +horizon—remain not forever in the dream of the enthusiast, the +philanthropist and poet; but come and make thy home among the children +of men." +</P> + +<P> +I know not what discoveries, what inventions, what thoughts may leap +from the brain of the world. I know not what garments of glory may be +woven by the years to come. I can not dream of the victories to be +won. I do know that, coming upon the field of thought; but down the +infinite sea of the future, there will never touch this "bank and shoal +of time" a richer gift, a rarer blessing than liberty for man, woman +and child. +</P> + +<P> +I never addressed a more magnificent audience in my life, and I thank +you, I thank you a thousand times over. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="catechism"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S CATECHISM AND BIBLE-CLASS +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Nothing is more gratifying than to see ideas that were received with +scorn, flourishing in the sunshine of approval. Only a few weeks ago I +stated that the Bible was not inspired; that Moses was mistaken, that +the "flood" was a foolish myth; that the Tower of Babel existed only in +credulity; that God did not create the universe from nothing, that He +did not start the first woman with a rib; that He never upheld slavery; +that He was not a polygamist; that He did not kill people for making +hair-oil, that He did not order His Generals to kill the dimpled +babes; that He did not allow the roses of love and the violets of +modesty to be trodden under the brutal feet of lust; that the Hebrew +language was written without vowels; that the Bible was composed of +many books written by unknown men; that all translations differed from +each other, and that this book had filled the world with agony and +crime. +</P> + +<P> +At that time I had not the remotest idea that the most learned +clergymen in Chicago would substantially agree with me—in public. I +have read the replies of the Rev. Robert Collyer, Dr. Thomas, Rabbi +Kohler, Rev. Brooke Herford, Prof. Swing, and Dr. Ryder, and will now +ask them a few questions, answering them in their own words. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +First, REV. ROBERT COLLYER: +</P> + +<P> +Question. What is your opinion of the Bible? Answer. "It is a +splendid book. It makes the noblest type of Catholics and the meanest +bigots. Through this book men give their hearts for good to God, or +for evil to the Devil. The best argument for the intrinsic greatness +of the book is that it can touch such wide extremes, and seem to +maintain us in the most unparalleled cruelty, as well as the most +tender mercy; that it can inspire purity like that of the great saints +and afford arguments in favor of polygamy. The Bible is the text book +of ironclad Calvinism and sunny Universalism. It makes the Quaker +quiet and the Millerite crazy. It inspired the Union soldier to live +and grandly die for the right, and Stonewall Jackson to live nobly and +die grandly for the wrong." +</P> + +<P> +Q. But, Mr. Collyer, do you really think that a book with as many +passages in favor of wrong as right, is inspired? A. I look upon the +Old Testament as a rotting tree. When it falls it will fertilize a +bank of violets. +</P> + +<P> +Q. Do you believe that God upheld slavery and polygamy? Do you +believe that He ordered the killing of babes and the violation of +maidens? A. "There is three-fold inspiration in the Bible, the first +peerless and perfect, the Word of God to man;—the second simply and +purely human, and then below this again, there is an inspiration born +of an evil heart, ruthless and savage there and then as anything well +can be. A three-fold inspiration, of Heaven first, then of the Earth, +and then of Hell, all in the same book, all sometimes in the same +chapter, and then, besides, a great many things that need no +inspiration." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Then, after all, you do not pretend that the Scriptures are really +inspired? A. "The Scriptures make no such claim for themselves as the +Church make's for them. They leave me free to say this is false, or +this is true. The truth even within the Bible dies and lives, makes on +this side and loses on that." +</P> + +<P> +Q. What do you say to the last verse in the Bible, where a curse is +threatened to any man who takes from or adds to the book? A. "I have +but one answer to this question, and it is: Let who will have written +this, I can not for an instant believe that it was written by a divine +inspiration. Such dogmas and threats as these are not of God, but of +man, and not of any man of a free spirit and heart eager for the truth, +but a narrow man who would cripple and confine the human soul in its +quest after the whole truth of God, and back those who have done the +shameful things in the name of the Most High." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Do you not regard such talk as slang? +</P> + +<P> +(Supposed) Answer. If an infidel had said that the writer of +Revelations was narrow and bigoted, I might have denounced his +discourse as "slang," but I think that Unitarian ministers can do so +with the greatest propriety. +</P> + +<P> +Q. Do you believe in the stories of the Bible, about Jael, and the sun +standing still, and the walls falling at the blowing of horns? A. +"They may be legends, myths, poems, or what they will, but they are not +the Word of God. So I say again, it was not the God and Father of us +all who inspired the woman to drive that nail crashing through the +king's temple after she had given him that bowl of milk and bid him +sleep in safety, but a very mean Devil of hatred and revenge that I +should hardly expect to find in a squaw on the plains. It was not the +ram's horns and the shouting before which the walls fell flat. If they +went down at all, it was through good solid pounding. And not for an +instant did the steady sun stand still or let his planet stand still +while barbarian fought barbarian. He kept just the time then he keeps +now. They might believe it who made the record. I do not. And since +the whole Christian world might believe it, still we do not who gather +in this church. A free and reasonable mind stands right in our way. +Newton might believe it as a Christian and disbelieve it as a +philosopher. We stand then with the philosopher against the Christian, +for we must believe what is true to us in the last test, and these +things are not true." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +SECOND, REV. DR. THOMAS. +</P> + +<P> +Question. What is your opinion of the Old Testament? Answer. "My +opinion is that it is not one book, but many—thirty-nine books bound +up in one. The date and authorship of most of these books are wholly +unknown. The Hebrews wrote without vowels and without dividing the +letters into syllables, words or sentences. The books were gathered up +by Ezra. At that time only two of the Jewish tribes remained. All +progress had ceased. In gathering up the sacred book, copyists +exercised great liberty in making changes and additions." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Yes, we know all that, but is the Old Testament inspired? A. "There +maybe the inspiration of art, of poetry, or oratory; of patriotism—and +there are such inspirations. There are moments when great truths and +principles come to men. They seek the man and not the man them." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Yes, we will admit that, but is the Bible inspired? A. "But still +I know of no way to convince any one of spirit and inspiration and God +only as His reason may take hold of these things." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Do you think the Old Testament true? A. "The story of Eden may be +an allegory; the history of the children of Israel may have mistakes." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Must inspiration claim infallibility? A. "It is a mistake to say +that if you believe one part of the Bible you must believe all. Some +of the thirty-nine books may be inspired, others not; or there may be +degrees of inspiration." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Do you believe that God commanded the soldiers to kill the children +and the married women and save for themselves the maidens, as recorded +in Numbers 31:2? Do you believe that God upheld slavery? Do you +believe that God upheld polygamy? A. "The Bible may be wrong in some +statements. God and right can not be wrong. We must not exalt the +Bible above God. It may be that we have claimed too much for the +Bible, and thereby given not a little occasion for such men as Mr. +Ingersoll to appear at the other extreme, denying too much." +</P> + +<P> +Q. What then shall be done? A. "We must take a middle ground. It is +not necessary to believe that the bears devoured the forty-two +children, nor that Jonah was swallowed by the whale." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +THIRD, REV. DR. KOHLER. +</P> + +<P> +Question. What is your opinion about the Old Testament? Answer. "I +will not make futile attempts of artificially interpreting the letter +of the Bible so as to make it reflect the philosophical, moral and +scientific views of our time. The Bible is a sacred record of +humanity's childhood." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Are you an orthodox Christian? A. "No. Orthodoxy, with its face +turned backward to a ruined temple or a dead Messiah, is fast becoming +like Lot's wife, a pillar of salt." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Do you really believe the Old Testament was inspired? A. "I +greatly acknowledge our indebtedness to men like Voltaire and Thomas +Paine, whose bold denial and cutting wit were so instrumental in +bringing about this glorious era of freedom, so congenial and blissful, +particularly to the long-abused Jewish race." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Do you believe in the inspiration of the Bible? A. "Of course +there is a destructive ax needed to strike down the old building in +order to make room for the grander new. The divine origin claimed by +the Hebrews for their national literature was claimed by all nations +for their old records and laws as preserved by the priesthood. As +Moses—the Hebrew law giver, is represented as having received the law +from God on the holy mountains, so is Zoroaster, the Persian, Manu, the +Hindoo, Minos, the Cretan, Lycurgus, the Spartan, and Numa, the Roman." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Do you believe all the stories in the Bible? A. "All that can and +must be said against them is that they have been too long retained +around the arms and limbs of grown-up manhood to check the spiritual +progress of religion; that by Jewish ritualism and Christian dogmatism +they became fetters unto the soul, turning the light of heaven into a +misty haze to blind the eye, and even into a Hell fire of fanaticism to +consume souls." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Is the Bible inspired? A. "True, the Bible is not free from +errors, nor is any work of man and time. It abounds in childish views +and offensive matters. I trust it will, in a time not far off, be +presented for common use in families, schools, synagogues and churches, +in a refined shape, cleansed from all dross and chaff, and +stumbling-blocks on which the scoffer delights to dwell." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +FOURTH, REV. MR. HERFORD. +</P> + +<P> +Question. Is the Bible true? Answer. "Ingersoll is very fond of +saying 'The question is not, is the Bible inspired, but is it true?' +That sounds very plausible, but you know as applied to any ancient book +it is simply nonsense." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Do you think the stories in the Bible exaggerated? A. "I dare say +the numbers are immensely exaggerated." +</P> + +<P> +Q. Do you think that God upheld polygamy? A. "The truth of which +simply is, that four thousand years ago polygamy existed among the +Jews, as everywhere else on earth then, and even their prophets did not +come to the idea of its being wrong. But what is there to be indignant +about in that? And so you really wonder why any man should be +indignant at the idea that God upheld and sanctioned that beastliness +called polygamy? What is there to be indignant about in that?" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +FIFTH, PROF. SWING. +</P> + +<P> +Question. What is your idea of the Bible? Answer. "I think it a +poem." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +SIXTH, REV. DR. RYDER. +</P> + +<P> +Question. And what is your idea of the sacred Scriptures? Answer. +"Like other nations, the Hebrews had their patriotic, descriptive, +didactic and lyrical poems in the same varieties as other nations; but +with them, unlike other nations, whatever may be the form of their +poetry, it always possesses the characteristic of religion." +</P> + +<P> +Q. I suppose you fully appreciate the religious characteristics of the +Song of Solomon? No answer. +</P> + +<P> +Q. Does the Bible uphold polygamy? A. "The law of Moses did not +forbid it, but contained many provisions against its worst abuses, and +such as were intended to restrict it within narrow limits." +</P> + +<P> +Q. So you think God corrected some of the worst abuses of polygamy, +but preserved the institution itself? +</P> + +<P> +I might question many others, but have concluded not to consider those +as members of my Bible class who deal in calumnies and epithets. From +the so-called "replies" of such ministers it appears that, while +Christianity changes the heart, it does not improve the manners, and +one can get into Heaven in the next world without having been a +gentleman in this. +</P> + +<P> +It is difficult for me to express the deep and thrilling satisfaction I +have experienced in reading the admissions of the clergy of Chicago. +Surely the battle of intellectual liberty is almost won when ministers +admit that the Bible is filled with ignorant and cruel mistakes; that +each man has the right to think for himself, and that it is not +necessary to believe the Scriptures in order to be saved. +</P> + +<P> +From the bottom of my heart, I congratulate my pupils on the advance +they have made, and hope soon to meet them on the serene heights of +perfect freedom. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="saved"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S NEW DEPARTURE—His Lecture Entitled <BR> +"What Shall We do to be Saved?"—Delivered in McVicker's Theatre, <BR> +Chicago, Sept. 19, 1880 [From the Chicago Times. Verbatim Report.] +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ladies and Gentlemen: Fear is the dungeon of the mind, and superstition +is a dagger with which hypocrisy assassinates the soul. Courage is +liberty. I am in favor of absolute freedom of thought. In the realm of +the mind every one is monarch. Every one is robed, sceptered, and +crowned, and every one wears the purple of authority. I belong to the +republic of intellectual liberty, and only those are good citizens of +that republic who depend upon reason and upon persuasion, and only +those are traitors who resort to brute force. +</P> + +<P> +Now, I beg of you all to forget just for a few moments that you are +Methodists, or Baptists, or Catholics, or Presbyterians, and let us for +an hour or two remember only that we are men and women. And allow me +to say "man" and "woman" are the highest titles that can be bestowed +upon humanity. "Man" and "woman." And let us if possible banish all +fear from the mind. Do not imagine that there is some being in the +infinite expanse who is not willing that every man and woman should +think for himself and herself. Do not imagine that there is any being +who would give to his children the holy torch of reason and then damn +them for following where the holy light led. Let us have courage. +</P> + +<P> +Priests have invented a crime called "blasphemy," and behind that +crime hypocrisy has crouched for thousands of years. There is but one +blasphemy, and that is injustice. There is but one worship, and that +is justice. +</P> + +<P> +You need not fear the anger of a God whom you cannot injure. Rather +fear to injure your fellow-men. Do not be afraid of a crime you cannot +commit. Rather be afraid of the one that you may commit. +</P> + +<P> +There was a Jewish gentleman went into a restaurant to get his dinner, +and the devil of temptation whispered in his ear: "Eat some bacon." +</P> + +<P> +He knew if there was anything in the universe calculated to excite the +wrath of the Infinite Being, who made every shining star, it was to see +a gentleman eating bacon. He knew it, and He knew the Infinite Being +was looking, and that he was the Infinite Eaves-dropper of the +universe. But his appetite got the better of his conscience, as it +often has with us all, and he ate that bacon. He knew it was wrong. +When he went into that restaurant the weather was delightful, the sky +was as blue as June, and when he came out the sky was covered with +angry clouds, the lightning leaping from one to the other, and the +earth shaking beneath the voice of the thunder. He went back into that +restaurant with a face as white as milk, and he said to one of the +keepers: +</P> + +<P> +"My God, did you ever hear such a fuss about a little piece of bacon?" +</P> + +<P> +As long as we harbor such opinions of Infinity; as long as we imagine +the heavens to be filled with such tyranny, so long the sons of men +will be cringing, intellectual cowards. Let us think, and let us +honestly express our thought. +</P> + +<P> +Do not imagine for a moment that I think people who disagree with me +are bad people. I admit, and I cheerfully admit, that a very large +proportion of mankind and a very large majority, a vast number, are +reasonably honest. I believe that most Christians believe what they +teach; that most ministers are endeavoring to make this world better. I +do not pretend to be better than they are. It is an intellectual +question. It is a question, first, of intellectual liberty, and after +that, a question to be settled at the bar of human reason. I do not +pretend to be better than the are. Probably I am a good deal worse +than many of them, but that is not the question. The question is "Bad +as I am, have I a right to think?" And I think I have, for two reasons. +</P> + +<P> +First, I can't help it. And secondly, I like it. The whole question +is right at a point. If I have not a right to express my thoughts, who +has? +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," they say, "we will allow you, we will not burn you." +</P> + +<P> +"All right; why won't you burn me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because we think a decent man will allow others to think and express +his thought." +</P> + +<P> +"Then the reason you do not persecute me for my thought is that you +believe it would be infamous in you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"And yet you worship a God who will, all you declare, punish me +forever." +</P> + +<P> +The next question then is: Can I commit a sin against God by thinking? +If God did not intend I should think, why did He give me a "thinker." +Now, then, we have got what they call the Christian system of religion, +and thousands of people wonder how I can be wicked enough to attack +that system. +</P> + +<P> +There are many good things about it, and I shall never attack anything +that I believe to be good! I shall never fear to attack anything I +honestly believe to be wrong. We have, I say, what they call the +Christian religion, and, I find, just in proportion that nations have +been religious, just in the proportion they have gone back to +barbarism. I find that Spain, Portugal, Italy are the three worst +nations in Europe; I find that the nation nearest infidel is the most +prosperous France. And so I say there can be no danger in the exercise +of absolute intellectual freedom. I find among ourselves the men who +think at least as good as those who do not. We have, I say, a Christian +system, and that is founded upon what they are pleased to call system +the "New Testament." Who wrote the New Testament? I don't know. Who +does know? Nobody! +</P> + +<P> +We have found some fifty-two manuscripts containing portions of the New +Testament. Some of those manuscripts leave out five or six books—many +of them. Others more others less. No two of these manuscripts agree. +Nobody knows who wrote these manuscripts. They are all written in +Greek; the disciples of Christ knew only Hebrew. Nobody ever saw, so +far as we know, one of the original Hebrew manuscripts. Nobody ever saw +anybody who had seen anybody who had heard of anybody that had seen +anybody that had ever seen one of the original Hebrew manuscripts. No +doubt the clergy of your city have told you these facts thousands of +times, and they will be obliged to me for having repeated them once +more. These manuscripts are written in what are called capital Greek +letters. They are called Uncial characters; and the New Testament was +not divided into chapters and verses, even, until the year of grace +1551. Recollect it. +</P> + +<P> +In the original the manuscripts and gospels are signed by nobody. The +epistles are addressed to nobody; and they are signed by the same +person. All the addresses, all the pretended earmarks showing to whom +they are written and by whom they are written are simply +interpolations, and everybody who has studied the subject knows it. +</P> + +<P> +It is further admitted that even these manuscripts have not been +properly translated, and they have a syndicate now making a new +translation; and I suppose that I cannot tell whether I really believe +the Testament or not until I see that new translation. +</P> + +<P> +You must remember, also, one other thing. Christ never wrote a +solitary word of the New Testament—not one word. There is an account +that He once stooped and wrote something in the sand, but that has not +been preserved. He never told anybody to write a word. He never said: +"Matthew, remember this. Mark, don't forget to put that down. Luke, +be sure that in your gospel you have this. John, don't forget it." +Not one word. And it has always seemed to me that a Being coming from +another world, with a message of infinite importance to mankind, should +at least have verified that message by his own signature. +</P> + +<P> +Why was nothing written? I will tell you. In my judgment they +expected the end of the world in a very few days. That generation was +not to pass away until the heavens should be rolled up as a scroll, and +until the earth should melt with fervent heat. That was their belief. +They believed that the world was to be destroyed, and that there was to +be another coming, and that the saints were then to govern the world. +And they even went so far among the Apostles, as we frequently do now +before election, as to divide out the offices in advance. This +Testament was not written for hundreds of years after the Apostles were +dust. These facts lived in the open mouth of credulity. They were in +the wastebaskets of forgetfulness. They depended upon the inaccuracy of +legend, and for centuries these doctrines and stories were blown about +by the inconstant winds. And finally, when reduced to writing, some +gentleman would write by the side of the passage his idea of it, and +the next copyist would put that in as a part of the text. And, +finally, when it was made, and the Church got in trouble, and wanted a +passage to help it out, one was interpolated to order. So that now it +is among the easiest things in the world to pick out at least one +hundred interpolations in the Testament. And I will pick some of them +out before I get through. +</P> + +<P> +And let me say here, once for all, that for the man Christ I have +infinite respect. Let me say, once for all, that the place where man +has died for man is holy ground; and let me say, once for all, to that +great and serene man I gladly pay the homage of my admiration and my +tears. He was a reformer in His day. He was an infidel in His time. +He was regarded as a blasphemer, and His life was destroyed by +hypocrites, who have, in all ages, done what they could to trample +freedom out of the human mind. Had I lived at that time I would have +been His friend, and should He come again He would not find a better +friend than I will be. +</P> + +<P> +That is for the man. For the theological creation I have a different +feeling. If He was, in fact, God, He knew that there was no such thing +as death. He knew that what we call death was but the eternal opening +of the golden gates of everlasting joy; and it took no heroism to face +a death that was simply eternal life. +</P> + +<P> +But when a man, when a poor boy sixteen years of age, goes upon the +field of battle to keep his flag in heaven, not knowing but that death +ends all—not knowing but that, when the shadows creep over him, the +darkness will be eternal—there is heroism. +</P> + +<P> +And so for the man who, in the darkness, said: "My God, why hast Thou +forsaken Me?"—for that man I have nothing but respect, admiration, and +love. +</P> + +<P> +A while ago I made up my mind to find out what was necessary for me to +do in order to be saved. If I have got a soul, I want it saved. I do +not wish to lose anything that is of value. For thousands of years the +world has been asking that question "What shall we do to be saved?" +</P> + +<P> +Saved from poverty? No. Saved from crime? No. Tyranny? No. But +"What shall we do to be saved from the eternal wrath of the God who +made us all?" +</P> + +<P> +If God made us, He will not destroy us. Infinite wisdom never made a +poor investment. And upon all the works of an infinite God, a dividend +must finally be declared. The pulpit has cast a shadow over even the +cradle. The doctrine of endless punishment has covered the cheeks of +this world with tears. I despise it, and I defy it. +</P> + +<P> +I made up my mind, I say, to see what I had to do in order to save my +soul according to the Testament, and thereupon I read it. I read the +gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But I found that the Church had +been deceiving me. I found that the clergy did not understand their +own book. I found that they had been building upon passages that had +been interpolated. I found that they had been building upon passages +that were entirely untrue. And I will tell you why I think so. +</P> + +<P> +The first of these gospels was written by St. Matthew, according to the +claim. Of course he never wrote a word of it. Never saw it. Never +heard of it. But, for the purpose of this lecture, I will admit that +he wrote it. I will admit that he was with Christ for three years, +that he heard much of His conversation during that time and that he +became impregnated with the doctrines, or dogmas, and the ideas of +Jesus Christ. +</P> + +<P> +Now let us see what Matthew says we must do in order to be saved. And I +take it that, if this be true, Matthew is as good an authority as any +minister in the world. +</P> + +<P> +The first thing I find upon the subject of salvation is in the fifth +chapter of Matthew, and is embraced in what is commonly known as the +sermon on the Mount. It is as follows: +</P> + +<P> +"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." +Good! +</P> + +<P> +"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Good! Whether +they belonged to any church or not; whether they believed the Bible or +not. +</P> + +<P> +"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Good! +</P> + +<P> +"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are +the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed +are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake," (that's me, +little) "for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." +</P> + +<P> +In the same sermon he says: "Think not that I am come to destroy the +law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." And +then he makes use of this remarkable language, almost as applicable +today as it was then: "For I say unto you that except your +righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and +Pharisees ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of Heaven." Good! +</P> + +<P> +In the sixth chapter I find the following, and it comes directly after +the prayer known as the Lord's prayer: "For if you forgive men their +trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye +forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your +trespasses." I accept the conditions. There is an offer; I accept it. +If you will forgive men that trespass against you, God will forgive +your trespasses against Him. I accept, and I never will ask any God to +treat me any better than I treat my fellowmen. There is a square +promise. There is a contract. If you will forgive others, God will +forgive you. And it does not say you must believe in the Old Testament, +nor be baptized, nor join the Church, nor keep Sunday. It simply says, +if you forgive others God will forgive you; and it must be true. No +God could afford to damn a forgiving man. (A voice: "Will He forgive +Democrats?") Oh, certainly. Let me say right here that I know lots of +Democrats, great, broad, whole-souled, clever men, and I love them. +And the only bad thing about them is that they vote the Democratic +ticket. And I know lots of Republicans so mean and narrow that the only +decent thing about them is that they vote the Republican ticket. +</P> + +<P> +Now let me make myself plain upon that subject, perfectly plain. For +instance, I hate Presbyterianism, but I know hundreds of splendid +Presbyterians. Understand me. I hate Methodism, and yet I know +hundreds of splendid Methodists. I dislike a certain set of principles +called Democracy, and yet I know thousands of Democrats that I respect +and like. I like a certain set of principles—that is, most of +them,—called Republicanism, and yet I know lots of Republicans that +are a disgrace to those principles. +</P> + +<P> +I do not war against men. I do not war against persons. I war against +certain doctrines that I believe to be wrong. And I give to every +other human being every right that I claim for myself. Of course I did +not intend today to tell what we must do in the election for the +purpose of being saved. +</P> + +<P> +The next thing that I find is in the seventh chapter and the second +verse: "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with +what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Good! That +suits me! +</P> + +<P> +And in the twelfth chapter of Matthew: "For whosoever shall do the will +of my Father that is in Heaven, the same is my brother and sister and +mother. For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with +His angels, and then He shall reward every man according—" To the +church he belongs to? No. To the manner in which he was baptized? +No. According to his creed? No. "Then he shall reward every man +according to his works." Good! I subscribe to that doctrine. +</P> + +<P> +And in the sixteenth chapter: "And Jesus called a little child to Him +and stood him in the midst, and said: 'Verily, I say unto you, except +ye become converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter +into the Kingdom of Heaven.'" I do not wonder that a reformer in His +day that met the Scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites, I do not wonder +that at last He turned to children and said: "Except ye become as +little children," I do not wonder. And yet, see what children the +children of God have been. What an interesting dimpled darling John +Calvin was. Think of that prattling babe known as Jonathan Edwards! +Think of the infants that founded the Inquisition, that invented +instruments of torture to tear human flesh. They were the ones who had +become as little children. +</P> + +<P> +So I find in the nineteenth chapter: "And behold, one came and said +unto Him: 'Good master, what good thing shall I do in order to inherit +eternal life?' And He said unto him, 'why callest thou Me good? There +is none good but one, and that is God, but if thou will enter into +eternal life, keep the commandments,' and he said unto Him, 'Which?'" +</P> + +<P> +Now, there is a pretty fair issue. Here is a child of God asking God +what is necessary for him to do in order to inherit eternal life. And +God says to him: Keep the commandments. And the child said to the +Almighty: "Which?" Now if there ever had been an opportunity given to +the Almighty to furnish a gentleman with an inquiring mind with the +necessary information upon that subject, here was the opportunity. He +said unto Him, 'which?' And Jesus said: "Thou shalt do no murder; +thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not +bear false witness; honor thy father and mother; and, thou shalt love +thy neighbor as thyself." He did not say to him: "You must believe in +Me—that I am the only begotten Son of the living God." He did not +say: "You must be born again." He did not say: "You must believe the +Bible." He did not say: "You must remember the Sabbath day, to keep it +holy." He simply said: "Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit +adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. +Honor thy father and thy mother; and, thou shalt love thy neighbor as +thyself." And thereupon the young man, who I think was a little +"fresh," and probably mistaken, said unto Him: "All these things have I +kept from my youth up." I don't believe that. +</P> + +<P> +Now comes in an interpolation. In the old times when the Church got a +little scarce for money, they always put in a passage praising poverty. +So they had this young man ask: "What lack I yet?" And Jesus said unto +him: "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give it +to the poor, and thou shalt have treasures in heaven." The Church has +always been willing to swap off treasures in heaven for cash down. +</P> + +<P> +And when the next verse was written the Church must have been nearly +dead-broke. "And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go +through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the +kingdom of God." Did you ever know a wealthy disciple to unload on +account of that verse? +</P> + +<P> +And then comes another verse, which I believe is an interpolation: "And +every one that has forsaken houses, or brethren or sisters, or father +or mother, or wife or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall +receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." Christ +never said it. Never. "Whosoever shall forsake father and mother." +Why He said to this man who asked him "What shall I do to inherit +eternal life?" among other things, He said "Honor thy father and thy +mother." And we turn over the page and He says: "If you will desert +your father and your mother you shall have everlasting life." It won't +do. If you desert your wife and your little children, or your +lands—the idea of putting a house and lot on equality with wife and +children. Think of that! I do not accept the terms. I will never +desert the one I love for the promise of any God. +</P> + +<P> +It is far more important that we shall love our wives than that we +shall love God. And I will tell you why you cannot help Him. You can +help her. You can fill her life with the perfume of perpetual joy. It +is far more important that you love your children than that you love +Jesus Christ.—And why? If He is God you cannot help Him, but you can +plant a little flower of happiness in every footstep of the child, from +the cradle until you die in that child's arms. Let me tell you to-day, +it is far more important to build a home than to erect a church. The +holiest temple beneath the stars is a home that love has built. And +the holiest altar in all the wide world is the fireside around which +gather father and mother and children. +</P> + +<P> +There was a time when people believed that infamy. There was a time +when they did desert fathers; and mothers, and wives and children. St. +Augustine says to the devotee: "Fly to the desert, and though your wife +put her arms around your neck, tear her hands away; she is a temptation +of the devil. Though your father and mother throw their bodies athwart +your threshold, step over them; and though your children pursue and +with weeping eyes beseech you to return, listen not. It is the +temptation of the evil one. Fly to the desert and save your soul." +Think of such a soul being worth saving. While I live I propose to +stand by the folks. +</P> + +<P> +Here there is another condition of salvation. I find it in the 25th +chapter: "Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, 'Come, +ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the +foundation of the world. For I was a hungered and ye gave Me meat; I +was thirsty and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger and ye took Me in; +naked and ye clothed Me; and I was sick and ye visited Me; and I was in +prison, and ye came unto me." Good! And I tell you tonight that God +will not punish with eternal thirst the man who has put the cup of cold +water to the lips of his neighbor. God will not allow to live in +eternal nakedness of pain the man who has clothed others. +</P> + +<P> +For instance, here is a shipwreck, and here is some brave sailor stands +aside and allows a woman whom he never saw before to take his place in +the boat, and he stands there, grand and serene as the wide sea, and he +goes down. Do you tell me there is any God who will push the life-boat +from the shore of eternal life, when that man wishes to step in? Do +you tell me that God can be unpitying to the pitiful, that He can be +unforgiving to the forgiving? I deny it; and from the aspersions of +the pulpit I seek to rescue the reputation of the Deity. +</P> + +<P> +Now, I have read you everything in Matthew on the subject of salvation. +That is all there is. Not one word about believing anything. It is +the gospel of deed, the gospel of charity, the gospel of self-denial; +and if only that gospel had been preached, persecution never would have +shed one drop of blood. Not one. Now, according to the testimony, +Matthew was well acquainted with Christ. According to the testimony, +he had been with Him, and His companion for years, and if it was +necessary to believe anything in order to get to heaven, Matthew should +have told us. But he forgot it. Or he didn't believe it. Or he never +heard of it. You can take your choice. +</P> + +<P> +The next is Mark. Now let us see what he says. And for the purpose of +this lecture it is sufficient for me to say that Mark agrees, +substantially, with Matthew, that God will be merciful to the merciful; +that He will be kind to the kind that He will pity the pitying. And it +is precisely, or substantially, the same as Matthew until I come to the +16th verse of the 16th chapter, and then I strike an interpolation, put +in by hypocrisy, put in by priests, who longed to grasp with bloody +hands the sceptre of universal authority. +</P> + +<P> +Let me read it to you. And it is the most infamous passage in the +Bible. Christ never said it. No sensible man ever said it. "And He +said unto them"—that is, unto His disciples—"Go ye into all the world +and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is +baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned." +</P> + +<P> +Now, I propose to prove to you that that is an interpolation. Now how +will I do it? In the first place, not one word is said about belief in +Matthew. In the next place, not one word is said about belief in Mark, +until I come to that verse. And when is that said to have been spoken? +According to Mark, it is a part of the last conversation of Jesus +Christ—just before, according to the account, He ascended bodily +before their eyes. If there ever was any important thing happened in +this world, that is one of them. If there was any conversation that +people would be apt to recollect, it would be the last conversation +with God before He rose through the air and seated Himself upon the +throne of the Infinite. We have in this Testament five accounts of the +last conversation happening between Jesus Christ and His apostles. +Matthew gives it. And yet Matthew does not state that in that +conversation He said: "Whoso believeth and is baptized shall be saved, +and whoso believeth not shall be damned." And if He did say those +words, they were the most important that ever fell from His lips. +Matthew did not hear it, or did not believe it, or forgot it. +</P> + +<P> +Then I turn to Luke, and he gives an account of this same last +conversation, and not one word does he say upon that subject. Now it +is the most important thing, if Christ said it, that He ever said. +</P> + +<P> +Then I turn to John, and he gives an account of the last conversation, +but not one solitary word on the subject of belief or unbelief. Not +one solitary word on the subject of damnation. Not one. +</P> + +<P> +Then I turn to the first chapter of the Acts, and there I find an +account of the last conversation; and in that conversation there is not +one word upon this subject. Now, I say, that demonstrates that the +passage in Mark is an interpolation. +</P> + +<P> +What other reason have I got? That there is not one particle of sense +in it. Why? No man can control his belief. You hear evidence for and +against, and the integrity of the soul stands at the scales and tells +which side rises and which side falls. You cannot believe as you wish. +You must believe as you must. And He might as well have said: "Go into +all the world and preach the gospel, and whosoever has red hair shall +be saved, and whosoever hath not shall be damned." +</P> + +<P> +I have another reason. I am much obliged to the gentleman who +interpolated these passages. I am much obliged to him that he put in +some more—two, more. Now hear: +</P> + +<P> +"And these signs shall follow them that believe." Good. +</P> + +<P> +"In My name shall they cast out devils. They shall speak with new +tongues, and they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly +thing it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and +they shall recover." +</P> + +<P> +Bring on your believer! Let him cast out a devil. I do not claim a +large one, "just a little one for a cent." Let him take up serpents. +"And if he drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt him." Let me mix +up a dose for the theological believer, and if it does not hurt him +I'll join a church. O, but, "they say those things only lasted through +that apostolic age." Let us see. "Go ye into all the world and preach +the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall +be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs +shall follow them that believe." +</P> + +<P> +How long? I think at least until they had gone into all the world. +Certainly these signs should follow until all the world had been +visited. And yet if that declaration was in the mouth of Christ, he +then knew that one-half of the world was unknown and that he would be +dead 1,492 years before his disciples would know that there was another +world. And yet he said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel," +and he knew then that it would be 1,492 years before anybody went. +Well, if it was worth while to have signs follow believers in the old +world, surely it was worth while to have signs follow believers in the +new world. And the very reason that signs should follow would be to +convince the unbeliever, and there are as many unbelievers now as ever, +and the signs are as necessary today as they ever were. I would like a +few myself. +</P> + +<P> +This frightful declaration, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be +saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned," has filled the world +with agony and crime. +</P> + +<P> +Every letter of this passage has been sword and fagot; every word has +been dungeon and chain. +</P> + +<P> +That passage made the sword of persecution drip with innocent blood for +ten centuries. That passage made the horizon of a thousand years lurid +with the flames of fagots. That passage contradicts the sermon on the +mount. That passage travesties the Lord's prayer. That passage turns +the splendid religion of deed and duty into the superstition of creed +and cruelty. I deny it. It is infamous. Christ never said it! Now I +come to Luke, and it is sufficient to say that Luke substantially +agrees with Matthew and with Mark. Substantially agrees, as the +evidence is read. I like it. +</P> + +<P> +"Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." Good! +</P> + +<P> +"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged. Condemn not, and ye shall not +be condemned; forgive and ye shall be forgiven." Good! +</P> + +<P> +"Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and +shaken together, and running over." Good! I like it. +</P> + +<P> +"For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to +you again." +</P> + +<P> +He agrees substantially with Mark; he agrees substantially with +Matthew; and I come at last to the nineteenth chapter. +</P> + +<P> +"And Zaccheus stood and said unto the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, the half of +my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man +by false accusation, I restore him four-fold.' And Jesus said unto +him, 'This day is salvation come to this house.'" +</P> + +<P> +That is good doctrine. He didn't ask Zaccheus what he believed. He +didn't ask him, Do you believe in the Bible? Do you believe in the +five points? Have you ever been baptized-sprinkled? Oh! immersed. +"Half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from +any man by false accusation, I restore him four-fold." "And Christ +said, 'This day is salvation come to this house.'" Good! +</P> + +<P> +I read also in Luke that Christ when upon the cross forgave His +murderers, and that is considered the shining gem in the crown of His +mercy—that He forgave His murderers. That He forgave the men who +drove the nails in His hands, in His feet, that plunged a spear in His +side; the soldier that in the hour of death offered Him in mockery the +bitterness to drink; that He forgave them all freely, and that yet, +although He would forgive them, He will in the nineteenth century damn +to eternal fire an honest man for the expression of his honest +thoughts. That won't do. I find too, in Luke, an account of two +thieves that were crucified at the same time. The other gospels speak +of them. One says they both railed upon Him. Another says nothing +about it. In Luke we are told that one did, but one of the thieves +looked and pitied Christ, and Christ said to that thief: +</P> + +<P> +"This day shalt thou meet me in Paradise." +</P> + +<P> +Why did He say that? Because the thief pitied Him. And God cannot +afford to trample beneath the feet of His infinite wrath the smallest +blossom of pity that ever shed its perfume in the human heart! +</P> + +<P> +Who was this thief? To what church did he belong? I don't know. The +fact that he was a thief throws no light on that question. Who was he? +What did he believe? I don't know. Did he believe in the Old +Testament? In the miracles? I don't know. Did he believe that Christ +was God? I don't know. Why, then, was the promise made to him that he +should meet Christ in Paradise. Simply because he pitied innocence +suffering on the cross. +</P> + +<P> +God cannot afford to damn any man that is capable of pitying anybody. +</P> + +<P> +And now we come to John, and that is where the trouble commences. The +other gospels teach that God will be merciful to the merciful, +forgiving to the forgiving, kind to the kind, loving to the loving, +just to the just, merciful to the good. +</P> + +<P> +Now we come to John, and here is another doctrine. And allow me to say +that John was not written until centuries after the others. This, the +Church got up: +</P> + +<P> +"And Jesus answered and said unto him: 'Furthermore I say unto thee +that except a man be born again he cannot see the "Kingdom of God."'" +</P> + +<P> +Why didn't He tell Matthew that? Why didn't He tell Luke that? Why +didn't He tell Mark that? They never heard of it, or forgot it, or +they didn't believe it. +</P> + +<P> +"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into +the Kingdom of God." Why? +</P> + +<P> +"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of +the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, 'ye must be +born again.' That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which +is born of the spirit is spirit,"—and He might have added that which +is born of water is water. +</P> + +<P> +"Marvel not that I say unto thee, 'ye must be born again.'" And then +the reason is given, and I admit I did not understand it myself until I +read the reason, and will understand it as well as I do; and here it +is: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound +thereof, and canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth." So +I find in the book of John the idea of the real presence. +</P> + +<P> +So I find in the book of John, that in order to be saved we must eat of +the flesh and we must drink of the blood of Jesus Christ, and if that +gospel is true, the Catholic Church is right. But it is not true. I +cannot believe it, and yet for all that it may be true. But I don't +believe it. Neither do I believe there is any God in the universe who +will damn a man simply for expressing his belief. +</P> + +<P> +"Why," they say to me, "suppose all this should turn out to be true, +and you should come to the day of judgment and find all these things to +be true. What would you do then?" I would walk up like a man, and +say, "I was mistaken." +</P> + +<P> +"And suppose God was about to pass judgment on you, what would you +say?" I would say to Him, "Do unto others as you would that others +should do unto you." Why not? +</P> + +<P> +I am told that I must render good for evil. I am told that if smitten +on one cheek I must turn the other. I am told that I must overcome +evil with good. I am told that I must love my enemies; and will it do +for this God who tells me, "Love my enemies," to say, "I will damn +mine." No, it will not do; it will not do. +</P> + +<P> +In the book of John all this doctrine of regeneration; all this +doctrine that it is necessary to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; all +the doctrine that salvation depends upon belief—in this book of John +all these doctrines find their warrant; nowhere else. +</P> + +<P> +Read these three gospels and then read John, and you will agree with me +that the gospels that teach "We must be kind, we must be merciful, we +must be forgiving, and thereupon that God will forgive us," is true, +and then say whether or no that doctrine is not better than the +doctrine that somebody else can be good for you, that somebody else can +be bad for you, and that the only way to get to heaven is to believe +something that you do not understand. +</P> + +<P> +Now upon these gospels that I have read the churches rest; and out of +those things that I have read they have made their creeds. And the +first Church to make a creed, so far as I know, was the Catholic. I +take it that is the first Church that had any power. That is the +Church that has preserved all these miracles for us. That is the +Church that preserved the manuscripts for us. That is the Church whose +word we have to take. That Church is the first witness that +Protestantism brought to the bar of history to prove miracles that took +place eighteen hundred years ago; and while the witness is there +Protestantism takes pains to say: "You can't believe one word that +witness says, now." +</P> + +<P> +That Church is the only one that keeps up a constant communication with +heaven through the instrumentality of a large number of decayed saints. +That Church is an agent of God on earth. That Church has a person who +stands in the place of Deity; and that Church, according to their +doctrine, is infallible. That Church has persecuted to the exact +extent of her power—and always will. In Spain that Church stands +erect, and that Church is arrogant. In the United States that Church +crawls. But the object in both countries is the same, and that is the +destruction of intellectual liberty. That Church teaches us that we +can make God happy by being miserable ourselves. That Church teaches +you that a nun is holier in the sight of God than a loving mother with +a child in her thrilled and thrilling arms. That Church teaches you +that a priest is better than a father. That Church teaches you that +celibacy is better than that passion of love that has made everything +of beauty in this world. That Church tells the girl of 16 or 18 years +of age, with eyes like dew and light—that girl with the red of health +in the white of her beautiful checks—tells that girl, "Put on the veil +woven of death and night, kneel upon stones, and you will please God." +</P> + +<P> +I tell you that, by law, no girl should be allowed to take the veil, +and renounce the beauties of the world, until she was at least 25 years +of age. Wait until she knows what she wants. +</P> + +<P> +I am opposed to allowing these spider-like priests weaving webs to +catch the flies of youth; and there ought to be a law appointing +commissioners to visit such places twice a year, and release every +person who expresses a desire to be released. I don't believe in +keeping penitentiaries for God. No doubt they are honest about it. +That is not the question. +</P> + +<P> +Now this Church, after a few centuries of thought, made a creed, and +that creed is the foundation of orthodox religion. Let me read it to +you: +</P> + +<P> +"Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he +hold the Catholic faith; which faith, except every one do keep entire +and inviolate, without doubt, he shall everlastingly perish." Now the +faith is this: "That we worship one God in trinity, and trinity in +unity." +</P> + +<P> +Of course you understand how that's done, and there's no need of my +explaining it. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the +substance. You see what a predicament that would leave the Deity in if +you divided, the substance. +</P> + +<P> +"For one is the person of the Father, another of the Son, and another +of the Holy Ghost; but the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and +of the Holy Ghost is all one "—you know what I mean by Godhead. In +glory equal, and in majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is +the Son, such is the Holy Ghost. The Father is uncreated, the Son +uncreated, the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the +Son incomprehensible, the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. +</P> + +<P> +And that is the reason we know so much about the thing. "The Father is +eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Ghost eternal," and yet there are +not three eternals, only one eternal, as also there are not three +uncreated, nor three incomprehensibles, only one uncreated, one +incomprehensible. +</P> + +<P> +"In like manner, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy +Ghost almighty." Yet there are not three almighties, only one +Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son God, the Holy Ghost God, and +yet not three Gods; and so likewise, the Father is Lord, the Son is +Lord, the Holy Ghost is Lord, yet there are not three Lords, for as we +are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge every person by +himself to be God and Lord, so we are all forbidden by the Catholic +religion to say there are three Gods, or three Lords. "The Father is +made of no one, not created or begotten. The Son is from the Father +alone, not made, nor created, or begotten. The Holy Ghost is from the +Father and the Son, not made nor begotten, but proceeded—" You know +what proceeding is. +</P> + +<P> +"So there is one Father, not three Fathers." Why should there be three +Fathers, and only one Son? +</P> + +<P> +"One Son, and not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts; +and in this Trinity there is nothing before or afterward, nothing +greater or less, but the whole three persons are coeternal with one +another, and coequal, so that in all things the unity is to be +worshiped in Trinity, and the Trinity is to be worshiped in unity, and +therefore we will believe." Those who will be saved must thus think of +the Trinity. Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation +that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. +Now the right of this thing is this: That we believe and confess that +our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God and man. He is God +of the substance of His Father begotten before the world was. That was +a good while before His mother lived. +</P> + +<P> +"And He is man of the substance of His mother, born in this world, +perfect God and perfect man, and the rational soul in human flesh +subsisting equal to the Father according to His Godhead, but less than +the Father, according to His manhood, who being both God and man is not +two but one—one not by conversion of God into flesh but by the taking +of the manhood into God." +</P> + +<P> +You see that it is a great deal easier than the other. "One +altogether, not by a confusion of substance, but by unity of person, +for as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God the man, is one +Christ, who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again +the third day from the dead, ascended into heaven, and He sitteth at +the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, and He shall come to judge +the living and the dead." +</P> + +<P> +In order to be saved it is necessary to believe this. What a blessing, +that we do not have to understand it. And in order to compel the human +intellect to get upon its knees, before that infinite absurdity, +thousands and millions have suffered agonies; thousands and millions +have perished in dungeons and in fire; and if all the bones of all the +victims of the Catholic Church could be gathered together, a monument +higher than all the pyramids would rise in our presence, and the eyes +even of priests would be suffused with tears. +</P> + +<P> +That Church covered Europe with cathedrals and dungeons. That Church +robbed men of the jewel of the soul. That Church had ignorance upon +its knees. That Church went into partnership with the tyrants of the +throne, and between these two vultures, the altar and the throne, the +heart of man was devoured. Of course I have met, and cheerfully admit +that there is thousands of good Catholics; but Catholicism is contrary +to human liberty. Catholicism bases salvation upon belief. Catholicism +teaches man to trample his reason under foot. And for that reason, it +is wrong. +</P> + +<P> +Now, the next Church that comes along in the way that I wish to speak +of is the Episcopalian. That was founded by Henry VIII., now in +heaven. He cast off Queen Catherine and Catholicism together. And he +accepted Episcopalianism and Annie Boleyn at the same time. That +Church, if it had a few more ceremonies, would be Catholic. If it had +a few less, nothing. We have an Episcopalian Church in this country, +and it has all the imperfection of a poor relation. It is always +boasting of a rich relative. In England the creed is made by law, the +same as we pass statutes here. And when a gentleman dies in England, +in order to determine whether he shall be saved or not, it is necessary +for the power of heaven to read the acts of Parliament. It becomes a +question of law, and sometimes a man is damned on a very nice point. +Lost on demurrer. +</P> + +<P> +A few years ago, a gentleman by the name of Seabury, Samuel Seabury, +was sent over to England to get some apostolic succession. We hadn't a +drop in the house. It was necessary for the bishops of the English +church to put their hands upon his head. They refused; there was no +act of Parliament justifying—it. He had then to go to the Scotch +Bishops; and, had the Scotch Bishops refused, we never would have had +any apostolic succession in the new world. And God would have been +driven out of half the world; and the true church never could have been +founded. But the Scotch Bishops put their hands on his head, and now +we have an unbroken succession of heads and hands from St. Paul to the +last bishop. +</P> + +<P> +In this country the Episcopal Church has done some good, and I want to +thank that Church. Having, on an average, less religion than the +others, on an average you have done more good to mankind. You +preserved some of the humanities. You did not hate music, you did not +absolutely despise painting, and you did not altogether abhor +architecture, and you finally admitted that it was no worse to keep +time with your feet than with your hands. And some went so far as to +say that people could play cards, and God would overlook it, or would +look the other way. For all these things accept my thanks. +</P> + +<P> +When I was a boy, the other Churches looked upon dancing as probably +the mysterious sin against the Holy Ghost; and they used to teach that +when four boys got in a hay-mow, playing seven-up, that the Eternal God +stood whetting the sword of His eternal wrath waiting to strike them +down to the lowest hell. And so that Church has done some good. +</P> + +<P> +After a while, in England, a couple of gentlemen, or a couple of men by +the name of Wesley and Whitfield, said: "If everybody is going to hell, +nearly, somebody ought to mention it." The Episcopal clergy said: +"Keep still; don't tear your gown." Wesley and Whitfield said: "This +frightful truth ought to be proclaimed from the housetops at every +opportunity, from the highway of every occasion." They were good, +honest men. They believed their doctrine. And they said: "If there is +a hell, and a Niagara of souls pouring over an eternal precipice of +ignorance, somebody ought to say something." They were right; somebody +ought, if such thing was true. Wesley was a believer in the Bible. He +believed in the actual presence of the Almighty. God used to do +miracles for him; used to put off a rain several days to give his +meeting a chance; used to cure his horse of lameness; used to cure Mr. +Wesley's headaches. +</P> + +<P> +And Mr. Wesley also believed in the actual existence of the devil. He +believed that devils had possession of people. He talked to the devil +when he was in folks, and the devil told him that he was going to +leave; and that he was going into another person; that he would be +there at a certain time; and Wesley went to that other person, and +there the devil was, prompt to the minute. He regarded every +conversion as an absolute warfare between God and this devil for the +possession of that human soul. Honest, no doubt. Mr. Wesley did not +believe in human liberty. Honest, no doubt. Was opposed to the liberty +of the colonies. Honestly so. Mr. Wesley preached a sermon entitled, +"The Cause and Cure of Earthquakes," in which he took the ground that +earthquakes were caused by sin and the only way to stop them was to +believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. No doubt an honest man. +</P> + +<P> +Wesley and Whitfield fell out on the question of predestination. Wesley +insisted that God invited everybody to the feast. Whitfield said He +did not invite those He knew would not come. Wesley said He did. +Whitfield said: "Well, He didn't put plates for them, anyway." Wesley +said He did. So that, when they were in hell, he could show them that +there was a seat left for them. And that Church that they founded is +still active. And probably no Church in the world has done so much +preaching for as little money as the Methodists. Whitfield believed in +slavery and advocated the slave trade. And it was of Whitfield that +Whittier made the two lines: +</P> + +<P> +He bade the slave ships speed from coast to coast, Fanned by the wings +of the Holy Ghost. +</P> + +<P> +We have lately had a meeting of the Methodists, and I find, by their +statistics, that they believe they have converted 130,000 folks in a +year. That in order to do this, they have 26,000 preachers, 226,000 +Sunday-school scholars, and about $1,000,000,000 invested in church +property. I find, in looking over the history of the world, that there +are 40,000,000 or 50,000,000,000 of people born a year, and if they are +saved at the rate of 30,000 a year, about how long will it take that +doctrine to save this world? Good, honest people; they are mistaken. +</P> + +<P> +In old times they were very simple. Churches used to be like barns. +They used to have them divided—men on that side, and women on this. A +little barbarous. We have advanced since then, and we now find as a +fact, demonstrated by experience, that a man sitting by the woman he +loves can thank God as heartily as though sitting between two men that +he has never been introduced to. +</P> + +<P> +There is another thing these Methodists should remember, and that is, +that the Episcopalians were the greatest enemies they ever had. And +they should remember that the Free-Thinkers have always treated them +kindly and well. +</P> + +<P> +There is one thing about the Methodist Church in the North that I like. +But I find that it is not Methodism that does that. I find that the +Methodist Church in the South is as much opposed to liberty as the +Methodist Church North is in favor of liberty. So it is not Methodism +that is in favor of liberty or slavery. They differ a little in their +creed from the rest. They do not believe that God does everything. +They believe that He does His part, and that you must do the rest, and +that getting to heaven is a partnership business. +</P> + +<P> +The next church is the Presbyterians—in my judgment the worst of all, +as far as creed is concerned. This Church was founded by John Calvin, +a murderer! John Calvin, having power in Geneva, inaugurated human +torture. Voltaire abolished torture in France. The man who abolished +torture, if the Christian religion be true, God is now torturing in +hell; and the man who inaugurated torture, is now a glorified angel in +heaven. It won't do. +</P> + +<P> +John Knox started this doctrine in Scotland, and there is this +peculiarity about Presbyterianism, it grows best where the soil is +poorest. I read the other day an account of a meeting between John +Knox and John Calvin. Imagine a dialogue between a pestilence and a +famine! Imagine a conversation between a block and an ax! As I read +their conversation it seemed to me as though John Knox and John Calvin +were made for each other; that they fitted each other like the upper +and lower jaws of a wild beast. They believed happiness was a crime; +they looked upon laughter as blasphemy, and they did all they could to +destroy every human feeling, and to fill the mind with the infinite +gloom of predestination and eternal damnation. They taught the doctrine +that God had a right to damn us because He made us. That is just the +reason that He has not a right to damn us. There is some dust. +Unconscious dust! What right has God to change that unconscious dust +into a human being, when He knows that human being will sin; and He +knows that human being will suffer eternal agony? Why not leave him in +the unconscious dust? What right has an infinite God to add to the sum +of human agony? Suppose I knew that I could change that piece of +furniture into a living, sentient human being, and I knew that that +being would suffer untold agony forever. If I did it, I would be a +fiend. I would leave that being in the unconscious dust. And yet we +are told that we must believe such a doctrine, or we are to be +eternally damned! It won't do. +</P> + +<P> +In 1839 there was a division in this Church, and they had a lawsuit to +see which was the Church of God. And they tried it by a judge and +jury, and the jury decided that the new school was the Church of God, +and then they got a new trial, and the next jury decided that the old +school was the Church of God, and that settled it. That Church teaches +that infinite innocence was sacrificed for me! I don't want it! I +don't wish to go to heaven unless I can settle by the books, and go +there because I ought to go there. I have said, and I say again, I +don't want to be a charity angel. I have no ambition to become a +winged pauper of the skies. +</P> + +<P> +The other day a young gentleman, a Presbyterian, who had just been +converted, came to me and gave me a tract and he told me he was +perfectly happy. Ugh! Says I: "Do you think a great many people are +going to hell?" "Oh, yes." "And you are perfectly happy?" "Well, he +didn't know as he was quite." "Wouldn't you be happier if they were all +going to heaven?" "O, yes." "Well, then you are not perfectly +happy?" "No, he didn't think he was." Says I: "When you get to heaven, +then you would be perfectly happy?" "Oh, yes." "Now, when we are only +going to hell, you are not quite happy; but when we are in hell, and +you in heaven, then you will be perfectly happy?" You won't be as +decent when you get to be an angel as you are now, will you? "Well," +he said, "that was not exactly it." Said I: "Suppose your mother were +in hell, would you be happy in heaven then?" "Well," he says, "I +suppose God would know the best place for mother." And I thought to +myself, then, if I was a woman, I would like to have five or six boys +like that. +</P> + +<P> +It will not do. Heaven is where are those we love, and those who love +us. And I wish to go to no world unless I can be accompanied by those +who love me here. Talk about the consolations of this infamous +doctrine. The consolations of a doctrine that makes a father say, "I +can be happy with my daughter in hell"; that makes a mother say, "I can +be happy with my generous, brave boy in hell"; that makes a boy say, "I +can enjoy the glory of heaven with the woman who bore me, the woman who +would have died for me, in eternal agony." And they call that tidings +of great joy. +</P> + +<P> +I have not time to speak of the Baptists,—that Jeremy Taylor said were +as much to be rooted out as anything that is the greatest pest and +nuisance on the earth. Nor of the Quakers, the best of all, and abused +by all. I can not forget that George Fox, in the year of grace 1640, +was put in the pillory and whipped from town to town, scarred, put in a +dungeon, beaten, trampled upon, and what for? Simply because he +preached the doctrine: "Thou shalt not resist evil with evil. Thou +shalt love thy enemies." Think what the Church must have been that day +to scar the flesh of that loving man! Just think of it! I say I have +not time to speak of all these sects. And of the varieties of +Presbyterians and Campbellites. The people who think they must dive in +order to go up. There are hundreds and hundreds of these sects, all +founded upon this creed that I read, differing simply in degree. Ah +but they say to me: "You are fighting something that is dead. Nobody +believes this, now." The preachers do not believe what they preach in +the pulpit. The people in the pews do not believe what they hear +preached. And they say to me: "You are fighting something that is +dead. This is all a form, we do not believe a solitary creed in it. +We sign it and swear that we believe it, but we don't. And none of us +do. And all the ministers they say in private, admit that they do not +believe it, not quite." I don't know whether this is so or not. I take +it that they believe what they preach. I take it that when they meet +and solemnly agree to a creed, I take it they are honest and solemnly +believe in that creed. +</P> + +<P> +The Evangelical Alliance, made up of all orthodox denominations of the +world, met only a few years ago, and here is their creed: They believe +in the divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the Holy +Scriptures; the right and duty of private judgment in the +interpretation of Holy Scriptures, but if you interpret wrong you are +damned. They believe in the unity of the Godhead and the trinity of +the persons therein. They believe in the utter depravity of human +nature. There can be no more infamous doctrine than that. They look +upon a little child as a lump of depravity. I look upon it as a bud of +humanity, that will, under proper circumstances, blossom into rich and +glorious life. +</P> + +<P> +Total depravity of human nature! Here is a woman whose husband has +been lost at sea; the news comes that he has been drowned by the +ever-hungry waves, and she waits. There is something in her heart that +tells her he is alive. And she waits. And years afterwards as she +looks down toward the little gate, she sees him; he has been given back +by the sea, and she rushes to his arms and covers his face with kisses, +and with tears. And if that infamous doctrine is true, every tear is a +crime, and every kiss a blasphemy. It won't do. According to that +doctrine, if a man steals and repents, and takes back the property, the +repentance and the taking back of the property are two other crimes if +he is totally depraved: It is an infamy. What else do they believe? +"The justification of a sinner by faith alone," without works, just +faith. Believing something that you don't understand. Of course God +cannot afford to reward a man for believing anything that is +reasonable. God rewards only for believing something that is +unreasonable, if you believe something that you know is not so. What +else? They believe in the eternal blessedness of the righteous, and in +the eternal punishment of the wicked. Tidings of great joy! They are +so good that they will not associate with Universalists. They will not +associate with Unitarians. They will not associate with scientists. +They will only associate with those who believed that God so loved the +world that He made up his mind to damn the most of us. Then they say +to me: "What do you propose? You have torn this down; what do you +propose to give in the place of it?" I have not torn the good down. I +have only endeavored to trample out the ignorant, cruel fires of hell. +I do not tear away the passage, "God will be merciful to the merciful." +I do not destroy the promise, "If you will forgive others, God will +forgive you." I would not for anything blot out the faintest stars +that shine in the horizon of human despair, nor in the horizon of human +hope; but I will do what I can to get that infinite shadow out of the +heart of man. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you propose to put in place of this?" +</P> + +<P> +Well, in the first place, I propose good fellowship—good friends all +around. No matter what we believe, shake hands and let it go. That is +your opinion. This is mine: "Let us be friends." Science makes +friends, religion—superstition—makes enemies. They say, "Belief is +important." I say no, good actions are important. Judge by deed, not +by creed, good fellowship. We have had too many of these solemn +people. Whenever I see an exceedingly solemn man, I know he is an +exceedingly stupid man. No man of any humor ever founded any +religion—never. Humor sees both sides, while reason is the holy light; +humor carries the lantern and the man with a keen sense of humor is +preserved from the solemn stupidities of superstition. I like a man +who has got good feeling for everybody—good fellowship. One man said +to another: +</P> + +<P> +"Will you take a glass of wine?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't drink." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you smoke a cigar?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't smoke." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe you will chew something?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't chew." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us eat some hay." +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you I don't eat hay." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, good-bye; for you are no company for man or beast." +</P> + +<P> +I believe in the gospel of cheerfulness, the gospel of good nature, the +gospel of good health. Let us pray to our bodies. Take care of our +bodies, and our souls will take care of themselves. Good health! And I +believe that the time will come when the public thought will be so +great and grand that it will be looked upon as infamous to perpetuate +disease. I believe the time will come when man will not fill the future +with consumption and insanity. I believe the time will come when we +study ourselves, and understand the laws of health, that we will say, +"We are under obligation to put the flags of health in the cheeks of +our children." Even if I got to heaven, and had a harp, I would hate +to look back upon my children and grandchildren, and see them diseased, +deformed, crazed, all suffering the penalties of crimes I had committed. +</P> + +<P> +I, then, believe in the gospel of good health, and I believe in a +gospel of good living. You can not make any God happy by fasting. Let +us have good food, and let us have it well cooked—and it is a thousand +times better to know how to cook it than it is to understand any +theology in the world. I believe in the gospel of good clothes. I +believe in the gospel of good houses, in the gospel of water and soap. +I believe in the gospel of intelligence, in the gospel of education. +The school-house is my cathedral. The universe is my Bible. I believe +in that gospel of justice that we must reap what we sow. +</P> + +<P> +I do not believe in forgiveness. If I rob Mr. Smith and God forgives +me, how does that help Smith? If I, by slander, cover some poor girl +with the leprosy of some imputed crime, and she withers away like a +blighted flower, and afterward I get forgiveness, how does that help +her? If there is another world we have got to settle. No bankrupt +court there. Pay down. The Christians say, that among the ancient +Jews, if you committed a crime you had to kill a sheep, now they +say,—"Charge it." "Put it upon the slate." It won't do, for every +crime you commit you must answer to yourself and to the one you injure. +And if you have ever clothed another with unhappiness, as with a +garment of pain, you will never be quite as happy as though you hadn't +done that thing. No forgiveness. Eternal, inexorable, everlasting +justice. That is what I believe in. And if it goes hard with me, I +will stand it, and I will stick to in logic and I will bear it like a +man. +</P> + +<P> +And I believe, too, in the gospel of liberty, in giving to others what +we claim for ourselves. I believe there is room everywhere for +thought, and the more liberty you give away the more you will have. In +liberty, extravagance is economy. Let us be just. Let us be generous +to each other. +</P> + +<P> +I believe in the gospel of intelligence. That is the only lever +capable of raising mankind. Intelligence must be the savior of this +world. Humanity is the grand religion, and no God can put another in +hell in another world who has made a little heaven in this. God cannot +make a man miserable if that man has made somebody else happy. God +cannot hate anybody who is capable of loving anybody. +</P> + +<P> +So I believe in this great gospel of generosity. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! but," they say, "it won't do. You must believe. I say no. My +gospel of health will bring life. My gospel of intelligence, my gospel +of good living, my gospel of good-fellowship will cover the world with +happy homes. My doctrine will put carpets upon your floors, pictures +upon your walls. My doctrine will put books upon your shelves, ideas +in your minds. My doctrine will rid the world of the abnormal monsters +born of the ignorance of superstition. My doctrine will give us +health, wealth, and happiness. That is what I want. That is what I +believe in. Give us intelligence. In a little while a man may find +that he cannot steal without robbing himself. He will find that he +cannot murder without assassinating his own joy. He will find that +every crime is a mistake. He will find that only that man carries the +cross who does wrong, and that the man who does right the cross turns +to wings upon his shoulders that will bear him upwards forever. He +will find that intelligent self-love embraces within its mighty arms +all the human race. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," but they say to me, "you take away immortality." I do not. If we +are immortal it is a fact in nature, and we are not indebted to priests +for it, nor to Bibles for it, and it cannot be destroyed by unbelief. +</P> + +<P> +As long as we love we will hope to live, and when the one dies that we +love, we will say: "Oh, that we could meet again!" And whether we do +or not, it will not be the work of theology. It will be a fact in +nature. I would not for my life destroy one star of human hope; but I +want it so that when a poor woman rocks the cradle, and sings a lullaby +to the dimpled darling, that she will not be compelled to believe that, +ninety-nine chances in a hundred, she is raising kindling-wood for +hell. One world at a time—that is my doctrine. +</P> + +<P> +It is said in the Testament, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil +thereof" and I say, sufficient unto each world is the evil thereof. And +suppose, after all, that death does end all, next to eternal joy, next +to being forever with those we love and those who have loved us, next +to that is to be wrapt in the dreamless drapery of eternal peace. +</P> + +<P> +Next to external life is eternal death. Upon the shadowy shore of +death the sea of trouble casts no wave. Eyes that have been curtained +by the everlasting dark will never know again the touch of tears. Lips +that have been touched by eternal silence will never utter another word +of grief. Hearts of dust do not break; the dead do not weep. And I had +rather think of those I have loved, and those I have lost, as having +returned, as having become a part of the elemental wealth of the +world—I would rather think of them as unconscious dust—I would rather +think of them as gurgling in the stream, floating in the clouds, +bursting in the foam of light upon the shores of worlds—I would rather +think of them as the inanimate and eternally unconscious, that to have +even a suspicion that their naked souls had been clutched by an +orthodox God. +</P> + +<P> +But for me, I will leave the dead where nature leaves them. And +whatever flower of hope springs up in my heart I will cherish; but I +can not believe that there is any being in this universe who has +created a human soul for eternal pain. And I would rather that every +God would destroy himself; I would rather that we all should go to +eternal chaos, to black and starless night, that that just one soul +should suffer eternal agony. I have made up my mind that if there is a +God, he will be merciful to the merciful. Upon that rock I stand. That +he will forgive the forgiving. Upon that rock I stand. That every man +should be true to himself, and that there is no world, no star, in +which honesty is a crime. And upon that rock I stand. The honest man, +the good, kind, sweet woman, the happy child, has nothing to fear, +neither in this world, nor the world to come. And upon that rock I +stand. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="answer"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INGERSOLL'S ANSWER TO PROF. SWING, DR. THOMAS, AND OTHERS +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +After looking over the replies made to his new lecture, Col. Ingersoll +was asked by a Tribune reporter what he thought of them. He replied as +follows: +</P> + +<P> +I think they dodge the point. The real point is this: If salvation by +faith is the real doctrine of Christianity, I asked on Sunday before +last, and I still ask, why didn't Matthew tell it? I still insist that +Mark should have remembered it, and I shall always believe that Luke +ought, at least, to have noticed it. I was endeavoring to show that +modern Christianity has for its basis an interpolation. I think I +showed it. The only gospel on the orthodox side is that of John, and +that was certainly not written, or did not appear in its present form, +until long after the others were written. I know very well that the +Catholic Church claimed during the Dark Ages, and still claims, that +references had been made to the gospels by persons living in the first, +second and third centuries; but I believe such manuscripts were +manufactured by the Catholic Church. For many years in Europe there +was not one person in 20,000 who could read and write. During that time +the Church had in its keeping the literature of our world. They +interpolated as they pleased. They created. They destroyed. In other +words, they did whatever in their opinion was necessary to substantiate +the faith. The gentlemen who saw fit to reply did not answer the +question, and I again call upon the clergy to explain to the people +why, if salvation depended upon belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, +Matthew did not mention it. Some one has said that Christ didn't make +known this doctrine of salvation by belief or faith until after His +resurrection. Certainly none of the gospels were written until after +His resurrection; and if He made that doctrine known after His +resurrection, and before His ascension, it should have been in Matthew, +Mark, and Luke, as well as John. +</P> + +<P> +The replies of the clergy show that they have not investigated the +subject; that they are not well acquainted with the New Testament. In +other words, they have not read it except with the regulation +theological bias. There is one thing I wish to correct here. In an +editorial in the Tribune it was stated that I had admitted that Christ +was beyond and above Buddha, Zoroaster, Confucius, and others. I didn't +say so. Another point was made against me, and those who made it +seemed to think it was a good one. In my lecture I asked why it was +that the Disciples of Christ wrote in Greek, whereas, in fact, they +understood only Hebrew. It is now claimed that Greek was the language +of Jerusalem at that time; that Hebrew had fallen into disuse; that no +one understood it except the literati and the highly educated. If I +fell into an error upon this point it was because I relied upon the New +Testament. I find in the twenty-first chapter of the Acts an account +of Paul having been mobbed in the city of Jerusalem; that he was +protected by a Chief Captain and some soldiers; that, when upon the +stairs of the castle to which he was being taken for protection, he +obtained leave from the Captain to speak unto the people. In the +fortieth verse of that chapter I find the following: +</P> + +<P> +"And when he had given him license, Paul stood on the stairs and +beckoned with the hand unto the people; and when there was made a great +silence he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying—" +</P> + +<P> +And then follows the speech of Paul, wherein he gives an account of his +conversion. It seems a little curious to me that Paul for the purpose +of quieting the mob, would speak to that mob in an unknown language. +If I were mobbed in the city of Chicago, and wished to defend myself +with an explanation, I certainly would not make that explanation in +Chocktaw, even if I understood that tongue. My present opinion is that +I would speak in English; and the reason I would speak in English is, +because that language is generally understood in this city. And so I +conclude from the account in the twenty-first chapter of the Acts that +"Hebrew was the language of Jerusalem at that time, or that Paul would +not have addressed the mob in that tongue." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you read Mr. Courtney's answer?" +</P> + +<P> +"I read what Mr. Courtney read from others, and think some of his +quotations very good; and have no doubt that the authors will feel +complimented by being quoted." +</P> + +<P> +"But what about there being belief in Matthew?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Courtney says that certain people were cured of diseases on +account of faith. Admitting that mumps, measles, and whooping-cough +could be cured in that way, there is not even a suggestion that +salvation depended upon a like faith. I think he can hardly afford to +rely upon the miracles of the New Testament to prove his doctrine. +There is one instance in which a miracle was performed by Christ +without His knowledge. And I hardly think that even Mr. Courtney would +insist that any faith could have been great enough for that. The fact +is, I believe that all these miracles were ascribed to Christ long +after His death, and that Christ never, at any time or place, pretended +to have any supernatural power whatever. Neither do I believe that He +claimed any supernatural origin. He claimed simply to be a man—no +less, no more. I don't believe Mr. Courtney is satisfied with his own +reply." +</P> + +<P> +"And now as to Prof. Swing?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Swing has been out of the orthodox church so long that he seems to +have forgotten the reasons for which he left it. I don't believe there +is an orthodox minister in the city of Chicago who will agree with Mr. +Swing that salvation by faith is no longer preached. Prof. Swing seems +to think it of no importance who wrote the Gospel of St. Matthew. In +this I agree with him. Judging from what he said, there is hardly +difference enough of opinion between us to justify a reply on his part. +He, however, makes one mistake. I did not in the lecture say one word +about tearing churches down. I have no objection to people building all +the churches they wish. While I admit that it is a pretty sight to see +children on a morning in June going through the fields to the country +church, I still insist that the beauty of that sight doesn't answer the +question how it is that Matthew forgot to say anything about salvation +through Christ. Prof. Swing is a man of poetic temperament; but this +is not a poetic question." +</P> + +<P> +"How did the card of Dr. Thomas strike you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think the reply of Dr. Thomas in the best possible spirit. I regard +him to day as the best intellect in the Methodist denomination. He +seems to have what is generally understood as a Christian spirit. He +has always treated me with perfect fairness, and I should have said +long ago many grateful things, had I not feared I might hurt with his +own people. He seems to be by nature a perfectly fair man; and I know +of no man in the United States for whom I have a profounder respect. +Of course I don't agree with Mr. Thomas. I think in many things he is +mistaken. But I believe him to be perfectly sincere. There is one +trouble about him,—he is growing; and this fact will no doubt give +great trouble to many of his brethren. Certain Methodist hazelbrush +feel a little uneasy in the shadow of his oak." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you going to make a formal reply to their sermons." +</P> + +<P> +"Not unless something better is done than has been. Of course I don't +know what another Sabbath may bring forth. I am waiting. But of one +thing I feel perfectly assured; that no man in the United States, or in +the world, can account for the fact, if we are to be saved only by +faith in Christ, that Matthew forgot it, that Luke said nothing about +it, and that Mark never mentioned it except in two passages written by +another person. Until that is answered, as one grave-digger says to +the other in "Hamlet," I shall say: 'Ay, tell me that and unyoke.' In +the meantime, I wish to keep on the best terms with all parties +concerned. I cannot see why my forgiving spirit fails to gain their +sincere praise." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lectures of Col. R. G. 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